Picture this: a lush, green field with a horse peacefully grazing. This image is almost every horse owner’s ideal vision of their horse at his happiest. But danger can lurk for some horses if you look a little deeper.

Certain horses and ponies are prone to grass founder (laminitis), particularly in the spring when grasses are high in sugar. Most horse owners would rather prevent laminitis than deal with it after it happens, so the best course of action is to recognize the red flags—times to be more vigilant—and know what to do next.

High-Risk Horses

Horses most at risk for laminitis are those with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and Cushing’s disease (also called pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, or PPID).

Horses and ponies with EMS often have telltale symptoms, including a tendency toward obesity, insulin resistance and recurrent laminitis. Abnormal fat deposits along the crest of the neck, tailhead and above the eyes are typical, even when the horse is at a normal weight. The condition most often occurs in ponies and other breeds that evolved under harsh conditions and tend to be easy keepers.

Horses with PPID may have symptoms similar to EMS, such as patchy fat deposits and insulin resistance, but PPID usually begins to appear in older horses (over age 15). They may also start to lose topline muscling and develop a thick haircoat that sheds out later than normal, or eventually not at all.

If you suspect your horse has either of these conditions, schedule a vet visit for blood tests that will help confirm a diagnosis. If your horse has a metabolic disease, consider it a huge warning flag that he is at high risk for pasture-associated laminitis.

The Carbohydrate Connection to Founder in Horses

Laminitis can be caused by grazing on pasture that is too high in non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs). These include fructan, sugar and starch. Structural carbohydrates are the fibrous parts of the cell wall that give the plant rigidity; these are digested differently from NSCs.

You may have heard that fructan is the singular evil element in grass that causes horses to founder. However, more recent research has shown that pasture-induced laminitis cannot be attributed solely to fructan. There is no fructan in warm-season grasses, yet horses can still founder on them. Since the same environmental conditions that create high fructan concentrations also increase sugar and starch levels, it’s best to just limit all NSCs.

Conditions that Spell Trouble

In order to prevent laminitis in high-risk horses, you’ll need to start thinking about weather and grass-growing conditions. When the sun is shining brightly but other conditions limit the growth of the plant, NSC concentration in pasture plants will increase.

Here is a list of the danger signs to look for:

Temperature

“If it’s below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the enzymes that help the plant grow don’t function anymore,” says Kathryn Watts, an internationally respected consultant and researcher specializing in pasture grass and horses and ponies prone to laminitis. She is based in Colorado and maintains a website at safergrass.org. “However, photosynthesis [which creates sugar] happens as long as the sun is shining, provided that the plant is not frozen solid.”

Concentrations of NSCs can double or even triple if these conditions (sunny and below 40 degrees) continue for several weeks. Since this commonly happens during spring and fall in many parts of the country, these seasons are often associated with grass founder in horses.

TIP: A useful tool that you can find at any hardware store is a min-max thermometer. Put it on the back porch and check it every morning. If it’s been below 40 degrees that night, start paying careful attention to any high-risk horses. After a few nights below 40, any horse that’s had laminitis in the past or has the body type that says “founder waiting to happen” should probably be removed from pasture entirely and fed hay that’s tested for low sugar content (see “Testing Sugar Content,” below).

Lack of Fertilizer

“Another thing that can limit plant growth is lack of fertilizer—usually nitrogen,” says Watts. “The plant might have enough sugar, but if it doesn’t have enough nitrogen to put that sugar to work and grow, the sugar starts piling up. I use the analogy of an assembly line: If the plant does not have all of the elements it needs to grow, the line shuts down and the other raw materials pile up.”

Since a lack of nitrogen can limit grass growth, it’s important to have the right fertilization schedule for your region. “Approach your extension agent or fertilizer dealer and tell them you’re looking for a moderate fertility level, not maximum production,” Watts advises.

Drought

Drought is another form of stress that will result in sugars piling up within the plant. “For example, in Texas, founder season happens when it’s very sunny and very hot,” says Watts. Drought may also cause fructan in cool-season grasses to turn to sugar, increasing chances of metabolically driven laminitis.

Mature Grass

When managing pastures, it’s important to mow or top the grass before seed heads appear. “Sugars and starch are very concentrated in the developing seed heads,” says Watts. “Many horses selectively graze them off; it’s like horse candy.”

Weeds

Most pastures are filled with weeds that horses are more than happy to consume.

“Some of the weeds in your pasture have the potential to contain more sugar than the grass,” says Watts. “The ones that I have tested personally that are really high in NSCs include dandelion, plantain and thistle.”

You can treat pastures with an herbicide to kill broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, which are particularly palatable to horses. Often this is enough to decrease the incidence of founder.

A thick, healthy stand of grass is the best defense against invasion of weeds and clover. While proper fertilization can decrease sugar concentration per mouthful of grass, there may now be more sugar per acre. When grass is more plentiful in previously overgrazed pastures, you may need to start limiting intake with a muzzle or decreased time at pasture.

It’s important to note that weeds may grow around dry lots where horses and ponies are housed to keep them off pasture. If those weeds are within reach of desperate flapping lips of horses, the risk of founder is still there. You may very well save your horse from foundering just by running a weed-whacker around the dry lot.

“Safe” Grazing

Regardless of what season the calendar says it is, keep an eye out for dangerous grazing conditions all year long.

“The worst places for laminitis are those where the grass stays green all winter long, like in Great Britain and the Pacific Northwest,” says Watts. “Their grass doesn’t ever really die. When the temperature is below 40 degrees, any green grass creates a problem for high-risk horses, regardless of what month it is.

