We want to keep our horses sound for as long as possible.

Dear Horse Journal,

The glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin etc supplements I’ve used had trace amounts of each, so I am not convinced any did any good. I’m still searching the seemingly hundreds of supplements to get a significant amount of all ingredients.

For example, when I find one with 100mg HA, they are short of everything else. What is an elderly horse owner to do?

Horse Journal Contributing Veterinary Editor Grant Miller DVM responds:

Yes, there are hundreds of joint supplements on the market.  Searching through all of them can overwhelm a horse owner, especially when you are trying to find a product that meets specific recommended levels of certain ingredients.  Horse Journal published lists of our top picks of joint supplements in our January and February 2012 issues.

 When looking for solutions for your elderly horse, remember that:

 1)  Following Horse Journal’s advice on recommended levels of joint supplements can greatly increase your chances of seeing a result.

2) Using a double dose of a joint supplement for the first two weeks can help quite a bit.

3) Sometimes, oral supplements need to be changed up a bit.  If you are not getting a result with one brand, you may want to try a different product.

4) If you are not seeing satisfactory results with an oral supplement, it may be time to try an injectable supplement like Legend or Adequan.

5) An elderly horse may require more help with arthritis than a joint supplement can provide.  This does not mean that it should not receive a joint supplement, in fact, it may be necessary to use multiple joint supplements in order to achieve enough of an effect to keep the horse comfortable.

6) Sometimes, a horse needs actual prescribed medication to ward away joint pain.  One such medication is firocoxib (Previcox, Equioxx), a non-steroidal Cox-2 selective anti-inflammatory that is designed for long term, once a day use to aid in the control of musculoskeletal inflammation.  In more severe cases of arthritis, your veterinarian may need to inject cortisone directly into the arthritic joints periodically to help control inflammation and pain.

7) Reading labels is important.  Make sure that you determine how many scoops of the product are required to equal one serving.  Then, make sure that the serving has decent amounts of supplement (this is where the HJ recommended Ingredient levels can come in handy.)

Don’t make the supplement do all the work!  Weight control and allowing the horse to be out and moving as much as possible still remain the most effective ways to aid in control of arthritis pain.

9) In many instances, people who own elderly horses have already come to the realization that they can no longer ride their horse.  If you have not yet stopped riding, but you are noticing that your horse is increasingly painful despite the use of supplements, you may need to consider retiring the horse.

10) As much as Horse Journal tries to help owners through various horse issues without telling them to call their vet, it may be a good idea to run things past yours when determining an arthritis management plan for your horse.  Phone advice is usually free, and let’s faces it, veterinarians have a lot of experience when it comes to this subject. 

No one management plan or supplement will work the same for every horse.  It is not easy to figure out what works for your horse, but don’t give up!  There are options.  Horses are an incredibly resilient and adaptable species and so even in the later stages of life, they still can respond well to management changes and thrive!

Handwalking is beneficial for riders of all ages and their horses.

Handwalking is beneficial for riders of all ages and their horses.

The adages that contrast experience vs. youth apply to horsemen as they do to life in general—”You’re not getting older, you’re getting better”; “ATge doesn’t matter unless it matters to you”; “50 is the new 30″—but they also contain a whiff of desperation, as if we have to convince ourselves we’re not slowing down.

We like this one better: “Work smarter, not harder.” Accept that you develop physical limitations as you get older while you access a lifetime of knowledge and apply leverage to tasks instead of strength so you can keep working in the barn and riding long after your civilian friends have given up golf and tennis.

There’s a dilemma here. Riding and barn chores help keep you fit. But you have to do more than just ride to stay fit if you want to be competitive and injury-free as you move through your 50s and beyond.

Horse Journal contacted a couple dozen riders who are enjoying their horses and competing well past middle age about what helps keep them in the saddle. We also looked back at our 15 years of product surveys for items we’ve learned help get the job done when the mind is more willing than the body.

Fitness.  The dominant theme from our Silver Panel was the importance of maintaining fitness, particularly if you ride only one horse a day, including a healthy weight. Cross training can be as important for the rider as for the horse, especially to prevent muscular imbalance.

Physical activities that go beyond riding, stall cleaning and working out at the gym included Pilates, yoga and Alexander Technique.

