Faecal Egg Counts

Hi everyone,

For the past year I have been using worm egg counts  (faecal egg counts) as part of Trooper's worming programme. The egg counts can be used to monitor the worm activity in your horse and therefore limit the amount of chemicals that need to be used. There some types of worms that worm egg counts do not detect, these are the encysted redworms, tapeworm and bots; it is important that horses are still treated for these.

The results of a worm egg count are often given in eggs per gram (epg) or strongyles per gram. A reading of 200 epg or less is considered a low reading, it is thought that a horse's own immune system can cope with this level of worms on it's own without the need for additional chemical treatments in most cases. For readings over 200epg treatment is usually recommended. The treatment recommended often depends on how high the reading is, if the horse needs treating for other worms, if they are in foal and numerous other factors.

The faecal egg counts can also be used to check if the wormers are working as they should be. Different chemicals are supposed to last in the horses system for different lengths of time. Unfortunately, resistance is starting to develop in a similar way seen with antibiotics. Limiting the use of unnecessary chemicals with egg counts can help to prevent resistance developing.

Trooper has not had much problem with worm activity while I have been carrying out the egg counts. His initial reading was 50epg (a low reading) all subsequent readings have been clear. He was treated over the winter with an Equest Pramox combination treatment and had a tapeworm treatment about 6 months prior to this. There are a large number of horses in Trooper's field and dung is not collected (which can increase the chance of infection), however as the field is large he would not normally have to graze near dung so this would help to prevent him becoming reinfected.

If you have any further questions into worm egg counts, please do ask.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; EHV1

Here is a message from the British Horse Society from earlier in the week. An easy post for me to publish while I am busy but also still very important that people recognise the symptoms. I might write next weeks Science Sunday post on this virus to give more information.

"You may have seen the recent news stories concerning an outbreak of
Equine Herpes Virus (EHV 1) in Gloucestershire. Two horses have been
shown to have the neurological form of the disease and one the
respiratory form. It appears that others are also showing signs but
have yet to be definitively diagnosed.

Although not a legally notifiable condition, EHV 1 is contagious and
does have the potential to be quite a serious disease. Indeed, the
neurological form can lead to paralysis. In most cases, EHV 1 is spread
via respiratory transmission so wherever horses are brought together
from different yards there is the possibility for the disease to spread
if one of the horses present is affected. For this reason the Heythrop
have very responsibly suspended hunting for a week.

It is important to be aware that the risk of your horse contracting EHV
1 is very small and there is certainly no need to panic. However, as
with any disease, spotting it early is the best thing for your horse so
the BHS felt it would be useful to provide a short refresher on EHV 1
and its signs.

Although aimed at a different disease (Strangles) our STEPS leaflet
provides lots of useful information about quarantining and isolating
horses.

Many of the clinical signs of EHV 1 can be confused with other
diseases. A high temperature is a key indicator and it is essential to
monitor the temperature of ‘at risk’ horses. Affected horses will tend
to be disinterested and off their food, as well as showing typical
respiratory disease signs such as coughing and a nasal discharge. If a
horse is affected by the neurological form of the disease you may see
some incoordination or just general ‘wobbliness’.

Should you have any concerns at all that your horse may be affected
please contact your vet immediately.

The BHS is part of the group that produces the HBLB Codes of Practice.
There is much helpful information about EHV in the Codes which you can
access here.

If anyone has any further concerns about EHV or would like more
information, please contact our BHS Welfare Team on 02476 840517 or
email welfare@bhs.org.uk"

Love Laura
xxxx

Guest Post; The Dietary Requirements of a Horse

Horses with their unique and lengthy digestive tracts are known as non-ruminant, hindgut herbivores – meaning that like humans, they only have one stomach. Horses have to digest large amounts of cellulose from plant fibre – much more than humans – so they have an organ called a cecum that’s part of the large intestine, which has the function of aiding digestion with microbes.

The microbes ferment in the hindgut of the horse and produce various fatty acids. These fatty acids are an important source of nutrients for the horse.

Horses cannot be sick, other than to regurgitate food from the oesophagus. They also have a very complex large intestine. Colic, as you may very well know, is an illness that startlingly can kill your horse. This means that getting your horse’s diet correct is all the more important.

What should my horse eat?All the goodness a horse requires should come from its feed. Assuming your horse is not overweight or underweight, a good diet will consist of good pasture grass and hay, which they can quite happily exist on.

Hay will fall into two categories: legumes and grasses. Legumes will provide the horse with more nutrients than the grasses, whereas the grasses will provide the horse with more of its fibre dietary needs.

Depending upon a horse’s workload, it may be beneficial to give the horse grain for a little extra protein and energy. A horse that grazes most of the day and is ridden only occasionally will probably not need grain, but a horse that is very active and athletic certainly will benefit from a grain supplement.

Your equine friend should also have access to a salt lick, which will provide your horse with its essential electrolytes and other trace elements.

Don’t forget, your animal needs a fresh supply of safe drinking water too.

Benefits of salt licksSalt is quite a difficult substance to come by naturally when a horse is domesticated. A horse needs the salt for the same reasons we do; it helps to maintain electrolyte levels, which is essential for certain functions of the body, right down to the cellular level.

