Blog posts of '2015' 'October'

Winter is a time to keep a close watch on our horse’s respiratory health as changes to their management can cause problems.  Winter requires many horses and ponies to spend more time in the stable or field shelter however research has shown that this stable environment contains greater air contami...

A: Filled legs are a common problem when your horse is stabled for longer than normal periods of time. This is often due to a collection of fluid, which would ordinarily be pumped around the horse’s body when the horse moves. When the horse’s movement is restricted, such as when confined to their st...

Q:           My horse is prone to colic, and often gets attacks over the winter- how can I help him if he has to be confined? A:            Horses that are on box rest due to injury or weather are more prone to digestive issues, commonly impaction colic. To help to reduce the risk of this, increase ...

Q:           My horse goes mad if he has to be stabled for more than a day- he becomes very angry and difficult to handle, is there anything I can do to help him when the weather is so bad he has to stay in? A:            While some horses are happy living in, for other horses it can be very hard to...

This 26-year-old Thoroughbred, stands at 16.1hh and is called Jaffa. She is owned by Alison Richardson and has been since she was 4-years-old. Alison purchased Jaffa at Ascot Sales as an unbroken, rejected racehorse. Alison explains “I used to show jump with Jaffa, but she was such a live-wire in th...

    Horses are flight animals, and as such anything ou  of the ordinary has the potential to cause an adverse reaction, making the horse distressed. This can be dangerous to the horse itself, to other horses and to the people around them. We are often able to desensitise our horse to a situation th...

Over the past few years, there has been an increase of the amount of horses that have died from Seasonal Pasture Myopathy in the UK. Seasonal Pasture Myopathy is a disease caused by neurotoxins in sycamore seed trees, which are picked up by horses when grazing. These neurotoxins attack the horse’s c...

Meet Tommy, a 22-year-old Thoroughbred gelding whom is loaned by Kathy Clarke. Kathy explains: “I do lots of hacking with Tommy, he has come to me for semi-retirement and to keep my other horse company. He’s a real pleasure to have around, and is always pleased to see me. He is ever so gentle with m...

This Belgian Warmblood is 18 years of age, and is called Opporto. She stands at 16.1hh and has been owned by Nicole Cruse for 15 months. The combination have been competing in Pony Club and Riding Club Team Eventing. Together, they came first at the Area 14 Riding Club Qualifier out of 52 people and...

Watergate Endurance is back! It is now nearly three weeks since we (Robert, Kiwi, Fantom and I) drove up to Keysoe where we met up with our third crew member, Jo.  This was the culmination of a rather large amount of strategic training with Fantom to get him totally ‘racing’ fit to contest the FEI 2...

Condition & Shine may be the right choice. Condition & Shine provides your horse with an easy to administer and very palatable source of slow- release energy. This high oil supplement also contains anti-oxidising vitamin E and Selenium to stabilise free radicals, which are released during the break ...

This is Lunesdale Black Beauty, a Fell Pony who is more commonly known as Orphan Annie. She is 16 years of age, and stands at 14hh. For the last six years, Orphan Annie has been owned by June Pye. Together they are very happy hackers, riding all over Cumbria and also going on various holidays with e...