http://www.thehorse.com/free-reports/31853/12-signs-of-good-equine-health
Saturday 28 February 2015
The Equine Heart: Power Plant Unequaled
A horse’s heart supplies blood to all parts of one of the largest domesticated land mammals (often 1,000 pounds or more), not only at rest and during routine activities, but also during periods of extreme physical stress such as that encountered during performing, racing and the training required for those activities. It is a power plant unequaled in any other creature. That it is able to do so attests to the system’s remarkable efficiency and adaptability.
The cardiovascular system of a horse consists of a pump (the heart), a distribution system (arteries), exchange areas (capillary beds), and a collection and return system (veins). The heart of a 1,000-pound adult horse is about the size of a large melon and weighs about 10 pounds. As in all mammals, it consists of the left and right atrial receiving chambers, left and right atrioventricular inflow valves, left and right pumping ventricles, and aortic and pulmonic semilunar outflow valves, plus attached inflow veins and outflow arteries (see photos above).
The left heart collects blood returning from the lungs via the pulmonary veins and pumps it to the body via the aorta. The right heart collects blood returning from the body via the large veins and directs it to the lungs via the pulmonary artery. The output of each ventricle in an adult horse at rest is about 25 to 40 liters/minute (approximately 7 to 10 gallons), compared with four to five liters/minute in an average adult human (1 liter equals about 1.05 quart).
This Horse Report describes some conditions most often encountered by equine cardiologists, including some common congenital defects, some causes of heart problems, and the diagnostic methods that are currently used. In general, however, horses have excellent cardiac health.
Cardiac Disorders
Horses generally do not have the same types of cardiac problems experienced by humans, such as coronary heart disease (atherosclerosis) and heart attacks. But because most horses are not kept as companion pets and are expected to perform work or athletic feats with a rider, the consequence of any kind of cardiovascular disease in a horse could be greater than it might be in a dog or a cat. In addition to the potential effect of a cardiac problem on performance, the safety of the rider must also be considered in determining the future of the horse.
The main observable signs of a heart problem in horses include:
- Loss of condition;
- Increased fatigue during exertion;
- Shortness of breath;
- Increased rate or effort of breathing;
- Weakness occasionally resulting in collapse or fainting; and
- Signs of fluid accumulation in the abdomen or beneath the skin of the lower thorax.
A physical examination in a horse with cardiac disease will usually reveal an abnormality in the audible heart sounds or in the heart rate and rhythm. When an abnormality is suspected, further evaluations by electrocardiogram (EKG) and echocardiogram (ultrasound imaging) might be performed to more precisely identify the nature and severity of the abnormality. Chest radiographs could also be used to help determine heart size and abnormalities in the lungs and chest cavity, but these are often difficult to obtain with conventional equipment in adult horses because of their large body size.
Heart Murmurs
During an examination of a horse’s chest and heart with a stethoscope, a veterinarian might detect an abnormality by the sound of a heart murmur, which is the sound of turbulent blood flow usually caused by an abrupt increase in the velocity of blood flow. When blood moves smoothly through the heart and blood vessels, very little sound is produced (like water flowing smoothly through a hose).
Most heart murmurs are caused by blood flow that becomes turbulent because of increased velocity due to a leak or obstruction in one of the heart valves or because of abnormal communication between different parts of the heart (like the increased velocity and spraying sound you get when you put your thumb across the end of the hose). However, there are some soft, short, variable heart murmurs that can be heard with no other detectable evidence of heart disease. Such murmurs are referred to as normal or “innocent.”
If there is uncertainty about the origin or significance of any heart murmur, further evaluation is usually performed by echocardiography, which provides detailed images of the inside of the heart and can detect abnormal blood flow patterns.
Heart murmurs are graded on a scale of Grades 1 to 6, as follows:
- Grade 1—Very soft murmur that requires extended auscultation to detect.
- Grade 2—Readily audible murmur that is softer than S1 (the first of the two beats in a heartbeat) or S2 (the second of the two beats in a heartbeat).
- Grade 3—Readily audible murmur that is moderately loud and similar in volume to S1 and S2.
- Grade 4—Readily audible murmur that radiates widely and is louder than S1 or S2.
- Grade 5—Very loud murmur with a palpable thrill (vibration) that is detectable with fingertip pressure over the heart.
- Grade 6—Very loud murmur associated with a palpable thrill that is audible with the stethoscope held just off the chest.
The majority of heart murmurs heard in the horse are physiologic or benign. These murmurs can increase in intensity with submaximal exercise and can also be heard with high vagal tone or when the horse is in an excited state. One classic example of this is colic. Often during a painful colic episode a murmur can be heard with a stethoscope that has not been heard before and that will resolve when the colic resolves.
It is important to know which heart murmurs merit further diagnostics and which heart murmurs can be considered incidental. In general, heart murmurs should be assessed by a specialist, especially when accompanied by other signs of cardiac dysfunction or illness. In addition to listening to the murmur with a stethoscope, a cardiologist will be able to assess the heart via echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound). Blood flow through the heart can be analyzed through color flow echocardiography, pinpointing the cause or causes of the murmur. Additionally, the whole heart can be scanned to assess chamber size and contractility.
Congenital Heart Defects
Congenital heart defects are abnormalities that are present at birth. They occur much more common in humans and dogs than in horses. These abnormalities are often discovered within the first few weeks to months of life when a heart murmur is heard during stethoscopic examination of the chest and heart.
Although rare, congenital heart defects can prevent the development of an athletic career and in some cases can be life-threatening. For this reason, every newborn foal should receive a thorough cardiac examination.
A wide variety of simple or complex congenital heart defects can occur, but only a few have been recognized often enough to be reported in more than a few individual horses. The most accurate technique for identifying specific defects and evaluating their severity is two-dimensional echocardiography (ultrasound imaging) supplemented by Doppler echocardiography (imaging of blood flow within the heart and associated blood vessels).
The most commonly reported congenital heart defect in horses is ventricular septal defect, described below. Another defect, patent ductus arteriosus, which is common in humans and dogs, is relatively rare in horses beyond one to two weeks of age.
The ductus arteriosus—a large blood vessel in the fetus that connects the pulmonary artery with the aorta, bypassing the lungs—closes more slowly after birth in horses than in humans and dogs, so that a soft, continuous murmur can be heard in newborn foals up to about a week of age. Horse owners should not panic if their veterinarian pronounces that their newborn foal has a heart murmur, although a follow-up exam should be conducted to make sure the murmur disappears.
Ventricular Septal Defect
In simple cases, the hole results in the passage of oxygen-rich blood from the higher pressure left ventricle to the lower pressure right ventricle and pulmonary artery, primarily during ventricular systole. Because some of this blood bypasses the lungs, it is not fully oxygenated. A systolic heart murmur is usually heard on the right side of the chest over the cranial part of the heart.
Depending on the size of the hole and the amount of blood passing through it, the pulmonary arteries and veins and the left atrium and ventricle are subjected to an increased workload because of this extra volume of blood. If the hole and the resulting shunt are small, the adverse effect on cardiac function might be minimal, and the horse might be fully capable of engaging safely in moderate physical activities without evidence of fatigue or shortness of breath. If the hole is larger and the shunt is greater, there might be signs of cardiac insufficiency with minimal exertion, and the horse could be very limited in its athletic ability. The nature of the defect can usually be confirmed using two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography.
Patent Ductus Arteriosus
The ductus arteriosus is a large blood vessel connecting the fetal pulmonary artery to the descending aorta, allowing blood from the right ventricle to bypass the non-functioning lungs and be directed toward the abdomen and placenta. In all mammals, the ductus constricts at or shortly after birth, eliminating this fetal connection and allowing for the normal development of the blood vessels in the lungs.
Unlike most other domestic animal species, persistent slight opening of the ductus arteriosus is quite common in newborn foals. Because the pressure in the aorta is higher than that in the pulmonary artery throughout the cardiac cycle, blood flows through the ductus from the aorta to the pulmonary artery, and a “continuous” murmur can be heard over the pulmonary artery on the left side of the chest.
Closure of the ductus usually occurs within the first week of life and the murmur disappears. If the ductus remains open beyond the first week, it is called a persistent or patent ductus arteriosus. The resulting shunt might cause blood volume overload in the pulmonary arteries and veins and the left atrium and ventricle. Although slight patency (an open state) in the first week is very common in foals, patency beyond the first week is rare.
