The Donkey Sanctuary

After spending 2 weeks working with donkeys I leant about what amazing animals they are. Here is a video of  The Donkey Sanctuary which is based in Devon.

The Donkey Sanctuary does a lot of work not only in this country but in many others, helping with the welfare of donkeys and the education of owners. 

They have a really good website with lots of features such as a "Donkey Cam" where you can watch what the donkeys are up to at the Devon sanctuary (Donkey Cam!). They also have a donkey game where you can chose a donkey and look after it etc. (Donkey game)!

You can help The Donkey Sanctuary in a number of ways...

They are always looking for Quality Time Volunteers, these are people that can offer their time to give the donkeys some extra attention such as grooming them. This is definitely something I would like to do in the future but at the moment I can't volunteer regularly with going to and from university.

You can buy things from their website as they have a gift shop on here. They have some really nice Christmas cards on here and the money is going to a good cause! They also have a wide range of things for sale on here such as toys, stationary, homeware, books and DVDs, definitely have a look with Christmas coming up in a few months. I am going to get my 2012 calendar from there! (Click to go to the gift shop).

You could become a fund raiser, organising events to help to raise money. I also think this would be great for groups of children such as at schools or brownies etc. as it is a charity I imagine children would like to help.

If you live near Devon or are on holiday there at any point you can go and visit the sanctuary. They have different events going on and you can meet the donkeys and go for walks around the sanctuary (click here).

They also foster out their donkeys in pairs if you have an acre of land you could keep them on . There are regulations for this and I think you have to attend courses on caring for donkeys etc. This is a great way to make a real difference in some donkeys lives and they all have such great characters that I am sure would keep you entertained!

There are other ways you can make a contribution including making a donation. They have also a website where you can donate money to buy certain things for the donkeys such as fly masks, water troughs and medicine (click here). 

There are many other ways you can help The Donkey Sanctuary so go and have a look at their website. Hope you go and have a look at all the great work they are doing and consider them when you are next buying cards and gifts!

Love Laura

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My Modules!

This year for my masters course I have to take 180 credits rather than the usual 120. My dissertation will be done in the summer and is worth 60 credits. All of my other modules are either worth 10 or 20 credits.

All of the modules I am taking in my first semester are compulsory. There are;

• Animal Breeding and Genetics
• Principles of Nutrition
• Immunology, Parasitology and Bacteriology
• Endocrinology, Growth and Development
• Statistics for Experimental Scientists

In my second semester I only have 1 compulsory module. I then get to chose all of the others and I have to confirm this choice tomorrow.There are as follows;

• Emerging Veterinary Science (compulsory)
• Equine Nutrition
• Livestock Nutrition
• Equine Behaviour
• Molecular Genetics of Production Animals 

I am not sure yet but I may be doing my dissertation into the effect wormers have on the microbial population in the hind gut of horses and ponies. 

A lot of my posts will be in these areas of the next year! I have a number of lectures but also have to do a lot of my own researching and I will be focusing my extra reading mainly on equines.

Love Laura
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The Golden Rules Of Feeding

There are a number of golden rules when feeding your horse, here are some of them and the reasons why...

Feed little and often; this is due to the horses evolutionary characteristics, the horse has evolved to be a "trickle feeder". It is a constant grazer and has a small stomach capacity of 8-15L, this should only be half full at any one time. The pyloric sphincter controls the food leaving the stomach and only lets food through slowly so the stomach gets full quickly if the horse has eaten a large meal. Concentrates should therefore be split into smaller meals. It is also important the horse has ad lib forage. If a large concentrate meal is fed that is high in starch it can lead to problems such as colic and laminitis.

Feed plenty of fibre; this will encourage peristalsis (the movement of the food through the gut). This will mean  complete mixing with enzymes and microbes will take place. High levels of forage slows the passage of digesta through the small intestine compared to grain, as grains take 15 mins but forage can take 10 hours to pass through. This is the best place for food to be digested as it is slowly done by microbes. A horse on forage is less likely to have digestive problems as this is the feed their gut has adapted to digest. The small intestine is very long so the digesta has plenty of time to be digested and adsorbed here. Grains disturb the secretion of hormones such as insulin, this can be due to glucose peaks. Fibre causes a more consistent concentration. Insulin effects other hormones such as growth hormone and thyroid hormone. If a high grain diet is fed it can also have effects on the horses behaviour. Acid will rise in the stomach and can cause stomach ulcers. This has been linked to crib biting. The absolute minimum of fibre given to a horse is 50% of the feed, but 100% is the best.

