It is said that the horse is the most insufficient domestic animal at breeding and reproducing. This is largely because breeders have manipulated the gestation periods of the mare so that they are out-of-season breeders. The gestation length of a mare is in between 335 and 340 days. This leaves little time in the year to successfully rebreed a mare after foaling. Because of this, there needs to be considerable time taken to effectively care for the pregnant or open mare. Nutrition is an early factor in the gestation of the mare, this is then followed by the necessary vaccinations and deworming programs that should be routinely scheduled. The preparations of the stall and the mare are easy to ready for foaling, most can be done well ahead …show more content…
The third trimester is the period of the greatest amount of growth in the fetus, 60 to 65 percent of the growth occurs during this time (Blanchard et al., 2003). For this reason in the last three months of gestation the crude protein content of the total ration should be increased to around nine to ten percent (Blanchard et al., 2003). Another factor that affects the horses ability to attain proper nutrition is the dental health of the mare. The horse’s teeth should be examined and or floated every six to twelve months to ensure proper chewing, which in return helps maintain the optimal body condition (Blanchard et al., 2003). Lastly, fescue grass needs to be completely avoided in the diet of the pregnant mare. The fungus found in fescue causes the placenta to thicken and become unusually tough. It can cause a prolonged gestation date, abortion and or dead or weak foals and potentially higher prenatal foal mortality (Reed et al., 2004) Second to nutrition of the mare are vaccinations and deworming programs. Each should be specific to the needs of the farm and even more so, to that of the gestation period of the mare. The point of vaccinating and deworming the mares is to protect the mares from any infectious diseases or parasites that can adversely alter the fetus and, in some cases, cause abortion. It is suggested in many
Equine conformation evaluates the degree of correctness of a horse's overall structural correctness. Undesirable conformation can limit and restraint the amount of work and force you can apply to your horses upon showing, competing or just leisure activities. When inspecting a horse's conformation it is crucial to fracture things down into five main groups. The five main criteria include:balance, structural correctness, way of going, muscling, and breed/sex character.
Porcine Zona Pellucida, or PZP is a vaccine hand injected into mares to prevent pregnancy. The National Academy of Sciences states “The Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) vaccine, an immunocontraceptive, is the most extensively tested method in free-ranging horses and ma be the most promising option at present” (Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program a way forward 113). The vaccine is temporary but effective for up to twenty-two months. The effects of PZP wears off and normal reproduction can resume four years after the injection. This is a treatment and release program that is not harmful. They use helicopter roundups to gather the horses and separate out the mares in order to vaccinate them. Modified rifles with loaded darts of PZP can also be used to vaccinate the mares. It is not harmful to the animals and the lifespan increases and health improves with the vaccinated mares. Mares that are vaccinated live 5-10 years longer than untreated mares. (“Fertility Control” 1). The goal of this method is to reduce the population to match the carrying capacity of the land. Rashmi Shivni agrees when he writes “The Ultimate goal is to lower the population to match the carrying capacity of the land, and Dr. Mcdonnell said the best way to do this is to control fertility” (Shivni 2). Porcine Zona Pellucida vaccine controls the
Selection is based on previous performance including race record; pedigree and phenotype to which play an important role when evaluating racehorses with conformation which is subjective to opinion or experience (McIlwrath, 2004). Foals in the racing industry are purchased through auction sales and stud farms and are based on their conformation, way of going and pedigree although conformation criteria differs from foal to 2-3 year old through musculoskeletal changeability. What has to be considered is the sire or dam who have produced winning progeny and has made the most prize money through races ran (O 'Mara, 2015).
Throughout history, humans have depended on the horse. Horses have contributed to the growth of humankind as transportation, farm workers, and battle steeds. They have been trained to support humans in many ways. When did this relationship begin? At what point did the horse become a vital part of human society? Exploring the evolution of the horse can help to answer these questions.