Complex Defects
Congenital heart defects are uncommon in horses, but when they occur, multiple or complex defects appear to be more common than in other species such as dogs and cats. These can occur as combinations of embryologically unrelated defects, or as recognized combinations such as tetralogy of Fallot (consisting of a ventricularseptal defect, pulmonic stenosis, rightward malpositioning of the origin of the aorta, and right ventricular hypertrophy/thickening) or truncus arteriosus (consisting of a ventricular septal defect and a single large arterial trunk exiting both ventricles).
In the most severe cases, there could be shunting of oxygen-poor, darker venous blood from the right heart chambers to the left heart, bypassing the lungs and causing cyanosis (a bluish color to the membranes of the mouth and eyes) at rest or during exertion. These defects can be diagnosed accurately only by X ray angiography or, more recently, two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography.
Heart surgery is rarely performed in horses. Congenital heart defects can now be accurately diagnosed using sophisticated ultrasound imaging, but treatment options are very limited for the types of defects horses tend to get.
Acquired Heart Disease
Generally speaking, acquired heart disease is relatively uncommon in horses, although it is encountered slightly more frequently than congenital heart defects. It occurs most often in horses older than five years and only occasionally in younger horses. Degenerative changes affecting the heart valves, myocardium (heart muscle), and lungs are associated with aging, increasing in frequency with age.
The most commonly diagnosed conditions are heart rhythm irregularities and leaks in one or more heart valves. The most common signs associated with heart disease include a reduction in exercise capacity (exertional fatigue), shortness of breath especially following exertion, or the detection of a heart murmur, irregular heartbeat, or other audible abnormality in a horse without other signs of illness. Identification of the electrical rhythm of the heart requires recording of an electrocardiogram.
The normal resting heart rhythm of horses is usually slow (28 to 48 beats per minute) and regular (called sinus rhythm). Many horses also have short pauses in their resting heart rhythm caused by “dropped beats” (called second degree AV block). These are considered to be normal if they disappear during exercise.
Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is an electrical disorder of the heart rhythm—also known as an arrhythmia. There are different kinds of arrhythmias, but the most commonly recognized one associated with diminished athletic performance or more serious signs of cardiac insufficiency is atrial fibrillation. With this arrhythmia, the normally regular organized atrial electrical waves become irregular, disorganized, and chaotic, and the atria fail to contract normally. This results in a very unpredictable irregular heartbeat.
Although atrial fibrillation often develops in horses with advanced structural heart disease and atrial dilation, horses most often develop this arrhythmia with minimal or no detectable additional signs of heart disease. Draft breeds are more commonly affected. In such cases, signs of cardiac insufficiency are usually not recognized at rest or with mild to moderate exertion, but become apparent at more strenuous levels of exercise.
Accurate diagnosis of arrhythmias requires evaluation of an electrocardiogram, where the lack of normal atrial waves and the very irregular ventricular waves can be readily identified. Further evaluation of the structure and mechanical function of the heart by echocardiography is also recommended because the prognosis for treatment, recovery, and return to previous activity levels is directly related to the presence or absence of underlying mechanical cardiac dysfunction.
If there is little or no evidence of underlying cardiac dysfunction, administration of oral or injectable drugs, especially quinidine, is often successful at converting the arrhythmia to a normal rhythm. Most of these horses are able to return to their previous levels of activity and performance, although some experience one or more recurrences of the arrhythmia, necessitating retreatment or retirement from strenuous activity. Quinidine can become toxic to horses at higher dosages and occasionally treatment must be suspended before conversion of the rhythm can occur. A newer catheter option for cardioconversion exists for cases that do not respond to quinidine treatment. This option requires general anesthesia and specialized equipment and is still in the developmental stages.
If serious cardiac disease with atrial dilation is present, the prognosis for functional recovery is poor and conversion of the arrhythmia is usually unsuccessful or temporary. Treatment of the signs of cardiac insufficiency with drugs such as digitalis and diuretics can be considered in selected cases where little physical activity is expected.
Valvular Heart Disease
The most commonly recognized acquired structural heart disorders in horses are degenerative valvular deformities. The process causes thickening and deformity of valve leaflets. These defects result in incompetence and insufficiency of one or more heart valves, associated heart murmurs, and dilation of the chambers that must handle the extra regurgitated blood on either side of the incompetent valve. If the valve leak is severe enough, pressure in the veins leading to the affected side of the heart increases to the point where fluid accumulation (edema) occurs.
Valvular disease is initially diagnosed by the detection of a heart murmur during a physical examination. It is very important, however, to understand that “innocent” murmurs are often heard in normal foals and adult horses. In order to advise an owner or rider about the significance of any heart murmur, it is critical to distinguish between a normal murmur and a pathologic murmur of valvular regurgitation, and to assess the severity of any suspected valve leaks. Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography are the most accurate and least invasive methods to help make such determinations.
In general, mild to moderate valvular insufficiency in a horse without reported signs of illness is compatible with continued use for mild to moderate physical activity. More severe valvular disease, especially when it is accompanied by obvious signs of cardiac insufficiency, atrial fibrillation, or severe enlargement of the heart, is cause for a poor prognosis and a strong recommendation against any riding or forced physical activity.
Myocardial Disease
Myocarditis is occasionally suspected in a horse that develops an arrhythmia or other electrical disorder following an infectious disease such as strangles, influenza, or an internal abscess. Toxic damage to the heart muscle can also rarely occur as a result of severe dietary deficiency of vitamin E and selenium, or as a result of ingesting the chemical monensin (usually from cattle feed).
Vascular Disease
Horses are known to develop several types of disorders that affect primarily their blood vessels. However, atherosclerosis—vascular disease associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and fats in humans—is exceptionally rare in domestic animals, including horses.
Therefore, the consequences of this condition in humans—including heart attack, stroke and other peripheral arterial disease—are also rare in horses. The only common condition affecting the veins of horses is thrombophlebitis of the jugular vein(s) caused by repeated jugular vein puncture, injection of material outside the vein, or use of a jugular vein catheter. The resulting chemical or physical irritation or infection in or around the vein causes inflammation, swelling, and tenderness, followed by formation of a firm clot in a small portion or long segment of the vein. Treatment involves removing the cause and applying symptomatic treatment for discomfort and any associated infection. Thrombophlebitis can occur in other large veins in the horse.
Several conditions can affect the systemic arteries in horses. The most common condition is parasitic arteritis (inflammation of the walls of the arteries) due to the vascular migration of the larval forms of the intestinal parasite Strongylus vulgaris. The resulting dilation and thrombosis (and potential obstruction) usually occur at the origin of the large arteries to the intestines, although other arteries might be affected. Fortunately, this condition can usually be treated or prevented by an appropriate antiparasitic drug treatment program. The incidence of this problem declined significantly with the introduction of ivermectin dewormer in the 1980s.
The other most commonly recognized arterial disorder is called aorto-iliac thrombosis. In this condition, a clot develops at the point where the abdominal aorta branches toward the hind legs. The resulting restriction of blood flow to the hind limbs can cause signs of lameness, stiffness, weakness, and abnormal gait that develops during exercise and usually disappears at rest. This condition is often progressive and rarely reversible, markedly limiting the athletic uses of an affected horse.
Finally, degenerative changes in the wall of large arteries can weaken a vessel and predispose it to rupture and bleeding. The most commonly reported sites of such rupture are the root of the aorta in stallions and the uterine artery in mares.
Summary
The causes of heart disease in horses are often multiple and difficult to determine in individual cases. There is increasing evidence that genetic background might play a major role in a horse’s susceptibility to developing disease. Some heart muscle disorders have clearly been shown to have a major genetic component, and familial or breed tendencies in some conditions strongly suggest that genetics play a role in these conditions.
Unlike in humans, diet and exercise have not been shown to be factors in heart disease in horses, since horses almost never develop atherosclerotic vascular disease leading to stroke or heart attack. Almost all heart diseases, except the congenital defects, tend to increase with age in horses, just as they do in humans, dogs, and cats.
There are no known preventive strategies to reduce the likelihood of heart disease in horses. However, owners of all animals should avoid inbreeding, which might increase the risk of congenital heart defects. Veterinarians at the University of California, Davis, strongly urge owners not to breed any animals with known congenital defects of any kind, including heart defects. They also caution that it is probably wise to also avoid breeding horses that have developed an acquired heart disorder relatively early in life, as this might indicate an increased susceptibility for that condition in offspring.
