Wednesday, August 29, 2012

How to Manage Underweight Horses

This is a great article from TheHorse.com on how to evaluate and manage underweight horses. If you are involved in equine therapy, horse therapy, or are just a horse owner then this is an article for you. 

"You are driving on a country road and pass a picturesque scene of several horses grazing in an open field. You notice one horse standing away from the group. Without being able to see much detail, it appears to you that this horse does not look like the others. Its ribs are showing and its hip bones are protruding. Like many concerned citizens, you wonder if the horse is okay, and if someone knows that it is underweight. Is anyone doing anything to address this issue? Should you call someone?

If you have experienced this, you are not alone. Animal control agencies indicate that scenarios like this are reported on a daily basis throughout the United States. Reports of underweight horses are made to local animal control departments, humane societies, or legal authorities. These agencies will, in most cases, conduct a site visit to investigate complaints.

Clearly defined ribs and protruding hip bones seem to be the most common "triggers" that initiate calls to authorities. Other common reports include observations that a horse is not being fed on an ongoing or routine basis, or that there is not enough feed available in the pasture where a horse is housed.

While some reports are credible and warrant investigation and intervention, some are determined to be unfounded. Animal control officers frequently report that complaints about underweight horses are inaccurate or that further investigation uncovers facts about the case that justify the condition of the animal. In some instances, the horse is under veterinary care, while in others the owners have already taken measures to remedy the situation.

It is clear that reports should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, since circumstances surrounding underweight horses can differ greatly in each instance.

So what should you do if you drive by a horse that appears too thin? The most important thing to not do is to leap to conclusions. Making sure that you get an accurate look at the horse is crucial to determining if an action should be taken. In many cases, observing the horse from a different angle (and not at a "split second" glance) can end up resolving initial concerns. Do not trespass to get a closer look but do gather relevant facts such as an accurate description of the animal (color, sex, defining marks, etc.) and a specific geographic location (address or description of the area) and report it to the local animal control authorities.

Common Causes of Low Body Weight Condition

There are a variety of causes for low body weight condition in horses, and these are described below. If you are rehabilitating an underweight horse, particularly a severely underweight horse, it is important to have a veterinarian determine the cause of the condition at the outset, because other medical interventions might be needed in addition to an appropriate feeding regimen.

Inadequate Caloric Intake--Inadequate caloric intake accounts for the majority of underweight horses. In this scenario, energy (in the form of calories) is taken in by ingestion of nutrients (hay, pellets, grain, etc.) in order to meet the metabolic demands of the body. But if the caloric expenditure put out by the body to meet metabolic demands (such as staying warm during cold weather, pregnancy, lactation, etc.) exceeds caloric intake, the body will turn to body stores for energy. Thus, as body tissues (fat and muscle) are dissolved for energy, the body loses weight.

There are two general scenarios that occur in which a lack of adequate caloric intake is the cause of suboptimal body condition. In one scenario, the horse lives for an extended period of time without any ingested feed. Again, it is highly advisable to contact a veterinarian before giving the horse feed because feeding can induce diarrhea and colitis (inflammation of the colon), which can both be life-threatening to horses. Diarrhea can cause irreparable dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Colitis can lead to endotoxemia and sepsis (blood-borne infection), which can cause nearly instantaneous death. Horses can also become laminitic as a consequence of colitis.

In the second scenario, the horse has feed but its net caloric intake is inadequate. This can occur when a horse is being fed a suboptimal amount of food, is not being fed appropriate feeds, or is only being fed on a sporadic basis. In some situations, the horse is being fed a good amount of food on a regular basis, but the food is inappropriate for that horse (for example, poor quality hay with low nutritive value, pregnant horse that requires extra food, or horse that is missing several teeth and cannot chew hay).

It should be noted that both of the scenarios above can occur if a horse is housed with herd mates that are dominant. In such a scenario, herd dynamics can result in one horse not consuming adequate feed, even when ample feed is provided. Therefore, some horses might need to be isolated from more dominant herd mates during feeding, or be moved to a different location so that they do not have to compete for food.

