Caffeine High

Coffee plant

I recently read about people in Brazil using coffee plant husks to bed down their horses.  When the horses began acting strangely a study was conducted to determine what was happening.  The researchers noticed that when horses were given a coffee husks with their hay rations they generally ignored the coffee husks and ate the hay, but after trying just a few coffee husks they developed a preference for them over the hay. Within a matter of hours the study horses developed signs consistent with caffeine overload including restlessness, excessive sweating and increased heart rates.  Bloodwork taken showed the horses had caffeine levels almost 25 times higher than what is considered toxic.  Once the coffee husks were removed the horses returned to normal after about 40 hours.
Who Knew?

Yo! Check Out My Crib

This horse is cribbing, also known as wind sucking.  It is a vice that, once learned, is virtually impossible to stop.  It usually develops as a result of boredom or frustration, but it can also be learned from other horses.  It is quite common in horses that stand in stalls or small paddocks for extended periods of time.  It is thought that the locking of the jaw releases endorphins that can cause a sensation of pleasure.

Cribbing can lead to colic or digestive upset caused by an excessive amount of air in the digestive tract.  In general cribbers are difficult to keep weight on, either because they would rather crib than eat or don't eat due to digestive disturbances.  Cribbing can also cause the front edge of the incisors to wear unnaturally.

One type of cribbing collar

The only real "cure" for cribbing is the use of the "cribbing collar".  It is a strap that is placed on the neck just under the jaw that prevents the horses from locking it's jaw.   Cribbing can also be reduced by giving the horse more turnout and having pasture or hay available at all times to prevent boredom.

Takin' it Slow

In my last few posts I have talked about both keeping my horses busy and keeping them full of hay to stay warm.  Well, here I am going to do both.  I decided to make "slow feeders".  A slow feeder is just a device to slow down the intake of feed.  These are commercially available but I decided to make my own for half the price.  

In this case I made a bag with small holes that makes it more difficult get a mouthful of  hay.  They still get the same amount but it takes them twice as long to eat it.

I started with 2 inch nylon webbing and cut them into strips of 18 and 22 inches.  I chose these measurements because they are approximately the dimensions of a flake of hay.

I pinned them together in this grid pattern and sewed where the pieces overlapped. 

I sewed each section in a box pattern then across the middle in an X because these areas are going to take a lot of abuse.

I cut pieces for the back, sides and bottom out of duck canvas.  (Again, I chose the canvas because it will take a lot of abuse.)  I cut the sides and bottom to be 6 inches wide (not including seam allowances) so I could fit more than one flake in the bag.

Sewed them together...

then added the nylon webbing and some handles.

I was able to get 2 1/2 flakes in each bag.

I hung them from an eye screw with a double ended snap to the inside of the dutch door to each stall.  That way I could use them at night as well.

Happy Horses!

Boys and Their Toys

This winter has been extremely warm for this part of the country and my horses are bored!  Normally, I let them have run of the pasture after it has snowed enough where they won't damage it, but we have had almost no snow this year.  As a result, they have been locked in their paddock and are starting to get on each others nerves.

I try to stem their boredom by giving them activities to keep them occupied throughout the day.  I spread out their hay so it is more like grazing and it takes them longer to eat.  I also made them some toys...

I started by buying some 5 gallon pails with lids at Lowes.  I cut large holes (about 2"X2") on either side of the buckets, filled them with treats or dengie and put the lid on.

 It took them a little while to figure out how to get the treats out, but now they are experts.

The buckets can take a lot of abuse, but they do need to be replaced on occasion.  Each time I give them a new bucket I make the hole smaller to keep them busy longer.  They are now down to just one hole, 1"X1" (just big enough to get a treat out).

Whatever it takes to keep the boys happy!

The Eyes Have It

If someone wanted to take my horses they could just walk up, open the gate, and walk off with them.  I don't ever worry about that though.  Mostly because they would have a hard time getting them off of the property (good luck getting them in a trailer without a fuss!), but also they are just your average backyard horses.  Priceless to me but no one else.   If they were worth tens of thousands of dollars then I might be a little more concerned about having a means of identifying that they were mine.