About the Author
UC Davis Center for Equine Health Horse Report
Friday 27 February 2015
Ice Dancing, Dressage, and Subjective Judging
Dressage is a subjectively judged sport, which means that someone's opinion is behind every winning score.
I almost never watch sports on TV. I've never been able to get into the professional sports that dominate American culture, or even the college basketball that is like a universal religion here in Lexington. But every two years, the Olympics take over primetime and I'm hooked. Skiing, swimming, speed skating or any of those other sports that get zero airtime when the Olympics aren't happening? I can't resist. I even stayed up past my bedtime to watch curling the other night.
So I was watching ice dancing yesterday. After an especially flawless skate, the commentator informed the viewing public that one pair had earned a new world record high score. That announcement was met with a derisive chuckle from my better half, who was pretending not to watch from the other room.
"How can you have a world record in a subjectively judged sport?" he questioned.
Well, the simple answer is pretty straightforward. It's the highest score a panel of judges has ever given an ice dancing pair, therefore it is a record. But I get his point. No matter how complicated the judging system and no matter how many judges you have, there's still a certain amount of opinion involved in scoring a sport like ice dancing.
A few years ago, Moorland's Totilas took the dressage world by storm, setting world records in grand prix dressage with his Dutch rider, Edward Gal. Theoretically, there is some dressage ideal out there, and while we all acknowledge that it will never be anything more than theoretical, horses that come closest to approaching that ideal should earn the highest scores. So that means that when Gal and Totilas performed their tests, they were the closest anyone had ever seen to dressage perfection (at least until Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro toppled their records a few years later.)
But Totilas wasn't and isn't everyone's ideal. While some looked at his flashy, high-stepping motion and saw a horse moving freely with natural brilliance that we should all aspire to, others saw a freakish "circus horse" gait that they attributed more to an extreme training regimen than natural ability or sound dressage practices. No one could argue that he wasn't unique or exceptional, but the question of whether Totilas' way of going was close to the dressage ideal is a matter of opinion.
(There's more to a dressage score than the way the horse moves, of course, but I'm focusing on it here because it is the quality that distinguished Toto from his peers and earned much of the praise and criticism he received during his career.)
If you put Totilas in a time machine and put him up against the horses from 30 years ago, would the judges be amazed by the giant leap forward you'd taken toward the dressage ideal, or would they have been completely turned off? For comparison, here's the gold medal ride from the 1984 Olympics. This is the legendary Reiner Klimke with Ahlerich.
Was the theoretical ideal of dressage different in 1984, or was it the same, but we hadn't yet developed horses that came close to it? And if the ideal is different, how much does the distinction of a world record score mean? If the ideal 20 years from now is different, then who will care what Totilas or Valegro were doing in the dressage arena in the 2010s?
I'm picking on dressage because it's the only subjectively judged equestrian sport in the Olympics, but all of these questions could be asked of other equestrian events. Are the western pleasure Quarter Horses of today better than those of the past? The five-gaited performance Saddlebreds? The hunters? The reiners? Or are they just being taken to some cartoonish extreme that almost parodies the supposed ideal?
That's a question inherent in subjective sports. When you're not being judged on faster, higher or stronger, you're striving for something that can't truly be measured, and that opens the door for taking things too far. Look at what happened with western pleasure. If a low headset is good, people thought, then having a horse drag his nose in the dirt must be better. Ultimately, that led to a backlash against the peanut-roller frame, but things had to get to a pretty low point before the pendulum started to swing back again.
Here's where I'd wrap this up in a neat conclusion, if only I had one. I'm not sure if dressage horses (or ice dancers) are getting better or if judges are prone to inflating scores on some subconscious level. And maybe it doesn't matter, although if the trend keeps up, eventually some dressage horse will get within spitting distance of a perfect score, and then what?
Personally, I would be happy if Valegro and Dujardin kept their records for a long time and a perfect score remained a far-off ideal. There should always be more to strive for. That's what makes sports, Olympic or otherwise, worthwhile.
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Are You Even Listening?
She was my first engineer. And so far it was not going well. The more
clearly I tried to instruct her, the more disorganized she became in
the saddle. The more times I answered her questions with answers like
"well, that depends,” the more uptight she got. I strained and
struggled, squinted and sorted through every possible way to reach her,
but the results just did not arrive. The student seemed to be riding
around ignoring me, which really was starting to annoy me.
Finally, I called her over and looked up at her face which was pinched with concentration and frustration. So, maybe she had been listening? I blinked in the awkward silence between us, feeling myself enter the funk familiar to instructors who have poured out their hearts and spirits and still managed somehow to fail. I imagined my student’s brain as a mesh of circuitry with far more wires than anyone needed to grasp the simple subject of our lesson—rein contact-- which of course formed the problem. My challenge dwelled in how to turn off most of that spaghetti pile of over-active brain wiring in order to reach the single live wire I needed.
In that moment as a young instructor, I learned how very non-linear the dressage learning process was for an analytical mind like my engineer’s. What I had interpreted as her riding around for the past 45 minutes ignoring me, was actually her trying to make sense of a language that sounded like a mashup of disjointed phrases. It was a language of sensations, and speculative scenarios, and imagery. It lacked the promise of clear outcomes and tangible data points. It entertained only a frail causality between aids and outcomes. In other words, my dressage instruction stunk for someone whose mind worked like hers.
Over time, I figured out how to communicate in a way that made sense to minds like hers, which added a level of difficulty to the already hard task of teaching dressage. In a language that, to me, sounded only vaguely horsey, I finally reached my engineer. In fact, her riding progressed in a measurable and pleasing way. I distilled techniques to minimal words, eliminated cues to feel certain things, and otherwise spoke in a way that sounded somewhat detached from horses. But it worked. My student was no longer riding around ignoring me.
Bolstered by my new and arguably clearer teaching language, I felt like my training toolbox had expanded in all kinds of competent ways. Then along came a student whose forehead looked similarly furrowed and pinched as my engineer’s had several months before. In that moment as a young instructor, I learned how differently an artist’s mind functions.
This student stopped me mid-lesson to ask for more complex descriptions of what she should be doing. Her expression conveyed an anxiety that she might not be able to figure things out unless I came up with the right metaphors. Images, she said. She needed some imagery. Some nuanced descriptions of the feelings she should be looking for. In other words, my instruction would be more useful if I could forget the new communication skills I worked so hard to hone. So we did just that. I threw out all my crystal clear pointers with concrete data points, I ditched the short declarative cues, and went to work with Maria the painter.
The more poetic language and multi-tiered pointers I slung at her, the better she rode. Where my engineer would have been smoldering from overload of effusive verbiage, my artist soared. The more rapidly I prattled at her, the more organized she got in the saddle. When I lapsed in to clear-cut sentence fragments with silent pauses for her to practice, engineer style, she mimicked the habit of riding around ignoring me.
Nowadays, I think of the engineer and the artist on opposite ends of a spectrum that good teaching needs to cover. It needs to account for how different words are heard and processed, how flowery descriptions of technique either succeed or fail. Most days it feels like switching between entirely foreign languages, trying through trial and error to determine what kind of thinker a student is. As soon as they begin riding around looking glazed over, ignoring me on the perimeter of their 20-meter circle, I know I’ve missed the mark.
Liked this article? Here are others you'll love:
Evaluating Your Instructor
Five Ways to Show Your Riding Instructor You Care
Finally, I called her over and looked up at her face which was pinched with concentration and frustration. So, maybe she had been listening? I blinked in the awkward silence between us, feeling myself enter the funk familiar to instructors who have poured out their hearts and spirits and still managed somehow to fail. I imagined my student’s brain as a mesh of circuitry with far more wires than anyone needed to grasp the simple subject of our lesson—rein contact-- which of course formed the problem. My challenge dwelled in how to turn off most of that spaghetti pile of over-active brain wiring in order to reach the single live wire I needed.
In that moment as a young instructor, I learned how very non-linear the dressage learning process was for an analytical mind like my engineer’s. What I had interpreted as her riding around for the past 45 minutes ignoring me, was actually her trying to make sense of a language that sounded like a mashup of disjointed phrases. It was a language of sensations, and speculative scenarios, and imagery. It lacked the promise of clear outcomes and tangible data points. It entertained only a frail causality between aids and outcomes. In other words, my dressage instruction stunk for someone whose mind worked like hers.
