Essentially Equines

06/06/2022

For a limited time, the popular UMN "Plants Poisonous or Harmful to Horses" poster is 25% off! Order the poster between March 1st and July 1st to receive the discounted price of $11.25 (plus shipping). To order the poster, visit: https://bookstores.umn.edu/product/book/plants-poisonous-or-harmful-horses-extension-poster

The poster provides horse owners and professionals a fast and easy way to identify 24 toxic plants commonly found in the Midwest sorted by the symptoms they cause. It is ideal for displaying in barns, offices, tack rooms, rider lounges, and trailers.

01/06/2022

06/03/2022

This is UK article, but we are a few short weeks away here in Canada too!

12/01/2022

This article describes how to interpret an equine hay analysis: https://extension.umn.edu/horse-nutrition/understanding-your-hay-analysis. A hay analysis helps owners better understand what they are feeding and is especially important if there are concerns about hay quality or when managing horses diagnosed with nutrition-related disorders.

05/10/2021

Check out our infographic on how to manage a hoof abscess. For more information on this topic, visit https://extension.umn.edu/horse-health/hoof-abscesses

17/08/2021

👉One of the simplest ways to add herbs into your horses diet is the use of Herbal teas.
Safe, effective and tasty use the herbal tea to dampen down your horses feed.

👉You can use fresh or dried herbs (even herbal tea bags). Use 1oz of herb to 300-500ml of hot water. Leave to steep over night and use.

You can mix different herbs together some nice combinations are

👍For digestive system =Peppermint, chamomile, fennel seed, meadowsweet.

👍For the nervous system =Lemon balm, chamomile, vervain, oat.

👍For a cough =Thyme, plantain, mullein, elecampane.

👍For immune system = Rosehip, cleavers, calendula.

05/07/2021

While each horse is different, here are some common behavioral signs that can help you tell if if your horse is happy, sick, or painful, as well as keep you safe.

28/06/2021

Can you see the signs of stress? Horse behavior experts share what to look for in your horse.

15/06/2021

Excellent info especially given the heat we've already had in early June!

04/05/2021

CAN HORSES SMELL FEAR?

A recent study suggests horses may be able to smell human fear when presented with their body odour.

Researchers at the University of Wrocław presented twenty-one Thoroughbred and Arab horses with body odour samples collected from humans who were either happy after watching a cartoon, or frightened after watching a horror film.

Before watching the films, the humans had spent a couple of days only washing in unperfumed soap and had not smoked, drunk alcohol, eaten strong-smelling food, or performed any strenuous exercise so that their scent would be as neutral as possible. Whilst watching the cartoon or horror films the human subjects had sterile pads in their armpits to collect their body odour.

The pads were then presented to the horses and their response to the smell of fear, happiness, or a control (without odour) was recorded.

The research team found that horses showed quite different behaviours in response to the odours. They lifted their heads significantly more frequently and for longer in response to the fear odour and the control, compared to the happiness odour.

Similarly, the horses tended to touch a familiar person that was present during the test more frequently and for longer in the fear condition compared to the happiness condition.

The researchers concluded that the presentation of human body odour from humans in different emotional states is enough to induce different behavioural responses in the horse.

You can read the study here:
Olfactory-based interspecific recognition of human emotions: Horses (Equus ferus caballus) can recognize fear and happiness body odour from humans (Homo sapiens)
Agnieszka Sabiniewicza, Karolina Tarnowska, Robert Świątek, Piotr Sorokowski, Matthias Laska
Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2020) vol 230; 105072

29/04/2021

25/04/2021

Interesting study on tetanus vaccine

Die Tetanus-Impfung

Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Thein, Mikrobiologe und Fachtierarzt für Pferde, untersuchte aktuell die Wirksamkeitsdauer von Tetanus-Impfungen. Der Spezialist für Immunprophylaxe stellte fest: Erwachsene Pferde werden zu oft und Fohlen zu früh geimpft.

Die Tetanus-Impfung wird aktuell nach wie vor alle 2 Jahre aufgefrischt. ABER: Die Tetanus-Impfung wirkt bei Pferden gem. Prof. Thein genauso lange wie bei Menschen, also zwischen 8 bis 15 Jahre. Voraussetzung: Es wurde richtig grundimmunisiert.

Mit einem einfachen Test lassen sich die Antikörper durch einen Tropfen Blut oder Serum vom Tierarzt vor Ort bestimmen. Bei ausreichend schützenden Antikörpern ist eine Impfung nicht notwendig, da der Schutz gewährleistet ist. Fehlt die ausreichend schützende Menge an Antikörpern, muss geimpft werden.

Die neuen Untersuchungen ergaben außerdem, dass Fohlen mit der Kolostralmilch innerhalb von 24 Std. nach der Geburt den Abwehrschutz ihrer Mutter erhalten und dadurch ausreichend schützende Antikörper bis in den 8. Lebensmonat nachweisbar sein können. Erst dann sollten die Fohlen geimpft werden. Zur Grundimmunisierung sind dafür 2 Impfungen innerhalb von 8 Wochen und eine 3. Impfung nach einem Jahr notwendig. Das bisherige Grundimmunisierungsintervall liegt bei 4 bis 8 Wochen.

Eine zu frühe Impfung kann zum Problem der sog. "non responder" führen, d. h. die Fohlen entwickeln trotz aktiver Impfungen auch im späteren Leben keinen Impfschutz.

Gemäß Prof. Dr. Dr. Thein sollten generell unnötige Auffrischungen vermieden werden. Insbesondere vom Einsatz der Kombi-Impfstoffe aus Influenza und Tetanus im halbjährlichen Abstand rät der Fachtierarzt ab.

Meine Empfehlung: Erst die Bestimmung der schützenden Antikörper durch einen einfachen Test durch mich vom Tierarzt oder durchführen lassen und nur bei Bedarf impfen. Grundsätzlich ist der Schutz gegen Tetanus wichtig. Ein Grund mit Sinn und Verstand impfen!