Some information on Horse Allergies

Why It Is Difficult To Diagnose Equine Allergies?

Veterinarians often tell horse owners to ask before purchasing a horse about any past allergy symptoms or outbreaks a horse has experienced. Just because a horse has had allergic reactions in the past, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy the horse. If your newly purchased horse starts to come down with an allergy, you will have past health information to get the horse treated quickly and effectively.
Equine allergies can take months, or even years, to fully develop. A horse that has never been allergic to something before might develop an allergy, without warning. Undetected allergies are very difficult to prevent and diagnosis initially, since there are so many sources of environmental allergens. The horse’s age, gender, or breed is not a significant factor that contributes to allergies. Any horse can come down with hives or other skin allergies at any time in their life.

What Causes Allergies in Horses?

Many different items commonly found in any horse’s environment can cause allergies. Under normal living conditions, horses are engulfed in dust, mold spores, and other allergens all day long. In the pastures where horses graze, there are many different proteins that could potentially cause an allergic reaction. Usually a horse can fight off these allergens with a healthy immune system, but not in every circumstance.
A healthy horse’s immune system makes proteins called antibodies. Antibodies are used by the body as weapons against antigens (the allergens). When the system works correctly, the antigens are eliminated. Allergic reactions, also known as hypersensitivity, occur when the immune system overreacts to an outside antigen that is introduced to a horse’s body.
Some allergies are quite minor, while others can be life-threatening allergies that can cause problems with the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Anything in the air, like mold or spores can cause allergic reactions. In addition, certain foods, feeds, grains, hay, nutrition supplements and insect bites can also trigger allergic reactions.

Skin Allergies in Horses

Skin allergies are among the most commonly experienced allergies in equines. They usually appear 12 to 14 hours after the horse is exposed to the antigen. Skin allergies usually appear as hives and in horses often show first around the neck and shoulders. Horses may experience fever or itchy skin when they have hives. Skin allergies can be caused by food allergens or even insect bites.
Allergic reactions caused by gnat bites are particular common in equines. Sometimes mosquito bites in certain invested areas of the United States can also be a problem. Many horses will rub the areas where the bites are present until they have very little hair or even a bald spot remaining.
Horses often recover from hives and other skin allergies without any intervention needed. However, if the hives occur often, with no apparent reason involved, a vet can do an intradermal skin test to identify the allergen. If an antigen is found through the test, hyposensitization (similar to allergy shots) may help fend off hives. In addition, corticosteroids are commonly used to treat skin allergies.

Respiratory Allergies in Horses

Heaves is the term most vets use for respiratory allergies in horses. The symptoms can include coughing, exercise intolerance and nasal discharge. It is extremely similar to asthma in humans. In some horses, owners will notice wheezing associated with respiratory allergies. There may even be a visible “heave line” in the area between the flank and the thorax. It is important to get a heaving horse treated as soon as possible because severe cases can cause weight loss.
There are several environmental issues that can cause heaves in horses. Pollen, dust, and mold, easily found in most horse stables, are the more common triggers. The best treatment to cure or relieve your horse of heaves is to identify and remove the trigger as quickly as possible.
In many cases, you can simply take the horse out of the stable and let it out to pasture for some fresh air. Also try changing the bedding to shavings or shredded paper to reduce the possible irritants in your horse’s pen area. If all standard bedding choices seem to bring on heaves, some horses must sleep on rubber mats to resolve their allergy.
Hay, common in almost all horse environments, can host many organisms that cause heaves. Soaking your hay in water can help remove any unwanted spores. If your horse still can’t stay healthy with hay in its immediate environment, owners may need to take hay out of the horse’s diet completely and replace with pelleted feed rations.
A secondary course of action that your vet can prescribe in some cases of heaves is corticosteroids. We recommend that all horse owners speak with their vet directly about any and all horse and equine medications before using them.

Body Clipping and Shots= Great Moods for Riders!

Hi All-

Its that time of year again! Silver Fox Farm is body clipping non- stop (and going through a gazillion clipper blades). We tried holding off a few more weeks, but boarders horses are shedding like crazy, and since its been warmer their also sweating! It's also time for spring shots. A lot of horse owners dread this time of year, as the vet bill is not cheap!

With all of this happening, it seems as if the show season is right around the corner. I can sense the enthusiasm in the barn as the nicer weather is starting to stay. It seems like it's taken forever for winter to leave...and I don't think its quite over.

That's the barn update!

Happy Riding,

Donna

A Few Reasons Groundwork is Important!

