January 11, 2021
Hot weather horse management keys on hydration, smart scheduling and maximizing breezes.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Almost everywhere, hot weather is arriving more often through the year and the "summer" season - weather wise - starts earlier and sticks around longer.
Whenever summer temperatures arrive, a simple statement applies: If you're hot, your horse is hotter!
Here's some tips for keeping your horse comfortable and healthy in the heat.
1. Schedule Smart: Gauge ride times and intensity to the temperature. Exercise in cooler parts of the day and choose a shady trail stroll over a jump school if it's excessively hot.
2. Maintain Fitness & Weight: As with people, a horse in good fitness and weight for its life stage and workload is best equipped to handle the extra physiological stresses that come with high heat.
3. Hydrate: Provide cool, clean water at all times, including during breaks in sustained exercise sessions. Monitor intake to prevent dehydration: the average horse drinks between five and 10 gallons of water a day, more with exertion and hot weather.
Normally enthusiastic drinkers might be less so while travelling or at competitions. Know their baseline intake at home and experiment to determine what additives -- electrolytes or honey, for example -- your horse seems to like and travel with them to whet his thirst.
Welcome ways to get more moisture into the diet. Haygain Steamed Hay, for example, has nearly three times the water content of dry hay.
4. Provide Shade: Ideal pasture shade includes trees and open-sided shelters, so breezes help keep things cool. If no shaded paddocks, schedule turn-outs during the coolest time of the day.
5. Provide Ventilation for Stabled Horses: Capitalize on the fact that heat rises, which draws in air. Open windows, doors, skylights. Fans are good if cords and blades can be secured out the horse's reach. Maintain a low-dust stable environment so that airflow does not stir respirable particles into the horse's breathing zone: heat and humidity are hard enough on the respiratory system!
6. Stall Smart: Flooring that does not absorb heat is ideal. The foam used in Haygain's ComfortStall Sealed Orthopaedic Flooring, for example, is a closed-cell structure that prevents heat from passing through it.
Further, bacteria flourishes in hot weather, especially when combined with moisture. Regular stall cleaning and flooring that prevents the accumulation of urine at the stall base are smart steps in minimizing bacteria growth and maintaining good barn air quality to support respiratory health -- for horses and their people.
7. Careful Cooling: Horses cool down more slowly than people. That's partly due to a higher percentage of heat-producing muscle mass and a less-favourable ratio of body mass to surface area through which heat escapes.
After exercise, keep walking long enough for muscles to recover and respiratory rate to return to normal: typically between 10 to 24 breaths a minute. Hose down with cool water and scrape off excess water. Repeat. As happens when horses sweat, the evaporation of water from the skin helps lower body temperature.
8. Dress for Success: Heat usually escalates along with the annoyance of flies and other insects. Mesh blankets and masks can reduce that without making the horse hotter. Non-breathable materials -- on backs, bodies and legs, do the opposite, so pick summer horse wear carefully.
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By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Most risk factors for colic are centred around management and feeding practices. Dietary change tends to be the most commonly reported risk factor which would include changes in batch or type of forage (or concentrate) and management changes, such as time spent stabled vs in the field.
It’s important to note the risk of colic is significantly higher two weeks after a change in forage (or concentrate feed), with multiple changes throughout the year, increasing the risk further.
This emphasizes the need to make any dietary changes slowly to allow the hind gut microflora to adapt. Introduce changes over at least 14 days and think of feeding the bugs of the digestive tract rather than the horse!!
Horses evolved as trickle feeders so their digestive tract relies on a steady flow of fibre. Along with fresh, clean water, fibre is a fundamental part of every horse’s diet. Grass and conserved forages such as hay and haylage contribute the largest proportion of fibre to the daily diet and is required at a minimum of 1.5 % live weight to keep the horse physically and mentally healthy and the digestive system working properly. Fibre helps maintain a healthy microbial population and pushes out any excess gas which sits in the gut helping prevent tympanitic colic. Fibre also retains water which will reduce incidence of dehydration, a risk factor of impaction colic.
Consistently feeding plenty of clean, palatable forage can play a pivotal role in helping to prevent colic. Poor quality hay tends to be less digestible which can predispose to impaction colic. The hygienic quality is also important. While it is recognised poor hygienic quality forage adversely affects the health of the respiratory tract in horses, research by Kaya et al showed horses fed poor hygienic quality hay are significantly more susceptible to colic than those fed clean hay. Results from Hudson et al suggest that feeding hay from round bales increase the risk of colic in horses which may be because round bale hay is generally of poorer quality.
References
Kaya G, Sommerfeld-Stur I, Iben C. Risk factors of colic in horses in Austria. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2009 Jun;93(3):339-49.
Jason M. Hudson, Noah D. Cohen, Pete G. Gibbs, and James A.Thompson, Feeding practices associated with colic in horses Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2001 219:10, 1419-1425
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10/06/2021
"Get nosy," advises veterinarian Dr. Wren Burnley.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Wren Burnley has a veterinary degree and ongoing education to inform the care of her own horses and those in her practice. She also brings her perspective as an FEI dressage trainer and rider.
When she wants to evaluate her patients' home environments for respiratory risks, however, Dr. Burnley only needs her nose. As in, she'll stick her nose into a bale of hay, bend down in the stall to inhale deeply in the horse's "inhalation zone," or stand in the barn aisle sniffing for ammonia odours. She encourages clients to be equally "nosy" in protecting their horse's respiratory health.
Why?
"Because horse's lungs are at their peak from the get-go," she explains. "You can't make lungs get stronger with exercise." That puts a premium on protecting them, along with the upper respiratory tract that delivers oxygen to the lungs and carries carbon dioxide out.
As the term "Equine Asthma Spectrum" becomes widely accepted in veterinary circles, Dr. Burnley fields increasing inquiries about what it is and how it applies to clients' horses. Here are answers to some of Dr. Burnley's Frequently Asked Questions on the subject.
Q: What is the Equine Asthma Spectrum?
A: It's a broad term introduced a few years ago to align descriptions of the progression of respiratory conditions in horses with those found in people. The spectrum goes from mild conditions that are almost unrecognizable in young sport horses to heaves, which involves heavy breathing, difficulty moving about and a "heave" line on the horse's side from the effort required to exhale.
Inflammatory Airway Disease is a term most people don't know much about. It's at the mild end of the spectrum and often found in younger horses, and with more subtle symptoms. IAD is common: it affects about 80% of our horses. It's the condition that we can do the most about in the life of a horse. IAD is mostly asymptomatic, or the symptoms are so mild we have to be super horse keepers to watch out for them.
Q: What are the IAD symptoms?
A: A cough. Often that sort of throat-clearing cough after the first little bit of warm-up at the walk. By the time even an intermittent cough shows up, there is already inflammation in the airways. Another symptom can be a little bit of clear nasal discharge. Or, even more subtle: Your horse is just "not quite right" in their breathing, but you don't have a clear way of describing that to your vet.
Q: What causes IAD?
A: It is a protective mechanism of the horse's body. The body doesn't want tiny particles going down its respiratory tree. It responds to the irritation of those particles with inflammation, and that causes mucus which is needed to sweep the particles out. But the inflammation and the mucus make it harder for oxygen to travel through the respiratory tract and get to the lungs, and that's when you have IAD.
Compounding this situation is when the particles are allergens for horses. There is increasing recognition of the range of things that can trigger allergic reactions in horses. When present, allergens worsen the response in the form of more inflammation and mucus, making it even harder to get oxygen to the lungs.
Q: How can it be prevented?
A: Decrease the amount of particles in your horse's inhalation zone.
When you are riding your horse, or however your horse lives its day, figure out what is in your horse's environment and his inhalation zone that could be causing the problem. Stick your nose in the same place your horse does! When you walk into your stable, look around and realize that not all horses spend their whole day with their head hanging over the stall door. They have their head down in the stall a lot of the time. Put your head down there and figure out what's happening two to three feet off the ground, where your horse's head is.
I am an asthmatic myself, and I am not happy with what I often find.
Look in your arenas and exercise paddocks. Look at the clouds of dust particles when the light hits them. The horse's nose is big, and it takes in a lot of those particles. That's what gets stuck in the respiratory tree, and sometimes goes further down the tree to the lungs.
Q: Where do most of the particulates come from?
A: Footing. Bedding. Hay
Q: What steps to you recommend for minimizing particulates?
A: Don't blow the barn aisle when your horses are inside. Open the barn doors and windows. Horses aren't made to be closed in. They love light and air. The more air moving through the barn, the better.
Water the arenas as often as needed to keep the dust down.
Q: Most horses benefit from a mainly hay diet. How do you manage that when it's a primary source of these harmful particles?
A: I can break open a bale of hay, stick my nose into it, and it smells sweet and wonderful: not a whiff of mold or mildew. I think my nose is really great, but if I send that hay off to the lab, it will likely come back with mold and bacteria in it.
I steam our horses' hay and recommend that my clients do, too. Allergens, bacteria, and things horses can be allergic to are really gone after high temperature steaming in a Haygain steamer.
Soaking hay is also an option, but that leaches nutrients and soaking can increase the bacteria and fungi in hay.
Q: When are conditions on the Equine Asthma Spectrum reversible, versus manageable?
A: Inflammation can be reversed: scarring is only manageable. The difference depends on how far down the respiratory tree the irritation has occurred and how long it's gone on. There are great ways of reversing inflammation, with nebulizer treatments, medications, etc. But if you don't eliminate the things that are causing it, it is going to cycle back.
Q: What are the most significant veterinary advances around equine respiratory health?
A: On the medical end of things, it is the ability to see the problem by using an endoscope to grade the condition of the airway and to monitor what is affecting the horse. This has allowed us to find affected airways earlier. We can start the treatment process earlier and we have the ability to treat the things that are specific irritants for your horse. Your vet can look in there, take samples and send them off for testing, which is getting better and better.
Q: Is there a correlation between respiratory health and the immune system?
A: There is in the sense that so much enters the horse through the nose, which is the gateway to the respiratory system. (Remember, horses are "obligate nasal breathers." They don't breathe through their mouth.) If the immune system is already responding to an airway irritant, then gets hit with an allergen, it can get very wound up.
For me, if my asthma is kind of on the brink and I get hit with something that is an irritant to me, my throat can close up, I get hives and it feels like there is an elephant on my chest. It's a cascade effect that makes it really difficult to perform as a vet or a dressage rider.
Q: You seem especially passionate about protecting equine respiratory health. If so, why?
A: Many years ago, I had my first ride on an FEI dressage horse, owned by one of our clients. I earned my first USDF silver medal with him. He came home from a show with a respiratory infection. We took him to the "horsepital" and he recovered from the virus and bacteria part of the disease, but his respiratory function never fully recovered.
We were just learning about nebulizers and I went on the war path about decreasing dust in our barn and our veterinary practice. It wasn't until this special horse passed away that we learned about Haygain Hay Steamers. We read all the research and wondered why we hadn't heard about this before. (Haygain was introduced in 2009.)
Since we started steaming, our horses have not had any of the respiratory problems that start in a simple fashion and can get so much worse. We understand the management in a better way and it's all about making the respiratory tree as healthy as possible.
Q: Thank you, Dr. Burnley!
A: My pleasure!
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29/04/2020
A horse may have huge muscles, a strong heart and good bones, but the respiratory system is performance-limiting, especially under extreme pressure. Sharon Smith looks at a marginal gains approach to training and how keep the respiratory system in top condition should be at the top of the list.
Sharon Smith MSc BHSAPC | Equine Behaviourist
The efficiency of gas-exchange across the lung-blood barrier. This can’t happen quickly enough to maintain aerobic muscle function (even in healthy horses) and the result is ‘diffusion limitation’.
When it comes to getting air in and out of the lungs, horses have evolved as obligate nasal breathers, ie. they rarely mouth-breathe. From rest to intensive exercise, air-flow to the horse’s lungs can increase from 5 to 75 litres per second!
