TH Equine Wellness

08/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/RtHrxF96yNq5ztB1/

If animals often come to you, it means you have a special, comforting energy they are attracted to. This happens because your presence makes them feel safe and peaceful. Your natural warmth and kindness create an environment where they feel protected and at ease.

This unique connection is a testament to your ability to provide comfort and tranquility, not just to animals but also to the people around you.

23/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ABXzqRGj8FDFADwB/?mibextid=WC7FNe

20/06/2024

People ask me why I kneel by a horse, particularly to do the front feet, instead of the traditional way of putting the foot between the legs. The biggest thing I have found out is that it is more comfortable for the horse and for me, but I found it completely by accident, just like this story tells.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/aqYPynm42ihmCh6r/

I’ve two horses here who are so bad with their feet, I cannot—or will not—have them see my farrier. The one is quite new here and the other, I’ve had long enough to fix. This is not a proud admission, by the way.

But there it is. When these two horses’ feet need doing, I am the one who is left dealing, which is as it should be. I own them; it is my responsibility. While I may acknowledge the situation, I am not wholly accepting of it. I bought them, thinking these problems would be an easy fix.

I was wrong.

Both horses can have their feet picked out. When having them trimmed and rasped, however, all bets are off. This tells me that it’s not a fear issue, so much as a trained response.

Both horses come from somewhat dodgy, largely unknown backgrounds. Judging by their behaviours and reactions to certain other things in their lives, I’d say that nobody took the time, early on when they were colts, to show either horse how to accept having its feet done. How to balance on three legs, knowing that a rest break would come.

Nobody since has had the chops to correct what has spiraled down into bad territory.

Thing is, that was then. They’re now mine.

I woke up last night with the stark realization that these horses both need their trimming issues brought to the forefront. That they have been quietly falling through the cracks all their lives.

I can see that they are still not great around the feet and lower legs, despite having done some solid rope work with them, late last fall. Teaching them to ‘lead with their feet’, to accept handling, giving and taking back calmly, all were improved.

Somewhat… but not enough. Both can still sn**ch their feet away, in a flash. The one isn’t above taking a shot at you, on the way down.

“Oops, did your knee get in the way of my foot? My bad.” This sort of thing is enough to keep them from ever being Keystone sale horses, no matter their charms under saddle.

I’ve been working around them, thinking they’ll get better as they progress in their riding. So many times, we see that the problems with handling feet are often a sign that the horse is worried, tense and afraid. As the working relationship grows and deepens, those iffy things can fade away.

We’re not dealing with that here, however. We’re dealing with something else. It’s important to be able to see the difference.

I’m faced with the product of years of iffy handling that is now sitting squarely on my plate. It’s my problem and not my farrier’s… and I urge you, if you have a similar situation, to get cracking. If you need help, there are worse reasons to send a horse to a professional trainer. We cannot expect our hoof guy, or gal, to gamely deal with the fallout from our lack of prep.

Farriers and trimmers do feet; they’re not to be ‘used’ as horse trainers. More importantly, if your horse puts them out of commission through injury, they’re going to be unable to pay their own bills. Being a good client, therefore, comes with responsibility.

Some horses, because of what they’ve been through in the past, what they’ve perceived as legit behaviour for prior wrongdoing, will just not come around with ordinary measures. The old-fashioned word for this is ‘spoiled’, though it is an unpalatable word for many of us, any more.

No matter my choice of words, it is up to me to find the nature of the problem.

Can it properly be addressed with more effort? Most horses, yes. Others may be in pain on a hard floor and need soft support underfoot. Some are committed enough to say no to any sort of change. They may need safe bodily restraint, such as a set of stocks. They may need some expert handling with a soft rope, to learn to ‘lead with their feet’. They may need a scotch hobble, for the horse who habitually kicks at the handler.

Safety, first, then. Done well, none of these methods are unkind… though they can be, if done wrongly. We will do our best to avoid them but I’m not out of tools, if needs be.

Some horses may need a little sedative from the veterinarian, if they prove dangerous to themselves and to everyone around them. Most horses who have a problem with having their feet done just need more help from someone who is dedicated to seeing them get better. I’ll keep you posted as we go along.

