Feed tags and hay analyses often list ingredients as “ppm” or parts per million. Does this confuse you? You aren’t alone. The best way to think of ppm is as milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of feed (since a mg is a one millionth “part” of a kg). Therefore, when using mg/kg, all you have to do is make sure you’re dealing with kg of feed (instead of lbs) before doing your calculations.

A horse trailer has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating – the amount the trailer can hold including itself and still be safe. The GVWR is always more than the actual weight of the loaded trailer. The towing capacity should be 20% more than the weight it’s pulling. If you’re not sure of the weight, have it be 20% more than the GVWR.

The horse’s digestive system is both delicate and complicated—any change in diet, exercise, stress level, or health can affect the fragile balance in the gut. Traveling and competing can cause elevated stress in horses, so it is especially important to keep your horse’s diet balanced and consistent to maintain digestive health for optimal performance.

“Especially with a senior horse that likely has arthritis and some hock and knee issues, the last thing you want to do is work them hard and do a lot of tight turns like three-sixties.”

If fed starchy cereal grains (oats, corn, barley, etc.) on an empty stomach, the horse will produce even more acid (potentially leading to ulcers) and it will be leave the stomach quickly. When this happens, there is a risk that it will not be fully digested in the small intestine (especially if large amounts are fed), and end up in the hindgut where starch can be fermented by the bacterial population. This can lead to endotoxin-related laminitis.

For example, one common problem often seen when longeing is the habit of a horse to be traveling in one direction while tipping his nose in the opposite and bracing his body- creating an artificial way of going.

“The quality and pattern of a foal is only determined by the DNA passed to that foal from the dam and the sire,” Samantha said. “By examining the DNA directly, breeders will be able to accurately gauge the value of their breeding stock. Genetic tools give breeders the power to optimize their breeding plans in order to maximize color and quality, leading to better profitability in the end.”