When inadequate caloric intake is determined to be a cause of low body condition, an appropriate feeding regimen should be formulated for the horse. In general, the following tips might be useful when formulating a feeding plan to assist an underweight horse in gaining weight:

  • Veterinary consultation and oversight is advised early in the rehabilitation process.
  • Small, frequent meals on a 24-hour basis can help horses through the more critical stages of rehabilitation (usually during the first two to four weeks of refeeding).
  • High-quality feed sources are beneficial. When possible, low carbohydrate, calorically dense feed that is high in digestible energy should be provided.
  • A clean, fresh water source in the form of a large bucket is useful because water intake can be monitored.
  • Appropriate feedstuffs (i.e., feeds that the horse can chew and digest) are recommended. Examples of recommendations include: pelleted/soaked feeds for horses with dental issues, senior pellets for some cases, low carbohydrate/high digestible energy hay such as alfalfa for other cases.
  • Avoid the "one-size-fits-all" approach to refeeding. Each feeding program is dynamic and can require adjustments on an ongoing basis depending on how the horse responds.
  • The use of gastroprotectants such as omeprazole (marketed as Gastrogard or Ulcergard) can be beneficial in some cases. The use of probiotics with yeast can be useful in some cases, however they might not be warranted in all cases. The use of digestive aids should be carried out with the advice of a veterinarian.

Avoid other stressors such as a loud environment or an inconsistent feeding schedule.

Use blankets and provide shelter to help the horse keep warm (lower energy expenditure) during inclement weather or cold environments to aid in increasing body weight.

Dental Issues--Dental problems in horses can contribute to weight loss, although it is very rare to find a horse that is underweight due solely to dental problems. Usually dental problems will contribute to low body condition score in combination with inadequate caloric intake. Because equine teeth (hypsodonts) grow throughout the animal's life, chewing over time creates sharp enamel points on the upper outside and lower inside edges of the premolars and molars (cheek teeth). These sharp points can dig into the cheeks and gums, making it painful for a horse to chew.

In addition, missing teeth, fractured teeth, or malocclusion such as parrot mouth can impair a horse's ability to adequately grind food when chewing. Horses with pain from dental problems can drop food ("quid") or only partially chew food before swallowing it. Because chewing is the first step in digestion, food that has not been adequately chewed and ground down into smaller bits will pass through the body whole. If it is not ground down to a size in which the body can digest it for energy use, food can end up being inefficiently utilized. Thus, weight loss can occur because the body must use its own stores to use as fuel to meet metabolic demands.

Addressing dental problems can increase the efficiency by which the body can absorb nutrients and energy from food. It is recommended that the horse have its teeth examined and floated (filed) to correct sharp enamel points and any other occlusion issues. Dental care should be performed by a veterinarian.

Infection and Infestation--If a body has to expend extra energy as a result of an ongoing infection or parasite infestation, weight loss can sometimes occur. In some circumstances, horses feel sick as a result of an infection or infestation and thus will not eat even though adequate food may be available. Examples of chronic infection include pneumonia, pyometra (uterine infection in mares), peritonitis (inflammation of the membrane lining the abdomen), and internal abscesses. If a horse cannot eat enough to meet the metabolic need of the disease in addition to other energy needs (like staying warm, working, etc.), weight loss will result.

A physical exam performed by a veterinarian during the early stages of case management can greatly alter the outcome of a rehabilitation case. The exam can help illuminate signs of chronic infection or parasite infestation. In many cases, blood testing can also help determine if and where an infection is occurring. A fecal McMasters test is an essential test to determine whether or not parasites may be playing a role in poor body condition score. The McMasters test quantifies the number of parasite eggs present in a fecal sample. This is important because the mere presence of parasite eggs does not necessarily mean that parasites are contributing to weight loss. In actuality, the number of eggs present helps to determine whether or not they are a factor. Fecal samples must be fresh in order for results to be accurate.

In each equine case of infection or parasitism, medication and management practices will vary.

Other Medical Conditions and Chronic Diseases--Several hundred chronic diseases and conditions exist in horses which can cause weight loss. Cancer, Cushing's disease, gastric ulcers, enterolithiasis, bone fragility syndrome, mandibular fractures, neurologic conditions, mineral toxicosis or deficiency, and organ dysfunction (heart/liver/kidney/thyroid) are but a few examples.

