Anemic horse

Do you have an anemic horse? If it's so, is your horse situation chronic or temporal? Did you find any solution to it?

Travagliato cavalli

Anche quest'anno si svolgerà a Travagliato il consueto appuntamento con la fiera dedicata a tutti gli appassionati di cavalli. Avendo partecipato a diverse precedenti edizioni ed essendone sempre rimasta entusiasta penso che un giro ce lo farò anche quest'anno. I giorni previsti per la rassegna sono il 25, 26, 27 e 28 aprile 2013. Perché Travagliato? Personalmente io la preferisco a fiere più grandi proprio per il suo aspetto più "contenuto" e "famigliare". Le manifestazioni a cui si può assistere sono delle più svariate spaziando dalla monta americana, agli spettacoli, al salto dei giovani cavalli, alla morfologia degli arabi, al salto in libertà dei puledri e via dicendo. Gli stand presenti si snodano su di un percorso completamente all'aperto e si possono trovare in genere tutti i prodotti da selleria come abbigliamento per cavallo e cavaliere, prodotti per la cura del cavallo e via dicendo. Travagliato si trova in provincia di Brescia ed in genere propone sempre anche interessanti iniziative rivolte ai più piccoli (come il battesimo della sella per esempio). Qui il link per andare alla pagina ufficiale della manifestazione dove, al momento in cui scrivo, non sono ancora presenti tutte le informazioni riguardo al programma -che è ancora in allestimento- ma che presto sicuramente potrete trovare.

What is a sarcoid?

After seeing a skin lesion on my horse ear that possibly was a sarcoid I searched for more informations about it to understand better what I had to face. The first thing that I undestood was that there are six different types of sarcoids and that they are the most common skin tumors that can affect a horse. Recognizing them is not so simple and it is very tricky to find an everlasting solution or an effective treatment due to the fact that they may vary a lot from a horse to the other. It doesn't seem to be more common in one breed respect to another but it has been found that the percentage of male horses affected is higher than that of females. Thay can be found everywhere in the horse's skin even if they are more commonly situated around the eyes, the mouth, on the face or the neck but they can grow also on the groin, the sheat and the legs. There is no clear eveidence of their inheritability and the good news is that they do not metastasise but often a horse with a sarcoid can develop others. It's not easy to recognise them because their appearence can vary a lot and they can be single or multiple. Sarcoids classification is based on their form and appearence so there are those that have a verrucous form, a nodular form, an occult form, a fibroplastic form, a mixed form or those called malevolent. The mixed form is a "mix" (as its name suggests) of the other sarcoids forms and every form can change in time and develop into another one. One of the more common reasons for them to change from one form into a more aggressive one is related to an injury. 

Sarcoids can be very small and stay in this way for a long period of time but the best thing to do, when you find on your horse skin something that could be a sarcoid, is to call your vet and ask him for an advise.  Probably, if the tumor is small and it doesn't create any problem to your horse, he will tell you just to monitor it and call him in case there will be any significant change in its dimension. Biopsy is not commonly used because every injury or trauma can worsten the sarcoid condition. 

Is there any satisfactory treatment that can completely solve the situation? The likeliest answer to this question is no because it is not simple to understand which treatment will work at 100%. Some of the possible solutions are: surgery, sarcoid cream, cryosurgery, injections of drugs into the lesion or radiation. Having a good dialogue with your vet is very important because his experience will be very helpful.    

Sarcoid or not?

What do you think about that? Is that a sarcoid or not? It was on the front side of the left ear of a female Haflinger, 6 y.o. It started being very little and after few months it grew suddenly without any clear reason. It used to make a crust that always went of (you can see it from the images below) and then the formation usually improved until it became doubled and then tripled. Unfortunately I do not have any photo taken during the very first time of it but it was really small and difficult to see. What happened then? Maybe an injury caused this growth but to be honest I have no idea about that. As I knew that the best solution in these cases was not touch the sarcoid until he doesn't create any problem I waited to call the vet who saw it when it started to grow. He told me that probably it was a sarcoid but the only way to know it for sure was to take a little part and analyze it. The problem is that if you remove part of a real sarcoid it probably will improve his width so if you chose to remove it it should be done for the entire tumor. Talking with my vet he also told me that, if I wanted to surgically remove it, it wasn't the right period of the year (we were almost in summer and here there are plenty of little mosquitos that can bite the wound) and it was better to wait until autumn came. So as we were waiting and the believed sarcoid continued to grow I decided to cover it with cream to protect it from insects and moreover it made the crust softer so it wouldn't have broken so often. It's true that  sometimes a spontaneous regress of the sarcoid may occur even if you do not use any particular treatment. And it's also true that in my personal case we weren't so sure about it and if it was a sarcoid or not but the thing is that it started to reduce its diameter until he completely disappeared.   