I will say that our farriers can be helpful, if we ask what they see as the problem and what might be done to help. Invited to be part of the team, the solution, they are an invaluable resource.

One thing I know for sure, that when we concentrate on filling that one big hole, most times, the other little bumps smooth out, too. Filling holes is always a worthwhile endeavour.

Shown here is Cisco, a horse who, for the whole of her life, absolutely fought the traditional clamping of the foot between the farrier’s knees. Mike found that the mare would stand all day long, if only one squatted down and allowed her to rest her foot on one’s thigh. It was a leap of faith, at first, a reminder that sometimes we have to think outside the box to solve our problems.

In this picture, Cisco is calmly getting a last minute ‘re-tread’, before heading out in the drizzle to gather bulls. She was an excellent horse for our entire family and I love Iain's quiet support, up at her head. Their overall kinship had me pause, amid a usual ranching day’s 'busy-ness' to take the shot. Years later, I’m so glad that I did.

28/05/2024

08/05/2024

That’s actually “look like they need to be trimmed”…

14/04/2024

https://www.malgretoutmedia.com/training/dressage-sport/vet-and-head-judge-the-competition-format-has-to-change/

"Our competition format is currently based on something that has been around for years, and it's time for a change." This is the opinion of head judge and veterinarian Hans-Christian Matthiesen. In this article, we take an in-depth look at the current competition formats, the challenges the judges f...

15/03/2024

11/02/2024

Wound Healing: Electricity can heal even the worst kind of wounds three times faster, new study finds.

“…the cells of our skin are sensitive to electric current. So when placed in an electric field, the cells are likely to start moving toward the direction of the area. Using this hypothesis as the base of their study, the researchers conducted an interesting experiment.”

- Rupendra Brahambhatt

Photo Credit: Science Brush | Hassan A. Tahini. Skin wounds healing in the presence of an electric field.

Interesting Engineering

19/12/2023

Not just dressage either!

In 2008, Luise and Julie went to Warendorf, Germany's "City of Horses" to interview Dr Gerd Heuschmann, a whistleblowing FEI veterinarian of budding notoriet...

29/10/2023

This was written by someone else but it I felt it was well worth sharing:

"Q: Should a horse always feel better and be sounder after a trim?
A: Often when someone asks this question, they are coming from the wrong paradigm: the traditional modern paradigm of the "dead block of wood" hoof. So immediately, there are problems of interpretation, which only leads to more questions. What makes one think a hoof is healthy to begin with? Why would an unhealthy hoof not have sensory pain receptors to provide feedback to the brain? If a horse were to feel better after a trim, does that mean they are in pain before the trim?
If we put this into the context of a well-trimmed, healthy-hooved horse, we can say that generally, the horse will be the same after a trim as it was before the trim - if the trim was done early enough before too much growth or change took place. Any trim is CHANGE, and any change can set off other interactions. Our goal is consistency - trimming before too much change takes place, to keep the hooves as stable as possible, hence why shorter trims cycles are preferable.
For a typical horse that has worn shoes in the past, has not been well trimmed previously, suffers from contraction and other hoof abnormalities or distortions (which can almost be called "normal") but has been well-trimmed now for a good period of time, they will USUALLY be the same after a regular trim. However, expect possible problems during fall and spring, weather changes, episodes of stress (including moving), use of chemicals or feed changes. Horses are sensitive, and their hooves provide us with feedback. "

28/10/2023

12/10/2023

Everyone, everyone, should listen to this. My clients wonder why I recommend shorter cycles and keeping the toes back. This explains it better than I ever could. I love listening to this man!

Originally published in 2020. In episode 18 of The Humble Hoof, Dr. Robert Bowker talks about his research into the caudal hoof through decades of microscopic study and dissection. He delves into h…

28/09/2023

Again, the things we know about iron overload. Test your hay and filter your horses water, among other things that you should be doing.

