Endurance.Net: Consider this...: 09/2020

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Transitioning from Summer to Fall - What Should I Consider with Impaction Colic in Horses?

September 24, 2020

Fall is approaching and with it, cooler weather and a shift in pasture availability and moisture content. When temperatures start to decrease, some horses have a tendency to drink less; coupled with eating less moisture dense pasture and more dry hay, this transition can sometimes bring on impaction colic. Diagnosed early, impaction colic usually can be treated and resolved without surgery.

Causes:

Impaction colic is a drying out of intestinal contents causing a blockage in the horse’s gut. The large intestine twists and turns and has several changes of direction and diameter. These “corners” can be position for impactions, where a firm mass of feed or foreign material blocks the intestine. Impactions can be induced by coarse feed stuff, dehydration or accumulation of foreign material, like sand. Other management changes such as feed changes or decreases in exercise and water intake and long-term use of NSAIDs can also increase the risk for impactions colic.

Signs:

The usual signs of approaching impaction colic are...

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

The Road to the Tevis Cup, Post # 11: (Not) riding in smoke from wildfires - Jessica Black

JessicaEBlack.org - Full Story

September 18, 2020 / Jessica Black

Fantazia’s endurance training has been put on hold due the the insane fire activity in California (and much of the West coast). Riding in smoke from wildfires is a bad idea. When I got up Sunday morning, I thought I had escaped the worst of it. I had gone to Paso Robles to train in the deep sand of a riverbed (see my post on Conditioning in Deep Sand), and I extended my stay because Paso was one of the few places in California that did not have dangerous air quality.

Then on Sunday, as I was getting ready to go on a ride with my friend Laurie, I received a voluntary evacuation notice from the Tulare County Emergency Alert system. That was for where I live with my boyfriend. After an intense exchange of texts with my brother and mother, I determined that they were on mandatory evacuation. I had my boyfriend’s truck and trailer. My family needed me (my son texted as much). I didn’t want to get blocked out, if the situation worsened. I headed home. The Sequoia Complex fire

The Sequoia Complex Fire (SQF) is actually two fires. The Castle Fire started in the Golden Trout Wilderness (destroying my plan to ride in Shake Camp to Maggie Lakes). The Shotgun Fire started just south of Sequoia National Park. Now they have joined and are consuming much of Sequoia National Park. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are the land of giant sequoias, below the timberline. And a lot more, peaks, lakes...

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

The benefits of active rest

EquusMagazine.com - Full Article

Biomechanics expert Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, explains why periodically changing up your horse’s activities can be better for his body and mind than giving him time off.

JEANNE O'MALLEY
UPDATED:SEP 21, 2020

In Australia we have a saying that goes, “A change is as good as a spell.” It means that if you are feeling tired, don’t stop and rest---do something different. Now, if you’re exhausted from cleaning stalls, switching to cleaning water buckets probably doesn’t sound particularly restful, but the “change is good” principle is worth keeping in mind when training horses.

Developing new skills, whether they are needed to succeed in compe-tition or to simply perform well as a trail or pleasure horse, does require a bit of work. And the best route often involves drills designed to produce incremental improvements in movement, gait or fitness with each session. It then becomes easy to adopt a mindset that makes meeting goals the priority while minimizing other considerations.

“Riders want to practice and refine their skills, and they are probably worried about disrupting the training program if they do anything but formally train,” says Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, DACVSMR, FRCVS, who held the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University for 17 years. “So every day they go into the arena, perform the same routine, then take the horse back to the stall.”

This kind of routine can take a toll on a horse, both mentally and physically...

Can Wildfire Ash Make Pastures Unsafe for Horses to Eat?

Thehorse.com - Full Article

Horse owners are rightfully concerned about their horses’ lung health after wildfire smoke exposure. But can the smoke and ash also affect their pastures and forage?