Horses can do this because the upper airway (from nose to trachea) has uniquely evolved to widen and become rigid during intensive exercise. Still, the upper airway accounts for 80% of the total air resistance in an exercising healthy horse [3]. This resistance means vacuum pressure in the upper airway increases nearly 20x during inhalation. A mere 20% reduction of the width of the airway in an unhealthy or compromised horse will double airflow resistance. So then, excessively high vacuum pressures deep in the lungs may lead to exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) [4].
During exercise, airway restriction will be caused by a poorly-fitted or over-tight noseband, over-flexed head and neck (where the rider forcefully holds their horse’s head to the chest), or the horse drawing their tongue back from a harsh bit or tongue-tie pressure. Despite the common practice in racing of tying the tongue to the lower jaw, or out the side of the month, there is no evidence this improves ventilation [5].
Tack and rider aside, microscopic air-born particulates, ammonia from urine, or infection by microbes produce excessive mucus. This promotes BOTH ventilation:perfusion inequality and diffusion limitation during exercise. Nothing beats clean air and grazing, but most horses can’t be kept on pasture year-round. In which case, preserved forage becomes an important consideration. Unfortunately, the process of making, storing and feeding dry hay results in dust [6]. It is now widely accepted that Haygain steamers eliminate harmful bacteria, moulds and viruses in hay – and the process considerably reduces respirable dust for the duration of ration consumption.
Chronic stress suppresses the immune system [7], so low-stress management keeps the horse physically well. Housing ventilation, hygiene, and dust-free bedding that stays dust-free, are necessary.
Thoroughbreds were 4x more likely to win races, and 2x more likely to be placed if they had no EIPH or the lowest positive score (Grade 1/4). Yet, over half (≈56%) of the 744 horses in that study were found to be affected by the condition. In a sport where fractions of a second, or a momentary lapse in concentration make the difference between winning and losing, who can afford to ignore marginal gains?
References
[1] Hinchcliff, K., Geor, R., & Kaneps, A. J. (2008). The horse as an athlete: a physiological overview. Equine exercise physiology: the science of exercise in the athletic horse, 1.1(10).
[2] Dempsey, J. A., & Wagner, P. D. (1999). Exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia. Journal of Applied Physiology, 87(6), 1997-2006.
[3] Robinson, N. E., & Sorenson, P. R. (1978). Pathophysiology of airway obstruction in horses: a review. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 172(3), 299-303.
[4] Poole, D. C., & Erickson, H. H. (2008). Cardiovascular function and oxygen transport: responses to exercise and training. Equine exercise physiology: the science of exercise in the athletic horse. Hinchcliff, KW, 232.
[5] Holcombe, S. J., & Ducharme, N. G. (2008). Upper airway function of normal horses during exercise. Equine Exercise Physiology: The Science of Exercise in the Athletic Horse. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier, 170-192.
[6] Seguin, V., Lemauviel-Lavenant, S., Garon, D., Bouchart, V., Gallard, Y., Blanchet, B., ... & Ourry, A. (2010). Effect of agricultural and environmental factors on the hay characteristics involved in equine respiratory disease. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 135, 206-215.
[7] Elenkov, I. J., Wilder, R. L., Chrousos, G. P., & Vizi, E. S. (2000). The sympathetic nerve—an integrative interface between two supersystems: the brain and the immune system. Pharmacological reviews, 52(4), 595-638.
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17/03/2021
Venturing Hills continues to fight for its horses lives in week 6 of battle with neurological strain of EHV-1.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Five weeks after EHV-1 took its first horse at Venturing Hills Equestrian Farm, another two had been lost despite remarkable efforts to reverse the highly aggressive and infectious virus' course. Staff and volunteers at the Canadian boarding, training and lesson facility are living at the barn to monitor and care for the horses.
Taking temperatures every two hours, administering anti-viral medications and implementing extensive biosecurity measures have been round-the-clock endeavours since the first victim, Eddie, was lost on the third of February.
As of the 16th of March, one horse believed to be recovered had spiked a new high temperature and was fighting for its life. That further extended the horizon on which a sigh of relief could confidently be taken.
"It was like watching a drunk person try to walk a straight line," Venturing Hills' Rae Anne Becke told webcast host Laura Kelland-May in describing Eddie's "out of the blue" symptoms that afternoon on the 3rd of February. From that incident around 4:30 in the afternoon, and even with the support of emergency veterinary care, he was gone by 11 pm.
Shortly after, tests determined it was the neurological strain of the EHV-1 virus.
EHV, the equine herpesvirus, is endemic to the equine population: it resides in most horses in a dormant state, but can be reactivated and shed in respiratory secretions. The EHV-1 strain associated with neurological disease is rare. It was this variant that showed up at Venturing Hills and led to outbreaks in Europe and the U.S. in February and March.
Although EHV is a respiratory disease, respiratory symptoms including nasal discharge, cough and laboured breathing are not always early warning signs. They were, however, for some of the affected horses at Venturing Hills.
In the case of Rae's beloved 6-year-old pony, Winnie, it was a cough. In hindsight, the pony's progressively worse cough was probably the earliest sign of EHV-1, Rae reflects. Initially it presented without a temperature, the more common symptom of the disease. It was disturbing, especially when medications, supplements and other treatments did not lessen it. Yet it did not raise red flags regarding infectious disease. A few days later, a fever caught up to what had progressed to a cough producing "chunks of blood."
In pre-COVID and pre-EHV-1 times, Rae juggles management of Venturing Hills horses, barn and thriving multi-level lesson program with an eventing career in ascent mode. Selena O'Hanlon is one of her coaches and it was through the Canadian Olympic eventer that Rae knew the benefits of Haygain Steamed Hay. On Selena's recommendation, Rae's father, Peter Becke, "being the hero that he is," purchased two full-bale HG2000 Hay Steamers delivered in a rush.
Since early in Venturing Hills' ongoing odyssey, the steamers have been going nearly 24 hours a day, Rae reports. Haygain Hay Steaming rids up to 99% of the dust, mould, fungi, and bacteria found even in hay of good nutritional quality. Any of these microscopic irritants could become a final straw for respiratory and immune systems already burdened by EHV-1 in its respiratory-only form or its more severe neurological manifestation. Even if the tiny particles don't contain pathogens, their presence in the respiratory system can irritate and inflame the surface, restricting airflow and easy breathing.
In Winnie's case, steamed hay was the only measure that reduced the severity of her cough. For the rest of the horses, steamed hay's appetizing smell and taste continue to help with challenges common to any illness: loss of appetite and dehydration. The increased appeal of steamed hay and a moisture content three times that of dry hay address both.
"Another beautiful thing about the hay steamers is that we can share the hay nets because they are safe, clean and ready to go," Rae adds. The highly infectious nature of EHV-1 requires extensive biosecurity measures. These include isolating sick and healthy horses and those awaiting test results, and not sharing any equipment or surface that could be a fomite for the shed virus. What sounds manageable on a list of protocols is a complicated, labor-intensive challenge to enact 24/7 in a barn with 40 horses. Using steamed nets greatly eased the feeding process. "That alone made the hay steamers worthwhile," Rae says.
The loss of any horse is tragic. At Venturing Hills, the three losses directly impact an unusually broad range of people because they were stars of the equestrian centre's beginning and introduction-to-competition program. "We wanted to share horses and riding with everyone," says Rae of why they began the inclusive and welcoming riding school several years ago. "Those horses enabled so many people to get involved in the sport."
Since early in Venturing Hills' ongoing odyssey, the steamers have been going nearly 24 hours a day, Rae reports. Haygain Hay Steaming rids up to 99% of the dust, mould, fungi, and bacteria found even in hay of good nutritional quality. Any of these microscopic irritants could become a final straw for respiratory and immune systems already burdened by EHV-1 in its respiratory-only form or its more severe neurological manifestation. Even if the tiny particles don't contain pathogens, their presence in the respiratory system can irritate and inflame the surface, restricting airflow and easy breathing.
Venturing Hills is a family endeavour in the broadest sense. "Yes, we compete in Florida, but we also offer riding in whatever form everybody wants," Rae explains. "Whether we are participating in the Ottawa Valley Hunt or riding out on trail, our team is our family at the farm."
That family has pulled off a remarkable feat in keeping their losses to three horses. Although the road to anything resembling normalcy is long, supporters far and wide hope that the worst is behind them.
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04/01/2021
Charlotte Dujardin puts a spring in her horses' stride with innovative flooring.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Some athletic achievements are helped along with the latest high-tech advancements. Olympic swimmers shave time with second-skin suits. Skiers get faster skies. Ultra-light tennis rackets parlay the power of an opponent's shot into a winning return.
There's no shortage of technological advances supporting equestrian accomplishments. However, the woman who's accomplished the latest of those in the dressage world does so with the simplest, most old-fashioned strategy.
"We let horses be horses," says Charlotte Dujardin, MBE, the Olympic, World Equestrian Games and World Cup champion. "Our horses get the very best of care, but we don't really do anything too special or out of the ordinary."
Charlotte's horses live and work at the yard of Carl Hester, her Olympic gold teammate, multi-medalist, mentor and training partner. At their training base in the U.K.'s Gloucestershire County, the horses spend as much time outdoors as possible. They're often schooled in the field and hacked on open roads. Neither the footing nor the weather is perfect during that work, and that's part of the point. "You're going to have to ride a test in the rain and wind someday, so the horses best be used to it," Charlotte told clinic participants some years back.
Indoor life, however, is a necessity at least some of the day. That's why Charlotte is head-over-heels about ComfortStall Sealed Orthopedic Flooring by Haygain. Suggested by one of her clients, the unique cushioned surface was recently installed in three stables at Carl's yard.
"There are a lot of products that can be sold by telling you about it," Charlotte notes. "But this, when you actually walk on the product, it sells itself straight away."
Charlotte's top stars, Mount St. John Freestyle and Gio, received the first two stables. A third went to En Vogue, who Charlotte owns and Carl campaigns on the international dressage stage. "Freestyle definitely deserves it because she competes at the highest levels and I thought it would be good for her joints." Gio has it for similar reasons and neither horse has any health challenges that factored into their selection. En Vogue has a mild case of Shivers, a neurological condition that has not interfered with his remarkable ascent. "Yet, I thought he would benefit from the flooring's extra support," Charlotte explains.
All three horses appear very comfortable on the flooring. Comprised of a layer of orthopedic foam covered by a durable, single-piece top cover that is sealed to the stall wall, it provides cushion, softness and sufficient traction for easy ups and downs. Like many ComfortStall residents, Gio loves lying down in his stable, a position important to the deep sleep and rest from which horses benefit as much as people.
"If I'm honest, I'd would want to sleep on it myself," says Charlotte. "It has so much bounce - like you are on a spring. So much more so than rubber mats."
Freestyle, Gio and En Vogue will need that spring in their step as they prepare for the hoped-for resumption of the 2021 international show season. The Tokyo Olympic selection process remains in limbo over whether qualifying competitions can be staged amid ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns.
That's out of Charlotte's control. What she can control, the horses, finished 2020 in peak form at the LeMieux British National Grand Prix Championships at Hartpury just before Christmas. Charlotte and Emma Blundell's Freestyle, by Fidermark, won with the help of a 90.2 freestyle score. Along with the victory, that shut down speculation on whether record-breaking scores with her legendary partner Valegro could be topped. Gio's freestyle was not far behind at an 88.05, putting the pair into the reserve champion role. The 9-year-old Apache gelding is two years behind Freestyle in his training, but not in his progress, Charlotte notes.
Keeping the podium positions in the yard, Carl and En Vogue, by Jazz, laid down an 86.47 score in the freestyle to stand third.
Charlotte's horses had no problem with the Championships' COVID-caused no spectators policy. Not so for Charlotte. "I hate not having people there! It's so empty. It just feels like you are riding another test at home." On the upside, the many test segments ridden at home throughout 2020 paid dividends in low-pressure opportunities to progress. "The horses are so much stronger mentally and physically," Charlotte says. "Now, we are ready to go!"
Another upside to many months at home has been spending time with Valegro. He was retired from competition in 2016 but continues to have a huge fan following. On the 18th of February, a beautiful bronze of piaffing Valegro was unveiled in the Market Square of his hometown, Newent. Three years in the making, the sculpture by Georgie Welch commemorates the many accomplishments of the "Dancing Horse" famous to dressage and sports fans worldwide and a star of Charlotte's best-selling autobiography The Girl On The Dancing Horse.