“Here in Colorado, by December the grass is completely brown,” she continues. “If the weather has been dry, the grass can still be high in sugars.” Sugars may be leached out eventually by rain and melting snow, except in the case of grasses with a waxy coating, such as fescue. Fescue is commonly found in Kentucky and the Southern states, so keep in mind that it may be holding on to sugar longer if you are planning to put your horse on it in the winter or during a summer drought.

“People assume that dead grass has no nutritional value if it’s brown,” adds Watts. “But sugar is not green. The chlorophyll and protein may be gone, but the sugar isn’t necessarily gone. Don’t assume that brown grass is safe.”

Testing Sugar Content

If you’re unsure about your grass or hay’s sugar content, the best thing to do is get it tested. “Grab a few handfuls of brown grass and send it to Equi-Analytical Laboratories [the equine division of Dairy One Cooperative Inc.] and have it analyzed,” says Watts. This is only accurate if the grass is completely dead. (If the grass is green, you would have to flash freeze it and send it overnight on dry ice, which is very expensive.) If it’s dead, you can treat it like hay.

Average grass hay is around 12 percent non-structural carbohydrates on a dry matter basis but can range up to 30 percent. For high-risk horses, grass or hay should be less than 11 percent. This varies by individual horse and how much exercise he’s getting. As you test more hay and compare how your horse does on each batch, you will learn what he can handle without gaining weight or getting sore feet. There is no “one size fits all” recipe.

If your high-risk horse has been pulled off pasture, it’s important to test your hay for sugar content. “Any kind of hay can be high or low in sugar,” says Watts. “It’s not about species; it’s about growing conditions.”

For a list of other National Forage Testing Association certified labs, visit www.foragetesting.org.

Managing the High-Risk Horse

If you have a high-risk horse with a cresty neck, one of the best things to keep an eye on is his neck. “When the sugars get high in the grass, you can palpate his neck and feel a difference,” says Watts. “I call it ‘the Neckometer.’ When you put him in the dry lot, within a couple of days you should feel his neck getting softer. If you do something wrong, his neck will get hard very quickly.”

If the weather is conducive to making high-sugar grass, horses with more mild risk factors may still be able to stay on pasture with a grazing muzzle on. “But if you put the grazing muzzle on and his neck is still getting bigger, then it’s time to put him in the dry lot and leave him there,” advises Watts. However, she emphasizes that the only way you can really assess your horse’s risk level is to get his insulin levels tested.

Early Signs of Laminitis

Another tool Watts recommends to carefully monitor high-risk horses is a daily brisk trot on firm footing. Since the metabolic form of laminitis comes on very slowly, it’s possible to look for these subtle signs and get ahead of the problem.

“If you have a horse that normally has a nice, big trot and suddenly he just shuffles along stiff-legged or refuses to trot at all, that’s the horse that you bring back to your dry lot,” says Watts. “Feel his feet to see if there’s excess heat or an obvious pulse. These horses will often respond to being withdrawn from pasture very quickly.”

Keep the horse off of pasture until weather conditions have changed completely in a way that will lower the concentration of sugar in the grass. For any case of acute laminitis, contact your vet immediately.

Since metabolic laminitis is a relatively new area of research, make sure your vet is up to date on the condition and knows how to treat it.

“Endocrinology is a veterinary specialty,” says Watts. “The same goes for farriers. The farrier you loved when your horse was healthy may not have the skills to help him once he’s foundered.”

Exercise is Key

Many of the horses that struggle with grass founder are not exercised at all, or only very lightly.

“Except for a few rare cases of very hard-to-control insulin resistance, if you exercise the horse hard enough (to a sweat) three times a week, you can fudge a lot more on the diet,” says Watts. “It’s about balancing the amount of exercise with the amount of NSCs in the diet.”

Horses that are prone to insulin resistance should not carry excess weight. Watts recommends horses be kept fit, even with a slight hint of ribs showing. But the horse should also carry good overall muscle tone from an active fitness program—whether it’s riding, driving or longeing.

If you have a high-risk metabolic horse and you want to maximize his grazing time, you’ll need to be prepared to carefully evaluate him and the weather conditions every day. At the first sign of foot soreness or the crest thickening/hardening, move him to a dry lot and feed him low-sugar hay, or soak his hay for a couple of hours in plenty of fresh water to remove excess sugars. When your horse and the grass conditions improve, he can go back out again. However, it may not be until the season is over. Be prepared for a time-consuming challenge.

Further Reading
◆ Treatment and Recovery of Founder in Horses
◆ Feed to Prevent Founder
◆ An Overview of Laminitis

This article about grass founder in horses originally appeared in the April 2013 issue of Horse Illustrated. Click here to subscribe!

The post Preventing Grass Founder appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

It’s that time of year when the grass gets greener and starts growing fast. But is it time to open the gates and let your horses graze the pastures you’ve carefully fenced off all winter? Putting horses out too soon in the spring can reduce the productivity of your pastures this coming summer, plus letting horses graze too much too quickly can be dangerous for horse health.

Here is some guidance for horse pasture maintenance to keep in mind at the start of grazing this spring.

1. Use a Confinement Area

You can greatly improve the health and productivity of your pastures by creating and using a paddock or heavy-use area for confining your horses. An enclosure, such as a corral, run, or pen becomes your horse’s outdoor living quarters.

Your horses should be confined here during the winter months when pasture grasses are dormant and not growing. In springtime, confine horses here when soils are still wet (more on this in a moment).

In the summer, use the confinement area to keep pastures from becoming overgrazed—never below 3 or 4 inches—and to keep your horses from becoming overweight.

A good location for a confinement area is in a high, well-drained area that has chore-efficient access so it’s easy to feed horses and clean paddocks. Make sure that paddocks slope gently away from the stall or shelter for good drainage, and consider putting down some type of footing, such as crushed rock or coarse sand to help prevent erosion and mud.

