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If you are building a new barn or planning a remodel, one important factor to keep in mind is the importance of ventilation. Fresh, circulating air is the essential element veterinarians urge when planning barn upgrades that most affect our horse’s health and well-being. Designs and management strategies to reduce airborne dust and ammonia go hand-in-hand with prioritizing ventilation.
Minimizing injury risks and creating a suitable place for the veterinarian and other care providers to help your horse rank highly, too.
Ventilation
Even the most meticulously kept stable is loaded with tiny, respirable particles that impact our horses’ vulnerable respiratory systems. Forage is the healthiest diet foundation for most horses, but it’s also one of the biggest sources of these invisible bits of organic matter that trigger irritation and inflammation in the respiratory tract.
Photo courtesy of US Equestrian
Traditional bedding is right up there with hay as a source of organic dust. Ammonia is another inescapable element in the stable and it’s harmful — for your horse and for you.
Whatever the airborne particles consist of, ventilation keeps them moving along rather than settling in the horse’s breathing zone.
If you are building a new barn, you’ll want to maximize natural breezes by positioning the barn and the breezeways in their predominant path. Make those aisleways wide — ideally, at least 14 feet — to maximize airflow intake, and choose ceiling heights and air exits to harness the tendency of warm air to rise.
Installing more windows and/or doors is your best option in barn remodels and upgrades. The more places air can enter and exit, the better. Horses in stalls with two doors or windows, for example, benefit from living in an airflow corridor.
Continue reading on US Equestrian to learn more about how ambient temperature, fans, eliminating dust, flooring, safe spaces, and injury reduction are all important factors in barn building design.
Consistent equine dental exams are important for the health of a horse’s mouth as well as the rest of their body. The goals of equine dentistry may appear straightforward, but they include a complex system of evaluations that in turn affect the entire well-being of a horse. At its core, equine dentistry encompasses the objectives of maintaining even tooth wear, treating infection or disease, allowing for proper digestion, and promoting longevity. Dr. Tyler Davis of Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL, believes that routine and thorough dental exams can help prevent many issues from ever becoming problems.
Why do horses require dental care?
Horses grind their food into a finely masticated bolus before swallowing. The combination of a horse’s upper jaw being larger than the lower jaw, and the fact that a horse chews by moving their jaws from side-to-side results in uneven wear of the teeth. This uneven wear may cause sharp edges to form, which hinder efficient chewing and may ulcerate or tear the cheeks and tongue. Uneven wear can also cause the horse to swallow food that isn’t properly chewed and can lead to more daunting problems such as colic.
No horse is exempt from needing their teeth cared for by a veterinarian. For sport horses, however, dental care becomes even more crucial. Much of the connection between horse and rider comes by way of the horse’s mouth, and depending on the discipline, the horse may always have pressure in their mouth. If there are problems or discomfort within the mouth, it can become evident in the horse’s performance and disposition under saddle.
According to Dr. Davis, having a horse’s teeth in perfect shape allows one to immediately rule out dental issues when trying to troubleshoot a performance problem. A “sound mouth” also allows the best condition for supple, soft, and accurate connections between horse and rider through the bridle.
Photo courtesy of Palm Beach Equine Clinic
The most common signs of dental discomfort in horses include:
Head-tilting and tossing
Difficulty chewing
Bit-chewing and tongue lolling
Tail-wringing, bucking, and other behavioral issues
Drooling and bad breath
Weight loss and spillage of grain (sometimes)
What is floating?
On a basic level, most horses require a routine float. Floating is the term for rasping or filing a horse’s teeth to ensure an even, properly aligned bite plane. While floating is the physical process, the scope of equine dentistry is much broader and examines the horse’s overall health as influenced by the mouth.
“A proper dental exam using a lightweight speculum, a very good light source, and a dental mirror allows me to see any possible problems and prevent those problems from becoming painful and affecting a horse’s performance and overall health,” said Dr. Davis.
How often should you have a veterinarian perform a routine dental exam on your horse?
Dr. Davis recommends an exam every 12 months at a minimum. For many sport horses, the demands of their competition schedule may require bi-yearly exams to prevent any problems that could sideline them from training or events. Lastly, any horse with a history of dental problems may require exams every three to four months. Without routine dental exams by a veterinarian, uneven wear can escalate to a serious health problem.
For a more in-depth explanation of equine dentistry, click HERE to read the full article from Palm Beach Equine Clinic.
NOTE: These guidelines are only suggestions, and you should always follow the specific instructions from your veterinarian.
Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!
BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!
Most horse owners say they take better care of their equine partners than themselves. While many maintenance treatments and products could be considered a luxury, veterinary chiropractic adjustments do not fall into that category. Palm Beach Equine Clinic’s Dr. Ryan Lukens is a certified Veterinary Medical Manipulation Practitioner from the Chi Institute in Ocala, FL, and recommends all horses can benefit from regular chiropractic adjustments.
