Equine and Small Animal Veterinary Specialty Practice

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
— Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher, 1788-1860

• Greetings
• The Gift of Inspiration
• Blue Lupine
• Laughter is the Best Medicine
• Leadership
• Worm Control
• Wormers, TOXIC Reaction & NATURAL Alternatives
• Natural Hoof Care: One Woman's Story
• Adaptogenic Herbs - Tonics of Reinforcement
• Space Out! Why Daydreaming is so Important
• Bitless Bridle Dressage Ruling
• Parting Thought

Greetings

It is Easter morning as I write this. I am sitting with my three feline companions curled around a warm cozy fire watching the tall pines through the window dancing in the blustery wind. I find this edition's quote is appropriate for this day of resurrection and applicable to many of the healing modalities and wholistic medicine that is known but still has little acceptance in the US today. Change and acceptance takes time, but ultimately the truth is seen.

This newsflash starts with inspiration and laughter in the spirit that the greatest of things are achieved with a light heart! Following is important information on pinworms written by my colleague Dr. Nielsen and some alternative, less toxic ways to worm your horse.

We have all heard the saying "no foot, no horse". My guest writer Cathy Mahon shares her own personal story concerning this adage with my readers. L.A. Pomeroy's article on adaptogenic herbs educates us on ideas for making a healthy transition into spring. Then onto a look at human brain research because our mental health is important too. Next is an excerpt from another colleague, Dr. Robert Cook, on the dressage federations ruling about the use of bitless bridles. As many of you know, I have used bitless bridles for years and am an advocate of them. They are very appropriate in many cases.

Be sure and make it all the way to the parting thought which will be sure to warm your heart.

Mental health - an emerging concern

Mental health in people used to be something no one talked about. Now research has shown that it has a biological basis and can be effectively treated with a combination of diet, medication, and exercise. Mental illness, including depression and bipolar syndrome are being diagnosed and treated in unprecedented numbers in humans. So why then is it we see nothing mentioned about the importance of mental health in our equine friends?

I was blessed to spend 50 years of my life in northern Idaho and Eastern Washington where horses, for the most part, live like horse should live, on acres of land, in small herds to run and keep fit naturally. These horses kept fit mentally and physically running and playing with their buddies up and down the rolling hills of the Palouse. My move to western WA has allowed me to see a completely different way of housing horses. Many kept in a box prison, better known as a stall, for days at a time with little or no opportunity to have enough room to ever get up to a good gallop. Horses that can't match physically or mentally the horses from where I had come. I have seen time and time again young, athletic horses, so much needing that ability to run and play, confined for months at a time to "stall rest" because of minor problems. Horse treated like glass dolls that if they were let out to exercise on their own they would break. The mental health deteriorates followed by the physical becoming severely compromised, immune system, circulatory, lymphatics, often with one "dis-ease" after another creating more "stall confinement".

I reflect back to how we let horses heal from the rural land where I lived. Sometimes a very short confinement, but then allowed, in large part, to restrict their own exercise if needed. They healed so much faster and were stronger and fitter with a far faster recovery and their mental health was intact. A happy horse!

A few months ago I treated a horse that was in the worse mental despair I had ever seen. He was very angry and I had to tell him I couldn't help him and walk away, it was one of the most difficult things I had ever done. This horse had minor tendon strains over the past two years, each time given the sentence of "stall confinement" by well meaning "experts". This horse had become dangerous when taken from his stall, exploding in hand and under saddle, each time being pulled abruptly to a halt. He had to be given mind altering drugs to keep his "behavior" safe for humans to be around. He had so much pent up energy that was not being allowed to be released, like a young child so desperately needing exercise and play. The owner wanting to do all she could to help the horse heal did just as her vets advised, unable to see it was killing him. What this horse really needed was to be turned out onto a pasture for a few months with some buddies and allowed to heal as nature intended. To trust in his innate ability to heal through exercise and freedom. To allow his systems to come back into balance.

Mental health – as important for our horse as it is for you, to maintain proper health. So with that I am off to improve my mental health by engaging with the horse energy of my herd of 3 who are now happily grazing on their 2 acre pasture between their galloping frolics with a few very robust rears, bucks and crowhops thrown in. The neighbors marvel at my "geriatrics", who continue to look like young colts. No more prisons for them!

May you fully enjoy the rebirth of nature that we are blessed with every spring, and live each day to its fullest potential!

