Sometimes dressage riders think it is enough to teach their horses the movements, but they don’t take into account that a young dressage horse needs more than just movements to excel in competition and move up the training scale. Respect and self-assurance are the indispensable preconditions for building a harmonious partnership.

There is no question that horses are stronger than we are. Because they are flight animals, trouble can happen in the daily handling and work as well as at the more intense atmosphere of a show. All too often we observe bad behavior: Horses pull their riders around, do not stand still while they are mounted and use the rider to scratch their itchy heads. While all this is tiresome, it more importantly shows that the horse has never learnt to respect the rider as the herd leader. This is the position in which the rider needs to be, and so respect needs to be established early on. This includes fairness, which is key to a horse’s contentment and happiness.

The harmonious partnership we aim for begins with groundwork even before we have the young dressage horse under saddle. Securing a form of general obedience from the ground allows us to work in a relaxed way with our equine partner and helps a lot when it comes to riding because the horse has learnt to trust and follow us as he would in nature, following the lead mare in a herd. In this article, we show how we establish respect from the ground and how this leads to strengthening a horse’s self-assurance, which is necessary preparation for his first shows.

Step 1: Establish Respect
There is no magic. Rather, systematic training and consequence are indispensable in gaining a horse’s respect. And it must be done in a way that lacks any force, violence and injustice. Your uppermost aim has to be to become the herd leader, because in doing that you give your horse the security he needs when being worked, thereby increasing his faith in you and in the environment in which you work. The horse learns that you are the one determining the speed and direction in which he moves.

You do this by using specific body language and repeating short voice commands. Horses are usually quick learners. After showing them something new, given the right timing and praise, you only need about three repetitions to secure the behavior you want. One general remark on the use of the voice: In nature, horses communicate soundlessly. Voice aids are still useful, but we are not allowed to completely rely on them because in stressful situations the horse will pay less attention to them than to our body language. So the latter is of greater importance.

The basic needs: Groundwork begins by teaching the horse to halt, go forward and back up. With a young, unbroken horse, we most often use the Dually Training Halter designed by Monty Roberts. It works with pressure on the nose that can be quickly applied or loosened as needed.

Attached to the halter is a heavy lead rope that lies comfortably in the hand. Gloves protect the rider’s palms in case the lead rope slips through them when the horse jumps. We prefer a length of three meters (9 feet, 9 inches) in contrast to the usual two, because we have a better chance of holding on to the horse if he tries to break away.

With some horses it is useful to additionally use a stick/dressage whip to give signals, but you must first teach him to accept the touch of it on his body without fear. If a horse is not well-behaved on the ground when you begin with him, take a whip along with you, as it can be useful whether he pulls and rushes ahead of you or wants to trundle behind.

We start with the first exercises in the security and reduced space of our round pen, but later it should be possible to do the basics in every environment. For us, it is important to establish a “relaxing zone” in the middle of the round pen, where we allow the horse to rest after an exercise. Here, he gets praised and stroked and soon knows that this is a place where he can relax.

Lead forward. Lightly pull at the rope and combine it with a voice command. I use a “kissing” noise. Usually horses understand this very quickly and soon the noise is all you need to ask them to step forward. There are several positions the leader can be in: We prefer, particularly with stallions, to have the horse’s head at shoulder height. We walk relaxed at that position while keeping a certain personal space between us. The horse is not allowed to touch us, let alone push.

If a horse tends to pull, the typical reaction is to pull back. To stop this cycle, put either the Dually halter on or attach a lead chain running from the right cheek down over the nose and into your hands. It is not about using force but about refining the signals you give. Each time the horse tries to pull forward, give a short but firm signal with the lead rope and put the end of the whip in front of his nose. Praise him when he reacts promptly.

If the horse trundles behind you, carry the whip in your left hand and point its end at the hindquarters of the horse. Usually this is already enough, and the horse will catch up with you. If not, you can slightly tap the hindquarters to get the desired effect. Repeat until the horse has learned you will not tolerate him staying too far behind you.