Pilates works well for riders because it strengthens core muscles (the abs), which in turn protects the spine and back and increases flexibility. Pilates can be learned by watching a DVD or taking lessons. We recommend working with an instructor at first to learn the techniques and ways to modify the exercises to suit your own needs.

Lessons at a Pilates studio can start at $20 for group classes and run $60 or more for individual instruction. There are several excellent DVDs/books written specifically for riders available at tack shops and online. Once you learn the techniques, you can combine daily walks with 10 to 30 minutes of Pilates on a DVD and stop losing ground to your younger riding friends.

Horse Selection.  Anyone who’s gone horse shopping more than once in their riding lifetime has been tempted to buy a horse that doesn’t match their abilities. It can be a horse with the right price but not the right training or temperament. It can be a flashy mover with more gait than you can sit.

Face it. If you’re over the age of 50, your seat probably won’t become any better than it is right now. Buy a horse you can ride today, not a horse you hope to be able to ride someday. Even if you gain more knowledge, you likely won’t become more able to sit a big mover. You’ll either kill the quality of your horse’s stride by hanging on his mouth or frustrate him by clutching with your legs and hands and build to inevitable explosions. Also take into account when you started riding yourself. If you began riding in your mid-20s, you probably never acquired the basic looseness that a rider naturally has who starts riding as a child.

Stirrups. Professional riders and those who ride several horses a day sort out the importance of stirrup length, but amateur riders and those who only ride one horse often use stirrups that are too long. The reason may be that the slow, inevitable stretching of stirrup leather isn’t noticed, or a stubborn insistence to do what they’ve always done, or a poorly fitted saddle that make it difficult to shorten stirrups.

Thus the toe points down and the rider loses ankle flexibility. A flexible ankle is our most-effective resource to absorb impact when the horse’s foot strikes the ground. If you don’t absorb that shock in your ankle, you will in your back. A flexible ankle also aids stability in the saddle, and you can reduce tension in your hips and knees.

In addition to stirrup length, your choice of stirrups can help. We don’t recommend stirrups with an angled “offset” base, because that forces the ankle down into a rigid fixed position—it looks good, but it’s a chiropractor’s dream. The better-quality hinged stirrups (see below) help ankles flex if the leather is at the correct length.

A properly fitted saddle will help keep you in place better.

A properly fitted saddle will help keep you in place beter.

Saddle Fit.  We mean saddle fit for the rider here, rather than the horse. Too often riders will compromise on their own comfort if the saddle works for their horse, but they do both themselves and their horse a disservice because they won’t be able to sit as well.

Three areas that can particularly affect the older rider, who can’t compensate easily due to reduced flexibility, are whether the saddle is level, whether the size is large enough, and whether there’s enough room on the flap for the rider’s upper leg.

The saddle, no matter the style, needs to be level—with the cantle at least the same height as the pommel but preferably higher—or else the rider is placed in a chair position and can’t get “out of the tack” when jumping and posting. If the saddle is too small, or the flap is too vertical or short, it has the effect of shoving the rider’s seat back on the cantle. Since the cantle rebounds with the horse’s stride, this forces the rider to bounce.

Newer generations of dressage saddles are particularly nice for older riders because the deeper seats and larger thigh blocks now in fashion help hold the rider in place. But these saddles also have less margin for error, and a saddle that’s not quite right for the rider will be better if it’s too big than too small.

Products.  At Horse Journal, we’ve noticed innovative designs and materials have made many familiar plain-Jane products much easier to use and should be considered by horsemen who have trouble lifting and holding things as easily as they once did. Unfortunately, innovation comes with a price, but it can be money well spent.

For example, the Ultimate Hoof Pick (June 2008, www.ultimatehoofpick.com, 303-666-6364) costs a whopping $17, while a simple pick costs 75¢. The molded rubber grip makes it easy to hold, and we haven’t found anything better for digging out packed-in mud and snow, whether the hand holding it belongs to a teen or an arthritic senior. In the same vein, brushes now often come with ergonomic handles (January 2005).

