3D model showing digestion and nutrition in the horse

Check out this video produced by the folks at Purina. It's a computer-generated horse model that shows how digestion works and how horse's absorb the macro-nutrients (fats, proteins, carbs, fiber) that we've talked about. This puts together the last two weeks of lecture and research that you've done! Okay...warning...the horse looks weird...and the bacteria in the cecum are pretty funny looking, but the video makes sense and is a great visual aid for what's going on in the horse (especially how things are broken down, and it shows clearly how the cecum and large intestine lay in large u-shaped loops in the horse's gut).

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=437FXjcwKvI&feature=related

One more label-reading document!

I thought I'd add one more document on reading a feed label for those of you still working on your homework for this week!

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2069/ANSI-3919web.pdf

Horse Nutrition

To accompany your notes from class for your research this week on various horse feed manufacturers, the following websites are great overview of horse nutrition, the horse diet, and feeding practices.

Enjoy!

http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/index.shtml
http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/index.html This site has a great page on how to read a feed tag.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/asc114.pdf This is a good, general .pdf file that gives an overview of nutrients and the horse's requirements.

Poisonous plants

For your assignments this week, there are many good websites out there that deal with plants that are poisonous to horses. Many of them are run by state and local agricultural extension offices, and those places are always a good place to turn to ask about poisonous plants within a certain geographic area. The North Carolina state agricultural office has a Western North Carolina branch (the Ag Center in Fletcher is part of it). That office would be an invaluable resource for help in determining what poisonous plants grow in this area - should you ever need to pasture horses here!

Here are some links to get you started, though I recommend using Google and searching your individual plants!

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/poison.htm
http://www.noble.org/WebApps/PlantImageGallery/Index.aspx

Enjoy!

Enteroliths

As we talked about in class, enteroliths are stones that form in the horse's intestines, probably caused by an excess of minerals in the horse's diet. Alfalfa hay has been implicated in some cases, though horses that aren't fed alfalfa have been shown to have enteroliths. Check out the pictures and website below for more info.

http://evrp.lsu.edu/healthtips/Enteroliths-Colic.htm

Helpful Conformation Videos

In a horseman's discussion of conformation, you will hear the word "balance" come up quite a bit. To the untrained eye, it's hard to see if a horse is balanced or not, or where that horse's center of gravity is. However, there are some tried and true methods of taking measurements and angles to give you an idea of whether or not a horse is truly balanced. While we'll talk about these in class and also look at various horses in the barn, here are some videos that will help you this week while doing your own conformation analysis on various famous horses.

For your entertainment...

...since we can't get out and about and enjoy the horses, I thought I'd post some fun videos from YouTube to watch.

Video #1 Lars Petersen and Succes - Grand Prix Freestyle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP_UQdH2-Io
I was at this show and LOVED watching this man ride. He won the class!

Video #2 Judgement, an amazing stallion recently retired from show jumping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0EisUt_GCE&feature=related
Watch the rider, Beezie Madden. Her legs are so tight and solid, even over fences that are over 5' tall. She stays out of her horse's way and lets him give his biggest effort over fences. THAT'S how jumper riders should ride! (as opposed to flailing around with legs swinging all over the place and reins so long that the rider's hands are also flapping about.)

Video #3 Ruth Poulsen (who works with Jane Savoie regularly), an amazing instructor for dressage riders and for balanced riding in general (I recommend all her videos)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1JZPQD-y20
Interesting to watch...and it shows why having a good pair of eyes on the ground is helpful for anyone!

YouTube is a great place to look around for various videos. Try entering in search words like "horse jumping" or "horse gaits." I like watching the clinics taught by folks like George Morris and David O'Connor. So, in this horrible weather, stay dry and warm and watch some fun videos!

An afterthought...

Several times in Tuesday's class, I mentioned looking at online horse sales to read the descriptions given. Thoroughbreds are often described as "off the track" (OTTB) or "never raced." Other horses have not only their color and height, but also sire, dam and a bit of lineage. Here are a couple of websites that offer horses for sale. You can search horses in a certain state, of a certain breed, or horses that excel at certain disciplines. Enjoy!
http://www.equine.com/
http://www.dreamhorse.com/

Websites to help with breed research

To those who were in class on Tuesday, I hope you have fun this week researching your breeds! It's interesting to see what kinds of horses are out there. Having a degree in Intercultural Studies, I also think it's interesting to see what different cultures value in a horse. Some value speed, others value beauty (according to their own standards of beauty - which may be different than ours), some value strength. There are so many cultures in the world that still use horses in a very utilitarian way; others that are more industrialized have the luxury of breeding horses for aesthetics or sport. Either way, the variety in the world is astounding when you start looking at them! Enjoy!

Here are a couple of websites to help with researching your breeds for Friday:
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/
http://www.equiworld.net/breeds/