I know many of us horse owners and hoofcare providers have seen the conversations about iron in a horse's diet, and the potential effect on hooves. Before we get too into the nitty gritty of diet and the hoof, I want to back up and look at a horse’s needs, based on the NRC Requirements. Hooves are so often a reflection of the health of the animal, and to make sure a horse can grow the healthiest hoof possible, we need to make sure they are meeting all their nutrient and mineral requirements. Thank you to Dr. Gustafson for helping me understand this a bit better myself!

MINERALS IN FORAGE- are they sufficient?
From Dr. Gustafson’s database of hay testing, she found that out of 250+ samples of forages tested, 97.8% were deficient in zinc, 95.2% were deficient in copper, 12% were deficient in manganese, and 0% were deficient in iron. That means that just from hay, a horse could consume the daily requirement for iron, or sometimes far exceed it. On the other hand, horses rarely if ever meet their requirements for copper and zinc from their forage. That alone is a problem - one that grains and feeds rarely correct well, since so many horses can't handle or aren't fed the recommended daily amount of grains, often due to lower calorie needs or hoof issues preventing owners from feeding grains with sugar and starch above 10% combined. So horses are often walking around with frank deficiencies of minor minerals- copper and zinc to be exact.
But, many feed companies make a ration balancer to handle the caloric issue and they have a much more concentrated nutrients at a much lower feeding rate, you say! Sounds great, right? But here’s the catch: they often add iron, and sometimes a lot of it. We will talk about the issue with this in a second.

IRON AFFECTING COPPER AND ZINC ABSORPTION
On top of the fact that horses are walking around with copper and zinc deficiencies, the frank deficiency is worsened with a relative deficiency from iron - since we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc. Dr. Piper Klemm has studied iron chelation extensively for her dissertation, and actually chatted with me on her podcast about why excess iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc in the body, and the horse has no natural way to chelate iron (other than bloodletting). Iron competes with copper and zinc absorption in the body, and copper and zinc are needed for healthy hooves.

BUT IS IRON REALLY ABSORBED?
Now, there are some groups that tend to say that iron isn't absorbed well or isn't bioavailable in various forms. While this would be wonderful- it just doesn't seem to work out well in practice. Aside from the fact that many hoofcare providers can show bloodwork on personal or client horses with high serum iron, TIBC, and ferritin, and have horses with diagnosed iron overload, article after article online shows how horses rarely if ever have an iron deficiency (in fact, iron deficiency anemia is almost unheard of in horses). So they are clearly getting their dietary iron from somewhere. One study linked below shows 22 equines on a property with high iron in the water, and each horse was found to have excessive iron stores and liver issues.

BUT ISN'T IRON REGULATED IN THE BODY?
Yes, hepcidin does regulate iron in the body, but unfortunately this can go awry if it is overwhelmed with excessive iron supply (Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition, 2013). Couple that with the fact that horses with metabolic issues may also have problems with hepcidin and iron regulation, we can assume that not all horses are regulating iron properly.

DOES IRON CAUSE METABOLIC ISSUES?
In short- we can't claim that. And no one is trying to claim that. Let me explain.
Dr. Kellon and Dr. Gustafson published a study last year of hyperinsulinemia and hyperferritinemia in horses. They found that every single horse in their study, all hyperinsulemic horses, had serum ferritin that exceeded the reference range. They did NOT say that iron causes metabolic issues, or laminitis, though.
There is a CORRELATION between high iron and hyperinsulemic horses. I want to be clear that correlation does not mean causation so I’m not saying that high iron CAUSES metabolic issues, but it seems that metabolic horses may sequester iron, which can lead to a host of issues.
Another study in 2012 using horses (actually hoping to compare to rhinos) found the same correlation - high ferritin levels at peak insulin concentrations after dextrose administration. They even mention captive rhino diets are higher in iron, that the captive rhinos have more fat stores, and they are moving less. I’d say that is similar in domesticated horses compared to feral/wild. The issue here is hay is often high in iron, or at least not deficient in iron as Dr. Gustafson’s database mentioned, and some places also have high iron water, and then people will sometimes feed iron supplements or grain that has iron added. There is no "shortage" of iron in the equine diet. And we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc, which is needed for healthy hooves.

