O2i Equine Massage Therapy

20/04/2024

Please share, spread the word and join! I look forward to it!

02/12/2023

Top tip for anyone exercising outdoors this morning:

01/12/2023

Excellent point…

Also worth remembering to factor for the respiratory issues that can be caused by hard and fast exercise in temperatures below 5c (but also bear in mind that the temperature in an indoor arena and the external temperature may not be the same (if you are lucky enough to have use of an indoor)

19/10/2023

An unfortunate incident rather than guaranteed to happen but I would rather risk a rubbed tail…

30/08/2023

If Carl's excited, we should all be excited. How do you think the British team of Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Lottie Fry and Gareth Hughes Dressage will fare at the European Dressage Championships?

24/01/2023

Excellent advice.

Also I would add that x-rays are only totally valid on the day they are taken, an accident can happen straight afterwards, even good x-rays offer no future guarantee...

Equine Veterinary Practice specialising in performance horses, practicing all over the world.

20/05/2022

Absolutely true, something all owners, buyers and vets should be mindful of...

If you take a look at Asih’s passport, you get a glimpse of a horse who’s seen it all, including the 2012 Olympic Games in London. From Burghley to Badminton, Asih, called “The Champ,” has one very impressive resume. But the CV doesn’t tell the whole story. Despite his eventing success, As...

03/08/2021

Absolutely the best advice possible for cooling horses.

In simple terms - hose and don't scrape. If they are in distress hose, hose and hose without stopping...

COOLING HOT HORSES - THE STATE OF THE ART (UPDATED)

*** PLEASE SHARE ***

As there has been a lot of discussion on this topic around the cooling of horses at the Tokyo Olympics I have added some more explanation and I'm reposting.

WHY DO WE NEED TO COOL HORSES AFTER EXERCISE OR IF THEY GET TOO HOT?
-Horses produce heat 3-5 times faster on a per kg basis than we do
-Although horses are 6-7 times heavier, they only have 2 to 2.5 times as much surface area
-The majority of heat (~85%) is lost at the body surface
-Heat loss is also impaired in horses because they are covered in hair
-Horses can sweat faster than any other animal
-Sweating is efficient but slow
-Cooling with cold water is fast
-When horses compete in hot climates they can struggle to cool down after
-We cool them down with cold water (less than 15°C/60°F) to reduce the risk of heat illness and because there is no advantage to them being hot and uncomfortable after exercising. The quicker they cool, the quicker they drink, eat and recover.
-The methods to cool them are now well understood.

Since Atlanta 1996 we have known that using continuous application of cold water (less than 15°C/60°F) all over the horses body without scraping is the most effective way to cool down horses that are moderately to severely hyperthermic (re**al temperature in excess of ~40°C/104°F), especially in hot or hot/humid conditions.

The sources for this evidence are:

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLISHED PAPERS
1) Williamson, L.S., White, S., Maykuth, P., Andrews, F., Sommerdahl, C. and Green, E. Comparison between two post exercise cooling methods. Equine Vet J., 27(S18), 337-340.
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/7MBUJJWJZPVWQKTNIJWN?target=10.1111/j.2042-3306.1995.tb04948.x

2) Marlin, D. J., Scott, C. M., Roberts, C. A., Casas, I., Holah, G., & Schroter, R. C. (1998). Post exercise changes in compartmental body temperature accompanying intermittent cold water cooling in the hyperthermic horse. Equine veterinary journal, 30(1), 28–34.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9458396/

3) Kohn, C.W., Hinchcliff, K.W. and McKeever, K.H. (1999) Evaluation of washing with cold water to facilitate heat dissipation in horses exercised in hot, humid conditions. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 01 Mar 1999, 60(3):299-305. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10188810/

4) Takahashi, Y., Ohmura, H., Mukai, K., Shiose, T., & Takahashi, T. (2020). A Comparison of Five Cooling Methods in Hot and Humid Environments in Thoroughbred Horses. Journal of equine veterinary science, 91, 103130.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32684268/

5) Kang, H., Zsoldos, R.R., Skinner, J.E., Gaughan, J.B. and Guitart, A.S. (2021) Comparison of post-exercise cooling methods in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 100 (2021) 103485
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103485

DATA COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT
a) Atlanta 1995 Olympic Test Event
b) Atlanta 1996 Olympics
c) Athens 2003 Olympic Test Event
d) Athens 2004 Olympics
e) Beijing 2007 Olympic Test Event
f) Beijing 2008 Olympics
g) Tryon 2018 World Equestrian Games
h) Tokyo 2019 Olympic Test Event
i) Tokyo 2020(1) Olympic Games Dressage and Eventing

