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Anhidrosis in horses: sweat tests, electrolytes/supplements/management   What is anhidrosis? Anhidrosis is the loss of the ability to sweat in response to appropriate stimuli (Breuhaus, 2009). How do I know if my horse is anhidrotic? While there are clinical signs that coincide with anhidrosis, the only sure way is a test called a “sweat test”. A veterinarian conducting this test will use a series of injections of diluted terbutaline that stimulates the sweat glands to produce certain amounts of sweat. If a horse produces less sweat than the normal threshold, it is considered anhidrotic. There are other symptoms that come...

What is pasture management? Grass/pasture management is defined as the practice of growing healthy grass and related plants to profitably sustain forage availability and livestock production while ensuring ecological health. (www.nagrasslands.org) What is the importance of pasture management? Pasture management is necessary to maintain the health of your fields/pastures, because like humans and animals, your pasture needs rest! Every pasture needs time to rest so the root systems can grow that delicious grass. This lengthens the life of the grass and in the long run will be less maintenance between seasons. Try not to overstock the fields, this can stress...

What is Body Condition Scoring (BCS)? Body Condition Scoring (BCS) is an objective system of evaluating a horse's level of body condition (amount of stored fat) and assessing a numeric score to facilitate comparisons between horses. Many owners fail to recognize significant variations in the weight of horses or variations due to age and breed types. (www.omafra.gov) How do I BCS? There are six points of measurement along the horse to determine the BCS: Along the neck, along the withers, crease down back, tailhead, ribs, and behind the shoulder. This is standard BCS procedure. For consistency between horses/sessions, starting at the...

Heat stress can be dangerous for any animal. In horses, heat stress can lead to more severe reactions such as colic or heat stroke, which can be fatal. By recognizing heat stress and its impact, horse owners can more easily protect their equine companions and keep them comfortable when temperatures rise. When Horses Are at Risk From Heat Summer is the obvious time when horses are most at risk of heat stress, but it isn’t the only time when heat may impact a horse. Traveling can exacerbate heat stress as sunlight reflects mercilessly off asphalt and a horse trailer can...

Goats can be profitable additions to any farm or urban homestead, but parasites can dramatically reduce any goat’s productivity. Fortunately, there are many ways to boost goat parasite control to improve the health and production of any herd of goats. About Goat Parasites Small ruminants like goats are susceptible to a wide range of internal and external parasites. A variety of internal worms can affect a goat’s productivity, while external pests like flies and lice can also be a problem. A small amount of parasites are normal, both inside and out, but if a goat’s parasite load becomes unbalanced and...