There are two reasons for horses to become obese. The first reason is that they eat more calories daily than they use. The intake of calories is in the form of excess starch from hay and grains and excess fat from the digestion of cellulose in the hindgut. The second reason is often misunderstood. There must be a demand for the fat stored in the body fat; otherwise, it will remain or even increase body fat. The demand is created when muscle cells are used to the point of exhaustion, which, in terms of metabolism, means the lactate and glycogen are nearly all consumed within the muscle cells. T ..read more

In South Dakota, the legislature is working on a bill making it legal for non-veterinarians to float horses' teeth by hand or with power and possibly using sedation. The same is happening in Oregon, with the addition of non-vets pregnancy-checking livestock. In Colorado, a mid-level veterinary practitioner has been established, helping fill the void where veterinarians are not filling the need. Eleven new veterinary colleges are being developed in the US, yet there is a shortage of horse vets. This podcast looks at the situation from two very different points of view: the veterinarian's and th ..read more

Uncertain people do uncertain things. This uncertainty affects everything, including people and horses, and not necessarily in good ways. Most people have addressed the quest to conquer their inner self, but few become successful. Our horses know this. This podcast looks at the essence of all horsemanship, or, in other words, leadership, because horsemanship IS leadership. It comes from within us, but most people react to things in our lives. To improve your poor relationship with your horse (or any human), you must look inward and improve your view of life as a whole. Brain Health, by Christo ..read more

Horse hooves can experience various problems that farriers and veterinarians work to address with their specialized skills and equipment. These issues include crushed heels, splayed walls, cracked walls, dropped soles, bruised soles, and sole abscesses. However, in every conference I attend, every article I read, and every podcast I listen to, I notice that veterinarians and farriers seldom mention the importance of feeding high-quality protein to strengthen hooves. Over the past two years, I have asked numerous farriers and veterinarians why hot shoeing produces such a stinky odor. Only one v ..read more

Two factors drive food aggression in horses.  The first factor is the foraging behavior created by converting fructose into uric acid. The purpose of fructose is to prepare horses for the upcoming winter. However, not only is it fed throughout the year, but the high-sugar foods being fed cause horses to make more fructose. The second factor is stated in the protein leverage hypothesis, which says that humans (and all animals) will continue to look for food until they consume their daily amino acid requirements. Insufficient high-quality protein in horse diets drives horses to continue eat ..read more

Who do you believe? Is it the person with credentials or the person with experience? Maybe neither, because whenever anyone says something, there is an agenda. The need to talk is to communicate with someone to gain a response. Here are examples: "What is your name?" is a question wanting an answer. "The sunset is beautiful!" encourages others to look up and share what I see. "Feed your horse with my grains and supplements, and they will win the championship." solves the desire of sport horse owners. Attending meetings is a grand example of communication on several levels. The presenting org ..read more

Dr. Maria Katsamanis (Dr. Maria) joins me on this podcast to discuss how science can help us create better connections with our horses. I do these things every day, but I need the science or research behind why I do what I do. She delivers on this and more! Dr. Maria will be delighted if you learn something from listening that helps you connect better on a molecular level. Her life's work is to scientifically understand and improve on why we would rather be in a barn asking horses to help us face the world and heal our minds. Some philosophies of Dr. Maria as stated on her website: "Horseman ..read more

Horse owners are being told to purchase feed and supplements with the promise of improving everything with their horses. They do this by confusing you, forcing unproven marketing on you, wasting money, and harming horses. This course will empower you to understand more fully what goes on inside the horse, helping you make informed decisions for their care. I launch the Advanced Equine Nutrition course this month and wanted to give everyone a preview of its content. Chapter 1 - Energy Balance Chapter 2 - DNA and Protein Synthesis Chapter 3 - Determine How Much To Feed Horses Chapter 4 - Protein ..read more

In this podcast, I discuss two diseases that affect horses: Kissing Spine, which involves the overriding spinous processes, and peripheral vestibular disease, which is discussed at about the 16 to 17-minute mark. Kissing Spine is a relatively new condition discovered thanks to advancements in X-ray technology. The images show abnormal bone on and between the upright vertebrae spines. However, some veterinarians question the significance of finding these lesions on the X-ray of the thoracolumbar spines as the cause of pain in the horse. According to a new paper, lesions seen on X-rays may be de ..read more

I attended the 2024 Ocala Equine Conference for my continuing education credits. While attendance is mandatory for maintaining my veterinary license, I have always found that these meetings fall short of inspiring me to learn. Instead, they help confirm that I am on the right track in bringing current information to you, the horse owner, while also generating more questions for me to investigate. In this podcast, I cover three topics discussed at this convention: free fecal water syndrome, ultrasonography of the equine tendon sheaths, and equine asthma. Each topic was informative, helping at a ..read more