So in the comments section below give me your ideas, your concerns, your desires on what you want to know about your horse as it pertains to its health.

It can be traditional or alternative, medical or surgical, nutrition, movement, lameness, dentistry, specific diseases or a general question. One rule is that I can not give advice on your specific case as in what you should do about your horse it has such and such problem. I can discuss in general a specific problem, giving you the best options and the most common methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Go ahead the floor is yours – What do you want to know?

Thanks to Dr. Geoff Tucker for posting a good piece on equine dentistry and trying to relieve some fears about it – EQUINE DENTISTRY – 10 REASONS WHY HORSE OWNERS AVOID IT

I think my favorite is that some owners don’t know there are teeth back there. You would think how ignorant but it is true I have had clients look in the back of their horse’s mouth when I had the speculum on and be very surprised how far back their teeth go.

Another one I like and have experience with is that some owners don’t like the dentist themselves. I have a couple very good clients that are religious about having their horses teeth examined twice a year but can not watch at all when I work on the teeth. Now I use a dremel at times (sorry Dr. Geoff) and that just makes them leave the barn completely just from the noise and the thought of what the dremel is contacting.

Having your horses teeth examined at least twice a year sometimes more often for horses under 5 years of age is necessary to keep them in good health. It also helps with bit comfort and headset.

The next time your horse gives you trouble while riding and tosses his head a little, chomps at the bit or even sets its ears back when you make contact with the bit – you need to have your dentist out to check the teeth and even better just have them checked regularly so you do not experience those issues.

BTW – the pic associated with this goes exactly with the #6 reason why owners avoid the equine dentist. (hung over literally)

A few reasons to have them removed are when the wolf teeth are sharp causing pain on the cheeks when pressure is put on the bit. When the wolf teeth are displaced forward away from the first cheek tooth or they are so large causing them to be in the way of the bit. Some wolf teeth do become loose or diseased which may cause pain. If the wolf teeth are not causing any of these problems then it may not be necessary to have to have them removed.

To have them removed it is imperative to have a qualified equine dentist or veterinarian remove them. Although it is usually a simple procedure there are some complications that can arise especially in the process of removing them. The palatine artery is nearby and a slip can create a very messy problem with very severe bleeding, using the proper tools in the hands of an experienced person can prevent this mishap.

So if a horse has wolf teeth it does not automatically mean they need to be removed. They will need to be removed if they are positioned too far forward or in the lower jaw instead of the upper jaw interfering with the bit. If they are so large that they interfere with the bit or if they move or damaged in some other way they should be removed by a qualified professional. Otherwise it just is not necessary to remove them.

Are you kidding me? The Clydesdales are not going to be in the SuperBowl this year? Those powerful iconic, I think of Budweiser every time I see one, Clydesdales are not going to be a commercial in this years Super Bowl!

I understand that Budweiser needs to be very selective about its choosing of commercials especially when it costs about $2.5 million for 30 secs, but come on its the Clydesdales! They have had the best commercials – the horse football teams (who can forget the one with the sheep streaker), the little foal wishing to grow up and be one of the majestic horses in the Budweiser harness, The Budweiser the donkey coveting to be a Budweiser Clydesdale, and even just the Budweiser Clydes hooked up to the cart delivering the Bud. Classic and traditional like Budweiser itself.

In full disclosure I do not drink, but I have friends who do! When we buy beer for parties it is always Budweiser and Corona (full disclosure here: I know Corona is not a Bud product). I am hoping to change the minds of the Budweiser execs and go with a Clydesdale commercial for the Super Bowl. It is going to be difficult, according to an MSNBC article, Budweiser going for laughs this Super Bowl, marketing exec Keith Levy stated that the Clydesdale ads did not pass consumer testing. That’s a shame, but I would like all you horse lovers, Super Bowl ad lovers and Budweiser lovers if you agree with me and wish to see the Clydesdales at the SuperBowl – give Budweiser a call and let them know – 1-800-DIAL-BUD Maybe we can make a difference as the final choices have not been made. We have until Feb 7th!

Budweiser Clydesdale Streaker Super Bowl XL Commercial

…

We discussed that her horse was still a little thin but was improved from the last time I saw the horse. We also discussed that the horse could use some fat supplement to help with weight gain without making the horse excitable especially since the horse is a Thoroughbred and might be a little tough to handle if she was loaded up on a lot of grain. That was all that was said.

The owner told the barn owner that I insisted the horse be fed a specific product! To make matters worse that product is not a fat supplement but rather a protein supplement – 32% protein to be exact. Now it may be that I misheard the horse owner when she mentioned fat supplements or she thought that this particular product was a fat supplement, but in any case I would not recommend feeding a protein supplement for weight gain in horses.

A horse requires 10 to 12% protein in its diet and that is all! It does not add any benefit to add more protein as the horse does not use it to build anymore muscle but rather turns it into energy. When the body turns the extra protein into energy it produces more urea nitrogen which then passes through the kidneys and creates that horrible ammonia urine smell. Two things that make this scenario bad. One is that the ammonia produced in the urine can cause irritation to the respiratory tract which can then make the horse more susceptible to respiratory tract infections, especially in the winter time in an enclosed barn. The other is a financial issue – protein is an expensive resource to be used for weight gain – carbohydrates and fat are both cheaper and fat is the preferred for horses.

So in case that client is reading this I hope it was just a misunderstanding. I do not want you to feed that 32% protein supplement to your horse, but rather I would like to see your horse fed a fat supplement with Probiotics – something like Advanced Biological Concept’s Energy (http://www.a-b-c-plus.com/)

Other Related Articles on Nutriton for Horses

Horse nutrition

When protein is fed beyond what the horse requires, the body uses it as an energy source and excretes the unused nitrogen in the urine. Although doing so does not harm the horse, protein is a very expensive energy source. …

Publish Date: 10/15/2009 13:07

http://petshub.com/blog/

Horse Nutrition Essentials

I find many horse owners are unsure on the basic essentials for nutrition for their horse. There are thousands of supplements out there and many, many.