We’ve done several articles on stirrups over the last decade, and we’ve yet to find a economy-priced hinged stirrup that works as well as the expensive versions (over $150) at taking strain off a rider’s back and knees, including Sprenger, MDC and Royal Riders (November 2005). In that article, we did find that Stubben’s offset stirrup (# 1101, offset at the top, not the bottom, and only $44, www.stubbennorthamerica.com, 800-550-1110) did help riders who have a stiff pelvis.

Older riders should consider any options with a zipper or Velcro. If you’re straining to pull on boots without zippers, you can hurt your back, just as you can with pull-on bells boots for your horse. Use Velcro bells there instead of pull-ons, if you can.

Tight tall riding boots themselves can exacerbate circulation problems in your legs. Thus half-chaps with zippers or Velcro are generally healthier for older legs.

If you prefer pull-on riding boots, at least consider spending extra for the Cavallo/Sprenger boot pulls with extra-long angled arms that really take the strain off your shoulders and back. (June 2000, www.gemtack.com, $18).

In the barn, look for products with lighter materials. For example, lifting a Gore-Tex turnout sheet from your horse is a lot easier on your back than a mud-soaked canvas rug. Stall mats (August 2008) mean you need to do a lot less stall cleaning, as does using pellets instead of chips or straw for bedding (November 2008). One stable idea that came from our Silver Panel is to upgrade the lighting in your barn, and most barns are too dingy anyway.

Bottom Line.  Don’t stop riding but consider your choices more thoughtfully. The horse you buy at 50 or 55 may not be the best choice when you horse shop at 65. Pay attention to your weight and fitness level. Make sure your saddle fits you and your horse and that your stirrup length allows your ankles to draw the impact of the horse’s stride away from the rest of your body. Watch for products that compensate for weaknesses or prevent strain on your back and joints.

Article by Associate Editor Margaret Freeman, who is 61 and shows FEI dressage.

Dr. Deb Eldredge

Of course, this may be wishful thinking as we have had a mild winter so far here in upstate New York. Still, even with a blow out blizzard or two, I suspect mud season will soon be upon us. With a snowflake type Appaloosa, a grey Arabian and pinto mini among our equines I can’t really ignore the mud or say I didn’t notice it.

I HATE mud – I would much rather have snow or green grass. I guess ice is worse but not by much.

With mud, I worry about my horses pulling tendons, slipping and twisting legs. I worry about ‘scratches’ on their heels. I hate grooming off clouds of mud dust. I breathe it in and cough, which makes me wonder how the horses stand it. Often when they come in at night, they are still wet which means either another late trip down to the barn to groom once they are dry or up earlier the next morning to groom. Not great options!

My ophthalmologist noted that I came in to get my highly scratched lenses of my glasses replaced about June each year. He wonder what stimulated all those scratches. It took me a while too – but then I realized that was right after mud season. My solution is to remove my glasses to demud the horses. Now I may be missing a few muddy areas but the glasses last longer J.

We have tried various ways to minimize mud in the area right by the barn but with limited success. Part of our property has some shallow springs so certain areas are almost always wet. That is a major plus in drought years but a drawback for mud season.

One year, I scattered old hay on the muddy areas. That created amazing “adobe” and hardened to cement eventually. With a big rain storm; back to mud, however. The next experiment was throwing some “used” shavings in the muddy areas. That helped for a short time as well, but then simply mixed in to create attractive mud. The third attempt was throwing some crushed rocks. Worst option – less mud, but I was picking stones out of the horses’ hooves all the time.

I have heard stone dust works well. Maybe that will be my next attempt at mud control!

Horse Journal Contributing Veterinary Editor Dr. Deb Eldredge is a semi-retired veterinarian in New York and an award-winning writer. She spent the first 15 years of her life earning money to buy a horse and never looked back. She was involved with 4-H and Pony Club, then moved on to polo at Cornell, where she earned her DVM degree. She has competed in Western and hunter/jumper, combined training and competitive trail rides.

Actually, all of these tips can be used or young horses too! I am basically running a hospice for elderly horses (with the exception of a 6-year-old donkey and a 13-year-old mini horse). Living in upstate N.Y., I expect our winters to be rough – though this year was mild until the last week or so. Still, there are things you can do to make life easier for those ancient equines.

