Photo by Janis Tremper

There’s a sale on “Super Steed” vitamins at your local feed store. It’s almost half the price of the daily scoop of “Performance Lift” that you usually give your horse. What should you do? Is one vitamin supplement really that much better than the other?

That’s a great question. Chances are even your veterinarian doesn’t know. In fact, if truth be told, solid science about vitamin and mineral supplementation for horses is in its infancy. You need more than price comparisons and marketing claims for help making a decision about which supplement to choose.

I’ll explain what role vitamins and minerals play in maintaining your horse’s health, and how basic nutrient requirements are determined. (You may be surprised to learn how little we really know about your horse’s needs.) Then, I’ll fill you in on what we do know about some specific (and important) vitamins and minerals. Finally, I’ll help you decide what supplementation might really be beneficial for your horse, so you can decide what product to choose.

Vitamins and Minerals 101
A vitamin is an organic (contains carbon atoms) compound that’s essential for normal growth and metabolism, and is required in small quantities in the diet because it can’t be synthesized or produced by the organism (your horse). Vitamins have diverse jobs when it comes to keeping your horse’s body functioning. For example, vitamin D aids in absorption of calcium from your horse’s small intestine, while vitamin E scavenges for damaging “free radicals,” and helps to protect the body’s cell membranes.

In contrast to vitamins, minerals have a definition separate from their role in body functioning. A mineral is an inorganic (does not contain carbon atoms) substance that’s stable at room temperature and has an ordered arrangement of atoms; in simpler terms, it’s a solid crystal. Almost 5,000 minerals are known to exist, and of those, a relatively small number are required in the diet of your horse to make sure his body functions the way it should. Certain minerals are critical, such as potassium, which is key to keeping your horse’s muscles contracting—and his heart pumping!

What About Requirements?
A great deal remains unknown about specific requirements for many vitamins and minerals. Most recommendations are based on the estimates published by the National Research Council of the National Acadamies, and come from review of available data by experts on their panel. It’s important to realize that these requirements aren’t necessarily determined by specific studies—so recommendations may change as we learn more. The most recent NRC requirement estimates were published in 2007.

The most difficult thing to decide is whether your horse needs supplementation at all, and if so, how much? If your healthy horse with a moderate work schedule has turn-out time and a diet of good-quality hay, chances are his vitamin and mineral needs are met already. Toxicity is rare, which is why the most common recommendation you’ll hear is to “provide a balanced vitamin and mineral supplement” as an insurance policy against deficiency. The guide below will help you understand why your horse needs specific vitamins and minerals, where he gets them, and when you might need to add something extra to his daily ration.

Vitamin Guide
Vitamins can be divided into two groups: fat-soluble (dissolve in fat) and water-soluble (dissolve in water). Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K, while water-soluble vitamins include vitamin C and the B vitamin group (thiamin or B1, riboflavin, B12, niacin, folacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, and B6).

The B vitamins are considered in a group because they all have a similar function of assisting with cell metabolism. Historically, they were believed to be a single vitamin, until it was discovered that they all have a slightly different chemical composition. For practical purposes, an important distinction is that fat-soluble vitamins have potential for toxicity, while water-soluble vitamins do not. Here is a guide to what we do (and don’t) know about these vitamins.

Vitamin A
What it does: Vitamin A is crucial for proper function of proteins necessary for vision. It plays a role in differentiation of cells during growth, is important for proper muscle function, and helps keep mucous membranes healthy. It’s also involved with reproductive function.

Where it comes from: Beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A, is present in fresh pasture and hay. Your horse will store it in his liver for several months, even after it’s no longer available, which will help protect him from deficiency for several months when pasture is no longer available or hay quality suffers.

Needed by 1,100-pound horse: Approximately 15,000 IU per day (1mg of B-carotene is equal to approximately 400 IU of vitamin A).

When he might need more: Vitamin A supplementation is rarely necessary unless your horse has no access to green forage. If you have fertility problems with your mare or if she’s pregnant but lacks access to pasture or good, green hay, vitamin A supplementation might be recommended.

B Vitamins
What they do: Vitamins in this group are all involved with metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. They help your horse produce the energy he needs to live from the food he eats.

Where they come from: B vitamins are produced by the bacteria that live in your horse’s large intestine. They’re also found in good-quality pasture and hay.

Needed by 1,100-pound horse: Most, if not all, of your horse’s B vitamin needs are met by production in his own body, and the remaining amount he needs is usually met from hay or pasture. Specific levels for supplementation haven’t been established. When he might need more: If your horse has poor-quality hooves, supplementation with 20mg per day of biotin may help. B vitamins are believed to have a calming effect, and might be recommended for a nervous horse.

