Choosing the Endurance Horse (PNER Convention Notes)

Meg Sleeper, DVM, DACVIM (cardiology) gave this presentation in conjunction to her talk on interpreting the results of blood machine analysis at the 2017 PNER convention. 

The Basics (what you should consider first):

Balance: the front and hind end should have weight evenly distributed throughout (endurance horse being slightly uphill is a minor flaw, but being built downhills is something to avoid). Bone substance should be appropriate to body build (8” of cannon for 1000lbs). A nice deep heart girth and chest is also extremely beneficial!

Straightness: Straightness of the legs is important because any significant deviation could result in a weak spot that is prone to injury. Minor flaws such as if a horse has mildly turned out or toe in or is over at the knees are generally less important flaws. One concern with a horse that is toe in/out is that they can interfere.

Feet: Concave soles with thick walls, good heel structure. A good farrier can significantly change foot anatomy! The balance of the foot depends on the sport. For endurance you want a shorter toe and a good low heel that is not under-run.

Body type: It’s better to select for long tapered muscles vs. short and bunchy. The reason being – heat dissipation!

Movement: Efficient, freely moving gait. Padding or winging is inefficient and can cause injury. When comparing between a “daisy clipper” (a very low mover) vs. animated mover – we want something in the middle who can move through bad footing without using excess energy.

Understanding the limitations when choosing a horse (i.e. there is no perfect horse):

There is no perfect horse and we often choose to compete the horse we have. Because of this, have realistic expectations for your horse. A heavier built horse is not going to cool out as easily as an arab or arab cross. Ride and care for your horse accordingly!

If it’s a horse that does not have great recoveries – slow down the last mile coming into the vet check. You can also learn to pace by maintaining a very steady efficient speed. Trotting is actually a more efficient gait than a walk and horses can learn to cool down in a slow trot.

Assess which speed/gaits are more efficient for your horse! Some horses may prefer to canter, for example. (She tries to condition her horse to develop a canter to avoid doing the huge extended trot. A relaxed easy canter is often less wear and tear than a big trot!). Its often a personal preference for the horses. (When she’s conditioning she tries to do 60-40 diagonals/leads on the weaker side.)

Spend time cooling and effective cooling on the trail. Sometimes we get caught up in going forward but it may be rare that you get off and cover your horse with water. It’s amazing how much cooler you make them by dousing all of them (belly and groin) with water. Carrying a scoop can make a huge difference on hot rides. This can be the difference between getting their heart rate down for big-bodied horses! There was no link between dumping ice water on horses and horses cramping up, but if they are continuing to work and move down the trail then cramping should not be an issue. Try riding in the shade whenever possible – and never walk when it’s hot and sunny because you want a breeze on the horse. Putting the same temperature water on the horse that is their body temperature is essentially useless (sometimes mixing alcohol with water will make it evaporate faster, or having ice water).

Monitor the effectiveness of the cooling at holds by checking the heart rate during holds. If they don’t have a normal pulse, continue to put water on them throughout the stop.

A horse that is not particularly well suited to endurance will be at increased risk of lameness and/or may require more preparation than a well-suited horse. Know when to admit a horse is not suitable for the sport – you may have tried your best.

Other considerations:

What about pre-examinations before a purchase? Consider evaluating heart size if you want to be really competitive (remember, meg Sleeper is a cardiologist!). However, soundness is even more important for the endurance horse! It’s reasonable to consider basic radiography. However, if the horse is already doing the sport and is successful, normal flexions can show you a lot too! $350-400 for a comprehensive examination is important.

A sound brain on a sound body is key!

Al Mara breeding is what Meg Sleeper does. DR Thunder Bask stallion. Sirocco Cadence Some stuff with the mind is genetic! A good mind is inheritable. Recoveries may also be genetic -- Meg Sleeper certainly believes this is the case!

Horses for a heavyweight? It’s most important that the rider is balanced and the tack is very good! Height does not matter. A 14.3-15hh horse can be fine for a heavyweight rider, especially with good bone. Bigger horses need more LSD than a smaller horse to get a good base before speed is added.

That's all for now!

Last time: Blood Machine Testing (PNER Convention Notes)

Next time: "A Stress-free Friday: endurance ride prep." (PNER Convention Notes)

Blood Machine Testing – How to Interpret the Results (PNER Convention Notes)

Meg Sleeper, DVM, DACVIM (cardiology expert!) gave this presentation on how to interpret the information you can get from blood analysis.

Lovingly nicknamed Camilia, PNER’s Abaxis blood machine travels to endurance rides throughout the region. Riders can pay to get their horse’s blood drawn for analysis – this is helpful information for those curious! Beware... it's about to get technical!

Overview (what are these terms and what are we looking for?):

• PCV/TP, CBC (complete blood count – looking at #s of white blood cells), chemistry (this is important and usually taken at rides)
• Packed cell volume (PCV) – manual count (vs. Hematocrit which is done in a machine). Normal results vary by “breed” and “fitness”. Endurance horses tend to have a lower PCV. Red blood cells are important! They are the main oxygen carrying capacity in your blood. They also remove CO2. Anemia results from: blood loss (external or internal – which can be from something like a bleeding ulcer). If anemia is acute, it will take 12-24 hours until PCV accurately reflect that lost because it takes time for the body to compensate. If it’s chronic, however, it should show in the PCV.

