Q: All of my horses are now retired from competing and I keep them at home where there aren’t other horses coming in and out of the barn. Do I need to continue to vaccinate them on the same schedule they had when they were competing, or can I scale it back now that they aren’t coming into contact with other horses?

A: Good news! More than likely you CAN scale your horses’ vaccinations back since they’re now “stay-at-home” horses. I can share some general guidelines with you here but your local veterinarian will be the best resource for your herd and your location so I encourage you two to chat.

In 2012, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) released an updated version of its Vaccination Guidelines. This document, which is available on their website at www.aaep.org, includes many cool topics like Principles of Vaccination; Infectious Disease Control; and Vaccine Labeling, Technology, and Adverse Reactions. Their panel of experts also helpfully included sections which divide the available vaccines on the market into two groups: core vaccinations and risk-based vaccinations.

Core vaccinations are those “that protect from diseases that are endemic to a region, those with potential public health significance, required by law, virulent/highly infectious, and/or those posing a risk of severe disease. Core vaccines have clearly demonstrated efficacy and safety, and thus exhibit a high enough level of patient benefit and low enough level of risk to justify their use in the majority of patients.” Basically, vaccinations identified as core protect against serious diseases that aren’t spread horse-to-horse but picked up from the environment, other animals, or even insects. These are the ones all horses should receive. Core vaccinations include Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE and WEE, or “sleeping sickness”), Rabies, Tetanus, and West Nile Virus (WNV).

On the other hand, risk-based vaccinations are included in a vaccination program after the performance of a risk-benefit analysis. The use of risk-based vaccinations may vary regionally, from population to population within an area, or between individual horses within a given population. Disease risk may not be readily identified by laypersons; it is important to consult a veterinarian when developing a vaccination program. Basically, vaccinations identified as risk-based should be given when a horse’s chances of picking up the disease are high. Only horses in certain states or that come into contact with other horses should receive these. Risk-based vaccinations include Anthrax, Botulism, Equine Herpesvirus (EHV or Rhinopneumonitis), Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA), Equine Influenza, Potomac Horse Fever, Rotaviral Diarrhea, Snake Bite, and Strangles.

Since you’re already getting professional advice from your vet about which vaccines to give when, you may as well have him or her administer the immunizations. Not only does it save you from being the bad guy to your horse, but it may ultimately save your horse:

According to the AAEP: “Vaccines should always be administered by, or under the direct supervision, of a veterinarian, as the possibility of adverse reactions (including anaphylaxis) exists with the administration of any vaccine.”

I’m sure your horses will thank you for taking the time to make an informed, intelligent decision regarding vaccinations and not just blindly forging ahead with a needle!

Liked this article? Here’s more from Dr. Gray:
DIY Vaccinations
Forage for Senior Horses

The post Ask the Vet: Vaccinations for At-Home Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

1. Seek a second opinion.
2. Get a more in-depth lameness exam.
3. Pursue additional diagnostic techniques.
4. Investigate tack and rider issues.
5. Have a qualified equine dentist check teeth and bitting.
6. Look for behavioral issues.
7. Consider getting a chiropractic evaluation. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommend using the services of a licensed veterinarian educated in chiropractics.

Keep track of the problem with a diary, and note what’s going on when flare-ups occur. For example, does the lameness seem associated with a mare’s heat cycles or a change of feed? Is it better or worse with exercise or with rest? Does it get better or worse at the beginning or midway through the shoeing cycle? Could a certain sport or activity (such as jumping or quick turns) be a trigger?

Suggestions provided by Daniel B. Slovis, DVM; Tia Nelson, DVM; Carter E. Judy, DVM, Dipl. ACVS; and Steve Adair, DVM, Dipl. ACVS.

Back to Inside a Lameness Exam >>

The post Mystery Lameness appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Other times, the origin of the problem isn’t as obvious, and your veterinarian might insist on doing a complete lameness exam. These consist of asking lots of questions, checking all of the legs instead of just the lame one, and running tests that don’t seem to directly relate to the lameness, including bloodwork and maybe even a dental evaluation.

For chronic and less obvious lameness issues, veterinarians need to search for clues that can help identify the source of the problem. Those clues could lie in the horse’s use. Or, they might involve non-orthopedic problems that manifest in pain or lameness or a visible, secondary lameness in a limb that’s the result of a hidden, primary problem elsewhere. The hunt for answers generally includes getting the horse’s history, conducting a physical exam, using hoof testers, performing flexion tests and doing nerve blocks.

Depending on what those tests reveal—or fail to reveal—your veterinarian may also do bloodwork and additional tests.

For stubborn cases that don’t yield answers, your veterinarian might go further and suggest your horse undergo advanced diagnostics at a veterinary clinic.

Here’s a closer look at how veterinarians search for answers in a lameness exam.

History & Physical Exam

“All lameness exams start with obtaining a horse’s history from the owner,” says Daniel B. Slovis, DVM, of Three Oaks Equine ambulatory veterinary practice in Goochland, Va. “This information includes the animal’s age, use, conditioning, and how and when the lameness was first noted.” For example, causes and treatments of common lameness disorders in aging horses are significantly different from those seen in youngsters. The same applies to an out-of-shape horse returning to work versus a fit horse experiencing a sudden lameness.

“Was the lameness noted with or without a rider, while performing small circles, traveling in a certain direction or during a particular gait?” asks Slovis. Answers to these questions could suggest where the lameness originates.

The kind of work the horse has been doing is also important: “Specific limb lamenesses are sometimes associated with specific professions for horses,” says Tia Nelson, DVM, a farrier and owner of Total Dynamic Balance Veterinary Clinic in Helena, Mont.

During the physical exam, the vet will look for detectable physical abnormalities or changes in the horse’s movement and which part of the body seems to be affected.

“We look at the animal’s conformation,” Slovis explains. “Are the feet under the horse? Is the shoe giving enough support to his heels? Are his toes too long and causing a leverage problem that creates strain on joints and tendons, which will lead to strain on the entire spinal column? We like to watch the horse on a longeline or under saddle at a walk, trot and canter, and in a straight line, on a small and large circle, while changing direction, et cetera.”

The veterinarian will pick up and check each foot to look for rocks, cracks, uneven hoof or shoe wear and loose shoes. Hoof testers can determine if the horse has foot pain. If the horse has recently been trimmed or shod, this can leave his feet feeling a little tender; for example, a “hot nail” might be set in a sensitive part of the hoof.

Your vet will also examine and palpate your horse’s muscles and joints, looking for heat, swelling, pain, and reduced range of motion or lesions—not just in the limbs, but everywhere on the horse’s body. “A painful muscle up high in the shoulder or back can result in lameness,” Nelson says.

Even something as seemingly unrelated to lameness as your horse’s mouth will be checked, as pain from sharp points or edges on the teeth can cause a horse to act and move differently.

Further Diagnostics

Although a horse’s history and a physical exam are often enough to identify a problem, sometimes it’s necessary to continue looking further if the vet was unable to confirm the diagnosis or identify the disorder. In those cases, the next steps are to perform a flexion test followed by a nerve or joint block.

In a flexion test, the veterinarian bends various joints in each limb for 60 to 90 seconds; the horse is then trotted off in a straight line on a hard surface so the vet can check his gait for abnormalities. “These tests put strain on a specific joint or region,” explains Slovis. “Any lameness we note is graded on a lameness scale of 1 to 5. After the flexion test identifies a specific area of concern, we then isolate that region by nerve blocks or joint blocks. These blocks numb or anesthetize the nerve or joint causing the most discomfort.” If the isolated area is indeed where the pain originates, the horse immediately shows improvement.

Sometimes, if an area in one foot is blocked, the veterinarian will notice if another limb becomes obviously lame, says Nelson. ”When the most painful foot is blocked, the other foot will manifest its lameness. Your vet may check that foot with hoof testers, flexion tests and/or blocking at that point.”

If the source of lameness still cannot be identified, the veterinarian will perform other tests, looking for both orthopedic and non-orthopedic problems. These diagnostics include radiographs (X-rays) and/or ultrasound of the isolated region in the search for abnormalities. “Radiographs can reveal bone and joint pathology. Ultrasound is used for soft tissue pathology,” says Slovis.

Chiropractic, Neurologic & Infectious Causes

Veterinarians schooled in equine chiropractics may also do an evaluation to check for lameness associated with a subluxation (partial dislocation) of a joint.

Widening the investigation into non-orthopedic disorders is an important element for elusive diagnoses, but also a little more involved. “Neurological, muscular, mechanical or even behavioral problems can all manifest in gait abnormalities,” says Carter E. Judy, DVM, Dipl. ACVS and staff surgeon at Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in Los Olivos, Calif.

Judy notes that neurological disorders are some of the most common problems that are manifested in abnormal gaits and can be confused with orthopedic lameness issues. “Neurological problems may be the result of compression of the spinal cord in the neck [Wobbler’s syndrome] or destruction of nerves from a parasite [such as EPM and Lyme disease]. These types of problems require multiple tests, including bloodwork and spinal fluid analysis.”

Other non-orthopedic tests usually involve taking a horse’s temperature, since an increase suggests infection; bloodwork, which identifies infections and disease; and a complete blood cell count (CBC), which can indicate the presence of inflammation, infections, viruses, anemia, parasites, chronic disease or nutritional deficiencies. “Sometimes, if a horse is sick with some sort of bacterial infection, his bones can ache,” Nelson notes.

