Does the cold weather really trigger your horse’s hair to grow?

Actually, your horse’s coat will start to grow when the amount of daylight decreases.  Your horse’s coat will also start to shed as the amount of daylight increases! 

Some barns choose to use this fact to change how their horses grow their coats, using barn lighting to create light before dawn and after dusk.  This prevents your horse from growing a winter coat, and it can alter a mare’s estrus cycle. 

The dog days of summer mean a few things in the horse world – long and sunny days, high heat and humidity, hours spent at the barn hanging out and riding our horses. Just as we need to stay hydrated and cool, it’s especially important for our horses, since they can’t easily jump in a cool pool and their pasture or barn probably isn’t air-conditioned!

When you ride your horse in the heat of summer – several critical things happen to your horse.

• He heats up and he sweats, often losing several gallons of water per hour sweating losing critical electrolytes and salt while sweating.
• A horse’s trigger for drinking is when the salt levels in his blood are high and creates thirst. This happens when he loses water. But, because horse sweat is salty, his blood levels of salt drop, too, therefore he never gets a strong urge to rehydrate himself.
• Equine sweat contains dissolved minerals, electrolytes, and provides a protein-rich moisture barrier that nature designed to control the horse’s body temperature in an effort to cool the body buy evaporation.
• Loss of critical electrolytes can lead to dehydration, constricted blood vessels, heat exhaustion, reduced energy that can affect the heart, muscles, GI system and brain.

Here are several tips to keep your horse comfortable in steamy hot weather:

• Ride in a covered arena, or hit the trail and stick to shady portions if possible.
• Take frequent walk breaks, and monitor your horse’s breathing as you go.
• Keep a bucket of water ringside to offer as you take a break.
• Some riders have a spray bottle of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water on the rail to spritz they horse. Alcohol evaporates quickly and can facilitate the evaporative cooling of sweat.

There are tell-tale signs your horse may be suffering from heat stress:

Always take your horse’s temperature before and after riding. Your horse’s temperature can rise as high as 104 degrees after exercise. Anything higher is a sign of heat stress, and you must intervene and begin aggressive cooling right away.

Call your veterinarian and touch base, just in case. Heat stress can also be measured by his pulse going over 80, and his respiration going over 40 or 50. See our article about How to Check Your Horse’s Pulse and Respiration.

Check his gums. A hydrated horse will have slippery gums, a horse with sticky or dry gums is dehydrated and should not be ridden.

His breath may also be shallow. Check your horse’s gums, if they are red or muddy colored, this is a sign his circulatory system is in danger. Pale or blue gums are also a sign of serious trouble.

Cooling him off after riding is important. Try these few techniques – they only take a few minutes!

• Let your horse drink as soon as possible after exercise! This is when he is most likely to start rehydrating on his own. Even waiting ten or fifteen minutes can be long enough for his desire to drink to be gone.
• Unless your horse had a strenuous workout, such as a cross country schooling, it’s safe and encouraged to allow your horse to drink.
• Strip your horse of his tack cool or cold water to hose his body. It’s important to scrape the water off immediately, otherwise the water that his coat is holding will heat up and create a layer of insulation. The best technique is to wet, scrape, and repeat.

If it’s just too hot to ride – there are plenty of other wonderful activities to do with your horse! Go for a hand graze or have a spa day instead!

Researchers at UC Davis have discovered interesting correlations between neonatal maladjustment syndrome in newborn foals and childhood autism. Read more below for the story as covered by Pat Bailey. The full press release can be found here.

UC DAVIS TODAY

Newborn horses give clues to autism

Story by Pat Bailey, video and photos by Joe Proudman

Just a few hours after its birth, the long-legged brown foal stands in its stall, appearing on first glance to be sound, sturdy and healthy. But something is very wrong with this newborn horse.

The foal seems detached, stumbles towards people and doesn’t seem to recognize its mother or have any interest in nursing. It even tries to climb into the corner feeder.

The bizarre symptoms are characteristic of a syndrome that has puzzled horse owners and veterinarians for a century. But recently, UC Davis researchers have discovered a surprising clue to the syndrome and intriguing similarities to childhood autism in humans.

Resembles children with autism

“The behavioral abnormalities in these foals seem to resemble some of the symptoms in children with autism,” said John Madigan, a UC Davis veterinary professor and an expert in equine neonatal health.

“There are thousands of potential causes for autism, but the one thing that all autistic children have in common is that they are detached,” said Isaac Pessah, a professor of molecular biosciences at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and a faculty member of the UC Davis MIND Institute, who investigates environmental factors that may play a role in the development of autism in children.

