Cessna Stables, LLC

02/27/2025

The difference between feeding off the floor and feeding in a slow net (small opening) is from 2-3 hours a day eating to 7-9.

Slow feed hay nets represent a simple and affordable way to extend foraging time when meal feeding horses.

ℹ️ https://extension.umn.edu/horse-nutrition/using-slow-feed-hay-nets

02/26/2025

Straight from ice to giant bunch of suck.

02/25/2025

02/23/2025

02/21/2025

NO GAIN WITH PAIN, PART 1

I’ve been barefoot trimming for over 20 years, and there are two dangerous practices that just don’t seem to be going away…

Normalization of pain during ‘barefoot transitioning,’ and over-trimming of the heels.

Over and over again, I see pain being explained away as an inevitable or necessary part of ‘the healing process.’

I saw a post about this very thing recently, chastising owners for giving up on barefoot too soon, encouraging them to just ‘stick it out.’

Pain is the body’s alarm system.
Its function is to alert us to damage, and we ignore it at our horse’s peril.

Pain is often attributed to increased circulation during ‘healing,’ but what’s often going on is over-trimming.

Usually, over-trimming of the walls, over-loading of sole which has insufficient depth, and over-loading of the circumflex artery beneath.

In these cases, the horse isn’t in pain because we’re increasing circulation and healing them, they’re in pain because we’re overloading sensitive tissue and DECREASING circulation.

The resulting loss of perfusion to the sole affects sole growth, prolonging or stalling any ‘barefoot transition’ we’re attempting.

Like an old farrier once told me, sometimes horses do OK in spite of us, not because of us.

Sometimes they don’t.

At best, we have a horse who doesn’t look ‘lame,’ but who isn’t sound.

At worst, we get abscessing, inflammation so severe for so long it damages the bone… pedalosteitis.

Don’t let any hoofcare professional gaslight you into thinking it is normal or acceptable for a horse to be uncomfortable on their own feet.

And uncomfortable can be subtle… a lack of expression in the gaits, grouchiness about going forward, ‘laziness’… these are all signs of a horse who needs an intervention.

If in doubt, boot or shoe for a period of time and see if there’s a difference.

Yes, there are times when dysfunction has to be trimmed out of the foot beyond what it can tolerate barefoot, but that’s why we have casts, boots, shoes, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe these can be misused, used as band-aids for unaddressed dysfunction, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a time and place to use them, to support structures which are temporarily or permanently compromised.

The goal shouldn’t be barefoot at all costs, but getting the feet as healthy as we can, while keeping the horse as happy as we can.

Part 2, we’ll address over-trimming of the heels…
https://www.facebook.com/100063754110668/posts/633220048813127/

PHOTOS:
The circumflex artery.

A foot at risk. There is insufficient wall height and sole depth to protect the circumflex artery.

Most horses require a rim of wall above the established sole plane; depending on sole depth, sometimes up to a rasp’s height, and the heels are no different.

Walls and heels are not the enemy!

02/06/2025

🤣🤣🤣

02/02/2025

“Don’t change angles too quickly. Changes should be made slowly.”

I used to believe that, but it makes about as much sense as not immediately setting and splinting a broken bone.

A broken-back HPA (hoof pastern axis) like this is incredibly damaging to internal structures, and should be corrected as quickly as possible.

It appears that only in the case of DDFT (deep digital flexor tendon) contracture like with a club foot is there chance for damage if we change angles too much.
DDFT system muscles can get sore if we are trying to address a broken-forward HPA and lower a heel too quickly.
We can do a wedge test underneath the toe to help us determine how much heel is appropriate to take.

I have never seen a horse have a problem with immediately re-establishing alignment from a broken-back HPA

Especially for this horse, who was really sore in his tendons, it was important to get him back into balance immediately. This was one trim, and he was immensely relieved.