"It's crazy to think that he is 19," Charlotte reflects. "If you saw him you wouldn't believe that he is out of sport. He looks a million dollars." He is ridden four times a week. "Our working girls get to do some stuff on him: a bit of piaffe and passage: they're very lucky!" Weather permitting, he spends most days out in the field and has a very nice life. "As long as he's fed he's happy!"
Here's hoping Valegro's successors on the international stage will soon have a chance to show off their new springy steps.
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09/03/2021
Just as the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to be slightly easing its toll on people, horses fell victim to their own fast-spreading virus with dire health consequences: the equine herpes virus, aka "EHV."
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Canadian horses were the first to suffer in the current outbreaks, starting in early February. The "extremely aggressive and infectious" disease continues to be a crisis for Canadian horses and the equine industry. In late February, EHV was reported at a jumping event in Spain. As of March 3, 10 European countries had shut down FEI competition to help contain the spread. In the United States, four EHV-1 cases have been reported, two in Florida and one each in Pennsylvania and California. In the latter two states, both horses were euthanized.
The situation is evolving daily in all affected regions.
EHV is highly contagious. It spreads through direct horse-to-horse contact, usually through nasal discharge. It can also be picked up when shed onto any surface: i.e. feed buckets, grooming gear, tack trunks.
There are several strains of the equine herpes virus. Unfortunately, the current outbreak's source is the most severe and contagious: the EHV-1 that is associated with the neurological disease equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy.
The incubation period for EHV-1 is typically 4-6 days, but can be as short as 24 hours or longer than 4-6 days. A fever is often the only warning sign of the neurological disease, which reaches its peak impact usually within 24 to 48 hours of the initial symptoms. Respiratory infection indicators like discharge from the nose and eyes can, but don't necessarily, precede neurological signs.
Incoordination, hind limb weakness, loss of tail tone, lethargy and leaning against something to maintain balance are among the clinical signs. EHV-1 can also cause abortion, neonatal death and respiratory disease.
Best practices include temperature monitoring for early symptoms and isolation of any horse infected or at risk of exposure to an infected horse or area where the virus might be have been shed. Extensive bio security measures are critical to minimize spread.
While hay is loaded with microscopic, harmful particles, forage is not typically a host for EHV viruses unless an affected horse has touched it. However, forage that is free of those respirable particles can help EHV patients stabilize and recover.
Haygain high-temperature steaming's ability to rid hay of 99% of those particles enables the affected horse's immune system to focus on fighting EHV. The horse's already-weakened state won't be worsened by having to battle the effects of respirable dust, mould, bacteria and other allergens commonly found even in hay of good nutrient content.
Any equine illness is often accompanied by loss of appetite and dehydration. Research confirms that most horses prefer steamed hay over dry, so it helps get patients back on their nutrition plan. The increased moisture content - three times that of dry hay - is beneficial for hydration and digestion.
Since well before this outbreak, prominent European sport horse veterinarian Dr Emmanuelle Van Erck Westergren has insisted her clients feed their horses Haygain steamed hay. It's even more beneficial now, she explains.
“We need to keep the airways as healthy and strong as we possibly can. We need to alleviate the microbial burden as much as possible to avoid unnecessary respiratory complications caused by the virus. Potential complications include bacterial or fungal infections."
A history of asthma or other respiratory issues especially warrants the precautionary benefits of steamed hay. "Any noxious stimulation can precipitate the recurrence of an asthma attack," Dr. Van Erck Westergren adds.
Haygain's ComfortStall Sealed Orthopedic Flooring aids important stable bio-security measures because it can be disinfected. Its layer of orthopedic foam is covered with a single-piece rubber top cover sealed to the stall wall. In use daily for over 10 years at the Cornell Veterinary Hospital surgery center, ComfortStall is easily cleaned. Fluids don't seep down to the stall base and are easily mopped up, enabling thorough cleaning between residents.
The layer of orthopedic foam provides cushion, support and traction. Bedding is not needed for cushion, reducing the quantity of materials that could retain and spread a shed virus.
Calling your horse's veterinarian is always the first step to addressing concerns: all the more so if EHV-1 exposure is feared because the disease can progress and spread so fast. British Equestrian has extensive resources on preventing and managing EHV and tracking the status of the disease's spread. Click here to access them.
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22/01/2021
David Britnell’s Equine Eventing Partner Overcomes Sinusitis with Steamed Hay & Flexineb's Help.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
David Britnell and Continuity share the distinction of being the only horse/rider combination to contest both the Badminton Grassroots competition and the Badminton CCI5*. In their so far 12-year partnership, they've learned and conquered each level together.
The happy bookend of a 2019 Badminton CCI5* finish, however, almost didn't happen.
After a terrific 2017 together, Continuity, aka "Brad," was sidelined by a sinus infection in 2018. They had had a solid CCI4* debut and were contesting the Eventing Riders Master series before the issue waylaid them.
Viscous discharge from only one nostril was a clear indicator of the sinusitis that presented most dramatically one morning on return from a conditioning gallop. Additionally, Brad was "uncomfortable and unsettled," that day, David recalls
Diagnosing the sinus issue was relatively simple, but knowing the cause was not. As in humans, a bacterial infection is usually to blame. Often it migrates from an upper respiratory infection or a diseased or broken tooth.
Also as in humans, some horses are more prone to sinus issues than others and Brad seemed relatively susceptible. Preventing a recurrence is a priority in Brad's care.
Two Haygain products have been "100%" responsible for keeping Brad problem free, David shares: Haygain high temperature steaming and the Flexineb Portable Equine Nebuliser.
The horses at David Britnell Eventing in Bedfordshire eat dry hay or haylage, steamed as required. Haygain's high temperature steaming process eliminates up to 99% of the dust, mould, bacteria and other allergens commonly found even in hay and haylage of good nutritional quality. The clean forage that results is important for preventing respiratory problems for all horses. For those prone to sinusitis, steamed hay's hygienic quality reduces the chance of a recurrence.
The Flexineb Nebuliser aerosolizes medications, antibacterial and/or saline solutions and propels them through the upper respiratory system and deep into the lungs. In the off-season, Brad gets three to four sessions of nebulised saline a week. As the competition season gets underway, David plans to add nebulised EquiSilver to the routine. This natural product contains chelated silver with anti-microbial properties.
David credits the one-two punch of Haygain steamed haylage and nebulised treatments with enabling Brad to resume his upward trajectory in international eventing. "It has made a massive difference for our horses' performance," he notes of the products.
Last fall, David moved out of his family's farm onto his own yard in Bedfordshire, with his partner and fellow equestrian Fleur Manyweathers. Expansive off-road hacking, indoor and outdoor schools and spacious stables in an airy American-style barn are among the amenities allowing David to expand his plan for international competition, coaching at all levels and horse development. "It's a big step because we can produce more event horses, run clinics and take on more clients," he explains. "And it's closer to more show venues."
David is a third-generation horseman. His mother, Dawn Britnell, operated a riding school where he learned his craft and also the patience critical to good horsemanship. "I only started riding at 13 when an ex-riding school pony called Timmy came back from being on loan," he explains.
His inherited horse sense merges with an interest in current research into all things that help horses. "I am keen to examine new and innovative products and husbandry techniques," he notes. "It's important to me that there is clear evidence for the way I do things and the products I use."
That's one of the reasons Haygain steaming made sense to him when he learned about while visiting the company's vendor booth at the Burghley Horse Trials.
He and Brad, now 17, are hoping for a Badminton CCI5* return this May. Whenever the pandemic allows their impressive career to continue, David will always be grateful to his special horse and partner.
"Without him, I wouldn't be talking to you now," he notes. He's grateful to Haygain, too, for keeping Brad in and at the top of his game.
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19/01/2021
Amid breakthroughs in equine allergy research, avoiding allergens all together remains best strategy for supporting horse health.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
While much of the world only recently learned the health hazards of microscopic airborne particles, horses have been struggling with their impact for eons - whether their owners know it or not. Allergic reactions that manifest as compromised respiratory function, skin problems, general malaise and poor performance start as tiny airborne particles that infiltrate, irritate and trigger inflammation inside the horse's body.
As with people, inflammation anywhere in the horse's body is bad. In the equine respiratory tract, it impedes the flow of oxygen needed for all cells to function, especially muscles. Deep in the lungs where gaseous exchange transfers oxygen to the blood stream and removes lactic acid from the muscles during exertion, inflammation restricts both these critical processes.
"Dust" is the innocent-sounding description of the conduit for mould, fungi, bacteria and other allergens that activate inflammation, the body's defense against all foreign matter. Unfortunately, most horses' biggest source of nutrition, hay, is loaded with these allergens. This is true even in hay of good nutrient quality and that looks and smells untainted.
Hay is grown in microbe-rich soil, transported on highways and stored in environments that can often accelerate the growth of whatever contaminants it contained at harvest or picked up en route to the barn. That hazy cloud that emerges from a shaken flake of hay illustrates this dangerous element in most horses' breathing zone.
Equine nutritionist and digestive physiology expert Meriel Moore-Colyer, PhD, is excited about new findings regarding allergens that affect horses. As a graduate dean and professor at the Royal Agricultural University in England, she supervised a recent breakthrough study that evaluated almost 400 potential allergens from a blood sample.
Bronchoalveolar lavage (a lung wash) has been the standard for identifying allergens in the respiratory system. But this procedure is invasive and requires the horse to rest for a week or so afterward.
Conducted by Samuel White, PhD candidate, MSc, BSc, the study included 12 equine subjects with Severe Equine Asthma, a condition at the most extreme end of the Equine Asthma Spectrum. Each was exposed to the same potential allergens in a controlled environment, and blood samples revealed which triggered a reaction represented by antigens.
This was the largest scale allergen assessment in Severe Equine Asthma horses to date. The results established a wide range of previously unidentified allergens and highlighted fungi and mites as the main reactants. Pollen and latex were newly identified as a problem for horses, as they are for many people. At an average size of 6-8 microns, pollen had previously been thought to be too big a particle to infiltrate the lungs. They've now been identified as extremely potent allergens.
This initial study established a sound platform for future diagnostics by providing a reliable, fast, repeatable method for screening of potential allergens. Crucially, it enables targeted allergen-avoidance regimes, which are the cornerstone to treatment.
The results of White's study and the fast-evolving body of knowledge on allergens speak to the complexity of the subject. For example, it's known that repeated exposure to an allergen will cause a progressively more severe response, whether that's coughing, wheezing or decreased capacity to use oxygen at lower levels of exertion.
It was generally thought that horses with hypersensitivy to insect bites were more likely to be vulnerable to various allergens, but that's now in question. "A horse that is a generally allergic character will probably have a heightened reactivity to all sorts of things, but that's not always the case," explains Moore-Colyer. "Determining if one reaction can predict another is one of many areas we are looking into."
Scientists thrive on these questions, but horse owners only need to know one thing regarding allergens. "Allergen avoidance is the cornerstone to effective prevention," asserts Moore-Colyer.
The easiest and most effective way to do that is using a Haygain Hay Steamer, which Moore-Colyer helped develop and tested extensively before the product's commercial launch in 2009. Using steam heated to 212°F (100°C) and injected evenly through hay in a thermally sealed chest, this process reduces up to 99% of the dust, mold, fungi, bacteria and other allergens found in hay.
While affordable, commercial applications of White's discoveries are a ways off, hay steaming gives horse owners immediate access to the best way of reducing allergy risks in the horse keeping environment.
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20/12/2020
In this Q&A, Equine Sports Medicine expert Kate Allen, BVSc, PhD, offers advice on recognising respiratory challenges in their early and most treatable form.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
The long list of impressive acronyms after Dr. Kate Allen's name reflects her many years of academic study, research and hands-on veterinary experience, all with an emphasis on equine sports medicine that is her specialty and expertise.
She also has extensive saddle time, including upper-level eventing. That gives Dr. Allen a visceral sense of the respiratory system's role in whether or not the large, immovable obstacles are safely sailed over or the timers crossed punctually after a many-mile, high-speed gallop.