Pessah, Madigan and other researchers in veterinary and human medicine recently formed a joint research group and secured funding to investigate whether abnormal levels of neurosteroids — a group of chemicals that modulate perception — may play a role in both disorders.

They hope their efforts will help prevent and treat the disorder in foals and advance the search for the causes of autism, which affects more than 3 million individuals in the United States.

Maladjusted foal syndrome

In newborn foals, the disorder known as neonatal maladjustment syndrome or dummy foal syndrome occurs in only 3 to 5 percent of live births. But when it does appear, it is, said one Thoroughbred horse breeder, “a nightmare.”

With continuous treatment, including around-the-clock bottle or tube feeding plus intensive care in a veterinary clinic, 80 percent of the foals recover. But that level of care — required for up to a week or 10 days — is grueling and costly.

For years, the syndrome has been attributed to hypoxia — insufficient oxygen during the birthing process. Typically, when a foal’s brain is deprived of oxygen, the resulting effects include mental deficits, abnormal behavior, blindness and even seizures. And, as in human babies, much of the damage is serious and permanent.

But is oxygen deprivation the culprit?

Oddly, however, most foals with neonatal maladjustment syndrome survive the ordeal and have no lingering health problems. This raised the question of whether hypoxia was the culprit in the syndrome, and Madigan and UC Davis veterinary neurologist Monica Aleman began sleuthing around for other potential causes.

One of their prime suspects was a group of naturally occurring neurosteroids, which are key to sustaining pregnancies in horses, especially in keeping the foal “quiet” before birth.

No galloping in the womb

“Foals don’t gallop in utero,” Madigan is fond of saying, pointing out the dangers to the mare if a four-legged, hoofed fetus were to suddenly become active in the womb. The prenatal calm is made possible, he explained, by neurosteroids that act as sedatives for the unborn foal.

However, immediately after birth, the infant horse must make an equally important transition to consciousness. In nature, a baby horse would be easy prey for many natural enemies, so the foal must be ready to run just a few hours after it is born.

Biochemical ‘on switch’

In short, somewhere between the time a foal enters the birth canal and the moment it emerges from the womb, a biochemical “on switch” must be flicked that enables the foal to recognize the mare, nurse, and become mobile. Madigan and Aleman suspect that the physical pressure of the birthing process may be that important signal.

“We believe that the pressure of the birth canal during the second stage of labor, which is supposed to last 20 to 40 minutes, is an important signal that tells the foal to quit producing the sedative neurosteroids and ‘wake up,’ ” Madigan said.

The theory, he said, is supported by the fact that the maladjusted foal syndrome appears more frequently in horses that were delivered via cesarean section or experienced unusually rapid births. Perhaps those foals do not experience significant physical pressure to trigger the change in neurosteroids, Madigan said.

Neurosteroids persist in the bloodstream

Furthermore, the research team has found for the first time that sedative neurosteroids persist, and their levels often rise, in the bloodstream of foals born with symptoms of the maladjustment syndrome. These neurosteroids are known to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier and impact the central nervous system, acting on the same receptor as do sedatives and anesthetics.

The researchers also have demonstrated that maladjustment symptoms can be brought on temporarily in normal, healthy foals by administering short infusions of a neurosteroid called allopregnanolone. When the neurosteroid levels drop, the foals return to their normal state.

Foals ‘wake up’ with gentle harness pressure

Amazingly, the veterinary researchers have found that they can reduce maladjustment symptoms in foals by using a simple rope harness to gently squeeze the foal and mimic the pressure normally experienced in the birth canal.

To recreate that pressure, the researchers developed a method for wrapping a foal’s upper torso with several loops of a soft rope, creating a temporary harness. When pressure is applied with the rope, creating a gentle squeeze, the foal lies down and appears to be asleep.

After 20 minutes — about the same time a foal would spend in the birth canal — the rope is loosened and the squeeze pressure released. In initial cases, the foals have responded well to the procedure and recovered, some rising to their feet within minutes, bounding over to join the mare and nurse, as shown in the video above.

The ‘Madigan Foal Squeeze Procedure’

The researchers suspect that the pressure triggers biochemical changes in the central nervous system that are critical for transitioning the foal from a sleeplike state in the womb to wakefulness at birth.

While larger studies are underway, the researchers have presented their results at national and international meetings of equine veterinarians, and many veterinarians and clinics are treating maladjusted foals with the squeeze procedure — now called the Madigan Foal Squeeze Procedure.

