Posts Tagged ‘horse disease’

Horse flies most likely bear such a name because they are often seen near horses. They are not however, merely harmless insects. Horse flies can cause horses real pain and can even bring about some forms of horse disease.

The Horse Fly

Horseflies are larger than common house flies. Their sizes typically vary between a little under and a little over an inch. They often have black bodies and clear wings. Female horse flies are really the ones to worry about because they feed on blood. They do this by using their sharp mandibles to wound horses and then lap up the blood from the wound. Despite their name, they do not just feed on the blood of horses. They can feed on the blood of any mammal, including cattle and humans.

Horse flies are said to live and thrive where there are forests or wooded areas nearby. They may lay their eggs in water, both stagnant and running, or on moist ground and plants. There seem to be more horse flies when the temperature is warm. This means horses and humans are more prone to horse bites in the summer.

There would have been no problem if horse fly bites were as harmless as a regular mosquito bite. For horses however, a horse fly bite can be a major source of discomfort. Flies that gather over horses can result in numerous bites. Horses that get repeatedly bitten may loose their appetite for food and activity.

In some cases, horse flies can also transmit Equine Infectious Anemia. Aside from the obvious depletion of blood in the system, this disease can also cause general weakness, heartbeat irregularities and swelling of the chest, stomach and legs. In its severe form, the disease can kill the infected horse. If infected horses are not isolated and treated, other horses could get infected. Foals can get it from their mothers or their mothers’ milk. While other horses may get it from sharing needles used for other treatment or maintenance medications.

What You Can Do

The problem with horse flies is that they cannot be dealt with decisively. If you decide to wipe out all the flies in sight, you may end up destroying environmental systems or harming other animals. Spraying pesticide for example over a large area could affect or even kill other animals and plants in the area. It is also physically impossible to remove all wet and moist areas where flies could be breeding. Even if this were possible for a group of horse owners, small environmental systems would be negatively affected.

Some homeowners resort to a variety of sticky fly traps. Since horse flies love movement, it is often a good idea to use attractive traps that can be moved around a pasture on a van or open cart. Horse flies normally do not live in stables but it wouldn’t hurt if you made sure that stables are always clean and dry.

Horse flies are indeed a bane to horses. They are however, even more of an inconvenience to horse owners who have to deal with irritated or sickly horses.

Scott Summers is an avid horse enthusiast. If you want to learn more about horses and horsemanship, he recommends Horseman Magazine.

Author: Scott Summers
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Humorous photo captions

Colic is the single most important horse disease. It causes more horse fatalities than any other illness and even when horses fully recover it is the single biggest cause of major veterinary expenses. It can also cause other illnesses such as lminitis or founder.

There are douzens of different types of colic and just as many causes. However, the primary causes have been identified by research which has spaned thousands of colic cases. Following is a list of what one should do to avoid these primary causes and thereby minimise the risk of horse colic, as well as being generally good horse health practices.

1) Feed Frequently. Horses have evolved as foragers, eating throughout the day. The more often your horse eats, the healthier its digestive system will be. Try to replace a few large meals by more but smaller meals.

2) Grass before Grain. The equine digestive system is designed for ‘high volume, low calorie’ food such as grass or hay. Energy-dense foods such as grain or musli have insufficient volume and fiber. Consequently, the diet should have as much grass or hay as possible. If one feeds both hay and grain, one should feed the hay followed by the grain rather than the reverse order, as this results in better digestion and less bolting.

3) Soak Food Pellets. Food pellets (such as pelleted hay) should be soaked. Unsoaked pellets can greatly expand upon entering the stomach, resulting in bloating. Also, both choke and bolting are more likely to occur with unsoaked pellets.

4) Secure the Feedroom. The feedroom should be locked or have a horse-proof latch to prevent horses from getting in and gorging themselves. Excessive feeding, especially on grain and similar foods, can result in colic. It can also cause laminitis or founder.

5) Bolting. If your horse bolts (swallows before chewing) its food, discuss options with your veterinarian. You may need to change its feed or feeding regime (e.g. soak pellets, feed hay before grain, feed more often) to correct this habit. Also check if there are dental issues which require corrective work.

6) Dietary Dirt and Sand. Horses that eat dirt or sand in large amounts can develop impaction colic. Avoid putting your horses on over-grazed pastures as they are likely to eat earth when they pull up the remaining grass with attached roots. Do not feed them on a sandy or dirt surface.

7) Sufficient Water. A horse needs to drink adequate water througout the day. During winter their water should be warmed as horses often don’t drink sufficient water if it is too cold. After exercise, let them drink but limit the quantity until they have cooled down.

De-worming. Horses should be de-wormed regularly (every 3-4 months). All the horses which share a pasture should be de-wormed at the same time to prevent cross-infection. If a horse has not been de-wormed for a long time, use a laxative a few days before to clear out the worst of the worm population before administrating a de-wormer medication.

9) Regular Exercise. Horses with insufficient exercise are more prone to colic. When starting an exercise regime, start gradually as rapid changes in the amount of exercise can result in colic.

10) Bedding. If your horse eats its bedding, especially in large quantities, consider changing to a bedding type which it does not eat.

11) Temperature. A horse that becomes chilled is likely to develop colic. This is particularly true if there is a sudden drop in temperature. If a horse is likely to be chilled (e.g. old, weak, sick, shaved, short coat, unaccustomed to cold) then they need to be protected during extreme weather. The use of a rug should be considered. During extremely cold weather, especially if wet and windy, it may be adviseable to confine weaker horses to their stables.