Cooling hot horses with cold water DOES NOT
1) cause muscle damage
2) cause laminitis
3) induce shock
4) give horses heart attacks
5) prevent them from cooling by constriction of skin blood flow

Water left on horses DOES NOT
1) insulate and prevent heat loss
2) cause them to overheat

It is NOT MORE EFFECTIVE TO
1) start at the feet and work up
2) scrape water off whilst cooling (it causes them to warm up)
3) focus on large blood vessels
4) cover the horse with wet towels
5) place ice on large blood vessels near the surface such as the jugular veins or femoral arteries
6) put ice in the re**um
7) rely on misting fans

*** PLEASE SHARE ***

01/07/2021

If you ever are in the unfortunate position that your horse (or dog, or a person) is in serious distress due to overheating THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW !

COOLING HOT HORSES - THE STATE OF THE ART

*** PLEASE SHARE ***

Since Atlanta 1996 we have known that using continuous application of cold water without scraping is the most effective way to cool down horses that are moderately to severely hyperthermic (re**al temperature in excess of ~40°C/104°F), especially in hot or hot/humid conditions.

The sources for this evidence are:

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLISHED PAPERS
1) Williamson, L.S., White, S., Maykuth, P., Andrews, F., Sommerdahl, C. and Green, E. Comparison between two post exercise cooling methods. Equine Vet J., 27(S18), 337-340.
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2042-3306.1995.tb04948.x

2) Marlin, D. J., Scott, C. M., Roberts, C. A., Casas, I., Holah, G., & Schroter, R. C. (1998). Post exercise changes in compartmental body temperature accompanying intermittent cold water cooling in the hyperthermic horse. Equine veterinary journal, 30(1), 28–34.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9458396/

3) Kohn, C.W., Hinchcliff, K.W. and McKeever, K.H. (1999) Evaluation of washing with cold water to facilitate heat dissipation in horses exercised in hot, humid conditions. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 01 Mar 1999, 60(3):299-305. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10188810/

4) Takahashi, Y., Ohmura, H., Mukai, K., Shiose, T., & Takahashi, T. (2020). A Comparison of Five Cooling Methods in Hot and Humid Environments in Thoroughbred Horses. Journal of equine veterinary science, 91, 103130.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32684268/

5) Kang, H., Zsoldos, R.R., Skinner, J.E., Gaughan, J.B. and Guitart, A.S. (2021) Comparison of post-exercise cooling methods in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 100 (2021) 103485
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103485

DATA COLLECTED & ANALYSED AT
a) Atlanta 1995 Olympic Test Event
b) Atlanta 1996 Olympics
c) Athens 2003 Olympic Test Event
d) Athens 2004 Olympics
e) Beijing 2007 Olympic Test Event
f) Beijing 2008 Olympics
g) Tryon 2018 World Equestrian Games
h) Tokyo 2019 Olympic Test Event

Cooling hot horses with cold water DOES NOT
1) cause muscle damage
2) cause laminitis
3) induce shock
4) give horses heart attacks
5) prevent them from cooling by constriction of skin blood flow

Water left on horses DOES NOT
1) insulate and prevent heat loss
2) cause them to overheat

It is NOT MORE EFFECTIVE TO
1) start at the feet and work up
2) scrape water off whilst cooling (it causes them to warm up)
3) focus on large blood vessels
4) cover the horse with wet towels

*** PLEASE SHARE ***

12/06/2021

This pretty well sums up why I won't ride on the road any more....

And as for the riders not saying thank you, why is that an excuse to put someone's life at risk? If another driver doesn't say thank you if I let them out at a junction I don't risk driving into their car... 🤔

It's Friday evening and EVERYONE wants to get home.

This evening, circumstances meant I had to take Orion on the main 30mph road (alone) with drivers travelling at 40mph+. I appreciate everyone has different views regarding horses on the road. But, trust us. We don't want to be there either!

Naturally I didn't position myself in the bike lane. I instead rode in the middle of the lane, to the dismay of several cars. The reason I did this is because it discourages drivers from overtaking at speed. It forces them to slow down and wait for a safe opportunity to pass. This isn't me being ignorant and thinking that I "own the road". Believe it or not we do this for the safety of everyone involved. Shock horror.

