Respiratory Problems
Some older horses may have respiratory difficulties such as heaves (recurrent airway obstruction or RAO) or inflammatory airway disease (IAD). If your veterinarian has diagnosed a respiratory condition in your older horse, feeding and environment changes to reduce dust and allergens will be helpful. Feeding a complete feed such as Purina® Equine Senior® horse feed or Omolene #400® horse feed allows you to decrease or eliminate hay in an attempt to reduce the amount of dust and pollens the horse may inhale.

Suggestions to manage horses with respiratory conditions:
Strictly follow your veterinarian’s instructions with regard to housing/barn access
• Avoid excessive exercise.
• Keep pasture mowed if horse is allergic to outdoor pollens.
• Provide adequate ventilation in stalls and barns.
• Do not use dusty bedding in stalls or run-in sheds.
• Consult your veterinarian to determine if anti-inflammatory medications or other medical interventions are indicated.

Body Weight and Condition
As horses age, their metabolism is altered. They usually fall into one of two categories:
• Easy Keepers – Reduced metabolism and activity result in excessive weight gain that can be hazardous to the horse’s health.
• Hard Keepers – Loss of body weight, condition, and muscle mass caused by reduced digestive efficiency and medical issues affecting metabolic rates.

It is more common to see older horses that are underweight than overweight. As previously discussed, senior horses tend to have problems with poor dental condition, along with decreased digestive efficiency. In these situations, Equine Senior® horse feed fed to replace most or all of the forage in the diet can help.

If the older horse is too fat, aim to reduce its weight to maintain a body condition score of about five. As long as the horse is able to utilize good quality hay, a good option for taking weight off is to feed hay and Purina® Enrich 32® horse feed, or a moderate calorie feed such as Equine Senior® Active Healthy Edge® horse feed. If the horse cannot adequately chew hay, it may be beneficial to reduce the amount of Equine Senior® horse feed fed, or possibly feed Equine Adult® horse feed, which is lower in calories than Equine Senior® horse feed.

Obese senior horses may suffer from Equine Metabolic Syndrome (sometimes improperly referred to as hypothyroidism or peripheral Cushing’s disease). These horses tend to store excess fat, especially along the crest of the neck, over the shoulders, on the rump, and in the sheath (geldings), and often exhibit chronic laminitis. Horses affected with Equine Metabolic Syndrome may also exhibit insulin resistance, in which blood glucose (sugar) is not adequately removed from the blood via the hormone insulin. At this time, Equine Metabolic Syndrome is not completely understood, but it is believed by researchers that obesity, as well as a genetic susceptibility, are important predisposing conditions. If Equine Metabolic Syndrome has been diagnosed, it may be helpful to reduce the amount of starch and sugars in the horse’s diet to help decrease the amount of blood glucose. Equine Senior® horse feed is formulated to contain reduced levels of starch and sugars, and has been fed successfully to many horses with this condition. Purina® WellSolve L/S® horse feed is also an appropriate option for insulin resistant older horses. Additionally, it is important to consider the hay and or pasture fed in these situations, since grasses can contain high levels of soluble carbohydrates (starches and sugars).

Haircoat and Skin
Horses of all ages may suffer from poor haircoat and skin condition due to poor nutrition, but aging horses may be especially susceptible. Good grooming and proper nutrition can go a long way toward addressing these conditions.

An older horse with a long haircoat that sheds late in the year, or incompletely, may be suffering from Pituitary Pars Intermedia Disease (PPID), commonly referred to as Cushing’s disease or syndrome. PPID is caused by a tumor in the pituitary gland in the horse’s brain. Symptoms include the long haircoat, loss of muscle mass, and excessive drinking and urination. If you feel that your horse is exhibiting these symptoms, consult your veterinarian. Horses with PPID may also exhibit insulin resistance and can benefit from diets lower in starch and sugars and higher in fat and fiber. Equine Senior® horse feed has been fed very successfully to horses with PPID, and was designed to help manage the condition. However, veterinary care is essential in proper care of horses suffering from PPID.

Chronic Lameness
There are many causes of lameness in aging horses, such as chronic laminitis (founder), arthritis or stiffness from weakened bones due to demineralization. Veterinary care is important in diagnosing the cause of lameness and alleviating pain.

Suggestions to manage older horses with chronic lameness:
• Avoid obesity and heavy loads because extra weight burdens aging joints, tendons and ligaments. Overweight horses may also be prone to laminitis.
• Have a reliable farrier provide routine hoof care every 6–8 weeks.
• Provide regular, moderate exercise (if approved by your veterinarian). Gradual workouts at least four times a week are recommended. Avoid abrupt changes in exercise duration or intensity. Ride or walk on softer surfaces such as grass or light, sandy soil if lameness is a problem.

As far as nutrition, the objective is to provide a nutritionally balanced diet with more calories from fat and fiber (as compared to calories from starch/sugars) along with adequate high-quality protein and an appropriate vitamin and mineral balance to meet the aging horse’s needs. Some horses may also benefit from a high quality oral joint supplement, such as Purina® FreedomFlex™Joint Health Product, added to the diet.

In summary, providing a high quality, nutritionally balanced diet to meet the special needs of the aging horse, such as Purina® Equine Senior® horse feed, Equine Senior® Active Healthy Edge® horse feed or Purina® WellSolve L/S® horse feed in coordination with an overall health and management program as recommended by your veterinarian, will help ensure that your horse will live comfortably in good health for as long as possible.

Katie Young, Ph.D.

Technical Equine Nutritionist
with Purina Animal Nutrition

Dr. Katie Young is an equine nutritionist with Purina Animal Nutrition. Dr. Young has worked with Purina for more than 11 years, beginning as a consultant, and now in her current role as a Technical Equine Nutritionist. Her responsibilities include providing technical support for the Purina sales force, certified expert dealers and customers, developing and maintaining horse feed formulas and standards, as well as ingredient and production standards.

Dr. Young has almost 40 years of experience in the horse industry. She started riding as a child in southwest Missouri, first as a barrel racer, and later moving into hunter-jumper. After moving to Texas, Dr. Young continued participating in hunter-jumper shows, as well as dressage and combined training competitions, and played competitive polocrosse. Currently, she rides and competes in dressage and combined training with two of her six horses. Dr. Young has worked as a trainer and riding instructor for more than 30 years, and continues do so in the Kansas City area.

Dr. Young earned a bachelor's degree from Missouri State University and a doctorate in Equine Nutrition and Exercise Physiology from Texas A&M University.

Sorting through the scientific studies on the clinical response to static magnetic therapy in various conditions is as much a quagmire now as it was when we first did this topic 11 years ago. A major problem with the human trials is that many authors don’t give enough technical details to make it possible to compare different studies.

Even if the disease being studied is the same, such as arthritis, but one study is negative and another positive—and they don’t include details such as the stage of arthritis, type of magnet, strength of magnetic field, distance from the skin and duration of exposure to the field—they can’t be compared. Human studies also tend to rely heavily on subjective results like patient questionnaires.

Animals are easier. Their environment and level of exercise can be carefully controlled. It’s even possible to use animals that are all of the same strain, reducing or eliminating factors like weight and pain tolerance. Using animals also forces researchers to use tangible measurements rather than questionnaires and animals are not subject to the “placebo effect” because they don’t know they’re being treated.

One such study in Japan used rats of the same strain, all on the same diet and living conditions. Sixty rats were used; 20 as normal controls, 40 with arthritis induced in a hind foot. Of the 40 arthritic rats, half were treated by exposure to a static magnetic field and half not exposed.