It’s also beneficial because it will help keep the horse drinking plenty of water. If they drink plenty of water, it could reduce the chances of them getting colic.

So as you can see, it’s good to let your horse have easy access to a salt lick. One of the most popular varieties is Himalayan salt.

How beneficial is Himalayan salt for horses?Himalayan salt was created around 250 million years ago when the ancient seas in that area of the world dried up. Along with the salt crystals that formed from the fertile waters of the ocean were a percentage of other minerals containing various essential elements – a total of 84 different elements and minerals.

This means that Himalayan licking salt contains many more minerals than just the sodium and chlorine ions your horse would get from normal salt.

Over the eons, geological pressures compressed and transformed the minerals and the salt together into what we mine today.

Mined from the world’s second largest salt mines at Khewra in Pakistan at the foot of the Himalayas, Himalayan rock salt is renowned the world over for being a healthy alternative for humans as much as it is for horses.

It’s very important to make sure you get your horse’s diet right; to make sure it’s not overfed, underfed, has the correct amount of minerals and vitamins, and gets enough fresh, clean water.

Hopefully after reading this article, you’ll have a little more insight into the dietary requirements of your horse.

Robert is from the Wirral, UK, and works for The Darlington Group in Eastham. Also known as ‘Darlies’, Darlingtons has been selling salt licks for years and now offers them in its online shop too. You can visit the Darlies website at: http://www.darlies.co.uk/.

Types Of Wormers

There are 6 main categories of wormers and then some of these categories can be combined to make some dual wormers. How long the wormer will remain effective in the horse’s system for depends on the type of wormer it is.

Ivermectin; This group included Eqvalan, Eraquelle, Vectin, Noromectin, Bimectin and Animectin. This group of wormers are effective for 8-10 weeks. They treat worms such as lungworm, red worm, roundworm and bots. They don’t treat the larvae that have burrowed into the gut wall however (encysted).

Moxidectin; This group includes Equest. This wormer stays in the system for 13 weeks. They treat small redworm, bots and roundworm. This shouldn’t be given to horses that may have a large worm burden as once the worms in the gut have been killed off, more may emerge from inside the gut wall and this can cause colic.

Praziquantel; This group includes Equitape. This treats tapeworm and is a one-off treatment which doesn’t have lasting effects in the horse once it has killed the worms that are present.  

Pyrantel; This group includes Strongid-P, Pyratape-P, Exodus and Embotape. This lasts in the horse’s system for 4-6 weeks. Treat nematode worms.  Some of these wormers may be given at a double dose to treat tapeworm.

Fenbendazole; This group includes Panacur and Panacur Equine Guard 5 day course. This lasts in the horse’s system for 6-8 weeks. These also treat nematodes but some will not kill them if they are encysted in the gut wall. The 5 day course kills these encysted worms.

Mebendazole; This group includes telmin. This lasts in the horse’s system for 6-8 weeks. This doesn’t treat encysted worms.

When looking at the dual wormers, this include Equest Pramox which is a Moxidectin and Praziquantel and Equimax and Eqvalan Duo which is Ivermectin and Praziquantel. These wormers treat for tapeworm along with other types of worms such as bots.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Resistance To Wormers

Resistance to wormers is are large potential problem. It is the worms themselves that become resistant to the wormer and not the horse.

How does resistance develop?
Within a population of worms there will be a variety of genetic differences as there are within any population. Mutations can happen and this may lead to a worm having an advantage as it may not be killed by the wormer given to the horse. Mutations are random and many of them may have no effect on the worm or may make it not survive as well, however, some mutations may give the worm an advantage. This is effectively evolution and they are increasing their ability to survive in the environment. When a wormer is given to the horse it will kill most of the worms, if there are worms present with an advantageous mutation then they will survive to reproduce and may pass on this genetic advantage to their offspring. Therefore the next time the horse is wormed a larger percentage of these worms will not be killed.

Types of wormers
Different types of wormers work in different ways to kill the worm. Therefore if a worm becomes resistant to one type of wormer a different one can be effectively used. However, there are only 3 families of wormers used in horses and problems arise when the worms become resistant to all of these types. It also takes a very long time for new drugs to be developed for use which increases the problem.

Resistance is already developing
In some livestock species there have been reports of worms that are resistant to all types of wormers. Resistance in the horse is not as common yet in the horse but there is evidence that it is increasing. For example, resistance has been found to ivermectin on some farms in Italy from Parascaris equorum.

The test they use to test for resistance is a faecal egg count reduction. They will carry out a faecal egg count, worm the animal then carry out another test to see how much the worm burden has decreased. However, there is a lack of a definition for resistance in horses.

How can we help prevent resistance developing?
Worming horses with the correct dosage will help to prevent resistance developing. This is due to the worms not coming into contact with a small dosage of the wormer but not enough to kill them which may lead to them developing resistance.

In Denmark there are restrictions on the use of wormers and they have found little evidence that resistance is happening in horses there. Therefore restricting the use of wormers may also help to prevent resistance developing. It is best to worm horses only when they need to be wormed and not on a scheduled programme where they are wormed on a certain date whether they need it or not. However, this may be hard to put into place on large livery yards.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Conformation And Disciplines

Training

When training a horse it is important to be mindful that the behavioural responses required of horses, even at the highest level of dressage, are not beyond their physical capabilities. While physical limitations due to conformation may affect the quality of the training outcome, dressage movements are essentially derived from natural movements innate to the species. Conformation often limits performance such as height and weight when jumping. 

