Dermatophilus congolensis, more commonly known as Rain Scald, is a bacterial infection found in cows and horses. The bacteria latch onto a carrier horse and activate when the carrier’s skin is exposed to wet weather. Biting and non-biting flies, together with humidity and high moisture, cause infective zoospores to spread from one horse to another….
When exercising, the horse’s working muscles generate heat… The body heats up… The horse sweats… Excess heat is then dissipated through evaporative cooling. As simple as that! Right? Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for all horses. Picture this – it’s a typical Summer’s day in Australia. Hot. Humid. Plagues of flies and other bugs. Cicadas…
What is EIPH? EIPH is defined as bleeding from the lungs of horses during exercise (Hinchcliff et al. 2015). The condition is most frequently identified in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses performing high-speed exercise, but cases can also occur in horses used for other disciplines such as western performance, eventing, show jumping and polo (Rendle 2016;…
Watch below as Dr. Leanne Begg talks about the causes and symptoms of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome….
The painful scabs that form when Greasy Heel strikes do not look or feel great on your horse, but should you pick them off? The answer is yes! The bacteria, fungi and mites that cause the greasy heel most often live underneath these scabs, so until they are removed, the infection is extremely likely to…
The muscle fibres of a horse are a huge asset to the racing or performance horse. Without them, there’s not much to work with – so as well as building muscle mass, the muscles also need to be protected! Low intensity exercise at an easy pace, allows for oxygen to replenish the muscles as he moves. In…
What you feed can have a huge impact on how well your horse performs. Nutrition, supplies the protein to build muscle and the energy to fuel muscle, but there is much more to feeding the performance horse than just providing energy and protein. Let’s be clear though, nutrition is never going to improve a horse…
Chelated (Key-lated) minerals are minerals already bound to a small piece of protein. For minerals to be absorbed they need to be attached to a protein or a sugar which is easily absored in the small intestine. Chelated minerals don’t rely on this ‘attachment’ happening by chance, as they are all ready to be ‘smuggled’…
One of the most essential items to have in your truck or float when you are out competing is a quality clay poultice. Applied to the horse’s leg, a poultice can reduce inflammation quickly, decrease pain and keep you and your horse in the competition. Travelling, warm-ups, standing in stalls and actually showing or competing…
Presentation is everything! A healthy, shiny coat and deep cleansed skin can make an instant impression. Here are five tips which will help you to achieve an eye-catching show coat. Tip 1 Improve Skin Condition: In the past, few people bothered about the horse’s skin health. Everything was to do with gloss and sheen. Long…
Feeding for Strength – Why you Need Supplements for Power, Strength and Topline Does your horse need body strength? Leg strength? Energy? Power? Read on to see how your horse can benefit from supplemented chelated minerals. Want body and leg strength? In order to gain strength and muscle, your horse needs to have an adequate…
Travelling long distances with performance horses can be stressful, expensive and can impact heavily on their health and wellbeing. Imagine arriving at your destination and discovering that your horse is unfit to compete! Thankfully there are ways to minimise the negative effects of lengthy journeys, you just need to know how. Carsten and Fiona Graetz…
Did you know that Gastric Ulcers are one of the most common issues that equine vets deal with every day? They are caused by an unnatural build-up of stomach acid which damages the stomach lining and they don’t always show up upon scoping. It’s not just racehorses who are prone to ulcers, between 50 and…
Presentation is everything! A healthy, shiny coat and deep cleansed skin can make an instant impression. Here are five tips which will help you to achieve an eye-catching show coat. Tip 1 Improve Skin Condition: In the past, few people bothered about the horse’s skin health. Everything was to do with gloss and sheen. Long…