Journalist Kim F Miller enjoyed quizzing Dr. Allen on how respiratory problems are detected, prevented, managed and treated and how all that has evolved in her practice of caring for high-end race and sport horses.
Dr. Allen is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' Recognized Specialist in Equine Sports Medicine. Her degrees and certifications include BVSC, PhD, CertEM, DipACVSRM and MRCVS.
Kim: How did your interest and expertise in respiratory health evolve?
Dr. Allen: I've always dealt with the medicine aspects of treating the horse as an athlete. Respiratory function became a focus because, in racehorses, it is the limiting factor to performance.
Any degree of respiratory disease, even very mild respiratory disorder, is going to impact performance.
Kim: What changes have you seen in recognition of respiratory problems and their role in performance.
Dr. Allen: Going back over a decade or so, when a horse was presented to the vet for respiratory disease, it was often quite obvious symptoms and a severe case of what we now call Equine Asthma. The horses came to us after acute asthmatic episodes: a heaving horse or pony, for example.
We don't see that so much anymore. There's been a gradual transition to seeing horses with mild signs of chronic asthma: like coughing, at rest or exercise. Now, there is such a focus on optimizing performance and the progression of diagnostic testing, I now see horses in which the signs are pretty subtle.
A large proportion of the horses I work with are racehorses and moderate to high level jumping and dressage horses. In those populations, the symptoms are rarely obvious.
Kim: Do the people who care for horses in these groups differ in why and when they suspect respiratory problems?
Dr. Allen: Yes. Some of the racing yards have 100 horses, whereas the eventing rider might have 10. So, the eventing rider probably knows each horse better. The race trainer is more reliant on performance: did the horse perform to expectations on the day? Whereas the event rider might pick up more subtle signs between competitions.
Kim: What are those subtle signs?
Dr. Allen: Even a single cough, at rest or exercise, is something an owner should call their vet about. People cough to clear their throat, but horses don't. It can be an early sign of respiratory disease. Nasal discharge, at rest or exercise, and made worse by exercise, is another. White, frothy discharge is a sign, whereas a clear, dry, small amount of discharge after exercise is less worrisome.
Kim: What about respiratory recovery rate?
Dr. Allen: Prolonged respiratory recovery rate is a big thing I get called about: horses that seem to puff a long time after exertion.
Respiratory recovery rate is more difficult to monitor than heart rate. There is a lack of equipment to accurately measure respiratory rate during and after exercise, so we vets know less about it. It is affected by many factors: fitness, how strenuous the exercise session was, temperature, etc. So, it's difficult for owners to know when respiratory rate recovery is appropriate and what the number might indicate regarding their horse's health.
However, if two similar type event horses did the same work on the gallops, and one had recovered quickly by the time they had reached the stable, but the other was still blowing hard, that would be an indication that something wasn’t quite right – most likely with the second horse's fitness/ training level or with the respiratory system.
Kim: Is knowing and monitoring my horse's at-rest respiration rate useful?
Dr. Allen: Yes. We would normally say 8 to 16 breaths per minute when resting quietly in the stable is the normal range. If your horse's at-rest respiratory rate goes up, that's probably a sign of more significant respiratory disease.
The pattern of the breathing is important, too. In humans, there is something called "breathing pattern disorder" or "dysfunctional breathing." It's early days, but we think something like that exists in horses, too. In addition to the rate of breathing, you should look for regular or irregular breathing patterns and how often your horse is taking big sighs to expand their lungs.
Kim: When would poor performance tip you off to a respiratory issue?
Dr. Allen: Musculoskeletal issues are the #1 cause of poor performance, followed by respiratory, then gastric issues. If I didn't know what was going on with the horse, I'd first look at it from the lameness standpoint, then a general clinical exam, listening to the heart and lungs. Fairly soon after that, I'd scope the airways and, potentially, the stomach.
Kim: What lung sounds indicate a respiratory problem?
Dr. Allen: First, I look at breathing rate, pattern and effort. Then, with a stethoscope, I listen for a normal breathing in and out pattern. With asthma, you start to pick up wheezes, particularly on the exhale. However, the horse can still have respiratory problems that can't be picked up on a stethoscope.
Kim: Why does an asthmatic horse only wheeze on the exhale?
Dr. Allen: Because asthma narrows the airways, so the wheezing comes from more breath moving through a smaller passageway.
Kim: When is a respiratory exam part of a pre-purchase exam or routine wellness exam?
Dr. Allen: With a pre-purchase exam, the complaint that would prompt that tends to be abnormal noise during exercise indicating a structural or functional abnormality in the upper airway. As long as a clinical exam indicates normal respiratory function, it's less likely we'd do further respiratory diagnostic investigations as part of a pre-purchase.
For general wellness exams, that's pretty case dependent. For horses in "regular" work, this will involve annual vaccinations and a fairly simple look at the heart and lungs. For high end eventers and other sporthorses, the end of the season might warrant a thorough exam including a tracheal wash to look for indicators of airway inflammation. And racehorses in the UK have an endoscopy and tracheal wash several times during the season.
Kim: When is it enough to address respiratory concerns by just cleaning up the air in the horse's environment versus going ahead with a clinical exam.
Dr. Allen: That discussion should always be had between the veterinarian and the horse owner. Cleaning up the horse's environment is always a good thing, whether preventing or managing a respiratory problem. As for medications, a vet is unlikely to prescribe any without doing a thorough exam.
Kim: Prevention is always important. Is that even more true with respiratory problems?
Dr. Allen: Yes, and especially because many of the risk factors can be minimized with good stable management. You should never wait for a problem to arise. You want to prevent respiratory problems from the word go and keep the lungs as healthy as possible throughout the horse's life.
Not all cases on the mild end of the Equine Asthma Spectrum progress to more severe respiratory disease, and some more severe cases can be reversed or at least managed. However, the longer it is allowed to progress, the more time and expense will be needed for treatment and, most importantly, there could be some damage to the lungs themselves. And during that time, the horse's well-being and performance will suffer.
Kim: What preventative measures are most effective?
Dr. Allen: You want to look at everything in the horse's environment and how much time does your horse spend in that environment. It's easier to manage horses that live outside, but racehorses and many sport horses spend a lot of time inside.
Start with the ventilation. I much prefer that people put an extra rug on their horse and keep the stable windows open.
Look at the forage. A lot of race yards and a lot of my clients use the Haygain Hay Steamer, which eliminates up to 99% of the dust, mold, bacteria and other allergens commonly found in hay, even good quality hay. These are all microscopic irritants that can get into the airways and lungs, where they cause irritation and inflammation as the main triggers for Equine Asthma. I use a Haygain for my own horses.
Kim: What's going on with your own riding?
Dr. Allen: I have evented up to the old 3* level and I now have a lovely 5-year-old that I hope to begin competing in the spring.
Kim: Thank you!
Dr. Allen: My pleasure.
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January 7, 2021
Creating a truly clean living environment is the best, simplest and most proactive way to protect and improve horse health.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Herringbone patterns raked into the barn aisle and an obsessively organized tack room often suggest a clean stable environment. Horses, however, don't give a hoot about that. If your New Year's resolution involves a clean barn, Haygain suggests rethinking what that means from your horse's perspective.
Creating a truly clean living environment is the best, simplest and most proactive way to protect and improve horse health. Stable air quality is important all year and especially in winter, when many horses spend most of their time inside.
Unfortunately, two substantial horse keeping components are the biggest contributors to unhealthy barn air: hay and bedding.
Even hay of good nutrient quality is loaded with dust, mold, fungi, bacteria and other potential allergens. As the horse nudges his nose into each meal, all that is inhaled and can travel through the upper airway and into the lungs. Along the way, these microscopic, invisible particles irritate the delicate lining of the respiratory tract and trigger inflammation. This is the root of respiratory challenges that affect over 80 percent of active sport horses, often without obvious symptoms. Even a single, sporadic cough can indicate a problem.
Clean hay is the key to prevention. Haygain high-temperature steaming is scientifically proven to eliminate up to 99% of the microscopic particles found in hay. Unlike soaking, it does not leach hay's nutrients.
Stall bedding is another major contributor to unhealthy barn air. It's tempting to equate quantity of shavings with quantity of love for our horses, but the opposite is true when considering stable management from a horse health perspective.
Haygain can help here, too. Therapeutic foam that is the core of its ComfortStall Sealed Orthopedic Flooring eliminates the need of bedding for cushion and comfort. Only enough shavings or pellets to absorb urine are needed, greatly reducing the amount of dust in the stall and barn. A small quantity of low-dust bedding is an ideal option.
Photo: Brooke Von Hoffmann
Equally important to barn air quality, ComfortStall's one-piece layer of durable rubber is sealed to the stall wall. This prevents urine from seeping through to the base as happens with traditional stall mats. The unhealthy and unpleasant accumulation of urine and ammonia is a non-issue with ComfortStall.
ComfortStall's unique construction and wall seal facilitates easy cleaning and sanitization. The flooring, in fact, is in daily use at Cornell University's Veterinary Hospital where it was installed in the surgery center over 10 years ago.
It can be hosed down and power-washed without worry of water seeping below the surface. Compared to the process of hauling out heavy stall mats for cleaning and digging and drying out deep wet spots in the stall base, ComfortStall is a low-labor choice for maintaining a truly clean, healthy barn.
Haygain steamed hay and ComfortStall flooring address the root causes of unhealthy barn air. With these proactive and practical steps, neatly raked barn aisles and beautifully hung bridles are icing on the cake for horse keeping that is clean in the ways that matter most.
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6/12/2020
Multi-faceted horseman Paul Gaff instantly recognizes the benefits of hay steaming.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
As horsemen go, Paul Gaff is a renaissance man. Along with being an international show jumper, he's a UKCC level 3 and BHS accredited coach, a horse breeder and young horse developer and his background includes high-level eventing and dressage competition. Whatever hat he's wearing, there's a common conviction that every horse, in every stage of development, requires the highest level of care and consideration.
"With my training and ridden work, I expect the same quality of work from my young horses as I do with my older horses, just in a lesser quantity. It's the same with feeding. With my 3-year-olds, we have no idea how good they are going to be, but we treat them with the same attention to detail and level of care as my 13-year-old horse that is jumping Grand Prix."
Preventing health issues is a priority in feeding programs at PG Sport Horses, Ltd, and that's why Haygain Steamed Hay has been a staple since Paul discovered it three years ago at the Badminton Horse Trials.
Before that, Paul had been soaking hay for a few of his horses to reduce dust. However, he recognized instinctively that soaking had many downsides. In fact, Haygain research demonstrates that soaking hay for just 10 minutes can increase its bacteria content by 150 percent. "Plus, if the hay is sitting in that water for very long, you know it's not going to be very palatable," Paul notes.
PG Sport Horses keeps its stables clean with help from a Kärcher Steam Cleaner, which is known for combating viruses and bacteria. So, high-temperature hay steaming made immediate sense to Paul as a means of doing the same for hay. Haygain steaming eliminates up to 99% of the dust, allergens, mold and bacteria found in hay and, unlike soaking, it preserves hay's nutrients. "When it was explained how it worked, I had to have one on the yard. I like feeding hay and as much of it as we can. Even with the highest quality hay, though, steaming is still important."
The yard has Haygain's biggest model, the HG2000, going most of the day, and Paul travels with the smallest unit, the HG One, to keep horses on consistently clean hay while away.
Protecting respiratory health and function is a top benefit of feeding clean hay. None of his horses show signs of respiratory problems and Paul trusts Haygain to help keep it that way. Palatability is another benefit the horseman has seen first-hand with a particularly fussy show mare. "Steamed hay is the only way I can get her to eat enough forage so that I'm happy she's getting enough fiber."
While cardiorespiratory performance is a more familiar topic among high performance eventing riders, Paul has an added appreciation for it since he switched to show jumping three years ago. "Even though the horses don't gallop for a long time as they do on cross-country, they've got to stay careful over big fences, and especially in big grass arenas and their natural undulations. You want to feel you can still push the horse in the jump-off. They've got to have great fitness and their oxygen supply has to be clear enough that you can do that."