The treated rats moved around significantly more than the untreated rats, suggesting reduced pain. Because of this, they had an increased metabolic rate. Tail-surface temperature was normal in treated rats and lower than normal in untreated. Part of this is likely a result of moving around more. Whether the magnetic exposure also increases circulation is still a point of debate.

Bone-mineral density of the untreated arthritic rats was lower than normal, but the treated rats had normal bone-mineral density. This was probably from the improved level of exercise, but in another study it was also shown a magnet implanted into bone could improve bone mineral density.

The effects of static magnet fields on circulation is still a point of hot debate. Baroreceptors are nervous-system structures that “read” the pressure within blood vessels. A well-studied baroreceptor is located in the neck, around a portion of the carotid artery, called the carotid sinus.

Using sophisticated equipment for measuring blood flow in the microcirculation (capillaries) of the ear, a study in rabbits was able to demonstrate a significant increase in microcirculation in the ear in response to exposure to a static magnetic field exposure of the carotid baroreceptor. It was not simply an effect of the weight of the magnet on the skin over the baroreceptor because rabbits treated with sham magnets showed no response.

Their conclusion was that exposure to magnetic fields may lower blood pressure by stimulating baroreceptors, which causes the peripheral circulation to dilate. However, the field strength used was very different from what is usually found in therapeutic magnetic products. There are also studies that show long-term exposure to similar field strengths actually ends up decreasing circulation by interfering with the growth of new blood vessels.

A human study used commercially available magnetic wrap products on the forearms of healthy human volunteers for a 30-minute exposure time and measured circulation using the same techniques as in the rabbit study above. They found no difference between real magnets and sham magnet wraps. To make things even more confusing, yet another study, this time in rats, found an effect in injured skin but not normal skin.

You’ve probably seen many claims that static magnetic wraps can heal injuries. However, static magnetic exposure doesn’t penetrate much below the upper levels of the skin, so these claims are unlikely, and there’s no research to support them. However, there is research showing a highly significant decrease in the time it took skin wounds to heal when a weak static magnet was placed directly over the dressing on the wound. A virtually identical study using a stronger field (similar to those commonly found in therapy products), found no effect.

So results are mixed, complicated by different magnet strengths and duration of exposure. The bulk of the evidence to date seems to point to pain-relieving effects of moderate- to-high-strength static magnetic fields, and stimulation of wound healing with low-field strength static magnetic fields. See Magnetic Therapy charts.

OUR TRIALS. Most of the horses in our trial were athletically active and between the ages of 3 and 8, with problems of:

• Acute fetlock inflammation
• Chronic arthritis, fetlock or pastern (ringbone)
• Back strain (lumbosacral, in driving horses)
• Sesamoiditis/suspensory problems, acute and chronic
• Chronic sacroiliac area pain
• High ringbone.

No change in diet, supplements, level of exercise was allowed except in the case of acute conditions where horses were stall rested. No drugs or herbal anti-inflammatories were used.

When horses had a problem in both legs, response to products was done side by side; i.e. different products used on right and left leg. We also compared response to static magnet products with wrapping alone and to our gold standard, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy with the Respond Systems Bio Pulse or Maxi Pulse.

Our horses with lumbosacral back strain symptoms of muscular tightness, pain on pressure and a slightly “roached”/arched back showed some relaxation of the muscle spasm and slight reduction in pain on pressure after 24 hours with the Dura-Tech Magnetic Mesh Sheet or Norfields Magnet Blanket on. However, it would return within less than an hour when the blanket was removed. There was no further improvement with time and ongoing treatment (2 weeks).

PEMF treatment takes 1 to 3 treatments to cut pain and spasm by about 50%. They do not return between treatments. Symptoms are completely resolved in 7 to 14 days. See PEMF Therapy.

Our horse with sacroiliac pain had recovered from an injury a year earlier but still developed stiffness and stride shortening if worked hard at the trot in harness. The static magnetic blankets had no effect. The PEMF alleviated the lameness in 3 days with twice-daily treatment. Treatment with a high frequency before exercise and a low frequency after kept him pain-free.

Static magnets of the field strengths typically used should not be applied for the first 3 to 7 days after an acute injury or flare up because of the potential to worsen inflammation. We observed this in our last magnets trial and did not repeat it in this one. Even chronic conditions can have a component of inflammation. For this reason, always build up exposure times gradually, starting with 2 hours.

BOTTOM LINE. We didn’t see any obvious flare-ups of edema or heat when using any of the magnets in our trial. Each brand performed effectively and similarly. If you’re using magnets alone, your choice here can be made by style or price.

However, we did see a superior response in our trial to the combination of Sore No-More and the Equine Magnetic Therapy products, suggesting that a combination of Sore No-More’s anti-inflammatory effects and magnetic exposure has additive effects.

While you may achieve the same effect with another magnet brand and Sore No-More, Equine Magnetic Therapy is the one that recommended it. Since we use all products in our trials according to the manufacturer’s instructions, this nudged Equine Magnetic Therapy into our top-choice position.

Note: Sore No-More is a cooling liniment, while other liniments may contain counterirritants and should not be used under magnets. For more information on liniments, see

our January 2009 issue.

Article originally appeared in our February 2011 issue.

It's normal for a horse to lay down from time to time, but if he suddenly spends more time than usual down, it's cause for investigation.

Spice was spending nearly all her time lying down. The 16-year-old Paint mare didn’t appear to be weak or in pain---she could readily scramble to her feet when she wanted to. But she simply wouldn’t stay on her feet. For almost a month, she’d get up just two or three times a day to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, then she’d lie down again.

Several veterinarians came out to see Spice that April in 2008, but they found no obvious reasons for her peculiar behavior. She was current on her vaccinations, she wasn’t lame and her vital signs were normal.

Spice’s veterinarian was baffled and recommended a consultation with nearby Colorado State University. But the mare’s owner was afraid that the ride would be too difficult for her or that she would go down in the trailer. So Lutz Goehring, DVM, PhD, a faculty member with the veterinary teaching hospital, made a farm call.

Goehring found Spice lying calmly in sternal recumbency, propped up on her chest and looking as if she just decided to take a brief afternoon nap. “I was thinking I’d find a horse who looked ill or in distress, but she was happy, and it was obvious she had been really well cared for in the time she was down,” he says. “Her owner had bedded her on deep sand in a large roofed area. She looked like a mare who just happened to be lying down and resting.”

Spice also seemed normal as she got up, which she did with just a bit of encouragement. “She had no problem at all standing up. She was very coordinated and strong, with normal reflexes,” Goehring says. But, he adds, once the mare was on her feet, “we did notice something very unusual.”

As she stood Spice’s muscles became stiff and tense. “You could actually see the muscles contracting under the skin,” says Goehring. When she was asked to walk she moved in short, rigid steps. When she stood still, her hind and forelimbs were drawn closer together than normal, giving her the appearance she was standing on a large circus ball. These were all important, but somewhat contradictory, clues.

