“Once hay is cut, it will ‘sweat up’ for approximately two to three weeks. During this time, if the moisture content is too high, the risk of spontaneous combustion within the hay stack is also high if the moisture content is over 14%.”

Foals are apt to rear, jump and generally bounce about so it is important that any grills that remain in the stall, the front wall for example, have bars a maximum of three inches apart so that hooves do not become trapped during errant behavior. It is also important to remove extra bucket hangers, mangers or other ‘traps’ that the foal could encounter in his exuberance.

Laminitis, the number-two killer of horses after colic, continues to have an enormous impact on equine welfare, in wide and varied circumstances. Dr. Andrew van Eps, Associate Professor of Equine Musculoskeletal Research, will discuss different approaches for successful prevention and treatment of laminitis, as part of the First Tuesday Lecture series.

TW Grose, trainer, know the challenges of keeping older horses sound. He owns a former horse legend himself, and continues to treat him like royalty. “I have a retired 22-year-old gelding. I showed him as a youth. He was a world-champion, high point champion in the country. He has a lot of miles on him. LEGEND is something we give him; makes him a lot more comfortable to where he goes out every day, helps his joints.”

After a foal has consumed an adequate amount of colostrum, they can be encouraged to accept a foal milk replacer and gradually increase daily intake. Milk replacer should be mixed and fed per directions. Feeding watered down replacer will not give the foal the needed nutrients. Overly concentrated milk replacer can cause digestive upset and scours.

Veterinarians will take into account the ailment, age of the horse, activity level of the horse and the route of administration – some NSAIDs are available in injection, topicals, paste, powder or tablets.

“There’s still so much we don’t know about the Hendra virus – even the early signs of this disease can be extremely vague. The fact is that endurance events bring together a large number of horses from a wide range of geographical locations, and this instantly raises the risk of Hendra virus infection if horses have not been vaccinated.”

These inventions help manage cribbers, but why do horses crib to begin with? We can’t be certain as to what causes cribbing, as horses from around the world in varying conditions and lifestyles present this behavior. However, it is believed some horses crib out of boredom or if stalled for extended periods of time without exercise. Other theories include bad diet, ulcers and heredity.

According to a new study coming out of Japan, recently published by Frontiers in Public Health, horseback riding actually improved the ability of children to solve arithmetic problems.