Our horses do not wear blankets, but blankets and turnout outwear are a possibility. The horses are in at night and we have a good barn. It’s built into a hillside, so it stays warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The horses are out just about every day for at least 6 to 8 hours. They can get out of the wind, though there is limited shelter from rain or snow. If you use blankets, you need to check them daily – as in remove, and replace after grooming. Realistically, I wouldn’t have the time to do that for six equines – 2 donkeys, 1 mini horse and 3 “real horses.”

What I do practice faithfully is wiping the snow off the horses when they come in. By wiping the snow off, I save them the energy to melt that snow plus they dry off faster. My horses come in snow covered at 5 p.m., but are dry by “late barn check” at 8 or 9 p.m.

If we have freezing rain or really cold rain, I bring everyone in earlier. Even the sheep hate to be out in freezing or cold rain.

Snowballs can be a problem – especially for my Appaloosa mare, Cinnamon, who wears shoes all year. Spraying the bottom of the hooves with nonstick cooking spray can help but you must keep this at the house or in a heated tack room. There are other products you can use. It won’t last all day but it does help. Pick out feet to remove snowballs at night no matter what.

Add some extra hay to your horse’s diet. Chewing hay helps keep a horse warm. Ideally you should try to provide hay 3 times a day or even 4 – morning, noon, supper time and bedtime. Horses are designed to eat constantly as opposed to ruminants who eat, then lie down quietly and chew their cuds. Break up your horse’s daily hay ration into as many meals as you can manage. I strive for three.

An apple or carrot a day is certainly not required but my equines all love them and I feel better giving them something fresh. You can buy large bags or boxes of utility apples fairly inexpensively and carrots tend to be inexpensive anyway, if you grow your own even better. Our mini, Frodo, gets no grain, so he loves having an apple in his bucket.

Many horses don’t drink as much as they should in winter, especially older horses. You can easily heat a bucket with a bucket warmer and then give everyone some warm water. Alternatively carry a bucket of hot water from the house and put some in each bucket to “top them off.” Horses will drink more if the water is slightly warm or at least not really cold. Ideally, the horses should have water 3 or 4 times a day if not available all day. Our outside water tub can’t have a heater, so our horses get warm water 2 or 3 times daily. Horses will eat snow if they have to but they use a great deal of energy melting the snow and are then cold from consuming it.

Feel free to share tips you have for older equines in winter!

A winter blanket can help your horse lose less weight in the winter.

A long winter coat can hide weight loss, so periodically feel your horse’s ribs to see if he’s holding his weight during the cold winter months. If he’s having trouble and he’s cleaning up everything you’re giving him, feed as much hay as he needs or will consume, increasing it gradually.

Feed it a couple of times a day during the winter to minimize waste, if you can.  Remember that it’s the digestion of hay, not grain, that helps keep your horse warm. A cold horse will burn more calories and, when a horse’s coat is wet, it loses its insulating capacity. Consider blanketing your horse if he’s losing weight or cold (see January 2010 issue).

If your horse isn’t cleaning up, be sure the feed is OK. Warning signs of bad feed include:

• Off color or sour smell.
• Damp or clumps abnormally.
• Tinged with mold and/or dust.

If the feed seems OK, call your vet immediately. The horse may be ill.

Grain Considerations. If increasing hay alone is not enough, add grain. Start with about a half pound (about half a scoop) and increase to no more than 3 pounds of grain per feeding at a maximum of two to three times a day. Remember: Extruded feeds are easier for the horse to digest but weigh less than pellets or whole grains, so you may need to feed a larger volume of grain.

Consider a pro- or prebiotic product to increase the efficiency of fermentation, such as Forco (www.forcocolorado.com, 303-663-7115) or Ration Plus (www.cytozyme.com, 801-533-9208).

Water Consumption. Check water consumption, too.  The more hay a horse eats, the more water he needs to consume. For example, if he’s eating 22 pounds of pay per day and weighs around 1100 pounds, he should be drinking between five to eight gallons of water per day.  Snow will not suffice.

