Training

Repeated exposures to pasture with other horses may be required to ensure a bloom of butyrate-producing bacteria, driving long-lasting healthy changes.

Complications related to their use highlight the need for further investigation into the effects of tongue-ties on soft tissues.

Timing is important in managing weeds in horse pasture, a specialist in soil science says.

“Weed control is often misused,” Professor Ray Smith, a forage specialist, told a recent workshop.

A comprehensive catalogue of behaviors indicating physical discomfort in horses has just been published.

In terms of a horse’s diet, hay and pasture are quite different. One is likely to be mature with seed heads and stems; the other much younger, finer, and more vegetative.

Study results show just how skilled horses are in balancing the forces required to stay fixed to one spot during the piaffe.

Tight-fitting saddles and muscle pain along the back were linked to more abnormal behaviours during tacking-up, the study team found.

Horses ridden by riders with better pelvic mobility and control showed significantly fewer conflict behaviors.

It is highly likely that pain-relieving drugs are behind many of the catastrophic injuries seen on the racetrack, according to researchers.

Brooke’s Animal Welfare Indicators Repository is aimed at professionals worldwide to assess and improve equine welfare in their work.

“Differences in muscle activation were most pronounced in the gluteal muscle during jump stride.”

“I don’t think there is any other animal relationship which is quite the same, or has the same complexity,” Professor Sarah Freeman says.

Heel contraction is often down to breed and other factors, researchers in Poland say: “The results disputed the popular myth of metal shoes being main cause of contraction.“

Qatar study of endurance horses shows the feasibility of identifying potential metabolic signatures as predictors of performance.

Despite a reluctance to seek advice, 84.9% of surveyed owners were satisfied with their purchase and would buy their horse again.

“Owners need to be made aware that these behaviours are not normal and may be a manifestation of underlying problems.”

The research involved 17 healthy three-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses trained daily at Partynice Race Course in Poland.

Educational strategies may prove important in safeguarding recreational horse welfare, according to researchers.