Posts Tagged ‘winter coat’

This Spring, owners of laminitis horses are starting to chew their fingernails because spring is just around the corner. Despite record cold weather in parts of the country, green grass and other signs of spring are popping up regardless. This, of course, makes people who have laminitis horses quite nervous!

If you are one of those people, don’t panic. Luckily for you, there are a lot of horse health care steps you can take to prevent your equine buddy from experiencing laminitis symptoms… or at least keep them to a minimum. The same is true for horses who are insulin-resistant, or otherwise on the edge of falling into laminitis.

In this article I cover some basic steps you can take to keep your laminitis or laminitis-prone horse healthy this spring. If you want to learn more about this chronic condition in general, check out the ebook, Understanding and Mangaging Cushing’s Disease, Insulin Resistance and Laminitis. Horse Health Care: Preparing Laminitis Horses for Spring Before spring really hits, horse owners can take steps to ensure that their laminitis horses are healthy and ready for warmer weather and greener pastures. Assuming that your horse is currently not experiencing any symptoms of laminitis, here are three steps you can take to ensure that he’s ready for the coming season.

Check Weight and Insulin Levels Overweight horses and insulin-resistant horses are both prone to laminitis. Before you turn your laminitis horse out on pasture, make sure that he is at a healthy weight. Overweight horses tend to develop mechanical laminitis, meaning their hooves can’t stand the weight of their bodies. If your horse is overweight, you probably need to help him lose weight before spring. If he still has his winter coat, you may have to run your fingers through his coat to see if he’s fat or just furry. If he is fat, you can help him lose weight either by feeding him a more appropriate diet (see the section on diet below) or exercising him more, or both.

This is also a good time to have some blood work done on your horse to check on insulin levels. Insulin-resistant horses may or may not be overweight, but are prone to grass founder or laminitis. Signs of insulin resistance include a cresty neck and unevenly distributed fat over the withers and base of the tail. A preventative blood test now to check insulin levels can save you grief this coming spring.

Double Check Overall Health Because laminitis horses tend to experience symptoms when they are generally unhealthy, check for signs of overall health. Signs that your horse isn’t healthy include poor hair coat, eye discharge, change in temperament, stiffness, sensitivity to hot or cold weather or weather changes. If your horse shows any of these signs of poor health, now is the time to increase his nutritional program, and restore his overall health. The combination of one ounce of XanGoMangosteen juice plus Simplexity Essentials seems to work well for most horses.

Avoid Over-Vaccination and Drugs Vaccination is a normal part of most barn routines, and yet over-vaccination can be one of the main causes of laminitis. In addition, laminitis horses are extremely sensitive to drugs or vaccinations in their bodies, and even one round of “normal” vaccination can trigger a laminitic episode.

Managing Laminitis Horses During the Spring Once spring has well and truly arrived, there are more horse health care steps you can take to protect your equine friend from a laminitis episode. Laminitis horses have to be carefully managed in terms of diet and nutritional supplements, hoof care, and pasture turnout.

Diet for Laminitis Horses The best diet is simple, low in carbohydrates, and high in fiber. Small amounts of equine senior feed is acceptable for some laminitis horses, while others do well on a small amount (8 ounces) of oats or barley. At the same time, some laminitis horses can not tolerate any grains.

A probiotic/enzyme supplement like FasTrack or Simplexity Spectrabiotic supports the digestive function and limits the production of endotoxins. Simplexity blue-green algae provides a source of food-based vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Small doses of antioxidants such as coenzyme Q10 may be indicated. You should not need to give more than 60-120 mg a day of a good quality Q10 product like those produced by Simplexity Nutramax Comal, or Thorne brands. Generic brands of Q10 may not be active.

Hoof Care for Laminitis Horses Spring is also the time many people pull their horses up and put shoes on. However, if possible it is best to keep laminitis horses barefoot for as long as possible. They must be trimmed regularly. If their toes are allowed to grow long or their heels are allowed to get too high, then the normal mechanism of the hoof is impaired. Overly correcting angles on overdue hooves creates unnecessary discomfort for the horse and sets back his effort to establish new laminar attachments.

If your horse must have shoes, you might try a heart bar shoe or a shoe with a Theraflex pad for at least one shoeing period. If contracted tendons are the main problem then wedge pads are used to raise the heels. A reverse shoe may suffice if the tendon tightening is mild. I always shorten the toe to ease breakover. I rarely if ever lower heels. Shoeing must be done by a competent farrier that has worked before with foundered horses. These horses have special needs which may require beveling the inside shoe rim to protect the sole and clips to take pressure off the nails and hoof wall. The shoeing interval must be regular and tailored to the horses needs. Amazingly, owners will spend thousands of dollars to save a foundered horse but neglect hoof care after the crisis is past.