Organ failure like heart, liver, and kidney can also all result in profound loss of body condition. Each of these diseases has their own mechanism by which they result in an increased metabolic demand, but they all draw on a body's energy stores. In some circumstances, horses feel sick as a result of their disease and thus will not eat, despite having plenty of food available. In other cases, the metabolic demand placed on the body by the disease or condition exceeds the energy intake of the horse, thus creating a negative energy balance and subsequent weight loss.

Each medical condition involves its own diagnosis, testing, medical treatment, and management considerations. For these reasons, it is essential that underweight horses be examined by a veterinarian in the early stages of their rehabilitative process."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20539&source=rss&utm_sour...

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Equine Electrolytes, Exercise, and the Heat

A very informative article for those involved with horses and equine therapy

"Many riders look forward to the summer season as the ideal time to ride or work their horse. Most understand the dangers of working horses under high heat and humidity conditions. However, horses can be compromised under less than sweltering conditions if you do not know how to protect them properly.

Dehydration through sweat loss is the major danger. Sweat loss totaling as little as a 3% of body weight can cause almost a 10% reduction in the horse's exercise tolerance. For a 500 kg (1,100 pound) horse, that's only 15 liters of sweat. Research has shown that a horse sweating heavily can lose as many as 16 liters of sweat in just one hour. Even horses working in milder weather conditions or horses turned out in hot weather and sweating can lose around four liters of sweat per hour.

Providing an adequate supply of palatable water is a huge factor in avoiding dehydration. However, water is only part of the answer. For the horse's body to hold onto the required amount of water, electrolyte levels must be correct.

Sodium, potassium, and chloride are the major equine electrolytes. Bicarbonate is also important but the horse's body can produce that from carbon dioxide and water as needed, and bicarbonate is not lost in sweat.

Calcium and magnesium are also lost in sweat but in much smaller amounts than sodium, potassium, and chloride. Sweat contains only a few hundred milligrams of these minerals, compared to thousands or tens of thousands milligrams of sodium, potassium and chloride.

Sodium

Sodium is the electrolyte the horse's body "reads" in the brain to determine whether to send out the impulse to drink more water. If sodium concentration in the blood increases in relation to water, the brain will send out the message to drink. If sodium content in the body is low, blood concentration will not increase enough to trigger drinking even if there is a significant reduction in body water (dehydration).

A 1,100-pound horse loses 20 grams of sodium per day in bodily fluids, not including sweat. This equates to about 1 ounce of plain table salt (sodium chloride). A horse standing around and not exercising but under high heat conditions might require 2 to 3 ounces just to meet basic losses without even being exercised.

When selecting an electrolyte supplement, it is critically important to first meet those baseline needs. Some concentrated commercial electrolyte supplements might only supply about six grams of sodium per ounce (and others much less). Therefore, just to meet baseline sodium requirements a minimum of 3 to 9+ ounces of electrolyte mix would have to fed per day before it would start to replace the sweat electrolytes. Take this into consideration when selecting a supplement.

Potassium

Potassium is present in sweat at about half the level of sodium. Potassium content in hay runs from two to over four times the baseline requirement, depending on the type of hay provided. A rule of thumb some veterinarians advocate is that a horse getting 2% of body weight/day (22 pounds for an 1,100-pound horse, for example) in hay or equivalent pasture time can exercise for up to two hours and not need any supplemental potassium.

If a horse consumes less than 2% of his body weight/day, he might need electrolyte replacement supplements sooner.

Low blood potassium is common in horses that are stressed by heat. However, this doesn't mean that potassium intake is inadequate. The body puts a priority on preserving sodium. If levels are low, the kidneys will excrete more potassium instead of sodium. To remedy low blood potassium, increase sodium to meet needs.

Chloride

Chloride is especially important for horses that are working several hours in hot conditions, whether endurance racing or just trail riding. Chloride is lost via sweat at twice the rate of sodium (which, as mentioned, is twice the level of potassium).

