Karen Briggs
Karen Briggs is the author of six books, including the recently updated Understanding Equine Nutrition as well as Understanding The Pony, both published by Eclipse Press. She's written a few thousand articles on subjects ranging from guttural pouch infections to how to compost your manure. She is also a Canadian certified riding coach, an equine nutritionist, and works in media relations for the harness racing industry. She lives with her band of off-the-track Thoroughbreds on a farm near Guelph, Ontario, and dabbles in eventing.
Articles by Karen Briggs
Blue Plate Special: Senior Horse Nutrition
August 01, 2011
Develop your senior horse's diet with geriatric conditions and challenges in mind. Read More
The Many Faces of Colic
July 01, 2011
Tackling Tendon and Ligament Injuries
June 03, 2011
The latest therapies for injured tendons and ligaments focus on rebuilding tissue to its original strength. Read More
Forage Alternatives (Book Excerpt)
February 13, 2010
If your horse suffers from chronic respiratory allergies (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called "broken wind" or "heaves"), has dental troubles that make chewing hay difficult, or is very elderly, one of these alternative forms Read More
Hay Quality (Book Excerpt)
February 11, 2010
Much of the assessment of the quality of your hay can be done the old-fashioned way: Break open a bale and scratch n' sniff! Good quality hay should be green rather than yellow or brown. Read More
Understanding Forages (Book Excerpt)
February 05, 2010
The protein content of hay is largely determined when it is cut--the younger the hay, the higher the protein. Hay cut past the mid-bloom stage (when about 50% of the plants have flowered and gone to seed) is a good deal lower in protein content, and Read More
Hay Feeders Uncovered
December 01, 2009
Is there a better way to feed hay to horses? There are dozens of hay feeder options, as it turns out, each with its own advantages. Hay feeders are designed to keep hay off the ground and sheltered from the elements to reduce wastage. Read More
Minerals and Vitamins
November 01, 2009
Vitamins and minerals pack a nutritional wallop several times the size of their portions. Read More
Filling a Need? (Supplements)
May 01, 2009
When was the last time you stepped into a feed room that didn't contain a wide array of buckets, bottles, and tubs of supplements? There might have been a time when horses were fed on hay and oats alone, but these days we're much more likely to be Read More
Barn-O-Matic
February 01, 2009
Finding it difficult to schedule enough Read More
12 Months of Feeding Tips
January 01, 2009
Here's how to roll with Mother Nature through the seasons, nutritionally speaking. Read More
Skin Deep
January 01, 2009
We tend to think of a horse's skin as just the envelope that contains all the important stuff. But the skin is an organ--the Read More
Drug Protocol Turns Rescued Mares into Nurse Mares
November 13, 2008
A medication protocol that can induce lactation in "open" mares has changed the way prominent Kentucky Standardbred nursery, Walnut Hall Ltd., manages its nurse mare herd, while giving more than 20 rescued mares a new
Walnut Hall's vet, Joe Read More
USDA Ordered to Release NAIS Data
July 09, 2008
Agricultural journalist Mary-Louise Zanoni has succeeded in keeping the USDA from applying Privacy Act safeguards to information it has collected from livestock owners as part of the Read More
Vitamin Function (Book Excerpt)
June 21, 2008
Here's a primer on the function of each of the vitamins important to the horse, beginning with the fat-soluble vitamins. Read More
Industry Debates Animal Identification System's Impact on Horses
June 14, 2008
Despite considerable opposition from groups who say the program is unworkable or an invasion of privacy, the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is making inexorable inroads into the lives of horse owners.
Jim Morehead, DVM, Read More
Energy and Carbs (Book Excerpt)
June 04, 2008
If forages provide the "maintenance" energy horses need for the workings of everyday life--grazing, sleeping, wandering from pasture to pasture, maintaining internal temperature--then cereal grains are the turbo-charged portion of the diet. Read More
Animal Relief En Route to Myanmar
May 27, 2008
After weeks of resistance from the military regime which governs Myanmar (a country in southeast Asia formerly known as Burma), animal welfare workers from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) finally have been given permission to Read More
Insurance: Not Sexy, But Essential
January 01, 2008
Insurance: It's not sexy. No one wants to think about it. Heck, I wasn't all that keen to write about it. But when something happens, aren't we glad we have it? Let's face the ugly truth. In today's litigious society, insurance is a must. While we Read More
Fats in Your Horse's Diet (Book Excerpt)
November 20, 2007
Studies have shown that as much as 20% overall fat in the diet is well tolerated by horses, with no ill effects noted. Indeed, fat might well be easier for horses to digest than carbohydrates. Read More
Equine Nutrition: Fiber (Book Excerpt)
July 04, 2007
Grazing is a full-time job for horses. Given their druthers, they would graze for 12 hours or more every day, their broad, flat teeth and sideways chewing motions making short work of the tough, stemmy grasses and weeds they favor. Like all true herb Read More
Equine Nutrition: Protein (Book Excerpt)
May 30, 2007
Of all the components of your horse's diet, protein is probably the most misunderstood. Long assumed to function as an energy source for the body, protein mainly functions to provide amino acids (the building blocks of bones, muscles, and soft tissue Read More
Vitamins for Your Horse
May 14, 2007
Horses can become vitamin-deficient, and these deficiencies can have devastating effects on their normal functions, but equally dangerous are toxicities from an overdose--a real possibility with some (but not all) of the vitamins. Read More
Therapeutic Equipment
December 01, 2006
Before you invest in a therapeutic modality, look not just for testimonials and anecdotal reports, but for hard scientific proof and comparable applications in human medicine. Before using any type of modality on your horse, be sure to discuss Read More
Product Spotlight: Equine Vacations
May 01, 2006
A full-color catalogue of exotic destinations where you can gallop a horse through the surf, trot through fields of lavender, or Paso up a mountainside to catch your first glimpse of Macchu Pichu...it's fantasy-inducing. There's virtually no horse Read More