Over time, I figured out how to communicate in a way that made sense to minds like hers, which added a level of difficulty to the already hard task of teaching dressage. In a language that, to me, sounded only vaguely horsey, I finally reached my engineer. In fact, her riding progressed in a measurable and pleasing way. I distilled techniques to minimal words, eliminated cues to feel certain things, and otherwise spoke in a way that sounded somewhat detached from horses. But it worked. My student was no longer riding around ignoring me.
Bolstered by my new and arguably clearer teaching language, I felt like my training toolbox had expanded in all kinds of competent ways. Then along came a student whose forehead looked similarly furrowed and pinched as my engineer’s had several months before. In that moment as a young instructor, I learned how differently an artist’s mind functions.
This student stopped me mid-lesson to ask for more complex descriptions of what she should be doing. Her expression conveyed an anxiety that she might not be able to figure things out unless I came up with the right metaphors. Images, she said. She needed some imagery. Some nuanced descriptions of the feelings she should be looking for. In other words, my instruction would be more useful if I could forget the new communication skills I worked so hard to hone. So we did just that. I threw out all my crystal clear pointers with concrete data points, I ditched the short declarative cues, and went to work with Maria the painter.
The more poetic language and multi-tiered pointers I slung at her, the better she rode. Where my engineer would have been smoldering from overload of effusive verbiage, my artist soared. The more rapidly I prattled at her, the more organized she got in the saddle. When I lapsed in to clear-cut sentence fragments with silent pauses for her to practice, engineer style, she mimicked the habit of riding around ignoring me.
Nowadays, I think of the engineer and the artist on opposite ends of a spectrum that good teaching needs to cover. It needs to account for how different words are heard and processed, how flowery descriptions of technique either succeed or fail. Most days it feels like switching between entirely foreign languages, trying through trial and error to determine what kind of thinker a student is. As soon as they begin riding around looking glazed over, ignoring me on the perimeter of their 20-meter circle, I know I’ve missed the mark.
Liked this article? Here are others you'll love:
Evaluating Your Instructor
Five Ways to Show Your Riding Instructor You Care
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Monday 23 February 2015
Sunday 22 February 2015
What is Stringhalt?
The rhythmic movement of a horse at trot is mesmerizing in its
symmetry. When this harmonious gait goes awry, you’ll want to know why
it’s happening and what it means for the horse’s athletic ability.
Stringhalt – What is it?
One such locomotor abnormality is recognized as an abrupt lifting of one or both hind legs in an exaggerated manner, particularly as a horse begins to move from a standstill, turns or backs up. This can be due to a syndrome known as stringhalt. Symptoms may be relatively mild with only a slight elevation of the hock; but they can be much more pronounced as the hind leg jerks upward as high as the abdomen, even as extreme as hitting the belly. What occurs when a horse makes this involuntary motion is that the digital extensor muscles act in excess or are unopposed by the flexor tendon muscles – the result is a lack of checks and balances on hind leg muscular movement such that the limb makes an abnormally high upward excursion. On the surface, this may appear as a muscular problem when in fact, such uncontrollable and exaggerated motions are attributable to nerve degeneration that alters regulation of changes in muscle length.
A horse displays the sudden snapping up of the hind legs characteristic of stringhalt. The movement is especially noticeable when backing up or when making tight turns.
Nerve Degeneration – Why?
What causes this nerve degeneration? There are a variety of possibilities. Ingestion of a toxic plant such as sweet peas or vetch can cause injury to the peripheral nerves (outside the central nervous system) that regulate hind limb movement in an individual horse.
Another form of stringhalt, Australian stringhalt, may cause an "outbreak” of stringhalt in multiple horses in a herd. This occurs when horses are pastured in areas with access to flatweed (Hypochoeris radica),dandelion, or little mallow (cheeseweed), particularly in conditions that cause the pasture grasses to be sparse in the midst of an abundance of weeds. Although the name implies a specific geographic location, this can occur in horses anywhere in the world. In addition to affecting the large nerves of both hind legs, flatweed also affects the nerves to a horse’s larynx so instead of a whinny, he may make a hoarse, roaring sound. Rapid recognition as to the problem may help minimize persistent damage. The faster the horses are removed from the pasture containing the noxious weeds, the more favorable the outcome. If left too long, there may be irrevocable damage to the larynx that could affect airway efficiency and thereby impact exercise tolerance and performance.
Besides consumption of toxic plants, another cause of stringhalt is created by traumatic injury – a wound or an impact – to nerves around the hock or upper part of the cannon bone. In this case, the horse usually experiences the problem only in one leg.
Classic stringhalt that affects both hind limbs may also be caused by injury to not just the peripheral nerves but due to injury within the central nervous system within the neck or thoracic spine of the back. While still a neurologic problem, the approach to managing the abnormality requires a careful diagnostic exam and addressing the particular lesions that affect hind leg motor control.
Diagnosis
An accurate diagnosis of classic stringhalt relies on a thorough orthopedic exam as well as diagnostic imaging with ultrasound and radiographs, and electromyogram (EMG) studies that measure electrical signals and nerve conduction in the muscles at rest and during contraction. Australian stringhalt is more readily apparent in its cause because of its effect on multiple horses at once within a herd.
Other nerve or muscular problems may resemble stringhalt and should be differentiated. One such syndrome that can be confused with stringhalt is fibrotic myopathy, which causes the limb to slap hard to the ground due to restricted motion from scar tissue in the hamstring muscles from a previous injury. Shivers can often occur in conjunction with stringhalt – shivers describes tremors in the upper hind leg muscles and involuntary flexion of the hind limb, usually seen in Warmblood or Draft breeds. Even polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) may create hind limb motor coordination abnormalities and this can be evaluated with muscle biopsy.
Solutions
Stringhalt can be difficult to control and when it can’t be controlled, it certainly can affect a horse’s athletic career. In some cases, it may spontaneously resolve. In others, it becomes a long-standing problem. Surgical resection (cutting) of the lateral extensor muscle and tendon has had varying results. Modifying the function of the lateral extensor muscle through surgery has the effect of reducing the force with which the hind limb moves forward, thereby reducing the spastic stringhalt gait.
If the lesion is in the spine due to arthritis or disk disease, this may be manageable with vertebral joint injections and other anti-arthritic medications. Drugs that act as muscle relaxants on the central nervous system have an unwanted effect of sedation so are not particularly in the best interests of a performance athlete.
For injury to the peripheral nerves of the hind leg, there has been some recent research with the use of Botox injected under EMG guidance into the three lateral extensor muscles. The objective is to reduce the spasticity of these muscles so a horse can have more control over movement of the affected hind leg(s). Thus far, this technique is still in research phases.
The important take home message is to call for a thorough veterinary exam for a horse that is displaying signs of stringhalt. The more rapid the recognition, the greater the possibility of an accurate diagnosis so that some therapeutic approach may be possible to keep the horse engaged in active athletic pursuits.
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Nancy S. Loving, DVM, is a performance horse veterinarian based in Boulder, Colo., and is the author of All Horse Systems Go.
Stringhalt – What is it?
One such locomotor abnormality is recognized as an abrupt lifting of one or both hind legs in an exaggerated manner, particularly as a horse begins to move from a standstill, turns or backs up. This can be due to a syndrome known as stringhalt. Symptoms may be relatively mild with only a slight elevation of the hock; but they can be much more pronounced as the hind leg jerks upward as high as the abdomen, even as extreme as hitting the belly. What occurs when a horse makes this involuntary motion is that the digital extensor muscles act in excess or are unopposed by the flexor tendon muscles – the result is a lack of checks and balances on hind leg muscular movement such that the limb makes an abnormally high upward excursion. On the surface, this may appear as a muscular problem when in fact, such uncontrollable and exaggerated motions are attributable to nerve degeneration that alters regulation of changes in muscle length.
A horse displays the sudden snapping up of the hind legs characteristic of stringhalt. The movement is especially noticeable when backing up or when making tight turns.
Nerve Degeneration – Why?
What causes this nerve degeneration? There are a variety of possibilities. Ingestion of a toxic plant such as sweet peas or vetch can cause injury to the peripheral nerves (outside the central nervous system) that regulate hind limb movement in an individual horse.
Another form of stringhalt, Australian stringhalt, may cause an "outbreak” of stringhalt in multiple horses in a herd. This occurs when horses are pastured in areas with access to flatweed (Hypochoeris radica),dandelion, or little mallow (cheeseweed), particularly in conditions that cause the pasture grasses to be sparse in the midst of an abundance of weeds. Although the name implies a specific geographic location, this can occur in horses anywhere in the world. In addition to affecting the large nerves of both hind legs, flatweed also affects the nerves to a horse’s larynx so instead of a whinny, he may make a hoarse, roaring sound. Rapid recognition as to the problem may help minimize persistent damage. The faster the horses are removed from the pasture containing the noxious weeds, the more favorable the outcome. If left too long, there may be irrevocable damage to the larynx that could affect airway efficiency and thereby impact exercise tolerance and performance.