Genetics

Conformation assessments may be done and the results of these used to breed horses from. This can be done from a young age and certain conformational traits are linked to abilities to perform well in certain areas. However, although this gives an early result it is not reliable as there are a wide variety of types of horses that compete in different disciplines therefore these horses will be missed.

Koenen et al (1995) did an interesting study into genetics and conformation of horses and how this related to their dressage and show jumping performance in Dutch Warmbloods. Over 10,000 mares were used with over 3,000 in each of the two categories, dressage and show jumping. They found low genetic correlations which suggested that selecting horses to breed based purely on their conformation is of limited value. Conformation points such as the length of neck, position of shoulders and muscularity of the haunches were all looked at amongst other things. It was found that the shorter necks had higher dressage scores, however this was only a small relationship.

In a study of 500 standard bred trotters it was found that 5 to 9% of their performance traits could be due to conformation. It has been found that conformation for the different disciplines varies. Show jumpers have been found to have smaller pelvic inclinations and smaller hip and pelvic angles. Dressage horses have been found to have a shorter neck and tibia, large elbow angles and a larger angle between the femur and the horizontal plate.

Injuries

Conformational faults may lead to a horse being prone to a certain type of injury. This is a problem that is seen in race horses as sometimes they are retired to stud after an injury which may pass on this fault to its offspring. Poor conformation will not be the only cause of an injury but may lead to a predisposition.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Vaccines

Immunological memory

The immune system needs to remember the things it has had to fight off in the past in order to be able to treat them efficiently if the horse is reinfected. Some studies have shown that the memory of some viruses and diseases can last for over 75 years in humans. This is why vaccines work well as the animal will remember the infection and kill it more quickly next time it becomes infected. Vaccines stimulate a normal protective immune response of host to successfully fight invading pathogens.

Types of vaccine
There are a number of types of vaccine. These include a killed version of the bacteria/virus. It can be a live version that has been altered. They can be a section of protein or DNA taken from the bacteria/virus. They want the disease to still be recognisable to the immune system of the animal without still being able to cause harm. 

There are a number of reasons why some vaccines work and others don't. Some are toxic to the animal. Some need to be boosted as one injection will not provide lifelong treatment (although they should in theory).  A lot of knowledge into the disease is needed before they can start designing a vaccine. They need to understand it's life cycle to work out when is best to target the bacteria/virus. 

Foals

Vaccines when the foal is very young are questionable. The antibodies in the colostrum cause the offspring’s immune system not to make its own antibodies. The length of time the maternal immunity (passed on from the mother) lasts for is questionable and antibodies for different things may last different amounts of time. The mare should be given a tetanus vaccine during pregnancy as the horse is susceptible to tetanus and foals may be at risk. These antibodies will be passed onto the foal in the colostrum. However, if you are unsure if the mare has had the vaccine the foal should be vaccinated as it may have a benefit. The foal should start having vaccines around 6 months. 

Parasites

There are some problems when developing vaccines for parasites as they hide from the animals immune system and can also suppress the immune system. Success with commercial parasitic vaccines has been seen in some animals. Some have a poor shelf life so have not worked well commercially. A vaccine for ticks and another for tapeworm in sheep were produced but are not produced now due to commercial reasons. 

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Parasites

What do parasites do?

Parasites suppress the immune system of the host in order to help them survive. They want to carry out their own life cycle and if they cause immunosupression to the host they are less likely to be killed. However, it is a trade off between the host dieing and the parasite being dieing. Parasitism is when an organism lives off another organism, it will be draining its resources.

Types of parasites

There are a number of different types of parasites. Helminths are worms that live in the host. They are often large and need to be well adapted to evade the host’s immune response to prevent them from being killed. They may also adopt host proteins as its own surface protein so it is not recognised as foreign by the immune system. Many have a long life cycle so it is in their interest to keep the host alive for a long time.  Helminths are a big problem in livestock and they are often put on worming programs. There are many different types such as strongyles that live in the intestines. 

Protozoa are small and will often live inside cells. An example of this type of parasite in the horse is Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM). 

Arthropods live on the outside of the animal such as ticks and fleas. They feed off the host through their skin. The well adapted ones have an anaesthetic in their saliva so the host will not feel them drinking their blood and will not scratch them off.

Strongyles vulgaris can be seen in the horse becomes infected by ingesting the larvae. They go through the small intestine and large intestine walls and get into the arteries 7 days after they have been infected. They then carry on developing for the next 3-4 months. Mature worms lay eggs which pass to faeces and pasture.

TreatmentsIvermectin is in the macrolytic class of wormers and is approved for the control of stomach bots, threadworms, pinworms, adult cyathostomes, adult and some larvae small strongyles and adult hairworms. It interferes with the brain in the parasite. There are a number of other types of treatments which can be used. There are problems with resistance developing to these wormers so they should not be over-used as this can increase resistance developing. 
There are also a number of other methods to control parasites which I will go into in another Science Sunday post. 



Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; My Dissertation, Wormer Effects

After finishing the taught section to my masters course in June I completed a dissertation over the summer which was handed in at the end of November. My dissertation was looking into the effects wormers may have on the bacteria that live in the hindgut of the horse. These microbes are important as they carry out some of the digestion of the food the horses eat, helping the horse to get more nutrients. You can read more about this in my digestive system post. My first dissertation which I carried out in my final year of my undergraduate degree was also looking at changes in the hindgut bacteria of horses but this was looking at the effects of probiotics, click here to read about it. This has given me quite a good understanding of this area of the horse.

What I did
At the start of the study faecal egg counts were carried out for a number of horses, the results of this led to the two groups that were in my study. If the horses had a high enough burden of worms to be treated they were in the "treated" group and if they were not treated they were in the "control" group.

I then took poo samples on three separate occasions and analysed the DNA of the microbes present in these in the lab. This showed me which species of bacteria were present under the different conditions and how they may have changed.

What I found
I found there was a difference in the bacteria living in the hindgut of the horse between the two groups of horses. However, that difference seemed to be there from the beginning of the study which suggested to me that the presence of worms in the digestive tract of the horse may have causes these differences. I concluded that more research is still needed as my sample size was only small (it contained 12 horses) but the results were interesting and a good starting point for further research.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Sarcoids

Sarcoids are the most common form of skin tumour in the horse. They are often seen on the head, and they may be a problem if near the eye. They are also seen on the lower body, limbs and sites of previous injury. Trooper has a small sarcoid in between his front legs and has had it for a few years without having any problems from it.

Types of sarcoids

There are six types that occur. 

• Occult has hair loss and they are often on the neck. 
• Verrucous are wart like, cytokines transform the epidermis. 
• A fibroblastic legion is the most ugly, they are red and weep. They are often seen on the pastern or the upper eyelid. 
• The nodular form is where there is intact skin over them, the skin will move over them, this means they are easily removed with surgery. They are often seen around the eye or the inguinal region. 
• They can be a mixed form.
• They can also be a malignant form, this is not common.

 Treatments

The treatment options currently available for sarcoids in the equine are limited. Surgical excision can be done. However, this may cuase recurrence and may enhance the growth. Some nodules may be OK to be removed in this way. Cyrosurgery may be done, this is when the tissue is frozen, mixed results have been seen using this method. This may cause scarring however and should not be done near the eye. Immunotherapy can be used such as using a vaccine, this would need to be given in a series of injections.This triggers an immune response and will help to heal it. However some horses are allergic to this. Radiotherapy can be used, this is more modern. Gold, radium and iridium are used and inserted into the legion. Topical chemotherapy may be used. There is a risk to the handler when using this as it is unstable. The smaller the sarcoid the easier to treat so it has to be done early.  This method has been used for around 200 years. 

Cause

The cause of sarcoids is not known. However, it is currently thought to be a bovine papilloma virus (BPV) related virus. It is also suspected that there is a genetic predisposition but then there has to be a trigger. Younger horses, ages 2- 6 show the highest prevalence. Most studies have not found a breed or sex linked predisposition. Though it has been linked with castration wounds in geldings. Mohammed et al (1994) found an increased prevalence in arabs and quarter horses compared to thoroughbreds. It is thought it could be carried by flies as it is more common around wound areas. This may explain the geographical variations that are seen with sarcoids.

Love Laura
xxxx

Keeping Older Horses Supple

A lot of people have been asking me recently how I keep Trooper supple and prevent him from getting stiff. For those of you that don't know, Trooper is 23 years old and had a tendon injury just over a year ago. He no longer jumps but I school him and he still goes nicely and can do lateral work and is not too on the fore-hand. The only thing he does do is trip up a bit.

Nutrition
People have been asking me if he is on any extra supplements to help prevent him from getting stiff but he only has Happy Hoof and sometimes Winergy Ventilate in his feeds. They were asking about glucosamine and chondroitins. Our dog is on glucosamine tablets and they are meant to be quite a cheap option for horses. Cortaflex is the one of these feeds that I have heard the most from, this contains both glucosamine and chondroitin. These are meant to increase the synthesis of joint cartilage so in theory help with things such as arthritis. However, in horses more research is still needed, especially into the dosage of these products.  Codlivine is another product given, some people do not like feeding this as it is an animal product. It is hard to tell what effects these have though in each individual horse and it may be more beneficial to give them a try if you are wondering and see how your specific horse reacts to them. I would be interested to hear if any of you have tried any of these products and how you have found them! Maybe in the future we will try out some of these products and report back!

Exercise
I think the main thing that is keeping Trooper supple is the amount we exercise him. We try to ride him at least 3 times a week and he is turned out every day for at least 6 hours even through the winter. When he had his tendon injury we still turned him out as we thought keeping him on box rest may lead to him stiffening up. When I ride him I warm him up for a good 5-10 minutes and then he goes really nicely. I think he does get a bit more stiff when he has not been ridden as often.