From minis to draft horses and pasture pets to top sport mounts, the parasympathetic stimulation triggered by chiropractic adjustments improves multiple facets of health for any equine. Therefore, veterinary chiropractic adjustments improve more than just athletic performance, and for sport horses, Dr. Lukens considers them a necessity.
According to Dr. Lukens, the benefits of veterinary chiropractic adjustments include:
Relief of pain and soreness
Increase in range of motion
Reversal of muscle atrophy through increased frequency of nerve activation
Increase in speed and accuracy of athletic movement
Adjustments can help calm the “fight or flight” response
Dr. Lukens outlines the “must know” details for any sport horse owner:
Major Adjustment Points
There are 205 bones that comprise the skeleton of a horse, however, the equine chiropractor does not just adjust the skeleton. It is important to improve motion at segmented levels that involve bones and the supporting soft tissue structures and nerves. “Motion palpation” is used to test moving segments. If a segment is not moving freely in the appropriate directional planes, the equine chiropractor can perform an adjustment to correct the restriction of this movement.
Photo courtesy of Palm Beach Equine Clinic
Major adjustment points include the:
Mandible and tongue
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ)
Poll and cervical vertebrae
Withers and sternum
Front and hind limbs
Thoracic and lumbar vertebrae
Pelvis/sacrum
Every Horse Is Different
Veterinary chiropractic adjustments can be different for each horse and are often based on their discipline. The most common adjustments for various performance horses include:
Dressage: Balance is essential for dressage. The major points of balance affected by veterinary chiropractic work are the TMJ, hyoid, sternum, and cervical facets. Other common adjustments affected by lateral work include the shoulders, elbows, and pelvis.
Hunter/Jumper: Hunters and jumpers typically benefit from vertebral adjustments of the lumbar and upper cervical regions, ribs, sternum, front distal limbs, and the shoulders.
Eventing: Most eventing horses benefit from adjustments to the pelvis, all cervical vertebrae, TMJ, ribs, and the shoulders.
Western Disciplines: Reiners benefit from adjustments to their right shoulder, lower cervical facets, withers, and pelvis. Barrel racers benefit from shoulder, sacroiliac, and hip joint adjustments.
Tips for Before and After an Adjustment
It is important that dental and farrier work is not overdue before veterinary chiropractic adjustments. Sharp dental points can cause adjustments to hold for shorter periods of time, especially in the poll, TMJ, and cervical vertebrae. In addition, if a horse is currently not shod well or has recently pulled a shoe, the adjustments of their limbs, back, pelvis, and sacrum may not provide long-lasting benefits.
Horses can be ridden and have a normal day before an appointment. They should not be ridden for the remainder of the day after an adjustment, but they can be turned out to pasture. Horses can be ridden as normal the following day, and it is a good idea to follow up with the veterinarian about how they felt.
Solving Common Issues
Several common issues are often solved by a veterinary chiropractic adjustment. For jumpers, changes in jumping style (i.e. landing away from a front limb, only jumping off of a certain lead) and performance (hitting more rails than normal) could indicate a lack of range of motion that can often be corrected through a proper adjustment or series of adjustments.
For dressage horses, a change in balance could result in head tilting, not working through the back, lifting the lower cervical curve, or the hind limbs not following the path of the front limbs. That balance can often be reestablished with an adjustment.
In the western disciplines, a decrease in acceleration and turning can be indicative of the need for adjustments.
Choosing Your Equine Chiropractor
A veterinarian trained in chiropractic adjustments is the safest choice for the horse. A veterinarian’s extensive knowledge of anatomy and understanding of when not to adjust a horse is an important part of ensuring the horse’s safety and well-being. If done improperly, adjustments can have adverse effects.
For a more in-depth explanation of equine chiropractic adjustments, click HERE to read the full article from Palm Beach Equine Clinic.
NOTE: These guidelines are only suggestions, and you should always follow the specific instructions from your veterinarian.
Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!
BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!
Every owner dreads having to decide whether or not to send their horse onto the surgical table for colic surgery. Before that difficult moment occurs, it is important that the horse’s owner or caretaker understands what to expect throughout the recovery process. Keep reading to find out what you need to know about colic surgery recovery from board-certified equine surgeon Dr. Weston Davis of Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL.
Stages After Surgery
Immediately Post-Surgery
As soon as a horse is up and returns to its stall at the veterinary clinic where the surgery was performed, careful monitoring begins, including physical health evaluations, bloodwork, and often, advanced imaging. Physical exams will be conducted at least four times per day to evaluate the incision and check for any signs of fever, laminitis, lethargy, and to ensure good hydration status. An abdominal ultrasound may be done several times per day to check the health of the gut, and a tube may be passed into the stomach to check for reflux and accumulating fluid.
Before the horse can be discharged, it must be regularly passing manure and back on a semi-normal diet.
Returning Home
Veterinarians often recommend the use of an elastic belly band to support the horse’s incision site during transport from the clinic and while recovering at home. Different types of belly bands offer varying levels of support. Some simply provide skin protection, while others are able to support the healing of the abdominal wall.
