Pasture, legumes, cereal chaffs and hay are the most common roughages fed to horses, but quality is variable. Only the best quality hay, free from mould and dust, should be used. Oats is the safest and best of the grains, Read more…
Horses can lose over 10 gallons of sweat per day and as much as 12% of their body weight. In hot, humid climates, the vapor pressure in the air retards the evaporation of moisture from the horse’s skin, thus impairing Read more…
When a horse has clear sweat means the horse is being worked correctly. White, foamy sweat is a by-product of over-strenuous work or being exercised in excessive heat. White sweat contains proteins, which take too long to dissipate to make Read more…
Some horses sell without reserve, so the final bid by a potential buyer is the winning bid. RNA – short for “reserve not attained,” is another way of indicating a no-sale (see above). What determines a horse price? To buy Read more…
Horses are non-ruminant herbivores, meaning they eat mainly plant material. The horse’s gastrointestinal tract consists of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and the highly developed large intestine composed of the caecum, large colon, small colon and rectum (figure 1). Read more…
The horse’s gastrointestinal tract consists of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and the highly developed large intestine composed of the caecum, large colon, small colon and rectum (figure 1). Anatomical features of the mouth include the teeth, tongue and Read more…
Burks, DVM, DABVP. Large colon torsion is a rotation of the colon on its axis. The colon is not tethered to the body wall in any fashion, with the only mesentery connecting the dorsal and ventral colons. Its blood supply Read more…
There are few side effects and little recovery required for horses undergoing chiropractic manipulation. Your horse may experience stiffness or soreness after treatment. If this occurs you may want to provide your horse with 12 to 24 hours of rest Read more…
During the adjustment, there is a shift in balance from sympathetic dominance to parasympathetic dominance. This causes the animal to perform various types of stress releases. Licking and/or chewing is a parasympathetic response that simulates eating, which an animal will Read more…
Describe the significance to the horse of being a cecal fermenter. The horse is a non ruminant herbivore. They are capable of using roughage because they have an active cecal bacterial population that digest fiber. Are horses cecum fermenters? The Read more…