The importance of peak respiratory function is well grasped at the highest end European show circuit, Paul senses. In other circles, however, it seems less understood. Paul uses Flair Nasal Strips to help his horses keep their nasal passages wide open during exertion for maximum airflow. By eliminating inflammation-inducing irritants from hay, Haygain facilitates full upper and lower airway function and maximum oxygen into the lungs and on through to the bloodstream.
"I'm fairly confident that no horses in my yard have a wind problem," Paul shares. "I just think if you can give them a one percent advantage that you didn't have if you weren't using something, then I want to do it."
The relatively quiet show year of 2020 has allowed Paul more time at home with his growing band of young horses and homebreds who live on a 300-acre farm in Buckinghamshire. The herd includes the first foal from Paul's promising 6-year-old stallion Jonagold (Cidane x Burggraf), and out of a Quidam de Revel mare. Plans are for Jonagold to compete at the 1.30-1.35M divisions in 2021. Meanwhile, the 9-year-old Chacco Boom (Chacco Blue) and Csiko (Douglass) are among horses poised for the bigger divisions.
Paul traces his passion for breeding and developing young horses to his early days as a student of Nick Gauntlett, who campaigned the famous eventing sire Chilli Morning. "Seeing the young stock from Chilli and the good mares he was put to showed me this exciting route to go down. Good horses are so expensive. Breeding is a longer journey but more affordable and I really enjoy producing the horses."
Approaching or in their prime competition years, horses in Paul's program have the best of everything when it comes to their well-being.
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19/12/2020
Groundbreaking research related to equine nutrition began with the premise that bacterial diversity would not differ dramatically between dry hay and hay soaked in water or steamed at high temperatures.
By Kim Miller | Equestrian Writer
Researchers at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, U.K., were wrong about that. It turns out the hay "biome" is affected differently by soaking and steaming, significantly more so than by hay type or where the hay came from. In the course of disproving one of the study's hypothesis, however, much was learned about the treatments' effect on the "good" and "bad" bacteria that constitute the hay biome.
Titled "The Hay Biome: Characterising the viable bacterial community profile of four different hays for horses following different pre-feeding regimens," the study was published this past November on PLoS ONE, the peer-reviewed scientific journal. It's the first study to look at the quantity and characteristics of bacteria in hay subjected to different pre-feeding treatments.
The research was prompted by the reality that soaking and steaming are increasingly common treatments for reducing dust in forage to protect and improve respiratory health. Soaking and steaming are also common for feeding horses that require a diet low in water soluble carbohydrates.
"Hay and the soil it's grown in are organic matter, so it's going to have some bacteria in it," explains Dr. Simon Daniels, a senior lecturer at the RAU and a member of the three-researcher team who designed and executed the study. "But we didn't know what those bacteria would be, whether they'd be viable and how they'd be affected by soaking or steaming." Most of the bacteria found in dry hay are non-pathogenic, he adds. The majority were plant or soil-based and/or those already found in the equine digestive system.
To compare the two pre-feeding treatments' effect on bacteria, four types of hay sourced from two locations in England were used: two mixed meadow grass hays and two of Italian rye grass, a monoculture. Samples were treated by either a 12-hour soak in tap water or one cycle in a Haygain High Temperature HG 600 steamer. The latter method injects steam at temperatures up to at least 100°C throughout hay in a thermally sealed chest.
Steaming proved most effective in reducing the overall bacteria populations in hay and it maintained the diversity of bacteria naturally found in dry hay. Steaming also reduced the bacteria associated with infectious respiratory disease and dental problems. "The dental issue is quite novel," says Dr. Daniels of a possible topic for further study. Additionally, steaming was found to preserve bacteria associated with the process of digesting forage. Steaming "denatured" the proteins of several types of bacteria, rendering them harmless in the horse's digestive system.
Prior to this study, this RAU team's work had clearly established that steaming reduced a substantial amount of problematic particles found in all hay. These include bacteria, fungi and yeast. "We didn't know exactly what was left, and whether remaining bacteria were viable or not," Dr. Daniels explains. "We've now found that most of the bacteria that do survive are not harmful. That was more luck than anything else."
Conversely, soaking was found to reduce the diversity of the bacteria profile in hay, largely because some bacteria thrive in water. Horses are used to eating forage with a diverse bacterial population so reducing the diversity is not necessarily a good thing. Soaking also increases undesirable and potentially harmful bacteria.
One example of these "bad" bacteria are "Gram-negative" bacteria. Most of these carry lipopolysaccharides, aka "endotoxins," that are potentially harmful if ingested. "It's amazing the bacteria that can be picked up in hay," Dr. Simon comments. "Once pathogens get into the body, they pose a potential threat to health." One specific Gram-negative, the proteobacteria, are common in water sources, so the scientists were not surprised to see them in soaked hay.
The study also detected in soaked hay pathogens found in infectious respiratory diseases. There is not yet a proven causal link between the two, Dr. Daniel clarifies, but a connection stands to reason.
Soil, hay and the equine gut are naturally loaded with bacteria. They flourish or fail in different environments and have impacts that range from harmless to dangerous. While there is much to be learned about their impact, this advance in understanding the effects of pre-feeding hay treatments leads to a simple conclusion for horse owners.
"Collectively, these findings add to a body of evidence that suggests high temperature steaming is the most suitable pre-feeding treatment for equine health," explains Dr. Daniels, a horse owner himself. That's true, too, for horses who need forage with low water soluble carbohydrates but don't have access to it. Steaming does reduce WSCs to varying degrees, but when a dramatic decrease is needed, soaking leeches this nutrient more effectively, along with the many beneficial nutrients in hay.
"If you need to long-soak your hay because your horse is obese or prone to laminitis, then it's sensible to pop the hay in the steamer afterwards," Dr. Daniels concludes.
Dr. Daniels conducted the study with Dr. Meriel Moore-Colyer, a Professor and Graduate Dean at the Royal Agricultural University, and RAU student Jacob Hepworth. The study was funded by Haygain, Ltd., which has a long-standing partnership with the RAU. As is typical with university research, funding does not influence findings. "We were left to design and run the study as an independent organization," Dr. Daniels explains. "There was no influence on how we did the study or the results."
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Kim Miller
Equestrian writer | Oct 1, 2020
Haygain is all about horse health and well-being. There's a lot of weighty, serious science that went into developing and refining our products and understanding their benefits. We also have a competitive side. So, we get pretty excited seeing steam-powered horses win weekend after weekend, as reflected in our Monday social media round-ups of ambassador highlights from the competition world.
Training, athletic ability and partnership with their riders deserve most of the credit for these horses' victories, but Haygain Steamed Hay is in that mix, too.
Here's three reasons high-temperature steamed hay improves horses' performance.
1. Respiratory function:
Horses' bodies are over 60% muscle, and muscles are fuelled by oxygen. Even a little bit of inflammation or obstruction in the respiratory tract restricts the flow of oxygen to those muscles, limiting performance. High-temperature hay steaming reduces up to 99% of the dust, mold, fungi, bacteria and other allergens that trigger inflammation.
(The average adult male body is 33-39% muscle mass.)
2. Nutrients:
Unlike soaking, Haygain steaming preserves hay's nutrients. As Olympic show jumper Beezie Madden says, Haygain "...gives our horses what they need from their hay and nothing they don't."
3. Hydration:
Even slight dehydration affects muscle and mental function. Steamed hay has four times the water content of dry hay. More water is great for gut function, too.
Steamed hay gives Charly Edwards' top horse a new start. Signs of Brass Monkey's issue did emerge in the form of coughing when dust from nearby hay harvesting blew in or a batch of dusty bedding arrived.
Kim Miller
Equestrian writer, 30/09/2020
Charly Edward's top horse Brass Monkey has faced some major challenges. Early this year, he sustained a fractured knee along with troubles stemming from the common and often harmless equine herpesvirus. Yet, in his two years as a show jumper, he's never been held back by the one challenge that is responsible for the former eventing prospect coming Charly's way: "wind problems."
"The reason we were able to get him is that we were told he had a wind problem and would not be able to gallop around the high-level eventing tracks," reports Charly, whose Edwards Equestrian training and sales program is based in Hampshire. She had been contemplating a Haygain Hay Steamer for some time and bringing Brass Monkey into the yard was the nudge needed. "It's one of those purchases that you think about for a long time," Charly acknowledges. "And it was because of him that we finally got it."
The source of the "wind problem" was never diagnosed. In all horses, the respiratory system is very delicate. Sometimes it's a conformation issue in the upper airway that restricts the horse's capacity for the air intake required in peak performance. More often it's tiny, inhalable particles found in the horse keeping environment, especially in hay -- even in hay of top nutrient quality.
That's where Haygain's high-temperature hay steaming comes in. Developed in 2009 in conjunction with the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, the patented process reduces up to 99% of the dust, mold, fungi, bacteria and other allergens in hay. Feeding steamed hay is a widely accepted means of protecting horses' respiratory health and preserving respiratory function in horses with conditions on the Equine Asthma Spectrum or conformational issues that exacerbate the risks of airway irritation and inflammation.
Signs of Brass Monkey's issue did emerge in the form of coughing when dust from nearby hay harvesting blew in or a batch of dusty bedding arrived. With steamed hay, however, "We saw a dramatic improvement in his well-being," Charly relays. "We now literally don't feed any horse unsteamed hay."
Young horses are a big part of Charly's program and she sees steamed hay as of special benefit to those transitioning from outdoor living to spending much of the day in the stable. "We had one mare who was really stressed when she first started living inside. We had to take her to the vet, who determined that she had a lot of dirt in her lungs."
In addition to transferring oxygen to the bloodstream to fuel muscle and other cell performance, lungs function as an air filtration system for the horse. Unfortunately, the lungs can't be cleaned as easily as filters in household air cleaners. That's why reducing dirt and airborne irritants is so important. "We saw a huge difference in the mare after a period of getting steamed hay," Charly explains.
Improved appetites and hay consumption are more benefits Charly credits to the tasty forage coming out of Edwards Equestrian's HG2000 steamer, Haygain's largest model. "That alone will save you money in the long term." Even with a horse head count fluctuating between eight and 20 horses, steaming has been easy to incorporate into the routine, she adds.
Brass Monkey's recovery from the issues that really did hold him back came just in time to strut his stuff at early September's 1.35M Douglas Bunn Challenge at the famous All England Jumping Course at Hickstead. It was a dream come true to ride on the Hickstead Derby field, Charly says. Having a terrific trip with Charly made it even more so.
As her top horse, Brass Monkey fits Charly's long-term goal of representing Team GBR in Nations Cup competition. The Valencia Tour in Spain and the Hickstead Speed Derby are goals for next year en route to that. Charly is also shopping for more horses to build her string, along with bringing along the youngsters. Whatever their stage of development, all Edwards Equestrian steeds are assured of Haygain Steamed Hay.
Kim Miller
Equestrian writer | Sept 24, 2020
Young Irish show jumper Nicky Galligan and his own mare, Javas Miss Jordan, tackled some towering Grand Prix tracks at HITS Saugerties throughout the summer. A reserve finish in the $100,000 Wilmington Trust Grand Prix in early August was the third consecutive jump-off and top 5 finish in their first outings after a several-month show break.
Nicky has owned the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse since she was 4 and the two know each other well. From her first lead change to their first Grand Prix together, Nicky has been her partner for the whole ride. He notices every mood shift and subtle indicator that something's not quite right.
He first became aware of the latter after Jordan jumped her first 1.50M track in Florida earlier this year. "I have exercise-induced asthma myself and I noticed, toward the end of the course, that it felt like she was a little out of breath. I could relate to that."
Nicky was involved in high level soccer before switching to horses full time and he recalls the fear and frustration of having to break for an inhaler treatment while his teammates and opponents played on. "I felt as fit as everybody else, except for that."
With Jordan, "I'd always felt that the occasional rails were never the result of her being uncareful or unfit, but of her having the moment of feeling like there is too little oxygen in her lungs." She finished a respectable 12th place in that HITS Ocala Grand Prix, so it hadn't held her back much. But when a bit of a dry cough emerged, Nicky knew the previous routine of soaking Jordan's hay to reduce dust wasn't sufficient.