Halt. A much-needed basic the young horse has to learn is to react to pressure applied by the rope running over his nose. The horse should learn to give to the pressure. If we want the horse to halt, we give a short impulse with the rope and combine it with a short but clear voice command. I use “whoa.” As soon as the horse reacts to this combined command, the pressure applied by the halter has to stop and he has to be praised accordingly. Some horses—in particular, sensitive, “electric” ones—understand the signals promptly, and you soon can give very fine impulses. Others will only react to your voice command. But some more phlegmatic types don’t react immediately to the impulse given by the rope over the nose, and you have to give several small but firm impulses in succession. If he continues to ignore me, I increase the impulse by putting the end of a whip in front of his nose.

Go backward. Once the horse learns to halt obediently and reliably, start teaching him to go backward. For that you need a rail on one side of the horse so he cannot evade you. Stand in front of him and take the rope with your left hand about where the snap attaches to the halter. The shorter the rope is held, the more directly the impulses are transferred to the horse’s nose.

With your right hand, hold the rope in a loop. The horse already knows that the pressure on the nose means to yield. It is important that the impulses you give via the rope are short but repetitive. If the horse does not react, use the end of a whip or bamboo stick to apply short taps on the shoulder. Eventually, it should be sufficient to give slight impulses on the nose for the horse to walk backward in a quiet rhythm.

Directly after the last step backward, you must establish the forward impulse in your horse again and ask him to step forward. With some horses, you may need to pause and relax for a moment at the end of the rein-back, but the horse must always be willing to step forward out of the rein-back at any time.

Step 2: Increase Self-Assurance with Long Reins
Once the young horse becomes familiar with the voice commands to go forward and he can halt, we begin longeing him in a round pen. We start with a single longe line, then add a second line so he gets used to them running behind his hindquarters. This is good and necessary preparation for the work in long reins.

Cautionary note: Find someone to help you. Remember that we have a lot of experience longeing and using long reins, and you need to be experienced too if you are going to try it.

Longeing and long-rein work releases the horse from the immediate proximity of his herd leader and asks him to discover his environment almost on his own. Going out in long reins develops and strengthens a young horse’s self-assurance and consolidates his faith in his rider, who now walks behind him. With more advanced horses, this work is a way of keeping them entertained between training sessions in the dressage arena.

What you need: We use a snaffle bridle with an egg-butt or full-cheek snaffle bit in combination with a flash noseband. The cheekpieces and noseband help keep the bit quiet and straight in the horse’s mouth.

We prefer soft, round long lines to flat, webbed ones. We attach them to the bit rings and always wear gloves.

We use the same voice commands we’ve been using. In general, the long reins replace the rider’s calves and together with the voice commands take care that the horse moves in the direction and speed we intend to go.

We don’t use a surcingle when long-reining so the reins can have more freedom of movement. We can touch the horses where we need to and can work them in a more sensitive way than when the reins are fixed on a surcingle.

First exercises. The first time we use long lines on young horses, we stay in our longeing circle or round pen, but you can also use a normal arena or indoor. We use all the commands the horse already knows from his weeks of groundwork.

Day by day, we explore the yard a bit more. For example, we might go to a nearby field or to the edge of the forest. If you observe that the horse is more and more comfortable in his new position ahead of you, show him some new tasks to deal with, such as walking into puddles or over logs, walking, trotting or even jumping over poles on the ground. Never forget to promptly praise him after he has mastered a new task.

The more faith he develops in you and himself, the more you can look for new challenges. We may ask our youngsters to pass by a grazing herd or work in long reins next to others. Or we might ask them to go through the creek running through our property. After extensive rainfall, we sometimes have a kind of lake in our courtyard, and we like to ask the horses to walk and trot in there to get used to water splashing their legs and belly. Be sure to do everything slowly, never asking for a second step before the first one. Then your horse will develop positive self-assurance, helping him to deal with the same things more easily when being ridden.