Polycythemia means increased red cell count. This is usually seen in dehydration cases (and is usually coupled with high protein levels). Also, if a stressed horse or working horse their spleen will contract and release more red blood cells. The equine spleen has muscles in it that contract with cantering or excitement and dump those cells into the blood stream. An “absolute” change is when you have more RBC than you should (usually because of disease, such as chronic hypoxia, some forms of kidney or liver disease can also cause an increase).

Total protein (TP) in the blood is made up of 3 components: albumin, globulin & fibrinogen. This can be helpful measurement if you are looking at a low PCV horse because it will help you to determine what each means.

• Albumin is a protein produced in the liver and helps prevent fluid from leaking out of the blood vessels. If you have a high albumin, it is consistent with dehydration. If it’s lower than normal, the common reason for that is diarrhea. Kidney disease, liver disease, and other reasons (all chronic disease) can also make this number low.
• Globulins are produced in the liver and are important for immune function. Higher than normal globulins are a sign of inflammation (infection, cancer, etc.). When they are low there are other issues and those are not usually seen in endurance horses (often seen in foals when they haven’t received colostrum).
• Fibrinogen produced by the liver in response to inflammation. A high number indicates active inflammation!

The main two we are interested in is dehydration and the spleen contraction (because the spleen’s contraction will indicate if the horse is truly dehydrated).

Chemistry tests:

Glutamyltransferase (GGT) – can show evidence of liver disease. Donkeys and mules normally have higher levels of GGT than horses. This number can also be elevated in horses in intense training programs.

Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST/SGOT) – the main reason we see this in endurance horses is when there is muscle damage. It peaks 48 hours after muscle damage and takes 3-4 days after the injury.

Creatine Kinase (CK) – Is another muscle enzyme that is not elevated with liver disease. This level is more associated with skeletal muscle or cardiac muscle damage. It can have mild increase with transport, rolling, and hard work. Significant increases to CK (up over 5000) consistent with muscle cell damage. The CK will go up very quickly after damage (peaks within hours of the insult to the muscles) while the AST will peak later and stick around much longer. A CK of 2-3000 after a hard vigorous work is not necessarily tying up!

Creatinine – is a byproduct of muscle work and it’s excreted through the kidneys. It can indicate kidney damage and is a good test for accessing kidney function. Horses that tie up or have another muscle-stressed events are at risk for kidney disease.

Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) – the urea is the byproduct (and is also filtered through kidneys). BUN is increased by GI bleeding. Is the other main test to look at kidney function.

Glucose – Measures the amount of sugar sitting in the blood. Hypoglycemia (the lack of sugar) can happen just because the blood sample sat before it was run – hours can make a difference. Hypoglycemia is also found in cases with endotoxic shock, or young horses that are not eating well. Elevated levels in the blood can be due to excitement, equine metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes in horses), PPID, etc.

Electrolytes:

Sodium – Low sodium is most common from loss of sodium in sweat. Equine sweat has a high amount of sodium – more so than their blood level. You can see low sodium because of diarrhea, etc. Increased sodium is often due to water deprivation – something rare in the horses we will be dealing with because we will always be offering them water! Salt poisoning can also occur for horse that eat too much salt. The horse kidney is very good at getting rid of excess electrolytes, at most it will show in an upset stomach (i.e. you might not see it on the blood work).

Potassium – Is indication of the free-P in the blood. However, the majority of potassium is located in the cells. Potassium measure meant because low P can lead to arrhythmias in horses. Low potassium can be caused by reflux, diarrhea, polyuria, & excessive sweat loss. Horses usually have diets high in potassium. You should test the fractional discretion and a blood sample, because horses that are trying to conserve potassium the blood sample may not be enough (if a horse is trying to conserve it, it will be under 16%). High potassium can be found in a blood sample if there are some burst cells in the sample; HYPP can also cause this.

Calcium – The most common cause for low calcium in our horses is when the albumin is too low. Cantharidin (toxin in blister beetles) can cause dramatic reductions in their calcium levels. Kidney disease and muscle exertion are also common for low calcium. Calcium that is too high is really unlikely in a healthy horse – kidney disease, cancer, or too much is given orally will make calcium levels elevated.

Phosphorus – This is not a common test, but low P indicates chronic kidney disease or starvation. High levels of P is often because abnormal ratios in the diet (compared to Ca); intense endurance exercise, and possibly even bone metabolism.

That's all for now!

Last time: Conditioning and Maintaining the Endurance Horse (PNER Convention Notes)

Next time: Choosing the Endurance Horse (PNER Convention Notes)

Conditioning and Maintaining the Endurance Horse (PNER Convention Notes)

This presentation was given by Heather Wimer at the 2017 PNER Convention.

Building a strong athletic horse is not just about the miles.

Here is what Heather Wimer suggested to improve yourself and your horse (which will, in turn, improve your endurance experience):

Become a great horse-person – the better you are the better you will be able to draw out the full potential in your horse. Horses will come and go but your skills as a horse-person should always be improving. What you take with you matters! Take lessons – learn what diagonals and leads are and switch them; become aware of how you are riding at all times; learn how to ride well downhill; never think you know it all because you probably never will know it all!