Also I have now found a way to add more photos into my blog after the Picasa storage ran out. For those of you wondering I have uploaded the photo to Flickr. I then went onto the "share" setting and got the HTML code for the photo. I then went onto the HTML button whilst writing a blog post and copy and pasted it into there! There might be other ways to do it but this is the way I have found! At least I can keep uploading photos for free! The photo below is a bit of a random one to go with this post but it wouldn't upload the other day so I thought I would try it here!

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Why Are Foals Susceptible To Diseases?

New born foals are particularly susceptible to disease as they rely on colostrum from the mare to give them antibodies. Colostrum is the first bit of milk they get from their mother and is important as it contains antibodies developed by the mare that are a response to the immediate environment. The mare therefore has to be in the environment that the foal will be born into 2-3 weeks before so that the antibodies made will be specific to the correct environment. These antibodies allow the foal to fight infection before its immune system becomes efficient. The new born foal is able to absorb these antibodies through the intestinal wall and into the blood stream. The ability to absorb these antibodies only lasts for the about 12 -24 hours. During this period the foal needs to have 1- 2 litres of colostrums. These antibodies protect the foal for the first 2-4 months of life. After this, the foals own immune system becomes more efficient making its own antibodies. If the mare leaks colostrum, it will be lost so there will not be enough for the foal.

A number of conditions in the foal are a consequence of them not receiving enough colostrum, leading to a failure of them receiving this early immunity. This could be due to the foal being born premature or the mare running colostrum before parturition. There could be a reduced quality of colostrums that contains low antibody levels. The foals access to colostrum could also be reduced, such as the foal being separated from the mare of the foal being too weak to feed in the early hours after birth. The foals immunity levels and the quality of the colostrums can be checked in a number of ways to see if there are any problems.

These problems could be prevented by giving the foal colostrum supplementation, this is useful within the first 24 hours of birth. There are a number of types of antibodies and if it is given after this time the IgM antibody will still be absorbed but the IgG may not be. It may be possible to create a colostrum bank by milking the colostrum from a number of different mares after the foal ahs had enough, this can be stored in the freezer and mixed together and can be given to sick foals when they need it.

A plasma transfusion may be given if there are severe problems, this is when 3-4 litres of blood is taken from a donor mare or gelding. The plasma is separated from the blood. This can then be transfused into a foal and will raise their IgG antibody levels.

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Respiratory Disease

In the past I have talked about recurrent airway obstruction, this post is going to focus on other respiratory diseases.

There are a number of defence mechanisms in nose, airways and lungs (respiratory tract) in order to try and prevent diseases taking hold of this system. There are mechanisms that filter the air and throw the air around in the air in order to trap bacteria or viruses that may be entering through the nose. There are also other mechanisms such as the cough reflex and there are tiny hairs in the tract called cilia that waft mucus up the the airways away from the lungs carrying any foreign particles with it. If bacteria does reach the lungs there are also cells there called macrophages that eat them up to stop them causing problems.

Viral infections
Viruses can be spread by direct and indirect contact. After horses have been infected by a virus they may also be infected by bacteria as it will take the opportunity to attack while the immune system is low. A virus can damage cilia (the hairs that waft mucus up the airways) and this leads to mucus staying in the airways and not being removed

Horses are often diagnosed by the clinical signs and the history. Sometimes swabs may be taken within 48-72 hours. After 72 hours the virus may be isolated in the blood so blood tests can be taken. I will now talk about a few viral diseases.

• Equine influenza can be spread by direct contact. It is incubated in the horse for 1-3 days before symptoms may be seen. The virus will be shred for 10 days. Vaccines are difficult as there are many different strains and it can mutate, there are however vaccines that cab be given that cover a number of different strains. It is under global surveillance. The clinical signs are a high temp, depression, anorexia, nasal discharge, dry cough, and enlarged lymph nodes. Horses are rested for at least 4 weeks to allow the airways to regenerate. They are kept in a dust-free environment. 
• Equine herpes virus has 2 strains. Equine herpes virus 1 (EHV1) can cause abortion and neurological disease and is contagious. EHV4 is a respiratory disease and is occasionally contagious. It is spread by direct contact and horses show problems in 3-6 days. Horses will have a high temp, depression, serious nasal discharge and a mild cough. Again they are treated with rest but vaccinations don't work for this virus as yet. Horses should be isolated for 21 days and kept unstressed.

Bacterial infections

• Strangles is also called streptococcus equi, it can survive in water for 1-2 months. It can be diagnosed with nasal swabs but repeat sampling may be necessary as they need 3 negatives before they get the all clear. It causes fever, anorexia, nasal discharge, enlarged lymph nodes and other complications. It mainly affects horses aged 1-5 years and has an incubation period of 7-12 days. Carrier horses may not show symptoms but may pass it on to other horses. Antibiotics cab be given but may not work well. After coming into contact with the disease they are immune for up to 4 years.
• Rhodococcal infection in foals causes pneumonia. It is usually chronic, they get a high temp, cough, nasal discharge, increased heart rate and breathing rate, enlarged joints, diarrhoea and nervous system problems. This happens due to the immature immune system in foals. They may be diagnosed by clinical history, blood tests and ultrasounds. Vaccinations may be given.