Madigan cautions that, in spite of the strong observational effects, a larger, controlled clinical trial of national and international scope is now needed to reproduce those observed results and provide a better understanding of the processes that occur in the foals.

‘A strong tactile stimulation’

“We don’t fully understand the mechanisms that are at work here, but it appears that the rope restraint provides strong tactile stimulation, similar to what the foal should experience during labor and passage through the birth canal,” he said.

Using brain-wave studies conducted by Monica Aleman, the researchers have confirmed that the foals truly go into slow-wave sleep with the squeeze procedure, and endocrine changes also occur with the squeeze.

“We have the unique ability to obtain brain wave data to determine the nature of some of the brain changes with the neurosteroids in the neonatal horse,” Aleman said.

Mirrors ‘kangaroo care’ for human babies

Madigan says the findings are not without precedent in human medicine, citing anecdotal evidence that tactile pressure appears to also be important for infants.

“There are reports of very sick newborn babies, determined unlikely to survive, making seemingly miraculous, spontaneous recoveries after being placed in the arms of a grieving parent for a last embrace,” Madigan said. “Perhaps those babies benefited from some form of squeeze-induced stimulation or neuroactivation – similar to what we’re seeing in the foals.”

He noted that many hospitals are making newborn “kangaroo care” — immediate skin-to-skin contact with the mother as well as swaddling in a light blanket — standard procedures right after birth. Premature infant survival is dramatically improved when kangaroo care is implemented, he said.

Baby feels like it’s in the womb

“Kangaroo care makes babies feel like they are in the womb,” said Mark Underwood, chief of pediatric neonatology at the UC Davis Children’s Hospital.  “In newborn babies that have received kangaroo care, we see their heart rates stabilize, their sleep deepen and agitation decrease.”

Underwood and Madigan have discussed the neonatal maladjusted syndrome in foals as well as some of the similarities between human and horse babies.

Labor affects steroid levels

“In human babies, we don’t yet know what it is about the kangaroo care type of holding that is effective,” Underwood said. “We do know, however, that in babies, labor brings interesting changes in steroid levels.”

Madigan adds that earlier medical studies that have found concentrations of neurosteroids, similar to those found in neonatal foals, are present after birth and then rapidly decline in both full-term and early-term human babies.

However after 12 hours, the preterm infants have significantly higher levels of those neurosteroids than do the full-term infants, mirroring what is seen in foals with the maladjustment syndrome.

Link to autism?

The early findings by Madigan and colleagues have compelling implications for the health of newborn foals, but have also caused the researchers to explore possible links to autism in children.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a group of complex brain-development disorders. While the symptoms vary, the disorder generally is marked by difficulties with social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors.

There is a long history in medical and veterinary medical research, including at UC Davis, of looking for similar symptoms and disorders in a variety of animal species — an approach that has come to be known as One Health. When Madigan decided to examine possible links between the foal disorder and childhood autism, he approached Pessah with videos of foals affected by the maladjustment syndrome.

Foal behaviors resemble autism

“The concept that a disruption in the transition of fetal consciousness may be related to children with autism is intriguing,” said Pessah, confirming that the behaviors seen in the maladjusted foal syndrome truly are reminiscent of those in autistic children.

He notes that some children with autism do outgrow autistic behaviors by the time they reach their teen years. Could this be a parallel to the recovery of the foals with the maladjustment syndrome?

Investigating possible links

A new group called the Comparative Neurology Research Group, consisting of veterinarians, physicians, epidemiologists and basic-science researchers, has formed to pursue further studies in this area. Madigan is working with researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, exploring the mechanisms of post-birth transitions of consciousness related to kangaroo care of infants.

Using data from the foal research, Pessah, Madigan and Aleman are working with environmental epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto at the UC Davis MIND Institute to investigate neurosteroids in children with varying degrees of autism, ranging from some developmental delay to full-spectrum autism.

The researchers are exploring whether abnormal regulation of neurosteroids during the time around childbirth could be one of many factors that might contribute to autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. A recent study has reported elevated levels of neurosteroids in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Pessah and colleagues will be looking to see whether there are alterations in blood levels of certain neurosteroids that may serve as a marker for the disorder. They caution, however, that the relationship right now is just a theory that remains to be validated or disproven.