Two Weeks Post-Surgery
Photo by Jump Media
At the 12-to-14-day benchmark, the sutures will be removed from the horse’s incision site. The incision site is continuously checked for signs of swelling, small hernias, and infection.
At-Home Recovery
When the horse is home, the priority is to continue monitoring the incision and return them to a normal diet if that has not already been accomplished.
The first two weeks of recovery after the horse has returned home is spent on stall rest with free-choice water and hand grazing. After this period, the horse can spend a month being turned out in a small paddock or kept in a turn-out stall. They normally return to full turnout during the third month. Hand-walking and grazing is permittable during all stages of the at-home recovery process. After the horse has been home for three months, the horse is likely to be approved for riding.
Generally, when a horse reaches the six-month mark in their recovery, the risk of adverse internal complications is very low, and the horse can return to full training under saddle.
When to Call the Vet?
After colic surgery horses should be monitored closely throughout all stages of recovery for signs of unusual behavior. Decreased water intake, abnormal manure output, fever, pain, or discomfort are all signals that a veterinarian should be consulted immediately.
Long-Term Care
In most cases of colic surgery, patients that properly progress in the first two weeks after the procedure will go on to make a full recovery and successfully return to their previous level of training and competition.
Depending on the specifics of the colic, however, some considerations need to be made for long-term care. For example, if the horse had sand colic, the owner would be counseled to avoid sand and offer the horse a selenium supplement to prevent a possible relapse. In large intestinal colic cases, dietary restrictions may be recommended as a prophylactic measure. Also, horses that crib can be predisposed to epiploic foramen entrapment, which is when the bowel becomes stuck in a defect in the abdomen. This could result in another colic incident, so cribbing prevention is key.
Generally, a horse that has fully recovered from colic surgery is no less healthy than it was before the colic episode. While no one wants their horse to go through colic surgery, owners and caretakers should understand the recovery process to help ensure the horse successfully returns to health.
NOTE: These guidelines are only suggestions, and you should always follow the specific instructions from your veterinarian.
Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!
BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!
Equine ulcers are a common concern for horse owners. In order to effectively treat and prevent equine ulcers, it is important for owners, managers, riders, and grooms to understand the types, symptoms, and causes. Keep reading to find out more about equine ulcers courtesy of Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington, FL.
What are equine ulcers?
Equine ulcers are sores that form on the stomach lining of a horse. They can be broken down into three categories: gastric ulcer disease of the squamous mucosa, gastric ulceration of the glandular mucosa, and colon ulcers of the right dorsal colon.
Equine gastric ulcer disease of the squamous mucosa refers to ulcers found on the stomach’s inner lining and are mainly caused by exposure to stomach acid. This type of ulcer is often seen in performance horses due to exercise and abdominal pressure.
Gastric ulceration of the glandular mucosa is often found on the stomach lining around the pyloric region closer to the intestines. Ulcers found here are typically caused by stress.
Similarly, the last type of equine ulcer, which is found in the colon, is also mainly due to stress.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of equine ulcers often do not present the same way in every horse. The signs can also range from mild to severe. A few major symptoms to look for are poor appetite, attitude changes, decreased performance, poor body condition, and weight loss.
How do veterinarians diagnose equine ulcers?
Photo courtesy of Palm Beach Equine Clinic
There are a variety of diagnostic tools that veterinarians use for equine ulcers. One option is a Succeed test which is a fecal test that helps indicate the presence of ulcers. Another option is to perform a gastroscopy to see the stomach where both forms of gastric ulcers are found. Ultrasound is the primary diagnostic tool to look for thickening of the right dorsal colon wall indicating ulceration in the colon. Basic bloodwork to determine total albumin, a protein made by the liver, also helps indicate more severe cases of colon ulcers.
How are equine ulcers treated?
Since each type of equine ulcer has a different underlying cause, the treatment is different. Omeprazole paste is a common treatment option for equine ulcers. Veterinarians may use this in conjunction with other medications depending on the type of ulcer. For horses that have ulcers of the squamous mucosa it is common to add a dose of sucralfate before meals to the horse’s treatment plan. If the horse has ulcers in the glandular and pyloric region of the stomach, misoprostol and prostaglandin analog is used. For ulcers of the right dorsal colon, sucralfate is used as a coating agent while misoprostol is used as a treatment.
How can they be prevented?
In addition to medication, lifestyle changes can also help horses recover from equine ulcers and prevent them from reoccurring. Providing a more stress-free environment or allowing the horse to have downtime after competition can help. Also, turnout and giving your horse grazing time are extremely important for horses that are prone to ulcers.
Ulcers are a common problem in performance horses due to stress and constant exercise. Understanding the basics of ulcers will make it easier for you to quickly identify them and help prevent them for a happier, healthier horse. For a more in-depth explanation of equine ulcers, click HERE to read the full article from Palm Beach Equine Clinic.
Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!
BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!