Racing is a big money industry and consequently horses do get stolen.  Most breeds of race horses in North America are required to have a lip tattoo before their first race for ID purposes. Ouch!

Branding is another means of easy ID.  Horses can be either hot branded or freeze branded. Neither one seems like much fun to me!
Most people are familiar was hot branding from old cowboy movies.

Hot Branding

 A branding iron is heated red hot and applied to the skin long enough to create a permanent, hairless mark. Some breed associations require hot branding for registration.

Trakehner Hot Brand

Holsteiner Hot Brand

 Freeze branding is done by cooling the branding iron with liquid nitrogen.  The branding site is shaved to get better contact with the skin and the area soaked with alcohol before the iron is applied for several seconds.  This process damages the pigment in the hair cells and the hair on a dark colored horse will become white.

Freeze brand  on a dark colored horse

For light colored horses the iron is held in place slightly longer to eliminate the hair follicle all together and the dark skin will show through.   This video shows the process:

It is supposedly less painful to the horse (this horse doesn't seem to mind), but anyone who has had liquid nitrogen burn their skin knows that it is painful after the fact.

I recently read an article about a new type of identification called eye D  which involves simply taking a picture of the horse's eye with a special camera.  The pictures undergo computer analysis that focuses on the contours of the corpora nigra (the brown globby stuff) in the iris which are as unique as fingerprints. 

Corpora Nigra

The horse's information and eye scan are stored in a database and can be retrieved at any time, similar to micro-chipping dogs and cats. This is so much less invasive than anything else that in currently being used to identify our horsey friends.  I hope this technology takes off!

My Little Hay Burners

As I have mentioned before I am not a big fan of blanketing my horses.  I believe in letting them be as nature intended.  I do, however, like to do a few things to help them stay warm in the winter.  I like to let them stay outside at night in the nice weather, but as the the weather turns colder I lock them in their stalls.  I'm not sure if it makes any difference the them, but it makes me feel better. 

I also like to feed them extra hay, especially at night. The amount of extra hay depends on how cold it is supposed to get.  I give them more at night for two reasons. One, it gives them something to do while they are stuck in their stalls and two,  they are in a small space and are not moving around as much so they are not as warm.

Horses use hindgut fermentation as an "internal furnace" to help them stay warm.  After food leaves the stomach it passes through the small intestine, which is about 70 feet long and can take up to 90 minutes to get through.  Most of the warming process occurs in the hindgut, cecum, and large and small colons. These organs are designed to slow the passage of food so that plant fibers have time to break down.  This process can take up to 72 hours.  Roughage, like hay or grass, take longer to breakdown than grain and create a more steady source of heat.  So if the digestive tract stays full of forage, by getting a couple of extra flakes of hay, they have a constant source of heat energy and are toasty warm!

Breakthrough in Equine Healing

I was recently going through a backlog of my horse magazines from the past few months.  I came across an article on a therapy that employs a horse's own blood to reduce inflammation and promote healing.  It is referred to as IRAP.

Many horses suffer from joint pain or osteoarthritis at some point in their lives as a result of an injury or old age.  There are various treatments available to help ease the pain, but some horses don't respond well to any of them.  If an injury is extensive or the body can't repair itself fast enough, it can be difficult to keep inflammation down which can cause more damage to the joint.

This is how IRAP works:
The vet draws 50ml of the horses blood into a special syringe containing glass beads.  The white blood cells recognize these beads as "foreign".  They adhere to the surface of the beads and produce anti- inflammatory and regenerative proteins. 

Right: Whole blood, Left: Blood w/serum separated

The syringe is put into an incubator for 24 hours, then spun in a centrifuge to separate the serum (clear fluid containing proteins).  The serum (called autologous conditioned serum (ACS)  because it contains high levels of anti-inflammatory proteins) is drawn off and divided into 4-6 doses which are administered at 1-2 week intervals.
The ACS works with the anti-inflammatory proteins already in the body to create a one, two punch and take the swelling down.  This therapy can be expensive, but because it is made with the horse's own blood there are very few adverse reactions as opposed  to regular treatments.