Regine Germies - Pferdetherapie & Reitercoaching

07/07/2025

🏝️ ☀️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭: 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 💦 🐴

Did you know that horses are one of the few animals that rely heavily on sweat to regulate body temperature, just like humans? In comparison, other mammals generally cool off by panting, seeking out shade, or rolling in the mud.

When horses exercise or face high heat and humidity, their bodies produce sweat. When the sweat reaches the skin’s surface, it evaporates. In order for water to transition from a liquid (sweat) to a gas, energy (in the form of heat) is required. That heat is pulled away from the body in a process known as evaporative cooling and effectively reduces the internal body temperature of the animal.

⚡ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭?

Horse sweat contains:
• Water
• Electrolytes (especially sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium)
• Latherin, a protein unique to horses that reduces surface tension of sweat and helps it spread across the coat for more efficient evaporation.

This is why sweaty horses often develop a white, foamy lather - that’s latherin in action!

💧 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭?

Horses in moderate work (in the absence of weather extremes) may lose 5 to 7 L (1.3 to 2 gallons) of sweat per hour while horses in a hot or humid conditions or in intense work may increase sweat production to 10 to 15 L (2.6 to 4 gallons) of sweat per hour. However, many variables can also impact the rate of sweat production including exercise intensity and duration, athletic fitness, climatic adaptation, and hair length.

⚠️ 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

Because horses lose so many electrolytes in sweat, excessive sweating without proper replenishment can lead to dehydration, muscle fatigue, or even heat stroke. This is especially true in hot, humid weather or during intense training. This is where an electrolyte supplement can play a role.

✅ 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐬

Horses at maintenance or in light work should receive enough electrolytes in a diet with adequate forage and supplemental salt. As sweating increases due to increased exercise intensity, temperature, and/or humidity, salt or electrolyte consumption should increase.

A variety of electrolyte supplements are available and one should be selected that mimics the electrolytes lost in sweat, primarily containing sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), and potassium (K). Electrolyte supplements with a high sugar content should be avoided as the electrolytes become too diluted. Additionally, KER performed some studies that found adding dextrose or starch to electrolyte mixes does not increase rate of absorption or retention of electrolytes in horses.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Horse sweat is more than just a sign of hard work, it's a vital survival mechanism. Since horses rely heavily on sweat to regulate their temperature, understanding how and why horses sweat helps us support their health, especially in the heat of summer.

Do you include electrolytes in your horse’s summer routine? I would love to hear your protocols!

Cheers,
Dr. DeBoer

McConaghy FF, Hodgson DR, Evans DL, Rose RJ. Effect of two types of training on sweat composition. Equine Veterinary Journal. 1995 May;27(S18):285-8.

Spooner HS, Nielsen BD, SCHOTT II HC, Harris PA. Sweat composition in Arabian horses performing endurance exercise on forage‐based, low Na rations. Equine Veterinary Journal. 2010 Nov;42:382-6.

https://ker.com/equinews/electrolyte-supplementation-horses-no-benefit-include-sugar/

26/06/2025

What if your “not quite a half pass” still counted?
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These 5 breakthroughs from our Half Pass Workshop changed everything for our riders — not because they made the movement look better, but because they made it feel clearer.⁠
⁠
✨ That first wobble? It means you’re in motion.⁠
✨ That subtle seat shift? It’s your horse’s favorite cue.⁠
✨ That feedback you get mid-stride? That’s the real training plan.⁠
⁠
We’re not teaching shapes. We’re building conversations.
⁠
🎓 Our full Training the Half Pass course opens June 30 — and it’s built for riders who want biomechanics, nuance, and clarity (not just “more bend”).⁠
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Come learn the why behind the movement — and how to teach it step by step:
👉 https://courses.artisticdressage.com/halfpass

29/05/2025

28/05/2025

Movement of the jaw is it really a precursor for relaxation ???

Discussion on only my thoughts as we always get hung up that manual handling is the only way a horse can "relax" 😁

We will always bring things from the human world to the horse's heck that's how I get to work horses for a living because someone once thought I wonder if we could do this to horses, I dont think its bad sometimes to anthropomorphise how we feel about something then think how does our horse feel with the same action i mean we might not do some awful things to horses if we just stopped for a moment and thought how would we feel.

But the head and tongue are probably the most manipulated place on the horse (probably why i spend so much time there), and relaxation is often the main answer to any of the questions without any real explanation as to why.

