Author: Mackey Ireland

Has the rain and mud resulted in your horse being stable-bound? It is a very frustrating time for both horse and human alike. It may be true that bored horses are at a higher risk of developing stable vices, but most settle to restricted turnout if their field pals are also stabled, and they’ve got access to high quality forage and water. Horses enjoy being able to play! It is understood that play behavior is of great importance to your horses well-being and as a result we are now actively encouraged to enrich the stabled horses environment. Allowing your horse or pony the chance to have toys in their stable …

Read more “Stable Bound Horses”

Mud fever is not a single disease, but can be seen in different forms. It occurs especially in warm, wet weather and is associated with a number of causes. It is certainly not limited to horses that are paddling knee deep in mud! Mud fever can range from a mild skin irritation to very painful infected sores, and can in some cases cause significant swelling with severe lameness. The condition affects the lower limb, most commonly the back of the pastern. It starts off as matted hair with dry crusts, caused by the inflamed skin weeping. When the same condition occurs on the upper body it is referred to as …

Read more “Tackling Mud Fever head on”

Following on from our previous blog posts No Hoof, No Horse and Hoof Health – make it a priority and reap the benefits, here we explore hoof health still further. Horse care experts Carr & Day & Martin give us some insights into the effects that the environment has on our horse’s hooves. But firstly… What makes up our horse’s hooves? Hoof horn is constructed of two types of keratin molecules – spring-like spiral structures and more rigid zig-zag structures. Each structure is formed with the assistance of hydrogen bonds within or between the keratin molecules and the two different structures are bound to each other by disulphide links. These …

Read more “Your horse’s hooves and the environment”

Following on from our previous post ‘No Hoof, No Horse’, where our friends at Carr & Day & Martin gave us some insights into the complex structure that is the horse’s hoof and explored a total approach to hoof management, in this post we look in a little more detail as to how to keep our horse’s hooves in tip top shape. Nutrition for healthy hooves Improving hoof horn quality and growth Nutrition is essential for healthy hoof growth. Most horse owners are aware of the benefits of biotin, yet if fed alone it is much less effective than if supplemented with its essential pre-cursors zinc and methionine. In addition, …

Read more “Hoof Health – make it a priority and reap the benefits”

The old adage – no hoof, no horse – is well known by horse owners and carers around the world. From quarter cracks, to thrush, to abscesses to lost shoes… our horses really do their best to keep us and our farriers on our toes! We’ve teamed up with horse health experts – Carr & Day & Martin – to bring you some insights into keeping your horse’s hooves healthy and as trouble free as possible. In this blog post, we look at an overall approach to hoof management, as well as a look at the structures that go to make up the hoof itself. In our next post we will …

Read more “No Hoof, No Horse”