Clinic Exam

Despite the tests conducted by your veterinarian, some disorders still defy identification. At that point, the next step is sending your horse to a referral clinic, which will offer advanced diagnostic techniques (as well as advanced treatments) that are not available in a field setting. Some of those high-tech devices include:

• Digital radiography and digital ultrasound for superior images (although some field veterinarians use these as well): “Digital radiography provides highly detailed images, primarily of bone,” says Steve Adair, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of Equine Surgery at the University of Tennessee. “Diagnostic ultrasound gives dynamic images of primarily soft tissues (tendons and ligaments) but can also be used to evaluate the surface of bones and a portion of articular cartilage.”
• Nuclear scintigraphy (bone scan): A radioactive substance injected into the blood stream concentrates in areas of active bone changes, such as fractures and bone inflammation. “A specialized camera detects this localized radiation within the horse’s body, producing an image that shows the problematic regions,” says Judy. “Nuclear scintigraphy is very effective at detecting subtle injuries of bone and some soft tissues that may be difficult to detect using other means. It is also effective at detecting injuries of the upper limbs that are difficult to image using traditional methods, such as radiography and ultrasound.”
• Computed axial tomography (CAT scan or CT scan): “This radiographic technique creates a cross-sectional image of the structure being imaged, allowing for a very high degree of detail and a much higher degree of sensitivity in uncovering subtle injuries,” Judy explains. “A CAT scan is best for evaluating bone, although soft tissues can be evaluated to a lesser degree.”
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): An MRI is a detailed three-dimensional evaluation, which depicts anatomical changes that have already occurred as well as many physiological changes that are still occurring, allowing for earlier detection of a problem compared to other techniques, says Judy. “An MRI can show cartilage damage, accumulation of fluid within bone, and soft tissue injuries within the hoof,” adds Adair.
• Thermography: Infrared imaging determines the surface temperature of the skin, which may reflect changes or damage to structures that lie beneath the skin. “An increased temperature in a specific area may indicate deeper pathology, such as an inflamed joint or bone,” Adair says. “This could help localize the problem area, which can then be further examined with X-rays, MRI, CT, ultrasound, et cetera.”
• Force plate: This instrument measures the force exerted by each limb while the horse is moving. Because a horse applies reduced force on a sore limb, the veterinarian can confirm the presence of even a slight lameness, says Adair.
• Gait (or motion) analysis via high-speed video: High-speed video enables the veterinarian to determine different patterns of motion, such as range of joint motion, or the length and height of a stride, Adair explains. By reviewing high-speed tape in slow motion, frame by frame, a veterinarian can pick up subtle abnormalities that might otherwise escape detection.
• Diagnostic arthroscopy: In this procedure, a flexible straw-like instrument called an arthroscope, with a tiny light, camera and precision tools,  is inserted into a joint, allowing the veterinarian to observe (and often repair) joint abnormalities, says Adair.

Realistic Expectations

Be aware that a complicated lameness takes time to figure out, and no single diagnostic test will provide answers for every condition. “In most cases, a complicated lameness exam can take several days to perform, and a diagnosis can require the use of many modalities to accurately characterize the full extent of the injury,” says Judy.

Keep in mind that the longer a problem exists, the more difficult it will be to find a resolution. “Early intervention provides the best chance to return the horse to his previous function,” says Adair.

Prompt veterinary attention plus an accurate diagnosis can help save you time, money, stress and worry, and can bring your horse back to health and soundness sooner. 

Further Reading
When to Call a Professional
Mystery Lameness

This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Horse Illustrated. Click here to subscribe.

The post Inside an Equine Lameness Exam appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

People who love horses often love dogs just as much, and horse people want to include their dogs in their equestrian lives whenever possible. If your dog is going to tag along to equestrian events, he needs to mind his manners for the safety of all involved.

If you plan to bring your dog to a horse show, you need to train him to act appropriately in crowds with many unfamiliar people, horses and other dogs. He must also feel comfortable with being confined for long periods of time.

“At shows, dogs should not run loose, should not be on ‘flexi’ (retractable) leashes that could tangle and trip others, and should not bark excessively,” says Weiss.

If your dog gets overly excited when you get to the show, settle him down with exercise.

“No matter how busy I am at show, I make darn sure I get my dog out for a little frolic,” says Leone. “A good 10-minute run in the morning, during the day, before I go home, and before I go to bed.”

Prepare your dog for shows by training him to accept confinement at home. “Regularly feed him in a crate or a separate room until he goes there on his own even when no food is available,” says Yin. “Progress to confining him in the room or crate while he’s eating his meal, then prolong his room or crate time by placing his food in a favorite toy so it takes longer to eat, or frequently go back to reward him with additional treats. Gradually increase the time that he’s left alone.”

You also want to train your dog to focus on you during exciting situations. “Teach your dog a really good ‘come’ when called,” suggests Yin. “Every time he hears a ‘come,’ that means run and chase after you because he’s going to get something really good when he catches up to you. I’ll practice this in the house 10 or 20 times a day, and then practice the same thing 20 times on a long lead in the dog park. Once he gets the first treat, keep him focused on you by rewarding him for sitting and looking at you, and then quickly run backwards a few steps and repeat the sit at attention. Repeat this four to five times quickly so he thinks he’s playing a game.”

Keep in mind that dogs aren’t always allowed at shows, so check the rules. Even if dogs are permitted, yours may not be keen on spending hours in an unfamiliar place among large crowds. Take his personality into consideration before you take him to a show.

Back to Dogs and Horses.

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Not so for western horsemanship. “Western horsemanship judges the rider as opposed to the horse,” says Holly Hover, an AQHA judge, competitor, clinician, and Phoenix-based youth and amateur all-around trainer. “The event benefits people who don’t have the opportunity to purchase the really fancy, expensive horses. It’s an event where people can practice and gain momentum through their own hard work and be awarded for efforts in the arena. It’s the rider’s skill that earns a placing in the arena.”

Horsemanship

Western horsemanship judges on the correctness of the rider’s seat, hands and feet, the finesse in riding, and the strength of his or her lines and angles as the competitor rides a series of maneuvers in a 30- to 60-second pattern devised by the judge and posted the day of the event.

The pattern may include a variety of different maneuvers, many of which mimic elements of western pleasure, reining, western riding and trail classes, says Holly. For example, “Straight lines — meaning walk trot, jog and lope on a straight line — and a lot of circles, arcs and turnarounds. There’s always a stop and a back. Judges can ask for circles, spins, quarter-turns, half-turns, turn-and-a-half, any combination of turning on the haunches or forehand and sidepassing. Extending the gut to a hand gallop or extending the trot is very popular now. You’ll commonly see straight-line patterns where the exhibitor is asked to maneuver up and down the arena in a straight line, adding different, difficult maneuvers.”

The difficulty of the pattern varies according to the class. For novices, the patterns are simpler and may consist of some variety of walking to a marker, jogging a circle and loping a straight line to the end of the arena. For upper-level classes, the patterns are much quicker and tougher, says Holly. “Maybe four or five quick maneuvers, such as jog to a marker, spin to the right, extend the trot, rollback left, lope an arc around to the next marker. Quick patterns in and out utilizing a challenging variety of maneuvers (are what’s usually expected).”

Scoring for the pattern in AQHA western horsemanship classes ranges from 0 to 20, with 20 being a perfect score. The judge scores on each element, plus the overall impression. In evaluating the quality of a rider’s performance in the pattern, judges look for smoothness of transition, flow and finesse. Mistakes, such as missed transitions, wrong leads, et cetera, subtract from the rider’s score.

“Normally for a novice rider, a middle-of-the-road score like a 14 or 15 will win the class — a fault-free, no-mistakes pattern,” says Holly. “But when you get to the world-class level, an average no-mistakes pattern won’t win. You’ve got to be fancy. You must step up and attack the pattern.”

Laying the Groundwork

Although beginning riders can compete in novice classes, before entering a competition, riders and horses should have a good working knowledge of basic horsemanship. Says Holly, “They should understand leads, the arc the horse can perform, how to make a horse go on a straight line, and upward and downward transitions. The horse and rider should be able to perform at home all the maneuvers that may be asked for at the show.”

In choosing a horse on which to compete, Holly recommends one who is calm and forgiving. “We’ve seen trouble with horses who are easily agitated, nervous and maybe anticipatory of any kind of training,” she says. Movement and way of going, while not as important as in, say a western pleasure class, can still influence a ride somewhat: “The horse needs to be a soft mover,” says Holly. “A rough horse tends to make the rider look weak. We try to get horses who are extremely good lopers, although we can give a little on the quality of the jog. It is much easier through training to enhance the jog but rarely can you improve a poor loper.”

As for conformation, Holly says larger horses tend to have difficulty with a lot of the western maneuvers, such as spins and lead changes, while smaller horses can’t always impart the look necessary to make a rider appear taller and bolder. Holly prefers horses between 15.2 and 16.1 hands for her training program, although not necessarily from a judge’s point of view.

Age range for competitive horses is wide. “At the world level, you’ll see horses between the ages of 4 and 15,” says Holly. “But some horses for the little kids are in their 20s and are still good horses.”

Holly’s training philosophy emphasizes teamwork between horse and rider. “It’s important that the rider and horse are prepared as a team and not individually,” she says. “There seems to be better timing when a rider and horse have prepared together a lot, as opposed to the trainer getting on the horse, fixing him and then the rider following the trainer. In addition, the rider who understands and knows the horse, who can prevent or cover up mistakes the horse makes is probably the rider who’s going to win as opposed to a rider who comes in and gets on a trainer’s horse and goes to show.”