Posted by Michelle N. Anderson, TheHorse.com Digital Managing Editor | Sep 21, 2020

Q: Our sidewalks here in California are black with the ash from nearby fires. I’ve found information about air quality’s impact on lungs, but what about the quality of or dangers inherent in pasture grasses where ash has settled? Is it harmful for horses to consume? How does it taste? Is it bitter? We can substitute feeding hay in the barn for just so long, and it won’t rain until October at best. Help!

A: This is a great question given how many horse owners in the Western states are finding themselves dealing with ash in their horses’ environment. I have a number of friends in Northern California and Oregon who are reporting a blanket of ash over the plants in their yards, and obviously this ash is also accumulating on pastures and stacks of hay and around the barns where horses are kept. Many of us have read the warnings about looking after our horses’ lung health during the poor air quality these wild fires cause; however, the question remains, is it safe for horses to graze pastures or other forages that might result in the consumption of ash?...

Monday, September 21, 2020

Virtual Bookstore Launches for Horse Lovers

HorseIllustrated.com - Full Article

By Heather Wallace - September 2, 2020

To highlight the community of equine authors and reach readers who love horses, the Bookstore for Horse Lovers has been launched. Featuring both independently and traditionally published authors, the virtual bookstore is a unique platform dedicated to promoting authors of horse books. Readers may search authors in the following categories of featured, fiction, and non-fiction; read official author biographies; follow authors on social media; and click to websites where they can purchase each author’s books...

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Oregon: Unprecedented Wildfires Force Equine Evacuations

TheHorse.com - Full Article

Horsemen and women in the state scrambled to evacuate as emergency facilities quickly reached capacity by Tuesday.

Posted by Stacy Pigott | Sep 10, 2020

Oregon is the latest state to be under siege by wildfires, as high temperatures and strong winds have fanned the flames of more than 35 active fires that have destroyed more than 5 million acres as of Thursday morning, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

The fires spread relentlessly across Western Oregon from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Coast, a region not accustomed to extreme wildfire activity. Horsemen and women in the area scrambled to evacuate, and emergency facilities quickly reached capacity by Tuesday, the day Governor Kate Brown declared a national emergency and said during a press briefing the fires could lead to the greatest loss of property and human lives in state history...

Monday, September 14, 2020

The Love of Horses

Leavearly.com - Full Story

EXPLORING THE SPECIAL BOND BETWEEN HORSE AND RIDER IN ENDURANCE EVENTS

September 10 2020

Fresh air and sleeping under the stars. Life doesn’t get much better – or simpler – than that.

And the opportunity to be involved in the enthralling challenge of endurance horse-riding was an offer too good to pass up.

Here was the chance to better understand the remarkable bond between horse and rider.

To see the love and trust that is forged between them over the many hours needed to complete the course.

And that’s the challenge – to complete the course while ensuring both horse and rider stay fit and healthy from start to finish.

It was overcast on the Saturday morning with some light rain as I drove out from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to the Mary Valley and Stirling’s Crossing Equestrian Centre at Imbil...

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Leg Blowup: Cellulitis

PracticalHorsemanmag.com - Full Article

Act quickly to defeat this microbial infection whose hallmark sign is a ‘stovepipe leg.’

ELAINE PASCOEAUG 4, 2020

Your horse was fine when you left him in his stall last night, but this morning he’s moping in a corner, reluctant to step out. It doesn’t take you long to see the problem—from hoof to well above the hock, his left hind leg is swollen to twice its normal width.

That extreme swelling can be a hallmark of cellulitis, a condition that can be life-threatening in horses. “It should be treated the day you observe it, before the sun goes down,” says Emma Adam, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM, DACVS, at the Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky. In this article, Dr. Adam helps explain what you need to know about cellulitis.

Cellulitis and its close cousin lymphangitis produce similar signs, and both are caused by microbial infections...

Algae in Horse Water Troughs: Is It Safe?

TheHorse.com - Full Article

Q: For most of the year my horses live out full time on pasture. In the summer their water trough grows a lot of algae. Is it okay for them to drink from the trough when it has algae, and what can I do to stop it growing?

A: Algae in troughs is a common problem once temperatures start to rise. To grow, algae need water, sunlight, and a nutrient source. Nutrients can come from organic material that has blown into the trough, manure, or even your horse’s saliva.