Horse books 2

The second book on my shelf is One Hundred Ways a Horse is Better than a Man, by Tina Bettison, edited by Hodder & Stoughton in 2007 and which cost was 3.99£. That one is completely different from the previous but you know...sometimes is good reading someting just for having fun! This little book of less than a hundred pages is nice and go with other two written by the same author One Hundred Ways for a Horse to Train its Human and One Hundred Ways to Live with a Horse Addict. They are all hilarious and you can find many funny things that, if you are a horse "addict" do too (of course I did).

Horse books

There are plenty of books related to horses; some of them are thought to be read by "beginners", some are for intermediate riders and others are for those who are at an higher level. There are books about training techniques, luonging, nutrition, diseases, etc. Do you have your personal horse bookshelf at home? Which kind of book do you prefer reading? Would you like to share your best title with us? In this post I will leave some of the titles of the books that I found more interesting, would you like to do that too? If so, please leave us a comment! 

The first book that I would like to put on my list is Tug of War: Classical versus "Modern" Dressage by Dr. G. Heuschmann, edited by J.A. Allen. I buoght it some years ago at the price of 15.99£ by the internet. G. Heuschmann is not only a rider but also an equine veterinarian and he explains quite well the mistakes that many riders/trainers do and their consequences. The book is divided in seven chapters where he analyzes the differences between the "old" classic school of training and the new one. Thanks to the great number of photos we can clearly understand what he is trying to explain (even if you are not a vet). Infact there are photos taken during competitions that show us what's good and what's not, there are many illustrations that refer to the skeletal system, to muscles and ligaments and the main point is that hyperflexion and the tension related to it bring physiological problems. Reading it can be of great help even if you are not a dressagist; so, in my opinion, the book is not only interesting but very useful and well written, it's clear although speaking about a complex topic.

Horse people

There are some people who know a lot about horses but they share only part of their knowledge under payment. There are some who think that they know everything and they talk and talk and talk without stopping. There are others who know only few things but they use their brain to understand what they ignore and try hard to improve their knowledge. There are people who think that their level of knowledge is much higher than any other and they do not listen to anything. There are some that thinks that by doing elementary competitions they are much better than people who don't. And so on. There are many different kind of horse people and I met many of them during the years. The first thing that I understood is that you never know everything. It's simply not possible because there are too many things to know. You can be a perfect trainer but maybe you are not a vet; you may be a wonderful teacher even if you do not know every name of every muscle or bone of your horse; you can be a perfect trainer for horses but a bad teacher with people; you can   be a good therapist or a great "horse whisperer" but you need help if your horse has colic symptoms.  I could go on for a while in this way just because working with horses is not so simple and there are many things related to them. Put your trust in people but always think about what they are telling you. Secondly talk with many different people about everything: there are many good ideas, maybe very different from ours, but always useful. Third advice: everyone has something good to teach you because there will always be something that we don't know.  So don't be scared of trying new solutions: if they work everything will be ok but if they do not you can simply go back and do what you used to. Keep in mind that you always have to look at your horse and he will simply let you know if things are ok or not. Misbehaviour, changes in their phisical  condition or mental attitude give you a hint: think about your training programme, your horse's diet or his living condition to find out where the problem is. Too many times people think that if a horse "doesn't work" thay can simply change him. This way of avoiding problems can bring you to repeat the mistake on and on. Work on yourself and you will be able to solve many things!  

Foal in progress!!