Make changes gradually; this is done as sudden changes can lead to colic, especially a change in cereal: forage ratio. Changes should be made in over two weeks as they are more likely to get colic in this time period. More care has to be taken when dealing with a high levels of concentrate due to the starch. This is because the microbes in the gut play a large part in digestion and adapt to what the horse is eating. Therefore they will not be able to cope with a sudden change and will not be able to digest the food. This can lead to problems such as laminitis.

Provide a fresh, clean water supply; they should have access to as much water as they want. Water is by far the most important thing that a horse needs. If it isn't clean them some horses may chose not to drink it.

Do not ride immediately after feeding your horse; you should allow an hour after feeding before riding. This will give time for the food in the stomach to be digested before they are ridden. The blood supply will be rich in the stomach area whilst digesting foods but during exercise the blood will be diverted to the muscles.

All of these rules are important when feeding your horse. Trooper's diet is almost fully forage as he has hay and grass and in his feed he has Happy Hoof which is made up of chaff. He only has a small amount of Winergy Ventilate and a biotin supplement on top of this. Trooper does get fat very easily so he has to have a restricted amount of hay in the stable and has his hay nets double wrapped so it takes long for him to eat it!

Love Laura

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Equine Science At Aberystwyth

I am writing a post on my undergraduate degree which was in Equine Science (BSc) at Aberystwyth University. I thought this may be interesting to people who wonder what we learn in equine science or if people are wondering whether they should do the course themselves.

Click here  for the link to the website for my undergraduate degree course.

Click here for the link to the website page for the masters course I am about to start.

I really enjoyed my time at Aberystwyth during my undergraduate degree. It is a town in Wales by the sea. Below are some photos. It is a really nice place to go to uni because the population is largely students.

On my course we covered a range of subject areas. In first year we took a range of modules such as equine anatomy, equine industry, nutritional biochemistry and animal science to give us a good basic level of knowledge.

In first year we also had some lectures with the sport science students such as Muscle Function and Cardio-respiratory. This led on to modules we took such as Equine Performance Physiology and one where we compared the physiology of the human and the horse which was very interesting. We also did practicals in this time where we used heart rate monitors etc.

Other subject areas we have covered are Equine Nutrition, Stud Management and Equine Reproduction, Veterinary Science, Parasitology, Immunology and many more! Some modules I find more interesting than others but everyone has different views. We have lots of practicals in laboratories where we analyse feeds or learn about what certain parasites look like under a microscope which makes the course more interesting.

All of the lecturers are really nice as well. If you don't understand anything you can email them or go and see them and they will help. They all know what they are talking about and have a lot of experience with researching.

There are a wide range of jobs that the course leads into such as stud management, equine nutrition, equine health and research. Some people may also go on to train to be an equine physiotherapist as there is a post grad course which allows this. Other people have gone on to do a veterinary degree. It is hard to know how good the job prospects are in this course compared to others as all jobs are hard to get at the moment. There are job vacancies in the area but competition is high.

All in all I think it is a really good course. I originally chose the course because I didn't know what I wanted to do after school, I liked science and I liked horses. Now I want to work in the equine industry but not necessarily hands on with horses. I would particularly like to work in equine nutrition.

I have chosen to now do Animal Science and not Equine Science so I can take an Animal Nutrition module which I wouldn't have been able to do in Equine Science. This will then enable me to apply for agricultural nutrition jobs as well!

Love Laura
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Back To Uni

I've not been writing many equine science posts lately. This is partly because of Trooper's injury keeping me busy and partly because I am going back to university on Saturday and I will be writing lots of sciencey posts then until I am home for Christmas.

I have just graduated with a degree in Equine Science fro Aberystwyth University but I am going back to Aber to study a masters in Animal Science. For those of you who don't know, Aberystwyth is a little seaside town in mid Wales. They have run a masters in Equine Science for quite a few years but the Animal Science course is new. I have decided to do the Animal Science course as I want to work in nutrition when I finish and if I have also studied livestock nutrition then there will be more jobs that I can apply to and I can hopefully move into equine nutrition if I don't get a job in the area to begin with. Doing Animal Science I still take most of the equine modules and a few on farm animals. During my degree in Equine Science I actually had most of my lectures with the Animal Science students.

When I am at university Trooper stays at home with my mum as we share him. So I wont be able to take any photos of him etc. I will probably just being writing updates on his tendon injury. There are horses at the university but our courses are based on the science aspect and not the hands on looking after them (so it is also important people get this experience else where while studying).

I will probably write a post on my time at Aberystwyth University studying Equine Science going into it all in a bit more detail!

For now, when I am back at uni I will be writing a lot more science posts based on what I am learning in lectures and researching.

Love Laura
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