Besides consumption of toxic plants, another cause of stringhalt is created by traumatic injury – a wound or an impact – to nerves around the hock or upper part of the cannon bone. In this case, the horse usually experiences the problem only in one leg.
Classic stringhalt that affects both hind limbs may also be caused by injury to not just the peripheral nerves but due to injury within the central nervous system within the neck or thoracic spine of the back. While still a neurologic problem, the approach to managing the abnormality requires a careful diagnostic exam and addressing the particular lesions that affect hind leg motor control.
Diagnosis
An accurate diagnosis of classic stringhalt relies on a thorough orthopedic exam as well as diagnostic imaging with ultrasound and radiographs, and electromyogram (EMG) studies that measure electrical signals and nerve conduction in the muscles at rest and during contraction. Australian stringhalt is more readily apparent in its cause because of its effect on multiple horses at once within a herd.
Other nerve or muscular problems may resemble stringhalt and should be differentiated. One such syndrome that can be confused with stringhalt is fibrotic myopathy, which causes the limb to slap hard to the ground due to restricted motion from scar tissue in the hamstring muscles from a previous injury. Shivers can often occur in conjunction with stringhalt – shivers describes tremors in the upper hind leg muscles and involuntary flexion of the hind limb, usually seen in Warmblood or Draft breeds. Even polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) may create hind limb motor coordination abnormalities and this can be evaluated with muscle biopsy.
Solutions
Stringhalt can be difficult to control and when it can’t be controlled, it certainly can affect a horse’s athletic career. In some cases, it may spontaneously resolve. In others, it becomes a long-standing problem. Surgical resection (cutting) of the lateral extensor muscle and tendon has had varying results. Modifying the function of the lateral extensor muscle through surgery has the effect of reducing the force with which the hind limb moves forward, thereby reducing the spastic stringhalt gait.
If the lesion is in the spine due to arthritis or disk disease, this may be manageable with vertebral joint injections and other anti-arthritic medications. Drugs that act as muscle relaxants on the central nervous system have an unwanted effect of sedation so are not particularly in the best interests of a performance athlete.
For injury to the peripheral nerves of the hind leg, there has been some recent research with the use of Botox injected under EMG guidance into the three lateral extensor muscles. The objective is to reduce the spasticity of these muscles so a horse can have more control over movement of the affected hind leg(s). Thus far, this technique is still in research phases.
The important take home message is to call for a thorough veterinary exam for a horse that is displaying signs of stringhalt. The more rapid the recognition, the greater the possibility of an accurate diagnosis so that some therapeutic approach may be possible to keep the horse engaged in active athletic pursuits.
Liked this article? Here are others you'll enjoy:
Are There Poisonous Plants in Your Pasture?
Equine Arthritis
Nancy S. Loving, DVM, is a performance horse veterinarian based in Boulder, Colo., and is the author of All Horse Systems Go.
Getting Started with Horses: Lesson Programs
It may be tempting to run out and buy a horse the minute you find
one, but rein yourself in and put the checkbook away for now. It’s a
good idea to start your riding career at a reputable lesson barn with an
experienced instructor.
If you can, keep your search for a lesson barn local. You don’t want to have to drive an hour and a half to the barn once or twice a week. And if your riding progresses, you may have to go more often. You’ll soon tire of spending hours behind the wheel.
Anyone can post a sign on their barn offering riding lessons, so it’s essential that you do some research before you sign up for instruction. Working around horses and riding them can be dangerous activities, so you should look for a barn where the owners, trainers and workers are professionals, and their horses are safe and obedient.
The best way to find a lesson barn is to ask your equestrian friends for recommendations. Where do they ride? Do they enjoy the lessons? Do they feel safe? Are the lesson horses fun to ride? Do they feel that the lessons are worth the money? If the answers to all of these questions are yes, go ahead and take a closer look at the barn.
If you don’t have any horsey friends, pop into the local tack shop. Tack shop employees are usually an excellent source of information about the equine activities in your area. They will know the local trainers and barns, and probably be able to recommend one or two for you to visit. It’s likely that the shop will have a bulletin board where barns and trainers post advertisements. Check it out. Take down some names and numbers and then make some calls.
Still can’t find a trainer or a lesson barn? Contact the American Riding Instructor Association (www.riding-instructor.com) or search the Certified Horsemanship Association's instructor database at www.chainstructors.com. These organizations test trainers to make sure they follow safety practices and stick to high standards of teaching.
Barn Visit
Once you’ve found a few trainers, ask if you can visit their lesson barns. A reputable trainer won’t mind you stopping by the barn as long as you arrange a time to come. A trainer can be busy and if you show up unexpectedly, she may not have time to talk to you.
When you talk to the trainer, ask her about her riding experience. If you want quality instruction, choose a trainer with many years of teaching experience behind her or one who has been to a college with a riding program. Does the trainer compete? Maybe you can go watch her at a show.
A good trainer will show you around the barn and introduce you to some of the lesson horses. She’ll explain how her lesson program works and tell you how much lessons cost.
Take a good look at the horses. If they’re skinny and sick-looking, say goodbye and leave. Lesson horses should look healthy. You shouldn’t be able to see their ribs clearly. They should look cheerful and interested in what’s going on around them. Lesson horses don’t need to be sparkling clean—especially if they live outdoors most of the time.
Look around the barn. It should be neat and tidy. Pitchforks and other dangerous tools should be put away and buckets should be stacked up. There shouldn’t be junk such as wire or broken-down tractors near the horses.
Stalls should be fairly clean and have enough bedding. If horses are standing in piles of manure and the smell of ammonia from horse urine knocks you over, obviously the staff isn’t mucking out on a regular basis. Time to leave! All of the horses should have fresh, clean water available in their stalls, pens or pasture.
Watch as the barn workers take care of the horses. Are they calm and kind? Don’t let your child ride at a barn where people yell at horses or beat them.
How is the staff dressed? The trainer and her team should wear appropriate clothing like jeans or breeches and boots—not shorts and flip flops. You want the trainer to set a good example for your child.
Workers really shouldn’t be smoking at the barn. Cigarette ashes can set a barn on fire in a matter of minutes.
Ask to take a look at the barn’s tack room. Is tack hung up neatly or is it thrown in a pile on the floor? Lesson barn tack doesn’t have to be new or pristine, but it should be clean and supple. Dirty, dry tack can snap during a lesson and cause an accident. Each horse should have its own well-fitting tack and it should be labeled clearly with the horse’s name.
Arena Time
A good lesson barn will give lessons in an enclosed arena with a gate that is closed once the lesson has begun. Lesson horses are smart and, if given the chance, some are happy to lope back to the barn and their feed buckets while their riders pull on the reins. Beginner riders often have steering problems and they need to be in an enclosed area for safety reasons. When you become a more experienced rider you will be able to venture out of the arena.
Spend some time watching a lesson. Are the students wearing safety helmets with chin straps? A good lesson barn will require every person who rides there to wear an ASTM/SEI-certified helmet (more on this later). And that goes for western barns as well. Western riders have been known to fall off too!
Some riders may bring their own helmets to their lessons, but the barn should have a few safety helmets in good condition for you to wear until you buy one.
Are the horses calm and obedient? If you are fairly new to riding, you don’t want to be mounted on a frisky, untrained horse. The horses don’t have to be complete plods, but you don’t want them to be so explosive that they make you feel unsafe.
Do the lesson horses seem happy at their jobs? Do they seem safe to ride? Or do they pin their ears back and kick out at other horses. Do they gallop around the arena out of control or buck after a jump?
Good lesson horses are usually older and experienced mounts. They should be calm and quiet. They should steer and stop. If the horses seem dangerous or the riders look terrified of them, maybe it’s time to look for another barn.
There shouldn’t be more than six students in a lesson. If there are more, the trainer can’t spend enough time with each pupil individually. How long do the lessons last? If a lesson is 45 minutes long, the trainer shouldn’t spend 15 minutes chatting with someone at the arena fence. You are paying good money for your lessons and you should get your money’s worth.
