Ever wished your horse could tell you when he or she is sick or ill? Especially when you are not around.......the latest available technology on the market from Equisense can do just this.

Using a wearable lightweight vest, your horse's heart rate, respiratory rate, perspiration, temperature and movement are all monitored in real time straight to your phone.

When the indicators of for example colic are present such as raised temperature, increased heart rate and breathing as well as rolling, an alarm is sent to you via the app so that you can get to your horse as soon as symptoms are found and in good time to get any neccessary treatment started.  As we know, the earlier the horse is treated, the better the chances are of treating with success.

Interested? Find more reading here.

Worming your horse properly is becoming more and more of an issue as resistance to wormers gets worse.  This means that the wormers we are using are  not working as well as they used to as the worms have become immune to their effects, they do not die and your horse continues to be infected with worms.

How do we help stop this?  One way is to ensure that you only worm when absolutely required, i.e. when your horse is infected and when you know precisely what to worm for.  The practice in the UK for many years has been to just worm your horses a few times a year whether they are infected with worms or not. Ridiculous right, you wouldn't dose yourself up with Flu Relief if you didn't have flu and you wouldn't take antibiotics without an infection that was diagnosed by a doctor to require them, so why do we worm our horses when we don't know if they need it or not?

I think the problem is that it is is easier to just order a wormer and pump it in, rather than trying to work out the alternative.  BUT, what if there was an easy way to test that was quick and inexpensive?

Worming Guide

What worms are you testing for? Redworm, roundworm, tapeworm and pinworm.
 
What do you do?  To start with, find out if your horse needs a worming treatment by using worming egg count test kits. 
 
What test kits do you need?

• Redworm and roundworm – Dung egg count test kit;

• Pinworm – Selotape Test;

Combination test kit for pinworm, redworm and roundworm – £11.50 per kit here;

• Tapeworm (cannot be detected by dung egg count test) – Equisal Saliva Test, here from Westgate - costs £17.95;

 
The price includes everything – the kit and the test and the results that will be emailed or posted to you.  Its all super simple and very easy to do.
 
How do you do it?  When you receive the test kit, follow the instructions closely – they are simple.  Fresh dung is very important.
When to test using the kits? At the beginning of each season – Spring 1st March, Summer 1st July, Autumn 1st September, Winter 1st December.
Why bother? Worms can cause a huge amount of damage to the intestines of your horse that can lead to colic and diarrhoea, blockage of intestines and tail rubbing to name a few.  Start using egg-testing kits so that you can save money on buying unnecessary wormers, treat only using the right type of wormer and help prevent resistance to wormers and get a healthy horse.

Results! When you get your results by post or email they will tell you how many of each type of worm egg is present and you can then select the correct wormer for those particular type of worms and you do not need to worm unnecessarily.  You should save money long term by not having to order unnecessary wormers.

SORE HOOVES, LAMENESS AND HOOF NUTRITION
 
I think as a result of being at my wits end with lame horses caused by rubbish feet I have opened my tunnel vision up to examine all angles.  For me, it started with some research in the USA.  Over there, they seem to have a lot more knowledge on what to feed to improve hoof quality.  It makes sense, what you put in to your horse, you get out, including out through the hoof wall.  Feed bad quality feed and what do you think your horses body will produce in terms of skin, coat and nails?
 
So, now my little brain has put these quite obvious elements together, I needed to work out what to feed and what is within my budget and means so that I get a good strong hoof for a horse that is actually rideable.
 
Firstly, SUGAR!  It is literally in everything I feed and heaps of it.  I never realised, even my cheap fibre nuts are loaded with molasses aka sugar.  This is horrific for the hoof in many ways.  Too much sugar causes insulin resistance, which in a nutshell can lead to laminitis and also not stating the obvious, but sugar leads to overweight horses and bad hoof production.  High sugar should be avoided at all costs.  Number 1: cut down the sugar.
 
Number 2 - all our basic feeds do not contain sufficient basic minerals for good hoof growth.  The main minerals the hoof needs are zinc, salt and copper – its SIMPLE.  If you can bump these up to recommended levels, you are in with a good chance.  I explain below how to do this without giving you all the horrific maths I have had to do!  Salt is a big one, hardly any of our horses are getting enough of this and a salt block WILL NOT be enough.  You really want to shoot for at least 10 grams of table salt per 500 kilo horse, per day.  This is based on a low work load.  Each of mine are just in walk work at the moment.
 
In a nutshell, I have completely overhauled each of my horses diets.  I dumped the rubbish pony nuts and high molasses ALFA-A and came up with a new plan.  I now feed Speedi-beat which is great as its low sugar, low starch and high fibre = great for hooves. I feed about 400 grams per day (dry weight) per horse, each of my horses are about 500 kilos.
 
I then mix in flaked Micronised Lynseed, about 400 grams per day.  This contains a great basic and naturally occurring mineral mix, it contains some brilliant oils and its low sugar but brill for getting condition on if you have a skinny Minnie – or just feed less if you have a slightly rounder horse.  Now, this diet will already be helping to improve your horses feet.  If you have a slightly bigger budget, I would also add in the ‘Forage Plus’ hoof mineral mix which gives your horses hooves literally everything they need for their feet.  Its perfect.  BUT if you have a slightly lesser budget, as I do, I have opted for Stamm30 Saracen Stud balancer which contains a perfect concoction of vitamins and minerals, all of which promote healthy hoof growth.  I feed about 500 grams per day (2 cups) to meet my horses needs.  Yes it’s a stud mix, but because of that it’s boosted with some great quality hoof nutrients such as zinc and copper.
 