Blessings,

The Gift of Inspiration

Welcome. I encourage you to take a few minutes to visit this link, relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

www.naturesinspirationmovie.com

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Blue Lupine

Shared with Permission from Equine Artist Kim McElroy (www.spiritofhorse.com)

I move forward into the future with clarity and grace
My head held high, I have the courage to embrace the past
Change empowers me when I accept it
I lift my feet high with every step, and I dance
I dance…

The winds of life carry me into new adventure
My thankful heart gives me strength and purpose
The light of a distant moon reveals herself through the clouds of doubt
I raise my eyes to the sky, 
and I fly
I fly…

~ Kim McElroy

Kim McElroy's offers free weekly e-Inspirations. To sign up to receive Kim’s weekly e-inspirations, visit her website at: http://www.spiritofhorse.com/

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Laughter is the Best Medicine

"A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly
and automatically. It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods." …Author unknown

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Leadership

Leadership – we hear a lot about leadership these days in training horses. Unfortunately, I have all too often seen this term misused to intimidate people into believing it's perfectly acceptable to use dominating training techniques with their horses under the guise of leadership. I think most of us would agree Adolph Hitler was a leader. A leader who ruled by fear, intimidation and terror. President Lincoln and Mother Teresa were also leaders with a totally different type of leadership style. What kind of leader do you want to be with your horse? I would like to share with you one person's take on leadership which I found not only humorous but very insightful and enlightening — enjoy!

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Worm Control

This article is reprinted with permission from the March 2010 issue of Worm Control News (WCNews), a monthly e-newsletter from Horsemen’s Laboratory. H-Lab is dedicated to helping horse owners develop successful worm control strategies through mail-order fecal egg count testing, targeted use of dewormers, and effective pasture and herd management practices. To learn more or read other issues of WCNews, visit www.horsemenslab.com.

Worm of the Month: Pinworms

Tail-rubbing is one of the top symptoms of pinworm (Oxyuris equi) infestation; it's because the female pinworm peeks out of the horse's rectum at nighttime, laying up to 60,000 microscopic eggs at a time in a gelatinous fluid that sticks to the skin around the horse's anus, causing intense itchiness. Over a period of days, the fluid dries and flakes off along with the eggs, leading to contamination of the barn or pasture environment and anything your horse has rubbed his tail against.

The good news is that pinworms are fairly innocuous compared to other worms such as strongyles; there is little proof of digestive upset or severe health issues caused by pinworms. A severe infection of late-stage O. equi larvae can result in mild colic signs, due to cecal and colonic mucosal inflammation, but a regular deworming program addressing other types of parasites will eliminate most, if not all, pinworms.

If you already have a deworming program in place and your horse is continuing to tail-rub, there are other causes to investigate, such as food allergies, mange, lice infestations, or hypersensitivity to insects. In some cases, tail rubbing can be a learned behavioral vice like cribbing. A little sleuthing, plus a visit from the veterinarian, could be in order. Check your horse's tail regularly, to be sure there aren't splinters or other objects embedded from the rubbing.

If one horse has pinworms, it's likely all horses in the environment might have them, especially if the itchy horse has been rubbing on communal feeding areas. Let us know if your horse is still rubbing his tail in spite of regular deworming.

A final note: Last month's WCNews guest expert, Dr. Martin K. Nielsen, DVM, PhD, had a response to a horse owner's inquiry about pinworms on TheHorse.com; Dr. Nielsen felt the owner's deworming program was reasonable and offered several methods for detecting pinworms, but advised her to also run fecal tests to gain information on overall parasite levels and drug efficacy for her current program. You can read his full response here:
Dr. Martin's response on pinworms at TheHorse.com

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Wormers, TOXIC Reaction & NATURAL Alternatives

Written by Shari Frederick . Please visit her website: www.horserescuefaces.com.
This article is reprinted with permission from Holistic Horse (www.holistichorse.com).

You might be surprised to learn the outcome of drug companies' clinical studies, as well as consumer complaints on record.

HHH: Today's horses are experiencing extremely adverse side effects to chemical wormers at an alarming rate!

Ranging from mild to severe, stress reactions within one hour of chemical worming may include:

• Loss of control resulting in t he horse dropping to the ground
• Tongue hanging fro m mouth accompanied by drooling
• Swollen neck
• Puffy lips and tongue
• Noticeably red gum burns
• Colic
• Allergic reactions
• Laminitis
• Various gut disturbances
• Skin reactions vary, but include hives followed by bald patches. Most visible problems appear to subside within an hour.

HHH: Chemical deworming, especially over-worming, can damage the immune system of your horse.