Many owners dismiss an occasional mild cough as insignificant, which it usually is in people. From Nicky’s own experience, he wondered if it was an indicator of respiratory problems. He got right on working with his vets, Lisa Casinella and Tim Ober, to find a sustainable solution.
Nicky was somewhat familiar with the benefits of steamed hay through friends including Australian show jumper Rowan Willis. As Jordan's owner, Nicky pays all her running costs and the steamer's expense was a stretch. However, "If I only have 50 bucks left in my pocket, I’d spend it on my horse.” He's grateful for Haygain's help in providing an HG600 model, the easily portable mid-size of three steamers.
High-temperature hay steaming reduces up to 99% of the dust, mold, fungi, bacteria and other allergens found even in hay of good nutrient quality. Jordan started on steamed hay in the spring. Even though she wasn't competing during the spring and early summer, Nicky and his team were relieved that the mild cough went away almost immediately, and her breathing seemed improved even while she worked to stay fit at home.
There’s no test like going all-out on a Grand Prix course, and Jordan aced that – three times in a row at HITS Saugerties. "There is definitely a huge change in her, with the addition of Haygain steamed hay," Nicky states. Jordan also gets nebulizer treatments, which are no doubt helping, too. Many horses with mild respiratory issues have been able to go without nebulizer medications once they get steamed hay and Nicky hopes that Jordan will be one of them.
The improvements are subtle, but critical, Nicky explains. "She has always been careful and consistent as hell. But I was finding her a little 'puffed' in the course – it didn't feel like she could jump off the ground. As of her first show back, at Saugerties, she felt more confident. She was better on the back rails and I felt that she trusted herself more. I feel like I have my younger horseback, when the effort was not as big, and her mind is clear because she is getting the oxygen she needs."
Nicky's observations echo those of top sport horse and racetrack veterinarians. Many describe respiratory restrictions as the top performance limiter in otherwise sound performance horses. Prior to hay steaming and the nebulizer treatments, Jordan struggled the most during high heat and humidity. "She hated it," Nicky says. Yet, Saugerties had extremes of both. "She performed great in what would previously have been her least favorable conditions." Steamed hay should be a nice addition at Nicky's new business base in Brookhaven, New York, where summers can be a little hot and sticky, too.
Along with better breathing, Jordan has approximately quadrupled her water intake since starting steamed hay. The steaming process already improves hydration by adding water to the hay, but Nicky notes
increased drinking from her water bucket and he's not exactly sure why. "She's a very sensitive horse, so maybe the dry hay was irritating her esophagus and trachea and steamed hay isn't, so she's happier to drink more." Whatever the reason, the result is great: more hydration helps digestion and improves muscle function, especially when it's as hot as it has been this summer.
Nicky and Jordan's renewed confidence and vigor is a positive prelude to their next challenge on the resumed show jumping circuit. Whatever the upcoming outcomes, however, Nicky is relieved to be able to help his horse cope with a scary condition he's all too familiar with.
Satisfying Appetite: The Facts. Whether you have a horse with a seemingly insatiable appetite or one where every mouthful appears an effort, read on for guidelines on assessing your horse, signs we aren’t getting it quite right and some management tips.
Briony Witherow
Equestrian writer, 30/09/2020
A horse’s appetite changes throughout the year driven by a combination of factors including dry matter, hormones, nutrient content, chew time and passage rate through the gut. While the exact mechanisms may be different between horses and ponies and still require further investigation, we can still use this information to optimise management. Native pony breeds in particular retain strong seasonality with respect to appetite and body condition. This seasonality predisposes them to gain weight through the summer months, where food is plentiful, before losing this weight over the winter months, where food is scarce. Whether you have a horse with a seemingly insatiable appetite or one where every mouthful appears an effort, read on for guidelines on assessing your horse, signs we aren’t getting it quite right and some management tips.
• Fuss feeders and low intake concerns: Over a week, weigh forage in and out of the stable each morning and evening and take an average to assess just how much of the ration they are eating. You can then compare this against their ideal intake as a percentage of bodyweight (dry matter) tailored for workload and body condition. As a guide average intake at rest is around 2% of bodyweight (dry matter) higher for those in more work or requiring more calories or lower for better doers or those in less work. If intake is markedly low (below the minimum 1.5% bodyweight dry matter) it is worth ruling out any potential health issues with your vet, while employing management techniques in an effort to maximise intake.
• Hangry horse concerns: Time how long it takes your horse to eat a set amount of his forage ration (1 or 2kg, depending on how much time you have). Over a couple of days this should give you a rough estimate of how long this set amount is occupying him for, multiply this up so that it gives you an estimate of the whole ration. With this information you can get an idea of how long the ration might be lasting him and whether a slow feeder or some management to extend eating time may be beneficial.
• Look out for the number and consistency of droppings produced, as this can be an indicator of intake – knowing what’s normal can act as an instant indictor if things change. Where appetite is not quite being met, behaviours such as wood chewing, coprophagy (eating droppings) and consuming shavings or soil can indicate that their motivation to chew/eat has not been met (in low fibre diets for example).
- Check minimum fibre requirements are being met. Check you are providing sufficient fibre to meet minimum forage requirements in dry matter. Minimum daily requirements are 1.5% of the horse’s bodyweight in dry matter. Once you have worked out 1.5% of your horse’s bodyweight, you can divide by 0.85 for hay (using a typical 85% dry matter) or 0.6 for haylage (60% dry matter). This will give you their minimum requirement of hay or haylage per day. If you have analysis available, then you can use the actual dry matter of the forage instead of an average. For those where part of the ration is met by grass intake, this is incredibly tricky to quantify but you can estimate by using the following equation. Amount of grass in dry matter = (No. of hours grazing per day/24) x (2/100) x BW. If the grass is particularly sparse or low in quality, this would likely overestimate intake, but it provides a starting point.
- Division of forage ration throughout the day. Consider how the forage ration is split over the day – very often we just split the forage ration in half between the morning and evening feeds when on paper the night-time hours far exceed those needing to be occupied during the day.
- Extending chew time by using slow feeders and/or splitting the placement of forage between different areas in the stable or paddock. This can also serve to enrich the horse’s environment and using a combination of forage presentations may help to encourage natural foraging behaviours and increasing feeding time further.
- Selecting appropriate forage. If you are still struggling to fill your horse’s time and meet his need for fibre, you can try increasing the fibre by selecting higher fibre forage (later cut), or introducing a small amount of straw to the ration (maximum 30%), higher fibre feeds being thought to aid satiety.
- Maximising satiety. High moisture content feeds which essentially dilute the nutrients (like beet) can also be useful to encourage satiety without too many calories – A wet Stubbs scoop of unmolassed beet (roughly 150g dry matter) provides only 1.8MJ of energy but lots of volume.
• Maximise palatability. While the type (hay or haylage) and cut (early or late) can impact the palatability of forage to an extent, this can be manipulated further through management. Research has shown that while soaking hay makes it less palatable, steaming hay improves palatability, multiple studies showing it to be the preferred choice over dry hay, haylage and soaked hay.
• Keep things interesting. For those that perhaps lacking the motivation for slow feeders, consider creating a stable-based smorgasbord of forage. Presenting a selection of forage can help to encourage natural foraging behaviours and in doing so may help to increase overall intake.
- Additional support. In heavily exercised horses, B-vitamin supplementation may help restore appetite and while much of the evidence that supports this at present is anecdotal, it may help to kick start your efforts.
Further reading:
Brown, E., Tracey, S and Gowers, I. (2013) An investigation to determine the palatability of steamed hay, dry hay and haylage. Proceedings of British Society of Animal Science Conference, Nottingham April 2013. p 104.
Dugdale, A.H.A., Curtis, G.C., Cripps, P.J., Harris, P.A., McG. Argo, C. (2011) Effects of season and body condition on appetite, body mass and body composition in ad libitum fed pony mares. The Veterinary Journal, 190 (3): 329-337.
Moore-Colyer, M.J.S. and Payne, V. (2012) Palatability and ingestion behaviour of 6 polo ponies offered a choice of dry, soaked and steamed hay for 1 hour on three separate occasions. Advances in Animal Biosciences. Healthy Food from Healthy Animals. Vol 3 part 1. 127
Owens, T.G., Barnes, M., Gargano, V.M., Julien, L., Mansilla, W.D., Devries. T.J., McBride, B.W., Merkies, K., Shoveller, A.K. (2019) Nutrient content changes from steaming or soaking timothy-alfalfa hay: effects on feed preferences and acute glycaemic response in Standardbred racehorses. Journal of Animal Science, 97 (10): 4199-4207.
Even a few small changes in the way we keep our horses can make a difference to our carbon-hoofprint, and many come with additional benefits to boot.
Briony Witherow
Equestrian writer, 17/09/2020
For many, horse ownership and riding are happily (and unavoidably) much more than just a hobby – it’s a lifestyle, and one that often facilitates many contented hours outdoors. With this in mind, we are well incentivised to do our part in helping to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable practices. Even a few small changes in the way we keep our horses can make a difference to our carbon-hoofprint, and many come with additional benefits to boot.
Besides the obvious, like energy saving light bulbs and basic recycling, what tweaks can we as horse owners make in the daily care of our horses to be more responsible, that might not only have a positive impact on the environment but also on our horse’s health? Challenge yourself to make just one change in each area of your horse’s management or take an active role in transforming your yard.
• Conserving rainwater is not only is this a tick in the box for sustainability, but your horse will thank you too! Horses (and other animals) often find rainwater more palatable than from the tap. Besides helping to fill water buckets, there are endless applications for rainwater, whether for the shy drinker when out competing or arena surface irrigation. Setting up guttering and water butts is relatively cheap and simple to do and now is an excellent time of year to get started. To ensure water quality remains high, clearing guttering and cleaning water butts or buckets should become part of your yard routine.
• When it comes to sustainable management, both automatic drinkers and buckets have their advantages and disadvantages and while water use is typically lower overall with automatic drinkers, these are not suitable for all. When it comes to buckets, this is where, as horse owners, we can perhaps make some changes. While the provision of clean water is an absolute must for all horses, when it comes to refreshing waters, in some cases we might be a little more discerning. Where water does need refreshing, we can put that water to good use rather than pouring it down the drain. Providing water is not heavily soiled, it can be collected in a centralised trough or bucket (with some chicken wire or mesh across the top to filter out the worst of the debris) and made use of for watering yard plants, soaking hay or washing down horses, buckets or boots. The applications are endless, however, as with all sharing of equipment and facilities, consider yard biosecurity and adapt recycling of water appropriately.
• How many of us turn on the hose and then leave it running while either walking from tap to bucket/horse or from stable to stable? Investing in a simple nozzle which allows you to turn the hose off and on at the business end may not only save time but also reduce water wastage, not to mention mess and the prospect of slippery yards in the winter!
• Avoiding overgrazing and compaction, along with regular poo picking and maintaining ditches and drainage channels can help to reduce the risk of surface water run-off and ground water pollution.
• In high traffic areas prone to poaching (gateways, water troughs etc.) consider laying grass matting (this helps to spread weight and reduce compaction and poaching), wood chip or gravel to help minimise damage.
• If you have specific winter pasture, design these fields so that they have more than one access point, trough or feeder to prevent poaching.
• When using electric fencing, remember to turn off when not in use. Consider making use of solar powered options - solar can also be used effectively for stable and arena lighting.
• Are you feeding the right amount? Checking in with feeding amounts may be particularly useful if you are finding that there is a lot of wastage. Remember that the absolute minimum fibre intake should be 1.5% of a horse’s bodyweight on a dry matter basis
• When it comes to forage and concentrate feed, consider the packaging. If you feed haylage, are the bags recyclable (many now are) and can you minimise plastic use further by selecting the optimum bale size for your yard? For concentrate feeds and supplements the same applies. For supplements in particular, many companies now offer refill options to help us reduce and reuse plastic containers.