Process of elimination
Goehring worked through a number of potential diagnoses:
• Tying up (recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis) causes severe, painful cramping of the large muscles, usually after exercise. When you see muscles contracting as Spice’s were, “you naturally think of tying up,” Goehring says, “but all of her muscles were affected, not just the hindquarters as you’d expect.” Also, horses who are tying up are usually in obvious pain, with profuse sweating and rapid breathing; Spice was not. “To be certain, we also tested her urine and blood and did not see any of the proteins you’d find associated with the muscle damage of tying up,” he adds.
• Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) is an inherited muscle disorder of Quarter Horses and related breeds that causes muscle tremors, weakness and recumbency. But Spice’s pedigree did not include any horses known to carry HYPP, nor did she display the characteristic weakness and collapse.
• Tetanus is a rigid paralytic disease caused when the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani, which normally lives in soil and feces, enters a puncture wound. Tetanus can cause stiffness throughout the body, but Spice was current in her vaccinations against this disease, and she was not displaying any other classic signs of the condition, including the protrusion of the nictitating membrane across the eye.
• Botulism is a paralytic condition that occurs when a horse ingests food or water contaminated with toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Horses with early stages of botulism often lie down for long periods as the associated paralysis develops. But botulism usually affects the muscles of the head and mouth first. Spice was eating and drinking normally.
• Laminitis, the inflammation of the sensitive soft tissues that connect the coffin bone to the interior of the hoof wall in the foot, can cause horses to stand with an unusual “base-narrow” stance like Spice was showing. But laminitis is extremely painful, yet the mare did not react at all to sole pressure from hoof testers, and radiographs of all four hooves showed no coffin bone rotation.
• Fractures to the pelvis or lower spine can leave a horse reluctant to walk, even if he doesn’t appear to be obviously lame. Goehring ruled out an injury like that in Spice with a rectal exam.
• Neurological diseases, such as equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) or West Nile encephalitis, can cause a variety of signs, including stiffness, recumbency, weakness and incoordination. To investigate this possibility Goehring performed a full neurological workup on Spice, checking the muscle tone in her tail and asking her to walk forward, backward and in small circles. “In neurological disease, you see some incoordination or asymmetry,” he says. “But we didn’t see any of that. She was moving stiffly but was not weak or clumsy.”

Having exhausted the possibilities for physical exams, Goehring gathered blood samples to follow up with laboratory tests, and he suggested transporting the mare to the University clinic so he could take spinal fluid samples and a muscle biopsy. But Spice’s owner was still concerned about the toll the trip might take on her mare and opted to pursue only tests that could be done on the farm---especially since Goehring didn’t yet have a particular diagnosis in mind.

Working on the assumption that some type of muscle pain was keeping the mare off her feet, Goehring prescribed a course of phenylbutazone and the muscle relaxant methocarbamol, and he asked Spice’s owner to provide him with frequent updates on the mare’s condition up until his next scheduled visit, in two weeks. By then, he hoped, the results of the blood tests would have shed more light on the cause of Spice’s trouble.

One last shot
Spice was getting worse when Goehring returned. Instead of lying on her chest, the mare was now spending most of her time stretched out flat on her side, and she was eating and drinking while down. She was also getting up less often, as little as only once a day to defecate and urinate before stretching out again on her opposite side.

The standard blood work had revealed nothing abnormal, and the tests were also negative for antibodies to the West Nile virus as well as Sarcocystis neurona, the organism responsible for EPM. Spice’s protein and enzyme levels were normal, indicating there was no muscle damage or malfunction, nor did her blood show any sign of inflammation or infection.

Goehring encouraged Spice to rise then spent a few minutes just watching her. He noticed the same pattern he’d seen on his first visit: “She’d walk around for a few minutes, and then you’d notice muscle contractions and a tightening of all her muscles. Then she would lie down in a very coordinated way. She didn’t seem upset or uncomfortable; it was almost as if she got tired, and lying down was her way to cope with the increased muscle contractions and what I assume was associated fatigue and soreness from it.”

The problem had to originate in either her muscles or her nerves---but given that the phenylbutazone and muscle relaxant had had no effect, a neurological explanation now seemed more likely. “If the problem wasn’t with the muscles, it had to be the nerves that control them,” says Goehring.

Yet Spice’s signs didn’t fit into any known neurological pathology. “A traumatic neurological event or a disease process generally affects neurons at one specific location in the nervous system, so you’ll see a horse lose control of his hindquarters or one side of his body. But every muscle on this mare seemed to be involved equally,” says Goehring. “Toxins can also affect a horse’s nervous system, but they tend to target a particular type of neuron and are progressive; eventually you’ll see seizures and other more serious problems.”

That left one area of possibility: an immune-related disease affecting only a specific portion of the central nervous system. “In immune-mediated diseases, the horse’s own body will attack a very specific target group of cells or structures,” says Goehring. “It was possible, we thought, that such a scenario could give us the strange presentation we were seeing. At the time, we had no idea what that specific process might be, but it was really our last shot.”

A one-in-a-million diagnosis
To test that hypothesis, Goehring recommended a course of injectable corticosteroids. “Steroids will suppress the body’s immune system, which can be a bad thing unless it’s the immune system itself that is harming the body,” he explains. If Spice’s condition was an immune-mediated neuropathy, the steroids would lead to improvement.

Goehring was headed to a conference, so a colleague oversaw the treatment, starting with a relatively high dose followed by smaller subsequent doses that tapered off over the course of a week. “At the conference, I discussed this case with several prominent equine neurologists and told them what I was going to try,” he says. “They were interested but maybe a little skeptical. So it was nice when I was able to share the text I got two days later that the treatment was working---the mare was up and moving more.”

Indeed, Spice showed a dramatic improvement: By the end of the week she was standing about 75 percent of the time. That success led Goehring to search the literature for a possible explanation.

He found one disease in human medicine that seemed to fit Spice’s case: Moersch-Woltmann syndrome, also called “stiff person syndrome” (SPS). People with SPS experience fluctuating muscle rigidity, particularly in their trunk and limbs. The first symptom is usually stiffness in the back that can come and go, often triggered by loud noises or stressful events.

Over weeks or months, the disease progresses until the painful spasms become increasingly frequent and involve the entire body, to the point of immobilizing the person for hours. Patients typically have a halting, stiff gait because the muscles never fully relax between spasms. They also report being exhausted by the episodes. SPS is extremely rare---the exact frequency is unknown but it may affect as few as one in a million people. The condition typically develops between the ages of 30 and 50, although babies may be born with it.

SPS was first named in 1956, and in the 1980s, researchers linked the disease with an autoimmune dysfunction after they discovered that the majority of affected individuals were producing high levels of antibodies to an enzyme called glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)---that is, their bodies were attacking and destroying this critical enzyme in large numbers. GAD is essential for the production of an amino acid called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning it slows down the activity of nerve cells.

“When a horse or person moves, certain muscles have to relax in order for others to contract,” explains Goehring. “For instance, when the biceps [on the front of the upper arm] contracts, the triceps [on the back of the upper arm] must relax [in order to raise the arm]. GABA helps make this happen by blocking nerve impulses.”

In people with SPS, the destruction of GAD, and the subsequent reduction in GABA, causes nerve cells to fire too often and too easily. And so, for example, the biceps and triceps muscles might struggle to contract simultaneously---a situation that produces the characteristic limb stiffness and muscle spasms.

Could horses experience an equine version of SPS? Goehring found one paper published in 2000 that described a Belgian Warmblood who had shown periodic stiffness similar to Spice’s and who had elevated antibodies to GAD, just as in SPS. The authors of the paper dubbed their observations “stiff horse syndrome.”

To see whether Spice might have stiff horse syndrome, Goehring had her blood tested for antibodies to GAD, along with a sample from a normal, healthy mare for comparison. Spice’s blood had a significantly higher amount of the antibodies. This result wasn’t a definitive diagnosis, but it did strongly suggest that the mare might have this rare condition.

