Close Ranch

03/19/2025

Did you know horse teeth erupt throughout their whole life.
Once the growth of a tooth stops it has only that amount of tooth to erupt and wear for the span of its life.
This is a picture of approx a 24yr old on the left and approx 10yr old horse on the right. It shows how much wear a tooth can have.
Every horse is different, and there are factors that can change the wear pattern and eruption of their teeth.
Having proper regular dentistry done is a key factor in the proper wear and eruption of the teeth.
Horse teeth wear and erupt to pressure. If there is a hook and wave complex this will cause hyper eruption on some teeth and premature wear on other teeth. If there is a missing tooth the opposing tooth will hyper erupt and grow into the hole of where the opposing tooth used to be. There are many other scenarios, but that gives a general idea.
When a horse’s mouth is balanced correctly the teeth all work in unison, wear and erupt at normal rates of speed, and extend the quality and life of the teeth.
This picture is not concrete on a eruption scale because of the circumstances on each horse, but gives a visual on how much eruption and wear horse teeth can have.

Mark Allen Advanced Equine Dentistry
“It’s all about the balance”

03/18/2025

Unlike humans, horses don’t have collarbones. Their shoulders are held to the rest of their skeleton via a sling of muscles and ligaments instead, often referred to as the “thoracic sling.”

Why is this important? We often ask our equine athletes to perform complex movements that require tremendous strength and coordination, and horses carry the majority of their weight in their front end. Therefore, it is imperative that the bulk of the muscles that support the front end are kept healthy and conditioned, and the horse is trained to use their “motor” — that is, engaging the large hind end muscles as much as possible to avoid excessive weight bearing on the front end.

If the front end of the horse is consistently overweighted or not at an appropriate level of fitness, repetitive biomechanical stresses get transferred down the leg to the smaller ligaments and tendons that were not designed to bear this weight, which can then lead to injury.

Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee.

03/04/2025

02/25/2025

With spring only a few weeks away (🙌), it’s not too early to start thinking about a deworming plan for your equine companions.

If deworming is something you’ve been doing the same way for as long as you can remember, this year we encourage you to break tradition and work with your veterinarian instead. Thanks to tools like the f***l egg count, your horse doctor can help you devise a treatment tailored to the needs of your equine friend plus monitor the efficacy of the dewormer used last.

And before you dismiss this notion because you’ve been “doing it for years,” you should know that the old-school approach to deworming is quickly becoming outdated—not only a waste of money but it also builds drug resistance in the parasitic fauna of equines, which means we are running out of drugs that can effectively help us control parasite infections.

As always, consult your equine veterinarian to learn more and for questions specific to your animals!

02/21/2025

The one who is ALWAYS hungry (and costing you a fortune! 😂😭)

©️ Emily Cole Illustrations

02/20/2025

Did you know that horse dewormer labels are no longer accurate regarding which parasites they effectively treat?

The information on these labels is based on data collected from when the dewormer was first introduced on the market, which is decades ago (the most recent dewormers are from the 1990's while some date back to the 70's)! Unfortunately, since then, a lot of resistance has developed and it is important to use more recent research and science-based recommendations as well as personal f***l egg counts and f***l egg count reduction tests, to determine a deworming schedule that is effective for your horse herd.

I have been working my way through the new AAEP Internal Parasite Control Guidelines put out in 2024 (I encourage everyone to head over to their site and read what they have put together - I will include a link in the comments!) and thought this chart may be helpful in providing more updated guidelines for horse owners in the United States and Canada.

One of the most important things you need to do in order to use this table correctly is know which parasite(s) you are trying to target. While many dewormers have resistance observed to some extent, you will select the most effective dewormer for that given parasite. Other factors to consider are horse age, time of year, and shedding level - which is a whole separate post in and of itself due to the many variables that can influence it!

I am working on some more material to help with deworming and parasite control decisions but I am happy to answer questions! If there is anything specific you would like me to address, let me know in the comments. But as you can see by all the red and yellow in this chart, resistance to dewormers is evolving rapidly so I highly encourage you to begin implementing other parasite control practices, specifically relating to pasture and manure management, to help manage parasites in your herd!

What are you currently doing to manage your equine parasites?

Cheers!
Dr. DeBoer

02/07/2025

While the number of confirmed equine rabies cases every year is low, talking about this disease remains important because of the potential for human exposure—which does NOT have to involve a bite from an infected horse, as contact of skin or mucosa with the horse’s saliva could be enough to transmit the disease.

Rabies has many faces, but they are all deadly—once a horse shows clinical signs, the animal invariably dies within a few days as there is no treatment.

The good news is that modern vaccines are highly effective and current AAEP recommendations list rabies as one of the “core vaccines” that should be given to all horses annually to maintain immunity (read the full AAEP vaccination guidelines here: https://aaep.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines).

Equine rabies is a real risk for all horses, and a public health concern as well. Be sure to set up a regular vaccination schedule with your veterinarian if you haven’t already done so. Remember that strange behavior on behalf of your equine friend is always a valid reason to check in with your horse doctor!

01/14/2025

Humble Hoof Horsemanship & Rescue caught on camera!

01/08/2025

Is your horse’s nighttime vision better than your daytime vision?

When comparing equine vision to human vision, the horse has a smaller visible spectrum (see image) which means they see a smaller range of colors than we do. However, horses have a structure in the back of their eye—called the tapetum lucidum—that humans do not have. This enhances vision in low light conditions and allows a horse to see better in the dark than a human does. However, reflections from the tapetum lucidum can also blur images and lead to poor depth perception at night.

Dilation of the pupil allows all species to see better in the dark. This process takes longer in a horse (45 minutes) than it does in humans (25 minutes). So, when a horse is asked to do something in a dark environment, it’s important to allow their vision proper time to fully accommodate.

Overall, the nighttime vision of a horse is better than the nighttime vision of a human. However, the horse’s nighttime vision is NOT better than the daytime vision of a human. Anytime you are asking your horse to function in a dim light situation, give them time to adjust. And if they are fearful, be patient and try to understand how things look from their perspective!
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Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee