Idaho Equine West

01/14/2025

Today we are introducing Bess - one of the surgery/anesthesia team members at Idaho Equine Hospital.

01/13/2025

Many of you may not know much of our staff at Idaho Equine Hospital, so we thought we would share them with you as we go through the next few weeks.

𝒪𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀𝓈 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜𝒹𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓋𝒶𝓁𝓊𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒻𝒻! 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓇 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽. 𝒲𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓏𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒹𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒻𝒻.

𝒯𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒥𝑒𝓃𝓃𝓎-

𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓉 𝐼𝒹𝒶𝒽𝑜 𝐸𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝒸𝒽𝓃𝒾𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟦. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒟𝓇. 𝒮𝓂𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑔𝑜 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹𝓊𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝒶𝓇𝓂 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓈.

𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒥𝑒𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸𝒮 𝒹𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝑜𝓌𝒷𝑜𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓌𝒷𝑜𝓎 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒. 🐴🤠

01/12/2025

Congratulations on your American Rodeo qualification Bo Pickett!

Kudos to Bo Pickett and Drive A Cat “Doug” for earning a spot at the American Rodeo. We will be cheering you on. Hiner Performance Horses, LLC is excited to watch your journey unfold.

01/10/2025

We get a lot of questions regarding insurance, hopefully this helps answer some of questions.

Do you have a plan for your horse’s unexpected medical expenses? (Read, for example: can you afford colic surgery if it comes to it?)

Whether a horse is purchased for personal or business reasons, horse ownership represents a significant investment of time, money and resources. While nothing may easy the emotional burden, wise planning can at least help reduce the economic impacts should something happen to your precious companion.

There are many types of coverage available to the horse owner and the conditions can vary widely between companies. Common types of coverage available for horses are listed (but not limited to what you see) in the graphic. Some equine insurers may require an insurance examination certificate signed by a veterinarian before a policy will be issued for a horse, however that does not mean your veterinarian can attest for the insurability of the animal — your veterinarian can only respond to questions of which he or she has direct knowledge, reporting the medical facts to the best of his or her ability.

Regardless of the circumstances, never ask or expect your veterinarian to report a claim to the insurance company or to be an expert with regards to your insurance policy. This is your responsibility as the owner and if you have questions regarding your policy be sure to ask your insurance agent!

01/08/2025

What’s your guess?

We have another what’s your diagnosis for you this week! What do you call these things that we found and removed as part of our routine care for a gelding?

01/08/2025

Special thanks to Boehringer Ingelheim and Idaho Equine Hospital for investing in the continuing education of some of our most valuable staff, the technicians and assistants.

Feel free to share and tag your friends who may be interested in attending.

We are proud to offer a continuing education event for veterinary technicians/assistants. CVT not required to attend.

This will be a very good educational event, and for those needing CE credits, Boehringer Ingelheim has you covered!

Seating is limited so please RSVP to Bess Slicer at [email protected] by January 27th.

Feel free to share/tag any of your friends that work as a veterinary technician or assistant.

UPDATE: 7 CE Credits available

01/07/2025

Is your horse’s nighttime vision better than your daytime vision?

When comparing equine vision to human vision, the horse has a smaller visible spectrum (see image) which means they see a smaller range of colors than we do. However, horses have a structure in the back of their eye—called the tapetum lucidum—that humans do not have. This enhances vision in low light conditions and allows a horse to see better in the dark than a human does. However, reflections from the tapetum lucidum can also blur images and lead to poor depth perception at night.

Dilation of the pupil allows all species to see better in the dark. This process takes longer in a horse (45 minutes) than it does in humans (25 minutes). So, when a horse is asked to do something in a dark environment, it’s important to allow their vision proper time to fully accommodate.

Overall, the nighttime vision of a horse is better than the nighttime vision of a human. However, the horse’s nighttime vision is NOT better than the daytime vision of a human. Anytime you are asking your horse to function in a dim light situation, give them time to adjust. And if they are fearful, be patient and try to understand how things look from their perspective!
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/02/2025

With the colder temperatures this time of year, we often need to increase our horses caloric intake to meet sustainability, but keep in mind with increased calories and decreased work-load your horse might start "feeling their oats" when you ride them next.😜

Although protein is normally listed as a nutrient, horses actually have a requirement for amino acids, the building blocks of protein, rather than for protein itself.

Protein is the least efficient energy source for your horse, so high protein does not automatically equal high energy. Carbohydrates, fats, and fiber are more readily digestible energy sources, so chances are a horse with too much energy is being fed more calories than the animal truly needs.

As always, remember that all horses have different nutritional needs based on age, stage of development, metabolism and workload. Be sure to work with your veterinarian to determine the correct protein and energy requirements for your equine friend based on your horse’s individual situation!
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Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/01/2025

12/31/2024

𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀!

𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.

𝓓𝓻 𝓜𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓾𝓬𝓬𝓲 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓮𝓪𝓶

12/23/2024

𝓦𝓮 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝓷𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷.

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓦𝓞𝓝𝓓𝓔𝓡𝓕𝓤𝓛 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻!

12/20/2024

Clean, fresh water is SO important!

Also important this time of year if you are using electric waterers or water heaters making sure they are working correctly so as to not accidentally shock your horse.

Water is a vital resource for horses year-round, but its importance becomes even greater during the winter months. Maintaining proper hydration is essential for horses to support digestion, overall health, and especially for preventing colic, a potentially life-threatening condition.

In winter, horses may drink less water due to cold temperatures, or water sources might freeze, limiting access. Reduced water intake increases the risk of impaction colic, a condition that occurs when food material becomes lodged in the horse’s digestive tract. This is exacerbated by the dry, fibrous nature of winter forage like hay, which contains less moisture compared to fresh pasture grass. Without sufficient water, the digestive system slows and cannot properly break down this material, potentially leading to blockages.

Encouraging adequate water consumption is critical. Horses should normally drink 5-12 gallons of water daily, and ensuring the water is warm enough—between 45-65°F—can help encourage drinking. Studies show that horses are more likely to consume warm water during cold weather. Using heated water buckets or tank deicers can prevent freezing and make water more appealing.

Fun Fact: Research shows that horses drink almost 40% more water per day if given warm water (45-65 °F) instead of near-freezing water. (Kristula and McDonnell, 1994)

Electrolytes or salt supplements can also stimulate thirst, prompting horses to drink more. Offering soaked hay or adding water to feed can provide additional hydration. However, soaking hay or feed isn’t recommended in environments where these items would freeze solid before being consumed by the horse.

Preventing dehydration in winter is a proactive measure to safeguard against colic. Regularly monitoring water intake and ensuring clean, accessible, and palatable water is essential. By addressing these needs, horse owners can help maintain their horses’ health and comfort throughout the colder months.

If you have questions or concerns about your horses' winter water intake, contact your veterinarian.

12/20/2024

🙋who is excited about foaling season?

Time to start getting your foaling essentials gathered up.🐴

Foaling season is right around the corner! Is your foaling kit stocked and ready to go?

If this is your first foaling or you don’t know where to start, the graphic lists a few essentials for you to include. Having these items ready several weeks before your mare’s due date will mean less stress and scrambling at the last minute trying to acquire what you need.

As always, your veterinarian is your best source of information. Consult your horse doctor for additional recommendations and for training on how to properly use these tools to assist your mare during and after delivery!