Headshaking in Horses: Simple Symptom, Complex Cause - The elusive cause(s) of headshaking must be flushed out on a trial-and-error basis.  That means you take an educated guess at the most likely cause and then work to eliminate it. This approach can cost time and money, but sometimes that is the way things go in the horse world.  Each of the problems listed can be chased down through various diagnostic modalities . . .

Internet Medicine: Can you get valid veterinary advice? –  Some folks always try to find the cheapest, simplest solution to a problem, and the Internet has become their crutch. I’ve seen questions in chat rooms marked “emergency.” Seriously . . .

Shock-Absorbing Shoes –  You can find specialized shoes made with a metal core and a poly urethane or rubber molding on the outside. The advantage here is increased thickness of concussion dampening material, hence more shock absorption. There are several shoes on the market that offer this . . .

Every Horse Can Be On The Bit - While there is a strict set of parameters for what the horse’s body must look like in the dressage arena, the truth is your horse can be on the bit without necessarily having the shorter, more upright neck most often seen with upper-level dressage horses. Frames can range over a variety of positions, and they can have different purposes.

Urgent Care: Lacerations - A running hose will often do the job though in cold weather you may need to simply pour water over the area. A chlorhexidine wash would also be good to use after you have removed any big debris like bedding or dirt. . .

Veterinary Wellness Plans - It’s a hunk of money to put down all at once.  Although rates for these services vary widely, as would be expected since veterinary costs are driven somewhat by geographic area, most basic programs hover between $500 and $600 per year per horse.  Most offerings don’t list individual costs of the services but boast about discounts ranging from a low of 8% to as much as 35% off of regular fees  . . .

And our regular departments - Ask Horse Journal, Safety Thought, Fix A Problem, Did You Know? and more . . .

Shipments are expected to resume in early July ( 5 mL) and August (50 mL).

For the most recent updates, visit www.adequan.com  and www.nogenericadequan.com. You can also call Customer Service at 800-458-0163.

Well, if you have an insulin-resistant horse, you know very well that it is.

Still, is there an easier way? What about steaming your hay? Horse Journal’s Nutrition Editor, Dr. Juliet Getty, has released an article on her website about steaming your hay. You can read that here.

If you decide steaming is the way to go for you–and you’re a Horse Journal subscriber–you can read our review about the different steamers here.

It includes a video you’ll enjoy.  Maybe you can use this as a jumping point to get your own local media outlets to promote and educate drivers, keeping all of us safer as we’re increasingly forced to use road to get to our trails.

Read story and see video: Click here.

Horses must an endure annual rabies vaccination because we don't know its duration of protection for equine.

Talk to any dog or cat owner and they competently discuss titers, three-year vaccines and the Rabies Challenge Fund (www.rabies challengefund.org) whose goal is to get rabies vaccines approved for five to seven years for companion animals. My sheep get the exact same rabies vaccine as my equines (horses and donkeys). For the sheep, the vaccine is considered effective for three years, but for horses it’s just one year.

There are other vaccines that have short-term life spans for solid immunity. In addition, most killed vaccines do not provide immunity as quickly or for as long as modified live vaccines.

In my upstate New York area this past summer, at least three horses died of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). None of them had been properly vaccinated. That is under-vaccination. Over-vaccination can be just as serious. Some horses have adverse reactions to vaccines and end up with laminitis, bleeding disorders or immune-related problems.

So what is the average horse owner to do? First, look carefully at what vaccines your horse needs. Discuss the many vaccine options with your veterinarian.  Plan a vaccination schedule so that your horse’s immune system is not overwhelmed with multiple vaccines all at once. See Horse Journal’s Guide to Vaccinations.

Rabies is required by law in most, if not all, states for horses attending shows, fairs or traveling to parks for trail riding. No question there. While protective titers have been established, they can’t substitute for proof of vaccination. So if your horse was bitten by a rabid skunk and wasn’t current on his vaccination, he would be quarantined even if he had a solid, protective titer. Currently, you have no choice about vaccinating yearly for rabies. Sadly, rabies is a vaccine with a high rate of side effects. Horse owners need to jump on the Rabies Challenge Fund bandwagon and get horses changed to a three- or five-year approval.

EEE and WEE are serious, often fatal diseases that have effective vaccines. Titer studies suggest that these vaccines may be effective for at least three years. Since these are life-threatening illnesses, your horse should be boostered or have a titer checked yearly. Titer checks require a blood sample and are often more expensive than a booster vaccine.

Now things move into the realm of realistic risk. For example, the equine herpes virus (EHV) outbreak this year in the western half of the United States may have been limited by the use of effective modified live vaccines. The protective antibodies for this virus tend to last six to 12 months. This vaccine should definitely be on your list if you show frequently or plan to breed your horse.

As a concerned horse owner, look at your individual horse’s risks—based on lifestyle, activities, age, health, etc. Decide how frequently you need to booster vaccines. If you run titers on your horse, consider sending a copy of the results to Dr. Jean Dodds at Hemopet, 938 Standford St., Santa Monica, CA 90403. With at least 500 sets of equine titers she can begin to develop protocols and possibly influence requirements for equine vaccinations.

Deb Eldredge DVM, Contributing Veterinary Editor

Today, we live in a semi-rural area, where “developers” rail at the regulations they face and politicians talk of jobs to be created through economic “development.” The rhetoric sounds like the urban/suburban encroachment on farmland and forest areas is a natural thing-like “developing” a roll of exposed film (pardon the “legacy” reference)-bringing forth images that were already present, albeit in latent form.