Our health intertwined

And so the research moves forward in both human and veterinary medicine — a strong reminder that although the two-legged and four-legged patients are quite different, their health is delicately intertwined by myriad biological processes that continue to amaze the researchers who go searching for them.

“The concept that some disorders in animals and humans may be related to a failure of transition of consciousness at birth is a novel idea,” Madigan said. “Evolutionary biological mechanisms for survival and adaptation after birth are important concepts, whether it’s a newborn foal or a newborn infant. In this case, it may very well be that the horse is allowing us to learn something about ourselves.”

Read the UC Davis news release about the research.

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Pat Bailey covers veterinary medicine and agriculture for UC Davis Strategic Communications, and Joe Proudman is the department’s multimedia specialist.

On the home page: By using a simple rope harness to gently squeeze the foal and mimic the pressure normally experienced in the birth canal, the young horse can recover. Joe Proudman/UC Davis photo

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When it comes to picking a fly product for your horse, you have dozens of options at the store.  You also have the option of concocting your own fly spray.  But where do you start?  The internet is chock full of recipes, but how do you know what’s best?

I’m here to tell you that I don’t have an answer for this one.  Not even close.  I’ve often by fascinated by the simple ingredients and the “friendly” nature of making your own fly spray, but for me, the reality is that I like the convenience of picking up a bottle of fly spray at my feed store.  There.  I said it.

However, in the name of learning, having an open mind, and even being a bit more “green,” I have compiled some information about ingredients to make your own home made fly sprays. This will hopefully be informative and highly entertaining.

Avon’s Skin So Soft

This is the holy grail of fly spray ingredients for the do it yourselfer.  This is a product designed as a mineral oil-based moisturizer for humans, and yes,  it does contain “chemical” ingredients.  The entire line of products now includes some bug repelling specific lotions, as well.  It does work quite well as a mosquito repellent for humans, FYI.

Citronella Oil

There are two kinds of citronella oil – the highly concentrated pure essential oil and the highly dangerous, flammable type used to make tiki torches burn.  Go for the first type!  Use these in a heavily diluted mixture, a little bit goes a very long way.  Citronella oil is effective at repelling mosquitoes and also stable flies, as well as having a nice smell.

Eucalyptus Oil

Eucalyptus oil is another choice, although it hard to tell from the lack of research what this oil repels.  Lemon eucalyptus oil is an ingredient that is actually EPA-registered for mosquito repelling. As with citronella oil, eucalyptus oil is highly concentrated, so be sure to dilute.

Dish Soap

Many of the recipes for homemade fly sprays contain dish soap.  I have seen recipes with just about every brand of dish soap.  This is used as an emulsifier, so that the oils and water in your concoction can mix together, and stay mixed together.

Vinegar

About half of the homemade recipes out there specify white vinegar, the others say apple cider vinegar.  Perhaps it depends on the smell that you prefer?  I was also unable to find any research on what types of bugs that vinegar repels, although there are tons of stories about vinegar as a bug repellent.

I also found lots of references to apple cider vinegar used as a topical treatment for insect bites.  Another added value to using vinegar topically is it can also create a great sheen on your horse, but it’s nothing like Grand Coat!   (FYI, Grand Coat is the most awesome coat supplement I have ever used for quick, super-healthy coat condition – I think Grand Coat is also excellent at improving the skin underneath the hair  coat and healthy skin will ward off anything!)

If you have a tried and true recipe, please share with us in the comments below!

Fly season! Yes, it is here. Every year I read articles and blogs about what to do to protect horses from flies. Here are several of the tips I have found to be the most helpful. In our 24-horse training barn we see horses of all types, ages, breeds. This also means they all have different types of skin sensitivities, allergies, tolerances, etc. These tips should help serve horses of all kinds.

1. SPRAY IT ON

Fly spray sounds obvious, right? However, the types of fly sprays available need consideration. If your horse is sensitive to fly sprays – think dandruff looking skin, scaly looking parts on neck, loss of hair around face or other body areas – you may need to consider a more holistic, chemical-free spray or one that contains aloe or an added sunscreen.

Don’t be fooled by non-chemical sprays, either. Saying something is “all-natural” doesn’t necessarily make it more gentle. Pyretherin, an ingredient in most chemical fly sprays, is technically a “natural” ingredient derived from the chrysanthemum flower, and while it is deemed “safe” in small amounts, often it is mixed with other chemicals to increase its effect.  It also can be made synthetically.

