Adobe Equine

05/31/2024

I spent this weekend teaching aspiring animal chiropractors how to appropriately adjust animals. These students are spending $8000-$10,000 to become certified in animal chiropractic. This is ON TOP of the $150-350,000 they are spending on chiropractic or vet school.
I have many people ask me if their kids can shadow me as they would like to do what I do. This career is no easy task. To LEGALLY adjust animals you must first attend either vet or chiropractic school (4 years) then you are eligible to take the chiropractic course. The course is an intense 6 months of focusing on anatomy, neurology, palpation, appropriate adjusting technique, and recognizing when a problem is not chiropractic. You must pass multiple tests, including an extremely intimidating AVCA exam. .
Anyone can pretend they know what they are doing, but make sure you research who you are paying to adjust your horses. AVCA certified doctors have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours ensuring we are truly helping your animal.

02/02/2024

01/15/2024

Our 2024 6-Week Introduction to Vaulting courses are on the calendar!

01/12/2024

As a storm threat of freezing rain and snow marches across the U.S. and Canada ❄️🌨🫧🌬, below are some tips for keeping your horses safe during extreme winter weather events:

1. While lots of hay is ideal for horses to eat to keep warm, now is NOT the time to introduce a round bale if they’ve never had access to one before. It may be more work, but keep throwing them their normal hay source—just more frequently.

2. Similarly, if your horse is not used to being locked up in a stall now is NOT the time. The stress of a major change and the decreased activity can be risk factors for colic. Be sure your animals have access to shelter, hay, and drinkable water but let them move around if they choose to do so.

3. Horses that are thin, older, or fully body clipped are those most at risk in extreme weather.

4. Well fitting blankets are great but be sure horses do not get sweaty under them or that the blankets don’t soak through if snow or rain covered. Wet, cold, and covered is worse that dry, cold, and naked.

5. Some of the highest risk times are when the temperatures hover right around freezing, as that can result in sleet/freezing rain/ice that can make horses wet and therefore colder. Slippery footing is a concern, too.

6. If using electric water heaters, be sure they are functioning and not shocking horses. Take your gloves off and stick your hand in the water (briefly!) to double check.

7. “Trick” your horses into consuming extra water by flavoring a bucket, adding electrolytes to their meals, or soaking their meals in warm water. If you’ve never fed beet pulp before, be sure to add LOTS of warm water. Dry beet pulp is a common source of choke.

8. Tips of ears can be at risk for frostbite. Putting a jumper-style ear bonnet or other ear cover can protect them from wind chills.

Stay safe, friends!

01/05/2024

During these cold winter days you may be thinking about offering bran mashes to your horse as a warm, comforting treat and also as a way to help prevent colic due to the higher fiber content of bran. This, however, is an outdated concept and nutritionists point out several potential problems associated with feeding bran mash too often—namely, an imbalance of the dietary calcium-phosphorus ratio that could lead to bone disorders, and a disruption of the healthy fermentation patterns in the horse’s intestinal tract.

The best way to help your horse stay warm this winter is by increasing forage 🌾 and providing shelter 🏠 during a cold snap. And as far as the risk of colic, your first line of defense is to provide plenty of water to keep your horse hydrated. 💦

As always, your equine veterinarian remains your best source of information; contact them to learn more about feeding mashes (they are typically not an issue if fed as the occasional treat) and colic prevention this winter.
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Brough to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

11/15/2023

Horses are generally content and compliant animals—unlike humans, they don’t typically have “bad days” that negatively affect their personalities due to emotional duress. Furthermore, as a prey animal they are cognitively designed NOT to show stress or injury, or else they will be recognized as a target by a predator, or bumped down the herd hierarchy.

If a horse is acting differently, it is almost undoubtedly due to a medical issue. We can appreciate this as lameness, but typically the behavioral signs preclude an obvious gait abnormality. Sometimes these behaviors seem chronic (e.g., “He/she always pins their ears when we tighten the girth, or bites at my leg when I ask for more effort.”), but it is important to remember that many horses live with chronic pain. It is rare that a horse is angry or cranky as a result of its genetic nature. Admittedly, some horses “train” their people to back off if they demonstrate a particular behavior, but pain absolutely should be ruled out before coming to this conclusion.

Therefore, if your horse is acting differently, or comes out stiff or lame, it is necessary to consider medical reasons for this behavior, even if your equine friend “works out of it.” As pain is generated, the horse’s body releases pain modifying agents in order to perform its job—which once again goes back to being a prey animal.

As the guardians of these magnificent animals, it is imperative that we “listen” to what the horse is trying to tell us and at the very least get a medical expert’s non-biased opinion about what could be going on, in order to rule out injury or illness as a contributing factor. We owe it to the horse.

Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee
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Want to learn more? Watch the documentary based on Dr. Sue Dyson’s groundbreaking work on signs of pain in the ridden horse here: https://equimanagement.com/news/dr-sue-dyson-featured-in-new-equine-documentary-on-the-24-behaviors-of-the-ridden-horse-in-pain/

09/30/2023