As I ponder the ways in which to resist the encroachment, I look toward the arena that ultimately shapes the outcome, our political environment. There, people call themselves “conservatives,” as though they were supporting conservation. Instead, though, they support a setting of less regulation and less government, so that the “market” can take care ofthe future. They advocate for the “highest and best use” of land, suggesting that market forces will lead to the most desirable outcome. What they suggest, of course, is that the outcome should be determined by money-the merchant of human greed.

As I listen to organizations like the Sierra Club advocate regulations to contain real-estate development, I hear “conservatives” cry in protest at the disruption of the market by more regulation. What it leaves me to wonder is whether the prophecy of George Orwell may not now be upon us. Has our language  become so confounded that we can no longer communicate about important, critical issues? Is it all “newspeak?”

I look forward to more writing in Horse Journal and other publications about the topic. Perhaps, though, when a good three-string bale of grass hay costs $100.00 instead of the $25.00 we pay today (when we worried about $8.00 a bale only a couple of years ago), the “highest and best use” for that hay field might actually be to produce hay.

Please keep writing and encourage others to do so. If enough real conservatives-who believe in conserving our resources-join in the dialogue, we might actually be able to slow the money/greed drive encroachment a little. Thank you for taking a step forward in this important issue.

J.B., California 

John Strassburger responds: I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Biteman’s sentiments, especially the irony that “Conservatives” are only really seeking to conserve money.

California, the state Mr. Biteman and I each live in, is symbolic of the challenge. Like him, I live in semi-rural area, in a county with 18,000 horses. And to my north (toward where he lives and beyond) and east are hundreds of thousands of square miles of some of the world’s most productive farmland and of almost pristine woods and mountains. Yet to my south are two of the country’s largest metropolitan areas—the San Francisco Bay Area (about 75 miles away) and Los Angeles/San Diego (500 miles away).

Developers often complain about the long list of building regulations in California communities, but the weather (wet in the winter, dry as a bone in the summer) and other factors (like steep mountains) makes the land exceedingly fragile and water a constant concern. But when the economy slumps, the pressure to build houses to save or create jobs is enormous. Balancing the needs of segments of our culture and the society as a whole is the trick, one our political leaders are ill-equipped to handle.

With Mr. Biteman’s encouragement, I’ll continue to write on the subject, in my commentary and in my weekly blog.

The article caused me great concern about the message it is sending to horse owners, trainers, handlers and others. In my opinion, before talking about correcting and disciplining the horse, the article should have focused on the responsibility of the person to learn and practice the principles of horsemanship and/or consult with a professional to help with ground work. There are no short cuts to good training!!

Following are my specific comments:

Alpha Mare: The term, as used in this article, could easily be misconstrued to mean “dominance over the other.” Often times, the Alpha mare is not the leader of the herd; she alerts the herd to danger; however, the herd chooses the horse to be the leader who they trust and respect. Humans should not act like an alpha mare; they should act with benevolent leadership in the spirit of cooperation. Ask yourself who would like to follow–a benevolent leader or an alpha like person?

The purpose in working with our horses on the ground and under saddle, is to build the horse’s confidence, cooperation, trust and respect. By investing in this process, a partnership and relationship is built between the two. In working with horses in this manner, the horse learns with positive reinforcement, rather than punishment or negative reinforcement. In fact, several studies have shown that horses learn with positive reinforcement and not with punishment.

Horses are preyed-upon animals, and humans are predators. If we slap, pull on the lead ropes for control, yell, or scare the horse in any other manner, we demand obedience through instilling feat, rather than earning it in a positive manner. Hitting, slapping, using the whjp for punishment, is never acceptable. When a person acts like a predator around a horse, he becomes fearful and untrusting. He will lack confidence in himself and lose his respect and trust for his handler. A partnership can never be built under these conditions.

If the horse misbehaves, there is a problem with the relationship between horse and handler. To say “the horse will back down” is to say the handler is dominant over the horse and scares the horse into obedience. It is our responsibility to learn the horse’s language, not the horse’s responsibility to learn ours. If we do not have the skills to communicate with the horse, on the ground or under saddle, the relationship will suffer. If there is no relationship or partnership, you have created a machine, not a living, thinking, breathing willing animal.

“A Method to the Madness” -madness just creates more madness. I don’t believe this sub-title belongs in the article. There is no room for madness, and chaos when working with horses. I vehemently object to and strongly disagree with the following quotes: “….nothing inherently wrong with a physical correction, within limits.” What are the limits? Whose limits? All that we do with horses should be in the horse’s best interest–he has no tolerance for physical corrections; “Make sure the energy or strength of the correction matches what the horse is putting out.” If the horse tries to strike and bite at you, an immediate and strong open-handed slap to the chest is appropriate.” This is absolute Madness, and this predator behavior can lead to horses being labeled as dangerous, out of control, etc., etc. This is why so many horses “go down the road.” It is a person problem, not a horse problem.

“The Bottom Line” -The bottom line should be encouraging people to seek professional assistance and knowledge about horsemanship from the masters; i.e., Pat Parelli, Buck Brannaman, Bill and Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Mark Rashid, Kathleen Lindley, Leslie Desmond, Clint Anderson, to name a few. ‘There are many books to read and DVDs to watch to expand one’s knowledge.

I would like to suggest this Bottom Line:

“Profound results are achieved when the human stops perceiving himself as superior to the horse, and explores partnership instead of dominance, willing cooperation instead of force, guidance instead ofpunishment, and mutual respect instead of “alpha” status.” Ray Hunt

L.M., New York

Read John Strassburger’s response here.