April 17, 2013--Ever wished for Olympic-caliber training for you and your horse? Would you love to get some feedback on your riding from a winner of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event? Award-winning magazine Practical Horseman, in partnership with Cosequin, wants to give you an opportunity to win a clinic for you and up to nine of your friends with Olympian Phillip Dutton. This isn’t just any clinic: Phillip will come to you!

To enter, write an essay of 250 words or less describing why you deserve to win the clinic and submit your entry at www.PracticalHorsemanMag.com/PhillipDuttonContest. Ten finalists will be selected to submit videos of themselves and their horses, and a winner will be chosen from among the finalists. Phillip will give the clinic at your barn or a suitable local facility.

“One of our goals here at Practical Horseman is to provide our readers with a riding lesson in print,” said Editor Sandy Oliynyk. “With this contest, we’re offering a chance to win a real-life lesson with an Olympic rider. Phillip is a longtime friend of the magazine, and we’re excited to give a lucky winner a once-in-a-lifetime experience riding with him.”

A five-time Olympian and five-time World Equestrian Games team rider, Phillip is also a 13-time USEA Rider of the Year and two-time Olympic eventing gold medalist. In 2007, he won team and individual gold medals at the Pan-American Games. Based at his True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania, which he owns with his wife, Evie, Philip coaches many adult amateurs and several U.S. Equestrian Team short-listed riders.

10 finalists will receive a copy of Modern Eventing with Phillip Dutton: The Complete Resource—Training, Conditioning, and Competing in All Three Phases. This fabulously illustrated book covers training, conditioning and competing in all three phases of events: dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The book includes full chapters describing the special needs of the event horse, with tips and advice from the top experts. It is available for purchase on HorseBooksEtc.com.

The contest is now open and will close on June 17, 2013. For more information and to enter, go to www.PracticalHorsemanMag.com/PhillipDuttonContest.

The Horse&Rider Ride More Tour is an interactive, fun roundup of equine experts offering advice and inspiration to horse enthusiasts of all levels, will kick off its 2013 tour at Brighton Feed & Saddlery on April 5

Fueled by the expertise of the Equine Network, the nation’s leading publisher of horse-related content, including Horse&Rider, Practical Horseman and EQUUS, and the experienced staff of Brighton Feed & Saddlery, the evening features a very hands-on presentation about the skills, knowledge and gear people need to Ride More.

“We want to arm horse owners and enthusiasts with the best information to improve their horse lives—from health and management tactics

to tack tips to riding skills,” says Horse&Rider managing editor Jennifer Paulson.

Since having the wrong saddle can lead to discomfort and pain for both horse and rider, Roger Allgeier will discuss proper saddle fit for both horse and rider, saddles for different disciplines, tree construction and materials, what to look for when purchasing and much more. He will also demonstrate proper saddle fit with different horses.

Horse&Rider Managing Editor Jennifer Paulson will talk about the latest in horse care, including horse nutrition, colic prevention and deworming. Attendees will be able to try, touch, sniff and taste (if they want!) the latest products from the horse industry’s leading manufacturers.
In addition to a flood of knowledge, attendees will also have a chance to win prizes from Ride More Tour sponsors, such as Weaver Leather and USRider, a roadside assistance program for horse owners.

Free refreshments will be served.
Location: Brighton Feed & Saddlery 370 North Main Street, Brighton, CO 80601 Date and Time: Friday, April 5, at 6 p.m.

For more details, please go to http://www.equisearch.com/horse-and-rider-ride-more-tour

Moving closer I spotted a swelling on his chest, in front of his left shoulder. I stepped through the gate and ran my hand over the protuberance: It was firm but not hot, and it covered his left front chest and extended down between his front legs.

“What happened, Wes?” I asked, rubbing the star on his forehead. “You get kicked?”

Wesley is pastured with two other geldings, and these boys do get rowdy. My horse Zeke had once been kicked in the chest, and the injury had produced a hematoma, a blood-filled swelling, the size of a grapefruit. That must be it, a hematoma, I thought.

I slipped the halter over Wesley’s head, and we headed toward the barn. He was moving sluggishly, reluctant to bear much weight on his left front leg.

My brow furrowed. This could be more than a hematoma. Was it a shoulder fracture? A tumor? I’d lost my first mustang to an aggressive sinus cancer, and I am forever fearful of seeing equine cancer again. Taking a deep breath, I reassured myself that it was probably not cancer and Wesley would be OK. I stroked his neck and encouraged him to come along.