Life threatening internal damage can result from worm infestation, yet regularly compromising your horse's immune system can be more harmful than the worms. Drugs and chemicals are breeding stronger enemies and can lead to toxicity. Often parasite-infested horses are the ones who are dewormed most frequently! They are less likely to fend off parasites as time goes on because they can't build their own defences. Interestingly, the practice of regular deworming didn't begin until the 1960s. In the 1980s worming was only an occasional support.

HHH: Safely target all species of worms. Implement rotation of chemicals to target a different worm species.

If you're not rotating, you're not targeting all of the worms. Changing brands IS NOT rotating. Read the label to identify the chemicals used in your wormer; then alternate with another chemical (featured in another product) which targets "other" worm sources. Worms that survive one chemical assault may be taken care of by the next product.

HHH: When choosing chemical wormers, rotate among three different families of drugs:

1. Strongyles - benzimidazoles from oxfendazole, oxibendazole, or fenbendazole
2. Strongyles and bots - Macrocyclic lactones from Ivermectin or moxidectin
3. Ascarids and Strongyles - Pyrantel salts from pyrantel pamoate or pyrantel tartrate . Consult your veterinarian for the best rotation for your horses.

HHH: Chemical wormers alter your horse's intestinal environment.
Use a probiotic one week before and after worming to maintain healthy bacteria, and administer wormers with feed to minimize gut issues. Chemical wormers contain neurotoxins that target various worms. For more optimum results target both the adult worm and larvae. Any class of anthelmintic (medication causing the evacuation of specific worms), once resistant to a de-wormer, will indefinitely be ineffective.

HHH: Toxicity levels of wormers are continually being raised to cope with resistant worms:

Raising toxicity levels in wormers hastens the development of worm resistance and exposes horses to unnecessary toxic chemicals.

Synthetic wormers actually poison worms and protozoa, and at the same time overstress the liver and kidneys, forced to filter the poisons. Long-term exposure to these toxins can actually shut down organs! The greater the toxicity levels of chemical wormers, the greater the risk of overdosing.

HHH: Fecal test every three months.

Worms may go undetected because they are rarely seen in the manure. If you have the lab count the number and types of parasite eggs, the degree of infestation can be determined. A false negative (a zero egg count) can result if the parasites are not actively releasing eggs or are in the small intestine, liver, heart or lungs (migrating through the body). The worms may be too sick to lay eggs, but not die. Smaller species' eggs might even be broken down by digestion. Some may simply continue to migrate through tissues until they finally die. The encysted stages of a small red worm will not show up on a fecal test. Regular re-testing will more accurately determine worm presence, as will clinical signs.

HHH: Better safe than sorry???

Not every horse in the barn needs worming at the same time. Each horse needs to be tested. Variance in worm testing within a herd is the perfect example of how routine chemical worming can be an unnecessary toxic burden on horses.

HHH: "We are feeding a small amount of poison to our horses every time we use synthetic wormers,"

states Mickey Young, equine naturopathic practitioner. Mr. Young is quick to point out a wormer is not needed by all horses nor on a regular basis. At least 98% of the horses he sees have kidney and liver problems he relates directly to the use of synthetics, chemicals and improper food. Years ago Mickey's father used fresh field tobacco for worming. When tobacco companies added preservatives during the drying process, his dad looked for a natural alternative. Mickey's mother, a qualified naturopath, developed a line of herbal remedies that later became Silver Lining Herbal products.

HHH: Non-toxic, natural dewormers and herbs are biodegradable and often assist in repelling external parasites.

Herbs that are successfully used for their worming properties:

• Wormwood
• Black walnut (avoid walnut shavings for bedding)
• Tansy
• Rue
• Fennel seeds
• Clove buds
• Ginger
• Red clover
• Horseradish
• Thyme
• Sienna
• Cayenne pepper
• The essential oil lavender, a parasiticidal, is known to help combat parasites.

As an advocate of natural worming, I feed raw garlic daily (when available), rotate a small herd on large acreage, and hand select professional formulas developed by qualified practitioners for accurate and appropriate deworming protocols.

Conclusion

Address deworming on an individual horse basis. Consider the age and health of the horse, feed quality, activity level, travel and susceptibility to worms, environment (stalled or pastured), size of pasture, grazing time, commingling with other animals, manure management and so forth. Don't be locked into only chemicals or just natural alternatives. Take the time to know what possible side effects may come from administering drugs or any natural alternatives you select. Approve the safety and history of a formula before administering it and never compromise your standards by accepting unpredictable detrimental side effects. Your animal's quality of life depends on it.

