The more forage a horse consumes, the more water required to help move it through the gastrointestinal tract. This is especially important in winter when moisture-rich pasture grass is limited or absent.

Anytime horses or owners leave the farm to compete, breed, train, or go to a veterinary hospital they can be exposed to all kinds of disease agents and there is an increased risk for the spread of diseases such as Equine Herpes Myeloencephalophathy (EHM), Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1), Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), and Equine Piroplasmosis.

Inflammatory airway disease (IAD), also known as mild to moderate equine asthma, is the second-leading cause of poor performance, behind lameness (orthopedic disease). It’s associated with airway inflammation, coughing and mucus accumulation. It has been shown to occur in up to 80 percent of 2-year-old thoroughbreds, although it can affect horses of any age.[1]

This means that all horses, no matter their workload, are at risk for progressive and permanent joint damage. In fact, 60% of lameness problems in horses are related to osteoarthritis.

Horses will drink 8 to 12 gallons of water per day during cold weather; intake decreases as the temperatures declines and will increase if there is access to warm water. Studies have shown that offering warm water (45-65 F) will increase intake by 40% during winter.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), also known as moon blindness, is a painful condition where repeated occurrences of inflammation in the eye can cause permanent damage. The inflammation may cause career or even life-ending complications, explains Jacquelin Boggs, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, senior technical services veterinarian with Zoetis.

Horses often grow up with these “gaps” in their training and education. When this happens, it can be difficult for the horse to be a willing partner to a human, and he may need to be “restarted”—that is, given a second chance to learn what is expected of him and how he can find a place where he is confident and comfortable both beside a handler and beneath a rider. In order to restart a horse successfully, we need to know how to retrace the steps the horse’s education has taken and find the path missed the first time around.

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