"Pass wide and slow" doesn't mean pass wide and fast. Nor does it mean pass close and slow. This evening an oncoming police car had to stop traffic and educate several road users and remind them of the highway code.

In 2020 1,037 incidents where reported to the BHS (British Horse Society). 81% of this figure was due to vehicles passing too closely. Shockingly nearly half was due to road rage. These figures barely scratch the surface of incidents that go unreported.

80 horses died with 136 injured and 1 rider killed. These statistics don't included injured drivers or written off cars.

Another argument I hear is that not all horse riders are polite and say thank you. Please consider that it isn't safe for riders to take one hand off the reins and sometimes you don't deserve a thank you.

Motorists (I stress not all) see a rider on the road and focus on the horse. That annoying stupid animal that is getting in the way of that 7pm beer after a stressful day. What they forget to remember is there is also another human being involved. A person who has friends and family waiting for them to come home...safely. That person also wants to get their horse back to the farm safely.

Most people don't realise that the majority of riders are insured to ride on the road, incase of these incidents. However we would prefer not to use our insurance or call the fire brigade to drag our dead friends out of your windscreen.

Most road users have little to none experience around horses and that's ok. I don't have any experience or understanding of people's love for golf but here we are.

The picture below shows Orion standing next to the average UK car. Just take a moment and think about the size difference and how passing at speed over 15mph gives you absolutely no reaction time. I guarantee you also wouldn't make it home to your family. For the sake of taking your foot off the gass for a minute.

You wouldn't stand on the platform edge whilst a train passed at speed. So, please don't make us experience this on an animal who is fighting it's instinct to keep us safe.

I was concerned and shocked that some drivers (this evening) didn't understand my hand signals despite this being part of the theory test and common sense.

The saying is "kill your speed, not my horse" but I think it's more relevant to say: kill your speed, not everyone involved.

Please, let's just get home safe.

Pub anyone?

The British Horse Society

08/06/2021

And further evidence to support why horses need massages - and cows generally don't 😂

I just had to share this..."Im fairly new to the cattle thing but a life long horse owner. Starting to question whether I’ve been under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug most of my life. Some early observations on the differences:
🐎 Put one mare out with one stallion, all hell let’s loose. Mare threatens to come through the fence or over the gate, all at 400 mph. My heart rate peaks at 1257 bpm and I have no fingernails left. After what feels like an eternity they calm down. Mare lame. Multi million pound vet bill pending.
🐄 Put one bull out with 18 cows. Complete non event. Absolutely nothing to report.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
🐎Remove one horse from ‘friend’ that it has always hated. Absolute pandemonium ensues. Life flashes before my eyes and I remember I must renew the life insurance if I survive this.
🐄Remove one cow from entire herd. Comes quietly for handful of beef nuts.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
🐎Horses breakout of field. Horses have complete meltdown at lack of boundaries. No amount of ‘woahing’ or bucket shaking will calm them. After many laps of the farm they forget why they are running. Two are lame, one is tying up, one suspected soft tissue injury and one half hearted attempt at a colic. Further multi million pound vet bill pending.
🐄Cattle break out of field. Ringleader is wearing the 7 bar gate as a necklace. All cows congregate approximately 2 ft from field at nearest grass verge. Remove necklace from ringleader. Not a mark to be seen. Wave magic blue wand. All cows returned to field.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
🐎Comes in from field with 1cm scratch that has barely removed hair. Immediately clean, apply bandage, check available balance on credit card. Next morning horse can only stand on 3 legs. Call vet and priest. After all, horse will require many millions in vets bills and divine intervention to recover from its scratch.
🐄Comes in missing a leg with rusted barbed wire embedded in the wound. Call vet who says there’s no need for him to come out and will put up antibiotics for you to collect. Return to administer antibiotics to find cow has miraculously regrown leg and shows no sign injury or lameness. Stash antibiotics in medicine cupboard with the rest of the hoard."

05/06/2021

Having come close to being run over by more than one horse (even complete with a sober jockey) I would possibly question the validly of the first claim but everything else I wholeheartedly agree with

05/05/2021

We absolutely love this..!! Even when they are "just"(as if...) our work partners we all love our ponies !!

From The Times, the caption reads:

"One of the Kings Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, and her mount prepare for their first general officer commanding inspection in two years at Woolwich."