This article can be sourced at the following link: http://holistichorse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=374:wormers-toxic-reaction-a-natural-alternatives-&catid=67:sharis-healthy-horse-hints&Itemid=127

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Natural Hoof Care: A Woman’s Story

By Cathy Mahon

The first time I heard about Pete Ramey and Natural Hoof Care was when I saw his name listed as a guest on Clinton Anderson’s TV show. It said he would cover two topics, laminitis and navicular syndrome and that he would show how, with the barefoot trim, he could resolve both problems. I couldn’t believe it. If this was true, then it was only a matter of finding someone who knew his techniques and who would "cure" the horses affected by these crippling conditions. Little did I realize, in just one year after seeing Pete on TV, that someone would be ME and that I would be trimming, not only my own horses, but also those of several of my friends.

It just so happened that at the time I first saw Pete on TV, I owned two horses, one with laminitis that had gone to founder (rotation of the coffin bone or distal pedal bone), another with navicular syndrome. I had never been satisfied with the shoeing or veterinary care I'd received over the years and was all ears when Pete said "I've never seen a case of navicular that wasn't resolved with this trimming."

Over the years, my first horse, Rose had developed worsening lameness and had been wearing shoes with pads, due to a condition I did not quite understand. My "real job" as a medical professional gives me a distinct advantage over a lay person when it comes to recognizing anatomical terms and understanding disease processes. But, the explanation as to why Rose was lame never made sense. The farrier said she had a condition that weakened the tendons in her front feet at the heels that then damaged the nerve that ran along the tendon and that eventually it would break down the navicular bone.

Articles and books from vets and farriers had a similar description of the process but would sometimes reverse the order in which it occurred. Was it the damage to the bone that caused the tendon to be stressed causing pain or was it the damage to the tendon that caused pain and damage to the bone. The proof was in the x-ray, they would say or in the test that was commonly done in which the heel was pinched with metal grabbers. If the horse pulled away, then there was damage at the heel. Or, you could prove that the pain was at the heel and the navicular by "nerving" the horse, in other words, severing the nerve to stop the pain. Unfortunately, you might also eliminate the horse's ability to feel the ground at his heels. And this was no guarantee that the whole process would not continue—it would just stop the pain. Rose was subjected to a special shoe with padding, but the process continued. I was told that she was born with bad feet and that she was "wolf bait". Her hoof walls would crack and chip and I was told that it was because they were white hooves and everyone knows they crack easily. Rose began walking on her toes more and more, heels just too painful for contact with the ground, pads or no pads. The farrier said she would only worsen with time.

Rose was mine for 10 years from 1988 to 1998, until I finally sold her to a breeder, convinced she'd never be sound enough to be ridden again.

After selling Rose, I went about looking for another horse that I could turn into my trail riding buddy. I was still learning about horses and horse behavior, still learning how to ride and didn't have a lot of money to spend on a new horse. I had just been exposed to a few videos from some guy named John Lyons and my friend had taken me to my first horse expo where I began hearing the term "natural horsemanship." I was at the beginning of a journey that continues to this very day, when I saw an ad for an 8 yr old Morgan Arab mare, written by the young girl who had rescued her from a neighbor. Her description of Sally was so sweet and so full of wonderful details of her personality, that I had to go check her out. She was tall and thin with big brown eyes that were soft and gentle. The young girl's mother said she would whinny when they came to feed her and that she got along with every animal at the place. But, she said, she had developed "founder" from eating fresh grass in the spring after a winter of very little to eat. She was obviously malnourished and her coat was dull. When I brought her to my stables for a week to "try her out", I had the farrier check her feet—the same one who had put shoes on Rose. He said and I quote "I wouldn’t pay $50 for this horse." Let's just say, I paid a little more than that.

In the beginning, I left Sal barefoot and had a friend's trimmer do her feet. Then I switched to a different one because someone else told me he was good. What did I know? I wasn't even sure I understood what founder was, because it seemed that if Sal's bone was rotated in her front foot that it would be permanent. But she seemed to do well. I began working with her using the techniques my friend had showed me. When I finally got up the courage to take her on trails, I was told she would need shoes. The same people, who advised shoes, also advised me on feeding Sal, including grain and alfalfa. Sure, sounds good to me. Only, it wasn't good for Sal. She developed lameness in the spring and after being told that she'd strained a tendon or that she had a bruise on the sole of her foot, I kept her at rest for a while. She grazed on pasture and continued to eat the rich diet that everyone else in the barn fed their horses.

