Healthy hooves are the result of many factors

Healthy hooves are the result of many factors

Horse Health: A horse’s lifestyle and diet can make a major difference in hoof health

Reading Time: 3 minutes The hoof responds to everything it experiences in its environment as well as everything going on within the body. Inseparably tied to the body, a sound foot depends on more than a correct trim. This in no way dismisses or diminishes the importance of a proper hoof trim, rather places the trim in its rightful […] Read more

The lowdown on the common lumps and bumps of horses

The lowdown on the common lumps and bumps of horses

Horse Health: Often the best treatment is benign neglect until they get better on their own

Reading Time: 4 minutes Over their lifetime, horses present with an array of lumps and bumps on various occasions. At times the lump or bump will seemingly appear suddenly from out of nowhere, or it may develop slowly and remain for years without change. The behaviour and clinical picture of the lump/bump will determine whether it needs further investigation […] Read more


horse with muzzle

Management strategies for using grazing muzzles

Horse Health: Grass consumption can be reduced by 30 to 80 per cent 
depending on the horse or pony wearing one

Reading Time: 3 minutes The grazing muzzle is a simple, effective, and sensible tool caretakers can use to manage the grass intake of their horses. The grazing muzzle is a basket-like contraption — a piece of headgear a horse wears with the intention of slowing down and reducing grass intake on pasture. The horse wearing the muzzle can breathe […] Read more

Both wound and hoof care have been neglected on this horse, considerably increasing the risk for the development of proud flesh.

Preventing or repairing ‘proud flesh’ on horse wounds

Horse Health: Proper management from the onset is important in avoiding 
its appearance, especially on lower limbs

Reading Time: 3 minutes Nature has a way of healing wounds in horses and for the most part, has a remarkable inherent ability to return the skin to its original state. However, horses, more so than any other species, tend to be particularly prone to a troublesome complication of wound healing referred to as ‘proud flesh.’ Whenever it appears, […] Read more


Injuries to coronary band need extra TLC

Injuries to coronary band need extra TLC

Horse Health: Coronary band injuries commonly occur when trailering horses

Reading Time: 3 minutes Through their lifetime horses can accumulate a number of injuries — cuts, scrapes, scratches and bruises. Most locations on the horse’s body are fairly forgiving of such injuries, however there are a few sites on the body where added vigilance is necessary to ensure a favourable outcome. An injury to an eye or a joint […] Read more

Winter is the ideal season for healthy weight loss in horses

Winter is the ideal season for healthy weight loss in horses

Horse Health: Hay nets are a good way to prevent horses from overfeeding during the colder months

Reading Time: 3 minutes Is your horse carrying too much weight? The answer to this question is an important order of business, and best asked at the beginning of the winter season. If the answer to this question is yes then the winter season is the ideal time to implement intervention. Weight loss is far easier in the colder […] Read more


horses

New study says this job doesn’t need doing

Horse Health: Routine sheath cleaning is unnecessary for most male horses

Reading Time: 3 minutes Sheath-cleaning enthusiasts present a sensible argument for addressing the hygiene of their male horse. Yet a new study presented in Denmark has shown routine/regular cleaning of a horse’s sheath to not only be unnecessary, but disruptive to the healthy populations of “friendly” micrograms that call this location “home.” The sheath surrounding the penis, also called […] Read more

Understanding and controlling the risk of swamp fever

Understanding and controlling the risk of swamp fever

Horses that test positive must be euthanized or quarantined for life

Reading Time: 4 minutes The recent increase in confirmed cases of equine infectious anemia (EIA), also known as swamp fever, in Alberta is a reminder to horse owners that this disease maintains a constant presence in equine populations. Often evidence for infection is noted only after routine surveillance testing for EIA. EIA is a blood-borne and potentially fatal viral […] Read more


If an injury is left to heal as an open wound, hosing the wound for 20 minutes daily encourages further healing. 
This process can be repeated every day for weeks after the injury depending on the wound’s progress.

Bringing the advantages of hydrotherapy to your horse

Horse Health: A soothing and therapeutic relief 
when dealing with wounds or injuries

Reading Time: 3 minutes One of the most valuable allies in the “doctor’s” kit of every horseman ought to be water — simple, soothing, inexpensive, and most often readily available. The application of water, a.k.a. hydrotherapy, to encourage healing brings plenty of advantages in many equine injuries. In spite of the many advancements in veterinary medicine, hydrotherapy remains a […] Read more

Horses can have allergic reactions, know the symptoms

Horses can have allergic reactions, know the symptoms

Horse Health: There are multiple triggers that 
can cause either skin or respiratory reaction

Reading Time: 3 minutes Horses, just like humans, can and do get allergies. Although allergies in horses are not fully understood, we do know that the root cause lies in the immune system. The body becomes hypersensitive and appears to “overreact” to seemingly innocuous substances called allergens. Histamine, a naturally occurring hormone in the body, reaches overly high levels, […] Read more