Step 3: Desensitization—Prepare Your Horse for the Unknown
Sometimes there are dressage riders who think that working their horses in a focused manner is only possible by excluding them as much as possible from any outside influences. A horse might be oversensitive for whatever reason and so needs to be worked in quieter surroundings in the beginning. But, in general, we are strong believers that it is no good hiding horses behind the walls of an indoor arena with the atmosphere of a monastery. Dressage horses are destined to be competed at shows and there they will find a whole lot of stimulation and noises that could easily distract them if they have not already seen and heard as much as possible at home. This is particularly necessary for stallions.

So part of our dressage training at home is to desensitize the horses to a lot of different noises and visual impressions that could come at them when it counts the most—at the showgrounds. Of course, we will never be able to simulate the special atmosphere at a show, in particular the ones held in a big stadium. And we will never know for sure what we will find there. But the more we show the horses, the more we know how they might react, and that gives us, the riders, the chance for prompt reactions. For example, we accustom stallions to working in the presence of mares step by step.

Cautionary note: Get help to do this, and remember that beforehand the horse needs to have learned respect for and faith in his rider.

The easiest form of desensitization is to keep horses outside as much as possible where they can see and hear a lot more than they do just standing in stalls. It helps to include regular trail rides in your training program so that your horse is not panicking if a bird flies out from a bush. Training outside in all types of weather helps horses when they have to compete in rain or worse.

The most decisive factor is that you have a firm impact on your horse if he spooks. “Firm” doesn’t mean to bore spurs into his flanks and holler loudly for him to pass the frightening object. Such a reaction, often seen, only strengthens the horse’s flight instinct and lets the “monsters” appear even more dreadful. Horses think in pictures and next time will associate the monster with the pain of the spurs or whip. Instead, when your horse meets a frightening object, react in the following way:

• Take the reins a bit shorter and halt in front of it. Allow your horse time to look or sniff at it quietly while you talk calmly and pat or stroke him. This also calms you down as the spook of your horse usually also makes your heart beat faster.

• Then pass the object a few times on each lead in walk, preferably in the shoulder-fore position.

• Now divert your horse’s attention from the object that frightened him by starting to trot and going on with focused work. Very effective, for example, is riding lots of different transitions so that the horse soon puts his thoughts in another direction and forgets about the fear.

Often it is typical objects like flags rattling in the wind, umbrellas being opened, running and barkings dogs, loudly clapping crowds or music that frighten young, inexperienced dressage horses at shows. Luckily, these are things that can quite easily include in desensitization training at home. All you need are some helping hands confronting the horse while you sit in the saddle. The advantage is that, in this case, you are aware of the fact that your horse might spook, jump sideways or show a little rear as a first reaction. Go slowly, step by step.

Don’t confront your horse with more than one frightening object in a lesson. Switch to another one the next time. Then, on another day, go back to the first object to confirm the horse’s positive reaction. If he ignores the once-disturbing object, great, but try once more on another day until there’s no significant reaction to it anymore.

There are horses that have to repeat this training several times over a longer period and only a very few never become bombproofed. The decisive factor is that you and your horse have built faith in and respect for each other. Then the horse will not bolt away panic-stricken.

Desensitization is just a way to strengthen this respect and faith and see if it is already strong enough or has to be deepened even more. When your horse is familiar with several different objects and doesn’t panic or spook at them, you can try an obstacle parcours, or obstacle course, including several of the objects following one another. You can ride this parcours or lead the horse, however, the motto has to be “make it more difficult.” This kind of overstimulation will harden your horse and done step by step, it will help enormously at a show.

It is also useful to take the horse to a show just to work in that atmosphere. There, you can see how he reacts to different objects and determine whether he still needs training at home or if you can start him with a quiet conscience.

Knowing that the young horse’s future is destined to be in the dressage arena, we set a good foundation from the ground. This kind of work helps you and your horse master the first starts outside the secure surroundings of your home turf. The horse knows that whatever comes his way does not have to be frightening because you, as his herd leader, are at his side.

Stefan Schneider and Uta Gräf are headquartered at Gut Rothenkircher Hof in Germany. Schneider, a veterinarian specializing in equine dentistry, has competed in jumping, reining and working equitation at the highest levels. Gräf is one of Germany’s most successful competitive and classical dressage riders. Both are well known for combining top sport with natural horsekeeping. At home, Schneider works the horses from the ground while Gräf does the riding. Gräf’s DVD series, “Joy of Dressage,” comes out in English in April 2013. Schneider has co-authored the book Stallions Care and Management. Look for reviews of both in future issues (gutrothenkircherhof.de).