• This pursuit includes making your personal fitness a priority. Wimer suggest that you have a fitness program that includes cardio, strength, and flexibility training. Keep track of how you feel after rides to diagnose your own fitness level and work to diagnose and fix your “problem spots.”

 Become an expert on YOUR horse – you need to know that horse better than anyone else (including your vet). You need to be the one who will know when something isn’t right because the vet (at checks) only sees them for a short space of time. Your job is to be an advocate for your horse!

Ask questions! It’s a good idea to know something about the person who you are asking for advice. Find people who ride the way you ride or remember what it was like for them when they were at your stage.

You should not neglect training in favor of conditioning. Carefully building your horse means taking time the think about thing you want your horse to learn and then take the time to teach them what they need to know to succeed. For example, you need to improve strength between necessary muscle groups, work on specific biomechanics, etc. You can get a 15-40% edge on your competition for the ride itself and soundness over the years with this kind of approach.

You can change the way a horse moves for the better by doing dressage!

Dressage will help your horse move better, more balanced, and more flexible. Things to consider: 

Balance – “A horse is balanced when it has developed the necessary muscles and physical posture (or self-carriage) to facilitate distributing and supporting its own weight.” – Endurance Riding and Competition by Donna Snyder-Smith. Horses by nature are good at figuring out the easiest way to propel themselves down the trail. When a horse lacks balance they will use more energy, be harder to steer and control because they will be heavy on their forehand, be less comfortable to ride, etc. They need learn to balance themselves and distribute the weight of themselves and the rider, making themselves lighter on the front end. When the hind end drags it hollows out the back. When a horse is reaching underneath himself it lifts the back and suspends the weight of the rider more easily.

Where do you start to build balance? Get them to raise that back by stretching DOWN. Once the back is stretched out then they can use their hind end.

One trick: use polo wraps one end on the bit, feed through armpits and tie up by their withers. To help stretch down and therefore lift their back!

I now use the polo-wrap trick with Deli for her rehab and it works well.

Straightness – “The ability to use both sides of their body with equal suppleness and strength.” – Donna Snyder-Smith. On a core level there horses are not using everything equally, so when they get pushed they will wear out the side they are using more and favoring. When they wear that side out they are going to have to rely on something they are not used to – and then the consequences start piling up. It’s our job to see where their strengths and weaknesses are. Horses are the master of compensation and they are often so willing to serve us to their detriment.

Observations on adding speed…

 

When you speed up, it often requires a new set of skills. If you train at a different speed, you are introducing different factors. When you introduce speed work it needs to not compromise the quality of your horse’s movement! Essentially, make sure they are not compensating when they speed up.

Conquering common issues:

To conquer inversion: work on relaxation, focus, and longitudinal flexion (getting them to flex through the body).

To  conquer speed or sluggish retardation: work on balance, rhythm, impulsion, and collection. Your horses may be using either of these as a cop-out when something is hard – often it depends on the horse’s personality which one they choose!

To conquer crookedness: teach them to be supple and engage that part of themselves they are trying to avoid.

 Maintaining your horse once you are on track with all of the above...

Observing – constantly evaluate how your horse moves. Horses are masters of compensation, but it comes at a cost! This can mean putting your horse on the lounge at least weekly to evaluate how the horse is moving regularly. Things to watch for: watch length of stride for each foot; the path each foot takes;  is the movement the same going each direction; watch all the way into the hips and shoulders (not just the feet); are they able to bend both directions? Training to make that possible means building lunging skills and the ability to bend, flex, and stretch.

Stretching – there are serious benefits to routine stretching. This can lead to increased flexibility and rage of motion, decreased possibility of injury, better bond with your horse, relaxation techniques you can use the morning of a ride, and it can also serve as a means to track the horse’s flexibility.

• Hold your stretch for 10-15 seconds and release. Ideally you want them to relax into the stretch (otherwise they won’t get a good benefit from it).
• Don’t do more than 3 repetitions with the stretches.

Other things to consider include: body work, massage, and chiropractic work to maintain your athletes.

Conditioning your horse at last:

One plan will not work when applied to every single horse! There is no one-size fits all plan.

Progressive loading – gradual increase in workload with each new level of training being maintained until the body adapts to the additional stress. This is the basic principle on which all conditioning is built on! We want to stress the body just enough to make the changes to make stronger.

The difference between aerobic (where the work still allows for oxygen to be supplied and replenished) and anaerobic (means without oxygen, working at a pace where the body cannot supply enough for the working muscles – this builds up more lactic acid eventually lading to fatigue.). Anaerobic conditioning is something you can use to tap into the next level of fitness (as with interval training). Generally most horses start to get into anaerobic around 150bpm

Remember there are cycles of work and rest. When the body gets stressed it needs that time to make changes. Your horse will get worn down if you don’t allow them to rest. A little amount of work only needs a little rest, and it scales up depending on how much effort is put forth.