You can encourage water consumption by:

• Removing ice
• Providing warm water (but if you’re going to do this, you must do it consistently)
• Refresh water within an hour after feeding hay
• Adding 1 oz. (2 tablespoons) of salt to feed daily (start gradually)

Feeding a warm mash, soaked hay cubes or pellets. Wheat bran and beet pulp are both highly palatable and contain about the same calories as grain. Feed beet pulp as a mash, letting it soak in hot water for 20 minutes or so before feeding it. Substitute a scoop of beet pulp for a scoop of grain; introduce it to the horse gradually.

Beet pulp is especially good for horses not drinking enough water, as it will soak up four times its weight in water. Beet-pulp concentrates, like Pennfield’s Fibergized (www.pennfield.com, 800-732-0467) can also be soaked.

Bottom Line. Winter is no time to deal with a thin horse. Use small amounts of taste tempters—apples, carrots, brown sugar, corn oil, molasses, apple sauce, CocoSoya (www.uckele.com, 800-248-0330) or a few drops of peppermint extract or anise—to increase his interest. Ensure water consumption. Remember, fat is part of his natural defense against cold weather.

Dogs can lick up a substance before you blink.

Almost every barn has a cat and a dog or two hanging out. They help with rodent control, provide company for the horses and security. But having our small companion animals at the barn or sharing medications can be harmful, even deadly.

This spring, a Border Collie lapped up the dribbles from a horse’s dose of apple-flavored ivermectin dewormer. A day or so later, the dog’s owner realized her top agility dog couldn’t see. The dog went directly to a veterinary college for exam and a grave prognosis was given. Heartbroken, her owner faced the end of a fun career they both loved.

A few days later, it appeared the dog was starting to regain vision. In fact, her vision is almost totally back—the problem not being a true loss of vision but a side effect of ivermectin toxicity in a dog with the MDR 1 mutation. She was a lucky dog.

In another case, an Australian Shepherd snacked on some manure the day after the horses in the barn were dewormed with an ivermectin product. That dog died.

While many dogs can handle ivermectin, there are breeds that have a genetic mutation that leads to health problems and even death. Click her to see Dog Breeds With MDR 1 Mutation

The case of the Border Collie above was an accidental poisoning with a dog getting a tiny bit of the ivermectin paste intended for the horse. Many horse owners try to save on costs by using equine ivermectin paste for their dogs for heartworm prevention, but it’s nearly impossible to get the dosing right using the paste.

If you own a dog with an MDR 1 mutation, or to be safe if you own a dog of one of the sensitive breeds, keep the dog away from all manure for 48 hours after deworming your horse with any ivermectin, selamectin, milbemycin or moxidectin product. There are no set guidelines, but some drug will pass through your horse, so this is an extra precaution. Dispose of used paste tubes carefully and clean up any dribbles from your horse.

Acepromazine and butorphanol are other drugs that can cause problems in MDR 1 dogs, as well as loperamide (Imodium).

Not Just Dogs. Similar or worse problems can occur giving horse medications to cats. Millions of years ago, cats lost the gene for a liver enzyme that metabolizes many drugs. This is why a single acetaminophen tablet (Tylenol) can kill your cat. Basically we never recommend using any medication for a cat that doesn’t specifically say “safe for cats.” That includes fly sprays and topicals with permethrins, some essential oils, etc. Equine Products and Pets

Some medications are used for both small animals and horses, but generally the dosages will be different. It may seem economical to buy a horse-size antibiotic and break up the pill, but that doesn’t always work. Many medications aren’t distributed evenly throughout a pill for example. If there is no scoring, that’s likely why. If you break that pill in half, the actual dose of medication may not be 50/50 but more like 25/75. You could accidentally overdose your pet.

Other drugs may be approved for both horses and dogs but must be used with care. Many horses do quite well on phenylbutamine (bute), but dogs often have gastric upsets with this drug. Using your horse’s version for your lame dog could cause serious problems. On the other hand, maybe you got a deal buying a bottle of small-animal-size antibiotic from your vet. If your horse needs the exact same antibiotic, you might use the small-animal version to dose him. But instead of grinding up one large pill with a mortar and pestle to then mix with molasses or another taste tempter (see July 2011 issue), you could grind up 40 small pills.

Always verify with your veterinarian that it is the EXACT same medication. Many drugs have similar names but different actions. Generally, the cost ends up being more anyway since you need to use so many of the smaller pills to make up a horse-sized dose.