February, 4th 2011

Few hours after... 

Cherubino 3 days after he was born

Cherubino and his Mom

Such a good boy!

Cherubino one week after he was born

So much energy!! One week old

Cherubino is 4 months old

Cherubino at 7 months

Cherubino at 10 months

Cherubino, 16 months, near Hermano, 8 y.o.

Cherubino, 20 months 

Cherubino, February 4th 2013

What is hay?

As always I'm not here to teach you anything but only to share my own experience and what I've learnt thanks to that. When I brought my horses at home I knew only few things and I didn't know how many others there were for me to discover. So, during some years, I improved my knowledge by reading books, trying different solutions and asking for informations to different people. With horses there are no rules and what works for one doesn't necessarily works for another. While what is generally true is the hay composition. First of all, hay is grass that is cut and dried so it can be stored and then used according to your needs. In Italy we generally have 3 different cuts: the first one in May, the second in August and the third one in September. The first one often contains more nutrients than the second and third one. After cutting the grass it is left on the field to dry for about three days and then, when it's dry enough, it is baled. It is very important that during that period of time hay doesn't become wet because this can cause mould development. Hay contains water too but your horse always needs to have free access to fresh and clean water. There are three different types of hay: legumes, cereals and grass hay.In legumes hay we can find alfa-alfa and clover; they are rich and contains many nutrients so, even if it's very palatable for horses, be aware of the fact that giving them too much of it can cause too much energy in your horse. After legumes hay there is the grass hay that is a little less rich in protein respect to the first one and it generally contains timothy, bluegrass, orchardgrass, fescue, etc. Last but not least there is cereals hay that is made of oat, barley or wheat but it is not often used because it's not as nutrient as the other two types. Straw sometimes is used instead of hay or to complete the horse's diet but it's not nutrient and it doesn't give enough proteins and energy to your horse. It's quite common that some horses eat it when we use it to make their bed and in itself it's not such a bad habit but straw shouldn't be their only source of nutrients.

The evolution of the grey coat

 This photos help me to explain how the grey coat of a horse changes in time. Nothing better than see the "evolution" of it in these pictures that I want to share with you. In the first one on the left we can see an Andalusian grey horse at the age of 2.

 And on the right the same Andalusian horse at the age of 4.

Same horse at the age of 6

 Same horse at 7.

Same horse at the age of 8.

 Another grey Andalusian horse at the age of 9 here on the right.

Same horse as before at the age of 10.

Grey pony, 17 years old.

Do you want a new horse every year? In that case a grey horse is the right choice. Many people refer to grey horses as white but that's not right. In fact white horses are less common and they have got pink skin underneath their coat while a grey one has dark skin. The grey horse changes his coat during the years due to a gene, that is dominant, and this causes the coat depigmentation. When a grey horse is born he can be black or bay or any other color. The grey horse usually has brown eyes while a white one often has light blue eyes with pink skin around them. 

You can find grey horses in every breed but they are quite common in Andalusian, Lipizzaner and Arabian. Every horse shows a different way of "greying" and you can see many differences among grey horses of different ages; some of them become "white" in a little time while for others this evolution takes many years. For this reason you can't rely on the color of a grey horse coat to understand his age.

Grey horses are prone to develop cutaneous melanoma but it's not malignant in many cases.   

Horse's diet - more about hay

 The one on the left is an example of a hay bale made up with alfa - alfa

 The one on the right side of the screen is a bale made with mixed hay

Both this image and the next one are examples of bad hay that you should avoid using: there are traces of mold in it, probably due to humidity.

Ponies and cardigans

What do you think about that? I love this picture! Fivla and Vitamin are the names of the two guest stars of this campain by The National Scotland Tourism Organization and you can find more photos and videos here! So cute!!!

Il cavallo nella pubblicità

Cosa ne pensate di questa nuova campagna pubblicitaria scozzese? Io trovo adorabili i due Shetland con il loro cardigan fatto a mano con lana -chiaramente- Shetland su misura e con questo paesaggio mozzafiato alle loro spalle! Se volete vedere tutte le foto ed il video non vi resta che fare un salto qui!