There are baseline time frames for how long it takes to get structures to see changes (with serious work):

• Cardiovascular training and fitness – about 3 months
• Muscles 3-6 months
• Support tissues 6-12 months
• Bone – 3 year

Further recommendations from experienced endurance competitors

Jornaling/record-keeping. It’s helpful to have a journal to write down what you are doing – what worked, what didn’t, etc. Date, distance, time it took, electrolytes, where you rode, the weather, and recovery info (forming a routine by adding heart rates when you first hop of and 5 minutes after – it’s a great way to track their actual fitness. All the info from your actual rides (each loop, how long, etc.)

Wimer asked experienced endurance riders in the PNER group for their advice for a specific scenario. The hypothetical horse they were asked to plan for 100% sound, 6-7 years, well-trained, currently being trail ridden mostly at walk 1-2x a week.

• Many folks said they would require a minimum of 3-4 months before an LD and 3-6 months before a 50 miler.
• Karen Bumgarner said she wants to see a horse do at least 200 miles before doing a 50-miler.
• When checking their heart rate monitor – needs to get down to 60bpm within 10 minutes after a 10 miles ride of almost all trotting.
• Some folks do walk a mile trot a mile starting out; some folks use one of their rides for long slow distance (same speed, but extend distance), one fast day, one day for arena work. Many of these folks only do 3 days of riding in a week!
• Consider your personal safety! Wear a helmet, carry a phone on your person, carry an ID and pertinent information.
• The golden rule is: never increase speed and distance (OR difficult terrain) at the same time.

 Once your horse has a good LSD miles – once you’ve got them going – how many miles should you be riding on a weekly basis?

• 15-20 miles if you are going LD
•  20-40 miles for 50s per week
•  Do a couple conditioning rides that are at least as long as the longest loop on your first 50!

How do you decide how to pace a horse on your first ride?

• Never faster than you trained!
• Use their efficient working pace (which will change as your horse gets more fit).
• Watch heart rate and recoveries.
• Take the terrain into account.
• Practice negative splits – concept that you start the ride slower than what you finish it at. Gives your horse time to warm up, gives you time to analyze whether you were right about your horse’s level of conditioning and ability. If you start conservatively, then you still have time to adjust and adapt and still finish the ride well.
• Don’t use what you haven’t conditioned with (tack, speed, etc.).
• If your horse is having issues in the brain department at a ride – stop and think!

Describe average week of conditioning for a horse in their first season of 50s?

• 2-4 days a week
• One long ride up to 25 miles (LSD 8-9 mph may be average, but adjust for your horse) – some folks do one longer ride each week.
• Shorter rides on hills (8-10 miles at 9-10mph or 8-10 hard but slow hill work)
• Not forgetting arena work (at least 1 day of arena work)
• One or two days that are two hours of walking – try and get as big and marchy of a walk as possible!
• Some folks do hill repeats – walking up, then trotting up, then cantering up and leading them back down the hill.

And good luck on the trail!

Last time: Rehabilitating the Sport Horse with Dr. Sara Sammons (PNER Convention Notes)

Next time; “Blood Machine Testing” presentation by Dr. Meg Sleeper (PNER Convention Notes)

PNER Convention Notes – "10 Things You Can Do Better" by Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS

First in my convention-note lineup is a talk given by Dr. Susan Garlinghouse. She is fairly well known in the endurance world for her articles on equine nutrition and other salient topics regarding the health and fitness of our horses.

During this talk she essentially rounded up some of the more interesting things she had found from scientific research, and the practical applications of this recent research. Everything she talked about comes from her reading peer-reviewed research journals (so we don't have to?).

There were several points that are very applicable to Deli and I. I hope making my notes available will be helpful for other riders and horse lovers.

1. How to Feed Feet

There are tons of factors go into growing a good foot – bio-mechanics, genetics, age, breed, metabolic rate, temperature, and moisture (so the season and climate in general matter quite a bit for what a foot needs). Nutrition is a big deal but there is no one thing that is a silver bullet.

The key points from the nutrition standpoint are:

• Feed enough calories – the quality of their feed might not be high enough. In a positive energy balance they will grow foot 50% faster than horses on a restricted diet (not meaning the horse is on a “diet” for weight control, jut that the horse might be working more than the calorie intake received).
• Provide a good amino acid profile – don’t just supplement one amino acid and expect it to make a difference (for example, don’t just add methionine).
• Should you add minerals? If the mineral profile is already adequate, adding more is not going to help (and it might hurt). What’s more important that adding in single minerals is BALANCE. Don’t add a specific mineral unless you have a shown deficiency.
• Chelation of minerals is when bonded mineral to some kind of protein. This kind of mineral may increase rate of hoof growth. Minerals are absorbed more easily when chelated but it’s going to cost more money. Look for things like “zinc proteinate” or some kind of yeast. Zinc is a good one to be chelated.
•  Gelatin does not help – it has no scientific influence on hoof growth (And it’s not good for your fingernails either).
• Adding fat to the diet – adding a generic supplement will not help hoof, but it could help keeping the positive energy balance discussed earlier. However, adding fats high in omega-3 fatty acids IS beneficial for the foot.  This WILL provide direct benefits to their coats and hoof. Essentially these kinds of fats will add increased tensile strength if fed in the right amounts for long enough.
• Premium commercial feds provide a good vitamin-mineral balance if feeding around 5lbs a day. More cost effective than multiple supplements! For example: LMF Gold.