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.

ROBarrelHorse: I have an 18 year old broodmare that just recently foaled. She gets free choice grass hay, all she can eat, and 2 pounds of beet pulp, 2 pounds of alfalfa pellets, 1 pound of oats twice a day along with 1 cup of omega horseshine. I believe she is in good body condition. She's not too fat nor thin. Do I need to supplement anything else?

Dr. Katie Young: I would suggest at least adding some Enrich 32 to provide the essential nutrients that are typically lacking and/or imbalanced in forages and straight grains.  Depending on your horse’s body weight, feeding rate would be 1-2 lbs/day.

However, since your mare just foaled and is in early lactation (therefore her nutrient requirements are greatly increased over gestation), you may want to consider switching to one of the feeds designed to support milk production as well as growth and development of the foal.  Although your current ration may have supported your mare’s calorie needs through gestation, she may lose condition quickly due to the demands of producing milk for her foal.  Strategy GX, Omolene #300 or Ultium Growth will support your mare through lactation and are also suitable for the foal to eat along with its mom to help meet its own nutrient needs.  Also, it is important during this period to ensure that your mare is maintaining appropriate body weight and condition. We recommend maintaining a broodmare at body condition score 5-7, and not allowing the mare to fall below a score of 5 for best reproductive efficiency.  If you are not familiar with the Body Condition Scoring system, please visit our website www.horse.purinamills.com, and use the Body Condition Score Chart to determine your mare’s body condition score.

Susan Lang: I have a 35 year old American Saddlebred mare with PPID, fractured pelvis from osteoporosis due to PPID, had an eye problem, now resolved, and now skin crud. Add osteoarthritis in her Kees and all 4 fetlocks. I figure if I hurt, she gets the Previcox. I had 5 wonderful years on her once we taught her to be a horse and then a trail horse. My question has to do with her constantly changing her preferences for food. Yes, sloppy beet pulp and senior, then no beet pulp, just groats and Senior, then not much at all (peppermint extract in the food helps). Any other ideas on keeping her appetite up? She really decreases as the South Florida heat climbs. I feed her small amounts 3x a day.

Dr. Young: We do sometimes see older horses that become more finicky in their feed preferences.  Sometimes adding a small amount of Omolene #400 to the Equine Senior can be helpful.  I’d also suggest checking in with your veterinarian to determine whether the change in appetite may be related to pain issues.  If so, addressing that may level out her appetite preferences.

Horsegirl91: I have a 28 year old mare but she dose not act old. On cold days she is really stiff in the front what can I do? She dose not always come out of it.

Dr. Young: Your mare may have developed osteoarthritis.  I’d suggest checking with your veterinarian to help determine if that is the case.  If your vet feels that a joint supplement may be of benefit, our new FreedomFlex Joint Supplement has had great results in clinical trials.

MkC: Hi - I have a 30 yr old Arab mare who is eating about 3 pounds of Safe choice and mixed hay/day. She seems to be doing just fine on this, but I'm starting to wonder if she's on the best feed for her age. What are your thoughts? Thanks for your help!

Dr. Young: At 30 years, your mare may have some decrease in digestive capabilities, resulting in higher requirements of some nutrients.  Equine Senior Active Healthy Edge was designed specifically for horses such as yours – to meet the nutrient requirements of aging horses that are still well able to chew hay and maintain appropriate body weight and condition.

Dale berger: I have a 35 year old standerd bred mare. She gets senior feed and hay but has poor pasture. She needs more weight and muscle mass is poor. What else can I do for her? She will only eat so much senior feed and walks away. She is turned out on 5 acres 24/7. That is how she likes it. I don't live at the farm where she is turned out. I go there 2x a day most of the time so feeding is a little bit of a problem. She is turned out with her 21 year old son, so I can't just leave the feed out. She does have some teeth problems as well.

