Horse Care and Health Tips

So you want to start a horse business? That is great news! There are tons of successful businesses in the equine industry. First thing is first. You need to decide on a specialty and figure out how you will get started financially. Will you go at it alone, or with a partner? What kind of liability do you need? Below are the types of companies that you can have, along with the advantages and disadvantages. Advantages and disadvantages of the 6 types of business: Sole Proprietorship Advantages: Easiest, losses may be deducted from personal income, least expensive Disadvantages: Owner has unlimited liability, no protection from a company, raising capital can be difficult.  General partnership: Advantages: Shared expenses, each partner has equal say in management decisions, losses may still be deducted from personal income. Disadvantages: Each partner has unlimited liability for the partnership, must file separate tax return, must contribute, borrow or raise capital. Limited Partnershi...

If you are planning your first endurance ride, training your horse for a long ride is key in ensuring a safe and successful ride. Your horse needs to be conditioned for that kind of distance. One thing I did not know prior to going on my first ride, is that you cannot walk the entire thing and finish in time. You should attempt to maintain a trotting pace the majority of the time. You should also be sure that you have the proper equipment for the ride. I personally like Biothane bridles, a Dixi Midnight pad, and a Skitto pad with my Bob Marshall Saddle. I use Renegade hoof boots to protect my mares feet. Training for a ride like that can not be taken lightly. I personally like to do 10 mile rides at a trot/lope pace. I don't get to ride as often as I would like, so I have to make the most of my time in saddle. A good training plan might start with 3-5 days a week. Here are some sample goals for training, obviously walk through obstacles and on hard ground, but this is a general ...

1    It is important for horse owners to be able to identify when their horses need medical treatment. 2 Every horse should be vaccinated for Equine Influenza, Tetanus, Encephamyelitis Other horses who are exposed, should be vaccinated for strangles, rabies, rhinopneumonitis, anthrax -Anthrax- Cause: A bacteria that can be picked up ingesting it or from biting insects. Symptoms: Fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain, which will later lead to swelling around the neck, mammary glands and sheath. Treatment: The horse will need massive doses of antibiotics - EIA Cause: Viral disease contracted from contaminated needles and biting insects, especially flies. Symptoms: Flu like symptoms, fever, depression, weakness, poor appetite, weight loss and anemia. Edema may appear under the skin in the chest, abdomen, legs and scrotum. Treatment: Horses are isolated and typically put down. -Encephalomyelitis Cause: Mosquito bites. The virus can live in wild birds, rodents and other animals, ...

Many people wonder what to look for when buying a horse. Often, new buyers look for a nice temperament and solid training on the ground and in the saddle. They may overlook illnesses, and genetic disease.  Genetic defects usually only show up from line-breeding or inbreeding. The two that have shown up from line-breeding were hidden from the public for years to protect big breeders. HYPP and HERDA. HYPP-Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis Disease is a disease of the muscles, not the nerves, but the symptoms look like a nerve problem. It is a defect in the cells that cause them to allow too much sodium to enter the cell.  This creates too much “voltage” in the cell which causes twitching or muscle weakness. Some horses have been found dead in their stalls from tremor attacks. It mostly affects horses with “Impressive” in their bloodlines. Impressive’s DNA shows that he goes back to Three Bars several times. as he is line bred. Since then, the AQHA will not let you register an Impre...

Emergencies, the one thing that every horse owner fears. You come home from work and your horse is down in the field with colic. Or perhaps you approach your horse who has blood everywhere and you see that he ran through a t-post. Maybe you are at a ride and your horse experiences severe dehydration and thumps. There are so many things that can go wrong, we need to be aware of what to look for and know how to react to be able to save our companions and pets.  The leading emergency: Colic. If you are reading this, it is probably because you think your horse is colicky. I know how scary this is. First, look at the symptoms and determine how serious it is.  Is he laying down, and trying to roll, biting at his sides, lethargic with head hanging low and not willing to move? (think of how a person gets with a stomach ache, doubled over holding sides, laying still, lethargic, don't want to move) If this is the case, determine severity: Did he roll a lot or a little? Can he get up and...