This teamwork is created through lots of exercises and drills: Many of Holly’s students ride at least five times a week. “We work on exercises to strengthen the rider,” says Holly. “Different calisthenics and balance exercises, such as riding their horses without stirrups and standing in their stirrups. This enhances the strength of a correct seat and feet.” The team also practices the parts of the various maneuvers, including spinning, lead changes, riding with and without contact in the bridle, and so forth.

Holly also teaches her students to think and react swiftly — something that is especially crucial when the unexpected happens in the showring. “I do drills with them where I send them down the center of the arena and then call out different maneuvers. I might ask them to jog a straight line, counter-canter, circle to the right, change leads, continue a straight line, stop, rollback left, extend the jog, circle right. Having them move their horses in and out of maneuvers that they aren’t even aware are going to happen creates very quick thinking in the pattern, and that’s important.”

Show Day

Once horse and rider understand and are successfully performing the maneuvers that will be asked for at their level, they’re ready to show. On show day, the judge posts the pattern he or she has devised a minimum of 1 hour before the class. “Normally all those maneuvers are ones that we’ve worked on at home, but in a different order,” says Holly. “As far as having a lot of prior knowledge of the exact pattern, we don’t. That’s what makes it fun!”

She copies the pattern down, then discusses and analyzes it with her students to identify its “pattern psychology.” Explains Holly, “A lot of times judges depict the pattern using heavy adjectives and adverbs; anytime a judge is specific about things, we try to read into the pattern what the judge is looking for. Also, almost every judge has one pet peeve or one maneuver that he or she is really wanting to see done well. So we go through the pattern with the exhibitors, trying to decide where the ‘meat’ of the pattern is, and really work on getting that portrayed to the judge.”

At the same time, Holly warns about putting so much emphasis on the meat of the pattern that the exhibitor gets sloppy with basic elements, such as the straight lines, or smooth transitions. “The judge marks on each element, so the rider really needs the whole package, not just the meat.”

When riding the pattern, riders should concentrate on the elements the horse is good at and not dwell on the parts of the pattern where the horse is weak. “The biggest mistake is when riders try to enhance a maneuver that they know their horse isn’t really good at,” Holly cautions. In trying to punch up a weak maneuver, many riders end up spurring the horse or getting anxious or angry. “The judge can really pick up on that. You end up having a rough maneuver or maybe an abusive look, and you’ll lose more points than you’ll ever gain.

“Instead, where you’re not so strong, just try to get by as best as possible. Remember that judges mark each maneuver, so try for a 0 score (an adequate, no-points-taken-off move) on the weak element, and spotlight your pattern where you’re good,” she says. For instance, if your horse is a beautiful mover but hasn’t quite mastered the 360-degree turn, in a pattern that would call for a spin, she suggests “the rider should ease through the turns and then show off the rest of the pattern. Be bold.”

Even though Holly suggests you don’t obsess about your weakness, keep in mind that one of the most important keys to putting together a winning pattern is striving for the whole package, rather than just certain parts. Maintain correct but relaxed feet, leg, arm and seat positions, and strive for a flowing ride, avoiding jerky movements from maneuver to maneuver. Greener riders should aim for nothing more than a good, clean safe pattern, says Holly, while advanced competitors need to be fancier in their maneuvers and step up and attack the pattern. “Never make a judge wait,” advises Holly. “Be up and ready when the judge calls for you to perform. This exudes confidence. Assess your pattern and ride boldly through the maneuvers you know you have mastered. At the end of the pattern, turn and acknowledge the judge with a nod and retire to the end of the arena as directed by the judge. A smile of confidence is a subliminal sign that you have succeeded.”

But perhaps the real key to winning is the attitude and resolve the rider develops at home. Holly is convinced that through hard work and practice, anyone who’s determined to can be a winner in western horsemanship. “It’s really important that people sit down at the beginning of the year and say, ‘This is what I want to do. How can I get there? How much will I need to spend? How hard do I need to work?’ I’ve never had one person who has had long-range goals and stuck to them not get done what they wanted to get done. And that’s what’s fun about this event: If you stick with it and work and knock it out, you’re going to find success.”

Further Reading

• Flawless Riding Position
• Riding a Horsemanship Pattern

The post How to Win Western Horsemanship appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

But Erika is well on her way to realizing her dream with RU Rolex, a filly purchased as a yearling. Now 2 years old, Rolex, a Belgian/Paint cross, has an easy personality, is a quick learner, loves attention and is rock-steady. In her first trail outing, Rolex rode with a group, crossed a deep river, experienced dogs running between her legs, passed by things that rattled more experienced horses—and never flinched. She’s been out on the foxhound course at the walk and trot and has pulled a cart for short drives. She’s been shown in-hand at the American Warmblood Society breed inspections and is now a certified warmblood. Rolex is a PMU horse.

What is a PMU Horse?

The PMU horse was born—or created—in the early 1940s when Wyeth, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, contracted with large breeding farms in Canada and the United States to collect pregnant mare’s urine, a source of estrogen used in Premarin, Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy. A by-product of the industry was, of course, the resulting foals, known as PMU horses. Born in late spring, these foals remain with their dams until autumn, at which time they are weaned and most are sold.

Animal rights groups oppose the PMU industry because of practices many deem inhumane, including tethering the pregnant mares to urine-capturing devices for months on end, during which time the horses are kept in stalls and not turned out. In most cases, the mares are rebred annually and returned to the production lines for urine collection. As a result, each year brings a surplus of PMU foals on the market—few of which had any known performance bloodlines in the past. Many of the unwanted youngsters end up bound for slaughter.

The PMU foal crop has steadily climbed over the decades, but public awareness about the practices used to obtain the urine, along with warnings from the National Institutes of Health about serious side effects associated with Premarin use, have lead to industry changes, including a recent downsizing.

Industry Update

Only a few years ago, there were approximately 430 PMU ranches with about 33,000 mares and nearly that many foal births a year. But falling sales of Premarin caused Wyeth, in 2003, to terminate contracts with many PMU farmers and to ask remaining producers to reduce their collection of pregnant mares’ urine. Today, the North American Equine Ranching Information Council (NAERIC) website states that there are 7,000 broodmares in the PMU industry.

“When those cutbacks were announced, many farms panicked, selling off entire bands of mares before the market got flooded,”says Joanne MacKinnon, marketing consultant and equine sales agent based in Canada. Prices for PMU horses plunged as much as 90 percent, with $1,600 mares selling for as low as $125. With the panic and cutbacks, the market and rescue community became saturated with breeding stock and foals, making it tougher to find private homes for all the PMU horses.

Shortly thereafter and for unrelated reasons, prices for meat horses rose. As a result, Joanne says, meat buyers outbid rescue groups for PMU and auction horses.

Despite the negative press, some involved with PMU horses insist there is a bright side. Joanne MacKinnon, of Miniota, Manitoba, a marketing consultant and equine sales agent for about a dozen Canadian farms, explains, “Contrary to public perception, some PMU farms have been breeding world-class horses for years. Additionally, throughout the past two decades, many more PMU breeders have worked hard on improving their breeding programs, with the goal of producing top competition horses.”

Sporthorse Style

Ravine Ranch Sport Horses, in Lenore, Manitoba, is a family enterprise that produces warmbloods. “We are first and foremost a sporthorse breeding farm,” says Deb King of Ravine Ranch Sport Horses. “Our family’s future and reputation depends on the quality and excellence of the warmblood horses that we raise and sell. Our professional relationship with Wyeth is also very rewarding and financially beneficial to our breeding farm. The income we receive from Wyeth through the sale of our product [pregnant mare urine] helps us provide the very best care for our horses. As dedicated warmblood breeders, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to receive this additional revenue.”

In the not-so-distant past, only a handful of PMU ranches were active in breeding sporthorses. Traditionally, stock- and draft-type horses have been more prevalent. “The North American Equine Ranching Information Council (NAERIC) started a program several years ago, the CanAm Sporthorse program, to promote Thoroughbred/draft crosses bred on PMU farms as a viable alternative to expensive warmbloods,” Joanne MacKinnon says. “Now there are 18 PMU farms listed as breeding horses for that program on the NAERIC website, some of whom breed registered warmbloods, warmblood/Thoroughbreds and warmblood/draft crosses.

PMU breeders hope that those crosses start making their marks soon, as have their PMU cousins in other classes. Blueboy Dreamer, for example, is a five-time All American Quarter Horse Congress Champion, Reserve AQHA World Show Open Champion, Open and Senior AQHA High Point Trail Horse and AQHA High Point Junior Trail Horse. Apache Blue Boy is a two-time AQHA World Show Amateur Champion in Amateur Dally Team Roping, Heeling Event. Northern Lights Eros captured the World Percheron Congress Champion in Junior Geldings, Yearlings and Two-Year-Olds.

These achievements demonstrate that with thoughtful breeding and proper training, PMU horses, like any other breed, can compete at high levels. “Those breeding world-class horses are, just as in the rest of the equine community, a minority,” Joanne MacKinnon says.

Buyer Basics

The Internet is the best resource for locating PMU horses for sale, says Shannon Empson of Hedgeville Farms in Canada. Many ranchers host their own websites, the NAERIC website provides contacts and links, and PMU organizations and rescue groups are also represented on the Internet.