A good location for a confinement area is in a high, well-drained area that has chore-efficient access so it’s easy to feed horses and clean paddocks. Make sure that paddocks slope gently away from the stall or shelter for good drainage, and consider putting down some type of footing, such as crushed rock or coarse sand to help prevent erosion and mud.

Implementing a regular manure management program will help prevent a buildup of muck as well as getting a source of compost lined up for your pastures.

2. Give Pastures Time Off

One of the key tenants of pasture management is the time you keep horses off the pasture. Saturated soils and dormant pasture plants simply cannot survive continuous grazing and trampling.

When soils are wet, they are easily compacted, suffocating the roots of grass plants. Over time, these plants die out and weeds and mud will take their place. A simple test for sogginess is to walk out by yourself onto your fields to see if you are creating a footprint as you go along. If so, you know it’s too wet and the weight of a horse will surely compact the soil.

Instead, wait until your pastures dry out more and try the foot-printing test again.

3. Separate the Wettest Areas

In the spring, you can let horses onto the higher dry areas first and save the wet areas until later in the summer when they dry out.

Temporary fencing using self-insulating step-in plastic posts and electric tape is best for something like this, as you can simply adjust the shape of your grazing areas as you need it.

4. Apply a Green Band-Aid

Encourage a thick, healthy stand of grass by hand-spreading grass seed in areas that are bare or where grass isn’t growing as thick as you’d like. Otherwise, those same bare spots provide a growing site for summer weeds and can mean more mud next winter.

For most parts of North America, a mix of horse pasture seeds containing orchard grass, endophyte-free tall fescue, perennial rye grass and/or timothy work best. Warmer parts of the country should mix in warm-season species like brome.

For help selecting grasses specific to your region, consult your local conservation district, extension office, or the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

5. Test the Soil

Fertilizer is almost always overused—and may not be needed at all. Just because it’s spring doesn’t mean it’s time to fertilize. Applying fertilizer when your pasture grass doesn’t need it means wasted time and money, plus excess fertilizer will most likely be washed into nearby streams or lakes, or it can seep into ground water.

The best way to find out if your pastures need to be fertilized is to do a soil test. By finding out what your soil needs, you will be able choose a fertilizer with the right amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Fertilizers high in nitrogen may not be what your grass plants need in the spring. Nitrogen promotes plant top growth, which grass plants are already doing vigorously on their own.

Do an Internet search to find soil testing labs or reach out to your local conservation district, Natural Resources Conservation Service office, or extension office for advice on the best way to take a soil sample. If you find that you need to fertilize, fertilizing in mid-spring and/or late fall is usually sufficient.

6. Spread Compost

Once soils are no longer saturated and you are able to drive equipment out on your pastures without risk of compaction, do your horses and pasture a favor by spreading compost. The many micro and macro nutrients, organic material, beneficial bacteria, and fungi in the compost will help your grass plants become more productive.

Spread a thin layer, approximately ¼ to ½ inch thick, and no more than about 3 to 4 inches total in the same area per season. Compost can be spread by hand or with a manure spreader. Go back through with a harrow (a drag) to break up clumps and spread compost thinly. If you don’t own a harrow and tractor, use a garden rake and go through by hand, raking thicker areas so plants aren’t smothered with compost.

7. Introduce Grazing Gradually

Once horses begin grazing pastures again, limit turnout time. Too much spring grass can cause very serious digestive issues when the microbes in a horse’s gut are not yet adapted to the diet change. Start with about an hour at a time and work up to several hours over a period of weeks. For additional questions on how much grazing time is safe for your horse, consult your veterinarian.

Also be careful not to allow your grass to be grazed below about 3 to 4 inches in height. The most concentrated sugar (the plant’s food source) is in the bottom few inches of grass plant. Above that is the more fibrous portion of the plant, which is healthier for a horse to consume. It’s also detrimental to the grass plant to remove its food source.

Let grass plants grow to 6 to 9 inches in height before turning horses out on them, and remove horses from any area once it is grazed down to 4 inches.

We are all excited to see green pastures in the spring. Prioritizing good maintenance of them will help ensure their health this coming summer, which makes for happy horses.

This article about spring horse pasture maintenance appeared in the March 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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If you’ve been around horses a while, you’ve probably seen the following: a horse (that isn’t a stallion) with a really thick crest and fat pads along the withers, at the base of the tail, and virtually anywhere along the trunk. The horse may also have fat deposits in the fossae above the eyes. While we could think a horse like that is just obese, he could also be suffering from a serious condition that needs medical management.

Approximately 10 percent of horses in the United States have been diagnosed with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a type of equine metabolic irregularity that falls under the umbrella of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). In addition, another 10 percent of horses who have Cushing’s disease, or pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), are also insulin resistant.

What does it mean if your horse is part of these statistics?

What is Insulin Resistance?

The term insulin resistance has only become well recognized in the last 15 years. With a horse like the one described above, there are internal forces at work that cause these clinical signs.

“Insulin resistance is a state where insulin-dependent cells of skeletal muscle, fat, and liver don’t respond normally to insulin, requiring higher levels of insulin to get them to take up glucose from the blood,” says Eleanor Kellon, VMD. Kellon is currently the staff veterinary specialist of Uckele Health and Nutrition, based in Blissfield, Mich. She is also the owner of the consulting business Equine Nutritional Solutions and the owner and volunteer veterinary advisor for the Equine Cushings and Insulin Resistance (ECIR) Group, Inc., which provides the latest research, diagnosis, and treatment information for horses with these conditions.

