Horses will drink 8 to 12 gallons of water per day during cold weather; intake decreases as the temperatures declines and will increase if there is access to warm water. Studies have shown that offering warm water (45-65 F) will increase intake by 40% during winter.

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), also known as moon blindness, is a painful condition where repeated occurrences of inflammation in the eye can cause permanent damage. The inflammation may cause career or even life-ending complications, explains Jacquelin Boggs, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, senior technical services veterinarian with Zoetis.

Horses often grow up with these “gaps” in their training and education. When this happens, it can be difficult for the horse to be a willing partner to a human, and he may need to be “restarted”—that is, given a second chance to learn what is expected of him and how he can find a place where he is confident and comfortable both beside a handler and beneath a rider. In order to restart a horse successfully, we need to know how to retrace the steps the horse’s education has taken and find the path missed the first time around.

“We’ve developed a series of webinars for jumping instructors that focus on, From the Judges Box, Teaching Techniques and Horse Business #101 tools. It’s a brilliant format because we cover topics that are important to jumping instructors as well as getting into the ever important business concepts to help them grow their business to new level of success.”

The most common reason for weight loss is poor teeth. Watch your horse while eating – does he drop a lot of food; does he spit out clumps of partially chewed grass or hay? His teeth or gums may need attention. If your horse is getting up in years, tooth loss may be issue.

“The stable environment invariably presents challenges of dust, mould and proper ventilation,” says Susan Raymond, instructor of Equine Guelph’s Management of the Equine Environment online course.

The hands-on afternoon session will include a shoeing demonstration by Burns during which the two primary methods to glue horse shoes to horses’ hooves—“direct glue” and “indirect glue” methods—will be explained in detail. Burns will then team up with Dr. Pleasant again to present a shoeing and hoof wall repair laboratory. The afternoon session has a limited capacity (40), so early registration is strongly encouraged.

The first thing to know is that a gastroscopy is the most definitive way to diagnose equine stomach ulcers. While your horse might be showing the tell-tale signs of the condition—such as poor body condition, decreased appetite, chronic colicking or poor performance—the only way to know for sure is by performing a gastroscopy. The quicker you know what you’re dealing with, the faster a treatment plan can be made.