I put Wesley in a stall with hay and water and gave him two grams of phenylbutazone (bute), which I stock for my arthritic horse, to control his pain. In the meantime, my husband hitched up the trailer so we’d be ready to take Wesley to our local veterinary clinic first thing in the morning.

Wesley’s swelling looked about the same the next day, and he had trouble climbing into the trailer because his shoulder and leg made the step up painful. But he’s a good horse, and once he was loaded, we drove to see Steve Shideler, DVM.

Not so simple
“That looks like an injury. Could be a hematoma,” Shideler said as Wesley backed off the trailer. Walking slowly to accommodate Wesley’s pain, we led him to the treatment area.

The veterinarian palpated the swelling, then he cleaned the center of the mound and inserted an 18-gauge needle to see if he could aspirate (draw out) any fluid. Nothing. Shideler said Wesley had probably experienced some trauma. He administered a dose of penicillin in case some infection was present and prescribed daily warm compresses and continuing the bute as needed, but he said he would expect the swelling to go down over time as the injury healed. Relieved, we loaded Wesley and returned home.

Alone in a paddock, Wesley stood quietly for the application of warm compresses. He’s a mild-mannered horse, and he appreciated the attention and the head rubs. We gave him two grams of bute for three days and then tapered him off of it by day five. Bute can cause gastric ulcers, so I didn’t want to keep him on it too long.

But once the bute was stopped, Wesley’s pain seemed to increase. And, instead of shrinking as we expected, the swelling on his chest grew bigger. Now his head bobbed when he walked, a telltale sign of how painful weight-bearing had become. I put him back on the bute.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, I called Shideler to report that Wesley wasn’t feeling better and the swelling was getting worse. We discussed alternative diagnoses. The possibility of cancer came into the conversation; my heart sank. Shideler recommended taking Wesley to the university clinic, where a specialist could ultrasound the swollen area to get a better idea what lurked beneath that ballooning skin.

A different diagnosis
Worried, I emailed a photo of Wesley to Alison Eddy, DVM, at Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine; she’s treated our other horses before. Eddy replied that, although she couldn’t diagnose the problem without examining the horse, she thought the swelling looked like pigeon fever---an infection that causes large pus-filled abscesses under the skin. Also called dryland distemper or false strangles, pigeon fever gets its name because the swellings, which often appear on the front of a horse’s chest, mimic the bulging profile of a pigeon’s breast.

She explained that pigeon fever is caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and is more common in arid regions of southern California and the Southwest. However, she added, they’d been seeing more of this infection in Mississippi this year than they had in the past. Eddy assured me that pigeon fever isn’t usually life threatening, but it does require treatment. I made an appointment at the university for the next morning.

With Eddy’s permission, I gave Wesley two grams of bute one hour before loading to help reduce his pain, and he gamely climbed back onto the trailer. Eddy and the other equine veterinarians were waiting and ready to examine Wesley as soon as we arrived at the hospital. All his vital signs were normal---no fever---and he was bright and alert. His only sign of trouble was the classic hallmark of pigeon fever: pectoral swelling and pain from that king-size abscess. All of this pointed toward that diagnosis---most horses with pigeon fever eat well and have no fever. Eddy told us that an ultrasound of the swelling, to look for the pus pocket, would help confirm their diagnosis.

The swelling was shaved for the ultrasound, and Wesley’s dark-tipped ears flicked forward momentarily with concern as the equipment was wheeled toward him. He stepped back, but after being allowed to sniff the apparatus, he sighed and settled.

A hypoechoic area--one that is dark on the monitor, because it isn’t solid like normal tissue--was found two centimeters (almost one inch) below the skin. This was the abscess. The good news was that draining the pus would start Wesley on the road to recovery. But there was some bad news, too: The abscess didn’t appear to be well encapsulated; that is, it was ill defined and spread out somewhat. If it were opened, the pus might not drain completely, and the abscess would only return. If instead the abscess was left to mature, or “ripen,” the body would wall off the infection into a distinct area that would drain more readily. They couldn’t fix my horse that day.

Eddy estimated Wesley’s abscess might be ready to open in two or three days. Because draining an abscess is a routine veterinary procedure, we had the option of taking our horse home and letting Shideler take care of it when the time came. However, Shideler was heading out of town, so we chose to leave Wesley at the clinic, where he could be monitored until the abscess was ready for lancing.