For me the truth about tongue position lies soley with the brain for tongue placement in the mouth is often a reflection of how the inside is reacting to the outside, hands, fingers, bits are all foreign objects that enter the oral cavity and the brains job through sensory innervation is to find out if it is edible because if not the instant reaction will be to try and eject it because simply the brain is trying to not die 😀 we are lucky we have the gag reflex and I wonder if horses had it would we be a little more cautious about what we stick in the mouth.
There may be no teeth on the bars but sitting above them is the vomeronasal organ which sends signals directly to the brain to respond behaviourly and hormonly to the stimuli it literally smells, so while you may think its only your fingers manipulating the bars or the tongue we first have to ask how offensive may our hands smell and while we may think we are relaxing the horse by manual techniques may help, has that beef sandwich we ate at lunch wafted upto the hypothalamus and setting off alarms deep in the brain and its why I no longer stick my fingers in the horses mouth lol, or may I add stick my hands under the horses nose for them to sniff because our hands do not reflect our scent they reflect what we ate lol, fun fact humans will always smell their hands after we shake someone else's because however sophisticated we think we are we still hold those primal senses.

Bitting is a fact of life for many horses and I do live in the real world and dont want to get into a debate about bitting or bitless because every piece of tack has its faults and I work in a world of it is what it is and how can I help rather than you must do something else to be better but logically speaking metal or any other material other than food will first bring alarm rather than relaxation to the horse, lowering the head to pressure is not relaxation it simply is the horse only had one choice that we decide and although externally we may feel relaxed in the posture we deem aesthetically pleasing it may not mean your horse feels the same, i just cant get it however way it is wrote that the brain recognises a foreign object and goes ahhh now we can relax, when we baulk at a hair in our mouth do we get used to it or is it offensive everytime we find it, why would it be different for a horse????

Grabbing the tongue, just no it simply serves no purpose and if you have seen how big the tongue is do we really think we are having so much influence on the hyoid by working on the part furthest away from from it, horses tongue's recoil when you grab and then we wait till it relaxes or again has the horse no choice but to let it go because it needs to swallow because to swallowing the tongue has to move back and up and the molars clench (try it yourself) it may also make you realise why some of those dressage horses are so frothy mouthed.
And again how do your hands smell to the horse going in fishing around for the tongue eurghh😀

We consistently think we know what's best for the horse when simply good movement of the jaw boils down to good dental health, good enviroment, the ability to chew fibre for the most part of the day, the ability to move for most of the day and whatever we do we marry up the in and outside of the horses body so a happy relaxed horse makes a happy relaxed jaw.

If we look at things with common sense and that we do things that may upset the balance then we will try our hardest to not to make ourselves believe that we control the tongue therefore we control the brain for the horse's brain will always override any manipulation of the tongue and probably internally do the opposite of what we are externally seeing

P.s editing to add the bumf about the reason why we do indeed smell our hands after a handshake because we do it subconsciously we may get a little taken aback at the suggestion but it is researched lol
There you go, we are animals in behaviour after all😃😃😃
Subconscious Behavior:
Research indicates that individuals may be unconsciously sniffing their hands after a handshake. This happens even if the person isn't consciously aware of smelling their hand.
Chemical Signals:
Handshakes transfer chemical signals, like pheromones, between people. These signals can provide information about the other person, such as their health, social status, or even attractiveness.
Social Context:
The frequency of hand-smelling after a handshake may be influenced by the social context, such as whether the handshake was in a public or private setting.
Body Language:
Studies have shown that individuals tend to touch their faces, including the nose, more frequently with the hand that didn't shake the other person's hand. This may be because they're using that hand to gather information about their own scent.

22/05/2025

08/05/2025

Reiten verboten, Führen erlaubt!

Bundesministerium stellt klar: Reiten verboten - Führen erlaubt
Eine Anfrage der VFD vom Januar 2020 führte zu einer bundesweiten Klarstellung des Verkehrszeichen "Verbot für Reiter". Laut Aussage de BMVI ist zwar Reiten auf den mit diesem Schild gekennzeichneten Wegen verboten, das Führen von Pferden umfasst das Verbot jedoch nicht.