Exploring unknown ground
Even though there was little precedent for treating Spice, her owner decided she wanted to try. The mare was kept on the corticosteroids for another month, during which time she gradually improved to her normal self. She was then weaned from the medication, after which she continued to remain on her feet as much as any normal horse. Continuing blood tests showed the mare’s GAD antibodies decreasing over the course of treatment.

“This made me more certain that she had some form of stiff horse syndrome,” says Goehring. “It seemed that we had interrupted the immune system enough for the assault on GAD to end, allowing GABA to be produced and regulate muscle activity.”

Goehring hypothesized that the muscle contractions Spice had been experiencing were simply exhausting the mare, which caused her to lie down more than normal. “What we were seeing wasn’t an inability to stand,” he says, “but an all-over soreness and tiredness that made her not want to.”

Months passed with no further developments, until the following spring, when the mare began lying down more than normal again. “I wasn’t surprised,” says Goehring, “because once the immune system returns to full function, it’s going to start attacking antibodies again. The question is just how quickly and to what extent.”

At that time, Goehring adds, “we looked into officially testing for GAD to quantify just how badly she might be affected, but new testing methods for human samples appeared to not work in horses.” Instead, he started Spice on another course of corticosteroids and, as before, the mare improved dramatically within a few days.

This pattern continued for four years: Every eight to 12 months Spice would begin to spend more time lying down, and a course of corticosteroids would get her back on her feet. To reduce the risk of adverse side effects, Goehring gave Spice the lowest amount necessary to see an improvement. But the mare never showed any other signs of illness or trouble until she died after an unrelated colic earlier this year.

Although stiff horse syndrome is undoubtedly quite rare, Goehring says he suspects it may occasionally go undiagnosed: “I’m certain there are horses out there with this right now, but no one knows. Personally, I see maybe one or two cases a year that come in as an orthopedic problem. The horses aren’t lame; they just have a generalized stiffness that gets worse with work. They have normal muscle enzyme activity, and when you put them through diagnostics like scintigraphy and radiographs you can’t find a problem, and they don’t have any other obvious illness. In these cases I add stiff horse syndrome to the list of considerations and suggest corticosteroid treatments.”

Unfortunately, he says, many owners are doubtful and reluctant to pursue that suggestion: “It’s as if they don’t believe me. But if they try it and the horse improves, we’re that much closer to an answer. And if we can do it before the horse goes down, even better.”

Goehring adds that Spice’s case shows that this condition, although chronic, can potentially be managed long-term with corticosteroids and attentive care: “This mare was watched closely by her owner, who learned what the signs of trouble were and then knew how to care for her. She’s really the reason this mare did so well.”

When you travel in many parts of the world, it’s striking how many horses, mules and donkeys you’ll see toiling in the same traditional jobs that have existed for centuries: pulling plows, tending herds, hauling produce to markets and in many cases providing the only transportation their owners have. Most are working side by side with people in impoverished conditions.

If you love horses, as I have since I was a small child, scenes like these fill you with a mixture of emotions. It is gratifying to see how much people care about the horses, donkeys and mules they rely on so heavily. Losing an animal to injury is a significant setback; it can mean the difference between earning enough to live on, or not, and even a one-day lay-up for an animal could mean a catastrophic loss of income. And yet it also stings to notice animals with open sores, swollen joints or overgrown, cracking hooves who must continue to toil so that their owners can survive.

I first witnessed scenes like these as a 6-year-old, when my father worked at the American embassy in Madrid and we traveled through rural regions of Spain. As I grew older we spent more years abroad in places like Thailand and the Philippines. The cross-cultural experiences there brought more glimpses of the plight of people, and their animals, living in severe poverty.

As a high school student in the Philippines, I participated in community service projects in remote areas, one of which delivered medical care to indigenous people. After watching human surgery in a cinderblock schoolhouse with no roof, I knew I could stomach surgery on animals and become a veterinarian.

These experiences also nurtured a dream I’d had since those early years in Spain. Just as groups like Doctors Without Borders organize doctors and nurses to hold health clinics in underserved areas, I wanted to bring veterinarians to similar clinics to aid hard-working animals in places like these. These clinics would not just address the horses’ and donkeys’ immediate needs, they would also teach owners better techniques for ongoing care and nutrition. Not only would the animals’ daily lives get better, but they’d be able to work longer and more efficiently, which would improve the people’s lives as well.

But it takes an overwhelming amount of time, organization and commitment to bring about programs like these. I continued to nurture the thought as I went to school. Once I’d received my veterinary degree and specialty training in internal medicine, I was fortunate to be invited to lecture in many countries. The travel reinforced my interest in providing equine education and health care internationally. Wherever I went in Asia, Africa or Latin America, I saw horses, donkeys, mules and people in need.

Finally, a few years ago, after years of looking for a viable way forward to act on my dream, I found a large group of like-minded veterinarians, and together we created Equitarian Initiative. This nonprofit group trains veterinarians to provide health services and owner education in very poor areas, and in 2010 we launched our first successful workshop, where we treated more than 800 animals in Veracruz, Mexico. Here’s how it came about.

From idea to reality
My dream of building an organization like Equitarian Initiative finally began to take root in 2007, during the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), when Joe Bertone, DVM, DACVIM, of Western University of Health Sciences organized an informal meeting of veterinarians who had worked with international nonprofit organizations. We talked about our experiences and discussed the challenges of providing sustainable help to these very deserving horses, donkeys and mules. We all shared the goal of creating a new vehicle for action.

We had people present who could describe their work with several groups worthy of emulation:
• The Mongolia V.E.T. Net, a non-governmental organization that grew out of the Christian Veterinary Mission’s work to educate equine veterinarians in Mongolia.
• Project Samana, a group sponsored by the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association that cares for large and small animals and provides ongoing owner education in the Dominican Republic.
• Heifer International, a leading charity that provides livestock and education to impoverished families around the world to help them improve their nutrition and generate a sustainable income. I served on the board of directors for this group, and I also shared experiences from my teaching efforts in Latin America.

All of these groups are doing transformative work, but the need for more help is still so great in so many places around the globe. We all wanted to do more. Jay Merriam, DVM, of Project Samana coined the word “equitarian” to define the spirit of veterinarians and others interested in humanitarian work that benefits working equines: An equitarian is one who serves horses, donkeys and mules with compassion and whose only reward is their improved health and welfare.

Our next step was to catch the interest of the AAEP leadership and other members. At the 2008 AAEP convention, Merriam and I led ourfirst Table Topic on equitarian work. To our delight, it was standing room only, and a follow-up half-day program at the 2009 AAEP convention drew another large audience. Clearly, many North American veterinarians were interested in this kind of work, and more than a few were eager to find a way to get started.

So we had plenty of volunteers lining up. Now what? One of the speakers at the 2009 meeting was Mariano Hernandez Gil, DVM, an amazing young Mexican veterinarian who spoke about a program caring for the equines who haul garbage and recycling at the huge dump in Mexico City. This program partners students from the veterinary college in Mexico City (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, UNAM) with support from The Donkey Sanctuary (DS), a British charity, to provide much needed health care and owner education. The veterinary students gain valuable skills, both in social service and in hands-on training with the animals.

At the time of his presentation, Hernandez Gil was expanding that outreach program to serve poor villages in the state of Veracruz on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. UNAM’s agricultural research station has dormitories there and routinely houses students from the veterinary college. Mobile teams of veterinary students and faculty members come to each participating village for one day of work every six months.

To be effective, the program requires cooperation with the village leaders, who are responsible for encouraging the local animal owners to participate and letting them know when and where the veterinary team would be working. The DS/UNAM team also works in conjunction with a second British charity, World Horse Welfare, which trains local people to become farriers and harness makers, to provide these services to the animals at each village.

