Racahael's Corner: The Importance of Good Conformation

When buying a horse, one of the most important things to look for is good conformation, or that the horse is “well put together.” This means the degree of correctness of a horse’s bone structure, musculature and the proportions of its body in relation to each other.

I myself know all too well about how poor conformation can affect a horse’s wellbeing, if not in the early stages of life, it can take its toll as they get older! It can also affect their ability to perform certain tasks. I bought my horse Angel as a four year old from a friend who had owned her for just under a year. She was full thoroughbred and even though several people had advised me against buying her, she had been sound and happy in that space of time so I bought her with no hesitation. Her knees and pasterns were slightly offset. My farrier informed me that it was called “Z leg.”

She was sound for a good two years, until she was around seven years old when she started to become intermittently lame. A pattern soon appeared that she seemed to be sore after jumping or hacking on hard or uneven ground. My vet advised me to have her taken for x-rays to judge the extent of the damage to her joints because of the uneven ware. It was found that the damage was too severe for anything to be done about it and my farrier was to shoe her as normal. She would be sore every now and again, so I had just to give her some Danilon to keep her comfortable.

I owned her until last year when she was eleven, going on twelve when she sadly had to be put to sleep due to an internal infection in her hock. I was absolutely devastated but I knew she had had the best life possible. In the end, she was basically retired for the last year of her life due to arthritis in her knees, pasterns and hocks. As a ten year old! I couldn’t believe it. She was on some top quality supplements throughout her life like Cortaflex, NAF Super Flex and I even fed her Bluechip Dynamic on top of these. They all dramatically helped but she was still never going to be able to perform to the level I bought her for.

Here at Tictac Equestrian, we would advise you to have your potential new horse vetted, even to the lowest stage, to ensure they are fit, healthy and up for the job you would like them to do.  We wish you the best of luck and would love to hear if you have any advice or stories for us and our customers. We stock a wide range of quality joint, muscle and bone supplements and also a selection of natural pain relief supplements that you can buy from our website at www.tictacequestrian.com

Rachael’s Corner: Tying Up In Horses

Today in the Tictac Equestrian office, we have been discussing horses that are prone to tying up, or developing Rhabdomyolysis syndrome as it is more commonly known. This is a condition in which the horse develops stiffness in the lower back and thigh area. The episodes of stiffness can range from mild cramping to a severe problem where muscle destruction occurs. In these cases, the urine will darken due to the muscle fibres breaking down.

My horse Honey has tied up now on three occasions, which can be pretty frightening if you do not know enough or anything about it at all!  Her episodes, so far, have been very severe. In every case she has been unable to walk and she starts to become increasingly distressed the longer she is left untreated. The first time this happened, I called my vet straight away and he came out to treat her. He gave me enough pain killers to keep her comfortable for the week, and due to the severity of her pain he thought on that occasion that it would be kind to mildly sedate her to help relax her muscles. He also took blood to examine in case it was something else underlying causing her problem, this came back negative. In the following two occasions that she has tied up, I have been able to treat her and keep her comfortable without having to call out the vet. I have given her two weeks off of ridden work afterwards to ensure her muscles have fully recovered before bringing her gradually back into work.

It is advised to keep your horse warm and not to move them if it is possible as this can cause further damage to the skeletal muscle fibres. Although, be careful not to over-rug as due to the stress, sweating can occur. In Honey’s case, she tied up after strenuous exercise but in some cases, horses are known to tie up with no sort of strain put on the muscles at all. This could be caused by an electrolyte imbalance which can be resolved by supplementing your horse’s diet with electrolyte salts which can be fed with hard feeding or dissolved in your horse’s water. You can buy these from our website. This can affect horses more frequently in hard exercise or in the summer due to excessive sweating in which they lose too much salt.

In the 1990s, research was carried out which suggested this condition could also be brought on by a defect in a horses carbohydrate metabolism which can affect the skeletal muscle fibres. Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM) is when a horse is unable to effectively break down carbohydrates. This is one of the reasons my vet suggested to me that Honey persistently tied up. I stopped feeding her hard feed which contains high carbohydrate and starch levels, and started feeding her Dengie Alfa A Oil and British Horse Feed Fibre Beet which contain high levels of fibre and oil which my vet told me would prevent further problems. Since I changed her diet, she has not tied up again! Thank goodness! Prevention is always better than cure after all. A good quality supplement such as NAF Vitamin-e, Selenium & Lysine will provide your horse with the vitamins and minerals that they will be lacking to cause this problem. You can buy this off of our Tictac Equestrian website. Honey has been supplemented with this for just over a year now and I believe that this has also prevented her tying up again.

If you find yourself in the situation I did and feel that your horse may be tying up, phone your vet as soon as you can and explain their symptoms. Keep them as comfortable and calm as possible until your vet arrives and also keep yourself safe! Horses can become very distressed and unpredictable in this situation. We hope that this never happens to your horse but if it does, we’d love to hear your experiences and any advice you have to give to our customers and the Tictac Equestrian team. Good Luck!

Formula 4 Feet

My thoroughbred horse has terrible hoof growth and as such I was recommended to put him on to Farriers Formula. He was on it for around 8 months, by which point I was at my wits end – he hated the Farriers Formula and had decided to stop eating his dinner too as a result – not good for a thoroughbred. I tried everything, from mint and molasses to hand feeding and making tasty horse cakes… nothing worked.

I was then recommended Formula for Feet, or Formula 4 Feet, which was apparently made by the same person who created Farriers Formula, but was designed to be more palatable to horses – apparently not liking the taste of Farriers Formula was a common issue for horse owners owning horses with poor feet. Formula for Feet is amazing! My horse loves it and his feet have come on leaps and bounds, he now has normal hoofs with no cracks!

Whats more is that the Formula 4 feet is an incredible a general supplement. Shortly after putting my horse on formula for feet his coat and eyes brightened and he became full of spark and energy. His condition was incredible and now I merit formula 4 feet not only for it's hoof improvement qualities but also as a top quality general horse supplement.

I now have all my horses on it as it is such a good all-round supplement! Buy it here at TicTac Equestrian or here at Equestrian Discounts. Both only £33.99 for a tub or £84.99 for a sack.