Has your horse decided that gobbling his grain is no longer as fun as it once was? Has he slowed his eating so much that he requires hours to finish a meal he once would devour in mere minutes? Horses lose their appetite for a variety of reasons. One lesser-known cause is gastrointestinal discomfort emanating …
Young horses require vitamins for growth. Some vitamins must be provided nutritionally, while others can be synthesized by the healthy individual. While vitamin D gets the lion’s share of attention for skeletal contributions, other vitamins are just as important, including vitamins A, C, and K. Vitamin A has a distinct role in equine growth with …
Horses with abdominal pain, usually referred to as colic, often display signs of distress. Like humans, though, some horses have a higher threshold for pain than others, and signs vary from horse to horse. Noticing subtle behavioral changes associated with colic will give caretakers the upper hand in overcoming colic. Signs of colic can be …
In-depth discussions of the equine digestive tract invariably mention pH, especially in reference to the stomach and hindgut. What is pH and how does it factor in the well-being of horses? In simplest terms, pH is a numeric scale used to measure acidity or basicity of any solution—grapefruit juice, drinking water, bleach, digestive secretions. The …
Equine teeth erupt continuously from a horse’s gums throughout its life, but the shape and condition of the teeth change as a horse ages. Because of these factors, older horses may have dental problems not usually observed in younger equines. Here are some facts about dental condition and management in older horses. Horses over the …
While monarch butterflies require milkweed to complete their life cycle, horses are best served by ignoring the ubiquitous plant. Several species of milkweed, a well-known perennial plant, cause poisoning in horses and other livestock, usually when more palatable plants are not available. Milkweed plants prefer sandy soils and are often found along roadways and waterways. …
