Development of the Foal

Last 3 Months of Pregnancy, Mare Care; 4 - 6 Weeks Before Expected Due Date;  The Birth Process; The Newborn Foal - First Few Hours; The Newborn Foal - First 24 Hours;  The Newborn For - First 7 Days; The Mare's Birth to 7 Days Post Delivery; The Mare & Foal; The First Month and Lactation; The Foal; 1 Month of Age to Weaning;

Evolution of the Thrifty Gene

Zoologists have been able to piece together a more complete picture of the modern horse's evolutionary lineage than that of any other animal. By virtue of natural selection and inherited genetic traits including a viable, thrifty genes, the horse has survived through extreme climate changes, harsh seasons with periods of drought, extreme heat, and even the Ice Age. Modern horse breeds have developed in response to the need for "form to function"; the necessity to develop certain physical characteristics essential to perform a certain type of work.

Body Condition Scoring for Your Horse

The University of Maine

The old saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" has never been more appropriate than in the body condition score of horses.  Beauty in one onwner's eye is fat in another's.  Hence the problem: "What is the appropriate body condition of a horse, and what would be acceptable to the industry?"  A body conditioning scoring system developed by Dr. Don Henneke has served to provide a standard scoring system for the industry which can be used across breeds and by all horse people.

Is Your Horse or Pony Insulin Resistant?

What is IR? IR is a metabolic disorder, not a disease and is controlled with diet and exercise.

Treatment of IR: The most important step in managing IR is to limit the amount of sugar & starch in the diet.

Where to get more information? http://www.ecirhorse.com and http://www.safergrass.org

Iron Overload:

A Growing Nutritional Disorder from Dietary Excess

Dietary iron deficiency anemia has never been documented in the adult horse. Iron toxicosis due to iron administration is in fact, far more prevalent than perceived iron deficiency. Anemia or pseudo-iron deficiency has been diagnosed in significant numbers of adult horses but it's a mistake to assume this is related to a true dietary iron deficiency. More notably, research and testing is showing that the number of horses with documented iron overload is alarming and the implications of iron overload in a number of equine diseases are growing.

Growth, reproduction and performance are all affected long before full blown dietary deficiency may be diagnosed.

Horses are generally fed very simple diets. They get the same meal; the same hay or grazing space; day in, day out; today, tomorrow, next week and next month. But hay and/or pasture alone cannot provide balanced ratios or optimum levels of all the basic nutrients our horses need. These necessities become even more important the harder our horses work and the faster we want them to grow. Even the wellness we hope they have as seniors can be affected by a life time of minor nutritional deficiency. Most everyone has an opinion and an experience for some product or feed that has worked, or not worked for them.

Manual Practise Calculations for Hay Analysis

by Dr. Eleanor Kellon, VMD & The Equine Cushings & Insulin Resistance Group

The Emergency Diet is for horses with laminitis, founder and are suspected of having Insulin Resistance (aka Metabollic Syndrome).

http://www.ecirhorse.com

10th Anniversary Press Release for ECIRGroup