Raven Tree Stables LLC: Equine & K9 Education

05/08/2026

05/03/2026

Small actions make a BIG difference—and we love partnerships that make it easier. 🤝

AFD Wildfire Division and Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services are teaming up again to help you reduce wildfire risk by cleaning up woody debris.

🌲 Wood lots open May 1–October 31

💡 Pro tip: Disposal is FREE at the Anchorage Regional Landfill on Fridays & Saturdays. Material left at the Central Wood Lot must be hauled to the landfill—saving that trip helps reduce costs.

📍 Learn more about the wood lots: muni.org/departments/sws
🔥 Sign up for a Firewise property assessment: wildfire.muni.org

Girdwood Fire and Rescue Chugiak Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Anchorage Office of Emergency Management

02/27/2026

How horses whinny has long been a mystery. The sound is quite distinct from any other in the animal kingdom. And now scientists think they’ve discovered why: horses whinny by producing sounds at two frequencies at the same time—much like singing and whistling simultaneously.

The findings, which were published on Monday in Current Biology, suggest horses produce sounds at two frequencies in two distinct ways in their larynx, or voice box. A low-frequency sound of about 200 hertz is produced by vibrating the vocal cords, just as we do while singing. And a high-frequency sound of more than 1,000 hertz is produced by whistling within the larynx.

In general, the larger an animal—and its larynx—is, the lower the frequency of sound it produces. Meanwhile smaller critters, such as mice, produce high-frequency whistles. But this study suggests that horses are unique in their ability to whistle and vibrate their vocal cords at the same time, the authors write. http://spklr.io/6042DIxVw

✍: Jackie Flynn Mogensen
📸: martin gallagher/Getty Images

02/01/2026

01/28/2026

01/25/2026

💧 𝐃𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬?

Soaking feed or utilizing mashes is a common practice intended to increase water intake in horses - but does it actually help?

I decided to take a dive into the research, as many horse owners soak feed in the winter, particularly during cold weather snaps, to encourage water intake. And while digging, I came across two studies you may find interesting!

🧪𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟏 (𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)
The first study took place in Florida, where the average ambient temperature during the study was 55°F (13°C). This research evaluated horses consuming soaked pelleted feed, alfalfa cubes, or beet pulp in a 2:1 ratio of water to concentrate.

This study found that horses rapidly self-regulated voluntary water intake based on the amount of water provided in the meal. This means, when water was added to their feed, they voluntarily drank less so total water consumption remained the same.

This was shown as horses on dry feed had a voluntary water intake of 32.2 L while horses on soaked feed reduced voluntary water intake to 25.4 L to accommodate the ~6 L of water provided in the mash, for a total water intake of 31.5 L.

But that brings us to the second study 👇

❄️ 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟐 (𝐑𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑)
This study evaluated seasonal differences in water intake during the fall (55°F; 12.8 °C) and winter (-4 to 33°F; -20 to 0.67°C) in Wisconsin. Horses were fed a pelleted concentrate at 0.5% body weight, with soaked feed provided at 2 L water/kg feed.

This study found that horses drank:
🍁 29.3 L/day in the fall
❄️ 24.7 L/day in the winter

This decrease supports previous findings that water intake drops by approximately 6–12% during the cold winter months.

However, this study also evaluated soaked vs dry feed.

While no difference in voluntary water intake was observed during the fall trial, horses in the winter consumed more water when eating a mash (26.9 L) compared to when consuming dry feed (22.4 L), a difference of about 1.2 gallons per day. The study found that horses consuming the mash drank equal to or more water than horses consuming the dry grain, in addition to the water they consumed in their feed.

✨𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞
Cold weather can reduce voluntary water intake in horses, but feeding a mash during winter can help combat that decline. In more mild weather, however, soaking feeds likely does not increase total water intake, as horses will self-regulate.

Will these studies make you more likely to soak you feeds - why or why not?

Stay warm out there!
Dr. DeBoer

Ferreira N, Binder D, Garbati IH, Lance JM, Warren LK. Effect of soaking feed on water intake and hydration in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2025 May 1;148:105449.

Rucker NK, Hiney KM. Voluntary water intake in horses when fed a dry versus mash grain in two different seasons. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2013 May;33(5):355-6.

01/04/2026

***Colic is an emergency***

If your horse is not eating, not drinking, not pooping, acting uncomfortable …. Those are all signs of potential colic and are an emergency. Today. Not wait and see if they are better tomorrow. If it is below zero outside, then it is even more of an emergency. Today. Not when you get off work in the evening. Today. Banamine may be helpful temporarily and obscure these signs. Temporarily. If the horse relapses after the Banamine wears off it is likely to be far worse of a situation. Especially if the horse is an older horse.