There are plenty of natural fly sprays for horses on the market, but if you think homemade or holistic, all-natural is the route you would like to go, read this article by Liv Gude from Pro Equine Grooms on how to make your own fly spray. You may even want to try adding some essential oils to your homemade mix. Oils like lavender, peppermint, lemon, geranium, or eucalyptus, along with vinegars and citruses that work really well together. You and your horse will smell so nice, and say goodbye to flies!

By the way, overhead systems can be very costly and require maintenance, and then you risk the constant chemical infiltration of lungs and on skin.  Some barns use these overhead systems on timers. I shut mine off in my barn, as I don’t want to be breathing those chemicals in all day, nor do I wish for my horses to either.

2. GEAR ‘EM UP

 You all know what I am talking about – dressing your horse like they are going into a medieval battle. There are sheets.  There are boots.  There are neck wraps.  Belly bands. Masks, with ears, with nose guards, or without. Masks with painted on faces, bug eyes or trendy trims. Do not forget masks for riding.

My advice? Find the material that is A) comfortable to your horse, 2) durable, as you will not want to go through three per season, and C) please folks, color coordinate. What an eyesore to see a chestnut horse wearing red. Or having blue plaid boots mixed with a pink fly sheet.

Kidding. (Sort of)

3. APPLY SOME SALVES

From the all time favorite pink goo to the holistic versions with tea tree oil, aloe, and soothing herbs, these salves can protect sensitive areas of your horse. Some horses will not keep a mask on, so I find these salves or even roll-on salve products to be very helpful around eyes, ears and muzzles.  Horses with open wounds are especially susceptible to fly-borne illnesses, so coating around these areas with salves after applying medication is a really good idea in the event they can not be bandaged.  I have also found the underline “itch” spots to respond well to the herbal salves as they act to treat and protect.

4. KEEP IT CLEAN

Flies like stink! The stinkier the better. Daily cleaning of stalls, paddocks and pastures, and removal or composting of manure is key. Keep stall walls washed down and floors disinfected, or spread with a product to cut odor or moisture like PDZ or lime. (Just make sure it doesn’t make contact with horse’s skin. It’s best to move horses out while you do this!) Keep muck buckets, tools, wash racks, grooming areas cleaned and disinfected regularly.  I even spray these areas with my holistic blend of spray and it really seems to help.

5. SET YOUR TRAPS

I asked Liv Gude of Pro Equine Grooms on how effective are fly traps around the barn. Here’s her anser:

“Well, in a nutshell they are awesome.  I have never hung a flytrap and had it remain empty for long.  Downside is the smell, and they are not so appealing to look at.  But – fly control at the horse barn is a multi pronged approach – you need to attack all stages of the fly life cycle.”

– Liv Gude, Pro Equine Grooms

There is some question whether this works or just attracts more flies.  I am told that if you keep the traps away and downwind from the actual barn, it does help.  They must be kept maintained and checked regularly for replacement.

I know others who swear by those little fly larvae-eating pests, but the trick is that you have to have an established place where manure is kept so they may feed on the larvae. For a farm like ours, where we have our manure hauled off daily, I have not been able to get these little guys to thrive anywhere. Some people still say to shake them out on pasture fence lines and you will have luck.

There are also people who swear by hanging plastic bags with water in them with a coin, and then claim the reflective properties when the sun hits them disorients the flies and keeps them away.  It has worked on my patio, so maybe? I am certain, however, that given even the slightest chance of reaching these, my horses would make short work of them!

#6 FEED IT THROUGH

As I am sure you can tell by now, I am not a fan of heavy chemicals. But there are products that are marketed to add to feeds that claim they will inhibit larval development and greatly reduce adult fly populations in four to six weeks.  There are several brands on the market and they claim to be safe.  There are also many products that contain ingredients that are holistic such as garlic, apple cider vinegar and diatomaceous earth.

#7 SUPPORT THEIR SYSTEMS

I find feeding a well-rounded supplement designed to support the skin, coat and immune system and a properly pH balanced digestive tract to be critical to ward off any problems from fly bites or other insects. A horse with a strong immune system will be less susceptible to fly born diseases such as the dreaded Dry Land Distemper (also known as Pigeon Fever).

While there are many products on the market, to keep it simple I like to feed an all-in-one horse supplement like Grand Premium Plus.  I have also used Grand Coat which is excellent for targeting their skin and coats.  One of the reasons we love Grand Premium Plus is because it also contains the complete Grand Coat formulas along with six other top formulas in one product – makes it easy for a large barn like ours to feed.

Do you have a favorite fly-prevention technique for your horses? Post it in the comments!