2. Feeding Biotin (for hoof quality) – it does work!

As for specific supplementation, Susan Garlinghouse discussed biotin extensively (which makes sense – it’s a common additive to hoof supplements). Biotin is one of the more expensive vitamin supplements. Most supplements do not add a lot of this because it’s expensive. The daily requirement for biotin is around 1-2mg/day just for general health. But if you supplement extra (15-20mg/day) you are going to get better hoof quality with some patience...

It will take 6 months to appreciate the difference with the 15-20mg/day dose. In about 9 months you should see a statistical difference (most horses grow out a foot in this timeline). In 33 months you see the increased tensile strength in the foot.

So yes, biotin can help a great deal with “feeding a good foot” if you keep in mind these baselines:

• Be patient and consistent!
• Improved quality: 5-7.5mg/day. At 15-20mg/day you see even better quality but no increased growth. At 50mg/day – you will see increased hoof growth. This will be around 15% better growth, plus a higher quality of hoof.
• Not every horse is going to respond, however. There are other factors that contribute to the hooves growth and strength (you need to have an overall good environment and supplementation before you can get payback).
• Biotin is a B vitamin (B7) and is not stored in the body – you have to feed supplement 2x a day if you are giving 50mg/day otherwise it will just be “an expensive pee puddle”.
• Her personal favorite is Paragon Biotin Plus – one scoop is 50mg. It also includes yucca. Yucca in naturally-occurring feed supplement is okay (otherwise it’s on AERC’s prohibited list).
• I personally recommend HorseTech’s Bioflax20 product. I didn’t know horses should be getting at least 20mg/day of biotin – but looking at the dosages for this product the horse does get the 20mg in the normal dose! The company also has higher doses in other products.

3. Feeding Fat

This topic is one I’ve seen discussed a lot within the endurance community. So, why feed fat? It has 2x the calories that protein and carbohydrates do, and it’s highly digestible! So feeding fat makes it easy to maintain a horse’s body weight.

The vegetable fats are more digestible (about 90%) and animal fats  are somewhat less  digestible (about 75%) because they have an added mineral content. In contrast, forage on average is 50-60% digested. What is not digested is poop, urine, or heat. You need that also, but heat is also a byproduct of exercise. A horse gets very hot during exercise and when their normal cooling process aren’t operating, they can get to a lethal core temperature in <15 minutes.

Feeding fats DECREASES the thermal load! Thermal load is higher in: larger horses, carrying heavier weight, heavily muscled horses. (This will tie into competing the non-Arab in endurance because one of the primary advantages Arabs have is a lower thermal load.)

Fat in the diet also provides glycogen-sparing effect. Glycogen is animal storage form of starch. Glycogen is a big bushy molecule. It’s not efficiently stored compared to adipose tissues so is in very limited supply. This means that feeding fat makes the animal more fuel efficient and Improves glycogen utilization. Once a horse had adapted to a high fat diet (which takes 5-10 weeks) they can still replenish glycogen repletion. High carbs are not something you want to feed a tired horse, so getting horses fat-adapted makes their rebound easier after a tough ride as well.

Fat is a SAFER feed than a lot of grain! Horses get more fuel efficient when exercising using aerobic metabolism processes and when they are used to burning fat, this process is encouraged over anaerobic energy uses. The glycogen sparing effect is also associated with a decrease in respiratory exchange ratio.

The comparison of oxygen consumption to CO2 produced does relate to the glycemic cycle in a horse as well. Adding dietary fats smooth’s out the glycemic/insulin curves from starchy meals, so your horse will have less of an energy rocket-boost and then a corresponding crash. Ideally its better to have sustained energy. Another reason to avoid large swings in the glycemic index is that insulin suppresses the horse’s ability to oxidize fatty acids – and you want them to be oxidizing fatty acids. All of this ties into how you want to feed a horse before a ride: ideally you want to SMOOTH OUT the glycemic/insulin curves.

Other considerations of a high-fat diet in the endurance horse include:

• Horses on high fat also digest grain better.
• One thing to note that is perhaps a bit unexpected: horses on generic HIGH fat diet show symptoms of being insulin resistant! However, if you change their diet to include 1-2oz of marine oil daily abolishes IR effect. So with a high fat diet add a little fish oil and add that. Dr. Garlinghouse recommended the product “EO3”, which is a marine oil source.
• Don’t ever syringe straight oil down the throat as it does not induce the “swallowing” effect and they can easily aspirate it into their lungs.
• What about the adage that you should stop feeding fat a couple days before an endurance ride? Essentially, fat consumption makes the horse less hungry. You want the horse to be stuffing itself with FORAGE before and during the ride-day as it is the best thing for gut health and water absorption. During the ride you should not add additional fat to their meals. You want your horses hungry whenever you make hay available to them. A horse can’t utilize fat on ride-day anyway. Edit to add another comment from Dr. Garlinghouse: "It's okay to feed a ration that happens to contain significant fats, and it's okay to add a high fat feed, like rice bran, as a flavoring agent. Just don't add a specific fat source, like pouring corn oil on their mash. I generally stop adding additional fats a day or so before a ride." 
• What about coconut oil? One of the fatty acids in coconut oil is lauric acid – the only other place it’s found is in breast milk. Lauric acid has been linked in some research with cancer fighting properties. But before you get too excited, this is what the actual research said about lauric acid and cancer: one of the metabolic byproducts of it, when put into a lab petri dish the “cancer did not like it.” Does this mean it actually has cancer-fighting properties? No! Essentially just think of coconut as fat a fat source. (It also tastes good and is therefore a palatable fat if your horse is picky.)