Vaccines There are different types of vaccines: Inactivated or killed vaccines contain some of the target organism that has been killed. Modified live vaccines use an actual live organism that has been modified during manufacturing so that it can replicate in the animals body without getting it sick. Recombinant vaccines are the newest products that splices gene sized fragments of DNA from the virus or bacteria, and delivers the fragments to the horse where it stimulates immunity to the disease without the risk of reactions associated with the other types of vaccines. Then there are the core (highly recommended vaccines) and the non-core (recommended based on environment and location) vaccines. Core include Eastern, Western and West Nile encephalomyelitis and tetanus. Non-Core include Rhino, Strangles, Equine Influenza, and Rabies. If you plan to breed, you should include Rhino and Equine viral arteritis. Vaccines are given in the muscle, typically in the neck or rump. Be sure that whe...

We all love our horses and the last thing we want to see is a sick horse, especially when it is ill with something that could have been prevented with a simple vaccination. Understanding what can infect your horse will help you make a better decision on the vaccines you should give. Most infectious diseases are transmitted from one animal to another by infected urine, feces or other bodily secretions, or inhaling pathogen-laden droplets in the air. Others are transmitted by insects and ticks. Some of the more common infectious diseases, their symptoms and treatment are below: Salmonellosis is normally contracted by food and causes infectious diarrhea in adult horses. Onset is sudden and is accompanied by a high fever, colic, and foul-smelling watery green to brown diarrhea. This causes rapid dehydration and they should be seen by a vet asap for rehydration and antibiotics. Banamine and DMSO can be given through IV to mitigate effects. Strangles is an upper respiratory and throat infect...

Cold-blooded, Hot-blooded, and Warm-blooded, none of these terms have anything to do with the horses blood at all. Rather, they are terms used to describe breed types. Hot-blooded breeds include Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Barbs, Turks, Syrians, or a mixture of those breeds. The heavy drafts and cross-bred horses are often considered cold-blooded, while Hanoverians, Trakeheners and Dutch warmbloods are warm-blooded, which can trace their roots back to drafts with refinement from hot-blooded breeds, most commonly Arabians and Thoroughbreds.

You go out, saddle up your horse, walk her into the arena, and start trotting, you notice her head is bobbing and realize she is limping. Now to figure out which leg/foot, and what caused it. Lameness is such a broad topic, I am going to break it up into more than one post. This one will focus on locating the pain. This is a picture of my mare that had white line disease in her front right foot from a hot nail, then her low heel on the other foot helped her get a stone bruise, and it has just been non-stop injury with her front legs since I pulled her shoes off. You may wonder how the heck I figured that out. First you want to get an idea if it is in the front or back. Then on the ground, ask her to trot. Pay close attention to when her head bobs down. If it is a hind leg, it will bob down when the hurt leg/foot hits the ground. If it is a front leg, it will bob down when the sound front leg hits the ground, therefore it will be the opposite leg. Now that you have hopefully identified ...

Parasites are an ongoing issue that we have to deal with as horse owners. Understanding the parasites that affect your horse can greatly help you decide how to best treat and maintain a healthy horse.  All horses have parasites, some are helpful to the horse, while others are harmful. Parasites can reduce efficiency and performance in a horse, cause weakness, poor coat and appearance, and can cause your horse to rub his tail off or even die.  The most common symptom of an infestation is ribs showing with a distended belly.  Horses suffer from both internal and external parasites, some live at least part of their life cycle inside of the horse. These parasites affect the digestive tract, lungs, bloodstream, and body cavity. Understanding the life cycle of the parasites can significantly increase your chances of winning the parasite battle.  A few key things that you need to know: No horse is ever completely free of parasites, luckily, only a few can cause serious dama...

Vitamins and Minerals are essential in your horses diet. The better that you understand the horses needs, the better you can identify deficiencies, and avoid toxicities. There are two kinds of vitamins, fat soluble and water soluble. Basically, the fat soluble vitamins A,D, E, and K, are absorbed into the horses fat, while others like  Vitamins B, C, Riboflavin,   are water soluble and cannot cause toxicities. Your horse needs the following vitamins, which can be found from the following sources. I have also included a description of what to look for if the horse has a vitamin deficiency. Mineral Function Deficiency Calcium Muscle and heart contractions, blood clotting, nerve function, 35% of bone structure Metabolic bone diseases Phosphorus Energy utilization, metabolism of phospholipids, nucleic acids and phosphoproteins Bone disorders, with the severity based on age of horse Potassium Muscle activity, especially cardiac Lack of f...