Dr. Young: Dale, you may want to try mixing a bit of Omolene #400 in with the Equine Senior to help tempt your mare to eat a bit more.  Ideally, she would be fed more meals during the day, but I understand that sometimes that is not feasible.  With the dental problems, she may very well not be receiving adequate nutrition from the hay/pasture, and the Equine Senior is the only part of the ration that is providing nutrients.  If that is the case, increasing the Sr may be your best option.  Again, if she will not eat the amount that she needs, mixing in Omolene #400 may be enough to persuade her to eat an appropriate amount of Sr.

Lauren D.: Hi! I have a 20 year old thoroughbred/welsh pony. He is a great jumper, and had some issues with his hooves about a year ago. Everything is back on track, and we are now feeding him the Purina Senior Feed. He really likes his feed, and has been acting a little spunky. I was wondering if this had anything to do with him getting a lot more protein and energy from the feed, or if it was the weather change (it was a warm, humid, rain). Thanks!

Dr. Young: Lauren, Equine Senior is fairly low in sugar/starch, and high in fiber, so is not usually a feed that results in horses exhibiting an increase in energy/activity (unless they were not being fed to meet nutrient requirements prior to the Equine Senior, and now are feeling better and acting the way that they do in good health).  Without knowing more about your pony and the total diet (body weight and body condition score, lbs of Equine Senior per day, pounds of hay/day, pasture, etc.), I can’t determine where you are on meeting nutrient requirements, or if another feed would be more appropriate for your pony (Strategy Healthy Edge, Equine Senior Active, possibly Enrich 32).  If you would like to contact our Customer Service Department, we’d be happy to go through your current feeding program and help determine the best feeding recommendation for you and your pony.

Natasha: I have a 26 yr old, 15 hh, TB gelding. He is a hard keeper and is semi-retired. He gets 5 quarts of Ultium Performance twice a day to help maintain his weight. Is there another feeding regimen that might perform better for him?

Dr. Young: Natasha, if your horse is doing well on Ultium and maintaining appropriate body weight and condition, I’d keep doing what you’re doing.  As long as his teeth are in good enough condition to allow him to eat hay/pasture, Ultium is an appropriate feed for older horses.  However, if he gets to the point that he can’t do well on long stemmed forage, then you’d need to look at Equine Senior as a complete feed to replace most or all of the forage in his diet.  Your veterinarian can help you determine if/when his dental condition warrants switching to Equine Senior.

Bellllla.: Hi! I own a 22 year old quarter horse mare. We currently ride at least 4 days a week and show often. We ride Western, do reining, and do a lot of trail rides. I have noticed that she has A TON of energy. We dont do timed events. She will NOT walk, more of a "jig." I know some of this is in the training, but I was reccomended to change her feed. We currently feed Purina Senior. Is there anything I could change it to to make her have less sugar, but enough other stuff to keep her fat? Shes not underweight, but could definately use a bit more fat. She also eats just fine. Any help? Please I beg you!!!

Dr. Young: Without knowing more about your horse and the total ration (how much Equine Senior and hay/pasture you are feeding daily, your horse’s body weight and condition), I can’t really make a specific feeding recommendation.  Equine Senior is fairly low in starch/sugar and high in fiber, but Strategy Healthy Edge or Ultium may be good options that are low in starch/sugar, high fiber, but also higher in fat and calories than Equine Senior.  If you would like to contact our Customer Service Department, we would be happy to help you determine the best feeding options for your mare.

Judy Hudson: My horse is 27. How much endurance is expected at that age. He is in good health

Dr. Young: Judy, the amount of endurance that your 27-year old would be expected to exhibit is highly variable – dependent on genetics,  conditioning/fitness, management, nutritional status, etc.  I’d suggest that if you are concerned about your horse’s endurance, you may want to check with your veterinarian to determine what you can expect from your horse and if there is anything that may need to be addressed.