Pasture Management for Laminitis Horses Turn-out on lush grass should be approached cautiously. Many horse laminitis cases have hormone imbalances that affect their sugar metabolism. Fast-growing, lush grass is high in sugar. In the spring, laminitis horses should closely-monitored for an increase in digital pulse if turned out on pasture.

The safest time to turn out laminitis-prone horses on pasture is late at night or early in the mornings, when the grass is not in a flowering stage of growth or stressed by drought or frost. It’s best to turn these horses out in pastures that have not been sprayed with artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides.

While I prefer horses to be grazed on unfertilized, native grass pastures, grasses in nutrient-poor soil are often under stress and produce high levels of sugars. Since steadily growing grasses tend to deplete their sugar levels (which is a good thing), regular mowing to encourage this kind of growth can help control sugar levels. Regular mowing also helps control weeds.

Keeping Laminitis Horses Health I hope these tips help you keep your laminitis horse healthy this coming spring. It’s been a trying winter for most of the country, so having a healthy happy spring would be a wonderful blessing for horses and humans alike. If you need more help with your laminitis horse, check out the resources in the next section.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health, horse personality types, and horse nutrition, plus one-stop shopping on holistic horse products, visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com.

Author: Dr. Madalyn Ward, DVM
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Whether you live in the balmy south or frigid northern slopes, you may wonder when, or if, you should provide your horse with equine clothing. Pasture horses with easy access to shelter from wind and precipitation, whether liquid or frozen, seldom need a wardrobe to keep them comfortable and healthy. Many horses do need a little help, especially when you try to keep their winter hair coat to a minimum. Here are blanketing tips that cover most of the basics.

For horses with adequate shelter let nature handle the matter. Be sure to provide a place your horse can stay dry and out of the wind. If you have a horse that has not wintered with you before, make sure they grow an adequate hair coat. Sometimes it takes a year for a horse to get acclimated to a drastic change in climate – or from the show barn to the pasture.

Why blanket a horse?

The first thing to understand is how a horse stays warm in cold weather. The long hairs of a winter coat create an air layer providing insulation against the cold. The only reason to put a blanket on your horse is if they do not have an adequate hair coat to properly insulate. So, we blanket horses because they do not have winter coats.

Blanketing itself does little to retard hair growth. The amount of continual light the horse is under each day determines whether or not they grow a winter coat. For horses stalled under lights, blankets are necessary because the horse is prevented from growing their own insulating layer.

Don’t blanket a horse with a good winter coat

Putting a blanket on a horse with a good winter coat is actually counter-productive. The weight of the blanket lays the hair down, eliminating the loft, the air layer of natural insulation. If you know what “hat hair” is, where your hair is pasted down by the weight of your hat, that is what a blanket does to a longhaired horse. If you put a blanket on you have to leave it on until it gets warm enough for the horse to get their own coat fluffy again.

When should the blanket come off?

You must balance the amount of hair your horse has with the temperature to determine how heavy a blanket to use and when to take if off daily. For horses with thin hair coats, you may need to remove the blanket and put on a sheet to keep them comfortable during the day if it warms up. The test is to have a heavy enough cover to keep the horse warm but never hot.

When in doubt, put your hand under the blanket at the horse’s shoulder. If your horse feels warm you need to get the blanket off! Never, never let a horse sweat under a sheet or blanket.

Many times it is good to dress horses like people do, in layers. It makes sense for stalled horses with slick coats to wear a sheet under a blanket. The blanket goes on and off as the temperature changes. If you have medium weight blankets and experience an unusually cold period you can add a light sheet over your blanket to tide you over until the weather moderates. Whenever possible, every horse should have part of each day free of blankets to let them exercise and air out.

What kinds of blankets are best?

There is a huge variety of blankets available today. My favorites have a nylon lining to keep the coat slick and shiny. Kersey or wool linings tend to scuff up the hair. The three most important things to keep in mind are:

1. Proper fit (including strap adjustment)
2. Proper weight
3. Elastic straps

Blankets and sheets must fit well around the neck, not bind at the shoulder and be long enough to cover the top of the tail. I would not use any blanket without rear leg straps.

All of my blankets have been modified so they accept elastic leg straps with snap ends. The most frequent repair done to blankets is replacing rear straps. You will reduce potential injury to your horse as well as future repair bills by buying blankets with removable rear leg straps.