SO WHAT CAN DO ABOUT THIS?
So what do we do for horses to ensure that they are getting all the minerals they need for a healthy hoof? Well, we know that feeding at least the NRC amounts of minerals is important for whole horse health and therefore hoof health, and often it can be a minefield, since feeding an excess of one mineral can affect absorption of another mineral. Dr. Kellon has a running field study (over 2 decades now) cataloguing owners practicing tight mineral balancing on metabolic horses, tracked on the ECIR online database of case histories. From there, we have seen that this mineral balancing over time, for example keeping an iron:copper:zinc:manganese ratio of 4:1:3:3, helps to balance for possible dietary iron excesses or at least meet mineral deficiencies, observed through hoof changes, bloodwork, and comfort over time. Many of us have seen a direct result of healthier feet, tighter white line, increased comfort, when doing this. I’m sure many of us could talk for hours about the improvements we have seen in feet when mineral balancing- anecdotally of course! And interestingly enough, there was a study in 1999 that even suggested that supplementing copper and zinc can help with the susceptibility to white line disease (Pollitt quoted this study in 2005).

Since the safe upper tolerable limits of copper and zinc are much higher than we would ever supplement, and since some hays almost hit the safe upper limits for iron, I'd say it's fairly cheap, easy, and safe to avoid added dietary iron and try testing hay (I use EquiAnalytical), and balancing copper and zinc in the diet. You just might be surprised at the results you see in the body, coat, and feet 😊

A few things to explore:

Iron issues in metabolic horses: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32042647/

The rhino study, using an equine model: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23156707/

Iron overload in horses: https://forageplustalk.co.uk/iron-overload-in-horses-by-dr-kellon/

Iron issues in water and liver issues:
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/evj.13029

Balancing copper and zinc to iron: https://www.hoofrehab.com/Diet.html

Podcast episode where Piper Klemm and I discuss iron and copper and zinc here: https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2021/10/22/plaidcast-252-michael-tokaruk-alicia-harlov-by-taylor-harris-insurance-services/

Podcast episode with nutritionist Scott Cieslar discussing iron and mineral balancing here: https://madbarn.com/videos/mad-about-hooves-scott-cieslar-on-nutrition-for-hoof-health-the-humble-hoof/

Podcast episode with Sally Hugg here, for more basic information: https://thehumblehoof.com/2023/08/08/nutrition-and-the-hoof/

I also have a webinar which spends 40 min on nutrition and the hoof here: https://youtu.be/RUKjGgoKnyw

This webinar includes case studies/pictures.

22/09/2023

Thought some might find this interesting. Most horses I am working on are in the process of shedding their sole and frog. It happens roughly 4 times a year. Sometimes the pieces are easily removed but if they do not come out with any ease, I leave them alone as they will shed on their own in time. So if it looks like your horse grew an exasperating amount of wall between their regular cycle, they have probably shed their sole. This piece of sole came out with ease and in one piece so when I trimmed the wall you can see the amount of sole that was shed and the length of the wall after the fact. I thought it was cool!

21/08/2023

https://www.facebook.com/664505211/posts/10167426845295212/?mibextid=K8Wfd2

𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛: Horse hair analysis is a reliable method for making nutrition decisions for my horse.

𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧: According to legendary Cornell nutritionist, Dr. Harold Hintz, hair analysis has little value in assessing nutritional health. Many factors affect hair content including color, diameter, rate of growth, season of year, geographic location, age, and gender. This is supported by a 2013 paper published in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology which concluded there are too many variables that affect the mineral content of hair to make hair analysis useful for nutritional management. Dr. Stephen Barrett reports there have been no correlations established between hair mineral content and other indicators of nutritional status. For example, it is possible for hair concentration to be high in an element, such as zinc, even though a deficiency exists in the body.

In addition, a study by Seidel et al. published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded hair mineral analysis was unreliable, and recommended that practitioners refrain from using such analyses to assess individual nutritional status. To ensure your horse has proper nutrition on a daily basis consult with an equine nutritionist who is skilled at evaluating the nutritional content of the diet and making recommendations based on the forage availability and lifestyle of your horse.