Crash course
I knew nothing of pigeon fever, so Eddy took a few minutes to explain it to me. Caused when C. pseudotuberculosis enters cuts or wounds as small as fly bites, pigeon fever can take three forms. About 90 percent of the time, the disease causes abscesses, most often on the chest but sometimes under the belly or in other areas, usually near the lymph nodes. In a second type of pigeon fever, the bacterium is carried to the liver, lungs, kidneys or other organs and internal abscesses form; these cases are more likely to be fatal. A third type, called ulcerative lymphangitis, affects the lymphatic system on the lower legs and is much more serious and slower to heal. This type is extremely rare in the United States.

I gave thanks Wesley had the most common and treatable form of pigeon fever. But I wondered how my horse had contracted this infection. Eddy said that C. pseudotuberculosis resides in the soil, and it thrives in arid or droughty conditions. The bacteria enter the skin either directly, when a horse with a cut or abrasion lies down, or indirectly, when he is bitten by a fly carrying
the pathogen.

The disease is common in California and the Southwest because the bacteria flourish in the hot, dry climate. Eddy commented that Mississippi had seen an increase in cases over the past two years. Most of the South has been parched from reduced rainfall those years, and large swaths of the Midwest have been experiencing droughts; in fact, the whole country has seen warmer temperatures. These conditions have enabled pigeon fever infections to sweep eastward and northward in recent years, and veterinarians who had never seen a case in their careers are now treating horses with the illness.

We left Wesley munching horse treats offered to him by the staff. Eddy called me the following evening. The overstretched skin covering Wesley’s voluminous abscess was threatening to split. The veterinarians now believed the lesion was mature enough to make the procedure successful. I gave the go-ahead.

Well-mannered Wesley required no sedation, only the local injection of anesthetic (Carbocaine) to numb the area. Eddy told me that while the process of draining a pigeon fever abscess may be relatively straightforward, it is an extraordinarily messy spectacle. After piercing Wesley’s skin where it was stretched so tight an exudate was beginning to ooze, the veterinarians had guided a 14-gauge catheter into the abscess until pus was aspirated. With the abscess location confirmed, a scalpel was guided alongside the catheter to drain the abscess.

Copious amounts of tan, odorless exudate spilled from the opening; this characteristic appearance of the pus helped confirm the diagnosis of pigeon fever. Because the abscess wasn’t quite fully encapsulated, the veterinarians made a second incision to open another pocket of infection. Wesley fared well during the procedure, and with the wounds left open, he was ready for discharge.

Healing at home
I had to work the next day, so my husband picked up Wesley and received our discharge wound-care instructions. Because the drainage from his wounds might be able to infect other horses, we were advised to isolate Wesley until all the exudates appeared to have exited and the swelling had diminished. Some experts even recommend burning all bedding or hauling it to a landfill, then bleaching all hard surfaces in the stall and any tack that’s come in contact with the horse.

More recent evidence and expert opinion suggest that isolation of a horse with pigeon fever and disinfection of equipment may not be necessary. However, we decided it was just good hygiene to keep this horse with a draining wound away from the others. We also wore disposable exam gloves to treat him and washed our hands after touching him.

Wesley’s daily wound care involved inserting a soft rubber catheter into the open cavities and flushing the pockets with a saline solution. Eddy told us how to make our own saline, using distilled water and table salt. She also advised us to coat Wesley’s chest area below the wounds with petroleum jelly to help protect his skin from the oozing exudate.

Ever the stoic gentleman, Wesley tolerated the treatments well. In less than two weeks, his wounds healed, the swelling resolved and he was released to return to his herd and his duties as a riding horse. We did elect to disinfect his halter and the stall, and I washed the saddle pad

I’d been using on him, too.

Pigeon fever has been around for a long time in the Southwest, yet I’d never heard of it happening here. However, cases have been on the increase in Texas and the South, and the disease has appeared as far east as Florida and Kentucky. The hot, droughty summers we’ve seen in recent years could make the infection more common in states where it had never been before. I hope that my experiences help you recognize the signs of pigeon fever sooner should the infection appear in your area. Finally, Wesley and I are off for that ride.

For more information, see “On Watch for Pigeon Fever” (EQUUS 368).

This article first appeared in EQUUS issue #426.