Many practitioners are unsure how aggressive they can be, but it’s just as big a mistake to be too conservative as too aggressive; there’s a fine line between maintaining capsular integrity and current usability, and re-establishing equilibrium for long-term useability.

Here, we were lucky there wasn't a lot of horizontal capsular collapse, and there was a lot of vertical depth, so it was easy to stand this horse back up in one go with the foot he had, without needing an orthotic.

To address leverage and stop new growth from being damaged by existing tubule distortion, I try to dress as much distortion as possible, as long as I still have adequate peripheral load and vertical mass; as a result, the capsule often appears quite 'normalized' the first trim.

It used to take me many cycles to make this kind of change.

Lucky for the horses I kept learning.

Progressive Equine Services & Hoof Care Centre is a great resource for these types of issues.

01/30/2025

Something all horses should know and especially green ones. Done properly it is the first steps toward lateral engagement and correct bend. Done poorly it results in pulling the horse off balance and possibly creating lameness.

01/25/2025

Pretty sure that’s Medina in the dark blue.

Oh Look! Horses...

https://kyforky.com/collections/derby

01/22/2025

If you knew that bending your horse ‘evenly from nose to tail’ was anatomically impossible, would it change how you approach training?

What has been described as 'bend' by books and instructors for centuries, modern science has found to be very minute, directly under the rider’s thigh, and has more to do with an optical illusion created by ROTATION of the spine and ribcage.

When we do succeed in getting a horse to LOOK ‘bent evenly from nose to tail,’ we are actually over-bending them at the base of the neck, and we create a plethora of problems we then have to fix: falling out, dropping shoulders, unable to collect the front end.
We plateau, especially, when we begin working on collection and lateral maneuvers, including the spin and flying change.

Harry Boldt, Olympic German dressage rider circa 1970, showing the optical illusion of 'bend' in shoulder-in, created by a break at the withers and the ROTATION of the spine and ribcage away from the hind leg that is stepping laterally under the body (green arrow).

The rotation and swinging out of the ribcage is a big factor in the look and feel of ‘bend.’

Sources:
http://thequestforequipoise.blogspot.com/2012/05/myth-of-overall-bend.html

01/21/2025

All true. One other point that needs to be made is that feeding the amount of roughage a horse needs to A) keep it continuously available and/or b) entirely replace concentrates/grain is very costly. There’s a reason people started feeding grain - it’s much more economical than collecting grass for winter feeding (hay). As a barn owner it is a struggle to find a balance as most people don’t realize how expensive it is to provide the amount of hay most horses require and don’t really want to pay the difference.

WHY GOOD NUTRITION CONTRIBUTES TO CORRECT COLLECTION!

At first glance, food and collection do not seem to have much in common, but the opposite is true.

If the horse has a disturbed intestinal function due to incorrect nutrition, he can develop stomach and intestinal complaints. This can cause, among other things, too much gas formation, irritated intestinal wall, inflammation, insufficient intake of nutrients and diarrhea or stomach ulcers.

Because gastrointestinal complaints often lead to abdominal pain, the horse will not like to tighten its abdominal muscles to close his underline which is necessary to take more weight on to the hindlegs. Tensing the abdominal muscles increases the pressure on the abdominal organs and if they are painful, this increases the pain.

In addition, a horse must build muscle strength to be able to collect in the training. For this, the muscle tissue must increase and that is only possible if the horse can properly absorb its nutrients.

What is correct nutrition? In short, correct nutrition consists of unlimited feeding of good quality roughage. In some cases, unlimited feeding needs to be adjusted as certain horse breeds will eat too much in this way. In this case the food intake can be slowed down by slow feeders, for example.

What does a horse get from roughage? The horse itself cannot digest roughage very well. They can extract small amounts of sugar (carbohydrates), protein and fat. As soon as the food enters the appendix and large intestines, it is fermented. This means that the microflora (bacteria) will break down the cellulose and turn it into fatty acids that are absorbed by the horse. The bacteria are therefore THE protein source for the horse. When the bacteria die, the animal proteins are released from the bacteria and are then available for the horse.