Typically, buyers purchase PMU horses directly from the ranchers. “Many ranchers hold auctions or joint auctions with other ranchers, “Empson explains. “We sell most of our horses individually from our farm or through our website. Some ranchers have brokers in various parts of North America that will buy large numbers of horses and then distribute individually.”

Interested parties can also purchase PMU horses through the annual NAERIC yearling auction at Rutgers University (these horses are part of a young horse research and teaching program) and through PMU horse rescue groups.

After deciding on a few candidate horses, purchasers should contact the seller to learn more about the individual horses. Because there are so many types of PMU horses, it’s important to find out as much as possible about the prospect.

In addition to evaluating the horse’s conformation and temperament, ask about the horse’s background and health status, suggests Steve Dryden, co-owner and marketing representative for Early Dawn Sport Horses, Virden, Manitoba.

What’s been done with the horse regarding vaccinations, deworming, hoof trimming, feeding regimen, handling and schooling? Does the horse have a valid Coggins test, current export health papers, registration papers or proof of pedigree?

Factor in delivery of your PMU purchase as well. Some ranchers can arrange for delivery with a professional hauler, while other ranches deliver their horses to drop-off points.

Diversity

The diversity of what is produced on PMU farms is as wide as the general horse breeding community. “PMU farms breed everything from AQHA horses for all disciplines to Standardbreds for the racetrack,” Joanne says. There are barrel racers, working cow horses, ranch horses, hunters, jumpers, 4-H mounts, pleasure horses, endurance trail horses, hitch horses, pulling horses, police mounts.”

Not surprising, that diversity extends to breeding stock, as well. Jennifer Johns, director of The Animali Farm, a PMU horse rescue organization based in Santa Maria, Calif., says, “Some PMU farms breed registered purebred horses, primarily Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, Paint and draft breeds. Others breed draft/Thoroughbred crosses, hoping to compete with the expensive European warmblood horses. Many of the PMU ranchers in Alberta were producers of registered horses before they were recruited into PMU.”

Hedgeville Farms in Nesbitt, Manitoba, has been breeding Arabian horses for more than 30 years. During its stint as a PMU producer (the Hedgeville Farms contract with Wyeth ended in January 2006), Hedgeville Farms expanded into Arabian/draft crosses. “Draft mares—usually Belgians, Percherons or Clydesdales—are used on the PMU line, as they are known to produce a higher volume of PMU with a higher concentration of hormones,” explains Shannon Empson, marketing manager for Hedgeville Farms. “Many ranchers crossbreed their draft mares to create more saleable offspring—most commonly to Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds.”

Besides sport and recreational uses, the draft-cross tendency toward size, good disposition, and durability makes PMU horses the “breed” of choice for several mounted police units as well as the National Police Horse Academy (NPHA). Kimberly S. Herbert, president and a founding board member of NPHA, and an advisory board member for the Lexington Mounted Patrol in Lexington, Ky., explains, “The NPHA program places 6-month-old PMU weanlings into schools with equine programs designed to desensitize young horses, developing a horse that is suitable for entering mounted police work at age 4. The NPHA works only with PMU horses, primarily Percheron/Thoroughbreds or Percheron/Quarter Horses.”

Uncertain Future

The qualities of a PMU horse, as with any other horse or breed, owe much to the qualities of its parents. “Most PMU ranchers take great care in selecting mares and stallions to ensure they produce marketable foals,” Shannon Empson says. “Granted, this does not account for every PMU farm. There are still many farms that simply breed big grade draft horses.”

Ill-bred horses of any breed don’t have much of a future, often ending up being sold at auction and for slaughter, and the same can be said for PMU horses. Unfortunately, it’s a sorry fact that, regardless of horse quality, there has always been more PMU foal crop per year than homes for PMU foals—about 30 percent of PMU foals end up at auction, according to the NAERIC website.

Another factor is supply versus demand. “The four ranches we are helping are in a town of about 250 families,” says Jennifer Johns. “These four ranches produced nearly 1,000 foals annually in their heyday, and they were not the only PMU ranches in that town. These foals were traditionally sold in auctions or production sales within a couple of weeks of each other. There are not enough locals to buy them all, and not enough other buyers traveling in to buy foals. The meat buyers take all that is left over.”

The last couple of years have seen a spike in PMU horses going to auction, a consequence of falling sales of hormone replacement therapy and the resulting cutbacks in the number of PMU farms and production mares.

During the past 18 months, The Animali Farm rescued 600 PMU mares and foals. “At the last auction we attended in Alberta, in June 2004, over 70 percent of the horses went for meat,” Jennifer says. “They included mares with 2-week-old foals at their sides and mature breeding stallions. Not very many of them went to private buyers. Two killer buyers stood together at the side of the ring, bidding against each other. The horses in this sale had been bathed, their feet were freshly trimmed, as were their bridle paths. They were wearing fancy silver show halters, and were groomed accordingly. This did not change a thing.”

Wyeth’s reductions forced a lot of horses into the market, putting many of them at risk for slaughter, says Andrew Lang, DVM, former director of Equine Programs for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), who has studied the issue. The hope would be that the Wyeth cuts will reflect a reduced PMU foal crop in the future.

It was hearing about the plight of auction-bound PMU horses that prompted Nancy Clark, of South Lyon, Mich., to purchase a PMU horse from a farm that was losing its Wyeth contract. After viewing website photos of available PMU yearlings, Nancy chose a dark, slightly homely filly, worried that no one else would choose her. Tali, a draft/Paint/Quarter Horse/Arabian cross was a bit wild from not having much handling. “She didn’t want to be touched, would run from us in the stall, and had to be sedated to have her hooves trimmed,” Nancy recalls. “Being a large, draft yearling, she was a bit intimidating.”

After spending a lot of time gently working with Tali in the stall, the youngster got over her fears. “Today, at age 2 years, Tali is the sweetest of all the horses, standing perfectly for her hoof trimming and shots. She loves to be petted and fussed with, is great with the other horses, calm yet playful, and a very smart, trusting horse. If she is afraid of something, it really doesn’t take much to convince her it’s OK,” Nancy says.

Purchasing a PMU Horse

The process of buying a PMU horse is usually a little different than purchasing other types of horses. Most PMU horses are sold as weanlings, although some ranches sell yearlings and older horses as part of their herd management process (and, more recently, to reduce the numbers of breeding stock due to the Wyeth cutbacks).

Also, many PMU youngsters receive little handling. “Most PMU horses have had a different lifestyle than most performance horses,” Shannon Empson says. “They aren’t usually foaled in box stalls and imprint trained, nor are they made into pets from dayone. They are often handled as livestock when moving from barn to corral to trailer.”

The reduced amount of handling is due to the nature of the PMU industry, which until recently encouraged ranchers to get bigger. “A single ranch could have anywhere from 40 to several hundred mares in production,” Shannon explains.

“When working with these quantities of animals, it is only economical that they be handled in groups. We work with the horses enough to be able to function as a ranch. Mares are moved in and out of barns, in and out of trailers, in and out of pastures, herded in groups. Beyond that, they are tied in the barn, harnessed up with the urine collection harness, fed, watered, brushed and then left alone until next time they need to be moved and a hoof trim now and then. It’s not that they aren’t handled, it’s more that they aren’t handled the generally accepted way most riding and performance horses are. Foals are often foaled naturally in the pasture and left to graze the entire summer with their moms. And thus, when they are weaned in the fall, they have had little handling at that point.”

Although the PMU horse is evolving amidst some controversy and perhaps facing an uncertain future, depending upon the way the hormone replacement therapy issue goes, it is sure to continue making headlines.

NAERIC

The North American Equine Ranching Information Council (NAERIC) was formed to represent and promote the interests of PMU horse breeders and ranchers. As such, NAERIC has sponsored competitions for NAERIC-registered horses and, by the end of 2006, expects to pay out approximately $2.25 million in matching funds for NAERIC-registered horses through purses, breeders’ trust funds and other incentive programs. They also sponsor a 4-H development project and police horse program.

For more information, visit www.naeric.org

This article originally appeared in the March 2006 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post PMU Horse Profile appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The signs are obvious: A couple of scaly, crusty areas on your horse where the hair has fallen out. Your horse has some sort of skin disease, but what? And, more importantly, what should you do? Attempt to treat your horse yourself but risk a delay in getting the right kind of treatment for your horse? Summon the veterinarian to your farm, only to be told to administer a common, over-the-counter medicated shampoo?

Knowledge is Half the Battle

Effective treatment begins with appropriate treatment, and the foundation for appropriate treatment is recognizing the skin condition.

“Skin diseases are caused by infectious agents (bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses), allergies (to insect bites, dietary factors, drugs, environment), abnormal reactions to sunlight, physical and chemical agents, hereditary factors, or they can be neoplastic [cancerous] in origin,” explains Sandy Sargent, DVM, resident in veterinary dermatology at the University of Tennessee.

Many of these disorders share the same appearance—various degrees of hair loss, itchiness, lesions that may or may not be painful to the touch, oozing sores or skin that is reddened, crusty, scaly, flaky, thickened or swollen. So while clinical signs and history are sometimes all that’s needed to identify some problems, other skin conditions require testing to diagnose. Consequently, the absence of an accurate diagnosis makes it trickier for the horse owner to supply a successful best-guess treatment.