• Are you soaking or steaming? Hay can be soaked for short periods to reduce respirable particles and for longer periods to reduce sugars (and thereby calorie content). If soaking to reduce respirable particles, consider steaming as a more effective option, which also has the added benefit of improving the hygienic quality, increasing palatability and so reducing potential wastage. In addition to this, steaming is less labour intensive, less messy (particularly in the winter) and uses less water. If this isn’t an option for you, consider how you can recycle water from other parts of your management for soaking. However, remember to dispose of the water from soaked hay responsibly – the effluent from this has a high biological oxygen demand meaning that it is classed as a pollutant and poses damage to the environment if not disposed of correctly.
If these tips inspire anything, next time you walk around your yard, have a think about the small ways in which we as horse owners, might be able to streamline our management and get creative with the endless potential for recycling and reducing waste on your yard. We’d love to hear some of your top tips #carbonhoofprint.
Kim Miller
Equestrian writer | Sept 10, 2020
Shannon Peters is not afraid to try something new when it comes to her horses' health. When her Grand Prix mount of a decade ago, Flor de Selva, struggled with weak hooves and tender feet, Shannon researched natural ways to improve hoof strength and introduced the concept of barefoot trimming as an option in the high-performance dressage world.
Her husband, four-time dressage Olympian Steffen Peters, is a tad more conservative. He has his native Germany's renowned tradition of horsemanship and is meticulously careful about every aspect of care.
Yet, they've both become believers in the benefits of Haygain high-temperature steamed hay. As with barefoot trimming, Shannon led the way on behalf of Flor De Selva. The Westfalen gelding contracted Lyme disease in 2009, compounding long-standing issues with a sensitive immune system. Lyme disease is difficult to diagnosis and debilitating in humans and perhaps more so in horses because it's rare and presents as other conditions.
"Squishy" foundered five times in four years and was simply sick much of the time. Although Haygain was relatively new in the U.S. then, Shannon learned of steaming's ability to reduce up to 99% of the dust, mould, fungi and bacteria found even in hay of good nutrient quality. She put Squishy on it to help reduce his exposure to toxins in general and found that it helped him lead a more comfortable life.
Cough Cure
Shannon turned to Haygain more recently when her current Grand Prix mount, Disco Inferno, contracted a cough for no apparent reason. The Peters' Arroyo Del Mar training base in San Diego is not a high allergy area and proximity to the California coast keeps the air clean and fresh. The 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood lives outside, so indoor air could not be blamed.
Early this year, Disco Inferno developed a mild cough, only while working. No fever or runny nose, Shannon reports. It quickly accelerated to "the kind of cough that pulls the reins out of your hands." He couldn't be ridden and even coughed while being hand-walked. Cough medicine, soaking the hay and reluctantly administered antibiotics did not help.
With Squishy comfortably living in retirement, Shannon had recently sold her original hay steamer to a local racehorse trainer. "Of course!" she sighs. She purchased a new Haygain and, within two days of getting steamed hay, Disco was no longer coughing.
Meanwhile in Florida, Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper earned two 80-plus scores en route to 11 wins in 11 outings at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. The win streak was likely to have earned Steffen yet another Olympic experience. That was until the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed and the show world shut down because of COVID-19.
Suppenkasper, aka "Mopsie," had no coughing, respiratory or other health issues to suggest he needed steamed hay, but the Peters opted to try it out for him when he returned to California in April.
In lieu of health challenges, Mopsie does have one bad habit steamed hay has helped reduce: he's a notorious hay dunker. "He could have 10 buckets of water in his stall, and he'll dunk his hay in every one of them," Shannon relays. With dry hay, the big Dutch Warmblood would dunk each bite, making each water source gunky and unappealing and reducing his desire to drink.
Dunking Down
Mopsie loves the steamed hay, Shannon reports, and he's dunking much less of it in his water sources. Perhaps he's read the research that Haygain steaming quadruples the amount of water in the horse's diet and is less concerned about hydration. Most likely he hasn't read that, but his appetite for it corroborates studies indicating that horses prefer steamed hay to dry or soaked.
"Normally, we'd have a lot of hay left over and now he's eating most of it and his water sources are a lot cleaner than they used to be, which is nice," Shannon says.
Haygain high-temperature hay steaming was developed in conjunction with the Royal Agricultural University in England in 2009. It has been quickly embraced by high performance eventing and show jumping competitors. On the dressage front, Debbie MacDonald was an early adopter, for her Olympic and World Cup partner Brentina.
Steffen and Shannon Peters join a growing number of top dressage professionals adding steamed hay to their horse's routine, as both a solution to specific health challenges and for its overall benefits even for horses with no apparent issues.
What does it mean to be a large herbivore, what are the two most major digestive issues commonly observed in horses and how can owners minimise the risk? Dr David Marlin tells us more.
Dr David Marlin
Equine Scientist, 07/09/2020
As all horse owners know, the horse is a herbivore. More specifically we describe the horse as a non-ruminant herbivore as it has a small, simple single compartment stomach. In contrast, ruminants, such as sheep, goats, cattle, deer, giraffe and llamas, have a stomach which consists of four chambers: the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum.
The rumen is the largest of the four chambers and contains bacteria, protozoa and fungi which break down food particles by fermentation. Ruminant herbivores also regurgitate partially digested food for remastication (chewing). In contrast, no significant fermentation takes place in the horses’ stomach and the cardiac sphincter (the valve that connects the oesophagus to the stomach), does not permit regurgitation or vomiting in horses. Furthermore, the horses stomach fluid pH in the lower part of the stomach is typically 2-3 (very acidic) compared with 6-7 (slightly acidic to neutral) in ruminants. The acidity of the horses’ stomach is important for maintaining stomach hygiene by killing off bacteria, protozoa, fungi and viruses ingested with food as well as initiating protein digestion. Whereas protein, fat and starch are digested in the small intestine, fibre can only be digested in the large intestine (hindgut).
The horses’ stomach is also relatively small and suited to constant slow intake of forage as opposed to large meals of concentrated energy such as cereals. The horse also has a psychological need to chew. Chewing also causes a continuous release of saliva which helps to buffer stomach acid.
In the first place, plants that horses eat in the wild are generally low in energy. This means that in order to obtain sufficient energy, horses typically need to spend at least around 12h a day eating and in some cases, up to 18h. Compare this for example to a dog, also a mammal but a carnivore; anyone with a dog knows that eating only takes a few minutes per day!
When it comes to what horses eat, there is a big difference between domesticated horses and wild horses. Whilst the wild horse is predominantly a grazer, they will generally be grazing grasses that are low to moderate in protein, low in starch and of low-moderate digestibility. But they may be grazing a large variety of species of grass. In addition, wild horses will also browse many other plants. In contrast, the domesticated horse is often grazed or fed more highly digestible grass or forages with higher protein and energy. At the same time, the domesticated horse usually does not have the opportunity to browse other vegetation. For this reason, whilst wild horses may achieve a balanced or adequate nutrient intake, the domesticated horse that is on a forage only diet will almost certainly not be receiving a balanced or adequate intake of nutrients.
Secondly, herbivores have a much larger digestive tract than carnivores or omnivores. This is because the hindgut, which consists of the caecum, large colon and small colon, where digestion of fibre by bacteria takes place to release energy has to be large to accommodate a large amount of food, fluid and bacteria for efficient digestion. In a person the total digestive tract weighs around 6% of the total bodyweight. However, in a horse the digestive tract weighs around 12% of the total bodyweight. If the horse were a carnivore it would look more like a giant greyhound and be able to run even faster!
The two major digestive problems that we most commonly observe in horses are gastric ulcers and colic. Both of these are often related to nutrition. Gastric ulcers (ulcers in the stomach) are described as either squamous or glandular. The glandular region of the stomach is the lower part of the stomach where acid is secreted and where the gastric fluid sits. Ulcers that develop here are considered to be due to breakdown of the mucosal defences – the lining of the stomach. Squamous ulcers occur in the upper part of the stomach and are considered to be due to damage to the stomach surface by excess acid.
Some of the factors that appear to be associated with an increased risk of ulcers are: Hard/long exercise, especially on an empty stomach, long periods without forage, large meals, high starch intake, NSAIDS (e.g. Bute), colic/hindgut discomfort, low forage intake, poor quality forage (e.g. straw), low water intake, limited pasture turnout, high electrolyte intake and stress. Whilst gastric ulcers can lead to poor performance, altered behaviour, reduced appetite, weight loss and loss of condition it is rarely fatal or a cause for euthanasia. This is in marked contrast to colic which is causes more deaths of horses than any other disease.
The horse has a physical and psychological need for good quality forage. Whilst low quality forage such as straw or poor hay may be seen as an option for weight reduction, this can lead to other digestive problems. Hay or haylage should also be of a high level of hygiene with minimal dust and micro-organisms (yeast, bacteria, fungi, etc). This is also critical for good respiratory health and high temperature steaming is an excellent option to better ensure good hygiene and minimise the risk of respiratory disease. Where possible providing ad libitum forage will also reduce the risk of digestive problems.
The horse has a small stomach and this is not designed to cope with large high energy, especially starch, meals. Concentrate feeds should be small and frequent and ideally always given after forage. Forage slows down the passage of concentrate feeds and reduces the risk of undigested starch reaching the hindgut and leading to hindgut disturbance. It also goes without saying that clean water should always be available. Water intake is related to forage dry matter intake. So horses eating lush grass will drink less than horses eating haylage and horses eating haylage will drink less than horses eating dry hay. Finally, follow other basic rules such as regular worming, introducing new feeds slowly (over weeks not days) and regular dental check-ups.
The Upside of Downtime
Kim F Miller
Equestrian writer | Aug 27, 2020
Young show jumping professional Lillie Keenan made a pact with herself when it became clear the COVID-driven competition closures would last a while. "I'm going to be better coming out of this than when I went in." That's saying something for an equestrian already sitting at #10 on the U.S. rankings going into the shut-down in March.
She sees the pact as a responsibility to her horses. "They deserve to have someone that's going to try to improve themselves."
The first step for the show jumper was removing all the jumps from the arena at her family's Chansonette Farm in Wellington, Florida.
"It's easy in any sport to get wrapped up in the competition and the winning, because we are competitive people," Lillie reflects. "We can lose sight of taking time to actually practice the details and simple things that are needed to achieve the precision our sport requires."
Her longtime coach McLain Ward had commented that experienced Grand Prix horses can easily go without jumping practice. "It's the riders that miss jumping." With that green light, Lillie focused on the little things requiring patience, practice and persistence.
She drew on considerable expertise: McLain's, past lessons in classical dressage technique and more recent work with another Olympic show jumper, Michael Matz. That's along with swapping observations with stable manager Craig Pollard, who also rides the horses, and her boyfriend, Belgian horseman Constant Van Paesschen.
A Different Season
Despite a season very different from the European tour she had scheduled, Lillie loved the long stretch of percolating past lessons and shared wisdoms with her own experiences. She put them into practice on her own, with nobody on the rail to remind her. "That is the point of learning after all," she reflects. "Using what you've learned."
She also loved giving the horses a break in their usual routine. More time for turn-out and trail rides helped with physical and mental fitness. "It was great to have ways to keep them looking forward to their work."
The privilege of being able to literally ride out the show shut down at her own farm is greatly appreciated by Lillie.
Not focusing on wins translated to winning results when shows resumed in July. Wellington hosted three weeks of national competition, in which Lillie earned first and second finishes on 8- and 9-year-old up-and-comers. "Especially with talented young horses, it's easy to fall into going for the win every time. But we have a responsibility to teach them about the steppingstones on the way to getting there. That's the hard thing mentally, to have that patience.
Improvements in the partnership with her more seasoned jumpers were evident, too, especially with the uber-talented Fasther, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood. "Anyone who has seen me on this horse knows the mountain I've had to climb with him when it comes to rideability," Lillie explains. "He is ridiculously talented and it's a matter of harnessing that to my advantage."
Hay Steaming Helped, Too
Adding Haygain steamed hay to her horses' daily diet is another positive change this year. "We love our steamers and use them for all our horses," Lillie explains. Familiar with hay steaming through McLain Ward's Castle Hill Farm program, Lillie first turned to it for 8-year-old El Balou OLD shortly after he arrived from Germany. Like many newly imported horses, he was struggling with the change in location. A respiratory infection became evident in his restricted breathing as he began to work in Florida.