Publish Date: 08/30/2007 14:58

http://www.horsekinetics.com/

How does it work? No one really has a definitive answer but there are some good theories and some good scientifically based research pointing to some very likely causes of the success of this treatment. One of the more prominent and most likely reasons for the reduction of pain and inflammation has to do with the calcium ion movement that an electrical field causes in the body. PEMF therapy causes a natural anti-inflammatory process to occur more rapidly. It binds Calcium and in a cascade of events produces Nitric Oxide (NO), a natural anti-inflammatory. NO then continues the natural healing process by reducing pain, improving blood flow, reducing swelling and helps in the production of a molecule called cGMP, a growth factor producer. This growth factor producer helps in the regeneration of blood vessels and tissue growth and remodeling.

In the past the machines that produced the electromagnetic fields were large and very powerful. New research however has suggested that the fields do not have to be so large to produce great healing effects. Also with the advancement of technology now we can produce a good healing PEMF with a very small device powered by simple batteries. One of the devices available for dogs and horses is made by the company ASSISI Animal Health. Assisi makes 2 types of units one for the veterinarian for use in the office and a portable PEMF unit for an owner to bring to the barn and do treatments themselves. Considering that treatments should be given for up to 15 min twice a day for 2 weeks or even longer for horses suffering with arthritis, the portable units are an excellent choice. The cost is about $250 for a unit which gives 90 15 min treatments which is about $2.75 a treatment and should last about 6 weeks.

One of my clients is currently using them for her dog with severe degeneration in its knee joints. The dog is doing very well with nutritional supplements and using the unit every other day for 15 minutes and no need for pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories, so there is no risk of stomach ulcers or liver damage.

PEMF is a great tool for veterinarians and horse owners in the treatment of pain. Check out Assisi they will send information to your veterinarian for you.

I belong to a group on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanbeatty) called This Business of Horses and wouldn’t you know it someone posted a question “Do you write a horse blog? Please let me know. Thanks!” Well 37 comments later and a whole bunch of blogs I have found a few blogs definitely worth following – here are a select few that I really liked -

Horse Life – Bitless, treeless and other riding advice and comments. I loved his recent post about Cold Weather care for the arthritic senior horse. Now I would say that any horse in cold weather should be treated the way he is suggesting in this post but especially our old timers. I would actually say they would need to be warmed uplonger in the weather that we have here in the winter. Overall, this is a good blog by Steve Wawryk, a Canadian horsemen who’s blog description states -

Horselife offers a wide range of products and services for the natural horsemanship enthusiast to the person who is interested in learning a no-nonsense approach to safe, balanced, real life riding.

Writing of Riding: My Equestrian Blog – A little artsy for my taste but a beautiful blog and well written. As Erica K. Frei the owner of this well crafted blog states “Here you can find my thoughts, theories and opinions on just about anything the comes to mind which could be remotely connected to horses.” and she is right there is a lot of information about a wide variety of topics on horses and horsemanship. Go check it out.

Stephanielynnperformance’s Blog – OK just for the Sheath Cleaning Song alone this blog gets my recommendation…too funny! I can not wait to see what else she has in store for us with this blog.

Barn Mice – I have to include this site because it is a collection of blogs related to horses and horsemanship – clever name as well, because like mice in a barn it is a community of people interested in horses. The main page has a bunch of good videos as well so check out the whole site as well as the list of blogs.

There are many more that I did not mention if you wish to see the whole list of blogs in the group just join the group on LinkedIn This Business of Horses or connect with me on LinkedIn via my profile – http://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanbeatty and we can get you into the group.

With all the changes we have done to the horse to compete in events maintaining proper movement can be difficult and it requires a team approach. You are the crew chief, the head honcho when it comes to your horse’s care. Of course, there will be people with more knowledge than you about the specifics of your horses movement but ultimately you are the decision maker – it is your horse, you need to process the information and make the best decision you can. In order to do this might I make some recommendations on who needs to be included on your team to allow your horse to have the best opportunity to maintain proper movement.

Nutrition – You barn manager and your vet or nutritionist

Hoof – Your farrier

Teeth – Your equine dentist

Tack Fit – Your saddle fitter/maker

Body – Your chiropractor and massage therapist

Riding – Your instructor and rider

Overall Health – Your veterinarian

Did you notice that I placed Your in front of each of these people? You are in charge – these people are there to guide you and work together as a team. Will they disagree? Many times they will it is up to you as the owner to make the best decisions for your horse. Even though you may have some disagreements all of these people need to be involved in your horses care to give your horse a chance of competing at the best of it ability. Think of your horse as a race car – a high end race car does not go to a race without a race team and neither should your horse.

The reason I bring this up is that many horse owners think of these practitioners only as individuals, however they are a team and you need to treat them as such. A properly working team knows what the other team members are doing in order to get the project (in this case your horse) to the best possible conclusion (in this case the best possible movement to compete). If you think of these practitioners as team members for your horse’s care you will do well to make better decisions in your horse’s care.

I am sure there are more than these three out there but since I have not received any insights from my readers as to what else they might be reading I will go with what I know – In no particular order here are the three -

The Jurga Report

Equid Blog

The Horse

These are the blogs that I read almost everyday. They provide good quality information and insight of your horses’s health. I may not always agree with what has been written on these blogs but overall it is great information.

Next I will be looking for some great blogs on other horse related topics like farriery – I think Fran Jurga will be in that list as well

Let me know what else you read, what is good out there, what deserves recognition as a great blog?

Thank you!