Measuring Eye Heat Temperature On Temperature Of Eyes And Facial Skin Of Horses

If you’ve ever owned an animal, you know that being around them can be extremely therapeutic. After a stressful day at work or school, it is always nice to come home to your pet and feel comforted by them. Many dog owners even claim that their dogs can feel their pain. However, if you speak to anyone who has been spent their life around horses, they’ll tell you that the connection between horse and rider is unlike any other. Norwegian researcher Anita Maurstad explains in a recent article, that over time horse and rider can become so attuned to each other that they develop a state of co-being. Maurstad also found, through research, that horses appear to learn to relate to humans in ways that provide them with a good quality of life. A recent study from Washington State university has concluded that kids who work with horses have significantly lower stress levels. In addition to these, there have been numerous other studies that show that working with horses decreases blood pressure, reduced feelings of anger, tension, and anxiety. Riding horses also allows you to gain feelings of self esteem, empowerment, patience, and trust. Because of the overwhelming positive effects that horses seem to have, horses are no longer being used just for recreational or agricultural

Throughout the history of American Quarter horses the main issue of the industry is the extent amount of drug usage on horses. The use of drugs on horses can help for healing and speed up the time of injury recovering, yet most of the time drugs hurt the horses. Today, this abusive action has only increased since the founding of the association. Quarter horses are jeopardized by having drugs injected in them to gain endurance and speed, but people fail to mention the risks that can occur. Injecting horses with dangerous drugs can cause heart attacks that may cause death after their race.

Rollkur is “flexion of the horse’s neck achieved through aggressive force” ("FEI Round-Table Conference Resolves Rollkur Controversy," 2010) and “long, deep, and round… achieves flexion without undue force” ("FEI Round-Table Conference Resolves Rollkur Controversy," 2010). In the study done by Aurich which was discussed in Jurga’s artice in Equuus “The horses showed an increase in stress hormones in their saliva, an increase in heart rate and a decrease in heart rate variability when they were trained… the effects were the same irrespective of whether the animals were lunged under hyperflexion or under "classical" conditions with their necks extended” (Jurga, 2012). While this particular study showed no effect on the horse it is important to rmember that there have still been debated observed long term effects on the horse for continuously working a horse in this manner as discussed by Tellington-Jones, Linda, and Rebecca Didier in their book Dressage with Mind, Body & Soul: A 21st-century Approach to the Science and Spirituality of Riding and Horse-and-rider Well-being. In addition, “Aurich nevertheless remains cautious… some trainers combine it with forceful and aggressive intervention by the rider over prolonged

The equine industry is rapidly changing and what is asked of a horse. The sports that are being played with horses are more physical causing the injuries the horses are acquiring to be more severe and different than what has been seen before. There are major injuries and there are minor injuries. All minor injuries can be turned into major injuries if they are not found in time. A main issue in horses is they hide some injuries for as long as three weeks as a survival instinct. Equine thermography has brought new light to this issue allowing issues and injuries to be found before a horse will show the issues.

Twenty American Quarter Horse geldings, aged between four and eight years and weighing ideally 1,000 to 1,300 pounds, shall be used. All horses should ideally be non-athletes that were previously kept as pleasure riding horses. The horses will be completely evaluated clinically and ultrasonongraphically by veterinarians blinded to the study before the experiment to ensure that there are no preexisting health conditions to hinder healing, or any history or signs of previous injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendon. All horses will be placed in individual stalls and paddocks and adapted to their new daily routines for thirty days before the start of the experiment to allow acclimation. Any horses that obtain injury or disease during the course of the study will be removed from the study group to reduce confounding and returned to their provider.

The Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred have been in existence since the seventeenth century and are perhaps the most well-known horse breeds of the twentieth century. These spectacular horses are used to compete in sporting events and have tremendous abilities. They are prey animals that routinely weigh over one thousand pounds, have similar colors, and are made for riding. Both are routinely more than fifteen hands in height and are measured from the ground at their front legs with one hand equaling four inches. Reaching speeds in excess of forty miles per hour, they can easily jump heights of five feet. Each has won North American and world championships, earning themselves fame and their owner’s fortune for their accomplishments. Although these animals can be similar in size and appearance, there are differences in their abilities and personalities.