Horse's diet - supplements

When you have to decide about your horses diet you should consider some points:

• how old is your horse? Is he a young foal or a senior horse?
• is your horse underweight or overweight?
• does your horse have any allergy?
• does your horse have any respiratory disease?
• does your horse work a lot? Is he a sport horse?
• is your mare pregnant?
• is your mare nursing?
• do you have a stallion or a gelding?
• is your horse recovering from any illness?

First of all understand what your horse needs. Depending on his age, activity and phisical conditions you can choose the diet that is more suitable for him. Do not overevaluete the power of supplements: they can be useful but they are not enough in many circustamces. In fact you can find every kind of supplements but keep in mind that using them too much can also create problems ( do not exceed with some vitamins and minerals). They can be good in case your horse is eating poorly because in this way you can provide vitamins that otherwise he doesn't get, or when your mare is nursing (due to the fact that she passes many nutritional elements to the foal) or during hard training. Supplements available are those related to hooves (with biotin), those to mantein joints, vitamins, supplements especially created for horses with allergies, supplements for nervous horses, electrolytes to reintroduce the electrolytes lost during hard work by sweating, supplements studied to keep flies away, to make the coat shining or to help your horse to gain weight. If you are not sure about what kind of supplement you have to use or if you don't know if it is right to use it or not, ask your vet for an advise! 

Coming back to the horse diet try to give him good hay at least 2 times every day (it would be better if you can do it 4 times); be carefull to feed the animals always at the same time (it wouldn't be good to change their schedule every day and it can create a big stress on them), horses love routine behaviour and they seem to have a clock that indicates when it's time to eat (my horses usually neigh 5 minutes before the usual lunch time to remember me it!). Especially if your horse is stabled, try to feed him many times because in this way he has something to do during the day and he doesn't eat too much in too little time. Be careful you you change feed, decrease it (because your horse is overweight for example) or increase it (their digestive system is not made to afford sudden changes in their diet). So switch gradually in anyone of the cases listed above and also when you put your horse outside having free access to grass. In this last case remember that lush green grass can cause colics or laminitis so put him outside for a limited time (for example one hour or half an hour) increasing that time gradually and decreasing the amount of hay that you give him (because grass integrates it).    

How to feed your horse - hay

Little square bale (20kg approximately)

When you have your horse in a stable everything is simpler. Someone feeds him and gives him the right amount of hay and/or food. When you have him at home you have to understand what is better for him and the right quantities. Let's start talking about hay. It is the most important component of a horse diet so its quality is very important. Of course it's great if your horse can eat fresh grass but most of the times you have to provides hay too to his diet. As the digestive system of a horse is so complex he needs to eat for the two third of the day to keep it working properly. There are different types of hay and they are baled in different shapes ( square bales of approximately 20 kilos, big square bales weighing 400 kilos or more and big round bales of 400 kilos). If you have many horses it is better for you to choose the big round or rectangular bales but in case that you have only 2 or 3 animals it's better to buy the little ones. These are easy to handle and transport and you don't need too much space to store them. Another good thing about small bales is that you can easily see what is in it; sometimes you can find trash or pieces of wood or little animals in hay bales (once I found a tractor tyre!). Generally horses don't eat "bad" things that can damage them but just having a look you can avoid giving them plastic bags or things like that. Another thing that you have to look at is the hay quality. The color should be green/ yellow (it depends basically on the type of plants that are in the bale) and it should be fresh without any trace of mold (you can clearly smell it). To avoid hay with mold you have to try to buy hay that is not old (if don't have any choice and you have to buy old hay look at the place where it was stored). Another important thing is that you can buy fresh hay but if you leave it in the wrong place it can be easily damaged. So store it in a covered and dry place, it shouldn't be in contact with water (rain for example) nor stay under direct sunlight. Remember that feeding your horse with moldy hay can cause colics or respiratory problems. If there is dust in your hay (or your horse already has respiratory problems) you can water it some hours before giving it. Keep in mind that hay bales prices may vary according to the harvest, the place in which you live or the type of hay you're buying. Personally I tried different solutions like hay pellets or hay cubes but finally I found it better to use the classical hay bales (the other two solutions can be interesting in case you have a horse with respiratory problems because they do not have dust inside but not too good for horses without problems). 

