Competition Season

             

The competition season is now in full swing, many of you will have your weekends fully booked with upcoming events.  We wish you the best of luck for a safe and successful season.

There are great informative articles below to give you some tips on how to get the best out of your Equine friend and get the leading edge for your upcoming competitions.

"Click on below to complete the eventing survey"

Eventing NZ Survey Eventing NZ is running two surveys, one for event riders and one for supporters of Eventing, with some great prizes up for grabs just for completing the survey. The surveys are aimed at providing baseline information about riders and supporters of Eventing.  Having this information will assist the Eventing NZ Board in implementing it's recently adopted Strategic Plan and better reflect the needs, desires and aspirations of our riders, as well as providing our supporters the experience, excitement and enjoyment they expect.

FES Power Hour - be in to win an amazing lesson with different top level instructors over the year.   This fantastic monthly competition is proudly sponsored by Franklin Equine Supplies.  This month you can win a show jumping lesson with instructor Greg Jamieson.  To enter simply email your name and contact details to comp@equinetrader.co.nz  

Please note that you have to be a member of Equine Trader to enter this competition.  For more information click here.

August's lucky winner was Lydia Yeates from Pirongia who had a fantastic lesson with Greg Jamieson on the lovely "Buddy".  Click here or on the image below to view photos and read all about Lydia and Buddy's lesson.

                   (Click on below image to read about the lesson)
                    
                                           Lydia & "Buddy"

Don't forget the  photo of the week competition.  Send your favourite horsey shot to comp@equinetrader.co.nz and be in to WIN a fantastic Stubben care pack valued at $120.00 

           

                    "Age verses youth"

          
              Click on image to view the video on You Tube



Equine Trader is going green! 

Equine Trader has taken the initiative to make sure we are offsetting our emissions and doing our bit to recycle both in the office and at home.  We are always looking for new ways to do our bit so if you have any interesting ways of recycling please let us know by emailing us at info@equinetrader.co.nz  and we will share them with everyone else!   

Click on the logos below to visit websites that have some good tips on how to recycle at home, in the office and how to reuse some things you may have lying around the house.
        


                                

Green Tip of the month      Go through all your old gear and either donate it to a riding charity or sell it online here.  One mans rubbish is another mans treasure! A great tip sent in by "Lesley Reeve"

Hoof-care tips with David Hankin

 First Aid for Laminitis

The very first thing you should do if you suspect laminitis is call your vet.  It's a good idea to call your farrier too and let them know what's going on - they will quite possibly need to be involved in treating your horse or pony.

Don't force your horse or pony to move as this can cause more damage to the internal structures of the feet - if they would rather lie down then allow them to do so.  It's ideal if you have sand (or sawdust) for them to stand on.

               
                          (Pony showing signs of laminitis)

Another good first aid measure while you're waiting for the vet is to give the horse or pony some form of frog support.  This could be a rolled-up bandage placed under  the frog and taped or bandaged into place.  This will alter the weight bearing surface and offer some pain relief when done correctly.  However it's extremely important that whatever frog support you use does NOT contact the sole in front of the frog - keep your support well back from the tip of the frog.  If in doubt, wait for your vet.

Tip of the month     Another great way to strip graze your horse or pony is to tape off a large circle in the middle of the paddock so they can wander around the outside of it. This allows your horse more freedom to move and forage.  You can then move the fence in to give them fresh grass as before.

Dr Rebecca Penman BVSc MRCVS
                 (Veterinarian/Practice Owner)
         

Rebecca was born in Auckland and grew up riding in Coatesville. She completed her Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 2003 at Massey University in Palmerston North. After spending 6 months practising in New Zealand she spent nearly 2 years in Australia and the UK working at various clinics. She is now the owner of Redvale Park Equine Hospital which has been open since October 2007.  In her spare time she rides her horses, mountain bikes, snowboards and does a little bit of amateur photography.

At the moment there are quite a few horses around with skin problems and behaviour changes (for example becoming quite spooky).  A lot of these quite sudden changes can be attributed to changes in the new spring grass.  Some grasses will be starting to increase their sugar levels which can upset the bacteria in your horses' intestines.  This can lead to an excitable, spooky or even muscle sore horse as well as laminitis.  It is not just because of the increase in energy in the grass, but also because it can cause vitamin and mineral imbalances.  The other changes in the grass especially in ryegrass pastures is an increase in the amount of mycotoxins.  This is basically a fungal growth on the grass which is not necessarily visible to the naked eye.  Horse-sick pastures are great environments for mycotoxins to grow due to their acidity.  Some horses seem to be quite immune to mycotoxins and others very sensitive.  This means you can have 2 horses in the same paddock, but only one of them may be exhibiting symptoms.  Signs you can see will be anything from muscle soreness, spookiness, skin problems and diarrhoea.

                   
               "Spooking horses are common during spring"

So what do we do?

This will depend entirely on your particular horse.  With the ponies that are prone to founder you should have a really good management plan in place that restricts their grass intake during this time, replacing with plenty of hay (soaking for an hour will reduce the sugar content).  You can use natural supplements to try and help with sugar breakdown and insulin levels, just be aware that these supplements may not work for you, unfortunately at the moment there is not enough research to be definitive about their success.  However they will not do any harm.  Founderguard is a product that contains an antibiotic that can be used in conjunction with a good management plan for ponies that are prone to getting laminitis.  Like anything, but  especially laminitis, PREVENTION is so much better than cure.  The pain of laminitis and the potential debilitating effects are definitely worth avoiding.

With horses exhibiting changes in behaviour and skin problems, pasture should definitely be considered as a cause.  I would still recommend having a vet do a thorough exam and look at running bloods and skin scrapes to rule out any deficiencies or obvious skin issues (such as ringworm, rain scald infection, mites, lice).  However if you have all these things done and you're still no wiser as to what is going on, then it's more than likely a grass problem.

So what to do?

There are 2 main options, one is take your horse off grass entirely and just feed hay and feed (avoid grainy/mollased feeds).  Or if this is not an option then it would be worth trying a toxin binder supplement combined with magnesium and vitamin B.  There are several toxin binders on the market, some cheaper than others, but note that some are cheaper for a reason (less ingredients or not as effective ingredients).  After 2 weeks you should start to notice a change, if things are not getting better by then, further investigations need to be made.

It's the perfect time of year to give your horse a "spring clean".  Have the teeth checked, make sure the hooves are in good order, take a really good look at your nutrition program - this should differ from horse to horse, make sure your worming is up to date.  The winter coat should be disappearing and a lovely gleaming summer coat should be coming through, make sure you're giving your horse a chance to have a good roll without a cover on to help the moulting process along.

All in all the weather is very inspring so get out there, take care of your ponies and have a fantastic season!

         

Ensure while schooling that you allow frequent breaks for aching muscles to be stretched and relaxed to keep it fun for the both of you.  There is no point in plugging away at a tired horse.

Whatever you enjoy participating in, remember to give a thought to your horses wellbeing and prepare in advance for any activity you wish to take part in.

We wish you the best of luck for the season!

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