Other respiratory diseases

• Parasites can cause infections in the lungs. This is uncommon but may happen in the late summer or autumn. Dictyocaulus arnfield is an example of this and may be carried by donkeys.
• Allergies may also be a problem. Recurrent Airways Obstruction (RAO) is an example of this, I have previously written a post on this which is linked at the top of this one. 

Love Laura
xxxx

Science Sunday; Psychology When Lacking Confidence

Psychology plays a major role in all sports but I think it is very important in horse riding. Not only do you need to have the confidence to do it but this is transferred into your horse and they will be more likely to try a jump if they can sense the rider is confident. Psychology is full of different theories that can be applied to people in different situations.

Self efficacy Self-efficacy is the perception of a persons’ ability to perform a task successfully it is a situation specific form of self-confidence. A psychologist called Albert Bandura brought together the concepts of confidence and expectations to give a clear idea of self-efficacy.  It focuses on the ability to overcome obstacles to give a successful performance. It is the theoretical basis for most performance based research in self-confidence in sports. Self-efficacy alone cannot make a person a successful athlete. They must also want to succeed and have the ability to succeed.  Athletes who believe in themselves tend to persevere especially under hard conditions.  Self-efficacy can be related to goal setting, therefore the athlete is more likely to set more challenging goals if he has a higher self-efficacy. It has also been found that in athletes, if they have a higher level of self-confidence they are more likely to succeed. 

Therefore when looking at a nervous rider they may not perform as well under pressure such as at a competition. They may be able to ride to a good standard when at home in their normal surroundings but find it harder when they get to a competition. It may affect their willingness to practise as they may be worried they will ride badly. It can cause a loss of motivation and the development of a negative attitude.

Improving low confidence Problems such as this may be improved by goal setting. Psychologists may set a personalised plan for the rider with various goals and strategies. There may also be an evaluation procedure to assess progress towards goals. This can help to enhance confidence and performance.

Imagery is another technique used to build self confidence. This is where people imaging themselves accomplishing tasks they have not been able to accomplish or have had difficulty doing. A rider may visualise themselves successfully jumping a 3 ft course or successfully performing accurate movements in the dressage arena.

Acting confidently is another technique used as well as thinking confidently. This involves thinking that we will achieve the goals. Our thoughts should be motivational rather than judgemental. By thinking confidently it should also make event more enjoyable.

Physical conditioning and training is also important. If you and your horse are in good shape and have carried out lots of training then it will also lead to feeling more confident. It is said that no mental training can overcome the physical skill needed. This is particularly important in athletic sports but can also be applied to horse riding as you and your horse need to be trained to take part in an event.

Preparation is important, it will give more of an idea of what is expected of the rider. A pre-competition plan may be established to take some of the strain out of the situation.

Vicarious exercises are when the person lacking confidence watches others carry out the task they are struggling with. This may allow them to gain a greater understanding of what to do and new techniques.

Verbal persuasion is when a coach or other members of a team encourage the athlete who lacks confidence. This may come from friends and family.

There are many different techniques used by a wide range of athletes in order to improve their confidence during sport. These can be adapted to be used by horse riders to improve their competition.

Love Laura
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Science Sunday; The Stay Apparatus

Last year at university I didn't choose to take the anatomy module as I find anatomy quite hard to memorise. Those that did take the module had to write an essay on "the stay apparatus" and I thought it might be an interesting topic to talk about this Sunday.

The stay apparatus is why the horse can rest whilst standing. This is present in both the front and hind legs and is due to a number of muscles and ligaments that lock the leg into position and hold it there. This mechanism is slightly different in the fore and hind limbs but the basic idea behind it is the same for both.

The tendons and ligaments
The horses' leg below the knee or hock is supported by three elastic ligaments at the back. The suspensory ligament supports the fetlock and pastern joints. The superficial flexor tendon supports the fetlock and pastern joints. And the deep flexor tendon supports the fetlock, pastern and coffin joints.The superficial and deep flexor tendon are both supported by check ligaments. All three of these tendons work in a series, with the body weight pressing down through the joint, the fetlock joint moves down. The suspensory ligament tightens first, then the superficial flexor then the deep flexor and these hold the leg in place.

The front legs
In the front legs, above the knee, there are a number of muscles involved in enabling the horse to stand whilst resting. The serratus ventralis muscle is the major one attaching the limb to the body, it supports the body when relaxed. The weight of the body pressing down through the leg closes the shoulder joint. There are also some mechanisms involving muscles to stop the shoulder joint over flexing. The knee is able to weight bear without extra effort in its normal position. This is due to the vertical line going through the radius and large metacarpal bones. The knee is prevented from buckling forwards due to an inelastic tendon inserted onto the large metacarpal bone.

The hindlegs
In the hind legs there is a similar mechanism to stop the hock becoming too flexed. The greater the weight going through the limbs there is a greater tendency to flex the hip and the tighter it will lock. Little or no muscles are needed to maintain this posture. There is also a mechanism in which the pelvis locks on one side in order to allow the hind leg on the other side to rest. It is said that horses still need to rest their legs despite the stay apparatus as the amount of energy used is reduced but muscular effort is still required.

The stay apparatus in foals
When looking at newborn foals the stay apparatus has been looked at. Foals are born at a more advanced stage of development than human babies, it is also thought that they have an advantage over human babies when standing as they have four legs and not two. However, it is also thought that the foal may have the ability to have automatic limb control whereas the human baby needs to learn this. If the muscles in the legs failed to maintain a state of contraction then the foals collapse to the floor. It suggests that a moderate level of contraction needs to be maintained at rest in order to stay standing. The stay apparatus becomes better as the foal grows and develops.

The stay apparatus is not controlled by muscular control alone, and it is not entirely automatic. Balance is also involved and this includes the central nervous system. Reflexes are also involved.

Once the legs have locked into place, only limited muscle use is required. In order for them to unlock, the femoris muscle contracts to lift the patella up off the ridge it is resting on.

A lot of this information is from the book Horse Structure and Movement by Symthe and Goody. This is a really good book if you want to learn more about the anatomy of the horse and how it effects their movement.

Love Laura
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Science Sunday; How Horses Keep Warm

Hopefully I am going to start writing a regular equine science type post every Sunday. Today I am going to talk about how horses keep warm during the winter months. I have already written a post on this, (click here) but this one is going to go into more detail into their actual mechanisms of keeping warm. Over the summer I wrote a post on how horses keep cool, click here to read it!

Ways of keeping warm
A horse's body temperature is 37-38 degrees Celsius and their body will react in a way to maintain this temperature in the body and keep levels constant. The body temperature is important for the normal running of the body systems and changes may lead to problems. The most active organs produce the most heat, this includes the muscles, the liver and the digestive system. Receptors called thermoreceptors monitor the temperature of the horse, if they detect that the temperature is falling they will send messages to other areas of the body in order to do something to warm up the horse.

• If a horse is cold then the hairs in their coat may stand on end, this is called piloerection. When the hairs stand up it traps a layer of air in the coat which helps as an extra layer of insulation. These hairs lye flat if the horse then gets too hot to let the heat quickly escape. The use of a rug on the horse will flatten down the hairs and prevent this from happening. 
• Vasoconstriction may also happen, this is when the blood vessels constrict and reduce the amount of blood going to the surface of the horse's body. Due to this, less heat will be lost from the blood into the surrounding cold air.
• The shape of a horse also helps to keep them warm. They have a large surface area to volume ratio meaning that for the amount of heat that is kept in the inside, less will be lost through the surface of their skin. Their legs also have a very low blood supply (which is why injuries here take longer to heal). This means that not much heat is lost from the blood flowing through these areas. 
• Counter-current heat exchange also happens. This is when the blood that is on it's way back to the heart and lungs after being near the horse's skin is warmed before it gets there. This is due to it passing near by to the blood in arteries and the heat is transferred from one to the other.
• Circulation shunts also happen in the feet of the horse to prevent them from becoming too cold. This is why your horse's feet don't freeze! This isn't well understood but it is thought that blood is moved to these areas to warm them up. 
• The horses metabolism may also increase which would result in more heat being produced. 
• Horses may also shiver if they get cold, this extra movement of muscles will help to produce heat and warm them up.
• Horses also develop a thicker coat in the winter, this adds to the amount of insulation they have compared to the summer. 

Love Laura
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Sport Psychology For Horse Riders

I saw this video earlier and found it interesting so thought I would link to it on here! It is about the use of sport psychology in dressage and how it has helped one rider in her performances. I found it quite interesting and might look into this more in future posts as I enjoy psychology.

Sorry I haven't been posting very much but I have been busy looking for jobs. Also we have not had very nice weather to take photos recently, the other day it was OK and I remembered to take my camera to the farm but it had no battery in it! Trooper is doing well and has been well behaved whilst being schooled. He has been coughing every now and again so I am going to order him some more Winergy Ventilate as that helped a lot last time.

Love Laura
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Microbes In The Hindgut

I thought it would be a good idea to write a post on the microbes that live in the hindgut of the horse as this is the subject I am currently researching in for my dissertation. I am doing lab work during the days at the moment and also having to write other work up in the evenings which is why I haven't had the time to write blog posts.

In the horse's digestive system they have evolved to have a large hindgut (caecum and large intestine) as this is the main area in which their food is digested. Horses diets consist of a large proportion of forage which contain cellulose, this is difficult to digest. The microbes that live in the caecum are able to digest this cellulose. They live in the horses gut in a mutually beneficial relationship as they provide nutrients for the horse in return for a place to live. They produce volatile fatty acids for the horse.

These microbes include bacteria, protozoa and fungi and they all work in different ways. Most information that is known in this area focuses on the bacteria. The levels of bacteria present in the gut are very high, there can be between 500,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 bacteria per gram in the caecum. The levels present have been found to differ between horses. Native breeds often have higher populations present than other breeds, this may be due to them having to evolve to live in a more harsh environment and need to digest their food more efficiently. One of the main types of bacteria present is Streptococci, this is involved with the digestion of fibre.


The microbes in the hindgut are also thought to be involved with the onset of laminitis. The population present can be altered by a number of factors including the feed the horse is eating. Certain types of bacteria are more suited to digesting a high starch diet and other ones are better at digesting a high forage diet. This means that the population of bacteria will vary depending on what the horse is eating. This is also one of the reasons why you should make gradual changes to your horses diet and not change it abruptly. During a sudden rise in starch in the horses diet, lactobacilli bacteria will proliferate as they will be more suited to digesting this. This type of bacteria also produce lactic acid causing acidic conditions in the hindgut. This can lead to acidosis and also will kill off some of the other bacteria inhabiting the hindgut. 