18/02/2021

There has been an increase in stories on social media about members of the public feeding or interfering with people's horses and ponies. In this short and simple poll we want to gauge how big a problem this is and if it has become worse during COVID.The law of trespass applies to the whole of the

17/02/2021

To do my bit and pay it forward in the best way I can I would like to offer sponsorship of a local riding school in the form of FREE Sports Massage treatments and Equine Pilates sessions for your school horses and ponies to help keep them as fit and healthy as possible during this difficult time.

If you run or work at a riding school in the South and would like to have chat about how I can help and what I can offer, or if you would like to nominate a school to receive sponsorship please send me a message.

The fantastic Pammy Hutton and Talland School of Equitation are amongst those doing their utmost to highlight the plight of local riding schools all over the country who have been so unfairly affected by the lockdown rules this past year in comparison to other sports and activities - one to one lessons in outdoor schools are a really low risk activity, a good form of exercise and for schools with limited staff, winter time without structured exercise for the horses is a serious welfare concern...

Lets all help spread the word of this situation and encourage others to help in any way the can, as suggested by Pammy and her colleagues.

23/12/2020

Absolutely love Charlie's work, beautiful words and art, and very appropriate for current times

22/12/2020

Fantastic Christmas giveaway from one of my clients. Definitely worth entering !

20/12/2020

Stuck for a Christmas gift idea for your horse owning friends?

How about a voucher for an Equine Sports Massage?

Vouchers available for any amount. £50 will cover a full treatment.

Available now. Debit/credit cards or Bacs payments accepted.

DM me for more info.

Canine Massage vouchers also available.

18/12/2020

Fantastic quote and a thought provoking article...

https://m.facebook.com/equitationscienceinternational/photos/a.805017562879198/3667867933260799/?type=3

16/12/2020

Such a sad loss of a real superstar on Monday... 💔

Godnight Totilas

10/12/2020

I had the pleasure of treating this little beauty this week - as you can see it's not just the sports stars that benefit from massage.

Pic 3 - She really enjoyed her poll relaxation, just look at that smile!

09/12/2020

I'm pretty sure at the end of this you can hear *Dr M drops mic*

We love what you do Sir!

MOJO EQUINE (IN)SANITY CHECK!

MOJO - "ATP is the energy unit stored in all cells, particularly muscle cells."
DR_DAVID_MARLIN - And we start with true. Can't argue with this statement. Well almost. It's not "THE energy unit". There are various forms of stored energy - glycogen, glucose, fat and energy intermediates e.g. phosphocreatine.

MOJO - "To help equines recover faster, horse trainers and owners can utilise ATP supplements."
DR_DAVID_MARLIN - No. They can't. ATP does not cross cell membranes. That's why it's in cells. It's the phosphate part that keeps it in cells. So no, you can't feed ATP supplements or even inject them. Of course, like creatine, which horses can't absorb, you'll find plenty of supplements with ATP in and ATP for injection.

MOJO - "ATP is considered stored energy because a horse's body saves it to make it available for immediate use."
DR_DAVID_MARLIN - But glycogen and fat are also stored energy. It's true that ATP is the immediate source used by cells and when ATP is broken down to ADP it has to be "recharged" from these energy stores.

MOJO - "Mojo horse products increase the production of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through biological signalling, creating a link/signal to the body helping to improve functions enhancing the internal environment"
DR_DAVID_MARLIN - OK, now we are into science fiction, well fiction. Or is it April 1st? LOVE to see the evidence for this one. Nobel prize awaiting MOJO if they have cracked this one.

Score - D. Must try harder.

08/12/2020

Very interesting development that could impact anyone without AC in their lorry or trailer... Although it states for economic purposes, would competing come under this? Sales transport presumably would? As usual lots of grey areas and perhaps not the clearest of legislation.

But thank you again Dr David Marlin for interpreting it for us all

DEFRA PROPOSALS FOR TEMPERATURES IN WHICH YOU CAN TRANSPORT HORSES & PONIES COULD HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS!

DEFRA Consultation on improvements to animal welfare in transport!

DEFRA have just published their consultation document with the changes they propose to the regulations concerning transport of live chickens, pigs, cattle, sheep and of course, horses, are also included in this. However, horses only come under the proposed legislation if its an "economic activity".

One important aspect is the environmental temperatures in which animals can be transported. I was involved in this project (Defra project AW0939, Review to appraise the evidence for acceptable temperature envelopes for horses, sheep, pigs, cattle and goats during transport) back in 2008 and advised on the temperature envelope for horses.

The acceptable range of temperature for LONG journeys was alreayd enshrined in COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97.....