I will never forget the first time I saw Sal laying down in her paddock, unable to get up, her feet swollen with laminitis. Those who've studied the horse in its natural environment, say that a horse will never lie down unless they are in severe pain. Their only real escape from predators is to run and to lie down is to relinquish this means of escape. Sal would not get up. A vet diagnosed laminitis and suggested I use bute for pain and have my farrier look at her to adjust her shoes and/or trim. I called the farrier who had taken care of Rose, as he was considered a corrective farrier and seemed to understand what I was talking about. When he first trimmed and re-shod Sal, he began explaining the process of founder. He said that it could be from the spring grass or it could come from vaccines that we give our horses but that he could correct the angle of the pastern bone so that she would not stand on her toe, as that was now rotated down when the most distal bone in her foot, the coffin bone, moved downward. I wasn't clear on how that had happened again and I was not sure if this was a recurrence of the same condition that she'd had when I bought her or a worsening of it. Was he going to MOVE the bone by putting these "heart bar" shoes on her. And why did he have to chop so much of her hoof wall off at the toe? All I knew was that it got Sal up and going again and as long as she was moving, I was happy. It didn't even matter that he charged twice as much for the shoes on Sal as he did for "normal" shoes.

I moved to another stables and continued to ride Sal regularly. Our trail rides, while full of stress and struggle in the beginning, had become pure joy for both of us. I could tell Sal loved to run and I would let her move out on the straight-a-ways, through the woods and up the hills. I fed her more grain and alfalfa, thinking she needed the calories to compensate for what she burned up on the trails. She was given carrots when she was a good girl. In addition, I found out about "horse cookies" that everyone raved about, full of molasses, used to treat their horses. Slowly, without knowing it, I was sending Sal into a downward spiral-killing her with kindness. When she first lay down in pain, the vet said she was suffering from colic. But, this was no colic and when the second vet came out, he confirmed that she had laminitis—again. He suggested that her diet may be the problem, but did not think she needed to be totally off grain. Maybe I could soak the hay. And he would do blood tests to check for Cushing's (a pituitary disorder) and thyroid disease. In the meantime, I should place Styrofoam inside her shoes so she had more cushion on her toes where founder caused the most pain. I could give her bute.

I called out the farrier. He left the shoes on and said he'd be back when her pain subsided. When the vet said he thought it was Cushing's based on Sal's test results, I asked about treatment. Pills, he said, for the rest of her life. She was only 14 yrs old. Before I agreed to give her the pills, though, I began researching laminitis and Cushing's on the internet. I had found an article months earlier in a horse magazine, written by a vet, about a condition called Metabolic Syndrome, similar to human diabetes, in which horses become resistant to the insulin in their body as their sugars increase, with a diet high in carbohydrates found in grain, molasses, alfalfa, orchard and timothy grass and treats like apples and carrots. I read everything I could find on metabolic syndrome and what I discovered was that many vets believed there was a connection between a high sugar diet and recurrent laminitis. And it seemed to occur in particular breeds that genetically were designed to eat very sparse diets—breeds like Morgans. Sal's foot problems weren't from some glandular disease, but instead, from feeding her too much SUGAR! I contacted the vet, who seemed to know nothing about metabolic syndrome and told him I would not need his pills. I would not be calling him again. I found a low carb diet for Sal with beet pulp and rice bran and put her on the driest hay I could find. And no more carrots and molasses cookies.

Weeks turned into months and with every shoeing, I could tell that Sal was not improving. She had now been wearing heart bars for almost 5 yrs. I asked my farrier why her "lamellar wedge" would never grow out and he had no explanation. He began asking me about the strange gray mush I was feeding Sally and what it had to do with her feet. I began noticing Sal's limp in her hindquarters and did not know what to make of it. My beautiful horse, my wonderful trail buddy, my four legged friend was now unable to run with me and I would have to retire her to a life in a dry paddock. I began looking for another horse.

Sally’s Feet With Heart Bar Shoes (Five Years and Counting...)

Ironically, I found a horse in the same stables where I boarded Sal. She belonged to a young girl who had left her on pasture all year round. The mare arrived, obese, thick crested and unshod, and the girl told everyone she was trying to sell her. She had been unable to pick up her feet as the horse would become fearful and kick out, so she had not trimmed her in over a year. A few days before the young girl was about to advertise the horse, the mare lay down in her paddock. The beautiful Morgan was suffering from laminitis. I offered to buy her immediately, knowing I would be able to care for her and feed her the diet she required. Desperate to find a home for a horse she knew no one would buy, she gave me Chanty for practically nothing.

