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Proper Care is the Foundation
What does my horse actually need?
Horses needs vary depending upon their age, level of use, environment, and behavior.
A horse in consistent work may require more maintenance than a young horse or one that is occasionally used lightly. I believe that horses are truly our partners and should be treated as such. By combining the knowledge I have attained working for a veterinary hospital along with my diverse training background I will address the major requirements for a happy healthy horse below.
The Basics
Medical Necessities
Vaccines are an important part of protecting horses. Vaccinations reduce both the chance of becoming infected, if exposed, and the severity of illness, if infection occurs, allowing for a quicker recovery, as well as reducing the risk of spread to other horses. Horses do not hold on to immunity after vaccinating for very long; therefore, it is important to ensure your horse is boostered at least yearly if not every six months if your horse is in high risk environment.
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Dental Care is another very important part of caring for your horse. Proper dental care has its rewards. Your horse will be more comfortable, will utilize feed more efficiently, may perform better, and may even live longer. Horses evolved as grazing animals, and their teeth are perfectly adapted for that purpose. Horses side teeth continually erupt as they age and the chewing surface often becomes rough, pointy, or misshapen which causes horses to have issues grinding their food properly and can cause painful ulcers and other issues. It is typically recommended that horses receive a sedated full mouth dental exam at least once a year to ensure no issues need correcting. The primary problem seen with horses with poor dental care is the increased risk for impaction colic. Without the ability to properly grind their food the large segments become lodged together creating a large painful obstruction in the horses digestive track. These colics are very painful and expensive to treat.
The extras make all the difference
Performance horses or horses in regular work can benefit greatly from body work, PEMF, chiropractic, saddle fitting, massage, acupressure, Kinesiology taping, and acupuncture.
Due to their increased work load they are at higher risk for muscle strain or being "out" of natural alignment. Body work is similar to chiropractic except that the clinician utilizes yoga like poses and stretches to get the horse to relax into the stretch then the body part is able to become realigned. Then they rub the fascia and muscle fibers to relax thus allowing the body part to remain back in place. Horses with bucking problems are often found to have ribs "out" or are experiencing other pain such as an ill-fitting saddle.
The horses in our program receive regular saddle fitting, body work, massage, chiropractic, kinesiology taping, and are constantly evaluated to ensure they're comfortable.