4. Chia seed vs. Flax?

These two seed sources are commonly fed to our equine partners and in her talk Dr. Garlinghouse compared them. Actually, she mostly talked about the benefits of feeding flax.

These seeds have equivalent omega-3 content but Chia is twice as expensive (so why buy it?). Flax helps with hoof and hair quality and helps as an anti-inflammatory. It’s good for arthritis and it’s great for horses in the endurance sport because endurance creates a certain amount of inflammation in joints and tendons even if it's not a chronic condition.

So what are the research points for flaxseed in a horse's diet?

• Every horse should be getting omega-3 fatty acids.
• Some endurance horses who had metabolic issues did well on 4-5lbs of flax a day (suggesting it's pretty safe for horses with metabolic issues).
• Lingan is higher in flax than in chia – lingan is a phytochemical structure (ie. An insoluble fiber which just providing bulk).  It does have a weak estrogen-like properties but the Dr.  Garlinghouse assured us that that is near impossible to actually make a measurable difference. She told us a story about a bunch of stallions on a rigorous breeding schedule who needed a lot of calories and were getting 5lbs of ground flax a day without experiencing any fertility issues. Though it has not been tested in horses, lingan can be protective in humans (prostate and breast cancer!).
• Human grade flax seed is okay to feed to our horses. Golden and brown flax is the same.
• Don’t over-grind the flax. You degrade the omega-3 if you grind it too much (because it gets too hot). Also, getting it pre-ground is risky. As long as it’s not rancid it will still provide some fat content to the horse, but the omega-3s degrade more quickly. Feed within 10 days/2 weeks. Put it into freezer bags to make it last longer.
• Flax does have the cyanide precursors that in some bodies do turn into cyanide. But the dose makes the toxin! It is another “cowboy myth” that flax seed is toxic because of these cyanide precursors. How did the myth start? It began– from cows fed linseed cake (which is the same plant but with the oil taken out of it). Cattle have the enzyme to break down the cryogenic precursors and they had some issues arise. Horses do not have this enzyme! Or at least not in high concentrations.

So how much should you feed?

• For flax: give a cup to 2 cups a day (start at ½ a cup a day or you will get diarrhea) for a horse doing LD or 50s. It’s more palatable than a lot of the oils.
• What about flaxseed oil? Plain flax seed is 20-25% fat and is a lot less expensive. The oil is harder to keep fresh – it’s very sensitive to light, and needs to be refrigerated.
• What about grinding flax? You will get 2x the digestibility out of ground (slightly ground). This is different than oats (where grinding does nothing) because flax is a SEED and has a hard hull.

Someone asked about black oil sunflower seeds. For BOSS – good way to get fat into them as a source of calories. But they have more omega-6s than omega-3s (and omega-6s are pro-inflamation). But at a better ratio than most vegetable oils!

5. Feeding Grain to the Endurance Horse

Oats, corn, barley, etc. The main thing to remember about feeding grain is: there is a limit to how much grain horses can digest in a day.

When feeding 5-11lbs of grain a day the risk of colic increases by a significant percentage. Why? Starch meals are digested by enzymes in the small intestine. It is like a conveyor belt and just keeps moving when healthy. When there is too much grain it gets dumped into the cecum. The cecum will treat it like forage because that's what the cecum does!

When grain gets to the cecum it makes the environment acidic ( which is called "cecal acidosis"). This condition associated w/ colic, laminitus, endotoxemia, EGUS, and other things you want to avoid in your equine partner. What's more, ulcer medication does not heal ulcers in the hind gut, so you should avoid ulcers as best you can. Dr. Garlinghouse noted that horses with fore gut ulcers often have diagnosed hind gut ulcers.

Other considerations for feeding grain include:

• Feeding 10lbs of grain a day also decreases fiber digestion.
• Sub-acute cecal acidosis contributes to decreased appetite.
• Digestibility NOT improved by splitting a large amounts of grain into many meals.
• The least digestible grains are corn and others with a very hard casing (the “hard grinds”). There is NO advantage to processing oats or other grain feeds compared to the straight grain (crimping, rolling, etc.). 
• Commercial feeds do things to grain to make them more digestible, so if you want to feed grain that might be the way to go.
• With respect to sprouting grains (as in fodder): it does improve digestibility, improves the vitamins the horse can access, and makes it palatable. If the grain is still intact enough to sprout and grow then you know you are getting a high quality grain. 

6. Ride-day Breakfast

• Re-think 4am grain or concentrate breakfast. Why not? Because you don’t need the energy spurt at the start of the ride. You want the burst later and you don’t want a slump at the “lunch” hour. This does not mean they can't get a mash of soaked pellets or something similar. So give them a flake of alfalfa in the morning. Or soak some pellets of alfalfa. Just to make him happy!
• The horse should be eating FREE CHOICE forage all day long! And days beforehand. This packs the gut full and will help store water if nothing else.
• Feed them any concentrates the DAY BEFORE (before midnight). The "lighter fluid" can be filled up the day before and your horse's glycogen stores will be full. And you will skip the glucose-insulin curve with this practice.
• Make sure he finishes all concentrates before midnight the night before.
• The only horses that need carbs during the day are the ones being competitive. 