As he concluded his talk, Hernandez Gil offered a brilliant suggestion: Perhaps interested American veterinarians could spend a week with his program in Veracruz. The experience could serve as a training ground for starting other international programs. This was a terrific opportunity, and we immediately began investigating how we could make it happen.

Now we just had to raise funds. We put together a grant proposal to the AAEP Foundation to help subsidize the cost of ground transportation in Mexico. We were incredibly excited when we learned we had gotten the funding. More help came from the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, which offered to provide five travel stipends for recently graduated veterinarians. We then had just a few short months to spread the news to veterinarians about the opportunity, coordinate volunteers and organize the trip.

Then we kept our fingers crossed that this area of Mexico would remain safe and that we would attract the number of veterinarians we needed to make the trip worthwhile.

Hands-on help
Finally, everything came together, and in October of 2010, 27 equine veterinarians from the United States and Canada arrived in Veracruz, Mexico, for the first Equitarian workshop. There, we joined a team of Mexican veterinarians, veterinary students, farriers, harness makers and social workers to learn about both structuring community assistance projects and delivering basic equine health care in rural villages.

Each day began with classroom discussions to learn how to provide veterinary care effectively under field conditions. Once in each village, we’d have to practice a fast and targeted form of veterinary care, with no x-rays, no blood tests, no running water and no chance for follow-up visits anytime soon. We also had some discussions on cultural sensitivity: Understandably, many of the owners could be persuaded to spend time and money on ongoing care only if the treatments would increase the animal’s utility.

After class, we piled into vans and continued the discussions on the way to that day’s clinic. We would visit four villages in four days, and each location was in a different ecological and agricultural zone, ranging from the coastal plain to mountainous coffee farms. Each region presented unique medical challenges, and the animals’ work ranged from hauling coffee beans or milk cans to herding cattle.

When we arrived at our first clinic, my colleagues and I were dumbstruck at the huge number of animals assembled. Already villagers and local farmers had lined up with more than 100 donkeys, mules and horses, and others were still coming.

The veterinary students, who had arrived before us, had set up eight different aid stations on the village soccer field. One station served as an intake site, where each animal was briefly assessed to determine his needs, and the owner was given a list of the other stations he needed to visit to receive appropriate care. The services provided included: surgery, lameness care, farriery, harness fitting and repair, internal medicine/reproduction, parasitology/nutrition and dentistry. A horse trailer served as the supply center/pharmacy.

After the initial chaos as we got started, the clinic settled into a pattern of steady work. Many of the animals needed dental work and hoof trimming. Too many were thin and had saddle sores. Some were absolutely loaded with ticks.

I was the lead veterinarian for the internal medicine station along with my Mexican friend, Maria Masri, DVM, PhD. At our station, we saw dozens of cases each day, with a wide range of medical issues, including vampire bat bites, pasture-associated heaves, sand midge skin disease, bursitis due to parasitic infections, sarcoids, moon blindness and weight loss due to poor nutrition, poor dentition and parasites. The surgery station performed castrations, hernia repairs, wound debridements, sarcoid removals and more. All of our participants rotated among stations, spending half a day at each over the four days.

All in all, the workshop was a rousing success. Over the four days, we saw a total of 835 animals. What’s more, we’d all learned a lot, and we were buzzing with ideas on how to improve the process in the future.

A number of the Equitarian workshop participants began thinking about planning projects in other areas with horses, donkeys or mules in need. Could local contacts, community support and funding for travel and supplies be identified? Were veterinarians and horsemen in other areas interested in both education and improving the health care of the working animals?

Looking forward
Additional positive results of our workshop came quickly. Two veterinarians, Adrienne Otto, DVM, from Sullivans Island, South Carolina, and Mario Lopez, DVM, from Toronto, Ontario, successfully began a second project in an area of Costa Rica that Otto was familiar with.

One participant, Angela Gebhart, had been an undergraduate at the time of the workshop, and when she returned home, she inspired her faculty and classmates at South Dakota State University to begin similar projects on the Native American reservations in the Dakotas. Following through on one of our suggestions for improvement---to better engage all of the curious children who inevitably gathered to watch us---Gebhart created a donkey and horse health coloring book in Spanish with the help of her local 4-H group. Then she persuaded her former Girl Scout troop to both bind the coloring books and donate crayons for the planned 2011 Equitarian workshop.

Elated by the workshop’s success and continuing impact, Merriam and I reported back to our pleased AAEP supporters. We applied to the AAEP Foundation for funding to hold a second workshop in Veracruz. This time, however, we offered to become an independent nonprofit organization that would handle registration and all the logistics for our work. The leadership of the AAEP and AAEP Foundation concurred and again generously provided a grant.

And so Equitarian Initiative was born as a nonprofit organization in October 2011. The second workshop in Veracruz went even better. This time, more than 80 veterinarians, students and educators made the trip, and more than 1,000 animals were treated. Since then, a second successful trip to Costa Rica was completed as well as a new project for cart horses in Honduras. We recently completed our third workshop, this time in Santa Cruz, Tlaxcala, Mexico, and we’ve begun planning new projects in Guatemala and South Africa.

Our dream to find a way for American veterinarians to learn how to provide education and service to the very needy working equines in the world is coming true. Together we’re creating a network of veterinarians with a common goal and spirit of sharing experiences with others that will only grow in the years to come.

Need help finding your favorite H&R article from 2012? This complete list of 2012 articles should help.

Al Dunning’s How’s My Riding?
"Sitting Pretty,” Practice Pen, Jan., pg. 32
“Hard-Working Pair,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 32
“Trail-Course Prep,” Practice Pen, March, pg. 32
“Al Says, ‘Relax’” Practice Pen, May, pg. 46
“Small-Fry Horsemanship,” Practice Pen, June, pg. 28
“Rail Work,” Practice Pen, July, pg. 38
“Fence Work,” Practice Pen, Sept., pg. 40
“Reining Prep,” Practice Pen, Oct., pg. 40
“Schooling Session,” Practice Pen, Nov., pg. 34
"Sit Up in the Saddle," Practice Pen, Dec., pg. 34

Barns, Property Maintenance
“Melt Ice Safely,” Your Horse, Your Life, Jan., pg. 18
Stable Gear: “Stall Fronts,” Jan., pg. 64
“Savvy Storage,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 20
“Spring-Clean Your Barn,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 20
“Messy Job Made Easy,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 20
Special Advertising Section: “Barn & Ranch Makeover,” March, pg. 57
Stable Gear: “Barn Carts and Caddies,” April, pg. 78
“Nip It in the Mud,” May, pg. 80
“How to Handle a Hay Shortage,” June, pg. 56
“Three-Pronged Fly Control,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 30
“Small Size, Big Benefits,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 28
“Tack Theft—Now What?” July, pg. 68
Stable Gear: “Barn Fly Control,” July, pg. 78
“Winter-Prep Steps to Take Now,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 26
“Easier Hay Soaking,” Your Horse, Your Life, Oct., pg. 24
Stable Gear: “Winter Water Options,” Oct., pg. 70
“While You Wait,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 20