Many medications are ineffective if given at the wrong dose. Underdosing with antibiotics can contribute to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Antibiotics shouldn’t be used in any animal unless your veterinarian has prescribed them.

Overdosing with any medication can lead to toxicity. Any medication that is not FDA-approved for a certain species should only be used under veterinary guidance.

If your barn has a goat companion, you should know that many horse supplements, special salt blocks and even some grains, contain extra copper, which can be fatal to sheep and goats. While both horses and goats are herbivores, their digestive tracts are different. This can also lead to problems with other medications as well.

Bottom Line. Overall, you are better off keeping the medications for your horse and your companion animals separate. One emergency visit will negate any savings you hoped to gain by using the other species’ medication.

Article by Contributing Veterinary Editor Deb Eldredge DVM.

Nutrition plays an important role in your horse’s thyroid function.

If you feel more confused than ever about thyroid hormones in horses, you’re not alone. Less than 10 years ago, obese and laminitic horses and ponies were believed to be hypothyroid and even easy keepers were often given supplemental thyroid hormone. As we came to understand insulin resistance, use of thyroid supplements dropped off but recently the pendulum has swung back to using them again. What’s the story?

To begin, you need to understand different types of hypothyroidism. Primary hypothyroidism is disease of the thyroid gland itself. Secondary hypothyroidism is a pituitary problem involving low levels of TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone.

Signs of Hypothyroidism

By completely removing the thyroid gland surgically, researchers have been able to determine the signs of hypothyroidism in adult horses. These include:

•  Coarse coat that is slow to shed.
•  Lethargy.
•  Changes in blood lipoproteins.
•  Lower heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature.
•  Lower blood volume and cardiac output.
•  Lower exercise tolerance.

Note: Horses with hypothyroidism do not gain weight and do not develop laminitis.

What Do Thyroid Hormones Do?

There are two forms of thyroid hormone, T4 and T3. The only differ­ence between them is that T3 has one less iodine molecule. There is about 10 times more T4 circulating than T3, but T3 is the most active form. T4 can be converted to T3 inside the horse’s cells by enzyme systems. Most circulating thyroid hormone is bound to proteins in the blood. Less than 1% of it is free of a protein carrier, but only the free hormones can enter cells.

Thyroid hormones are critical to normal development in the young, especially in the brain, and for growth. In the adult horse, their prima­ry role is in the regulation of metabolism, which is the burning of food and calories stored as fat or glycogen. The higher the level of thyroid hormones, the more rapidly fuels are burned. Metabolism also be­comes less efficient with high levels, with the result that more energy is lost as heat.

Tertiary hypothyroidism involves the hypothalamus, another area of the brain. In tertiary hypothyroidism, output of the hormone TRH, thyroid releasing hormone, is low. TRH causes release of TSH, which in turn stimulates the thyroid.

Yet another form of hypothyroidism is called euthyroid sick syndrome. This is a condition where thyroid hormones are low in an animal that has a chronic illness.

Horses rarely, if ever, have primary hypothyroidism. Researchers have found that horses with low levels of thyroid hormone respond normally to an injection of TSH, proving the gland is normal and capable of producing the hormone. This means that something is causing hypothyroidism, or the horse has euthyroid sick syndrome.

We don’t have the diagnostic tools readily available to figure out what the mechanisms are in horses but in other species it is known that things like high cortisol and inflammatory proteins (cytokines) can result in suppressed thyroid function. That would certainly explain why horses with Cushing’s disease (high cortisol) and/or insulin resistance (inflammatory cytokines) are often hypothyroid. Their hypothyroidism is caused by the primary problem and typically corrects when the real problem is treated.

If low thyroid hormone levels are actually caused by something else, why supplement them at all? Many veterinarians continued to use thyroid hormone supplementation because it makes the horse feel better.  There are also several human studies that documented better improvements in insulin sensitivity when hypothyroid patients were supplemented with replacement hormones in addition to exercise and diet.

There is now preliminary data in horses that suggests the same thing, but they used high doses. Some vets use high doses outside the research setting in an attempt to jump start weight loss. It’s also reasonable to supplement horses that are testing low, to get them into a normal range. This is especially true for horses that aren’t responding as well to diet changes and exercise.