Note the trainer’s attitude. Does she make positive comments to her riders? Is she a problem solver who helps a student if he or she is having problems with a task? A great trainer encourages her pupils, and doesn’t yell at them or make them feel bad. Riding should be a fun and exciting activity.
If you like the trainer and feel comfortable with her teaching methods, ask to sign up for a few lessons. This gives you some time to get a feel for her methods—and you might get a discount if you book and pay for several lessons in advance.
It’s a good idea to pay for one or two private lessons before joining a group lesson. A private lesson gives the trainer one on one time with you. She can determine how well you ride, and she can decide which level of group lesson will best suit you.
After each lesson, ask yourself a few questions. Did you enjoy the lesson? Do you want to go back for more lessons? Do you like the trainer? If you’ve done your homework and found a great lesson program, you should answer "yes” to all of these questions.
Read some tips on how to get the most from your riding lessons >>
Learn how to evaluate your riding instructor >>
If you can, keep your search for a lesson barn local. You don’t want to have to drive an hour and a half to the barn once or twice a week. And if your riding progresses, you may have to go more often. You’ll soon tire of spending hours behind the wheel.
Anyone can post a sign on their barn offering riding lessons, so it’s essential that you do some research before you sign up for instruction. Working around horses and riding them can be dangerous activities, so you should look for a barn where the owners, trainers and workers are professionals, and their horses are safe and obedient.
The best way to find a lesson barn is to ask your equestrian friends for recommendations. Where do they ride? Do they enjoy the lessons? Do they feel safe? Are the lesson horses fun to ride? Do they feel that the lessons are worth the money? If the answers to all of these questions are yes, go ahead and take a closer look at the barn.
If you don’t have any horsey friends, pop into the local tack shop. Tack shop employees are usually an excellent source of information about the equine activities in your area. They will know the local trainers and barns, and probably be able to recommend one or two for you to visit. It’s likely that the shop will have a bulletin board where barns and trainers post advertisements. Check it out. Take down some names and numbers and then make some calls.
Still can’t find a trainer or a lesson barn? Contact the American Riding Instructor Association (www.riding-instructor.com) or search the Certified Horsemanship Association's instructor database at www.chainstructors.com. These organizations test trainers to make sure they follow safety practices and stick to high standards of teaching.
Barn Visit
Once you’ve found a few trainers, ask if you can visit their lesson barns. A reputable trainer won’t mind you stopping by the barn as long as you arrange a time to come. A trainer can be busy and if you show up unexpectedly, she may not have time to talk to you.
When you talk to the trainer, ask her about her riding experience. If you want quality instruction, choose a trainer with many years of teaching experience behind her or one who has been to a college with a riding program. Does the trainer compete? Maybe you can go watch her at a show.
A good trainer will show you around the barn and introduce you to some of the lesson horses. She’ll explain how her lesson program works and tell you how much lessons cost.
Take a good look at the horses. If they’re skinny and sick-looking, say goodbye and leave. Lesson horses should look healthy. You shouldn’t be able to see their ribs clearly. They should look cheerful and interested in what’s going on around them. Lesson horses don’t need to be sparkling clean—especially if they live outdoors most of the time.
Look around the barn. It should be neat and tidy. Pitchforks and other dangerous tools should be put away and buckets should be stacked up. There shouldn’t be junk such as wire or broken-down tractors near the horses.
Stalls should be fairly clean and have enough bedding. If horses are standing in piles of manure and the smell of ammonia from horse urine knocks you over, obviously the staff isn’t mucking out on a regular basis. Time to leave! All of the horses should have fresh, clean water available in their stalls, pens or pasture.
Watch as the barn workers take care of the horses. Are they calm and kind? Don’t let your child ride at a barn where people yell at horses or beat them.
How is the staff dressed? The trainer and her team should wear appropriate clothing like jeans or breeches and boots—not shorts and flip flops. You want the trainer to set a good example for your child.
Workers really shouldn’t be smoking at the barn. Cigarette ashes can set a barn on fire in a matter of minutes.
Ask to take a look at the barn’s tack room. Is tack hung up neatly or is it thrown in a pile on the floor? Lesson barn tack doesn’t have to be new or pristine, but it should be clean and supple. Dirty, dry tack can snap during a lesson and cause an accident. Each horse should have its own well-fitting tack and it should be labeled clearly with the horse’s name.
Arena Time
A good lesson barn will give lessons in an enclosed arena with a gate that is closed once the lesson has begun. Lesson horses are smart and, if given the chance, some are happy to lope back to the barn and their feed buckets while their riders pull on the reins. Beginner riders often have steering problems and they need to be in an enclosed area for safety reasons. When you become a more experienced rider you will be able to venture out of the arena.
Spend some time watching a lesson. Are the students wearing safety helmets with chin straps? A good lesson barn will require every person who rides there to wear an ASTM/SEI-certified helmet (more on this later). And that goes for western barns as well. Western riders have been known to fall off too!
Some riders may bring their own helmets to their lessons, but the barn should have a few safety helmets in good condition for you to wear until you buy one.
Are the horses calm and obedient? If you are fairly new to riding, you don’t want to be mounted on a frisky, untrained horse. The horses don’t have to be complete plods, but you don’t want them to be so explosive that they make you feel unsafe.
Do the lesson horses seem happy at their jobs? Do they seem safe to ride? Or do they pin their ears back and kick out at other horses. Do they gallop around the arena out of control or buck after a jump?
Good lesson horses are usually older and experienced mounts. They should be calm and quiet. They should steer and stop. If the horses seem dangerous or the riders look terrified of them, maybe it’s time to look for another barn.
There shouldn’t be more than six students in a lesson. If there are more, the trainer can’t spend enough time with each pupil individually. How long do the lessons last? If a lesson is 45 minutes long, the trainer shouldn’t spend 15 minutes chatting with someone at the arena fence. You are paying good money for your lessons and you should get your money’s worth.
Note the trainer’s attitude. Does she make positive comments to her riders? Is she a problem solver who helps a student if he or she is having problems with a task? A great trainer encourages her pupils, and doesn’t yell at them or make them feel bad. Riding should be a fun and exciting activity.
If you like the trainer and feel comfortable with her teaching methods, ask to sign up for a few lessons. This gives you some time to get a feel for her methods—and you might get a discount if you book and pay for several lessons in advance.
It’s a good idea to pay for one or two private lessons before joining a group lesson. A private lesson gives the trainer one on one time with you. She can determine how well you ride, and she can decide which level of group lesson will best suit you.
After each lesson, ask yourself a few questions. Did you enjoy the lesson? Do you want to go back for more lessons? Do you like the trainer? If you’ve done your homework and found a great lesson program, you should answer "yes” to all of these questions.
Read some tips on how to get the most from your riding lessons >>
Learn how to evaluate your riding instructor >>
Three Exercises to Master the Halt
Three Exercises to Master the Halt
These exercises will help you achieve a square halt in your next dressage test.
By
Jec Aristotle Ballou |
January 2014
If a horse is engaged and balanced before being asked to stop, he will inevitably halt square; his legs will be equally balanced underneath him. More frequently, though, halts are anything but square. It’s common to see riders wiggling around in the saddle trying to "square up” their horse after he has stopped in a sprawled out position.
Instead, focus on the quality of work that precedes the halt. Through the practice of setting your horse up to execute balanced stops, you’ll improve the halt and, more importantly, his overall body mechanics. This will better his entire way of moving and performing.
Challenges you might face at the halt include:
- The horse braces his neck and ignores your request.
- The horse hollows his topline and loses his balance.
- The horse becomes crooked or swings his body around.
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Frequent adjustment of stride length within the trot, for example, keeps the hind legs active. This prevents them from trailing behind the body. Also, the practice of reducing your horse’s stride length and tempo helps keep him responsive and light on your aids, and eliminates any habit he may have of bracing his neck or pulling on the reins when asked for a downward transition. After riding lots of transitions within the various gaits, it will be much easier to get a prompt and square halt transition.
- Establish a steady working trot, tracking right.
- As you ride around the track, ask your horse to slow down for four strides each time you pass A, E, C and B.
- After each clear downshift in tempo, resume working trot.
- Once these transitions are happening smoothly, ask for four strides of a faster, bigger trot at each of those letters.
- Ride a few laps around the arena this way. Then, return to riding transitions to a slower and shorter trot at the letters.
- Catch your horse by surprise and ride a gentle, smooth downward transition to the halt. Be sure to transition first to the slower trot like you were doing previously. When you feel him respond, complete the halt transition. Your horse should be soft, balanced and engaged.
