Influencing Iggy - Patti Stedman

EnduranceIntrospection.com - Full Story

by Patti Stedman | May 28, 2017

It’s just another one of those “do as I say, not as I do” moments …

Countless times I’ve told other people with new horses, fretting over this or that, that it takes a year to get to know a horse.

It’s been two months since we picked up a new horse in South Carolina. Iggy, as I’ve been calling him, is an 11 year old Arabian who did a 50 mile ride and a couple of shorter rides several years ago, but has been for the most part unemployed for the past few years.

He belonged to a friend of a friend who wanted him to go to someone who would take good care of him, keep him for life and see what he could do in the sport...

Read more here:
http://enduranceintrospection.com/wp/influencing-iggy/

New Film From Galway Sportsground to the Mongol Steppes

Advertiser.ie - Full Article

BY CHARLIE MCBRIDE
Galway Advertiser
May 25, 2017

The Galway Film Fleadh is rapidly approaching and among the gems to look out for is the world premiere of All The Wild Horses, Ivo Marloh’s terrific feature-length documentary about the Mongol Derby.

This is the longest and toughest horse race in the world. With a route based on Genghis Khan’s empire-wide network of postal depots, the 1,000 kilometre race sees riders from all over the world and all walks of life compete on a relay of semi-wild horses across 25 stations in the Mongolian wilderness. Taking over a week to complete and entailing dawn-to-dusk rides, arduous terrain and extremes of weather, this is an epic equine adventure without equal.

Marloh’s film captures all the race drama as it unfolds amid the stunning steppe landscape and Fleadh audiences will surely be drawn to the stories of the two Irish riders taking part; Donie Fahy, from Meath, and Galway’s own Richard Killoran who both came to the race with backgrounds as professional national hunt jockeys. Ahead of All The Wild Horses’ Galway premiere, Richard Killoran chatted with me about his experiences and impressions of this unique race.

I began by asking whether horses were part of his upbringing. “They were and they weren’t,” he replies. “I grew up near the Sportsground on College Road and there weren’t many horses around there and there were no jockeys in the family before me. I started going to riding school in Claregalway when I was 11 or 12 and that’s when I first got the bug for it. I used to enjoy going to the races with my father and I then went to the racing school when I was 15 and I moved England not long after that. I actually retired as a full time jockey a few years ago but I am doing some riding out at the moment...”

Read more here:
http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/92727/from-galway-sportsground-to-the-mongol-steppes

Tick-Borne Disease: Tremendously Tricky in Horses

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Natalie DeFee Mendik, MA
May 6, 2017

Learn the latest on diseases horses can get from ticks and why they continue to frustrate veterinarians and researchers


If the sight of a tick makes your skin crawl—even if it’s not crawling on your skin— you’re not alone. That feeling is founded on more than a natural aversion to arachnids; diseases transmitted by ticks can pose a real health threat. With Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maps outlining tick ranges throughout the majority of the United States, it’s important we brush up on our understanding of tick-borne diseases. In this article we’ll take a look at the three that pose the biggest risk to horses: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and piroplasmosis.
Lyme Disease

Horse owners living in areas of the country heavily infested with Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as blacklegged ticks (also referred to as deer ticks or bear ticks), know these parasites are more than a nuisance. In these regions contracting Lyme disease from infected ticks is entirely possible for horses and humans alike.

Lyme disease is a very difficult disease to prevent, diagnose, and treat in horses, says Linda Mittel, MSPH, DVM, senior extension associate at Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center, in Ithaca, New York. Horses contract Lyme disease when the spirochete (a type of bacterium) Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37604/tick-borne-disease-tremendously-tricky-in-horses?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=reader-favorites&utm_campaign=05-19-2017

Stem Cell Reality Check

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Written by: Carley Sparks

Still in its infancy, stem cell therapy has the potential to transform equine medicine. While some applications have encouraging results, horse owners should exercise caution in these early days, when it comes to purchasing products that boast the benefits of stem cells.

Few, if any, areas of scientific study have captured the imagination of medicine and the masses alike as definitively as that of stem cell research.

From celebrity endorsements – Canadian actor Michael J. Fox was the long the face of the US’s stem cells wars – to science fiction – Star Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog and Halo, to name a few – tissue engineering has been heralded as the future of medicine. And it’s not just the popular vote. The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to stem cell pioneers Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka. The science is that encouraging.

“Stem cells have the promise to maybe treat certain diseases that are untreatable today or where the treatment options are palliative and not very good,” said Dr. Thomas Koch, an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph and founding Committee Member for the newly established North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association. But while the promise of stem cell therapy looms large over the medical community, actual scientific knowledge about its medical applications is in short supply. At this point in its colourful history, it’s simply too early to tell what, if any, benefit stem cells will have. “Not one single thing going on in veterinary medicine with stem cells is evidence based,” said Dr. Koch. “We’re excited about it. We see a lot of possibilities and potential, but, at this point, it’s Windows Version 1. It’s experimental medicine.”

That hasn’t stopped the rush to market, however. Despite the dearth of evidence, in regards to both safety and efficacy, stem cells are currently used in veterinary practices and can be found in an array of over-the-counter supplements. Some worry the hype is overshadowing the science...

Read more here:
https://www.horse-canada.com/magazine_articles/stem-cell-reality-check/

Tips for Returning Horses to Work After Soft-Tissue Injury

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Erica Larson, News Editor
Feb 25, 2017

There’s no way around it: Equine soft-tissue injuries, simply due to the nature of the sports horses take part in, are all but inevitable, said Alan Manning, MSc, DVM. The good news is veterinarians can often help injured horses return to work. He said this process generally comprises 25% treatment and 75% rehabilitation.

“When soft tissue is healing, the new tissue needs to be educated on its new job,” he said. “This occurs during the rehabilitation process and has to be done gradually.”

