In rainy, temperate areas, horses may experience a higher incidence for parasites, as such conditions are an ideal environmental support of the parasite, lending itself to more parasite life cycles per season.

“Because they don’t have normal muzzles, they can’t easily cool themselves in warm weather, and the soft tissues in their throats can swell and block the passage of air. They may faint, collapse or overheat, sometimes fatally, when exercising or excited. These dogs often need major surgery to improve their quality of life.”

Pneumonia is one of the most common problems associated with trailering horses, and your horse’s risk of contracting it climbs significantly higher when on steroids, so keep this in mind before loading your horse on the trailer.

There are two main options for treating a horse in AFib – through the administration of the drug Quinidine or by undergoing a transvenous electrical cardioversion (TVEC) procedure, where electrical leads placed in specific areas synchronize shocks to the heart, resetting it back into normal sinus rhythm.

A common fear is that your trailer will unhitch. It is your responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t. Here is what you need to know:

Did you know that the average amount of traumatic brain injury-related deaths in equestrian sport is more than seven times that of traumatic brain injury-related deaths in contact sports (such as American football)? That’s an average of 60 deaths in equestrian sports each year.

Equine influenza is one of the most common respiratory diseases in horses, spreading by aerosol transmission (coughing or sneezing) from horse to horse in distances as far as 50 yards.2 Like humans with a cold, horses may experience dry cough, nasal discharge, fever, depression and loss of appetite.

Store the hay string sides on the vertical so moisture, that is inherent in all hay, can travel down the stack. If the front of the hay storage is open to the elements, be aware that moisture will be drawn to the bottom three or four layers on the front of the stack. It is therefore wise to provide some sort of tarp curtain or door.