"3. Ventilation for means of transport by road and temperature monitoring. 3.1. Ventilation systems on means of transport by road shall be designed, constructed and maintained in such way that, at any time during the journey, whether the means of transport is stationary or moving, they are capable of maintaining a range of temperatures from 5°C to 30°C within the means of transport, for all animals, with a +/- 5°C tolerance, depending on the outside temperature."

HOWEVER, in the consultation document, DEFRA propose to extend the 5°C-30°C restriction to both SHORT and LONG JOURNEYS.

"40. In the light of this, we are proposing that no livestock or horse journeys will be allowed to take place if the forecast external temperature for the journey is outside of a temperature
range of 5-30°C, unless the vehicle is able to regulate the internal temperature within a 5-30°C temperature range for the duration of the journey by means of a thermo-regulation system. This will apply to BOTH SHORT and LONG JOURNEYS."

I was not involved in the most recent DEFRA review or this consultation document.

Many factors determine welfare during transport, including duration of travel, environmental conditions (not just air temperature, but also humidity, ventilation, condition/age/fitness/coat length/body condition score, etc of the horses or ponies, type of vehicle).

It's also unclear to me why the original EU regulation and DEFRA document have adopted 5-30°C as the envelope given the horses thermoneutral range is typically considered to be 5-25°C (Morgan 1998).

Perhaps its time for horses to no longer be considered with "farm", i.e. food, animals and to be given their own separate legislation?

As the current and new legislation applies to horses being transported in connection with "an economic acitivity", this would not apply to non-professional horse owners but would presumably apply to those involved in any form of breeding for sale, racing and professional riders. It could however affect you if you pay someone to transport your horse for you.

YOU CAN GIVE YOUR VIEWS TO DEFRA HERE> https://consult.defra.gov.uk/transforming-farm-animal-health-and-welfare-team/improvements-to-animal-welfare-in-transport/consultation/intro/

SOURCES
Original EU Regulation COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32005R0001&from=en

DEFRA Consultation Documenthttps://consult.defra.gov.uk/transforming-farm-animal-health-and-welfare-team/improvements-to-animal-welfare-in-transport/supporting_documents/consultationonimprovementstoanimalwelfareintransport.pdf

Morgan, K. (1998) Thermoneutral zone and critical temperatures of horses, Journal of Thermal Biology, Volume 23, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 59-61
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306456597000478

02/12/2020

Congratulations to Hollie, what a fabulous list of achievements!

What a year for Hollie Doyle...

🏆 British Champions Sprint
👏🏼 Record number of winners ridden in a year by a female in Britain
😲 First female to ride five winners in a day

And she's now been awarded the Sunday Times Sportswoman Of The Year award. Absolutely incredible and a credit to the sport 👏🏼

23/11/2020

What body type is yours?

21/07/2020

So in really simple terms we shouldn't ride...

But if we do, the weight and balance of a rider, combined with distribution of the force and the gait at which we ride are all important factors.

So if your saddle doesn't fit correctly, you as a rider are a little unbalanced at times, your horse is unlevel or asymmetrical (which most are) then surely this proves how much your horse will appreciate a regular massage to keep them supple and comfortable?!

WHY WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT RIDER FORCES & NOT RIDER WEIGHT!

For the next discussion on saddles, backs, riders and horses I want to raise one aspect of rider weight! It’s a topic that has been debated extensively in recent years. So let’s first assume that we have sound horses and riders with good core stability riding in appropriately fitted saddles. Does it make a difference if the rider is 50kg or 100kg?

TENDON & JOINT LOADING
A 500kg horse carrying a 50kg rider would be carrying 10% of its own bodyweight. At 100kg that’s 20% of its own bodyweight. Horses evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to carry…..0% their bodyweight. We could argue that in the past few thousand years, we have selectively bred them to carry weight, although perhaps not that successfully. Any weight added on the horse loads the back muscles, which were not designed to carry weight and loads the horse's shock absorbing system in the limbs – the joints and tendons.

BACK LOADING
There is a big difference between sitting on a saddle stationary and moving up and down in the saddle. This is because when in motion the forces on the back are increased due to acceleration. This is why we should talk of FORCE and not WEIGHT.