A scene from the film Tombstone (1993) recreates a visit to this same ranch by Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his “immortals.” Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) lays suffering from tuberculosis in an interior bedroom as Earp departs, taking one last look at his best friend from the doorway leading out to a porch. The actual house, I now see, has no porch. Otherwise, it’s exactly the same spread where the historic Doc rolled out of bed in 1882, coughing, to saddle up and ride. The imposing Charlton Heston aptly plays ranch owner Henry Hooker, who came from a line of Englishmen known for their courage and fierce belief in liberty. According to one descendent, the first Hooker immigrated to Connecticut in 1633 and was said to have “carried a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other; preaching on Sundays and fighting Indians on weekdays.” That’s basically what it took to build up Arizona’s first

permanent ranch.

Henry Hooker (1828–1907) was well known for his hospitality, and today, I enjoy my own dose of “Hooker hospitality” when the man’s great-great-great- grandson, Jesse Hooker Davis, greets me with a handshake in the driveway. Like most cowboys, he dislikes the limelight. His private ranch is not open to the public, but he graciously agreed to my visit thanks to an introduction by his friend Scott Baxter. Davis and Baxter collaborated on Baxter’s book about old Arizona ranching families, 100 Years, 100 Ranchers (Prisma Graphic Corp., 2012), and Davis appreciated my interest in his ranch’s history and ongoing legacy.

Though he spent his youth visiting the ranch of his ancestors, Davis grew up in San Diego. Now 39 years old, the burly former running back for Cornell University moved back here permanently in 2003. He had been working in the hotel/restaurant industry and was looking forward to the day he’d own a string of bungalows on a Mexican beach, but a visit to his ailing grandmother, Jacqueline “Rinki” Hooker, changed everything. The ranch was ailing, too, since she was basically living in Tucson. The livestock had been in the care of a foreman for years, and the 4,000-plus-square-foot hacienda, corrals, bunkhouses, carriage house, and barns on the 160-acre original homestead had sat mostly unoccupied.

Jesse Hooker Davis (foreground) branding a calf, Sierra Bonita Ranch.

“She was just trying to hold onto the ranch,” says Davis, who was inspired to take charge. As soon as we step toward the house, I begin to understand how the Sierra Bonita survived the terror waged by Apaches—it’s literally a fortress. Davis’ tour of the hacienda ends with a visit to the high-ceilinged room where Doc Holliday once lay. The makers of Tombstone made replicas of the exact adobe brick walls, headboard, and dresser when they filmed on location near Tucson. I can almost see the real Doc languishing, pale and sweaty, in this very bed, as he did in real life and vividly on screen.

“Can you sense the spirits of all who have been here?” I whisper to Davis. “I think they watch over me,” he nods. “Or, at least I ask them to watch over me. Other people have sensed them, too, but they don’t like it quite as much as I do.”

Davis raises American Quarter horses on the 45,000-acre Sierra Bonita and has kept Henry Hooker’s original Hereford cattle, whose bloodlines date back a century. He runs a commercial cow-calf operation and works horseback with the help of three hired men. Davis’ cows begin calving in November, and each season’s rainfall and market fluctuations dictate how many, and when, he sells. “I’m the last of the Mohicans,” says the single Davis about losing his grandmother and father a few years ago.

“It’s my turn to take care of the ranch.” It’s been a steep learning curve, but nine years after settling in, he’s as much a part of the place as the once majestic adobe brick corral. The ranch has been listed as a national historic landmark since 1964, and isn’t going anywhere thanks to Davis, who hopes to pass on the legend of the Sierra Bonita to a seventh generation.

Pulling the shoes of a horse headed to a major international event and doing barefoot dressage isn’t typically part of anyone’s training strategy, but Shannon Peters believed it could be successful for Ravel and Steffen Peters. Just a few months earlier she’d begun working with barefoot trimmer Sossity Gargiulo, who had undertaken a dramatic transformation of Shannon Peter’s own Grand Prix horse, Flor de Selva. The Westfalen gelding had suffered from soundness problems for two years.

Steffen was more skeptical. He wondered how he would keep Ravel in the condition needed to compete against the world’s top equine athletes in London. “I had no personal experience with this,” he says, “but seeing that Shannon had success gave me the confidence to try it.”

Fortunately, a new generation of hoof boots enables newly barefoot horses to maintain their training routines, says Gargiulo. “The shoes can come off and the horse can be ridden the same day.” For Ravel, that meant a pair of Easyboot Gloves for his front feet (he remained shod behind) that were put on prior to training sessions and removed afterward. The gloves have a tough rubber

tread and a neoprene gaiter that fastens around the pastern, protecting the hoof while allowing it to expand and contract and adjust to the ground below. Using heat, Gargiulo and her husband, Mario, are able to fit the boots to each horse’s hoof.