Behavior
“Sore Back; Foal Eats Manure,” Whole Horse Q&A, March, pg. 14
“Hematoma; Saddling Woes,” Whole Horse Q&A, April, pg. 14
“Rearing to Go—In A Bad Way,” Problem Solvers, June, pg. 88
“Club Foot; Sometimes Spooky,” Whole Horse Q&A, July, pg. 20
“Trailering Fears; Bowed Tendon,” Whole Horse Q&A, Aug., pg. 12
“Pasture Predator?” Your Horse, Your Life, Aug., pg. 19
“Clinician On Call,” Aug., pg. 43
“Keeping Kelly,” Aug., pg. 62
“Trailering Fears; Bowed Tendon,” Whole Horse Q&A, Aug., pg. 12
“Popped Splint; Trail Fears,” Whole Horse Q&A, Sept., pg. 14
“Barn Sour; Shoe Boil,” Whole Horse Q&A, Oct., pg. 15
“Eye Discharge; Pulling Back,” Whole Horse Q&A, Nov., pg. 12

Bob Avila’s Winning Insights
“Breeding Time Machine,” Practice Pen, Jan., pg. 30
“How Not to Lose,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 30
“Don’t Skip the Basics,” Practice Pen, March, pg. 30
“Tire Kickers,” Practice Pen, April, pg. 33
“Industry Update,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 38
“Horse Divorce,” Practice Pen, June, pg. 45
“What You Need to Succeed,” Practice Pen, July, pg. 36
“Know When to Quit,” Practice Pen, Aug., pg. 32
“Neck-Reining: Part 1: Introduce the Concept,” Practice Pen, Sept., pg. 34
“Neck-Reining: Part 2: Introduce the Curb Bit,” Practice Pen, Oct., pg. 32
“Neck-Reining: Part 3: The Romal Advantage,” Practice Pen, Nov., pg. 28
"Rules of Engagement," Practice Pen, Dec. pg. 26

Breed, Show Associations
“Did You Know? Surprising Facts About 10 Breeds,” Jan., pg. 50
“Once More, for the Memories,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
“New National AQHA Championship for YOU!” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
“Important USEF Drug-Rule Changes,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
Gallop Poll: “If Wishes Were Reiners,” Your Horse, Your Life, Feb., pg. 18
Have You Tried: “Entry-Level Reining,” Practice Pen, Feb., pg. 38
“New Show Options for All Breeds,” Your Horse, Your Life, March, pg. 18
“Happy Birthday, APHA!” Your Horse, Your Life, April, pg. 18
“PtHA, AQHA Innovations,” Your Horse, Your Life, May, pg. 20
“Inudstry Update,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 38
Have You Tried: “Saddle-Log Programs,” Practice Pen, May, pg. 48
“Save Big at AQHA Novice Championships,” Your Horse, Your Life, pg. 24
“Painted ‘n Pretty,” Your Horse, Your Life, pg. 24
“Genetic Test for Appaloosas Now Available,” Your Horse, Your Life, June, pg. 26
“Arabians Slide to Paychecks,” Your Horse, Your Life, July, pg. 24
“AQHA Video Delux,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 20
“Find a Trainer, Help a Youth,” Your Horse, Your Life, Sept., pg. 20
“Philanthropy at Pinto World,” Your Horse, Your Life, Oct., pg. 22
“Numbers Up at Quarter Horse Shows,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 18
“ACTHA Rides Benefit Service Members,” Your Horse, Your Life, Nov., pg. 18
"Not Too Common: Grullas," Your Horse, Your Life, Dec., pg. 16

Maintaining body condition becomes more challenging as horses grow older. Photographing your horse every few months can help you observe changes that you might not notice on a daily basis.

Photo by Betsy Lynch

When is a horse old? Every horse is an individual. How quickly he ages isn’t necessarily related to his calendar years. Some horses look time-ravaged in their teens, others are vigorous at 30. Take your cues regarding when to start special care by how your horse looks and acts.

Here’s how to help keep your older horse happy and healthy.

Signs of Aging
Aging is a gradual process. The changes of aging are similar in all species and include:

• Appearance of gray hairs on the face, sometimes throughout the coat.
• Decreased elasticity of the skin.
• Decreased muscular strength and definition.
• Loss of elasticity in tendons and ligaments.
• Joint stiffness.
• Reduced digestive efficiency and increased risk of colic.
• Gum and dental disease.
• Reduced exercise tolerance and difficulty in conditioning.
• Reduced mental alertness and increased napping.
• Osteoporosis.
• Trouble maintaining weight.
• Reduced tolerance for extreme heat or cold.
• “Slowing down” — less interest in movement in general.
• Reduced resistance to infections and parasites.
• Development of vaccine reactions and allergies.

Find out how to solve five common senior-diet problems.

When you look in an aged horse’s mouth, it’s easy to see where the expression “long of tooth” originated. However, you’ll want to weigh the benefits of any dental work against potential risks.

Photo by Betsy Lynch

Senior-Diet Solutions
A variety of supplements and special feeds are available for the senior horse. However, there’s no reason to change the basic adult diet until your horse is no longer doing well on it.

It’s probably time to modify your horse’s diet if he’s not thriving despite your best efforts to provide adequate feed and there are no glaring dental problems.

Here are five common dietary problems and possible solutions:

Problem #1: Quidding (wads of partially chewed hay fall from your horse’s mouth).
Solution: Try bagged hay, chopped hay, hay cubes, or hay pellets. If your horse can’t chew these well either, soak the feed before feeding. Include a little bit of leafy alfalfa, or alfalfa pellets or meal to increase appeal.

Problem #2: Poor grain digestion.
Solution: If your horse isn’t chewing grain well, or a lot of undigested grain is showing up in the manure, try steamed, crimped oats or a mixture of equal parts soaked beet pulp and steamed crimped oats.

This recipe is fairly well-balanced for calcium and phosphorus. Beet pulp has the same calorie yield as plain oats, but does not put a burden on digestive enzymes because it’s fermented in the hind gut, like hay and grass.

Problem #3: Choke
Solution: Saliva is the normal lubricant for food. When horses don’t chew well and long, they produce less saliva. Altered movements of the esophagus and dehydration may be other factors in older horses.

Soak everything your horse eats, or feed wet meals. Add psyllium or ground flax to replace the high mucus content of saliva with mucilage from those plant sources.

Problem #4: Impaction
Solution: Older horses with frequent impactions may have a segment of their colon that isn’t functioning properly. Suspect this if the impaction always occurs at the same section of the intestine. Your veterinarian can tell this via rectal exam.

Try to rule out sand collections, enteroliths, or a lipoma (fat tumor on a stalk) encircling the intestines. Again, this is a job for your vet.

If no underlying medical cause is found, the problem is most likely related to inadequate water intake. Solve this by adding a bare minimum of one ounce of salt in the winter per day (two ounces of salt in summer) to your horse’s meals. This will encourage him to drink.

Soaking meals and hay before feeding also helps tremendously. Including beet pulp in the diet is a particularly good choice since it’ll hold up to four times its dry weight in water.

This 25-year-old mare needs a little extra help regulating her body’s thermostat. When a chill is in the air, a cozy blanket keeps the shivers away.

Photo by Betsy Lynch

Problem #5: Body-Shape/Function Changes
Solution: Signs of poor digestion include a big belly, increased gas, episodes of soft manure, trouble holding weight, and loss of muscle.

If your deworming program is good and there are no unresolved issues with chewing, first make sure your horse is getting adequate forage. He needs at least one percent of his ideal body weight per day as hay and other fiber sources, such as beet pulp.

He may also respond well to either a probiotic or live organism probiotics. Minimum daily dose for the probiotics is estimated to be about 10 billion organisms, so check the labels carefully.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, consider a digestive enzyme supplement. (I recommend one that contains amylase, lipase, protease, and fiber digesting enzymes.) Or, move to a senior feed.