If chloride drops, bicarbonate levels will rise and cause a condition called alkalosis (the body's pH changes too much toward alkaline). Alkalosis, in turn, binds up ionized/electrically charged forms of calcium and magnesium, which can result in colic or (http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=12446) thumps. Supplying calcium and magnesium ions intravenously corrects this condition, but ensuring the horse consumes adequate chloride ensures the condition doesn't happen in the first place.

Until the 2007 National Research Council recommendations were released, there was no target chloride intake for horses. That has now changed, however. Hay and pasture are major sources of chloride, and more comes from meeting sodium requirements by feeding plain salt (i.e., sodium chloride).

How to Deal with Hot Weather

A few simple steps can improve your horse's water and electrolyte status in the heat:

  • Do not rely on salt intake from licking. Add salt directly to meals and/or mix in water and spray on hay;
  • Feed about 2 ounces of plain salt or an electrolyte product daily;
  • Always let your horse drink freely during exercise lasting longer than two hours and immediately after stopping work. Research has shown horses that have their water aaccess restricted while cooling out do not drink as much in total as horses with unrestricted water access;
  • Choose an electrolyte product that has approximately twice as much sodium as potassium and twice as much chloride as sodium; and
  • Follow the instructions below for determining how much you need to give to replace sweat losses.

Choose an electrolyte sweat replacement supplement close to a potassium:sodium:chloride ratio of 1:2:4. Horses consuming generous forage can often use a supplement with lower potassium levels.

Take-Home Message

Ensuring your horse consumes his baseline sodium, potassium, and chloride requirements first and then using electrolyte supplements as needed to replace sweat losses will maximize performance and protect against problems caused by dehydration and electrolyte imbalances."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20516&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

What NOT To Say To Someone Who Is Having A Panic Attack

Great video from Psych Central as usual, but I wanted to share this because I feel this advice is great whether you are involved with horse therapy and equine courses or not. This information is very useful.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

EIA: An Emerging Disease?

This is an important article for all horse owners as well as those involved with equine therapy and equine courses

"Saskatchewan and other regions of Western Canada are in the midst of the largest equine infectious anemia (EIA) outbreak the area has seen in years, involving more than 70 horses and 22 different properties thus far in 2012. In response, two veterinarians discussed the importance of disease surveillance in controlling--and possibly even eradicating--the deadly disease from North American horse populations.

EIA is an incurable infectious disease of horses that is spread by biting insects such as flies. Like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), there is neither cure nor vaccine for EIA. All positive horses are either humanely euthanized or placed under lifelong quarantine.

First recognized in North America in Wisconsin in the late 1800s, EIA outbreaks were increasingly identified across the continent, causing alarm throughout the industry. The Coggins test, which reliably identifies affected horses, was introduced in the 1970s and plays a key role in stopping virus spread from infected horses, to the insect vectors, to more horses.

According to the latest statistics, less than 1% of the horses residing in Saskatchewan are voluntarily tested for the EIA virus. Similarly, an estimated 75-80% of horses in the United States are not currently tested for EIA, despite some states requiring annual testing of every horse residing within those borders.

"In many ways EIA is a disease that would be very easy to contain, if not eradicate, because we have a good test and horses are the only animals that are infected," said Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College in Canada.

That said, Weese explained, "it would take time, commitment, and money, to ensure all horses are tested, and the willingness of the industry to accept the resulting need to euthanize an undetermined number of horses."

Currently, in both Canada and the United States, testing is voluntary and owners are required to foot the bill.

"Many horses are tested regularly; however, there's actually more of a need to test horses that have never been tested before rather than horses that have been tested and been negative multiple times," added Weese.

Angela M. Pelzel, DVM, a Western regional epidemiologist with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services, concurs and added, "State and federal regulatory officials have long lamented that if we were able to test every horse in the U.S. we could eradicate this disease in our country."

Pelzel explained that large numbers of horses are being tested over and over that reside in or travel to states that haven't had an EIA case in many years.

"Rather than using targeted surveillance, which we do in most of our other regulatory programs, we seem to only use convenient sample streams in which to test [for EIA]," she said. "Convenient sampling will only get you so far, as you can see."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20483&source=rss&utm_sour...