Banamine I routinely dispense to regular clients for the purpose of buying time in emergencies until I can get to see the horse or the owner can bring the horse to me. It is not intended to cure your situation. It is intended to buy a brief amount of time. Loaning your prescription medication without these parameters to work with with a regular veterinarian is a recipe for disaster. Recently, we have had multiple animals who have died because they did not have follow up medical attention after the Banamine that they had borrowed from their sister‘s cousin’s neighbor’s friend. It is very wonderful that people are helpful, but it is very terrible when that helps delay the necessary care that the horse needs.

It is a very difficult subject to discuss. I am not sure what the right answer is besides all horse owners need to have a regular veterinarian and arrangements for emergencies. Especially horses and their owners that live in Anchorage or in far out places. Horses in Anchorage have literally hundreds of trucks and trailers that can bring them to the valley for care. Last year, someone was nice enough to set up a list of people on the Alaska equestrian page files that were willing to haul horses in emergencies in the winter for people that did not have a horse trailer available. And sometimes I can put out a request for help.

If you have a horse trailer. Keep it in decent repair. Fix the trailer door that is broken. Don’t park it behind the boat that you can’t move until next year. Keep the registration up-to-date. Keep the lights working. Keep the floor in good shape. Keep the horse trained to load in it or get a different one that the horse will get into. Keep the hitch that fits the trailer available in the truck that can pull it. Most horse trailers require a 2 5/16 inch hitch. If you have a lock on your hitch, keep the key on your keychain. Keep the lock lubricated and covered so it doesn’t rust. Keep the keychain with the truck and the trailer, not with your other half that is gone on the slope with the keys. Keep the tires in good shape and not flat. Keep the hitch on a block so you can hook up the trailer. Tell the snowplow guy not to plow in your trailer. Keep a bucket of sand in the trailer in case you have a steep driveway. Cover the slats that are open on the side with plywood so you can haul in the winter. Don’t leave the trailer full of the neighbor’s furniture, the chickens, or hay such that you can’t use it. Or bring the chickens with you. I like chickens too.

It is extremely rare for a horse to injure itself on a ride to the Vet. And even if it does, generally the situation was life threatening. They will be in pain but on the way to care with a hoof abscess or a colic. Do not delay care if at all possible. If it has a broken leg … then maybe not. But 99% of cases are fine being hauled. Talk to your Veterinarian. It is extremely rare they are not available or have a back up plan set up for you.

When I am able to, I am also set up to be mobile and visit many of these cases throughout the winter. However, there are times when I already have cases in the clinic or cases on the way into the clinic, or maybe one of my kids is sick such that I am not able to leave. Currently today, there are horses hauling in from as far away as Tok and Fairbanks, as there is not a veterinarian in those areas that is taking emergencies over this weekend. But I’m sure I could figure it out to fit in between those cases.

Choose a veterinarian that will see emergencies. This is crucial. If it says on their website that they do not see emergencies, who are not available on the weekend, then choose again. It is extremely difficult and stressful to take a call from an owner that I do not know and I’ve never been to their farm. For a number of reasons, it often does not go well. I need to have met them before the emergency if at all possible. I need to understand how to reach you. I need to know what your horse eats and where it lives, how old it is and what its most recent maintenance has been. I need to know what its health conditions are. I need to know what the code is to your gate and where you live. I need your name and your address and your phone number and your email address. And what your financial abilities and preferences are. Financial ability will determine what treatments we do for your horse. Is your horse insured? All of these things take literally half an hour to an hour to extract and there is no time for that in an emergency.

What is the take home message from this post? Let’s start with having an emergency plan. Have a truck and trailer functionally available if you need it. It is almost to the point that if you don’t have a truck and trailer situation set up, then you probably should not have a horse. If you use Banamine, you absolutely must have a call into your regular veterinarian immediately. If you have borrowed these medications, then you need to replace it for the person you borrowed it from anyway. If you loan out these meds, then these instructions need to go with the medications.

You must have a regular veterinarian established. This does not mean your dog veterinarian that does not see emergencies and tries to give you a dose of meds to help you out. This does not mean your friend down the street. Colic is a serious emergency that needs serious care. It has a cause in every case and we need to figure out what that is so that your horse does not die and so it does not happen again. Fully 50% of my annual visits I believe I am able to ward off an emergency for that year. It is very worthwhile to have that annual visit. It is worthwhile to establish care with a regular veterinarian. I am available year-round to do this. I travel to Anchorage and to Pt McKenzie every week to every other week in general. There are other veterinarians in the area that do the same. Get your Horse on the schedule.

We are Alaskan’s. Have a plan. A functional plan. Especially if your horse is new to the area. Especially if you are new to the area. We are here to help. But we can’t help those that won’t help themselves. If we have already seen you for an emergency in the past and we figure out that you were someone who is not willing to help yourself, then it is very difficult to even take an emergency call for you in the future. Fully 100% of disaster visits are emergencies for people that we have never met before and we are just trying to help them out.

Stay warm. And feed your horse lots of hay.