If you are feeding just the linseed and Speedi-beat, you are looking at a cost of about 26 pounds per month per 500 kilo horse.  If you can afford to stretch to adding in the balancer, this goes up to about 40 pounds per month total.  Don’t forget the table salt.
 
Beyond this, Methionine, Lysine and Biotin are all SUPER for growing strong hooves.  You will find this pre-mixed in to the ‘Forage Plus’ mineral mix for hooves or you can have a look online for a hoof supplement.  Your Lynseed and Speed-beat each contain some levels of Methionine and Lysine already which is great, but you might still be slightly short on the recommended daily allowance, but it’s a start!  Do some research, I use a product called Hoof Aid from Shotter and Byers Vets and this does me well.  See what you can find.
 
Add to this diet regular exercise (even if it’s a walk 5 times per week for 35mins) and a reduced grass intake (try a grass muzzle as grass is very sugar rich) and you are well on your way.  I feed mine about 2 sections of hay twice per day but they have very limited grass and it’s still warm! 
 
Apparently in 6 weeks or so I should notice some small hoof changes, keeping in mind it takes about 9 months to grow out an entire hoof! Wish me luck, and if you have any questions, drop me an email: ponypatters@outlook.com.

Diet summary: Soaked Speedi-beet, micronised linseed, salt, Saracen Stam 30 stud balancer, hoof aid supplement! GOOD LUCK !

With two horses currently out with lameness, it is sadly something I am more than familiar with.  They have each had scans and various work ups in order to see what was wrong.  The outcome is essentially that they have bad feet and this is what I need to work on.

So, what to do ?!  Well, something that comes to mind is the following saying from Einstein 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.'  I needed to try something different.  Initially I tried different types of remedial shoeing using different types of shoes and various pads.  My farrier is brilliant and I cannot faults his efforts to get my horses sound.  He has certainly tried.  But after going through 4 sets of pads with no difference, it was time for a change.

The shoes were due to come off my mare for her MRI scan anyway, and my new gelding who came in for behavioral issues had similar problems with his feet, although we thought it was just a bruised sole initially.  So, two sets of shoes came off and it came to me that this was a way of trying something different with them.

So they have their MRI scans and both have bone bruising in their feet.  What next?  So I get on to doing some research on barefoot as there is no way I am hammering a set of nails in to sore feet. The first helpful things I came across were the UK Hoof Boutique and Pete Ramey's Hoof Rehab website: https://www.hoofbootique.co.uk/ and http://www.hoofrehab.com/Articles.html

These places really helped and I have since subscribed to the 'Barefoot Horse Magazine' also which has heaps of useful info.  So the outcome of all of this is that I am going to try barefoot for 12 months to see if it helps.  It certainly can't make things any worse.  The idea is that you have regualr trims from a farrier that knows what they are doing.  I am lucky, my farrier Phil Ibbotson based in Surrey is super helpful and keen to help, barefoot or not.  A lot of farriers are not keen on barefoot, but they need to get with the program, things are changing.  After hundreds of years using metal shoes, we are finally moving forward with something else.

So, whats new?  OK, so while in the field, my horses are happy enough wondering about without shoes on, but I need to be able to ride them when they start coming back in to work.  One, now 4 months since the MRI scan is looking relatively sound but what would be the point in going back to shoes when she was lame with shoes before?  Instead I am venturing in to the world of hoof boots.  I figure if a horse can ride a 100 mile endurance ride over rocky terrain in hoof boots (so I've read) then why can't mine?

Off I trot to size up some hoof boots.  To start I measure the hooves and took quite a few pictures.  I then, armed with my measurements, purchased two pairs off eBay and borrowed one pair from a friend.  I bought the Cavallo Sport and the Equine Fusion Joggers and borrowed some Renegade Classics.  Fitting is the most important thing I have found and Liz at the Hoof Boutique has really helped.  To start you need to measure your horses hooves super accurately and take some pictures to email to Liz.  she can then guide you on sizes and types of hoof boots.

The Cavallos are the easiest to fit but slipped around - just not quite right for my horse, the Fusions being tricky to get on and off at times although better fit on the horse with slightly longer toe and the Renegades needing some time investment at the beginning to get the size right.  Once that's done they too are easy although the most expensive set of boots (but worth it in the long run versus shoes).

After much procrastination I have decided on a pair of Renegade Vipers for one horse and the Equine Fusion for the other.  Each fits differently for differently shaped hooves.  Renegades are better on rounder feet, the fusions seem better on a longer toe that is perhaps a bit slimmer, they do a slim version which I will purchase on eBay when a second hand pair come up!

The outcome here I hope is soundness, but being only 4 months in on my 12 month barefoot test, already one horse looks sound.  Can't be bad. The real test will be when she comes in to work.

I have read that I regularly need to test my horses bare hooves on small amounts of different (i.e. rocky) terrain so the hooves adjust, before going out willy nilly over dodgy footing and cantering about.  This is not going to be an overnight process BUT if I get a couple sound of horses at the end, I really don't care how long it takes.  Some people have asked me why I don't just shoot them?  My answer is that why would I shoot something that just needs some time to heal  - we are just always in such a bludy rush !

Next steps ?? Wear the hoof boots when out on walk work, barefoot in the field, regular foot trimming, regualr exercise, hi-fiber & low sugar diets, lots of forage, mixed terrain for the hooves to adjust.......lets see !