 

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Increasing Your Happiness and Motivation

Happiness and Motivation are two very relavant subjects to horse therapy and equine courses because they are both promoted during the therapy sessions. Happiness and Motivation can build confidence and encourage a healthier lifestyle! 

"Have you been feeling unmotivated, stagnant, or bored recently? Is there a sense that your days are repetitive or routine?

These emotions tend to have something in common: passivity. We’re waiting for something to happen, something to change, something to move us forward in our lives or relationships. Life seems to be happening around us, but we can’t seem to get on the forward-moving track we’d like to be on. Therefore, we live day to day in passive repetition.

What keeps us motivated to carry on the daily repetition? Having things to look forward to: vacations, holidays, days off from work, weekends, promotions, a big event coming up, etc. When feeling stagnant, it’s easy to pass off the majority of our days, weeks, months, or even years while looking toward significant “checkpoints.”

Checkpoints are the events that keep us motivated through the repetitive or mundane moments in our lives. For example, how often have we thought along the lines of, “if I can just can through the next few weeks of work, I’ll have a vacation”?

 

Why Checkpoints Are Important

Checkpoints become greatly important in creating satisfaction in our lives and relationships. We need to increase what we look forward to in our years, months, weeks, and days — as individual people, as friends, as couples, as families. Most people have some sort of long-term checkpoint in the back of their minds already (family, career, etc.). But, without short-term checkpoints, long-term checkpoints can essentially shove aside significant chunks of life. We end up pushing precious days –which we won’t get back — behind us in order to achieve a later goal. In order to resolve this, we need to keep one eye on the long-term checkpoints and one eye on the short-term checkpoints.

What can checkpoints be? They can be anything we want them to be: dinner with a friend, family dinners, reading a book, hiking, baking, cooking, going out with friends, playing with your kids, going to the gym, going on a date, watching a movie in bed, etc. It is also possible that these checkpoints can become routine. This is okay. The idea isn’t to avoid repetition as much as it’s to create meaning and satisfaction. So, if one of your checkpoints is meeting a friend for a snack at a set time every week (which is part of your routine that you also look forward to), then it’s good.

One area of caution: keep the checkpoints healthy. If your checkpoints are becoming increasingly isolating, risky or self-harming (e.g., drinking, substance use, gambling, stealing, binge eating, promiscuity), impulsive or compulsive (e.g., over-shopping, overspending frequently), or harmful to others, professional help may be needed. Something more serious likely is the cause of these types of behaviors and urges.

How to Create Checkpoints

Here are some suggestions to help create checkpoints:

  1. Make a list. Make a list of things, no matter how seemingly insignificant some of them may seem at first, that you would look forward to. These can be things you already do or have done.

     

  2. List your current checkpoints. These are anything coming up in the next several months that you’re feeling motivated for, no matter how small or large. It could be a project at work, a Skype session with a friend or family member later, a date on Friday, vacation in two weeks, etc.
  3. Space between. If you have a monthly calendar, put the currently existing checkpoints in, and visually note the space between them to see how far apart they are.
  4. Fill in. Fill in the checkpoints you’d like to add, and put in a specific time for each one. Spread them out. If you do them too quickly, you’ll end up back where you are now. Also, if you don’t have enough on your list and see a lot of open calendar space, mark areas where you’d like to add some checkpoints. If scheduling is difficult, aim for simpler checkpoints (which can be equally as satisfying if it’s something meaningful to you).
  5. Do them. Hopefully this step takes care of itself. If you have checkpoints set up, then these are things that you’re looking forward to.

Remember, this is purely about creating meaning and satisfaction in our lives that goes beyond a few long-term goals per year. Some less-desired repetitions (e.g., work) will probably always be there, to an extent. We want to create a feeling that says, “I’m looking forward to tomorrow (or whichever day) because of (checkpoint)” as often as we can. The more fulfilling checkpoints we have to look forward to and actively participate in, the more motivated and satisfied we will feel in our lives."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/08/12/lifes-checkpoints-increasing...

 

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