Most skin diseases clear up quicker with early diagnosis and correct treatment.

“Diseases like pastern dermatitis (greasy heel, scratches) can be difficult to cure if the underlying cause is not diagnosed and treated early,” Sargent warns. “And while many diseases are self-limiting (they can and will heal on their own), inappropriate treatment can interfere with this healing process.”

That said, Sargent says that it’s usually OK for horse owners to try to treat mild cases of hair loss and crusty lesions with over-the-counter antibacterial and antifungal shampoos and/or sprays.

“Look for products containing chlorhexidine or Betadine,” she says. “Avoid products that do not list ingredients. Be sure to rinse the shampoo out well and dry the horse quickly, as a persistently damp coat can be a cause of skin problems. If the horse has a thick winter coat, spot-treat the affected areas instead.”

If the condition worsens soon after applying a topical product or doesn’t improve within seven to 10 days, stop the treatment and call your veterinarian. You should also seek veterinary advice if multiple horses, people and/or other contact animals are affected; if the lesions grow or spread rapidly, or if any tumors are found.

Skin Specifics

To help you better understand the most common (and not so common) skin problems that affect horses, here’s a closer look at causes and cures.

• Dermatophilosis (rain rot, rain scald, mud fever) is a bacterial infection aggravated by prolonged exposure to moisture coupled with injured skin. “Chronically infected animals are the primary source of infection,” Sargent explains. “Transmission can occur by flies, ticks, grooming equipment and tack. Once the disease has occurred within a barn or an individual horse, it is generally there to stay, just waiting for favorable weather conditions to reappear. In fact, any horse can be infected and once they have been, will often get it every year.”Look for: Lesions over the back and rump, although any area can be affected. “The lower layer of hair is firmly matted in small scabs which, when plucked may leave a characteristic ovoid [egg-shaped] bleeding surface,” Sargent says. “The undersurface of the scab is concave with the roots of the hair protruding and may have a covering of yellowish-orange pus. The affected areas are sore to touch, but are not itchy to the horse.”Treatment: Often resolves spontaneously after moving the horse to a dry environment. Also helpful is daily bathing with antimicrobial shampoos (chlorhexidine or povidone iodine) for the first week, then twice weekly until healed. Severe cases require oral or injectable antibiotics.
• Staphylococcus aureus is a highly resistant bacterial infection, reports Fairfield T. Bain, DVM, who practices at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky.Look for: Warm painful skin, focal crusts, most commonly in the pastern region, but similar lesions elsewhere on the skin can occur. “In some cases, the infection seems to rapidly involve deeper tissues,” Bain warns. “If allowed to become chronic, the underlying tissue can begin to scar and thicken.”
  Treatment: “With the increasing resistance issues of certain bacteria, especially Staphylococcus, it is important to obtain a culture and sensitivity pattern to make sure that the correct antimicrobial agent is selected,” Bain emphasizes.
• Dermatophytosis (ringworm) is caused by various fungi. “The organism invades the hairshaft, weakening it and causing it to break off,” Sargent says. “Predisposing factors include age (young and aged), poor nutrition and crowded conditions. The fungi can persist in the environment for up to one year and therefore are an important source for reinfection. Horse-to-horse transmission is common, especially in groups of young horses or in sick horses that are immunosuppressed. Spread of the spores via infected tack, blankets, bedding, trailers or fencing can occur. It is rare for healthy horses to get ringworm more than once as usually a horse develops immunity after being infected.”

  
  Look for: Small hairless lesions that sometimes look like hives and scaly or crusty areas, typically located in the saddle, face and neck areas. Lesions may or may not be itchy or painful.

  Treatment: “Ringworm is usually self-limiting, with the horse getting better in one to three months without treatment,” Sargent states. “Exposure to sunshine is thought to be beneficial. To shorten the course of the disease, affected horses can be treated topically with a wide variety of antifungal treatments, such as chlorhexidine, miconazole, nystatin, terbinafine, et cetera. Widespread lesions are best treated with antifungal rinses or dips, such as lime sulfur or even diluted vinegar. Disinfecting the environment, tack and grooming equipment with diluted bleach or commercial antifungal premise sprays is extremely important.”

• Lice and mite parasitic infestations most commonly occur in late winter and early spring when the horse’s hair coat is at its longest.

  
  Look for: Extreme itchiness. Additionally, horses troubled by lice often rub or bite at affected areas (usually the legs).

  Treatment for both problems: Includes topical insecticides, selenium sulfide shampoos, lime sulfur dips and oral dewormers, such as ivermectin. All in-contact horses and the environment must be treated. Treatment often needs to be repeated at least once, as new lice and mites can hatch from eggs (which are impervious to treatment).

• Culicoides hypersensitivity is an allergic response to gnat bites. “This very itchy disease is initially seen only in the warmer months,” Sargent reports. “As affected animals age, the disease generally becomes more severe and reactions can be seen year round.”

  
  Look for: Peeling skin, crusts, scaling, hair loss and redness primarily involving the forehead, crest of neck, withers, shoulders, rump, ventral midline and the base of the tail.

  Treatment: “There is no cure, therefore, management is extremely important in providing comfort to these allergic horses,” Sargent says. “Since culicoides are primarily night feeders, keep the horse inside from dusk to dawn. Fly spray repellent is a must. In severely affected horses, prednisone is usually necessary to control the itchiness.”

• Squamous cell carcinoma is a malignant skin tumor of the outermost layer of the skin. It’s primarily found in light-colored skin, eyelid area, genital area and occasionally the mucous membranes.
  
  Look for: Reddened, roughened or ulcerated skin.

  
  Treatment: Removing or debulking the tumor, chemotherapeutic drugs, cryosurgery (destruction of unwanted tissue by freezing), anti-inflammatory therapy or radiation therapy.

• Sarcoids are the most common skin tumors of the horse, Sargent says. “Thought to be viral in cause, sarcoids frequently occur in areas subject to trauma and may spread to other areas on the same horse or to other horses through biting, rubbing, fomites (inanimate objects such as tack, grooming tools, et cetera) or insects.”
  
  Look for: Wart-like, proud flesh-like or flat plaque surfaces, usually on the ears, lips, neck and ventral abdomen or around the eyes.

  
  Treatment: Surgical removal, topical therapies.

• Equine ear papillomas are viral-induced skin tumors likely transmitted by black flies, Sargent reports. They occur in horses of all ages.
  
  Look for: Warts in the ear.

  
  Treatment: Topical products, although rarely effective.

• Viral papillomatosis (warts) are also viral-induced tumors that occur in young horses less than 1 year of age.
  
  Look for: Small warts on the muzzle and lips.

  
  Treatment: “Spontaneous resolution usually within three months, although a vaccine made from the wart itself has been used and may speed resolution,” Sargent says. “Surgical excision or cryosurgery are effective if removal for cosmetic reasons is needed.”

• Melanoma is a common tumor in older horses and is seen more often in gray or white horses.
  
  Look for: Round, nodular or ulcerated slow-growing lumps underneath the tail, perianal region; less commonly on the lips and base of the ears.

  
  Treatment: Surgical excision unless tumors are numerous.

• Pemphigus foliaceous is a relatively common autoimmune skin disease that can become very severe and affect much of the body. “Because of the severe crusting it can be very painful,” says Bain. It usually affects horses age 5 years and older.
  

  
  Look for: Painful crusty or blistering skin most commonly affecting areas on the head and lower extremities, although other areas can be involved. Lesions tend to develop in waves and coalesce to form larger and more diffuse areas of crusting.

  Treatment: “Often a lifelong process, involving the use of significant immune-suppressive medications (corticosteroids and other immune-suppressive drugs),” Bain states.

• Bullous pemphigoid-like disease is a blistering, autoimmune disorder occasionally seen in foals. “This condition results in blisters that progress to ulcers in the mouth, around the eyes and anus,” Bain explains. “This may be due to antibodies in the mare’s colostrum that react to certain components of the foal’s skin.”
  

  
  Look for: Blisters around the mouth, eyes and anus. Affected foals often drool and do not nurse well.

  Treatment: Generally involves antibiotics and topical treatment of the oral ulcerations to aid in healing, sometimes supplemental feedings until the oral ulcerations heal.

• Allergic contact dermatitis occurs when irritating substances come into direct contact with the skin of hypersensitive horses. Irritants vary, but can include bedding, fly sprays, shampoos, liniments, et cetera.
  

  
  Look for: Lesions occur in areas that come in contact with the offending substance and vary from mild redness, flaking and itching to severe hair loss, skin thickening, pain and occasionally skin sloughing.

  Treatment: Remove the causative substance and wash the skin with copious amounts of water. “In severe cases, topical or systemic anti-inflammatories and antibiotics may be required,” adds Sargent.

• Urticaria (hives) is a common, allergic response that can be caused by many things, including diet, insect bites and drugs (the most common cause).
  
  Look for: The sudden appearance of hive-like lesions, which can occur anywhere on the bodybut typically on the face, neck, chest and upper legs, Sargent says. “They may or may not be itchy. Lesions typically last from a few hours to a few days.”

  
  Treatment: Identifying and eliminating the causative agent. According to Sargent, “Severe urticaria reactions can be treated with antihistamines (hydroxyzine hydrochloride) and corticosteroids.”