While most algae don’t pose a direct health concern, certain types of blue-green algae release toxins that can lead to colic and diarrhea. Additionally, a lot of algae might make the water less desirable to your horse and lead to reduced water intake. Keeping algal blooms to a minimum in your troughs is therefore a smart idea. Here are some solutions:...

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Feeding Horses During Disasters

StandleeForage.com - Full Article

September 02, 2020

Horses are routine animals and there are known rules we all abide by when feeding our horses, and one of those is to avoid making rapid feeding changes as this can upset the hindgut microbiome and cause diarrhea and gastric upset. Unfortunately, there are sometimes circumstances beyond our control, such as natural disasters. Flood, wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes are common natural disasters that occur throughout the United States. These events can require sudden evacuation and, in turn, rapid changes in the horse’s diet.

When it comes to your horse’s nutrition, here are a few suggestions:...

Study: Omeprazole Reduces Calcium Digestibility in Horses

Thehorse.com - Full Article

While omeprazole use is unlikely to cause bone issues in horses consuming correct rations, researchers said it’s important to respect professional recommendations for both omeprazole treatment duration and commercial feeding instructions.

Posted by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA | May 24, 2020

Feeding horses treated with omeprazole a well-balanced concentrate ration can ensure they receive enough calcium to make up for any deficiencies the ulcer medication could potentially cause. Researchers have found that horses treated for gastric ulcers could be getting less calcium into the bloodstream than they would normally. Depending on the calcium source, horses treated with omeprazole (such as GastroGard, the FDA-approved medications for the treatment and prevention of equine gastric ulcers) could be digesting 15-20% less calcium than when they’re not on omeprazole.

Over prolonged treatment periods, this could lead to deficiencies if the horse isn’t consuming adequate amounts of calcium, said Joe Pagan, PhD, founder of Kentucky Equine Research (KER), in Versailles...

Friday, September 11, 2020

Introducing Pack-Burro Racing: Get Your Ass in Gear!

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Think you've seen it all when it comes to horse sports? How about the official Heritage Sport of Colorado - a human/burro marathon with a Triple Crown!

By: Kim Izzo | September 2, 2020

If you think you’ve heard or seen everything when it comes to horse sports, think again. We came across this video of a pack-burro race in Colorado:
https://youtu.be/_DKA51RXfmM

But lest you picture these hard-working animals being ridden at a gallop along a well-groomed track, what sets this sport apart from other horse races is that it’s not only the four-hooved creature that is doing the running. In pack-burro racing the humans must run alongside the burro, or lead it, or as is the case in the video, run behind.

Pack-burro racing isn’t some weird fringe sport either; it’s actually the Official State Summer Heritage Sport of Colorado, and was designated as such in 2012. The sport made its official debut in 1949 and is inclusive, allowing men and women to compete equally like in other equestrian events. In fact, the first ever female competitor of a pack-burro race was in 1951. Her name was Edna Miller and she made history by being the first American woman to compete in a marathon – burro or no burro...

Wednesday, September 09, 2020

Happy Trails Podcast: Riding and Packing with Robert Eversole

RideClimb.com - Listen

August 29 2020

Robert Eversole is the creator of Trailmeister, an online guide to trails and horse camps around North America. He created www.trailmeister.com over a decade ago after dealing with the frustration of scouting trailheads when no information was available.

With over 3,700 trails listed, the site continues to grow. Users contribute trail information, GPS tracks, and photos of their local favorites.

Robert frequently rides and packs into the back country with his horses and mules. He is passionate about sharing information and passing along the knowledge he has acquired over the years.

He has written a plethora of articles relating to trail riding; many of which have been featured in horse magazines. They are available on his website. His YouTube channel also contains many great how-to videos. Additionally, Robert teaches clinics on packing and riding in the back country where attendees can get hands-on experience.

Happy Trails!

Listen:
https://rideclimb.com/podcast/riding-and-packing-with-robert-eversole/