31/07/2023

https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2023/07/31/three-supplements-every-horse-needs/

Image by Philipp Kleindienst from Pixabay All equine feedstuffs are deficient in sodium and the horse has an instinctive hunger for salt A universal requirement for horses around the world is salt,…

24/04/2023

The war against hyperinsulinemia to prevent laminitis rages on.

In 2022, we were delighted to announce preliminary findings of very favorable responses to canagliflozin (Invokana®) in severely laminitic horses with hyperinsulinemia unresponsive to the usual diet and drug therapy. Kellon and Gustafson (2022)

In the two years we monitored case reports, no adverse effects were reported until a horse was noted to be hyperlipidemic (high blood triglycerides). The horse was hospitalized as a suspected colic but continued to be bright and eating well with triglycerides coming down rapidly with therapy and off the drug.

We immediately informed owners and their treating veterinarians of the risk of hyperlipidemia/hypertriglyceridemia and advised screening both before therapy and serially after starting therapy. We have found that the vast majority of horses on canagliflozin or ertugliflozin develop high triglyceride levels. Detailed information on these cases has been recently published. Kellon and Gustafson (2023). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37026076/

Except for mild to moderate weight loss, these horses showed no evidence of the life-threatening hyperlipemia syndrome reported in donkeys, ponies, and miniature horses. We also found that animals in those high-risk groups for hyperlipemia did not develop more severe hypertriglyceridemia with these drugs. We believe the hypertriglyceridemia is in response to an energy shortage caused by the loss of glucose in the urine, similar to what occurs with fasting/starvation and during endurance exercise.

While our 2023 paper was under review, Sundra, et al. (2022) reported on responses to ertugliflozin in horses in Australia. They found similar triglyceride elevations without symptoms. This is consistent with the report of Dunkel, et al. (2013) where it was noted horses with metabolic disorders may be hyperlipidemic for many years, including with liver enzyme elevations, yet show no obvious ill effects.

Nevertheless, because of the potential for development of fatty liver we recommend diets be liberalized to free-choice safe hay and 1 to 2 lbs of beet pulp daily for full-size horses. This allows for an increase in safe calories and the acetate from fermentation of beet pulp and hay can substitute directly for glucose. Other dietary measures are also being investigated.

We wish to especially recognize the members and volunteers of the ECIR Group Inc. for their contribution of time, resources, and data, without whom help for metabolic equines would not be possible.

REFERENCES

Kellon EM, Gustafson KM. (2022) Use of the SGLT1 inhibitor canagliflozin for control of refractory equine hyperinsulinemia and laminitis. Open Vet J. 12:511-518.

Kellon EM, Gustafson KM. (2023) Hypertriglyceridemia in equines with refractory hyperinsulinemia treated with SGLT2 inhibitors. Open Vet J. 13:365-375.

Sundra, T., Kelty, E. & Rendle, D. (2022) Preliminary observations on the use of ertugliflozin in the management of hyperinsulinaemia and laminitis in 51 horses: A case series. Equine Veterinary Education, 00:1– 10.

Dunkel B, Wilford SA, Parkinson NJ, Ward C, Smith P, Grahame L, Brazil T, Schott HC 2nd. (2014) Severe hypertriglyceridaemia in horses and ponies with endocrine disorders. Equine Vet J. 46:118-22.

21/04/2023

As many of my clients know, I do my horse stuff in lieu of holding down a regular 7:30 to 4 day job and have been since I became a HCP. My plate is extremely full and I have had some opportunities that have arisen recently in my life that afforded me the means of being able to retire from my day job. I have been involved with the graphics industry for the last 35 years of my life and that chapter will be ending as of May 11th. Onward to the next. For my clients, this will open up an amount of time for me to of horses during the day and afternoon, for the most part, leaving me with my evenings and mainly, my weekends, free! It will be a big change for me but one I welcome! I am looking for ward to the next chapter.

12/04/2023

It is that time of year again!

The ecirhorse.org website is complimentary to the Equine Cushing's and Insulin Resistance outreach group..

17/03/2023

I am sharing this because I believe these pictures speak volumes! You cannot add a static object to a dynamic object and expect the dynamic object to function as normal.

15/02/2023

Any of my clients horses that have had any form of Laminitis in the past NEED to read this.