It was about this time that I watched Pete Ramey and soon after contacted a hoof care specialist and begged her to come and look at Sally. And, if she had time, to check out Rose, who I had bought back 4 yrs earlier when a woman called me and asked if I knew what to do with this horse, starved and lame, purchased from an unscrupulous woman breeder, as a Christmas present for her young daughter. I said I'd buy her back from her, and brought her home with me. She began a life of retirement on 8 acres, which she shares to this day with her buddy Tetley.

The day Sal's shoes came off, I cried tears of joy. Although it would take another 2-3 years of learning to trim through clinics, home study and trial and error, I would eventually learn several things about Sal and Rose’s feet that would relieve them of their constant suffering and allow the hooves to revert back to their natural form and function.

First of all, for several breeds, diet is very important. There are "easy keepers" who require very little to sustain them and who will develop significant health problems on high carb diets, one of which is laminitis. The sugars create toxins which break bonds in the live tissue of the lamina which connects to the hard coating known as hoof wall. With damage comes inflammation; with inflammation comes distortion of the wall, pushing it out and away from the bone deep inside. Once this swelling is under control and the separated hoof wall is trimmed away and new connected hoof wall is allowed to grow down from the hair line, the foot will recover. Founder is not forever! A hoof must be trimmed from the bottom, balancing the heels and toes, allowing the natural concavity of the hoof to form from a thickened callus sole, not carved by a farrier's knife. Shoes that artificially realign the bone in the foot with the pastern bone are just that-ARTIFICIAL. But laminitis and separation occurs more often than we think and is the result of unnatural forces pulling the hoof wall away from its attachment. It is the most common condition seen in horse's feet. Cracking and splitting similar to what Rose would have, was not caused by white feet. It was because her hoof walls were left too long, in order to accommodate a shoe. Every time she stepped on a hoof wall that was abnormally long, the forces against her hoof pulled the hard covering away from the lamina. Try standing on long fingernails and not break one as you balance yourself, walking on your hands.

Second, anyone who tells you that all trimming is the same has not studied the horse's foot in depth. Even those who study and choose to trim as nature shows us, may continue to project their own vision of the hoof based on their studies, instead of working with the hoof in front of them. That is to say, if the trimming is not improving or it is not maintaining a healthy, sound horse, then you must step back and reassess your trimming or your trimmer.

Finally, I learned exactly WHY Rose couldn't walk on her heels and what exactly had caused her "navicular syndrome". And, best of all, I was able to trim her myself and eliminate the problem altogether, just as Pete had claimed.

When Rose was 2 yrs old, someone decided she needed shoes in order to begin training. (I bought her when she was 8.) When horses wear a shoe, the frog at the back of the foot does not make consistent contact with the ground. In addition, the shoe can potentially squeeze the back of the foot and "contract" the heel so that part of the frog, which should be up to 2 inches wide, is folded up into the foot. Underneath the frog is a mass of tissue called the digital cushion. It is soft and mushy when the horse is young and less than 300 lbs. As the horse matures, and makes repeated contact at the frog with heel first landings, this digital cushion will harden and on top of it is the tough frog with a surface much like the rubber tires of your car in which the horse can push off with each step. It creates a secure, non slippery surface that is able to step over uneven ground.

Rose's digital cushion never developed entirely. Year after year, shoes "protected" her feet and her heels remained soft and mushy. As she matured and began a life as a cutting horse, she was asked to use her heels to slide and stop rapidly. But, without solid, hardened, wide frogs to absorb the concussion of her feet to the ground, she became sore. She would then attempt to relieve her pain by attempting toe first landings. This would further inhibit the development of a solid digital cushion and if she were to put weight on the heel, she would experience more pain. And on and on…

Rose has now gone 4 years without shoes and pads. She is 29 years old and suffers from arthritis in her right shoulder from walking on her toes and running abnormally in shoes for years. She stands and walks straight up with a heel first landing and her frogs, wider and harder than ever before. She never suffers from splits and cracks—her white feet as hard as any black feet in the herd.

Sally continues to need careful monitoring of her diet to insure that she does not suffer from recurring bouts of laminitis. With correct barefoot trimming I've been able to grow a well connected hoof, with a thickened callused sole and ever widening frogs. Sally suffers from pain in her hocks as well as in her back and hips, no doubt from unnatural shoeing that placed stress on her joints. She is now benefitting from massage and stretching before we exercise. I ride Sal on hard road, with gravel and uneven surfaces now, but in the beginning, I used boots until her soles thickened and she was able to tolerate the ground we rode on. I highly recommend boots and anyone who trims and does not recommend them is not being realistic with the owner about what it takes to transition to going barefoot.