Groundwork is important for many reasons but listed below are the three most important reasons that horses should have a good foundation in groundwork, with a reputable trainer.

First, improve and build upon your relationship with your horse through grooming.

Grooming simulates what the horses naturally do in herds. Horses will stand facing each other's hind end, shoulder to shoulder, and facing opposite directions. This allows them to "scratch" each other's shoulders, where they normally would not be able to reach. Horses tend to exhibit this behavior when they have similar ranking within the herd and have close relationships. You generally will not see horses that are at opposite ends of the pecking order exhibiting this behavior. Grooming also helps to establish "boundaries" for your horse. For example if you are brushing your horse, and he tries to reach around and give you a friendly nibble (return grooming), it gives you an opportunity to let your horse know that "friendly" nibbles are inappropriate. You can do this by pushing his/ her head back to face forward. You can also use your hand in a waving type motion which will "create" a wall that the horse understands. Now this doesn't mean to go crazy with your hands and start swatting all over. That would be an incorrect way to "wave" your hands. You want to be calm and relaxed around your horse. And your "waving" type motion should also be calm and relaxed. If you allow yourself to get worked up over anything this can create nervous energy in your horse. Your horse can perceive this as threatening and be intimidated by it, which can hinder the building of a close relationship with your horse.

Second, proper groundwork will give your horse a very solid foundation for
more advanced training.

Lunging and under-saddle work is an important aspect of groundwork that is often overlooked. It is very common for average horse owners to discredit the importance of groundwork and just focus on under-saddle or mounted work. For example they won't teach their horse to "whoa" during groundwork. Then when they are in the saddle the horse doesn't understand "whoa". When the horse doesn't understand the "whoa", it is now the horses fault. If the trainer had taught the horse to "whoa" while doing groundwork, the concept of "whoa" would have carried over to the under-saddle work. This makes it much easier for the horse to understand "whoa" while under-saddle. Just
like a home has a solid foundation, groundwork is a horse's solid foundation for training. Without a solid foundation everything will begin to crumble, and in a horse's case it will have various training issues that develop. Almost every single issue that occurs under-saddle, can be attributed in some way to poor ground training. You should allow the ground training to be nice and relaxed. The goal of ground training is to build a better relationship with your horse, and also to establish a good training system that the horse understands. This will then be built upon through the horse's career no matter which direction the horse takes.

Third, ground work is also very important for the safety of handler and horse.

If your horse does not have solid ground training it can become a chore just to lead your horse out of his stall, and tack him/ her up. From there it can escalate until you have a safety issue that not only affects you , but now affects others around you. Solid ground work starts by teaching a horse its personal space "bubble". Teaching a horse where it's ""bubble" is also allows the handler to direct where a horse places its body. By teaching a horse where to place different parts of his body you have much more control on the ground. This type of training is especially handy for when your horse has farrier or vet appointments. If you have this type of "control" on the ground it will make it easier for your farrier and vet. You will be able to tell the horse where to put his/ her body, and do it without shanking or jerking on your horses halter. Having this type of communication with your horse is a very rewarding relationship. It will allow you and your horse to have an enjoyable and rewarding relationship no matter which discipline you are in.

Learn something new every month from Horse Logic. A new article will be featured every month in From the Horses Mouth by Sara McKiness from Horse Logic.

Squirrel rescued at Silver Fox Farm later dies

Donna Marino, owner of Silver Fox Farm, rescued a squirrel from a water trough Wednesday morning while turning out her horses. A squirrel ended up in one of the many water troughs located on the property and was unable to free itself. "It was so helpless" says Donna Marino. "I was putting the horses out and noticed a squirrel bobbing in the water."

Donna quickly removed the squirrel from the cold water and wrapped it in blankets. "It was so cold this morning so i did the most I could trying to warm it up."

With all the help and consideration Donna gave to the squirrel, it later died due to the cold temperatures. Northern New Jersey this time of year averages 30-50 degrees at night and warms up to about 50-70 degrees during the day.

Winter is around the corner!

As all of you horse lovers know, winter is around the corner and its getting harder and harder to ride. The thought of going outside in the bitter cold can take away your dedication. It also gets dark a lot earlier making it difficult to put in enough time.

Silver Fox Farm has the solution! We have an indoor arena with heated viewing room, so parents can watch their kids ride comfortably. The arena has brand new lights, radio (when riding by yourself), and courses set up for your riding conveniance.

Don't let the cold keep you from enjoying your sport....call Silver Fox Farm to board your horse over the winter!

908-459-5662

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