Senior feeds contain highly processed grains and easily fermented fiber sources (soy hulls, beet pulp, alfalfa meal). Whenever possible, use senior feed on top of a base diet of one percent of your horse’s body weight as chopped forage, hay cubes, or hay pellets. This will help buffer acid in the stomach and the large bowel.

Senior feeds contain supplemental vitamins and a balanced mineral profile. But because most senior rations are designed to be suitable as complete feeds, the concentrations per pound aren’t as high as some other feeds, so you’ll still need to meet your horse’s vitamin and mineral needs.

How Much Exercise?
As long as your older horse doesn’t have a condition that prevents him from being formally exercised, it’s much better to keep him in some level of work.

Human studies have found that regular exercise can largely prevent, even reverse, the muscle loss that goes with aging. Exercise also maintains bone density, improves the health of joint cartilage, and helps minimize joint stiffness.

Exercise also increases intestinal motility, important to avoiding spasmodic colic or impactions. Many horses also seem to miss having regular work in their daily routine. Giving them something to do often improves alertness and general attitude.

Even horses with joint problems that prevent them from continuing to perform at a demanding level can usually continue to work at something less strenuous with the help of joint supplements and other joint care.

A horse with a problem that makes him obviously more uncomfortable under saddle may tolerate driving well. Free-longeing on a daily basis to keep him moving steadily for even 20 to 30 minutes a day can work wonders.

If your older horse hasn’t been regularly worked for a while, proceed slowly and carefully. If he has any joint or back problems, consult your veterinarian first regarding what types of activity are best and what to avoid.

Start by hand-walking on level ground (or pony your older horse) for about 10 to 15 minutes. If that is well-tolerated, increase by five minutes every other day. Once he’s walking comfortably for 30 minutes, add short intervals of trotting. Always stop if he’s showing distress, such as heavy breathing or heavy sweating.

Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD, currently works as a writer, teacher, and internal medicine/nutrition consultant. Prior to this, Dr. Kellon has had more than 10 years experience in private practice. She also has extensive experience with performance horses. She’s based in Pennsylvania, where she and her husband raise, train, and race Standardbreds. Her most recent book is Horse Journal Guide to Equine Supplements and Nutraceuticals (Globe Pequot Press).

One of the first things on everyone’s mind when it comes to winter is whether or not their horse is cold. Click here for for our chart and guidelines for blanketing, but much of this topic is common sense. Consider that:

• Very young and very old horses have more trouble regulating their temperatures.
• Horses with little body fat and/or a thin coat have less insulation.
• A horse that is shivering is cold.

OUTSIDE HORSES. Many horses that spend a good bit of their time outside will grow a nice, thick winter coat that serves them well without blanketing. An exception is when they get soaked through to the skin.

If the horse is going to be outside most of the time, you’ll need to have a shelter that protects him from the prevailing winds and from precipitation. Horses with access to a shelter will lose 20 to 30% less body heat than those without protection. You can also keep a blow dryer and several heavy towels stocked for times when they don’t come in out of the rain and cold until it’s too late.

If this is a group situation, pay close attention to the herd dynamics to make sure all horses have access to the shelter. A horse low in the pecking order is both most likely to be chased out and most likely to need the shelter. Equip your shed with hay racks even if you have a separate hay bunker, for times when the weather and/or ground conditions are particularly severe.

It’s important that the shed have good drainage and be accessible for mucking. Sheds should be bedded to encourage horses to lie down. A horse that is lying down loses less body heat. Click here for additional information on respiratory problems, cold hardiness, feeding and winter laminitis.

STABLED HORSES. While you wouldn’t call most barns warm in the winter, compared to living outside, horses in barns are considerably less challenged. The temperatures are at least more consistent and adapting is much easier. And there’s usually no wind-chill factor inside the barn.

However, their coats usually aren’t as full as a horse living outside, and they will be less tolerant of severe weather so don’t be surprised if you need to blanket for turnout or possibly even one while they’re stabled, if the temperature dips down far enough. Allow enough air circulation to avoid extreme differences between in-barn and outside temperatures so that horses can adapt, but remember it’s harder to keep warm if you’re standing still. Blanket as needed.

FEEDING. There are two times when you need to increase the food/calorie intake of horses: 1) When there is a sudden cold snap, and 2) When temperatures are consistently below 5° F.

A variety of formulas are used to determine when the horse needs more feed and how much to give them. However, this can be greatly simplified by feeding hay free choice. The horse will regulate intake according to needs. Hay isn’t a very concentrated calorie source but is the preferred food for winter because the bacterial fermentation of the hay in the horse’s colon generates heat.

Q: I’m curious about the hoof condition known as canker. I was told that my older horse had it after I noticed a smelly discharge that started during a spell of wet weather. I haven’t been able to find a lot of information about canker, and my farrier and veterinarian have never treated a horse for this. What are your thoughts?

A: Canker is an infection that invades the surface tissues of the hoof and causes overgrowths, beginning in the frog and extending to the sole and hoof wall, and in severe cases even to the skin of the pastern. Signs include an intact but ragged-looking frog, a putrid odor and a thick, white discharge with a cheese-like texture.

Canker causes the horn growth of the frog to be very friable, and the horse is usually very sensitive when you poke around and inspect these areas. The infection, which can occur in one or multiple feet, can be quite damaging and painful enough to cause lameness. (Especially in its earliest stages, canker is sometimes confused with thrush, another type of hoof infection. One distinguishing difference is that thrush erodes, or destroys, tissue, while canker causes mounding overgrowths.)

We don’t know for sure what causes canker, but we have some evidence it could be a papillomavirus. Other studies have consistently isolated spirochete-type bacteria from these lesions. It is possible that both a virus and bacteria contribute to the problem. In that case, it could be that the virus triggers the rapid, abnormal growths, which eventually lead to necrosis and secondary bacterial infections.

Canker is rare and is mostly diagnosed in wet, muddy climates of the southern United States. It seems to be most common in drafts, but I have seen it in other types of horses as well. Although some lesions may be small, about the size of a dime, others can be quite widespread and damaging. I’ve seen severe cases where large regions of the hoof capsule have sloughed off from the separation caused by the disease. Another serious case involved the digital cushion (the tissue mass that lies above the frog within the hoof capsule) and almost progressed to the deep digital flexor tendon. It is important to recognize and treat canker early before the infection extends that far and gets too serious.

It’s best to involve both your farrier and veterinarian in the treatment, which consists of debriding (cutting away) all of the abnormal tissue. And just as you would with an invasive tumor, you need to trim off some of the surrounding healthy tissue as well to make sure all of the diseased tissue is gone. The viruses and/or bacteria may be present in these healthy-looking areas and act as a source for reinfection.

As a precautionary measure, after I surgically debride the area I follow up with laser treatment to the entire surgical site. If it’s just a small area I perform this procedure with the horse standing and the foot desensitized with a nerve block, but in more severe cases, or those involving multiple feet, I typically do the procedure under general anesthesia. Some horses may require a shoe with a removable treatment plate to protect the area as it heals.

Many topical treatments are described in the literature, but what seems to have worked most consistently for me is painting the area with the antibacterial solution Tricide and then applying a mixture of the antibiotics tetracycline and metronidazole. I usually put the horse on a systemic antibiotic, oxytetracycline, for three to four days after the surgery.

It’s wise for your veterinarian to reexamine the foot during the healing process to make sure that any canker-type tissue is not reappearing. If there is, minor debridement or laser treatment may be required. However, using the technique described, I have successfully treated many cases of canker without recurrence. The healing period depends largely on how badly affected the foot had been but ranges from 60 days to many months in severe cases.