Nutrition also has a key role to play in thyroid function. Low levels of T4 and T3 can be caused by iodine deficiency. Iodine is not easily measured in hays. Soil levels vary widely and are particularly low along the Great Lakes and in the middle of the country. The National Research Council also increased the estimated minimum iodine requirement by almost 100%, making it impossible to meet the horse’s needs from voluntary consumption of iodized salt.

Selenium is required by the enzymes that convert T4 into the more active T3 hormone. Since this is a very common deficiency, dietary levels should always be evaluated if a horse has a normal T4 but low T3.

Hazards in the feed may also contribute to low thyroid hormone levels. For example, nitrates may be present in well water, or in hay/feed that was grown under stressful conditions. Nitrates are nitrogen-containing chemicals produced by bacterial breakdown of organic matter in soil. Plants absorb them and convert them into protein.

The protein analysis in hays and feeds is actually a measure of nitrogen, not protein. It cannot distinguish between nitrates and actual protein. However, the test for actual nitrate is widely available in hay and feed testing labs. You can check nitrates in your well water with an inexpensive kit from the hardware or garden store.

Nitrates interfere with thyroid function by blocking utilization of iodine. Thiocyanates do the same thing. These chemicals are present in the mustard family of weeds and in varying levels in virtually all seeds and seed meals. How often these chemicals influence thyroid function in horses, and the levels required to do that, are unknown. However, if a horse has low thyroid function they should be put on the list of possible contributing causes.

Supplements. Supplements for hypothyroid horses fall in two general categories, prescription or over-the-counter. The prescription supplements contain synthetic T4 (levothyroxine). Your veterinarian will give you information on dosing. Both supplements are used in  small amounts and are palatable.

While there is anecdotal “traditional use” support for some Western herbs, and equivocal support for Chinese herbs, in treating hypothyroidism, their effects are very poorly understood and they haven’t moved into the realm of proven herbal therapies, especially for horses.

The raw materials the thyroid gland needs to manufacture thyroid hormones are the amino acid tyrosine and the minerals iodine and selenium. Tyrosine is an amino acid the horse can synthesize from phenylalanine, and both tyrosine and phenylalanine are present in abundant levels in all but the most restrictive or poor quality diets. Deficiencies of manganese, zinc, copper and iron can also influence thyroid function. Of these, only zinc and copper are likely to be deficient in diets of only hay and unsupplemented grains, or minimal amounts of supplemented grains.

Bottom Line. Iodine and selenium are the heavy hitters here, both playing pivotal roles and both commonly deficient. They’re commonly found in most multi-supplements and hoof supplements, which would be your first choice.

The minimum for selenium is 2 mg/day, and for iodine 3.8 mg/day for an average-size horse. There’s reluctance to supplement for fear of toxicity, but the toxic level for long-term intake is at least 10 times those bare minimum levels.

Kelp and other seaweeds are good sources of iodine. However, the levels vary widely, including up to levels that would be toxic for long-term intake. Therefore, don’t supplement kelp with undisclosed iodine levels.

For information on the specific products we recommend, please log in and go to our September 2010 issue or search for “Thyroid.”

When it’s cold, a waterless product can make a bathing job easier.

Waterless horse shampoos, sometimes called “dry shampoos” because they don’t require a rinse, are handy at shows and in the winter when giving your horse a bath is difficult. We like to be able to squirt our horse’s socks clean without worrying he’ll catch a chill, and we don’t want to do a lot of scrubbing.

We expect waterless horse products to lift the stain out of the hair, much the way we expect a stain-lifter to get the job done on our clothes in the washer. We want to spray, remove the stain, dry and move on.  That’s the upside of these products. The downside is that this “shampoo” is staying on our horse’s coats.

So, while we expect it to be aggressive in removing dirt, preferably right down to the skin—and several of the products in our field trial did just that—we want it to be gentle to the horse’s coat and skin, much like a coat polish.

We insist that the ingredients are safe. We’re still going to do the 24-hour spot test before trying a product, but overall we expect that products are non-toxic and safe. We aren’t going to worry if it’s natural ingredients or not, as long as the product is non-irritating, which each of these products were.

