As your horse makes the transition to a life of leisure, you’ll be modifying just about everything in your horse’s day-to-day routine. How can you keep your horse healthy and happy as he makes this change? Follow these steps for a smooth transition.

By Horse Industry Association of Alberta - Get out your rubber boots – spring is coming (believe it or not). Unfortunately, so is mud. With the heavy snowfall seen in many parts of Canada this past winter, the spring season promises to be messy when the ground starts thawing and the snow starts melting. Mud can cause problems for horse owners. It affects pastures and can cause health issues in horses.

Equine laminitis has been with us for a long, long time. Fortunately, in the last 10 to 20 years there have been great strides in understanding the causes of this terrible condition. Laminitis is now regarded as a syndrome that occurs secondary to something else, rather than a discreet disease all in itself. This has allowed much more focused research and effort in treating the cause rather than treating just the symptoms that occur in the hoof. It doesn’t matter how great the trim is, or what shoes are used, or how deep the bedding. If initiating causes such as EMS (Equine Metabolic Syndrome – see Equine Metabolic Syndrome & Equine Cushing’s Disease, Early Summer 2018 issue of Canadian Horse Journal) or PPID (Cushing’s disorder) are not addressed, the laminitis and the pain will continue.

Like humans, horses can be hypersensitive to a wide variety of allergen triggers including insect bites, pollens, dust and molds, chemicals in crop sprays, hay dust, stall bedding materials, wool (sometimes in saddle pad and blanket products), grooming sprays, shampoos, synthetic materials such as neoprene found in boots and pads, medications, supplements, and some ingredients in feed pellets.