Although there are some situations where a horse may only be insulin resistant for a short time, generally the condition has a genetic component and is one that the horse will face long-term. While Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, warmbloods, Quarter Horses, and full-sized draft breeds are generally at the most risk for IR if they are diagnosed with PPID, the Morgan, Arabian, Andalusian and other Spanish breeds, Miniature Horses, gaited breeds, Fjords, Icelandics, and most ponies are automatically considered high risk.

“Things like some drugs and serious infections may cause temporary insulin resistance, but otherwise, the cause is genetic,” Kellon says. “Because it is genetic, the tendency to have high insulin will always be there, but most horses can be well controlled by diet and exercise.”

Outside of the genetic component, or potentially a diagnosis of PPID, mares in the last half of pregnancy can also develop the condition.

Getting Older

Close monitoring of your horse becomes even more important at certain stages of his life.

“Problems typically start to develop after horses reach physical maturity, when their calorie requirements drop,” Kellon says. “It also develops quickly in susceptible horses if they have a large drop in their level of exercise.”

Cases related to PPID will develop metabolic signs in their teens or 20s.

“Developing laminitis for the first time later in life is often the first indication of PPID,” she adds.

Reaching a Definite Diagnosis

If you suspect that your horse is insulin resistant, consulting with your veterinarian is the best place to start for a definitive diagnosis and treatment options.

“I always advise people to test,” Kellon says. “Looks alone are not enough for a diagnosis, and it’s important to know how high insulin is and if glucose is normal. If a horse doesn’t have a problem, it can save a lot of worry and stress about feeding. Insulin can be tested at baseline, fasting, or non-fasting (hay or pasture only), and there are challenge tests where the horse is fed grain, dextrose on a chopped hay base, or Karo syrup.”

As for the timing of testing, the jury is still out on the best season and time of day. However, there is anecdotal evidence that insulin levels in the bloodstream are very erratic in cold weather.

“If you have an issue, I would still test then and treat, but realize that the insulin may level out a bit in warmer weather,” Kellon says. “The research is divided on whether or not there is a seasonal rise in insulin in autumn. In terms of the [best] time of day to test, if you make sure the horse has constant access to hay or pasture from the night before through the day of testing, anytime is OK. Do not exercise or ship the horse before testing.”

Once a diagnosis has been reached, important comorbidities to consider include laminitis and obesity.

“It has been estimated that around 90 percent of all laminitis cases are caused by elevated insulin,” says Kellon. “Obesity is a common comorbidity, but not always present.”

Signs of Laminitis

If you own a horse that is suspected to be insulin resistant, you should become thoroughly familiar with the subtle warning signs of smoldering laminitis.

“High insulin causes damage to the [hoof] laminae even in horses that have never had a full-blown laminitis episode,” says Eleanor Kellon, VMD, staff veterinary specialist at Uckele Health and Nutrition, owner of Equine Nutritional Solutions, and owner and veterinary advisor for the Equine Cushings and Insulin Resistance (ECIR) Group, Inc. “This is often hard to spot because both feet are equally affected.”

Signs include:
◆ Stiffness at the walk with loss of normal side-to-side sway
◆ Stiff head carriage
◆ The head held either higher or lower than normal when moving
◆ Reluctance to make sharp turns
◆ Hesitation to move off from a standstill
◆ A preference toward soft ground
◆ A slower, shortened stride on hard footing

If you notice any of these signs, talk to your vet about testing and treatment for insulin resistance. A good program should help clear up these signs of low-grade laminitis.

Treatment Options

Successful treatment for insulin resistance lies in a foundation of diet and exercise.

Kellon recommends feeding insulin resistant horses grass hay with a combined sugar (ethanol-soluble carbohydrates, aka ESC) plus starch content of 10 percent or less, fed at 1.5 percent of current body weight or 2 percent of ideal body weight, whichever is larger.

“Carriers for minerals, such as feedstuffs to balance the diet, should be less than 10 percent sugar plus starch,” Kellon adds.

She recommends analyzing your horse’s hay for mineral content so supplementation can be customized to the hay. Some considerations should be kept in mind, like a calcium to magnesium ratio no higher than 2:1 and iron to copper to zinc ratio of 4:1:3.

Soaked, well-rinsed beet pulp is an ideal feed for IR horses. The Equine Cushing’s and Insulin Resistance Group, Inc., maintains a list of other safe feeds.

Exercise is also very important. Turnout, while better than a stall, does not equate to exercise.

There are medications available for horses whose insulin resistance can’t be controlled with diet and exercise alone. Usually, these horses are plagued with chronic laminitis.

“Metformin has the longest history of use but doesn’t work for some and may lose effectiveness over time,” Kellon says. “A group of drugs called SGLT2 inhibitors is being investigated and showing promise. Other than mineral balancing and some supplements to help with laminitis, there are no effective supplements for metabolic syndrome.”

Pasture grazing is risky for a horse with insulin resistance, both because sugar is higher in fresh grass and because levels change significantly from day to day.

“Spring and periods of rapid regrowth are particularly dangerous, but nothing is guaranteed safe,” Kellon explains.

She suggests horse owners avoid allowing an IR horse to graze until the horse’s condition is well-controlled and he is back to a significant exercise level. After that, the horse should only be allowed to graze for 30 to 60 minutes, and only immediately after exercise. Skeletal muscle is the major consumer of glucose in the horse’s body.

“Exercise results in glucose uptake by pathways that do not require insulin, thus relieving the pancreas and insulin of much of their work,” Kellon says. “The effect is strongest for an hour or so after exercise, but still present 24 hours after exercise. As the horse becomes fit, the improved insulin levels and reduced insulin resistance will last for as long as a month after regular exercise is stopped. It’s common to hear of IR-prone horses, like Arabians, that had no issues with grazing or grain when in heavy work becoming obese and laminitic within a month of stopping [work].”

