Month: October 2016
Following on from our previous article – Equine Infectious Disease Control by Aoife Hand, a fourth year student of Veterinary Medicine in UCD, in this piece, Aoife explores more about the best protocols for vaccination, deworming and certain infectious diseases in horses. Vaccination/Deworming Liaise with your vet on what the best vaccination protocol is for your particular […]
Aoife Hand, a fourth year student of Veterinary Medicine in UCD, undertook some research earlier in 2016 in the area of equine welfare, funded by a bursary from the charity World Horse Welfare. We’re delighted that Aoife has allowed us to publish her findings here on HorsePlay, as there’s a huge amount of really useful information […]
New research on equine grass sickness (EGS), published as a free special collection in the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) this month (http://bit.ly/2dC7Drr), has improved our understanding of this devastating disease. Four separate studies are included, reporting novel risk factors for the disease, identifying key differences between EGS and botulism (questioning the hypothesis that EGS is […]
October has arrived, and overnight the sleek showjumpers of summer are morphing into native ponies faster than you can say “Pumpkin Spice Latte”. The bearded cretin that greeted me over the stable door last week was certainly in dire need of a scalping. My current yard offers clipping – thus, one can arrive to a […]
New data from this year’s National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) has shown that almost a third of horse owners are using the wrong wormer or one to which there is widespread resistance, when they treat their horse for encysted small redworm. The figures are similar to last year’s results and confirm that there is still […]
ISPCA Inspector Elaine Reynolds investigated a report made to the National Animal Cruelty Helpline about a foal with an embedded head collar in Trim, Co. Meath recently. Upon arrival, Inspector Reynolds discovered that the foal’s head collar was severely embedded across its nose and the back of its head. The area was very infected and […]
Zoetis has launched a sensational new horse healthcare and management app. HorseDialog not only allows you to keep your horse’s records, care and exercise schedules at your fingertips but also helps you and your vet to work together to monitor your horse’s health routine. HorseDialog is a highly intuitive app that can be linked to […]
Over the years bitting methods have changed as we understand more about our equine friends, their needs, their conformation and above all what makes them tick. Here’s my guide to finding your way around the basic and most common bits on the market and how and why they work. The largest group of bits that […]
Leslie Stewart of The Thorn, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal entered guilty pleas in relation to four charges under the European Communities (Welfare of Farmed Animals) Regulations 2010 at Letterkenny District Court on 4th October 2016. Judge Paul Kelly said that he would consider a partial suspension of a custodial sentence if Mr Stewart entered into a […]
Low self esteem is a common affliction of the human condition. Sadly, a great many people feel that they are not worthy or somehow not quite good enough, and they can end up enduring a rather passive existence. The same is also true of horses. Whilst man and horse have many vastly different requirements in […]