So much of what we do to our horses is the result of ignorance. We see and hear what others are doing and saying and figure, it must be right, otherwise, why would they do something to harm their horse? But nowadays, there is so much information available to us. There are people who are out there with answers and if we care about our horses, we'll keep looking. Don't go to one source, or read one book. Learn as much as you can. Question those who claim to be experts. Don't take my word for it—learn firsthand from several people who've struggled with the same conditions. But, most importantly, listen to your horse. The lameness you see today is usually the result of damage done YEARS earlier.

Today is the day to find out if those feet can handle the demands we put on them from now on!

If you go to Pete Ramey’s website www.hoofrehab.com you will find an incredible list of resources, including his videos on trimming. You can buy them from him or rent them at www.yourhorsematters.com

NOTE: I apologize for not having any current pics of Sal but have not taken any of them recently. I will update this article with photos and discuss BRIEFLY some more specific issues in future newsletters-C.M.

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Adaptogenic Herbs — Tonics of Reinforcement

By L.A. Pomeroy for Equilite.
This article is reprinted with permission from Equilite™. Visit www.equilite.com

We'd never mistake calling a Clydesdale an Arabian. Both may be horses, but each type is recognized as having vastly different skills and services. Herbs fall into different categories, too. While there are literally hundreds of herbs studied and used for nutritional and medicinal applications, the list of adaptogenic herbs is under two dozen.

What is an adaptogenic herb? The word itself is of Greek origin: adapto ('to adjust'), and gen ('producing'). So adaptogenic herbs "produce an adjustment," helping the body restore its natural balance, and moderate cortisol (the hormone produced by the andrenal gland) responses to exertion or stress, without medical or external force.

Herbs fall into two categories: medicinal and tonic. Medicinal herbs treat or cure disease, with benefits and risks like any powerful drug or synthetic counterpart.

In comparison, tonic herbs can safely be taken daily, as a preventative against disease and to sustain good health. Tonic herbs are also called "super foods" because they are rich in phyto-nutrients that encourage the body to rebalance and replenish itself in times of stress or illness. This ability, by certain natural plant substances, to increase resistance and restore homoestasis, has earned tonic herbs their adaptogenic status.

Adaptogens, like the Starship Enterprise, also go where few have gone before, carrying healing to a cellular level and providing nutritional support for cells as they work to repair the immune system. Adaptogenic herbs also help normalize the andrenal glands (and the cortisol they produce) and the synthesis of dopamine and epinephrine (compounds behind the "fight or flight" response).

Some of a horse owner's best — and safest — adaptogenic herbal friends are:

Ashwaganda (Withania somnifera) is also known as Indian ginseng and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for more than 2,500 years. Though unrelated to other ginsengs, it shares many of the same adaptogenic properties, including balancing the immune system and relieving stress and anxiety.

Astragalus (Astragalus spp.) This Chinese tonic herb has more than 2,000 years of study and use behind its reputation as an immune system strengthener and aid for defensive chi. Often added in combination with other herbs – such as Siberian ginseng, and garlic -- to enhance recovery following illness or prolonged stress, and to boost vitality. This herb contains flavones, which help with circulation and blood production, enhances liver metabolism, and (like Siberian ginseng), contains polysaccharides. Astragalus helps horses that have tested positive for EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis, which strikes the central nervous system) by increasing the immune system and resistance to the protozoa responsible for the infection.

Ginseng (Ren Shen) Benefits from this beige root are as varied as its many properties, including anti-viral and detoxifying benefits. For horses suffering from Cushing’s disease, ginseng helps normalize blood sugar and cortisol levels. Pairing the right ginseng to your horse’s constitutional type can help efficacy. American ginseng, (Panax quinquefolium), is said to offer gentler, more cooling effects to hot, nervous horses, while the energizing powers of Korean ginseng are considered more beneficial for geriatric or low-vitality equine types.

Golden Root (Rhodiola rosea) This herb stimulates a moderate increase in beta-endorphins (eliciting a sense of wellbeing), decreases mental fatigue, and decreases the release of the stress hormone, andrenalin.

Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra, G. uralensis), Licorice is one of the only herbs claimed to benefit all 12 meridians in Chinese medicine, and is rich in saponins, providing an anti-inflammatory response similar to corticosteroids. Licorice root also promotes or enhances immune system functioning.

Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis) Also known as wuweizi, this vine-like member of the Chinese magnolia family and its berries serve dual roles as an astringent and adaptogenic tonic, with ginseng-like effects on boosting energy and minimizing fatigue. Like other adaptogenics, it works at the cellular level, assisting in the utilization of oxygen within the cell. It has been shown to suppress stomach acids and benefit horses prone to ulcers.