Potential Complications

Once your horse has been diagnosed, it’s important to remain alert for possible complications. A common one is an uncontrolled appetite, which, if left unchecked, can lead to obesity.

Horses may also become more sensitive to common allergens, irritants, and vaccines. Hypertension and elevated triglycerides may develop, but by far the most significant complication is laminitis.

Regardless of potential problems, the bottom line is that there is significant hope for the future of any horse diagnosed with insulin resistance.

Related Conditions

The Equine Cushing’s and Insulin Resistance (ECIR) Group, Inc., was formed in 1999 to help share information and experiences among owners and professionals dealing with what is now known as pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, or PPID. It was formerly and still colloquially called Cushing’s disease.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), insulin resistance (IR), and PPID often have overlapping clinical signs that can make a diagnosis difficult. The ECIR Group works to help caregivers achieve that end.

With thousands of international members, the group’s discussion forum is arguably the largest field trial in the world for both PPID and EMS/IR. It provides the latest research, medication information, and dietary recommendations for horses with these conditions.

In 2013, the ECIR Group, an Arizona nonprofit corporation, was approved as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Tax-deductible contributions and grants support ongoing research, education, and awareness of PPID and EMS/IR. The group also hosts a NO Laminitis! Conference, five of which have been held since 2011.

For more information, visit their website at www.ecirhorse.org.

This article about insulin resistance in horses appeared in the March 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Insulin Resistance in Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

We all love to see our horse enjoying a graze on delicious spring grass. But that pasture your horse eats with such gusto is not as benign as you might think—particularly for horses with metabolic disorders or genetic predispositions, although any horse of any breed can develop grass-related hoof issues at any time. In fact, some horses are better off avoiding the green stuff altogether. Learn how to manage your pasture and feed program to prevent founder or laminitis in your horse.

Mineral Balance

While grass contains most of the nutrients your horse needs for strong, healthy hooves, it doesn’t provide all those nutrients in the right balance or quantities. Calcium, magnesium, and sodium chloride are commonly deficient; selenium and iodine are frequently low as well.

Other vital minerals like zinc, copper, and manganese may also be present, but their levels in relationship to one another will affect how available they are to your horse. Minerals compete for absorption sites along your horse’s intestinal walls.

For example, if zinc levels are too high, they can block copper, a mineral that’s essential for maintaining the robust lamellar tissue your horse needs for his coffin bone to be properly supported within the hoof capsule. Iron is another competitive mineral that inhibits uptake of other minerals that are prevalent in grass.

Starch and Sugar Levels

Sugars and starches can be present in pasture grasses in levels that trigger a laminitic event. These nutrients are meant to be digested in the small intestine, but if your horse ingests these simple carbs in quantities greater than the small intestine can handle, the excess will continue along the digestive tract into the large intestine.

The large intestine is populated with microbes that process digestible fiber. These beneficial microbes thrive in an environment with a relatively neutral pH. If they are overrun with

sugar and starch, their home becomes so acidic they can’t survive. When they die, they release substances that are toxic to your horse.

At the same time, acid-loving microbes take over and compromise the integrity of the intestinal wall, allowing those toxins to penetrate and enter your horse’s bloodstream. When they reach the hooves, they cause the blood vessels to constrict, starving your horse’s hooves of nutrients and setting off a laminitic event.

Forage with a simple sugar (technically known as ethanol-soluble carbohydrates, or ESC) plus starch level of 10 percent or less should be low enough to keep your horse’s microbial population happy. If the levels in the grass are higher and your horse shows signs of inflammation, you will need to limit or restrict your horse’s access to pasture (find grazing muzzle options here).

Some signs that your horse may be getting too much starch and sugar from pasture include a thick, cresty neck; tender feet; a distended or more intense digital artery pulse (on your horse’s ankle); flared or ridged hoof walls; and unusual weight gain or loss.

Instead of grazing, provide low sugar/starch hay 24/7 in a slow feeder, such as a hay net with small holes or another device. To learn what the sugar and starch levels in your pasture are, have it analyzed by an agricultural lab. The report will give you the information you need to determine if your pasture is safe. If you aren’t sure how to interpret the results, an equine nutritionist can decipher the data and help you balance your horse’s diet accordingly.

Mycotoxins

If your hay’s starch and sugar levels are low and your horse’s diet is balanced, but the grass is still triggering laminitis, mycotoxins could be to blame. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic compounds released by fungi that live in grass. Mycotoxins are vasoconstrictors that are absorbed quickly through the small intestine and trigger a systemic inflammatory response, which can then cause laminitis.

According to Jennifer Duringer, Ph.D., director of Oregon State University’s Endophyte Lab, there are more than 500 known mycotoxins.

“Mycotoxin levels rise and fall seasonally and are present in more grass species than was once believed,” she says. “We are currently conducting a study to identify which species are infected.”

You can combat mycotoxins by turning your horse out on a dry lot instead of a pasture, although mycotoxins can be and often are present in cured hay. If you suspect your horse is suffering from mycotoxin-induced laminitis, try removing the offending toxins with a mycotoxin binder to reduce inflammation. These can be found in certain equine feed supplements that generally contain yeast derivatives.

Keeping a laminitis or founder-prone horse on pasture can be challenging, if not impossible. Keep up the good fight against pain and discomfort by reducing grazing as needed, testing hay, and being aware of potential mycotoxins.

This article about how to feed to prevent founder appeared in the March 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Feed to Prevent Founder appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Rabies doesn’t always come in the form of a drooling, snarling, biting dog. Sometimes, especially in horses, this deadly disease presents itself quietly and mimics other conditions. Although equine rabies is relatively rare, it’s a silent killer. Not only can it fatally harm your horse, it infect you and others around the barn. Thankfully, rabies is easy to prevent.