Laura Tifft: Hi Katie, I have a33 year old QH mare that I have owned since she was a 4 year old. She is a wonderful horse and has given me some great memories. She can't chew hay anymore, she quids it so I try everything I can to keep her going. (She is able to eat the chaf from alfalfa hay so that helps). She is holding her weight well, but she is so picky about her senior feed, I am getting very frustrated. I have tried just about every brand of senior feed there is. She will like a particular brand for a few feedings, then she won't eat it. Same with every feed I try with her. She does love her sweet feed so I have even tried to mix senior with the sweet feed, but then she won't eat even the mixed feed. So I have supplemented her through this last winter with hay cubes, sweet feed, (senior when I can get her to eat it), and a special mix from a recipe my friend who is majoring in animal nutrition came up for me. I also supplement her feed with Vita-Plus every day. Now that spring is here, she is able to graze. Any suggestions for this old lady? Thanks.

Dr. Young: Judy, Omolene #400 may be a good option for you.  While it is not specifically designed for senior horses, we have used it with great success for older horses.  It is a complete sweet feed, designed to replace most or all of the forage in the diet (as is Equine Senior).  I often recommend adding a bit of Omolene #400 to Equine Senior when older horses are picky about eating, but in your situation, using Omolene #400 alone may be the best option.

Captdave: Boomer is a 19 year old Qtr Gelding. When I enter his corral he sometimes semi pins his ears back. Once out he is the normal very friendly Boomner. What's up?

Dr. Young: I’d suggest checking with your veterinarian to see if there is any type of medical condition that is affecting Boomer’s attitude.  If not, possibly a local trainer could help you out.  This is not an unusual behavior in a horse during feeding time, but it is always a concern if the horse acts on any aggression by biting or kicking.  As a nutritionist, I could help you determine if your feeding program is meeting Boomer’s nutrient requirements, but it sounds like this is not a feeding/nutritional issue.

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.

As we head into spring, your horse is starting to shed his winter coat. You need to remove shedding hair and dead skin to help prevent growth of bacteria and fungi, and to inspect and treat any wounds. You also need to remove dirt, mud, and burrs.

You can go to work with a currycomb and shedding blade, but fortunately, it’s finally warm enough to give your horse a good bath. Here, world champion trainer Lynn Palm demonstrates her hassle-free bathing technique.

This information is

especially helpful if you’re introducing a young or inexperienced horse to bathing. Palm’s equine model in the video is the yearling stallion My Royal Legacy, by the Quarter Horse stallion My Royal Lark.

You’ll need: Halter; lead rope; bathing kit (bucket; sponge; shampoo; conditioner; mane-and-tail treatment; rubber curry; sweat scraper); wash area; hose.

Before you begin: Prepare the bathing kit. Outfit your horse in the halter and lead rope, and lead him to the bathing area.

First, says Palm, work/exercise your horse, so he’ll be calmer during the bathing routine. Then cool him down. Make sure his nostrils are relaxed, which means he’s cool from the inside out.

Palm uses a wash stall, snapping just one side of the cross-tie at a time, on the opposite side from where she’s working. If you don’t have a wash stall or wash rack, find an enclosed area with a corner barrier. This will give you control while giving your horse confidence.

Allow the water to run in front of your horse before you spray him with water. This will get him used to the water’s sound and mentally prepare him for a bath.

As your horse accepts the water splashing in front of him (watch for a relaxed stance and lip-licking), apply water to his front legs. Praise him whenever he remains calm and accepts the bath.

Continue to bathe your horse, following the steps in this video tutorial. As you work around his head and poll, never get water in his ears. Always work slowly, and be sure to praise him as he accepts water on each new area. And don’t forget to give him a drink!

For complete DVDs describing Lynn Palm’s grooming techniques, visit www.lynnpalm.com.

Lynn Palm is the founder of Palm Partnership Training. She’s shown more than 34 Quarter Horse world and reserve world champions, competing in both English and Western disciplines. She’s won a record four American Quarter Horse Association Superhorse titles and was the first rider to win the prestigious Superhorse title twice on the same horse, Rugged Lark.

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.

In her new bimonthly column, Dr. Katie Young will cover a variety of topics including weight maintenance, joint health & more.

Be sure to join her for live chats in the forum!

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.