7. Preferred Gait Studies

How does the body mass and distribution of weight affect energy costs? Does reducing mass of a distal limb increase energy efficiency? 

We know there is a linear relation between increasing mass and energy costs. When measured in fit Arab horses, adding 1.5lbs to each ankle increased energy costs by 11%. If the same amount of weight was at the center of gravity increased energy costs by only 0.6%. So every 1lb you add to the legs equals the same energy cost (approximately) as adding 18lbs over the center of gravity (such as tied to the saddle or breast collar). But you don’t get the extra “credit” points when standing for best condition if you have things on your horse's lower limbs.

So what should you do? Essentially, balance hoof protection against unnecessary additional weight! Ask: does my horse really need splint or bell boots? Does he need the heavy shoe or can I find something lighter? Or maybe be dynamic and change the booting and leg protection throughout the ride. For example, if you know the first loop is going to have a lot of brambles or cacti, put on protective boots and then pull them off for the second loop which has more sandy terrain.

(This is one reason it's important to train in the gear you are going to use, too, so your horse get's used to the energy expenditure required in wearing boots.) 

8. The "Sweet Spot" for Gait

Energy costs for the horse rise outside the “sweet spot” – ie. the speeds they are willing to keep up all day long. Most horses will have this for each gait. If the horse chooses their own speed they will usually choose the sweet spot themselves. Where an extended (or collected) gait goes away from the sweet spot we should make them transition to a different gait or else they are expending energy needlessly. The main qualifier for this is that if you have an inexperienced horse they may try and tell you their "sweet spot" isn’t quite what it actually is (I promise, Deli, the sweet spot is not jigging sideways). It's always good to change gears every now and then to use different muscle groups, anyway.

This is another area heart-rate monitors can be very useful. With a heart rate monitor you can tell his "sweet spot" is – that’s where his heart rate will be the lowest at that particular gait. As your horse gets more experienced that sweet spot is going to change. It usually gets faster as a horse gets more fit mentally and physically.

I am really curious to figure out Deli's "sweet spot". She can trot like a demon sometimes (approximately 14mph) but she seems most efficient at 7mph or so. Her walk varies widely, usually slower at the start (2mph) and warming up to 3-3.5mph. Not a fast walker!

9. Joint Supplements

The only joint supplement that is supported by data is Cosaquin. And yet even cosaquin is only about 3-4% bio-available to the horse. Glucosamine and the different sulfite joint supplements are not bioavailble to the horse when ingested. Why? The size of the molecule matters and can't be utilized well by the equine.

Adequan (or Legend) works better because you are bypassing the digestive tract. Adequan is 90% more bio-available. So Dr. Garlinghouse's recommendation is that you get 2 vials of Adequan rather than buying expensive supplements. In the long run this might actually save you money!

Here is another article I found comparing Adequan, Legend, and Pentosan. I'm particularly interested in researching and asking my vet about Pentosan for Deli, as she doesn't have any specific joints that are problematic (just a history of traumatic injury).

10. The best thing to feed DURING the ride is hay! 

You can also feed a lower-glycemic mash (triple crown senior is pretty good for this). As an aside – green grass is MAGIC for horses! If you have access to pasture and your horse is not sugar sensitive, green grass can do wonders to multiple systems in a horse’s body. This includes ride-day.

This is what we do at the end of anything long: a good roll!

That's all for now! Since a lot of what Susan Garlinghouse spoke about related to nutrition, I thought I’d provide a link to an article on nutrition and management made specifically for Green Beans.

Last time: The 2016 PNER Conference was a blast!

Next time: Notes from "Endurance Foot Care" by Sue Summers and Lee Pearce.

The integrity of equestrian competition and training.

“A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence.”

-          Xenophon

I’ve been pretty introspective lately when it comes to thinking about my personal involvement in equestrian sports. This post has been simmering in my mind for a while. In the wake of the recent running of the Kentucky Derby (which I didn't watch and wanted no part of), I feel the need to write these things down (even if they come out in stream-of-consciousness). Call it a record of my ever-evolving relationship with horses.

In a general sense, I’ve been thinking about how various equestrian sports have changed over time. Some things have gotten better when it comes to a horse’s place in this human-driven world. We understand horse behavior and nutrition better, for example, and in theory that allows us to better care for our ponies. I also see that most equine sports are making changes to make them safer and more humane for horses and their human partners.

However, I also see a lot of harm being done to horses in the name of the "sport". I don’t think any of our individual disciplines are immune to the kind of mistreatment I'm talking about. But prevalence alone doesn’t mean it is okay. And that doesn't mean those of us who care can just turn a blind eye. These harms needs to stop. They need to stop not just to protect  animals from abuse but to uphold the good character and reputation of equestrians everywhere. Times are changing, and equestrians need to change with the times.