Where and How Equine Rabies Starts

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bats were the most frequently reported wildlife with rabies nationwide in 2018. Rabid bats are found in every state except Hawaii. Skunks, raccoons, and foxes also commonly carry the disease.

Anytime there’s an uptick in wildlife around your livestock, there’s an increased risk of your horse encountering an infected animal. This is especially true if an animal is displaying erratic behavior such as a nocturnal animal skulking about during the daytime. As we all know, horses are naturally curious, but that curiosity can be deadly.

According to Kris Hiney, PhD, assistant professor and equine extension specialist at Oklahoma State University, horses most commonly contract rabies simply due to their curious nature.

“We’ve all seen horses that investigate animals, especially those acting abnormally,” she said. “Thankfully, it’s not extremely common, but rabies is endemic in the U.S. The closer your horse is to wildlife (essentially horses in pastures!) it has the potential to be exposed.”

Rabid animals transmit the viral disease through their saliva, most commonly through a bite. However, transmission can also occur when an infected animal’s saliva enters an open wound on your horse’s skin or through any mucous membrane, including the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Signs of Equine Rabies

There are two classic types of rabies your horse can contract—encephalitic and paralytic. These are more commonly referred to as furious or dumb rabies.

“Furious is just as it sounds, aggressive, and the dumb form results in lethargy, depression, etc.,” Hiney explained.

Clinical signs of equine rabies greatly vary, and the disease may progress rapidly or have a long incubation time with symptoms not appearing for two to six weeks, or even longer. Hiney said that commonly reported symptoms include going off feed, depression, and neurological changes. Other symptoms can include sudden behavioral changes, lameness, muscle tremors, head pressing, difficulty urinating, incoordination, teeth grinding, drooling, and facial paralysis among others.

After the onset of symptoms, your horse is highly contagious and usually only has a few days to a week to live. Unfortunately, the clinical signs of rabies in horses are easily confused with other diseases, which can result in exposure of other animals and human caregivers to the rabies virus.

“Rabies symptoms may be mistaken for colic, EEE, WNV, toxicities, etc.,” Hiney said. “Anytime you see neurologic signs in a horse, you need to take it extremely seriously.”

There isn’t a definitive test to diagnose rabies in horses prior to death. Diagnosis can only be made postmortem through an evaluation of the horse’s brain. If rabies is suspected, it’s critical to limit exposure to the infected horse.

Preventing The Silent Killer

Rabies exposure in horses is less common than in other domestic animals. There were only 13 rabid horses/donkeys reported to the CDC in 2018, but a report from the University of Kentucky indicates about 30 to 60 equine rabies cases are confirmed annually.

With those numbers, why take a chance? An annual shot given with other essential vaccinations protects your horse and prevents him from becoming fatally ill.

“Vaccinate! This disease is preventable and more important it’s a human health risk,” Hiney stressed. “It should be considered part of the core vaccines–Tetanus, Rabies, West Nile, and Eastern and Western encephalitis.”

The alternative to a low-cost vaccination is grim. There aren’t any successful treatments for equine rabies, so there’s no cure.

“Death is always the outcome,” Hiney warned. “The horse may become depressed, ataxic, or more aggressive, depending on how the disease presents, but it always results in death.”

Routine contact with an infected horse may be all it takes for rabies to spread to the horse’s owner or caretaker, too.

“Rabies is kind of a cool virus strategically,” Hiney explained. “It causes salivation and painful swallowing. A large amount of virus is shed in the saliva so essentially it causes the body to do what will optimize its spread. So, any handling of the horse’s mouth could result in transmission. That’s why I recommend using extreme caution and optimal biosecurity protocols with a horse with neurologic conditions. And notify your vet of what they’re walking into!”

The post Equine Rabies: Preventing the Silent Killer appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

We’ve all been there. It’s a spring day of good weather, perfect for a ride. As you amble to the barn to saddle up, you hear coughing. Turning the corner, you see the coughing culprit is your horse.

In another barn, a rider grabs the grooming kit to brush her horse in preparation for the saddle. As she runs her hand over his neck, she feels, and then sees, numerous bumps, some of which have merged to form large bumps.

What is going on with these horses? Allergies.

A Teeming World of Horse Allergies

Unseen by the naked eye, the world is abundant in proteins and substances that can incite an allergic response. These allergens may be inhaled, ingested, or may affect a horse through topical contact. You’ll be tipped off to signs of trouble when you notice your horse has itching, hives, or breathing problems.

Allergies are common throughout the human and animal world, and horses are no exception. Usually, horses manage in their environment just fine without developing obvious signs that microscopic compounds are affecting them. Horse allergies happen when a horse’s immune system overreacts to a foreign protein, goes on the offense and becomes over-sensitized.

Sometimes it takes months or years of accumulated exposure for a horse to become hypersensitive; sometimes the response is more immediate and acute. Whatever specific protein causes the reaction, it sets up a cascade of inflammatory events that release prostaglandins and histamines to create obvious skin or respiratory allergic signs.

Skin Allergies in Horses

Horse allergies that manifest in the skin may result from topical contact, but also may develop from oral ingestion or inhaled particles. Aerosolized dust, mold, pollen, bedding, and insect bites are just a few of the sources that can cause itching and/or hives.

A major cause of itching starts with the bite of insects called Culicoides, also known as midges or no-see-ums. While the midges tend to feed on the abdomen, a horse displays an allergic response to the midge saliva by aggressively rubbing his tail, hindquarters, neck and mane due to intense itching. Those areas become raw, crusty, and inflamed, with substantial hair loss.

Some breeds and lines of horses tend to be particularly allergic to midges, such as Morgans, Icelandics and Arabians. The solution relies on moving the horse away from areas favorable to midge breeding, like ponds, wetlands and slow-moving streams.