Suma (Pfaffia paniculata) Commonly called Brazilian ginseng, suma is rich in vitamins A, E, B1 and B2; 19 amino acids (including lysine, histidine, arginine and glycine); and traces of calcium, iron, potassium and sodium. It increases resistance to stress, possesses analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties that help alleviate pain, and has been shown to accelerate wound healing.

Adaptogenic herbs astragalus and schisandra can be found in Equilite Garlic+C™ All-Natural Garlic and Vitamin C Blend to support the immune system and help stressed horses, or those preparing to travel, with added antioxidant benefits. Garlic+C™ Blend can be used with or without antibiotics.

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Space Out! Why Daydreaming is so Important

"Our data suggests that if you are not allowing yourself, not giving yourself a break, it is costly," explained Lila Davachi, assistant professor of NYU's Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience. "It's possible you are hindering your brain's ability to consolidate memories and experiences." The study was authored by Arielle Tambini under the direction of Davachi.

In the study, the brains of 16 men and women, aged 22 to 34, were scanned by a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (fMRI) while they looked at object, or a face and a scenic view of, say, a beach or mountains. The participants were not told why they were looking at the pictures or that they would later be asked to recall them.

As the men and women viewed the pairs, a question appeared: "Likely or unlikely?" for the face associated with the object, and "Happy or unhappy?" for the face and scene.

After viewing the photos and while their brains were still being scanned, the subjects were asked to lie still, rest, and let their minds wander. The participants were told they could think about anything they wanted.

"What we really wanted to stress is that little break from intense cognitive activity," Davachi said. "They were awake and having thoughts."

Then the subjects were shown the picture pairs again and asked if each pair was the same as it was before, rearranged, or completely new.

During the rest period, the brains of the test subjects were establishing stronger connections between two areas of the brain critical for memory when compared to a baseline scan performed before the subjects viewed the picture pairs, Tambini and colleagues found. In other words, their daydreaming improved their recall.

Those subjects whose brain images during the rest period showed a greater magnitude of this connection—making activity were better able to recall face-object picture pairs.

The effect did not seem to hold for face-scene picture pairs. Davachi isn't sure why, but suggests that the brain may have a bias toward recalling a face and an object one might use — a functional pairing — than simply a face and a pretty picture of nature. It's also possible, she said, that the pictures of nature simply weren't all that memorable since there are only so many pictures of mountains, beaches and meadows that look distinctive.

Adam Gazzaley, a University of California San Francisco neuroscientist who studies the mind and distraction, wasn't surprised by the results.

"I have been thinking more and more about our external environment and our internal environment," he said. "We feel like we live in an external environment because we interact with the world. But we also have a dynamic and rich internal environment."

Results like Davachi's and his own work are indicating, "there may be consequences" as we jam more and more stimulus into our heads, without taking a break to simply contemplate or daydream, Gazzaley said. "There are costs to multitasking and not pausing."

Previous studies have shown that multitaskers are more distracted and stressed.

"It is up to us to slow down enough to make informed decisions," Gazzaley continued. "I think there is a growing tendency to feel that if it exists," he said of media in all its forms and omnipresence, "I might as well use it all at the same time. But just because it exists, and is cool, does not mean it has to all be used simultaneously."

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Bitless Bridle Dressage Ruling

Written by Dr. Robert Cook

The Dressage Committee and the Board of Directors disapproved the rule change (allowing bitless bridles in competition) January 17, 2010. But, thanks to explanations by the Chairman of the Dressage Committee and the Project Development Coordinator, the news is better than it appears.

A bitless dressage 'seed' has been planted and it is up to riders and researchers to ensure that it germinates and grows. The USEF recognize the proposal as 'significant' and have agreed to keep the discussion open as they gather input from across the country.

The support of the U.S Dressage Federation is essential, so presentations to group member organizations are needed. Support from all disciplines and other interest groups (e.g., Quarter Horse, Pony Club, 4H organizations, NHRA, welfare societies) is important.

Results of experiments are not scientifically validated until they can be duplicated. The experiment carried out at the Certified Horsemanship Association Conference in 2008 should be repeated. The supportive result of an experiment based on trail riding and reining has already been received from The Netherlands, where the Royal Dutch Equestrian Federation has approved bitless dressage for three years.

A good start has been made but a gardener's philosophy applies regarding expectations… first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap.

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Parting Thought

RELAX. ENYOU SOME TIME WITH A FRIEND.

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