However, he said, there are few, if any, published protocol studies detailing how to rehabilitate horses and help them return to full work. So, at the 2016 American Association of Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 3-7 in Orlando, Florida, Manning reviewed how he returns horses with soft tissue injuries to work, a task he described as “a puzzle...”

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/38864/tips-for-returning-horses-to-work-after-soft-tissue-injury?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=sports-medicine&utm_campaign=02-26-2017

7 Equine Nutrition Myths Busted

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Kristen M. Janicki, MS, PAS
Mar 3, 2017

Decipher fact vs. fiction when it comes to the complicated world of feeding horses.

Haven’t you heard that feeding a hot bran mash will help prevent colic in the winter?” Horse owners pass feed fallacies such as this down the barn aisle on a daily basis. Nutrition is one of the most difficult aspects of horse management to understand, so it’s no wonder that forage and other fodder falsehoods sprout and take root, becoming accepted as conventional wisdom. Without getting a master’s or doctorate degree in equine nutrition, how do you decipher fact vs. fiction? Here we’ll help you bust some common myths about feeding horses.
Myth 1: Horses have “nutritional wisdom” and will seek out nutrients to meet their needs

“I recently started noticing my horse licking the dirt out in the pasture. Could he be missing important nutrients in his diet?”

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37698/7-equine-nutrition-myths-busted?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=breeding&utm_campaign=03-19-2017

How Endurance Cross-Training Can Help Your Performance Horse

OnTheHorse.com - Full Article

Sarah Cuthbertson and Ashley Tomaszewski
01 May 2017

Cross training has proven its benefits in human athletics but did you know it’s good for your horse too?! Like a human, horses need cardiovascular and muscular endurance to be able to perform, especially in equestrian sports like eventing, jumping, and dressage. Although, every horse benefits from a good exercise program! Endurance riders seem to have this down to a science and it’s not uncommon to hear of horses competing well into their 20’s.By incorporating endurance training into your program, your performance horse will benefit in a number of ways.

Longevity

Time is something we all seem to lack but need in endless amounts. Most Endurance riders have time to condition and campaign only one horse, which means we want to do whatever it takes to keep a sound, happy horse working for a lifetime.

Longevity is one of the greatest honours in competitive distance sports with many local and national organizations giving special awards for Decade Teams, and some riders have even reached the rare, but possible achievement of a Double Decade Team. So how do these distance riders do it? The secret, is LSD...

Read more here:
https://onthehorse.com/how-endurance-cross-training-can-help-your-performance-horse/?v=7516fd43adaa

Cross Training: Good for Humans, Good for Horses

Horsenetwork.com - Full Article

by Tim Hayes
April 27 2017

In 1996 I participated in a Natural Horsemanship clinic given by the late Tom Dorrance.

Even though he was a cowboy, well over half of his students rode English. Tom was a creator of miracles when it came to helping people with their horse problems (he called them: “people problems”). His message was simple: “humans and horses need to get along better.”

Tom was not only acknowledged as a great horseman but the father of a revolution in horse training…what is now referred to as Natural Horsemanship.

When the clinic was over I asked Tom what books he would recommend I read. I was expecting him to say a book with a title like, “Lessons From The Ranch.” Instead he simply said read Dressage by Henry Wynmalen. I had heard of dressage. I knew riders with English saddles practiced it. However, it was the last thing I thought a California cowboy would know about much less be recommending.

In the spring of 2001 I attended Equitana USA in Louisville Kentucky.

It was a four-day event held in two buildings each the size of New York’s Madison Square Garden. One was totally devoted to English, the other Western. On the fourth day, I listened to a wonderful talk on the benefits achieved in competitive equine events with something called Cross Training by a 28-year-old rodeo star named Ty Murray.

Two years before Ty had received the award of World Champion All Around Cowboy. It was the seventh time he received it. No one has ever done it since. Ty began his talk by saying: “When I began training for the rodeo, I realized that at 5’8” and 150lbs, there was no way I could ever control a 2,000 lb. bull. But I could learn to control myself and how I reacted and responded to them.”

Ty went on to say that he began to practice martial arts and use a trampoline to master his equine reflexes and balance. He called it “cross training.”

As I listened to Ty, I thought back to Tom Dorrance recommending I study and practice Dressage. I began to think that maybe one way to become good at one sport was to practice a different sport that has similar physical skills. I remembered years ago reading an article about professional football players who used ballet exercises in their practice to improve their agility...

Read more here:
http://horsenetwork.com/2017/04/cross-training/?utm_source=horsenetwork&utm_medium=HNS&utm_campaign=5099567&utm_term=

Trailer tack room organization

MelNewton.com - Full Article

April 26, 2017
Posted by Melinda Newton

The most important part of this post is where you don’t laugh at my “ingenuity” – i.e. red-neck git’er done technique – of creating horse trailer organization.

I haven’t yet summoned up the courage to show my husband. Several months ago he replaced the flooring in the tack room – pulled up the old carpet, carefully scraped the floor, and perfectly cut some left over rubber interlocking flooring to fit back in. It’s lovely.

I’m not so sure he would say the same about my….”storage creation” scheme, or the cowhide rug now covering the floor….

:)

The tack room in my trailer is huge but lacked anything but the basics for organization. It came with…a handful of bridle holders, 2 saddle racks, and a fixed bar. That was it.

I asked for Lowe’s gift cards for Birthday/Xmas for the project and I’ve spent 5 months thinking about different ways to modify the interior that wouldn’t require me to drill additional holes into the walls, use adhesive that will melt in the summer, and doesn’t rely on magnets (the joys of an aluminum trailer!)...

Read more here:
http://melnewton.com/2017/trailer-tack-room-organization/