To fit the blanket properly be sure there isn’t pressure on the withers or that shoulders are too snug. Another frequent mistake is using a blanket or sheet with an excessively large neck opening. Loose blankets can bind up shoulders and certainly offer little protection to the chest.

If your horse will be pastured or allowed to exercise in their blanket a turnout design is the best choice. Turnout blankets have shoulder gussets that allow your horse freer movement than a blanket with a traditional cut.

Proper strap adjustment

Every horse is different, but here are a few general rules. Crossed rear leg straps help keep the blanket centered on your horse. If the blanket fits properly the leg strap should just barely miss the ground when hanging loose from the back of the horse before attaching.

Rear leg straps that are crossed will be adjusted to a different length than those that don’t cross. Straps must be loose enough for your horse to easily get up and down, but not so loose that they can catch a hock in a strap and cause serious injury. Rear leg straps made of elastic are much more forgiving if not adjusted just perfectly.

The bellyband, surcingle straps or belly strap should hang down about four inches below the horse’s belly when buckled. Again, this is a general rule. Too tight and the blanket may tear or your horse could get cut by the strap (I’ve seen serious lacerations from tight belly straps made from webbing material,) too loose and your horse could hang a hind leg in the belly strap.

Finally, keep your sheets and blankets as clean as possible and in good repair. Even if your blankets don’t get really filthy, if you don’t wash them at least a couple times a year the stitching ends up rotting and you will have to get new ones just because they weren’t cleaned often enough. Horse clothing is expensive. Elastic straps are the number one way to keep blankets in one piece and ready for the next year; washing when necessary is the second.

If you should need to blanket your horse, use that time each day as a special moment to share with your horse. Always brush off dirt and shavings before putting on your horse’s blanket, ending with a good rub. There is just something satisfying about tucking your equine partner in at the end of the day. Happy trails.

Lynn Baber is a Christian writer and retired equine professional. She shares the lessons learned in thirty-five years at the business table and round pen with her clients and readers. Highly credentialed in issues of leadership and most things equine, Lynn has a unique perspective not found elsewhere. Whether the topic is finding balance in your life or training stallions, Lynn brings years of experience to presentations and articles. Lynn latest book is scheduled for release in early 2010. For free “samples” of her new book visit http://AmazingGrays.us or Lynn’s blog at http://LynnBaber.net.

Author: Lynn Baber
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Blankets are designed to cover majority of the horses body to protect the horse from the winter elements; winter weight blankets are generally used. A winter weight turnout horse blanket is also used when trailering a horse to prevent the fluctuating temperature from giving the horse a chill.

Blankets are design to fit around a horses body from chest to rump, attaching with straps under the horse in order to prevent shifting of the horse blanket. This allows the horse to still move about freely. Horse blankets normally have buckles at the front as well to prevent movement. Some blankets require you to slip them over the horses head which can be challenging with a winter turnout blanket due to the overall weight. Horse blankets can also come with removable straps that are designed to loop lightly around the horse’s hind legs in order to prevent the blanket from shifting sideways while the horse is in the stall.

Turnout blankets are commonly used when a horse is on pasture, in a stall or being trailered. Turnout blankets are manufactured for all weather conditions. Heavy weight turnout blankets are normally made with a thick canvas type material and lined with a flannel material, normally they will be water resistant but not necessarily water proof. Light weight winter turnout horse blankets are made with a rayon canvas material with no liner and are also water resistant but not necessarily water proof. Spring or fall turnout horse blankets are normally water proof made with a water proof type material.

Turnout horse blankets are also used to keep a horse from growing a winter coat, by blanketing in the autumn, while the seasonal change occurs a light turnout horse blanket is required. Turnout horse blankets will need to be applied at all times if the horse has been blanketed in the autumn.

For the summer months a flysheet turnout horse blanket can be applied to ward off mosquitoes, horse, deer, bot and house flies. This type of turnout horse blanket is commonly referred to as a flysheet. This turnout horse blanket is normally made of a nylon based material, it is very light weight and breathable. Fly sheets are becoming more popular due to the high number of insects.

Blankets can also come with neck covers or a full hood. Neck covers are normally attached directly to the turnout horse blanket, hoods are a separate piece all together and can be purchased individually. A full horse blanket is used before a show to keep the horse clean and or to protect the horse from insects.

A well know brand to look for when purchasing a turnout blanket is Rambo blankets. They also carry a wide range of saddle blankets for individuals looking to keep the horse dry or warm while under extreme exercising conditions.

In colder parts of the country winter turnout blankets can come in handy; especially the winter fleece horse blanket. This all purpose blanket can be used for ponies, companion horses and show horses.