Die Bedeutung des Verkehrszeichens 257-51 wurde immer wieder widersprüchlich interpretiert und in Veröffentlichungen kundgetan, so auch in einem Artikel des ADAC 2019. Worauf wir eine Anfrage
an das Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur (BMVI) Referat StV 12 stellten und das Verbot des Führens und des Reiten bestätigt wurde. Eine qualifizierte Gegendarstellung im Februar 2020 nahm das BMVI Ref‑StV 12 zum Anlass, die Frage im Bund‑Länder‑Fachausschuss‑Straßenverkehrs‑Ordnung auf die Tagesordnung zu setzen.

Das Ergebnis wurde mit Mail des BMVI Ref StV 12 vom 16.04.2021 zusammengefasst:
„(Anrede),
zur Frage, ob Zeichen 257-51 (Verbot für Reiter) auch ein Verbot des Führens von Pferden beinhaltet, wurden die Länder um schriftliche Stellungnahme gebeten. Im Ergebnis wurde die Auffassung vertreten, dass das „Reiten“ und das „Führen“ von Pferden unterschiedliche Handlungen darstellen, die rechtlich auch unterschiedlich zu bewerten sind. Dies hat auch in den einschlägigen Vorschriften der StVO seinen Niederschlag gefunden, indem der Begriff des Führens von Pferden nicht unter dem Begriff des Reitens subsumiert, sondern gesondert genannt wird (vgl. z. B. § 28 Abs. 2 StVO, Zeichen 238). Danach ist das Führen von Pferden auch nicht vom Regelungsgehalt des Zeichens 257-51 umfasst.“

Quelle: E-Mail des BMVI Ref StV 12 vom 16.04.2021

https://www.vfdnet.de/index.php/recht/reitrecht/11540-verkehszeichen-257-51-verbot-fuer-reiter

24/04/2025

Letztes Jahr im April hat’s bei uns in der Eifel nochmal geschneit.20 Grad im März, Frost im April – der Klassiker. Und mit dem Wetter kamen die Fragen.Frukt...

28/03/2025

Anmeldung ist für jedermann möglich!

Bitte geben Sie bei Paypal Zahlung (Freunde und Familie) im Feld Nachricht „Gebühr Farbseminar“ und Ihren Vor- und Nachnamen an.

22/12/2024

11/12/2024

How do hay nets on round bales impact the axial skeleton of the horse?

You all asked, and we delivered with more research! And I promise it has been worth the wait!

Last week, the second portion of our study evaluating hay nets was accepted into the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, and this time we teamed up with an equine chiropractor (thanks Dr. Taylor Rieck) to evaluate changes in the axial skeleton!

Introduction: Many horse owners use hay nets. As our last study demonstrated, they have many benefits including a reduction in hay waste and management of bodyweight and body condition scores. Additionally, we were able to explore the impacts on dental health and did not have any concerns regarding soft tissue damage, tooth wear, or dental abnormalities. But that has led us to our next question, can the act of eating hay from a hay net result in changes to the axial skeleton of the horse, specifically relating to the vertebral column?

Materials and Methods: Because I want this post to be able to stand alone (and some of you may have forgotten what we did since the last research post), I will start from the beginning and I apologize for repeating myself. Thirteen mature geldings were used in this study and assigned to treatments based on weight. The study began in September 2021 and all horses received dental work and were assigned to their treatments, seven started on the no hay net control (CON) and six started on the hay net (NET) treatment and all were fed grass round bales. In September 2022, horses received dental work again and switched treatments in the cross-over design. Throughout the study, these horses lived in identical neighboring pens with shelter, ad libitum water, and free choice grass round bales with the only difference being NET horses had their round bale hay placed in hay nets with 1.75”/4.45 cm openings (graciously provided by Hay Chix) while CON horses did not.

During this study, from May through August of both years, changes in the axial skeleton were evaluated. This time frame was chosen as horses were not being worked in undergraduate courses. In May, when the semester ended, an equine chiropractor adjusted all horses to get them to a baseline. Horses were then evaluated for range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds at 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks post-chiropractic adjustment. Cervical range of motion was evaluated using neck stretches for lateral movement as well as chin-to-chest, chin-to-knees, and chin-to-fetlocks. Pain pressure threshold was evaluated at different points on the body using a pressure algometer which documented the amount of pressure applied until the horse moved away to avoid the pressure. Additionally, another chiropractic adjustment took place at 12-weeks and subluxations (misalignment of bones) were documented and rated on a 0 to 3 scale to indicate none, minor, moderate, or severe subluxations. These scores were combined for each location or vertebral region (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral).