"I love competing in Florida, but it's hard for the horses that aren't used to it because of the humidity, heat and allergens," Lillie explains. "I've never had allergies before, but I struggle myself in Florida, so I know how debilitating that can be."
Haygain's high-temperature steaming reduces up to 99% of the dust, mould, fungi, bacteria and other allergens found even in hay of top nutrient quality. That made a "dramatic difference" for El Balou. "Haygain allowed us to maintain the quality of his respiratory function. He's much happier and feeling much better." Lillie quickly put all her horses on steamed hay. A full-bale HG 2000 stays at their Castle Hill base and the easily portable medium size model, the HG 600, keeps her traveling horses on steamed hay. She's not alone. At early August's Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, Lillie estimated her unit was one of about 15 steamers clustered in the venue's power tent.
"In a normal year, we'd be traveling around the world for shows. A #1 thing for me with Haygain is that it's difficult to control the quality of our hay when we are traveling around the world. Even when the nutrient content of the hay changes, we can rely on the Haygain to keep it consistent in terms of no dust and allergens and it being easier to digest."
Along with being a rising talent on the international circuit, Lillie is a smart professional who is frequently approached by companies seeing product endorsements. "I've always felt that if I am going to promote something, I have to really believe in it and use it. It has to be a product that I would use regardless of my relationship with the brand."
Partnerships enhanced by extra training time and better health thanks to steamed hay have Lillie and her horses looking forward to the rest of this year's show season and a renewed ascent on the international stage in the years ahead.
Equine Asthma is now the more commonly term for respiratory conditions such as broken wind, heaves, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), bronchiolitis, small airway disease, recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), inflammatory airway disease (IAD). Veterinarians Dr. Laurent Couëtil & Dr. Kathleen Ivester tell us more.
Dr Laurent Couetil & Dr Kathleen Ivester
Equestrian writer, 01/06/2020
For nearly as long as horses have been domesticated, the relationship between barn confinement and respiratory disease in the horse has been recognised. This relationship is intuitive, especially when we consider that deep in the lung, where the blood takes up oxygen, the barrier between the outside air and the horse’s circulation is as thin as a couple of cells. The surface area of this gas-exchange region of the lung has on average a surface area of 2500 m2, equal to nearly half a football field. The response of the lung’s immune system to inhaled air results in a number of diseases in both humans and horses. Many of the occupational respiratory diseases in humans are associated with agriculture due to exposures to organic dusts. Dusts in agricultural settings, including the horse barn, are rich in substances such as endotoxin and fungi that can drive inflammation.
Depending on when the conversation took place, horse owners consulting their veterinarians will have heard many terms applied to this problem: broken wind, heaves, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), bronchiolitis, small airway disease, recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), inflammatory airway disease (IAD), and most recently, equine asthma. Along the way, distinctions have been drawn between those horses that develop difficulty breathing at rest (heaves, RAO, severe equine asthma) and those that do not (IAD, mild equine asthma). While potentially leading to confusion for the horse owner, the changing terminology actually reflects improvements in veterinary knowledge.
While the term COPD was applied to reflect the obstruction or blocked airflow that can occur in severe cases, this term was discarded due to the differences with the human disease. In humans, COPD is mainly a consequence of cigarette smoke and is characterised by structural changes within the lung that are absent in the horse. While the terms ‘recurrent airway obstruction’ and ‘inflammatory airway disease’ are descriptively accurate, they are not necessarily terms that immediately help the horse owner to understand the disease process.
Due to its many similarities with the human disease, the term ‘equine asthma’ has most recently been adopted. Like human asthma, equine asthma is triggered by inhalation of dusts that contain allergens and other irritants, and like human asthma, the cough and difficulty breathing can be reversed in the short-term by medications, often delivered by inhalers, or in the long-term by removal from the offending dusts. Also similar to asthma in humans, the response of the horse’s airway to inhaled dusts can vary widely. In some highly susceptible horses, inhalation of even small amounts of dust in the barn environment or airborne allergens (e.g. pollen, moulds) at pasture can cause severe inflammation and difficulty breathing due to the accumulation of mucus and narrowing of the airways. There is no known cure for these ‘severely asthmatic’ horses, and they require special management for the duration of their life span. In other horses, the inflammation is milder, with occasional coughing and decreased performance. Respiratory problems in these ‘mildly asthmatic’ horses often become apparent only when the horse is asked to perform athletically and may resolve over time. Those horses with mild asthma do not necessarily go on to become severely asthmatic.
While susceptibility varies widely, any horse (or person) exposed to enough dust will develop inflammation in the airway. In the case of stabled horses, dust exposure is mostly due to hay. Those horses with severe asthma often require that hay be completely removed from the diet and that the horses be removed from confinement to the barn altogether. In the milder cases, decreasing the dust released from hay by soaking or steaming may improve airway health. As soaking has a number of draw backs, high temperature steaming is becoming the preferred method to reduce exposure to the dust from hay. At Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine we use a Haygain hay steamer which, has been shown to reduce respirable dust by 98%.
Show pony steams back to health with young horsewoman's help.
Kim F Miller
Equestrian writer 18/08/2020
The mention of Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague novels beams many equestrians back to their childhood dreams. As the protagonists of the 1950s tales, these hearty, feral ponies roamed Virginia and Maryland's Assateague Island before going onto adventures with adoring young owners on the mainland.
For the now 17-year-old Ella Doerr, that story is fact, not fiction. At 7, she went looking for a safe, sane starter pony. Instead, she found then 5-year-old "Whinny," a 13.1 hand chestnut Paint with four long, white socks. The Chincoteague's charm was irresistible. "He was lying down in his stall and he looked up and blinked at me with those magical eyes," Ella remembers. "I fell in love instantly."
He was as green as they come, as was Ella.
Fast forward six years, to 2016, when they excelled at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show at Harrisburg in the Medium Children's Hunter division, winning the class and finishing 6th in the Classic. An 86 score in one of the country's biggest Indoor circuit showcases is an indelible highlight of a year that included Grand Championships on three regional circuits.
"We all hear that a green pony and green kid don't mix," Ella says. "But we did."
Harrisburg four years ago was the finale of their show career. Ella has gone onto impressive accomplishments in and out of the saddle, and Whinny has introduced younger riders to the sport.
Like all good stories, Ella and Whinny's had an obstacle to overcome: a cough that went from so occasional as to be dismissed to debilitatingly persistent. It progressed over a two-year period. For the last few years, Ella has limited the otherwise healthy pony to training and competition levels that require only minimal exertion.
The first summer after he retired from higher level competition was tough. Home at her family's small barn in Wellesville, PA, Whinny had major allergy flare-ups, followed by a throat infection. Multiple vet visits could not determine if the two conditions were related. They did establish that Whinny is badly allergic to alfalfa hay, pine trees, insect bites and other irritants that are hard to avoid in the barn environment.
"We tried everything," recounts Ella. "Homeopathic allergy treatments, cough syrup and inhalers. We got him to the point where he was okay except that he still coughed when he was ridden." Ella tried soaking his hay. This common DIY method for removing dust can drastically increase bacteria and, like a lot of horses, Whinny didn't like it. "He looked at me like, 'Really? I have to eat that?'" Ella relays. "It broke my heart."
Ella is a remarkable and savvy horse woman. She is the USEF's reserve champion USEF Sportsmanship Award winner in 2020; the USHJA's Youth Sportsmanship Award recipient in 2016; a consistent top finisher in the USHJA's Horsemanship Quiz national standings and a junior reporter for The Chronicle of The Horse. Ella's most recent report for the esteemed media outlet was an update on arriving at the Kentucky Horse Park for the USEF Pony Finals. Unfortunately, the next day, Saturday August 1, Ella had to break the news that they'd been cancelled due to corona virus cases at the venue. (She did circle back to the venue the following week with her current ride, Batman, to win their over fences class and ride to reserve in the Classic. Then she jumped into helping promote the Virtual Pony Finals as a fundraiser for a fellow pony rider, Alexis Halbert, who suffered a bad fall.)
Ella knew there had to be a better way to help Whinny, whose show name is Wind In The Willows. She found it in Haygain Steamed Hay. "I was so excited," she says of learning that high-temperature hay steaming rids hay of up to 99% of the inhalable bits of dust, mould, fungi, bacteria and allergens found even in hay that is considered high quality for its nutrient content.
Whinny and his stablemates expressed their enthusiasm when Ella's new HG One portable hay steamer began emitting the tantalising smell of steamed hay. But Ella was patient. "I didn't think we would notice a difference right away, but we did almost immediately. Within two weeks of getting steamed hay, Whinny doesn't really have a cough anymore. He's much better and healthier. And, happier because he doesn't have to have the soaked, sticky hay. He couldn't be more excited."
Why do horses suffer from filled legs?
Filled legs or lower leg swelling is not uncommon in stabled horses throughout the year. Dr David Marlin tells us what it is and why it happens.
Dr David Marlin
Scientist, 10/08/2020
Swelling in the lower legs of horses is not that uncommon. The medical term for this swelling due to accumulation of fluid is oedema. The fluid is not blood or even plasma but referred to as interstitial fluid and this is the fluid that surrounds the cells in the body. When oedema/swelling occurs, this is due to an accumulation of interstitial fluid in the tissues. It is perfectly normal for there to be fluid between the cells. In fact around 15% of a horses total fluid is interstitial fluid. Swelling in the lower legs due to oedema can also lead to sore limbs and stiff joints. So where does it come from and where does it go and why does it sometimes accumulate and lead to swelling?
The arterial blood that is pumped around the body is at high pressure. As the blood flows under high pressure through the smaller arterial blood vessels and even smaller capillaries that supply all the tissues (e.g. the skin) and organs (e.g. lung, liver, brain, etc) with oxygen and nutrients, some of the fluid is literally squeezed out of the vessels into the spaces between the cells. The red blood cells and many of the proteins in the blood are too large to pass through the walls of the smallest blood vessels and capillaries, so interstitial (in Latin “between place”) fluid is a filtered version of the blood. It is salty and almost clear. Normally, the fluid that is squeezed from the blood into the spaces between the cells in all the tissues and organs is slowly cleared by the lymphatic system, which is part of the vascular system (circulatory system). When interstitial fluid enters the lymphatic system it becomes known as lymph, derived from the Latin word for water, lympha).
The lymphatic vessels run separately within the body but close to the blood vessels and eventually return the lymph back into the blood via the veins. The lymph flows back along the lymphatic vessels either due to contractions of the vessels (a bit like the contractions of the intestinal walls move food along) or by external compression due to muscular contractions.
Swelling or filling of the lower legs occur either when the amount of lymph produces is greater than normal or the clearance of lymph is slower than normal and sometimes due to a combination of increased production and slow clearance.
There are many different reasons why filled legs can develop. These can include kidney disease, heart failure, chronic lung disease, thyroid disease, liver disease, damaged blood vessels, damaged nerves, damage to or blockage of the lymphatic vessels, malnutrition, parasites, medications that cause high blood pressure, blood clots, injuries, burns, bites, allergic reactions, reduced activity and hot weather.
Probably the most common time for owners to notice horses with filled legs is when they spend a long time in their stable, either on box rest or overnight. This type of oedema usually affects all legs and resolves when the horse is exercised or turned out. The degree of swelling can often be reduced by appropriate bandaging and massaging the lower limbs may help promote flow of lymph. If there is pain associated with the swelling then col-hosing or ice boots may provide some relief. In some cases cold hosing or application of ice-boots in the evening may also help reduce the amount of oedema.
It’s easy to understand why this occurs so often in horses. Firstly, lymph flow back into the circulation is encouraged by activity and muscular contraction. Horses in the wild cover long distances at walk each day whilst stabled horses have long periods of inactivity. In addition, in people muscle contraction around the lymph vessels is important for the return of lymph, but horses have no muscle below the knee.
Other causes of oedema which can be more serious include infection in the skin, known as cellulitis. This is likely to only affect a single limb. The same is likely to apply to insect bites. Allergic reactions may result in single or all legs being affected.
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