• Photosensitization is an abnormal, inflammatory skin reaction to UV light that occurs in areas with white hair and pink skin. “A systemic disease, there are two forms of photosensitization,” Sargent explains. “A primary form associated with eating certain plants (St. John’s Wort, oats, clover, vetch, alfalfa, et cetera), and a secondary form that occurs with liver disease.
  

  
  Look for: Skin that becomes swollen, red, cracked and oozing. In many instances there will be loss of skin. With secondary photosensitization, the horse will also be itchy.

  Treatment: “Primary photosensitization is treated by eliminating access to the offending plants and keeping the horse out of the sun,” Sargent says, noting that topical antibiotic/steroid ointments are also beneficial. “With secondary photosensitization, treatment is directed toward managing the liver problem.”

• Pastern dermatitis (greasy heel, scratches, mud fever, cracked heels) is a syndrome caused by a variety of diseases including bacterial infections, dermatophilosis, fungal diseases such as ringworm, chorioptic mange, irritant contact reactions, photosensitization, et cetera. Draft horses with a lot of feathering on their legs seem to be particularly susceptible.
  

  
  Look for: Inflammation and foul-smelling crusts on the rear half of the pasterns and matted hair.

  Treatment: Treat the underlying cause; remove the horse from unsanitary, wet conditions; and minimize contact with irritating chemicals, plants, et cetera. Gently clip and clean the area, and apply shampoos, soaks, topical or systemic antibiotics and/or steroids per veterinary recommendation.

Risk Reducer

You can help reduce the risk of your horse developing skin problems by utilizing appropriate management practices. “Good insect control is very important, as insect bites and insect allergies are a common cause of itchy skin,” Sargent says.

Avoid excess bathing with shampoo, which can contribute to or cause skin disease. Limit your horse’s exposure to rain, provide shelter for outside horses, and groom regularly (but not excessively) with clean grooming equipment. Don’t share tack or grooming supplies with affected horses. “Frequently run your hands over your horse,” Bain says. “This can be one important way to find skin disease as you might feel a nodule or crust before it becomes visually obvious.”

Be wary about using home remedies recommended by other laypeople. “Some can be very irritating to the skin,” Sargent warns. “Products containing full strength iodine, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, fungicides, turpentine, kerosene, motor oil, Listerine, et cetera. My rule of thumb is if I wouldn’t put it on my own skin/wound, I wouldn’t use it on my horse!”

Stay away from products that don’t list ingredients, and avoid using multiple products or switching from one product to the next from day to day; this makes it difficult to determine whether any one product is working or whether the products themselves are perpetuating or causing skin lesions. Only use products developed for horses—they are made to address equine pH levels.

Should your horse develop skin problems, don’t push the panic button. With mild cases, shampoo or spray with antibacterial and antifungal products, as described earlier, and monitor your horse’s condition. If you don’t see improvement within seven to 10 days, or your horse’s skin problems spread or worsen, summon your veterinarian.

Further Reading
Mud-Related Health Problems

Marcia King is an award-winning freelance writer.

This article originally appeared in the August 2005 issue of Horse Illustrated. Click here to subscribe.

The post Equine Skin Problems appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Tapeworms were once considered a fairly benign parasite, unassociated with serious problems in equines. But recent studies show tapeworms are anything but harmless. Consider the statistics:

• 81 percent of ileal impactions (a blockage at the end of the small intestine, commonly referred to as an impaction colic) are associated with tapeworms.
• 22 percent of spasmodic (gas) colics are tapeworm-related.
• Ileocecal intussusception (a serious, surgical form of colic where one part of the intestine telescopes into another) is almost always caused by tapeworm infection.
• On average, more than 54 percent of horses in the United States have been exposed to tapeworms, including 96 percent of horses in the upper Midwest, more than 80 percent of horses in some Southern regions, and 56 percent of horses in the northern Plains and Mountain regions. Even in the lowest-risk areas of the West Coast, at least one out of every 10 horses has tapeworm exposure.

Why didn’t we know about this before?

Tapeworms Uncovered

“Tapeworms are intestinal parasites that infect horses, as well as other species, throughout the world,” explains Brady J. Bergin, DVM, assistant professor, Oregon State University. “They belong to the class of parasites known as cestodes. The three types of tapeworms that can infect horses are Anoplocephala perfoliata, Anoplocephala magna and Paranoplocephala mamillana, with A. perfoliata being by far the most common.”

Unlike other worms, horse tapeworms need an intermediate host to complete their life cycles. That host, the forage mite, becomes infective by ingesting tapeworm eggs; the horse swallows the infective mites while grazing, and the tapeworms mature in the horse’s intestine within six to 10 weeks.

Although much is unknown about the mite’s biology, they’re widespread, living in pastures, lawns and vegetation, says Craig R. Reinemeyer, DVM, Ph.D., immediate past president of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists, and president of East Tennessee Clinical Research Inc., the research group that identified tapeworm prevalence in the United States. The mite also seems to favor temperate climates.

“They live in the humus, the organic layer of the soil,” says Robert H. Dressler, DVM, manager of Equine Veterinary Operations at Pfizer Animal Health. “In the arid desert areas of the Southwest, there isn’t a whole lot of humus, and that’s where there is a much lower incidence of tapeworms.”

Bottom line: Any horse that grazes on pasture is at risk for ingesting infected mites.

Although studies now demonstrate that tapeworms are everywhere in the United States (albeit in varying numbers), experts had been unaware of their prevalence because of the inability to accurately diagnose tapeworm infection in the horse.

“Traditionally, we looked for tapeworm eggs in fecal exams, but that’s been very ineffective,” Dr. Reinemeyer says. “With most other parasites in horses the females stay in the gut and pass out eggs, and the eggs leave the horse in the manure. With tapeworms, the eggs develop in a lower segment of the worm’s body, which separates and passes out in the fecal matter into the environment, but it’s not an ongoing process. The tapeworm body is like a freight train with a bunch of boxcars, one chained to the other. The end of the tapeworm matures faster than the rest of it, so every once in a while the caboose (which is like a bag of eggs) drops off. That bag may not rupture until it gets outside the horse or gets farther down the track, we don’t know.”

Consequently, detecting tapeworm eggs in the manure is a hit-or-mostly-miss procedure. And because veterinarians weren’t seeing tapeworm eggs in fecal exams, they assumed there was no tapeworm problem.

Further, although tapeworms were detected during surgery or postmortem, they weren’t associated with any disease process.

That all changed in the mid-1990s when a British researcher developed a test that could detect an immune response to a specific protein exuded by tapeworms into the horse’s blood. Although this test only determines exposure to tapeworms as opposed to an active infection (much like horses that have been exposed to equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, or EPM, don’t necessarily have the active disease), it was a step in the right direction and enabled researchers to discover just how widespread tapeworms are.

Since then, researchers learned that tapeworms cause degrees of intestinal damage and disease. Dr. Bergin says, “This damage occurs when large numbers of tapeworms firmly attach to certain areas of the digestive tract, such as the small intestine or, more specifically, the ileocecal junction (the common opening of the ileum, colon and cecum). Their attachment can lead to inflammation, irritation and ulceration at this site, impairing normal function. This intestinal malfunction can also adversely affect the digestive tract, leading to three common types of colic associated with tapeworm infestation: ileocecal intussusception, ileocecal impaction and spasmodic colic.”

Those are the recognized problems caused by tapeworms. Undetermined are the problems a “typical” or low-grade tapeworm infection causes. “Does it cause low-grade diarrhea, low-grade colic, weight loss?” Dr. Reinemeyer ponders. “We don’t know. But anecdotal evidence suggests tapeworms may cause low-grade colic after intense exercise.”

Dealing With It

Even though prevention of tapeworms isn’t truly possible, you can successfully treat these parasites in a horse and prevent the onset of colic and other complications that may be related to tapeworm infection, notes Tom Kennedy, Ph.D., vice president of research and development, Farnam Companies Inc.

In the past, equine tapeworms were controlled with double or triple doses of pyrantel pamoate. “That did a fairly good job but was not 100 percent effective,” says Kevin Hankins, DVM, field veterinary consultant for Fort Dodge Animal Health. “It was costly plus it was sometimes a nightmare to get two or three tubes of dewormer into a horse.”

But the recent development of praziquantel in paste and gel formulations for horses offers an affordable, easier, and, to date, more effective alternative. “Praziquantel has been around for a long time, and has been used extensively in dogs and cats,” Dr. Hankins states. “It kills the tapeworms in the horse by destroying the worm’s protective, tough outer layer, thus making the parasite vulnerable to the horse’s immune system, which takes care of it from there.”

Explains Frank Hurtig, DVM, manager, Veterinary Professional Services at Merial Inc., “The addition of praziquantel to horse parasite control medicines containing macrocyclic lactone drugs (i.e. moxidectin and ivermectin) has been an advance in treatment and control of tapeworms in horses. Praziquantel has a wide margin of safety in horses.” Thus with one dose, praziquantel/macrocyclic lactone formulations offer treatment of tapeworms as well as broad-spectrum activity against strongyles, ascarids, pinworms, bots and other common horse parasites.

Currently, there are four praziquantel/macrocyclic lactone products available: ComboCare (Farnam), Equimax (Pfizer), Quest Plus (Fort Dodge) and Zimectrin Gold (Merial).