WEIGHT = mass (kg) x gravity (g). Mass is how much of us there is and weight is what we measure due to our mass being pulled down to the earth by gravity. On the surface of the earth we take gravity to be 1g or 9.8 metres/second/second. CLARIFICATION - Weight is a confusing term because in everyday use we measure it in kg but in scientific terms we refer to it in Newtons (Force). In the context of when there is a static mass on the Earths surface, weight and mass are actually the same. They only become different once the mass starts to move.

FORCE = mass (kg) x acceleration (g). So we also measure acceleration in g, the same as gravity. So a rider sitting still on a non-moving horse applies a Force equal to their mass (equivalent to weight x 1g) but as a rider moves up and down on a horse then the Force on the horses back increases. So if the rider is moving up and down at 2g then the Force on the horse is doubled. In this case we are looking at the total Force on the horses back. We typically measure Force in Newtons. If we want to know what that is per unit of area, then we have to look at Pressure (which we save for another post).

So why is WEIGHT, ACCELERATION & FORCE important?

50kg RIDER at CANTER
Downwards maximum acceleration of 3g
PEAK FORCE on the horses back = 3 x 9.8 x 50
= 1470 Newtons

100kg RIDER at TROT
Downwards maximum acceleration of 1.5g
PEAK FORCE on the horses back = 1.5 x 9.8 x 100
= 1470 Newtons

So the impact on the horses back and limbs is a combination of many factors including...
• MASS (Weight) of Rider
• VERTICAL MOTION OF Rider

WEIGHT (as in common use to mean kg of rider) is therefore only one factor to consider! We should really be discussing FORCE! Not to mention Saddle Contact Area and Pressure which we will save for another day.

12/06/2020

And another one...

Thank you Dr David Marlin.

*** FACT CHECK ***

A post by Topspec concerning the use of tryptophan and other ingredients in Topspec Calmer states..

⚫ THE CLAIMS
(1) The key to using tryptophan as a calmer is to use lower levels.

(2) Effective calmers need to include tryptophan, B Vitamins, magnesium, protected yeast and MOS.

(3) Topspec calmer contains tryptophan, B Vitamins, magnesium, protected yeast and MOS.

⚫ EVIDENCE
(1) Tryptophan in low doses has been shown to cause excitement in horses. Higher doses have been shown to have no effect.

(2) There is no published evidence to support the use of any of these ingredients as calmers in horses.

⚫ CONCLUSIONS
Topspec's statement that "The key with tryptophan is to use a lower but effective level..." is not supported by data. In fact, published evidence points to the opposite effect i.e. that low doses cause excitement.

There is no evidence to suggest that "Effective calmers need to include tryptophan, B Vitamins, magnesium, protected yeast and MOS." In fact, magensium has been specifically proven to be ineffective as a calmer in horses.

⚫ REFERENCES (and excerpts)
Noble GK, Brockwell YM, Munn KJ, Harris PA, Davidson HP, Li X, Zhang D, Sillence MN. Effects of a commercial dose of L-tryptophan on plasma tryptophan concentrations and behaviour in horses. Equine Vet J. 2008 Jan;40(1):51-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18083660

“Plasma tryptophan increases when tryptophan is administered at a dose used in some commercial products, but this is not reflected by marked behavioural changes in the horse.”

Grimmett A and Sillence MN. Calmatives for the excitable horse: a review of L-tryptophan. Vet J. 2005 Jul;170(1):24-32. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15993787

“In the meantime, available data suggest that it would be imprudent to rely on tryptophan to calm the excitable horse…”

Behavioral and physiological effect of orally administered tryptophan on horses subjected to acute isolation stress. C.S. Bagshaw. S.L. Ralston. and H.Fisher. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Volume 40, Issue 1, April 1994, Pages 1-12. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0168159194900833

“Tryptophan at 0.05 and 0.1 mg kg−1 increased both heart rate and activity relative to zero dose under both isolation and visual contact environments, suggesting that oral tryptophan may stimulate horses 2–4 h after dosing rather than having a sedative effect.”

10/06/2020

A great article, written by a vet, confirming how Equine Massage can be of benefit to all horses in many situations.

Equine Massage Therapy is a beneficial and valuable form of physical therapy and not inferior to physio!

It is 100% hands on, requires a significant understanding of anatomy and biomechanics, an intuitive instinct and natural ability to 'feel' and read signals from the horse, a keen eye and real strength and stamina. It doesn't deserve to be undervalued or dismissed as a form of therapy...

PS. I know its an American article, but it is still applicable.

Is massage a luxury reserved for equine athletes? No way! Learn how properly trained therapists can be an important part of any horse’s health-care team.