Results: There was an average 8% increase in cervical subluxations observed in NET horses (P0.05) and sacral vertebrae were not analyzed as no subluxations were found.

Another finding was that average cervical range of motion was 5 degrees greater in NET horses compared to CON horses for chin-to-chest and chin-to-fetlock measurements (P≤0.05). No differences were observed in pain-pressure thresholds when comparing treatments (P>0.05).

While not the initial objective of the study, we also saw decreased range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds over time regardless of treatment, which suggests the benefits of chiropractic - but I will save this topic for another post when I can dive into into it deeper!

Discussion: Our main findings were a slight increase in subluxations in the neck for NET horses alongside an increase in cervical range of motion. While these findings initially appear to contradict each other, previous research in humans has found that activities which stimulate voluntary neck movements utilizing a wide range of motion and postures can recruit and strengthen cervical muscles. As a result, prehending hay from a hay net may have simulated exercises to strengthen the neck in these horses, however, these movements may have simultaneously resulted in an increase in cervical subluxations.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that hay nets do have the ability to influence the axial skeleton of the horse with minor changes. However, the researchers believe that the proven benefits of hay nets, including reduced hay waste, prolonged feeding time, and weight management, outweigh any minor changes in the axial skeleton observed in this study. Additionally, results from this study suggest regular chiropractic work can be beneficial for horses regardless of hay net use!

What Next? While this study gathered some very useful information to create a foundation of knowledge, I would love to investigate hanging net height and hole size to determine how these factors may influence the axial skeleton and time to consumption for horses in the future!

Funding: This study was funded by the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and HayChix.

I hope you find these results as fascinating as we did! There is always so much to learn!

Cheers!
Dr. DeBoer

31/10/2024

🍃🐴🌳Oak Trees and Horses 🌳🐴🍃

By popular demand, we have another tree to talk about! Similar to maple trees, oak trees (Quercus spp.) are a common tree grown on horse properties that can also be toxic to horses.

Toxicity has been attributed to the presence of gallic and tannic acids in the leaves, buds, blossoms, and acorns of oak trees. However, the presence of these tannins, and ultimately their toxicity, changes across seasons. The buds, blossoms, and leaves are toxic in the spring with the leaves decreasing in toxicity as they age and mature. In comparison, the acorns are toxic in the fall with the greatest toxicity observed when they are immature and green. Similar to the leaves, acorns become less toxic as they age and mature acorns have been shown to have little to no toxicity to livestock.

Acorn toxication has primarily been studied in ruminants, including cattle and sheep, while little is known on the development of this condition in horses. In other species, the condition has been attributed to the presence of tannins, which combine with proteins (such as enzymes), in the digestive tract. These resulting processes have a negative impact on the digestive tract of the animal through the development of lesions on the intestinal lining, alteration of digestion, and their impact on gut microbes. Additionally, affected horses often go into kidney failure. As a result, horses can display clinical signs including lethargy, colic, diarrhea, increased heart rate, and jaundice or pale mucous membranes.

Overall, acorn toxicity is rare in horses but ingestion can be a serious issue when it occurs. A study in France reported a 44% survival rate when 25 horses were evaluated over 7 years. This study found that most horses exhibited acorn toxicity in the fall, specifically between mid-September and late October. The survival rate was greater for younger horses, with mortality increasing in horses older than 13 years of age.

While horses typically do not choose to eat enough acorns to be concerned of a toxicity, we do not yet know the exact amount that will lead to this condition. However, the greatest risks will occur when horses have access to oak trees alongside inadequate forage availability, which often occurs during periods of drought or when the pastures become overgrazed.

As a result, horses owners can work to prevent acorn intoxication by fencing around oak trees, keeping oak branches trimmed and out of reach of horses, removing horses from pastures with green acorns in the fall or young leaves, buds or blossoms in the spring, and ensuring horses have adequate access to forage throughout the year, especially in the fall when pastures are often overgrazed and acorns may be present.

I hope this information helps as you strive to keep your horse(s) as happy and healthy as possible!

Dr. DeBoer

Hermange T, Ruault B, Couroucé A. Retrospective Study of 25 Cases of Acorn Intoxication Colitis in Horses between 2011 and 2018 and Factors Associated with Non-Survival. Animals. 2024 Feb 12;14(4):599.