For my dissertation I am looking at the effect worming horses has on the microbial population in the hindgut of the horse. There has not been any work looking in this area previously. After collecting poo samples from horses on they day they wormed, 2 days after and 2 weeks after (nice, I know) I have been analysing it in the labs. I have counted the levels of protozoa present under a microscope and now I am doing the DNA analysis to see which bacteria are present and in what levels.

I think this post is long enough now! Hope you enjoyed, I will write another post soon but they may not be coming as often as usual for the next few weeks.

Love Laura
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Welfare And Behaviour

This is the last post in my behaviour series and is going to talk about the welfare of the horse with regards to behaviour.

Animal welfare is often measured in context of the 5 freedoms. This is also often seen when looking at livestock. These are as follows;
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst.
2. Freedom from discomfort.
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour.
5. Freedom from fear and distress.

Duncan (1996) said ‘neither health, nor lack of stress nor fitness is necessary and/or sufficient to conclude that an animal has good welfare.  Welfare is dependant on what the animals feel’.

There are a lot of questions about the welfare of horses. Factors should be assessed from a physical and psychological perspective. However, by owning horses we also benefit the horse from a physcial perspective as it gets food and water and is looked after. It has also ensured survival of a species that may have become extinct in the wild if they did not have this link with humans. This may balance out the inconvenience of being ridden. 

Behavioural needs

Behavioural needs are species specific. They will still perform the behaviour even if they don't need to. An example of this can be seen in birds with nest building as if a nest is built for them they will still want to build one. 

Behavioural needs reflect the evolutionary pressure that has been placed on a species. These behaviours are wired into the horse's brain. Prevention of the behaviours can cause a stress response in the animal. Primary equine behavioural needs are eating, locomotion and social contact. 

The horse is quite unique as a species as it has not received the same level of domestication as other species such as dogs and yet is kept in a restrictive environment. This may be problematic from a welfare perspective. The more motivated an animal is to perform a behaviour, the more frustrated it will be if it is prevented from performing it. 

Stabled horses may be fed a diet that is low in forage. This has been linked to the development of stereotypies and health problems including ulceration and colic. When looking at horses on a diet high in fibre (which is more suitable) there may still be differences between the types of fibre. Thorne et al (2005) carried out a trial to look at the behavioural effects when horses were provided with a diet with multiple forages. Horses on a multiple forage diet performed foraging behaviour more frequently and for longer periods of time than horses on a single forage diet. There were indications that horses demonstrated individual preferences for particular forages. Abnormal behaviours such as weaning were only seen on the single forage diet. These results indicated that there were potentially beneficial behavioural effects of multiple forage provision over a 7 day period. It may be a means of enriching the horse's environment.

Love Laura

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Temperament

This post is another one of the behaviour posts and is about equine temperament.

Introduction
When looking at temperament it can be referred to as a horse's personality, individualist and emotionality. It is consistent over time so what you see in early life you will see later on (Manteca and Deag, 1993).

When looking at temperament in horses it may be predictive of psychological and physical performance traits. Therefore temperament testing may be used when selecting horses for competition.

Lansade et al (2008) looked at temperament in the horse. Behavioural tests have been developed to measure certain aspects of a horse's temperament. They wanted to measure temperament more precisely. They measured the horses' responses to different stimuli. They also repeated the tests 5 months later to make sure the reactions were consistent over time. The stimuli were designed to cause reactions from the horses' different senses, for example, their reaction to the smell of cinnamon. Correlations were seen between how horses reacted to similar stimuli using the same sense but differences were seen when looking at different senses. Except for the response to odour, the responses to the other sensory stimuli remained stable over the 5 month period. Therefore some of these methods may be used in a temperament test.

Selecting for optimal temperament. 
Temperament is determined by an interaction of the environment with the genes of the horse. They can choose to breed horses that are of a good temperament, this selection can be predictive from a young age or may be chosen at an older age. Genetic and behavioural tests can be used for this.

Factors such as flightiness may be advantageous when selecting for a racehorse but may cause problems in a dressage horse.


Temperament testing

The rate of habituation (see last weeks post on learning and training) between breeds may be a useful predictor of temperament. Arabs have been found to habituate faster for example.

Looking at one factor to explain the temperament such as vocalisation may not be reliable as temperament is a multidimensional construct. You need to look at a range of traits and combine the score. There are problems with how the data from these results are dealt with however.

Studies have found at least two consistent personality dimensions. These are sensitivity to aversion, this is the flightiness of the horse and is often assessed with their reaction to a novel object, social isolation or handling. The second is sensitivity to reward, this may be looked at with regards to exploratory behaviour in behavioural tests.

Mood

Mood and emotional state have also been suggested to affect how the horse performs. Studies using heart rate variability suggests mood/emotional state may be measurable in the horse (Rietmann et al., 2004) 

Temperament traits need to be defined in a standardised way. Some studies are starting to find predictors of performance. Mood and Emotional state is an area for future investigation.

Love Laura

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