The Horse

SEP 2017

The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.

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28 TheHorse.com THE HORSE September 2017 Be careful about giving your rested horse sweet treats. While you might be tempted to load him with apples, carrots, and packaged horse treats as an expres- sion of love and compassion, these offer- ings could do more harm than good. If you really want to feed your patient something, try a low-sugar treat, such as a peanut butter-based product, van Eps says. While high in fats, the sugar and starch levels are low enough to keep the horse's insulin levels down. Horses might also enjoy low-calorie treats such as hay pellets and cubes, dried split peas (a great protein source), and beet-pulp-based treats, says Kellon. And if you don't want to ignore your horse completely at mealtime, offer him a bucket of hay pellets with any needed supplements rather than grain. Exercise Options If your veterinarian prescribes strict stall rest, there's not much getting around that. You can hand-walk your horse, with your vet's permission, but hand- walking—while giving the horse a good mental break from the stall—still doesn't provide much useful exercise unless the horse is walked a lot, says van Eps. Check with your veterinarian to see how many hours your horse can be on an automatic walker. And if you don't have a walker, prepare to get as much exercise as your horse on those hand-walking outings. If your horse can have paddock time, this can be good exercise. But if he tends to just stand around, you might need to encourage him to move by putting food and water in different areas, says van Eps. Swimming might be an option for some horses if you have access to an equine pool or horse-safe pond; if the veterinarian authorizes the movement to and from the water source; and if the horse reacts well to swimming, says van Eps. You could even try "fancy therapy equipment" such as an aqua treadmill if it's available, he adds. If the horse's lameness is hoof-related, water activity might be contraindicated, says Bicking. "Walking in water would make the feet soft," she says. "And most aquatic therapy centers don't want shoes on horses for swimming or treadmill work. So if the horse needs shoes therapeutically, swimming or water work might not work." Core exercises might sound tempting to try during stall rest, but they probably do little good in the way of calorie expendi- ture, our sources say. Take-Home Message Managing lameness is complicated in domestic horses because it means having to rest an animal that thrives on movement. To keep your unsound horse healthy, adjust his food intake according to his new needs and keep a close (ide- ally, weekly) watch on his weight, girth circumference, and body condition score. Spread out his meals as much as possible to keep him occupied and his digestive system moving. And keep in touch with your veterinarian about his progress, es- pecially with regard to permitted exercise levels as he heals. With good care and a watchful eye, your lame horse should be able to progress back to healthy sound- ness without the additional burdensome complications of metabolic disorders. h Unsound and Overweight (800) 268-5354 soundvet.com THE EVOLUTION OF EQUINE IMAGING CONTINUES.... Introducing the New LOGIQ ® V Equine NEXT Equine DR ® The Best Selling Equine DR System in History The Chronically Lame Horse Horses that are off work long-term due to lameness need a feeding adjustment consis- tent with their new lifestyle. Depending on the diagnosis, chronically lame horses might be able to have paddock or pasture access after the critical acute period of lameness passes, says Andrew van Eps, BVSc, PhD, MACVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor of equine musculoskeletal research at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, in Kennett Square. While this doesn't provide the horse with a great amount of exercise, it does allow him to move about and expend more calories than if he were stalled. So he can have a modest diet of good-quality, low-starch/sugar forage along with any needed mineral supplements, based on your hay analysis results. If the horse starts to gain weight on pasture, however, you will need to outfit him with a grazing muzzle.—Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA

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