Recent News for Conditioning
Article
Tevis Veterinarians Add New Post-Ride Check
July 30, 2009
Head Tevis Cup veterinarian Greg Fellers, DVM, will implement a new post-ride vet check this year. His check will be conducted within two hours after horses complete the 100-mile ride from Lake Tahoe to Auburn, Calif. "What I am looking for... Read More
Article
Researchers Examine Oral Acetate for Equine Exercise Recovery
June 15, 2009
An inaugural study has found that a sodium acetate electrolyte solution given orally with a typical hay and grain meal following exercise enhanced skeletal muscle metabolism to restore depleted glycogen (energy) sources.... Read More
Article
Readers Share Equine Exercise Regimens
June 05, 2009
More than 1,150 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, "During peak riding times in your region, how often do you ride or exercise your horses?" <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5... Read More
Article
Pilates for Horses?
June 01, 2009
Preliminary results from research suggest you can strengthen your horse's core muscles to help him be healthier, no matter his job in life. "One of the things we know from human medical research is that when people get... Read More
Article
Researchers Examine Effects of Rider Stability
May 22, 2009
Austrian researchers have reported that the stability of a rider’s seat affects the forces acting on a horse’s back. Using an electronic pressure mat placed under a dressage saddle, scientists with the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna’s... Read More
Article
Core Training Exercise Guidelines
May 18, 2009
Core training exercises can be done without a warm-up--for example, in horses that are recovering from injury--because the horse controls the amount of motion, and loading of the joints is less than during locomotion. Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS,... Read More
Article
Your Exercising Horse's Upper Airway
May 12, 2009
Upper airway problems can ruin a good horse, whether they slow him down or cause airway noise that hurts his show placings. But they haven't always been easy to sort out because the upper airway couldn't be examined under natural exercise conditions ... Read More
Article
Treadmill Use Aids Equine Performance Evaluation
April 19, 2009
Methods for evaluating the ubiquitous presentation of "poor performance" in equine athletes have improved in the past few years, enabling veterinarians to better explain why a horse might not be performing at its previous level, explained David... Read More
Article
Racehorse Exercise Predicts Bone Strength (AAEP 2008)
April 05, 2009
Nearly 20% of fatal musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbred atheletes are due to complete humeral (forearm bone) fractures, which often occur early in training or following an prolonged layup.... Read More
Article
Patience and Long, Slow Distance Important for Conditioning Competition Horses
March 21, 2009
Horses on vacation since October or November, when the owner stopped riding, can't be expected to perform the way they did in the fall. It's important to get their cardiovascular systems as well as their bones, muscles and tendons back in shape... Read More
Article
Emergency Care at Endurance Events
March 14, 2009
Endurance rides are often held in wilderness areas without good road access, posing a challenge when trying to reach a horse in distress. A Treatment Veterinarian should be equipped with sufficient horsepower (vehicle, ATV, or horse) to reach a horse... Read More
Article
Emergency Veterinary Care at Horse Shows
March 04, 2009
Most horse show emergencies are able to be cared for on-site, but if a crisis develops, the horse should be stabilized and transported to a full-care facility, according to Rick Mitchell, DVM, of Fairfield Equine Associates in Newtown, Conn. ... Read More
Article
Anhidrosis: Altered Thyroid Function a Potential Contributor
February 28, 2009
Despite the fact that20% of racehorses in the southern United States are affected by anhidrosis--the inability or decreased ability to sweat--the underlying causes of this medical condition remain unknown. Sweating is the primary mean... Read More
Article
Tart Cherry Juice May Reduce Muscle Damage
February 08, 2009
A recent human study has found that tart cherry juice blend (TCJB) had beneficial effects on exercising muscle. The objective was to determine if TCJB can lessen exercise-induced muscle damage in horses, as measured by serum enzymatic markers.... Read More
Article
Elmer Bandit's Winter Workouts Move Inside
January 30, 2009
Winter weather has driven 37-year-old competitive trail horse Elmer Bandit and his owner and rider Mary Anna Wood inside for dressage lessons.... Read More
Article
Survey Finds Eventers Nutritionally Sound, but Oversupplemented
December 28, 2008
In a survey of leading three-day event riders, researchers found that the majority of riders fed their horses based on research-driven recommendations, but the number of supplements used per horse did raise some eyebrows. During the Jersey... Read More
Article
Different Approach to Assessing Training Adaptation
December 25, 2008
Dutch researchers report that a different technique for assessing adaptation to training gives a more accurate picture than the usual approach of measuring muscle enzyme levels. In the study, researchers... Read More
Article
Winter Workouts
December 01, 2008
Winter doesn't have to be--and shouldn't be--a time of hibernation for your horse. Come May, Trisha Dowling of Saskatchewan, Canada, is ready to take on the challenges of competitive endurance--and, equally important, so... Read More
Article
Caring for Older Horses: The Elmer Bandit Diet
November 23, 2008
After Elmer Bandit, a 37-year-old Half-Arabian, broke the record for lifetime competitive trail mileage in October 2008, we were flooded with questions about Elmer's care and, specifically, what fueled the fire that kept him going. As it turns out,... Read More
Article
Ride Along at the FEI World Endurance Championship
November 21, 2008
The first-ever FEI World Endurance Championship in Malaysia was held Nov. 7-8 in Terengganu. Meg Sleeper, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM, and her horse, Syrocco Reveille, competed on the team representing the United States. While the competition didn't... Read More
Article
Exercise's Effects Vary by Tendon Type
November 18, 2008
Researchers from the United Kingdom recently embarked on an 18-month exercise study to determine why the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) is more prone to injury than the various other tendons located in the distal (lower) part of... Read More
Article
Elmer Bandit Did It! 37-Year-Old Horse Sets New Mileage Record
October 27, 2008
Half-Arabian Elmer Bandit trotted under the finish line to set a new competitive trail mileage record of 20,720 miles, 201 days after his 37th birthday. The North America... Read More
Article
Training Age and Soundness
October 01, 2008
Does the fact that cutting horses are started so young have any effect on their future soundness? Is it best to wait another year before starting them in training?... Read More
Article
Shipping and Showing
October 01, 2008
Monitor and optimize your horse's training, diet, general health, and shipping experience in order to help him perform his best. For some, nothing compares to the excitement of a horse show. The anticipation of months of... Read More
Article
37-Year-Old Horse Elmer Bandit Wins Competitive Trail Ride
September 15, 2008
Adding another 60 miles to his North American Trail Conference (NATRC) career, 37-year-old Elmer Bandit was declared the Open Sweepstakes division winner this past weekend at the Dave Smith Fall Fiesta competition near Lehigh, Iowa. "We had... Read More