How much? Let's say that normally a horse should eat something like the 1/2 % of his weight per day: this means that a horse weighing 400-500kg should eat almost 10kg of hay daily. 

Where? The best choice probably is letting your horse eating on the ground. If you think that he can eat dirt too you can use a feeder put on the ground. Horses are meant to eat with their heads down so it's good to let them eat in this position.

Example of big round bales

 

Purebred Spanish Horse Trade - Sicab - Sevilla

Do you like Spanish horses? If it's so, Sevilla is the right place for you. Here you can see beautiful PRE doing dressage or doma vaquera, you can buy Spanish saddles or bits, clothes and food. Sicab takes place during the last week of November and the trade is enterely dedicated to Spanish horses. In it competitions and exhibitions take place and you can walk along the outside part or the inside. Here you can find all the informations about the 2012 edition http://www.sicab.org/index.php?menu=1. From the airport you can reach the Convention Centre by taxi ( 25€ is the fixed amount) in almost ten minutes while if you chose to go by bus it's a little bit longer because you have to change bus at the bus station. Once you have arrived you can buy also the ticket for the show and I can say that this year it was really nice and interesting (there were many different things to see like the National Guards, Doma Vaquera, Dressage, Alta Escuela, Carriages, etc). People are nice and friendly and one part is entirely dedicated to Ganaderias. In the previous post I attached some photos taken during the show and in the trade, so if you're interested in, just have a look!   

SICAB - Sevilla

Per tutti gli amanti del PRE una tappa imprescindibile è il Salone Internazionale del Cavallo Spagnolo (SICAB) che si svolge annualmente a Siviglia (Spagna) l'ultima settimana di novembre. Dopo tanto tempo finalmente sono riuscita a vivere questa esperienza personalmente e non posso che dirmi entusiasta di ciò che ho visto. Il modo migliore per raggiungere Siviglia dall'aeroporto di Milano è affidarsi ad un volo diretto Ryanair che dura all'incirca due ore (con le altre compagnie aeree dovrete fare scalo a Madrid o Barcellona). Dall'aeroporto al polo fieristico dove viene tenuta la manifestazione si può optare per diverse scelte: il taxi ha una tariffa fissa dall'aeroporto di 25 euro (si raggiunge il Sicab in poco più di 10 minuti) altrimenti si può scegliere l'autobus ma in tal caso dovrete arrivare fino alla stazione degli autobus e quindi prenderne un altro che vi porti in zona fiera.  Una volta raggiunta la meta non resta altro che lasciarsi trascinare dal magnifico mondo del cavallo andaluso a tutto tondo. Arrivando in orario di apertura (le 10.00) avrete un paio di ore per godervi gli stand più svariati in tutta tranquillità (nel padiglione troverete chi vende selle e morsi spagnoli, capezze, vestiario e tutto quanto si può pensare di inerente ma pochissime coperte -il clima in quel periodo dell'anno si aggirava sui 14 gradi!- oltre a chi vendeva salchichon e chorizo). Dopodiché non vi resta che scegliere la disciplina che più vi interessa oppure muovervi liberamente tra i vari padiglioni per vedere dimostrazioni di doma vaquera, dressage, gare di morfologia e attacchi. Un biglietto a parte è da fare all'ingresso se volete vedere lo spettacolo (il sabato potete scegliere tra l'orario pomeridiano e quello serale).  Devo ammettere che lo spettacolo valeva la spesa; in una paio di ore hanno ripercorso un po' quella che può essere la storia dell'equitazione e delle diverse discipline con essa relazionate rendendo lo spettacolo molto vario e dinamico, senza momenti "morti" né ripetizioni che potessero annoiare il numeroso pubblico. Diciamo che il pomeriggio è decisamente più movimentato e la grande affluenza di gente rende un po' più difficile i movimenti per cui è bene aver individuato già la mattina le cose a cui si è interessati e dirigersi agli stand direttamente. Più delle parole credo renda più l'idea vedere qualche foto che vi posto di seguito. Buona visione!