Muscles need proteins to become stronger. The source for proteins therefore comes from the bacteria in the appendix and large intestines. If we have a disturbance in the intestinal flora, the fermentation process is less successful and the horse can absorb fewer proteins and fatty acids.

These days, concentrates still contain a lot of sugar (molasses) and grains. Grains consist of fast carbohydrates (sugars). Because of these sugars, the internal environment of the intestine is disturbed, so that the bacteria that need to ferment cannot do this properly. In addition, the physiology of the horse is not built for the intake of a lot of sugar. Horses are naturally sober animals that consume few fast carbohydrates or sugars.

In addition to the effect of incorrect nutrition on the gastrointestinal system, there is another important point. Horses are physiologically and psychologically geared to unlimited access to food or at least the possibility to go looking for food if they feel hungry. If a horse does not get enough roughage, the acidity in the stomach increases, which increases the risk of stomach ulcers. In addition, the horse experiences stress because he is hungry and cannot look for food. Stress causes an increase of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone, which means that cortisol breaks down the body to provide immediate energy in a panic situation. Muscles are broken down to provide a supply of glucose to run away quickly.

That in itself is a good system if it is short-lived. It is a system to survive an immediate attack from a mountain lion. But if a horse has chronic stress because of the lack of roughage and cannot look for it (or has stress from other reasons), this means that he doesn’t builds up muscles very well, sometimes even breaks down his own body and can’t recover well after a workout or injury.
Sugar and stress therefore have a negative effect on the stomach and intestines, but also on muscle development and muscle metabolism.

To know what is good food for your horse is very complicated because many studies contradict each other. But it is clear that sufficient roughage of good quality and the omission of sugar and fast carbohydrates (from grains, for example) is the base to start from. Furthermore, each horse is an individual and they have individual needs. Feeding therefore remains a matter of searching, experimenting and observing how your horse reacts to it.

Training does not stand on its own. Training can only be successful and enjoyable for your horse if you take into account a lot of factors. And good food is a very important factor.

01/21/2025

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:

1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

01/20/2025

8* outside, 22* in my new barn this am.

01/17/2025

So pretty, so miserable

01/17/2025

Now you know…

❄️🩸Reddish Brown Urine in the Snow – Is my horse ok!?

I remember the first winter I began working with horses - I walked out into the snowy pasture to catch my horse but was taken aback when I saw blood in the snow! I immediately began following these pools of blood around the pasture in an attempt to find which horse was injured. It wasn’t until I noticed a pattern, or really a lack thereof, that I realized it wasn’t blood and everybody was fine (I was also young and clearly didn't know what blood should look like 😂). But I was confused, what caused these red, orange, or brown stains in the snow. After watching for awhile, I realized it was their urine that came out as a normal color, but it would change colors in the snow. And as an inquisitive soul, I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of why this happened and I am certain I was not the only one!

Well, it turns out the color change observed in the urine is caused by a plant metabolite known as pyrocatechines. When this metabolite is oxidized (exposed to air), it loses electrons which can lead to a change in the chemical structure and consequently, the color. This is a similar process to what we see when iron rusts. Iron is exposed to air and moisture and is oxidized to form iron oxide, commonly known as rust. Copper can also go through a similar process in which the shiny and metallic copper can become a green patina (think the Statue of Liberty).

While this process happens year-round for horse urine, it tends to be more noticeable in contrast to the white snow. These colors in oxidized urine are acceptable, however, if urine is red or brown when it is passed, that is reason for concern. Red and brown urine may indicate concerns with the urinary tract, liver, or muscles, and often necessitate veterinary attention. However, if the urine is a colorless to tan or yellow color when it leaves the body, colored urine in the snow is not a concern.

What did you think the first time you saw red or brown stained snow? Did anyone get as freaked out as me?

Cheers!
Dr. DeBoer