One common cause of an unsquare halt is a horse careening through your aids when you ask him to stop—swinging his butt sideways, being late to stop, and falling sideways off his line of travel. A good way to get control over his feet is by using a ground pole square. This will help your horse organize his body by giving him a visual boundary. Halting inside the box with a pole behind his hind legs can also cure the bad habit of taking a step back after stopping. Repeatedly halting inside the space of the ground pole square allows your horse to practice clean halts without swinging sideways or stepping backward.
- Set up a square on the ground using four 8-foot poles.
- Develop a working trot and ride in a straight line toward the box.
- Ten meters from the box, transition down to a walk.
- Enter the box in a marching walk.
- Begin asking for the halt as soon as your horse’s front feet cross the first pole.
- Once his back legs have stepped into the box, you should be stopped.
- Stand quietly inside the box for several seconds with your horse remaining on the bit and attentive.
- Once this pattern is going smoothly, shorten the distance you walk into the box until you are trotting directly into it and halting.
If your horse initially stops square but then fidgets around and gets antsy or impatient, you can use the following exercise that many cowboys use to create balanced, quiet stops. It asks your horse to work very hard for a short burst and then offers him the chance to rest quietly in the halt. If he opts to fidget around instead of rest quietly, immediately hustle him back out on the pattern. Keep doing this until you are able to finish the pattern, drop the reins, and not feel him move a muscle under you.
Sometimes this exercise requires patience and multiple repetitions, but it nearly always works. It is far more effective than trying to discipline a horse for dancing around or giving stronger and stronger halt aids, which are increasingly futile. It uses the horse’s forward energy to your advantage. He soon learns that it is a lot less work to stand still, and the halt becomes enjoyable rather than a bore.
- Starting from a standstill, take off in a brisk trot or canter
around the first "leaf” of a four-leaf clover pattern. (In a 20-meter
wide dressage arena, each leaf will be about 10 meters in diameter.)
- Keep hustling around all four leaves.
- Park your horse in the center where you started, drop the reins, and sit quietly.
- As soon as he moves a foot or fidgets, shorten your reins and
immediately take off for another trip around the cloverleaf pattern.
- Repeat step No. 3.
JEC ARISTOTLE BALLOU is the author of 101 Dressage Exercises for Horse & Rider.
Harmony Between Species
Harmony Between SpeciesHorses and seemingly unlikely companions often form strong social bonds. You may have seen this sort of bond between species with your own horse and dog. I've seen it with my mare, Duchess. One dreary afternoon last winter I drove out to the barn hoping to squeeze a short ride into my hectic schedule. I briskly tacked her up and led her into the indoor arena. Realizing I'd forgotten my helmet, I left Duchess at the mounting block while I ran back to the barn to grab it. When I returned, I saw that a very friendly barn kitten had climbed the mounting block steps to make acquaintance with my mare. Duchess had lowered her head to cat level and was curiously investigating her new friend while the kitten did the same. Awareness of my approach brought an early end to the budding relationship as Duchess turned her attention toward me and the kitten hastily scurried away. I wondered what had motivated the kitten to brazenly approach such a large creature, and why my mare had handled the encounter with an unknown animal with such gentleness. The unique qualities of individuals such as my mare Duchess and the variability within a species such as the horse make behavior a science where absolute answers are hard to come by. Behaviorists, therefore, must make generalizations based on the behavioral tendencies of samplings of horses representing the population at large. Most behavioral scientists agree that the reason such amicable alliances form between horses and other animals is due in large part to the horse's unique social nature. According to Stephen Budiansky, author of The Nature of Horses, horses show a strong fundamental instinct to form long-lasting attachments to specific individuals. This basic instinct toward bonding is the glue that holds harems, the fundamental social structure of the horse, together. But so general is this drive to bond that it appears within horse society in many contexts that have nothing to do with mating. Horses removed from a herd will also readily form attachments to human owners or even a barn cat. That is if the cat will have them. In general, cats are considered nonsocial because they do not live in groups as adults if they are living on natural prey. When placed together in a home or farm, cats will form dominance hierarchies, but marked aggression may persist in this essentially solitary species. A cat will generally do its utmost to define a territory of its own and to be self-reliant. Dogs, on the other hand, are more like horses in that they are members of a species that forms "packs" with social bonds. What makes them different from horses is the reason for the social order—they form packs to better bring down prey, living as a group to hunt more successfully. Hence, for dogs membership in a pack is very desirable, but not a necessity for survival. In contrast to these companion-animal species, horses, as prey animals, must rely upon each other for survival. As a result of this mutual dependence, the bond between horses is very strong. You've probably noticed this when trying to take your horse out for a ride without his equine buddies. Cows and goats, which are also prey herd animals, may share just as strong an attachment to their equine companions as the horse will. So where does the horse rank in comparison to other companion animals in terms of intelligence? As I discussed in a previous column, intelligence is difficult to define in animals because we do not share a language with them. On the other hand, learning ability can be measured by trying to quantify the time it takes the horse to learn tasks or solve problems. So it makes a little more sense to try to compare the learning abilities of different species rather than their innate intelligence. R.K. Thomas published a study review conducted on vertebrate "intelligence," which suggested that horses score very well in comparison to other species on learning tests. Using discrimination learning, in which animals must select a specific item to earn something rewarding, Thomas reported that horses achieve high scores in comparison to other species, including many mammals. While horses can certainly hold their own against other species in terms of learning ability, the type of learning that horses excel at is not the same as that of dogs or cats by nature. Remember, what matters for horses is to learn to survive as a flight animal — being able to recognize other herd members and to discriminate them from potential enemies; to sense danger and to react appropriately. Dogs and cats, however, must be tactical thinkers — they must select prey and devise a strategy to overpower or head off the prey. While each of the companion species is "smart," natural selection has designed them to think and behave very differently. Horses will naturally be more reactive, dogs and cats more cunning. So, while many different types of animals have the potential to become your companions, you're likely to find their species-specific behavior very different. A relationship with a cat, dog or horse will have its own unique qualities, depending on the individual animal and the nature of the species. In general, the cat will be the most aloof of the three main companion species, the dog the most like our own predatory and social species. Of the three, the social horse is the most unlike us. By bridging the gap between ourselves and an animal that often falls victim to species such as ours, we gain something of value for our own humanity. Perhaps this is the true appeal of building a relationship with a horse. Liked this article? Here are others you'll enjoy: Dogs and Horses The Benefits of Barn Cats |
The Farrier's Role in Horse Hoof Care
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· · · ·
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Farriers perform duties such as trimming horse’s feet and often applying
shoes for protection.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
International Hoof Care Month is celebrated throughout the month of February.
During this time, it is important to recognize the significant contributions
farriers make to the equine community.“Farriers perform duties such as trimming horse’s feet and often applying shoes for protection,” said Jason Wilson-Maki, farrier for the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, in College Station. “How complex the shoe(s) will need to be depend on the horse’s individual needs, what activities he undertakes, and what may be needed to address any hoof issues.”
Due to the fact that no minimum education is required to become a farrier, a large diversity exists within the farrier community in regards to skill sets and knowledge. However, organizations such as The American Farriers Association offer a series of voluntary examinations by which individuals can earn credentials.
“Within the United States, there is no minimum education or skill set requirement to trim or shoe horses’ feet; any person at any point may technically do farrier work,” said Wilson-Maki. “With that being said, many horseshoeing schools, both public and private, exist and attempt to impart to their students a good basic skill set.”
Though they differ in job titles, both the veterinarian and the farrier have important roles in the long and short term care of the horse’s foot.
“A farrier works on the hoof capsule and corrects distortions that are evident by observation,” said Wilson-Maki. “However, a farrier cannot diagnose nor treat lameness, and are not required within the United States to have any formal education.”
In contrast, veterinarians have different tools, such as regional anesthesia, radiographs, ultrasound, and MRIs to diagnose lameness, as well as a specified education and specific practice laws under which they work.
“(Veterinarians) may also treat the diagnosed lameness by means of medical treatment,” said Wilson-Maki. "Often, shoeing and trimming protocols are an integral portion of the overall approach."
As far as farrier service pricing goes, it varies greatly within the region and county.
“What would be considered usury in rural Texas may well below average in (places like) New Jersey,” said Wilson-Maki. “An owner could ask about the pricing ahead of time and get a feel for what is normal within a given region.”
Additionally, each horse and owner will have different needs from and expectations of, respectively, a farrier.