The only precaution is treating a horse infected with a lot of parasites or one that is clinically ill, Dr. Hankins says. “If they have a very high parasite load, you could end up causing an impaction from all of the parasites killed off in the gut. Also, when parasites die off, they can produce a toxin, and that can make your horse sick. If your horse is already ill or heavily parasitized, his immune system is likely suppressed and would react differently to a normal deworming schedule; that is why dewormers are labeled as only for use in healthy animals.”

Some veterinarians treat at-risk horses by either administering a reduced dose and/or administering mineral oil 24 hours prior to deworming to help with the passage of the dead parasites.

Currently, praziquantel is labeled only for treatment, not prevention. But Dr. Hurtig notes, “Since tapeworms are extremely difficult to definitively diagnose in the live horse, it is best to simply treat for tapeworms on a frequent basis.” This will benefit horses, since using praziquantel products routinely at labeled dosage recommendations removes tapeworms before they become a problem instead of after a problem (i.e. colic) is apparent.

Work with your veterinarian to develop a program that’s specific for your horse and climate. Dr. Bergin says that there is not a single catch-all recipe for controlling parasites that works for every horse in every area—it’s based on a number of factors that need to be evaluated, and from there your veterinarian can create a plan.

Although praziquantel is safe, don’t overuse it as parasites likely will build resistance to it. Dr. Reinemeyer explains, “Frequent use of dewormers puts tremendous pressure on the parasites to adapt to survive this continuous onslaught, so they select for resistance. We’re seeing that now with ascarids and ivermectin.”

Include management techniques in your deworming program. “Good pasture hygiene is a critical management technique for the control of tapeworms as well as other parasites,” Dr. Bergin says.

To reduce the spread of parasites, remove manure from stalls daily, dispose of fecal material away from pastures and feed/water supplies, and chain drag or harrow pastures to break up manure piles. Don’t feed your horses directly on the ground; this increases the risk of ingesting forage mites since it is where they typically reside. Avoid overcrowding or overgrazing pastures (rotate if possible). Finally, quarantine all new additions to the herd and perform fecal exams to determine parasite status in general and to avoid the introduction of parasites.

Expert Opinions on Tapeworm Treatment

Down the Line

While differentiating between tapeworm exposure and an active infection is still a guessing game, researchers hope to soon change that. Stephen Kania, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, has developed a test, with the support of the American Quarter Horse Association, that detects proteins released by the tapeworm parasite into fecal material. “This test differs from antibody detection in that a positive result is likely to indicate an active parasite infection,” Dr. Kania says. “We are currently at the stage of validating the test with samples from a large number of horses.” If all goes well, it’s possible this diagnostic test will be available in two or three years and could be a great aid in advancing knowledge on tapeworm infection.

Fortunately, you have the tools now to avoid tapeworm problems in your horse. Discuss the risks of infection in your area with your veterinarian and work out a responsible deworming program appropriate for your horse.

Marcia King is an award-winning freelance writer.

This article originally appeared in the May 2005 issue of Horse Illustrated. Click here to subscribe.

The post The Tapeworm Threat appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The ideal headset for the western pleasure show horse can be seen on a horse that carries its neck flat with the rest of its topline.

“He will have a totally level topline from his poll all the way to his croup, and he will carry his nose about 3 to 5 inches ahead of the vertical,” says Steve Heckaman, an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) judge, trainer and show-ring veteran. “You don’t want to see a horse so nosed out that he’s trying to escape the bridle, and who looks like he wouldn’t give his head and come to you if you picked up the bridle reins.

In contrast, you don’t want a horse that’s behind the vertical, that looks like he’s intimidated to hold his head. You want to see a horse that’s really relaxed and really comfortable with where he’s carrying his heat and neck.”

Conformation First

To succeed in western pleasure showing, it’s best to start with a horse that’s conformationally suitable for this discipline.

“The more conformationally correct the horse is, the better and easier his chances are of athletically being able to do what we’re asking,” says Heckaman. “We like to see a horse with a long pretty neck that comes flat out of the top of the wither; instead of a neck that comes straight up out of the shoulder. It’s more difficult for a horse to relax his neck at the wither and balance himself if the neck comes straight up out of the shoulder.”

A suitable western pleasure horse should also be long across the topline of his neck and short on the bottom line, which makes it easier for the horse to carry his neck at the ideal level,” says western pleasure trainer Kelli McCamy, who has won several AQHA Congress and World Championships, and whose stallion, Impulsions, is a leading AQHA sire.

But McCamy cautions against a really long neck. “I used to think that the longer the neck, the prettier and the more elegant, but those long necks are really hard to train to carry level. They want to carry them too low or too high.”

Training

Heckaman emphasizes that achieving proper head and neck carriage is the end result of step-by-step training. “If a horse uses his body correctly, he’ll put his neck and head in the right spot. It’s a matter of teaching a horse to balance.”

Because the big money events in western pleasure showing are the futurities, many show horses are trained for western pleasure as 2-year-olds. But, conformation permitting, a horse of any age, regardless of previous training, can be trained to show in western pleasure classes. Retraining mature horses already schooled in other disciplines is similar to training green horses; you go back to the beginning and establish a way of moving, balance, trust, and responsiveness.

“It’s not much different,” Heckaman says. If you have an older hunter, for example, you want to collect his trot. You just go back and school him with the give-and-take to round himself up and shorten his stride up a little bit.”

Regardless of whether you are schooling a youngster or retraining a mature horse, training a western pleasure horse to carry its head correctly takes time. It’s a slow process, because horses learn best through repetition, says McCamy.

Proper head carriage has nothing to do with the type of bit used. It is a mistake to think that a good headset can be achieved by using a high-port curb bit that forces a horse to cam its head a certain way. Trainers like McCamy and Heckaman don’t use bits at all when starting western pleasure horses. McCamy begins by suppling the neck and withers first. Using just a halter and lead rope, she works on the ground with the horse, asking it to bend its neck to one side and then the other. This teaches it to bend its neck and withers in a relaxed manner so that these points will be supple and responsive, she says.

The only training aids that McCamy uses are a sidepull and a fork. A sidepull is a lightweight, halter-like headstall with two pieces of rope that go over the nose, and with rings at the side which the reins are attached to; a fork is like half of a running martingale. It attaches to the girth, and comes from between the legs with two rings that the bridle reins go through,” explains McCamy. “This needs to be very loose; nothing that pulls their head down. It’s not really training them at this point to drop their head in a certain position, it’s just telling them where they can’t go.”

McCamy rides with the sidepull and fork for up to three months. “It’s a slow process,” she says. “But this method teaches them to be flexible in their withers and their poll, and eventually, with repetition, you’ll achieve a good headset without using undue restraint.”

Heckaman also uses the sidepull and the same suppling exercises when riding. “I teach them to follow their heads,” says Heckaman, who asks his horses to give their heads by following the pressure on their noses. Once they do this, he rewards them by releasing the pressure.

From there, the horses are introduced to a mild snaffle. “We start to refine them a little, going back to the basics of asking them to give to pressure with the give-and-take, then releasing them when they give it. We begin working on the lateral movement, taking the right rein and asking them to give their head to the right, then the left rein, asking them to give their head to the left.”

Heckaman works on the horse’s body the same way. We teach them to move away from leg pressure much like we do with their head,” explains Heckaman. “If we put our leg on them and ask them to move forward, once they move forward, we take our leg off. As they start refining, we teach them to move the shoulders around their hindquarters, then their hindquarters around their shoulders, again with a give-and-take from our leg, until we have them responding to leg pressure.”

Fixing Faults

Sometimes, despite good training, headset faults still occur. The key is to recognize the specific fault and then work to correct it accordingly.

Being behind the bit.

This occurs when the horse is not relaxing its head and neck, which puts the horse “behind” the desired horizontal-vertical relationship between the head and neck, and gives the appearance that it is over-arching its neck and tucking its nose in.

“If a horse is not relaxing his head and neck, if he’s tending to strain it a little more than we want, then we encourage him to reach forward more with his head and not come back,” says Heckaman. “If the (mature) horse wants to stay behind the vertical, I’ll go to a milder bit, then lunge-trot the horse, take him out to the pasture, extend the lope, get him up and moving a little bit, get some forward motion in there, and try not to back the horse off. A horse won’t go behind where his legs are going, so if I can get his legs extended, his nose will follow his legs.”

Too far ahead of the vertical.

Heckaman suggests using equipment that will create a little more sensitivity, such as a lighter snaffle. “And do some exercises to supple the neck and poll,” he says. “Soften the mouth and make him give his head a little more, so when you release the rein, he goes into a more balanced position.”

Heckaman advises working on exercises that ask the horse to bend its head. “Take his neck and head from side to side, encouraging him to go forward with the legs, but asking to give his head,” says Heckaman. “Make sure one rein is independent from the other rein, and then alternate reins, asking him to give his head to the right and move forward, then asking him to give his head to the left and move forward.”

If conformation causes the head carriage to be ahead of the vertical, then the rider needs to continually work at helping the horse to stay at the desired vertical.

“You can make a horse put his head in the correct place,” says McCamy, but it’s a constant problem and you’ll have to work on it every single day.” Like Heckaman, McCamy develops flexibility by pulling lightly on alternate reins as the horse is moving forward. “They will eventually drop their neck, and when they do, release them,” says McCamy, who prefers doing this exercise in a snaffle and fork.

Too low to the ground (peanut roller).

McCamy and Heckaman recommend picking the horse’s head up to the desired level, or even over-elevating the head a bit, and to teach the horse through repetition to ease away from the pressure by raising its head.