Most of the products resulted in a shinier coat when we finished, although we did start to wonder what an optical brightener was (it’s a chemical that absorbs and then reflects light).

Ingredients.  We’re always disappointed when manufacturers don’t disclose all the ingredients in their products right on the label. We absolutely understand about proprietary formulas. The companies have a right to protect their recipe, especially if it’s a good one. But we also need to know if we can use a product on a sensitive horse or not, even if we do a spot test. Every manufacturer we spoke with told us that consumers should call them if they are concerned about ingredients, and they would do their best to help them.

That’s a big step in the right direction, but we applaud Cowboy Magic for listing every ingredient right on the label. Absorbine has Miracle Groom’s MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on its website.

We’re also pleased that Fiebing’s, Veterolin and Miracle Coat state on the front label that they contain tea-tree oil, which is well-known for its cleansing and antimicrobial properties. We’re long-time fans of tea-tree oil, but many horses are sensitive to it, so including this in a visible area works to both the manufacturer’s and the consumer’s benefits. (If your horse is sensitive to tea-tree oil, consider Lucky Braids Whitener or Cowboy Magic Greenspot Remover.)

It’s helpful to us if a product can be used on other animals. If we’re spraying stuff around the barn, we don’t want to accidentally harm the barn cat if he trots by. Plus, we can buy bigger quantities and save money if it’s multi-purpose.

We collected some of the top waterless shampoo choices.

Even in this website-crazy age, we believe all products should list the manufacturer’s phone number right on the bottle. That way, if you have a question or problem, you can get immediate help.  Every bottle listed a website, but four did not also include a phone number. Not everyone has Internet access, and it’s certainly not likely to be handy in the barn.

Conditioning. Since these products are designed to be left on the coat, we expect minimal residue and we do expect a conditioning effect or, at the very least, the coat shouldn’t become dry or brittle. Many of the products initially dried stiff (Lucky Braids Whitener dried white), but once the coat was brushed out, it felt normal. Still, our testers felt the best overall conditioning effects were noted with Lucky Braids Whitener, Green Clean and Easy Out.

Because the most likely place we’re going to grab these products at a show, shine and dust repellency may be important. If so, we found Greenspot Remover, Vetrolin Green Spot Out, Lucky Braids Whitener and Easy Out produced very shiny coats.

Field Trials. Everyone knows you’re supposed to read label instructions, but more often than not, this step is skipped. For those who are “skippers,” note well that the first words on nearly every product were: Shake well. The ingredients in waterless shampoos can separate, and if you don’t shake the bottle, your trigger will pull up whatever’s sitting in the bottom of the bottle.

After that, it was basically, “Spray, rub, dry and brush. Repeat if necessary.”  Most of our testers reported they used more product than the instructions indicated were necessary, but they didn’t mind as long as they got the desired results.

We received a lot of feedback on scents, but we decided not to count them in the decision-making process because it’s such an individual thing. No one objected to any of the fragrances, and testers’ favorite scents were all over the board.

We also heard from a couple of intuitive testers who said they didn’t see the sense of giving your horse a full bath with these products. The fact is, you’re spraying your horse wet, sometimes fairly heavily, so why not give the horse a quick bath and wrap him up in a couple of coolers, if it’s cold?

That’s a good point, again, reminding us that these are designed as quick-fixes. One of the spots a quick fix is always handy is with static electricity, especially the kind that builds up during blanketing season. If you battle the “blanket zap” problem, you’re going to want Smart Choice or Miracle Groom to your grooming box.

Shelf Life.  We used a 32-ounce size container, if available, to do our price-per-ounce comparisons. However, there is considerable savings if you can use a larger container. For instance, Quick Clean Waterless Shampoo goes from 34¢/oz. in the quart size to 16¢/oz. in the gallon size. Lucky Braids drops to 61¢/oz. in the gallon size.

Grapefruit Coat Refresh has up to a three-year shelf life; Smart Choice and Veterolin last about two years, while Easy Out is guaranteed to last at least six months.

Miracle Groom and Cowboy Magic have a minimum five-year shelf life. Cowboy Magic said it works even if it freezes then thaws or is subjected to heat extremes.

For information on our specific recommendations and full chart information, please log in and go to August 2010 or search for “waterless shampoos.”