Equines have been essential to the evolution of our society for over 4,000 years, providing speed and strength to aid in work, travel, and war. They are extreme athletes, capable of producing high speeds and stamina and are able to do so efficiently. This is due partly to the muscle physiology of the equine. In most mammals, 40-45% of body weight is made of muscle mass. In horses this percentage is increased to over 50%. Horses are not all the same, however. Different breeds have different skeletal muscle builds as well as muscle types. For example, the Thoroughbred, one of the most athletic breeds of horses, has a muscle mass percentage of almost 55%. (Gunn, 1979) Conditioning of our equine athletes is an important part of equine care, especially

Four horses were randomly assigned to the control group and the traveling group. The control group did not travel throughout the duration of the study (6 d). The travel group experienced being loaded into a trailer on d 3 at 0700, transported for 90 min, and stayed at El Tomaria Farms for 48 h, before returning on d 5 to Southern Illinois University.

In the horse world, many equestrians prefer to keep their animal’s coats in summer condition over the winter. Horses, like many other mammals, grow a thick coat of hair over the winter to keep warm. During the warmer spring and summer months, horses lose their thick coats to cool down. It may seem strange or even cruel to mess up the cycle of a horse’s coat, but really it makes things easier for horse and rider. Most professional and amateur horsemen ride and show through the winter, which means their animals are exercised and in shape during those cold months. Horses, like people, sweat, and if the horse has a thick winter coat, it will be hard for him to dry off after a workout. Not only is this detrimental to the horse’s morale, but also to his

Photoperiod is a key player in the reproductive system of the horse. Increased daily light exposure has been shown to hasten the onset of the ovulatory season in mares (Sharp and Ginther, 1975) increase total scrotal width and sexual behavior in the stallion (Clay and Clay, 1992). In the stallion, LH concentrations increase at the arrival of the breeding season and begin to fall again as the winter months approach (Irvine and Alexander, 1982; Johnson and Thompson, 1983). Stallions under photoperiod during the winter months experience an accelerated seasonal increase in LH concentrations and increased testosterone concentrations (Thompson, 1977). Similarly, mares display increased LH concentrations during spring and summer months because of exposure to constant light for 28 d during the winter (Freedman et al., 1979). This exposure increases daily LH

This article was written to help horse riders or people dealing with horses become aware of their horse’s health during the hot humid weather. It also gives insight on what to do if our horses become dehydrated. In addition, it gives us advice on preventing heat strokes and dehydration in our horses.

To keep these tenuous horses going, they’re all given Lasix, corticosteroids, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Their newfound fragility leads to more and more injuries on and off the track, these injuries including strained ligaments, fractures, even broken legs, all increasing in price of veterinary bills until owners and trainers are unwilling to pay for the fix and put the animals down. When faced with injury, many trainers pump horses full of painkillers and various other steroids to keep them on the track during the recovery period. After fully recovering they suffer from extreme drug

Racehorses are bred for speed, but this is often at the expense of bone strength. In the past horses were bred for their specific type of races, so they different frequencies of alleles. Nowadays the trend is to breed a horse that will excel in all activities. This ‘one size fits all’ horse is achieved by a certain degree of inbreeding, and trait selection. This decreases the amount of genetic variation in the gene pool of the whole population, which has been identified as inbreeding depression. When genetic variation decreases, often necessary alleles are lost. This has causes an increase in health problems in racehorses, such as sore shins, respiratory disease, joint problems, susceptibility to fractures, degenerative cartilage, and soft tissue damage. This reduced biological fitness can significantly shorten the lives of the horses and the population may

At the beginning of every eventing competition is dressage, coming from the French word for “training.” For the cavalry, the dressage phase allowed horses to demonstrate the intricate movements that would be required when reviewing troops. Today, it is the only subjectively evaluated phase where the judge is looking for obedience from the horse while performing a specified sequence of maneuvers in an enclosed ring while performing with precision, rhythm, and suppleness. The horse should appear to work without guidance from the rider, demonstrating a high level of communication along with an overall picture of harmony and grace. The dressage phase is highly important to showing that these highly fit horses are able to perform with polish and grace. Each portion of the test is scored on a scale from 0 to 10 and the scores

Equestrianism or what it is more typically known as to Americans, horseback riding, is considered one of the oldest sports. It has been said that horseback riding was known to be an intense sport among men. It is not only physically challenging because it requires an athletic build for it, but because it takes tolerance, dedication, time, and the most important one of all is building and strengthening that bond with the horse. If there is no relationship between the two then there isn’t going to be a good experience for the two. Time is needed to train and bond since horseback riding is a team sport. The sport can become highly dangerous for the equestrian or the professional rider whenever, since there is not a moment of time when the rider’s life is at risk while riding the horse. Hence that is why equestrianism is considered one of the top leading sports for causing traumatic brain injury.