Preventive measures include keeping the feet as clean and dry as possible, routine trimming and medicating any areas that look suspicious. It is possible that thrush can predispose a horse to developing canker, since it too is most common in wet environments. But I have also seen a few cases of canker in horses who were kept in a very clean dry barn with good foot care.

Scott E. Morrison, DVM
Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital
Lexington, Kentucky

The idea that working horses can be barefoot isn’t new. Horses have a long history of barefoot performance. While barefoot, horses have carried fully armoured men into battle. They’ve also been used for fieldwork and performance in their natural barefoot state.

The equine hoof is a miraculous structure designed with innate intelligence to function as support for a horse’s weight in movement. When a horse’s full weight descends, a hoof in its natural state is sandwiched between that load and the ground.

The hoof spreads apart, allowing the coffin bone to drop like a trampoline. This is the natural shock-absorbing feature of the hoof. The hoof walls spread (up to 6mm from side to side), and the sole draws flat.

Photo courtesy Cavallo Horse & Rider

Consider the concept carefully, as this small apparatus has supported equines throughout history for millions of years.

The Question of Horse Shoes
Our question at Cavallo Horse & Rider is: When metal is nailed in all around, how can the hoof function as it should? Where is the shock absorbed?

The metal shoe is nailed on with the idea of protecting the hoof, or just because it has always been so.

The shoe is nailed on when the hoof is in the air, at its smallest, most contracted shape. The hoof isn’t expanded with weight-bearing or movement. Then the hoof is held firm in this state by metal; there’s no spreading out and no room for the coffin bone to properly descend.

In some cases, the coffin bone then pushes down under the horse’s weight and bruises the solar corium, because the sole can’t draw flat to get out of the way. Shock is absorbed in the sensitive tissue of the hoof or farther up the leg structure.

Our horses are sore, as our current-day proliferation of products containing glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and anti-inflammatories demonstrates.

Is It Navicular?
In our opinion, the pain caused as a result of bruised solar corium is often sadly diagnosed as navicular syndrome.

We question whether the diagnosis is actually pressure from the descending coffin bone, rather than damaged bone.

Under X-rays, the bone is indeed shown to be deteriorating. However, these enlarged holes and passageways throughout the bone are a result of congested blood and shouldn’t be taken to mean a pronouncement of navicular.

Lack of circulation causes the arteries to swell and clotting pushes against the bone, resulting in deterioration to bone spongiosa. The lack of smooth flow is the real cause of bone corrosion. Pain also results through irritation of connective tissue, stress on ligaments, tendons, and bruising when bone tissue meets corium.

A Look at Treatment
Traditionally, instead of treating the cause of soreness by reestablishing natural hoof function, we treat the symptom: We have bar shoes nailed on, and the horse walks off, supposedly sound. We think the bar shoes are an extraordinary cure, when what’s really happening may be just the opposite—even less circulation!

In a normal horseshoe shape, the frog still makes some contact with the ground and the blood pumps there. With a bar across the heel, circulation is entirely limited. The horse walks without an apparent limp, because he can’t feel his feet. His hoof is numb, and the internal damage continues.

Pain medication can mask the condition. Surgery is questionably risky. Both have negative side effects.

In our opinion, the way to correct the condition is to pull off the metal shoes and rehabilitate the hoof to perform its natural function. Allowing our horses’ hooves to function more naturally will decrease pain and discomfort.

The choice is yours to make.

To download a free Q&A, listing the 20 most often asked barefoot questions, visit www.cavallo-inc.com

Carole Herder has been involved in horse health since 1994. She speaks publicly on the benefits of keeping horses barefoot and in their natural state. Her Company Cavallo Horse & Rider Inc. develops, manufactures and distributes horse products in 25 countries worldwide. Carole and her partner Greg Giles designed and patented both the Cavallo Simple and Sport Hoof Boots. They work rigorously to develop quality hoof boots that provide comfort and protection for both horse and rider.

The idea that working horses can be barefoot isn’t new. Horses have a long history of barefoot performance. While barefoot, horses have carried fully armoured men into battle. They’ve also been used for fieldwork and performance in their natural barefoot state.

The equine hoof is a miraculous structure designed with innate intelligence to function as support for a horse’s weight in movement. When a horse’s full weight descends, a hoof in its natural state is sandwiched between that load and the ground.

The hoof spreads apart, allowing the coffin bone to drop like a trampoline. This is the natural shock-absorbing feature of the hoof. The hoof walls spread (up to 6mm from side to side), and the sole draws flat.

Photo courtesy Cavallo Horse & Rider

Consider the concept carefully, as this small apparatus has supported equines throughout history for millions of years.

The Question of Horse Shoes
Our question at Cavallo Horse & Rider is: When metal is nailed in all around, how can the hoof function as it should? Where is the shock absorbed?

The metal shoe is nailed on with the idea of protecting the hoof, or just because it has always been so.

The shoe is nailed on when the hoof is in the air, at its smallest, most contracted shape. The hoof isn’t expanded with weight-bearing or movement. Then the hoof is held firm in this state by metal; there’s no spreading out and no room for the coffin bone to properly descend.

In some cases, the coffin bone then pushes down under the horse’s weight and bruises the solar corium, because the sole can’t draw flat to get out of the way. Shock is absorbed in the sensitive tissue of the hoof or farther up the leg structure.

Our horses are sore, as our current-day proliferation of products containing glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), and anti-inflammatories demonstrates.

Is It Navicular?
In our opinion, the pain caused as a result of bruised solar corium is often sadly diagnosed as navicular syndrome.

We question whether the diagnosis is actually pressure from the descending coffin bone, rather than damaged bone.

Under X-rays, the bone is indeed shown to be deteriorating. However, these enlarged holes and passageways throughout the bone are a result of congested blood and shouldn’t be taken to mean a pronouncement of navicular.

Lack of circulation causes the arteries to swell and clotting pushes against the bone, resulting in deterioration to bone spongiosa. The lack of smooth flow is the real cause of bone corrosion. Pain also results through irritation of connective tissue, stress on ligaments, tendons, and bruising when bone tissue meets corium.

A Look at Treatment
Traditionally, instead of treating the cause of soreness by reestablishing natural hoof function, we treat the symptom: We have bar shoes nailed on, and the horse walks off, supposedly sound. We think the bar shoes are an extraordinary cure, when what’s really happening may be just the opposite—even less circulation!

In a normal horseshoe shape, the frog still makes some contact with the ground and the blood pumps there. With a bar across the heel, circulation is entirely limited. The horse walks without an apparent limp, because he can’t feel his feet. His hoof is numb, and the internal damage continues.

Pain medication can mask the condition. Surgery is questionably risky. Both have negative side effects.

In our opinion, the way to correct the condition is to pull off the metal shoes and rehabilitate the hoof to perform its natural function. Allowing our horses’ hooves to function more naturally will decrease pain and discomfort.

The choice is yours to make.

To download a free Q&A, listing the 20 most often asked barefoot questions, visit www.cavallo-inc.com

Carole Herder has been involved in horse health since 1994. She speaks publicly on the benefits of keeping horses barefoot and in their natural state. Her Company Cavallo Horse & Rider Inc. develops, manufactures and distributes horse products in 25 countries worldwide. Carole and her partner Greg Giles designed and patented both the Cavallo Simple and Sport Hoof Boots. They work rigorously to develop quality hoof boots that provide comfort and protection for both horse and rider.