Fly sheets are important, but they should have belly bands of netting material. Bringing a horse inside at dusk and dawn also helps to reduce midge exposure, as that is their preferred feeding time.

In contrast to an itching reaction (pruritus), hives aren’t typically itchy but herald a definite sign of exposure to some kind of allergen. Hives tend to be soft swellings that indent when you push in with your finger, called pitting edema.

They may be variable in size, sometimes coalescing into one big welt when several are close together. Inhaled allergens also can cause hives, referred to as atopic dermatitis.
Contact dermatitis is also not unusual. One example that occurs fairly commonly is hives from contact with pine bedding. If there is a suspicion that bedding is a problem, substitute paper bedding or a different source of pine bedding to see if the hives resolve.

Some shampoos or fly sprays can cause skin irritation and hives, as can laundry detergent residue or dirt on a saddle pad. On rare occasions, a horse with a fungal infection called ringworm may develop hive-like reactions around a fungal lesion.

Hives can develop acutely and disappear just as quickly. Sometimes they persist long after the allergen is removed from the environment. In difficult cases, it may be necessary to medicate the horse with a short course of a corticosteroid like dexamethasone or prednisolone, which are effective anti-inflammatory medications.

Certain feedstuffs can set off a skin reaction, although food allergies are not that common. If it is a food allergy, however, it’s often a challenge to determine the exact food or oral substance that is the culprit.

This may need to be done through a process of elimination: eliminate all food and supplements and start by feeding only grass hay, although diet changes may need to be done slowly. Check with your vet. After a couple of weeks with no signs of hive lesions, add in one more food element and wait a week or two before adding in another. This may help pinpoint the cause.

Supplements tend to be the likeliest culprit, far more than hay or feed materials, although alfalfa has been known to cause allergic reactions.

Respiratory Allergies in Horses

Respiratory allergies can affect horse performance by impacting breathing and comfort, especially during exercise. A horse with a respiratory allergy often has a dry cough or wheezing that amplifies when he is eating or exercising. There may be a chronic or intermittent nasal discharge, as well.

Respiratory health is at risk when horses are placed inside barns, especially those with poor ventilation, and/or are exercised in indoor arenas. Many toxic compounds are aerosolized to circulate in the air in those environments: endotoxin (part of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria) in manure, ammonia vapor from urine-soaked bedding, mold spores from hay, or hay dust filtering down when stored in lofts above the stalls or arena. Arena footing can also contribute to respiratory irritation.

The best solution is to minimize a horse’s time indoors and instead turn him out as much as possible. Better yet, arrange full-time outdoor living with run-in sheds to protect against inclement weather. Soaking or steaming hay before feeding helps tamp down dust and mold.

If barn living is all you have available, then implementing good ventilation is very important. Use appropriately placed fans, open windows, and open barn doors to keep fresh air circulating. Store hay in a building separate from horse housing.

Another important strategy for respiratory health is to keep your horse on a regular immunization schedule, especially against respiratory viruses. Equine influenza virus is known for causing long-term respiratory damage, including development of equine asthma. Discuss an appropriate vaccine schedule with your veterinarian.

Once a horse develops equine asthma, a variety of medications, including inhaled and/or oral bronchodilators, can help improve his comfort and ease of breathing. It is much easier and more effective to apply an ounce of preventive strategies for respiratory health than a pound of cure to treat after the fact.

Equine Anaphylaxis

In an instance where a horse’s immune system develops a profound and severe reaction, a horse can experience life-threatening anaphylaxis. With that in mind, it’s important to contact your vet immediately when seeing signs of an allergic response, particularly if your horse is having difficulty breathing and/or there is swelling of his face and muzzle or limbs and belly.

If your horse has a known allergy to a medication, such as penicillin or a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) like phenylbutazone or flunixin meglumine, it’s critical to place caution signs on the horse’s stall door and paddock to prevent accidental administration of potentially deadly drugs.

People with allergies wear neck tags or bracelets to convey this critical information, but for horses, it’s necessary to post signs in obvious places. Advise your barn manager and staff, friends and veterinarians who may deal with your horse.

Allergies can be troublesome to resolve, so observe and monitor every facet of your horse’s environment. With knowledge about potential problems, you can deter allergic problems before they begin.

The post Horse Allergies: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

• A spring veterinary appointment for your horse can cover vaccinations, Coggins test, dental exams, and other key equine wellness assessments.
• Riders should plan a careful conditioning schedule for their horses if they’ve been on a reduced riding schedule through the winter.
• Begin insect control procedures now before the height of fly season for best results.

It is best to address these tasks early on so you can make the most of the prime riding months ahead with a fit, healthy horse. Here are nine steps, including a vet visit, to take a proactive approach to your horse’s wellness in the spring season.

Spring Vet Visit: Wellness Exam

A wellness check in the spring gives you a chance to talk to your veterinarian about the best strategies to keep your horse healthy and sound through the busy riding season.

During a spring vet visit or check-up, discuss your plans for the upcoming season and have your veterinarian do a wellness exam to evaluate your horse’s general health and body condition, as well as soundness.

She can advise you on your horse’s feeding plan and give recommendations for preventive care and appropriate parasite control. It’s also a good time to have your vet administer spring immunizations.

Spring Vet Visit: Vaccinations

Many viral diseases coincide with the season, since mosquitoes transmit equine encephalomyelitis (Eastern and Western forms) and West Nile virus.
When horses intermingle during competition and training, it presents an opportunity for organisms to pass from an infectious carrier horse that may not even be showing signs of illness to a susceptible individual. This is particularly true of respiratory viral infections, like influenza or rhinopneumonitis. Protection against these viruses is included in the spring vaccine series.