“A salient point that must be highlighted is that the owner must be able to communicate clearly and well with the farrier,” said Wilson-Maki. “An owner should seek out a farrier that can meet the needs of their animal and with whom they can communicate.”
Whether your horse is a champion barrel racer or a leisure-riding companion, farriers are vital to your horse’s health and well being, and finding one that meets their specific needs takes clear communication between horse owner and farrier.
About the Author
Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Saturday 21 February 2015
Consequences of Stall Confinement
Photo: Thinkstock
As social relationships between horses become a greater equine welfare
focus, scientists are seeking ways to allow social interactions for animals
housed in traditionally isolating box stall settings. But don't tear your barn
and stalls down just yet: French researchers recently tested another
solution—windows between stalls—with positive results.“Horses stabled with a large open window between two stalls showed more positive social behavior and less aggression and boredom than when they were separated by full walls,” said Claire Neveux, MSc, researcher and equine behavior consultant at Ethonova, based in Monteille. Neveux presented her research at the 2014 French Equine Research Day held March 18 in Paris.
In her study Neveux and her fellow researchers observed 12 riding horses in their home stable for 10 days. For the two days prior to the study period, horses were allowed to see each other through a barred window installed in their normal 9 foot-by-9 foot box stalls. (There was only one window for every two stalls.) Additionally, each stall had a half-door that opened to a common area where they could see other horses, but not touch them.
For the first five days of the study, the researchers closed the barred windows to create a solid wall, as the horses had been stalled previously, but the horses could still look into the common area via their open half-doors. In the second half of the experiment the researchers opened the windows between the stalls and removed the bars, allowing the horses access to their neighbors. In each study phase researchers noted 180 behaviors per 24-hour period per horse.
The team observed that the horses showed significantly more positive social contact with the inter-stall windows open, including touching with ears pointed forward and social grooming. The animals showed less aggressive behavior (such as kicking the door, laying their ears back, and biting threats) when the windows were open than when they were closed, Neveux said. Additionally, when the windows were open the horses spent less time standing idle with their heads hanging out the half-door to the common area, indicating possibly less boredom or depression, she said.
The researchers reported that they observed no equine injuries during the study period.
“The results of this study have not only shown that it’s possible to allow horses to have social interactions even when housed in box stalls, but that this also leads to changes in the horses’ activity during the day—changes which seem rather positive because they’re associated with the presence of an equine companion,” Neveux said.
About the Author
Christa Lesté-Lasserre is a freelance writer based in France. A native of Dallas, Texas, Lesté-Lasserre grew up riding Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, and Shetland Ponies. She holds a master’s degree in English, specializing in creative writing, from the University of Mississippi in Oxford and earned a bachelor's in journalism and creative writing with a minor in sciences from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She currently keeps her two Trakehners at home near Paris. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.Opening Windows for Equine Social Interaction
Photo: Thinkstock
As social relationships between horses become a greater equine welfare
focus, scientists are seeking ways to allow social interactions for animals
housed in traditionally isolating box stall settings. But don't tear your barn
and stalls down just yet: French researchers recently tested another
solution—windows between stalls—with positive results.“Horses stabled with a large open window between two stalls showed more positive social behavior and less aggression and boredom than when they were separated by full walls,” said Claire Neveux, MSc, researcher and equine behavior consultant at Ethonova, based in Monteille. Neveux presented her research at the 2014 French Equine Research Day held March 18 in Paris.
In her study Neveux and her fellow researchers observed 12 riding horses in their home stable for 10 days. For the two days prior to the study period, horses were allowed to see each other through a barred window installed in their normal 9 foot-by-9 foot box stalls. (There was only one window for every two stalls.) Additionally, each stall had a half-door that opened to a common area where they could see other horses, but not touch them.
For the first five days of the study, the researchers closed the barred windows to create a solid wall, as the horses had been stalled previously, but the horses could still look into the common area via their open half-doors. In the second half of the experiment the researchers opened the windows between the stalls and removed the bars, allowing the horses access to their neighbors. In each study phase researchers noted 180 behaviors per 24-hour period per horse.
The team observed that the horses showed significantly more positive social contact with the inter-stall windows open, including touching with ears pointed forward and social grooming. The animals showed less aggressive behavior (such as kicking the door, laying their ears back, and biting threats) when the windows were open than when they were closed, Neveux said. Additionally, when the windows were open the horses spent less time standing idle with their heads hanging out the half-door to the common area, indicating possibly less boredom or depression, she said.
The researchers reported that they observed no equine injuries during the study period.
“The results of this study have not only shown that it’s possible to allow horses to have social interactions even when housed in box stalls, but that this also leads to changes in the horses’ activity during the day—changes which seem rather positive because they’re associated with the presence of an equine companion,” Neveux said.
About the Author
Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA
Christa Lesté-Lasserre is a freelance writer based in France. A native of Dallas, Texas, Lesté-Lasserre grew up riding Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, and Shetland Ponies. She holds a master’s degree in English, specializing in creative writing, from the University of Mississippi in Oxford and earned a bachelor's in journalism and creative writing with a minor in sciences from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She currently keeps her two Trakehners at home near Paris. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.Give Your Horse a Breath of Fresh Air This Winter
House your horse outside as often as possible, even during the winter, to help keep him in optimum respiratory health.
Photo: iStock
Take a look around your barn, what do you see? Horses in their half-mucked
stalls with straw or shavings and a wheelbarrow and pitchfork right outside;
the tractor running at the barn door; hay bales piled outside stalls and at the
end of the shedrow; a fan on the floor; piles of blankets, coolers, slinkies,
bandages, and wraps; dusty shelves covered with medications and first aid
supplies; a tack room “graveyard” of retired equipment; sunbeams struggling to
shine through dirt-covered windows with dust motes dancing in the light.“Barns are inherently difficult to keep clean, but dusty barns can wreak havoc on some horse’s respiratory health,” said Melissa Millerick-May, MSc, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in Michigan State University's Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, in East Lansing. "This can result in airway inflammation in both young and older horses and exacerbate symptoms in horses previously diagnosed with heaves (or recurrent airway obstruction, RAO)."
Millerick-May’s research found that air particles measuring ≤10 microns in diameter—which is smaller than the human eye can detect—can reach horses’ lower airways and cause problems, including inflammation and mucus accumulation. Those small particles tend to travel with larger particles, which are inhaled and irritate the upper airways. This means that if we can see dust motes in the barn, we need to consider the small particles moving with them as a potential hazard for airway health in our horses and ourselves.
“There are several easily implemented management strategies designed to reduce dust and other respiratory irritants to help minimize inflammation in your horses’ airways, which are known to negatively affect performance," Millerick-May said. "These practices should be established even if your horse hasn’t developed overt signs of respiratory disease, as in most cases of IAD (inflammatory airway disease). These horses may be characterized as not meeting performance expectations, resistant (to work), not able to maintain a level of ‘effort’ that shouldn’t be a problem given their training schedule, etc.”
Millerick-May also noted that such small particles can also affect human airway health: "By implementing low-dust control methods, we’re likely to improve our own health as well."
Consider these tips to help protect your horse's breathing zone (the 2-foot sphere around the horse’s nose from where he draws his breath) and most effectively achieve optimal respiratory health:
- House your horse outside as often as possible, even during the winter. Barns are a Mecca of motes, mites, and molds. Many horses can be maintained on pasture almost year-round. But avoid simply throwing a round bale in the paddock. Horses often lunge their noses into the bale for prolonged periods of time inhaling particles, which negate the benefits of living on pasture. If you need to supplement with round bales, store them elsewhere and place measured amounts of hay in the pastures to be fully consumed daily.
- Consider soaking or steaming hay to minimize inhalation of dust and mold; feed hay off the floor to promote mucus drainage from the airways; or use hay alternatives such as haylage, complete pelleted feeds, or alfalfa cubes. If you must use a haynet, use a slow feeder to prevent the horse from burying his nose in the hay, also making it more difficult to grab hay within the net and shake it.
- When mucking, sweeping, or cleaning, always turn horses out first and leave them out for a while, as it takes several hours for the dust to settle. You might consider applying an agent designed to reduce ammonia levels, and don’t leave vehicles/tractors running near horses.
- Reduce clutter in the barn, and do not store hay or bedding materials near horses. If your horse must be stabled, be sure to use good-quality bedding, regardless of whether you choose shavings, straw, or another option.
- Leave doors and windows open to promote air circulation. If planning barn updates/renovations, consider ventilation and adding soffit or ridge vents.
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