Various types of horse blankets available for different temperature zones are Rug turnout sheets, fly sheets, light weight waterproof, fleece blanket, light weight winter and heavy weight winter.

turnouthorseblanket

Author: Christina Jefferson
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Curly horses have a certain gene which causes their hair to curl. In addition to curls in their coat, they may have curls in any or all other hair (such as the tail, mane, or even eyelashes). The growing popularity of this group of horses is due to:

1) Hypoallergenic. Most people who have an allergy to horses find that they have no allergy to curly horses or have a reduced allergic reaction.

2) Appearance. The curls or waves in the coat of these horses gives them a unique appearance, which many people find attractive.

3) Feel. It is a special pleasure to groom and pet these horses, due to the soft and yielding feel of their coats.

4) Behavior. These horses are known for being unusually calm and sensible, characteristics apparently bred into their bloodlines.

The curly hair genes are found in all sizes of horses, from draft horses and standard horses, down to miniatures. They occur with all colors of horses and all builds.

The type of curl varies from horse to horse. It can be large and heavy, or small, or even fine pin curls, or waves instead of curls. Sometimes the coat is straight as in a common horse, in which case the horse is identified as a curly horse only by the fact that its parents were curlies and that it displays the other characteristics (e.g. hypoallergenic).

As the above shows, there is a great deal of diversity in curlies (size, color, build, curl characteristics). This diversity is partly due to the fact that the curly genes are naturally occurring and there has not been a long term breeding program to develop a uniform set of characteristics against a breed standard. In fact, an official breed standard has not yet been agreed. Consequently, one should feel free to choose a curly horse which one finds attractive without worrying greatly as to whether the horse fits a certain standard.

The coat changes with both age and season. The winter coat shows the greatest curl, while in many horses (depending on the bloodline and individual) the summer coat is straighter, often with thinner and shorter hair in the mane and tail. Consequently, a given horse may look completely different at a different time of year. Before buying a curly horse, if appearance is important, ask to see the horse (or photos thereof) in winter and summer. Also check horses of the same bloodline but different ages to determine the expected changes as the horse gets older.

If you are choosing a curly because these horses are hypoallergenic, be aware that the extent of this quality varies from horse to horse and that the benefit varies from person to person. Consequently, any combination of horse and person may exhibit no allergy, a reduced allergy, or the usual horse allergy. Therefore, one should test the person with the horse to determine the extent of the benefit. If one has extreme allergic reactions, take medical advice on how to do this test safely.

Unlike other horses, the curly horse is normally not clipped for show purposes. This is because, unlike most breeds, its winter coat is considered particularly attractive and its distinguishing characteristic. Curly horses are also known as Bashkir Curlies, American Bashkir Curlies, or North American Curly Horses.

The weather in the UK is extremely unpredictable at the moment with clear blue skies and sunshine just as likely as blustery winds and rain. One thing is for certain though, the winter weather will soon kick in and your horse will take a bit more looking after than it does in the summer months.

Preparing the horse for the winter is essential and here is how you can do it. Horses are fortunate in that they are naturally tolerant to colder weather. In fact, horses cope better in the cold than in the heat. However, keeping your horse healthy during the winter takes care and attention. Be sure to check for any parasites and get your horse immunised as quickly as possible so to keep it safe and healthy.

Vets are great to consult with as you can set up a health plan for your horse to help it through the winter. Fully preparing the horse for the winter will mean that it won’t need to eat as much food which will save you some money, the health plan should aim to keep the horse at a stable weight as a horse should never lose weight over the winter. In fact, it is best to allow the horse to gain a bit of weight to help it through the cold weather and will provide energy for your horse if it becomes stressed.

When it is allowed to grow, a horse’s natural winter coat will reduce the amount of heat lost in the horse and acts a brilliant coat. This happens to be the best protection for the horse and again, costs you nothing as long as you look after the horse and prepare it well for the upcoming winter months.

During the winter you should regularly check the condition of your horse. Its ribs are a good tell tale sign of its health as you should not be able to see them but underneath its winter coat you should be able to feel them. If you can see them through the coat then it has lost too much weight and you will have to seek advice or alter the horse’s health plan.

To see if the horse is too cold then simply feel its ears as this will tell you whether it’s too cold or not. Horses are warm-blooded animals which means in order to survive they must maintain a specific body temperature. During the winter do all you can to ensure your horse conserves as much heat as possible and check its condition daily to keep it healthy.

Horses are fascinating animals and as such items such as horse riding clothes are a popular purchase in the equestrian field.

Clothes amongst other horse riding equipment are widely available online where you can find the most competitive deals around.