I think the horse-human bond is a wonderful thing. I think the horse-rider bond can also be incredible. I’ve written about this before: that feeling that comes when there is absolute connection between me and a horse. Horseback riding is fun without those moments where the line blurs between horse and riding. It’s good exercise. But in my case, at least, I’m always seeking that deep connection of trust, communication, and empathy. My thoughts to theirs – our bodies blurring together. I think that most good riders who care about their horses as individuals are seeking that connection to some degree.

Unfortunately, organized sports (much like organized religion) seem to bring out the bad side of the equestrian community. This is especially true when competition is the name of the game. I really really wish this bad side did not exist – but that’s humanity for you. It’s the side that puts money, winning, appearances, and a lust for power above the welfare of their animals. And ultimately, over the horse-human bond.

"Big lick" (and I could have chosen a much more gruesome photo, I promise).

No, I’m not talking about a "bad side" expressed by someone correcting their horse when it bites or kicks. I wholeheartedly cringe at folks who coddle and spoil their 1200 pound pets so they become a danger to humans, other animals, and even themselves. Many of Deli’s serious injuries can be traced directly to another horse that was poorly socialized to the point they no longer know their own specie’s language. They become dangerous and isolated, unable to communicate with anyone properly. Deli, who grew up semi-feral in a herd, seems baffled (and frightened) by horses who don't tell her what's what before trying to rip her face off.

I don’t blame the horse in question for those kind of behaviors: I blame the owners, the trainers, etc. Horses are physical creatures meant to exist in a herd hierarchy – most of them are happier when someone else is in charge because the person in charge is the protector. Anyone who studies horse behavior knows this. Particularly when that person is a leader they are rewarded for following. Horses that prefer to be at the top of said hirearchy also prefer not to use a lot of energy to enforce their dominance. That's why Deli usually gets along great with a truly dominant but well socialzed alpha: one flick of an ear and Deli gets out of the way because she understands her own language.

Treating a horse like a very very big human (and not letting them be a horse) is just another kind of harm, if a more subtle one. Do you think horses enjoy being poorly socialized and unable to mesh with a herd? Doubtful.

What I am talking about when I think of the "bad side"are the training and husbandry practices found throughout the equestrian world in some frequency. For example: riding or working a horse hard before they are physically mature (and no, your QH or thoroughbred does not mature faster than other breeds – their bones still close around the same time) as in track racing and western futurity. Tail nerving or cutting for the sake of appearance. Soring, peppering, tail setting, and the use of ridiculous padding and shoeing techniques – again, to get a “look” that wins. Keeping show horses in stalls 24/7 until they go crazy (there are serious mental health consequences, in addition to the increased risk for health issues, for stall confinement). Tying a horse's head up for hours on end so that they are so fatigued they can't lift it for the show. Over-breeding to get some good sales and dumping the rest so that they ultimately end up in trucks bound for slaughter – and breed organizations that support those breeding practices. Any kind of riding that requires a “look” that means the horse is harmed in some way. I could go on, and I’m sure many of you have your own additions to this list.

All of these practices disgust me and I will make no secret about it.

The Eight Belles breakdown.

 Dressage has bad training techniques that seem to pretty much guarantee wins at the upper level. Rollkur (training with hyperflexion) is, of course, the go-to for finger pointing. It seems to be more about appearance than horse welfare. I could do a whole post just on my thoughts about how dressage has changed in relation to its purpose and horse biomechanics. I’ve had many a conversation with the trainer, and friend, who helped me start and put wet saddle blankets on Deli, about how the sport of dressage had evolved (or devolved). It’s an interesting conversation. I may devote another post to this topic because it does relate to my relationship with Deli and horses in general in a very real way.

Edward Gal & Totilas at WEG 2010.

Endurance even has its bad eggs. The issues with races in the middle East (FEI Region 7) has been a long standing issue such that the rules have changed to help prevent the abuses and horse deaths occurring there. In general I am attracted to the American Endurance Ride Conference’s emphasis on the welfare of the horse. I think this is achieved by making the horse’s health part of the competition, because it capitalizes on humanity's desire to win in a welfare-centric way. The multiple vet checks throughout each race are a GOOD thing, and from my experience in the west coast regions the majority of people are concerned about their horse’s welfare.

I’m not the best rider in the world and I’d be the first to admit I no longer have any dreams of competing at top levels. I do, however, have a good eye for horse biomechanics. I do believe in the basic tenants of classical dressage – that teaching the horse through willing cooperation to be an athlete capable of carrying a rider is essential. How you get to that place of harmony, where rider and horse become a centaur of sorts.

Manolo Mendez on Clint Eastwood II in FEI Intermediate I.
Mendez is an upper level dressage trainer I really respect for
various reasons - including his emphasis on horse mental health.

The Greek general Xenophon wrote a treatise that shows he was ahead of his time – and sadly ahead of our time in many respects. He was concerned about their physical AND mental well-being. He also wrote about how without friendship and cooperation a horse’s aesthetic has little value.

Xenophon also said: “For what the horse does under compulsion… is done without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if one should whip and spur a dancer. There would be a great deal more ungracefulness than beauty in either a horse or a man that was so treated. No, he should show off all his finest and most brilliant performances willingly and at a mere sign.”

If a fellow who existed in a time where horses were the premier mode of transportation and war, equestrians with horses in 2015 have no excuse.