Riding with an over-check can also help a horse that carries its head too low. Notes McCamy, without you having to constantly pull all the time, this teaches them that the more they raise their head up, the less pressure they have; the more they lower their head, the more pressure they have.” To make an over-check, take a small rope, and either (1) tie it from the top of the bridle from the poll back to the saddle horn or (2) attach it to each side of the bit, then run it across the nose, up the forehead, underneath the bridle, and back to the saddle horn. McCamy warns against tying the over-check too tightly to the saddle horn. It should not prevent the horse from comfortably lowering its head to a desired position. Lunge the horse five to ten minutes first, to ensure that it won’t resist the device.

Staying in frame.

Keeping the horse working within its frame is most important, because it is both the trainer’s goal and it is what the judges are looking for. Only a balanced horse can do this.

“A lot of riders get a horse out of its true frame by trying to fix the horse’s head,” says McCamy. “They constantly pull with their hands so much that they lose the legs, slowing the horse’s movement so the horse can’t go forward. This is where your legs come in. You’ve got to keep the horse going forward to keep the horse in his true frame.”

To avoid “falling out of frame,” correct head carriage should be taught in conjunction with teaching proper balance and movement. “If you’ve got a trained horse that you’ve worked on by repetition,” explains McCamy, “you’ve got a horse that carries his head properly.”

McCamy says that when getting ready for a show, she doesn’t worry about headset. If it’s already there, then it’s just a matter of keeping the horse moving, keeping him in his frame, keeping him collected and keeping him moving properly, she says.

“On the other hand, if you have a horse that’s not been to many shows, and he wants to look around a little bit, then the night before show (I’ll) ride him with the fork,” says McCamy. “This helps keep his attention, keeps him focused, and reminds him where that head is supposed to be.”

No Short Cuts

When developing the western pleasure horse, certain training aids, such as the fork, sidepulls, and an occasional over-check, used in conjunction with sound training techniques, can help the horse understand your expectations.

According to McCamy, training aids can give you a mechanical advantage when teaching a horse, with less trauma. “You can certainly train a horse to carry his head properly without training aids, but you may end up doing a lot more jerking and pulling and putting the horse under a lot more pressure.”

But training aids are not intended to be used as shortcuts or time-savers. When used with a program of repetition, training aids teach a horse to move away from pressure, rather than pulling against it.

“That’s what we’re teaching with the sidepull and the fork,” says McCamy. “Repeated procedures are less traumatic than jerking and pulling all the time.”

Any training aid that’s misused or overused can be abusive and damaging. “I’ve seen people lunging their horses with the bridle reins tightly tied between the legs,” says McCamy. “The neck is all bowed up and the head is behind the vertical. When a horse is pulled in this much and overdone, he can’t go forward, so it hampers his natural gait. Too many training devices hamper movement.”

Draw reins and martingales have their place in certain instances, for very short periods of time, but when novices rely on them, you can damage a horse, says Heckaman. “People tend to ride a horse in draw reins, and pull the head down and into a frame and hold it there. Then the horse gets dull on the snaffle and gets down on their forehand.”

According to Heckaman, using restrictive training aids creates pull points that are different than when the contact is direct. “If you ride in a martingale, with the reins running through the martingale and to the bit, whenever you pick up the reins, the martingale pulls more down between the horse’s front legs,” he says. “Then, when you take the martingale off, you’ve got more of a straight-line pull from your hand to the horse’s mouth, so it feels different. So you end up going back to school the horse to respond to straight-line contact, anyway.”

There are no shortcuts to finishing the western pleasure horse and getting nice head carriage. “It takes a lot of time,” McCamy says. “A horse is trained by repetition only. When the horse is properly trained, when you take the time to train the horse and the conformation is pretty correct, everything else just falls into place and the headset will be there.”

Further Reading
Soft Hands

The post Western Pleasure Headset appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Fortunately, training a horse to neck rein is a simple process — or so says trainer Clark Bradley, and he should know. During his long career, Bradley has brought along hundreds of horses, and he’s taken more than a few of those to the top ranks, claiming championships in National Reining Horse Association Futurity classes and at the AQHA Congress in versatility, western pleasure futurity, junior reining, senior reining and team roping.

Getting Started

For the uninitiated, neck reining is the cue that tells the horse which way to turn. Neck reining uses a loose, indirect rein across the horse’s neck to encourage the horse to move away from the pressure; both reins are loosely held in one hand, which is positioned above the pommel at about waist level.

Explains Bradley, “You give your cue with the pressure of the outside rein against the neck. If you want to go to the right, pick your hand up towards your right shoulder and lay the left rein lightly against the horse’s neck. On a finished horse, the true neck rein is a loose rein: There’s only pressure against the neck and no pressure with the bit at all.”

The neck-rein cue should be very light, and the reining hand should never cross an imaginary line from the horse’s neck to the rider’s shoulder.

Bradley likes to introduce neck reining during a horse’s first mounted lesson. He says that since a green horse must be taught steering anyway, neck reining can be incorporated into that process. “The first day you ride a colt, you can ask them to neck rein,” he says. “They’re not going to respond, but it’s a teaching process and it’s not complicated.”

He usually starts horses in a sidepull for the first few months, then moves up into a D-ring or O-ring snaffle. After about six to 12 months of training, he puts them in a broken-mouth bit, such as a short shank snaffle. Training sessions generally last from 30 to 45 minutes a day, five days a week.

During the first several months of training, Bradley rides with both hands, first asking for the neck rein, then rein-forcing with a direct inside rein. “Too many people forget to neck rein,” Bradley warns. “They just pull the nose to the inside and hope the horse turns. They must use the neck-rein cue, first.”

He begins by having the horse walk forward. “Then when I want to turn slightly to he right, I’ll put the left rein against their neck. Then I shorten the inside rein and actually pull their head to the right. As soon as they respond, I release the pressure.” Initially, turns are not large, only about 10 degrees. After obtaining some sort of turn, Bradley rewards with a release, then repeats the lesson a few more times.

The only other aids Bradley uses when teaching neck reining is to keep his legs in the side of the horse to maintain forward motion and to bump the outside elbow with his stirrup or leg to encourage the horse to move his outside shoulder over. “I want the horse’s whole body to turn, not just his head. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll keep pressure on the reins and use the outside leg to make sure that happens.”

Once the horse neck reins well in a circle at a walk, responding to either just a neck rein or both reins, Bradley starts to neck rein at a trot. Many horses can move up to the trot stage in just two weeks, he says.

When the horse can trot a figure-eight in 30-foot circles well, with either a neck rein or with two hands, Bradley begins neck reining at the lope. But he cautions riders not to attempt neck-reining lessons at faster gaits until the horse responds fairly consistently in a slower gait. “I like them pretty broke to trotting before I try to lope them,” he says. “A lot of people try to lope them the first week, and they don’t have enough steering mechanism. They can get in a lot of trouble.”

If Bradley has difficulties getting a turn at a lope, he drops down to a trot or a walk, but always makes sure he gets some sort of change of direction before releasing the pressure. “If you neck rein and neck rein, and then decide to forget it, the horse will forget it, too,” he warns.

Because neck reining is a simple command, most horses catch on to the basics fairly quickly. “After you ride them about a half dozen times, they’ll start to move away from that pressure,” Bradley says.

Make No Mistakes

Although neck reining is one of the easiest commands to teach a horse, there are still a few ways in which a rider can go wrong. The most common mistake is when the rider wants to turn, but the horse won’t, so the rider pulls one hand farther to the inside. “But the farther your hand goes inside, the more pressure you’re putting on the outside rein, which forces the horse’s head to turn to the outside,” Bradley says. If the horse doesn’t turn, make the correction by going to two hands and shortening the inside rein. “Put their nose slightly to the inside and move the horse’s shoulder over.”

Bradley often sees riders using just one rein to get a turn. “A lot of people, especially when they’re riding youngsters, just pull the rein to the right when they want to turn right. Pretty soon the horse just turns his head to the right, but his shoulder is still off to the left, the hips are swung to the left, and they lose the whole body position. You’ve got to use both reins on the horse to keep his body lined up. The head should be slightly to the right, with the body still going straight. Use more left rein to move the horse’s left shoulder over and to keep his body alignment correct. This is important in all stages, but especially in the first few months.”

Another problem Bradley observes is busy hands. “A lot of people, when they’re just riding along, they’re moving their hands all the time, even the advanced riders in the show.” This constant hand movement sends conflicting signals that could eventually make the horse immune to neck reining cues.

Some riders also make neck reining for the green horse unnecessarily complicated. “I want to keep it very simple so the horse can understand. A neck rein means to turn. I use my legs to keep the motion or as a correction,” says Bradley. The only exception, he notes, is a slight leg cue for the finished horse when performing a spin or a fast lope.

By far the worst mistake a rider can make is inconsistency and not following through. Always insist on getting some sort of turn when you ask, and always reward by releasing. Warns Bradley, “If you continue to pull across their neck and nothing happens, they learn to ignore the pull. Every time the rein touches the side of their neck, you must make them turn slightly, then release the pressure.”

From start to finish, Bradley says that it takes six to eight months to get a horse ready to show in a reining class. “If you’re going to a NRHA reining for 3-year-olds, then they usually require 16 to 18 months of training.” But by heeding Bradley’s advice, neck reining could be one of the easiest commands your horse ever learns.

Further Reading
Steer Clear of Neck Reining Problems

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