Since the trematodes infect freshwater snails then pass the cercarias to the young or adult flies, elimination of standing water (or access to a natural water source) decreases risk of the fly becoming infected and dying in grazing fields. Potomac Horse Fever is a non-contagious disease, but carcasses of infected flies can also be brought onto a property through hay or feed. Biosecurity against PHF includes monitoring all hay and feed that comes into a property and avoiding the runoff of water from other properties. Six strains of the disease have been isolated and a vaccine has been developed, given in multiple doses. The vaccine is a killed, adjuvanted product, but does not carry a label for the prevention of abortion in mares, nor does it actively protect against the disease. The vaccine is effective in speeding up recovery and lessoning symptoms. Due to the low risk of foals contracting it, foal vaccination in recommended as a 2-dose series at 3-4 week intervals after the age of 5 months. Horses that haven’t been previously vaccinated (including pregnant mares) are administered a series of 2 doses at 3-4 week intervals; for pregnant mares, schedule so the 2nd dose is 4-6 weeks before foaling. Horses that have been vaccinated (including pregnant mares) receive vaccination semi-annually; pregnant mares need to have 1 dose schedules 4-6 weeks before foaling. Again, the vaccine does not
While the horse has benefited from some aspects of domestication, for example the provision of food, shelter, protection from predators
Quarter horses routinely compete in short distance racing and got their name in part by racing one quarter of a mile. They can also be found working on ranches across the United States and are known to have “cow sense.” With an ability to turn and accelerate quickly, they are ideal to corral cattle and other horses for various reasons to include: grazing, medical treatment, inoculations, branding for identification, and for fun. They are strong and known for
The summary of the plot of the story is there is a girl named Melanie who is working on a thoroughbred farm with horses ‘colts ‘. She has her ex boyfriend Kevin who has offered to help her out with training them . Although she has her boyfriend Jazz who is working pretty far away . Melanie starts catching some old feelings for her ex Kevin . Things start coming back as they work more and more together with these horses .
Horses are from the taxonomic group Equidae. If the horse is in the subspecies Caballus they are consider to be domesticated. People began to domesticate horses around 4000 B.C. They domesticated them meaning that they trained them to become closely associated with humans, they would be completely different from what they were in the wild (unapproachable). The only remaining true wild horse, that has never been domesticated is close to becoming extinct. Which happens to be the Przewalski horse. Most horses have a life span of 25-30 years and can have gestation period on average of 320-370 days.
think that it is very important aspect of horses that is important to emphasis when studying the
The science behind evaluating racehorses is deciding which faults make a direct impact to the horse’s career. The requirements needed for a horse to succeed starts at the conformation of the foal/yearling. To which conformational faults are passed down from parents, however, faults may or may not have consequences to their racing career, and therefore different trainers/bloodstock agents may have different inceptions with regard to acceptable faults (TOBA, 2015).
Due to the large size of horses it can be dangerous to work with ones that are hard to handle. The term “Imprint Training” is popular in the horse industry meaning early handling of foals with to focus on improving their behavior, learning ability, and for them to gain confidence in the world around them (Lansade, 2004). This imprint training is believed by many horse people to help horses and make them easier to work with when they become older (Lansade, 2004).
Ever since I was a child I knew that I wanted to work with animals. Horses, in particular, have always fascinated me. After much begging, pleading, years of convincing, and always working hard to save up money, I convinced my parents to allow me to buy a horse. To me, Indie was the most beautiful quarter horse I could have ever dreamed of getting. Since our purchase of Indie, we have acquired another horse, Sherman, and a pony, Tucker. Although the horses have always been hard work, they were worth every sweaty hot summer evening of mucking out the stalls and frigid winter mornings of carrying water to the trough in order to avoid freezing our hoses. After all, I used to dream of being a veterinarian and helping all kinds of animals in some way.
It is common for the semen of 2-3 bulls to be used to ensure at least one quality sample to produce a pregnancy. In the instance that multiple donors are used, parentage is confirmed via DNA analysis. Most frequently, nonsurgical insemination is performed. This method calls for a trained and accommodating elephant as a large bore cannula is inserted into the lower urogenital tract. A 3m endoscope is inserted through the cannula and conducted to the hymen in first time mothers and the cervix or uterine horn of a cow that has calved. A small insemination cannula is used to deposit semen into the vagina, threaded through the hymen in nulliparous cows. In parous cows the semen may be deposited further into the uterus.14 Surgical insemination
Harvested for their urine, the horses suffer for the production of the drug hormone replacement drugs premarin (Pregnant Mare's Urine). At PMU farms mares in their third or