Old Man Winter arrived in most parts of the U.S. with startling ferocity—near-zero temperatures, exceptional snowfall, and icy gales. Even a bomb cyclone! None of this simplifies horsekeeping, to say the least.

Topics covered in the seminar include:
-Chronic infertility due to reproductive tract injuries
-Dystocia/Birthing complications (management, risks, costs, etc.)
-Postpartum management and rebreeding
-Foal diseases and conditions requiring surgical care (limb deformities, cleft palate, etc.)

A loaded two horse dressing room bumper may weigh up to 6,500 lbs.- 1,500 lbs. over the Weight Carrying Rating. The hitch will eventually fail. Options: replace the hitch or use a Weight Distribution System.

The most common feeding errors attributed to developmental orthopedic disease are excessive grain intake, feeding an inappropriate feed for the forage offered, and inadequate fortification. These three scenarios are easily rectified by feeding an appropriate grain mix fortified for the young, growing horse and feeding it at the correct intake.

The topics will include: Colic: Diagnosis and Surgical Decision, Demystifying Anesthesia, Diagnosis and Treatment of EPM, Therapeutic Shoeing for the Performance Horse, and Assisted Reproductive Techniques in the Horse

The greatest advantage of MRI in horses is the ability to detect damage to bones, tendons and ligaments that can’t be diagnosed in any other way. This is particularly true in the horse’s foot, which because of the hoof visualization of the soft tissue structures is limited. Because MRI creates images in multiple slim slices, a 3-dimensional reconstruction can provide the exact location and severity of the injury.

This year’s focus will be on gastrointestinal health and management and will feature presentations on fiber, gastrointestinal health, Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome, the Equine Microbiome, and updates on current Rutgers projects dealing with gastrointestinal health, the microbiome, and metabolism of horses on pasture.

Your horses nutritional requirements will change as the mercury drops. In fact, according to Marsha Hathaway, PhD, University of Minnesota, horses require an additional 1% of energy for each degree below 18 degrees. In order to provide these calories, she explains that it is beneficial to provide more hay as, “there is the heat generated from microbial fermentation of forages that occurs in the hindgut during digestion.”

“Even relatively mild ambient temperatures (e.g. 22°C) where the windows are partially lowered to provide ventilation can still cause an animal to experience hyperthermia (increased body temperature), which is a serious health and welfare issue. Animals that are exposed to the elements on the back of utility trucks may also suffer hyperthermia during hot conditions.”