Preventative Health Care for Horses: Measuring Trends

Sep 07, 2016

Horse ownership brings with it a long to-do list. Long hours mucking, cleaning, and researching the best dietary choices can’t (and shouldn’t) be avoided, and according to a recent study*, neither should veterinary-guided preventive health care.
“Many horse owners think of their veterinarian only in emergency situations and don’t consider obtaining information or advice regarding day-to-day health care, including nutrition, farriery, and dentistry,” noted Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., an equine nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

A one-year study of Pony Club members by Buckley and coworkers conducted in New South Wales, Australia, revealed some interesting trends in preventive healthcare:

1.Foot care was the most regularly administered preventive healthcare;
2. Deworming did not follow current evidence-based recommendations. Instead, some ponies were not dewormed at all, others were dewormed excessively, and some were dewormed using anthelmintic products licensed for use in sheep and pigs;
3.Less than 40% of ponies underwent dental care;
4.Only 4 of the 48 included horses were vaccinated (either tetanus alone or in combination with strangles only). Rabies was not administered because they do not have rabies in Australia; and
5.No annual veterinary health checks were performed on any pony.

“This study shows that in some areas of the world most preventive health care for Pony Club mounts is provided either by farriers or the owners themselves. This latter group likely includes some adults without much experience with horses, though they are supporting their budding young riders,” shared Crandell.

According to the study, many young riders may ultimately own horses as adults, which means establishing the importance of veterinary care early in their lives will ultimately benefit the overall health of their future horses.

Source:Equinews

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.