Tetanus vaccinations are given annually and tend to be included in the springtime vaccination group. With increased spring activity of wildlife, such as skunks and raccoons, it’s ideal timing to guard against rabies, another core vaccine.

In areas of the country where tick-borne Lyme disease is prevalent, a vaccine is recommended. While it’s currently only available with labeling for dogs, the seriousness of such an infection may warrant its use in horses.

Spring Vet Visit: Coggins

In addition to immunizations, a spring vet visit also includes “Coggins” testing for equine infectious anemia (EIA), which is potentially transmitted by large biting flies.

Travel across state lines requires a negative Coggins test, and many clinics and barns require this for entry onto the grounds. Because there is no vaccine for EIA, the only means of controlling transmission of this virus is via testing to identify carrier horses.

The Coggins test should be repeated annually, although some states require a negative Coggins test within six months of entry.

Spring Vet Visit: Parasite Control

With warming springtime temperatures, there is also an increased risk of exposure to internal parasites.

This is an ideal time to have your vet perform fecal egg counts during a spring vet visit to identify the parasite load each horse is carrying, and how well the deworming program done (or not done) during the winter has worked.

It’s also a good way to find out if a particular horse is a “high shedder” or “low shedder” of parasite eggs. A fecal sample collected after the previous deworming gives information that enables your veterinarian to provide guidance about a deworming strategy that takes into account your horse’s specific geographic location, climate and fecal egg count results.

There are two efforts: one is the egg reduction count, which is done two weeks after a deworming treatment in a horse that was found to be loaded with parasite eggs. This identifies if there is drug resistance.

The other is to see how a horse is doing 12 to 16 weeks following the previous deworming, which also determines if he is a low, medium, or high shedder, or is a non-shedder.

Dental Check-Up

Keeping up with dental care is important to your horse’s health. Proper dental care lets your horse chew his feed thoroughly for better digestive health and nutrient use. It also keeps your horse comfortable while being ridden with a bit.

At the very least, a dental exam should be done once or twice a year to keep your horse’s mouth in the best shape.

Feed Adjustments

Along with good dental care, good nutrition is important to enable your horse to perform at his physical best.

Check your hay for mold as you approach the end of last year’s supply. Hay that is overly dry or dusty can cause respiratory irritation. Open a bale and separate a flake; if it makes you cough, then your horse is likely to be similarly affected.

If mold isn’t present and the hay is simply dry, wet or soak it before feeding. To minimize the amount of dust and debris your horse inhales, offer the hay on the ground or below chest level rather than high up in a hay net or top-loaded feeder.

As you put more athletic demands on your horse, you may need to re-evaluate his feed. Changes in ration amounts and type of feed should be modified slowly over a 10- to14-day period to allow the digestive tract to adapt. Adding extra grass hay doesn’t usually require an adaptation period, but adding in alfalfa hay, grain, complete feed, and oil supplements do.

Caution in introducing a horse to spring pasture can save a lot of colic headaches. Start with 15 to 20 minutes a day, and gradually increase the grazing time. Adding 15 to 20 more minutes every five days is a good starting point.

Upon reaching an hour of turnout, time can be increased by 30 to 60 minute increments, depending on the quality of the pasture and the sensitivity of an individual horse’s gut.

Taking time to allow the horse’s intestinal flora to accommodate the rich spring forage helps to minimize digestive upset. It’s also wise to keep horses off pasture when it’s wet to avoid trampling the tender grass. Consult with your vet during your spring vet visit to decide which nutrition plan is right for your horse.

Hoof Care

You may have kept your horse barefoot through the winter and are now ready to have shoes put on him again. Make sure your horse is shod well in advance of important training or events so your farrier can fine-tune the horse’s angles in time for him to adapt to changes.

Wet ground tends to cause thrush or hoof abscesses in certain areas, so daily cleaning and topical application of an anti-thrush product can be helpful.

Conditioning

Bringing your horse back from a winter layoff relies on good common sense.
Start your training program slowly, with steady increases rather than asking your horse for strong efforts right away. Your plan should take into account whether he has enjoyed pasture turnout over the winter or has been confined to a stall. Moving around in turnout keeps tendons and muscles toned, and provides the foundation for a conditioning program.

A stalled or confined horse needs more time to leg up. A general rule is to increase walking periods by five minutes every three days, working up to at least an hour per day of walking.

Then trot can be added, and finally canter work. It’s always best to err on the side of caution, especially if your horse has been idle over the winter.

Pre-Season Insect Control

March is not too early to start thinking about insect control. Flies and mosquitoes spread infection and diseases, including potentially fatal viruses. A smart strategy is to stop the problem before it starts, and minimize populations.

Target mosquito breeding sites by eliminating or frequently draining containers that hold water: flower pots, old tires, birdbaths, buckets, wading pools, and pet food bowls, to name a few. Make sure that gutters drain well and there is good drainage around water tanks. Weekly application of “dunks” or “bits” in ponds and water tanks is a good control strategy. The products contain soil bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) or Bacillus sphaericus (BS), which deter hatching of mosquito larvae, blackflies and midges.

For fly control, there are companies that sell packages of non-stinging wasps called parasitoids (commercially known as as Fly Predators or Fly Eliminators). These beneficial insects feed on fly larvae, which reduces the number of flies hatching to adult form. The company mails you monthly (or weekly) shipments to release from spring until the first killing frost. It’s best to start releasing beneficial insects as early as possible in order to keep adult fly populations to a minimum.

The Bottom Line

Every horse should be treated as an individual to achieve optimal wellness. The best way to do this is to work closely with your vet and be sure to see your vet for a spring visit.

Preventive care is key, including immunization. Dental care, hoof care and good nutrition are all part of maximizing your horse’s health and performance.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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