Does My Horse Have Girth Pain?

Horses can't speak to us so it can be difficult sometimes to establish if our horses behavior is caused by pain or not. Yvonne Lucas, Equine Herbalist and Natural Therapist discusses common symptoms of girth pain in horses.

As an Equine Holistic Therapist I deal with all issues to do with the physical and psychological wellbeing of our equine friends and education of horse and rider. In my practice I use a combination of herbs, photonic therapy (needless acupuncture), muscle stimulation (TENS and EMS), energy healing and natural horsemanship techniques.

It’s not uncommon for owners to miss mild symptoms of underlying issues when they first appear but over time those individual symptoms can escalate to a level where it affects your horse or pony in ways you would never expect.  A good example of this is a condition called “Girth Pain Syndrome”.  Extensive research conducted by Veterinarian Dr Ian Bidstrap, indicates that at least 80% of horses regardless of the breed or size, ridden or not, from month old foals through to old stallions, experience girth and/or rib pain.  In most of these cases the cause of the pain stems back to birth trauma.

A foal’s chest is severely compressed during the birthing process. The research into birth trauma in foals revealed a 5% incidence of broken ribs, and a 20% incidence of rib cage trauma in newborn foals. A small portion of foals actually die from trauma to their chest.

Girth Pain Syndrome may not become apparent until many years down the track. If a horse goes over backwards, falls on its shoulder, or trips badly with a saddle on, or is girthed up roughly, the problem that began at birth, can be irritated. It is believed that most horses experience rib discomfort and simply learn to live it, but they still have residual problems for example trouble with one canter lead, anxiety/fear when away from home, hoof unevenness. The horse with more severe discomfort or pain, often has to find ways to evade it. Uncomfortable girths and saddles will usually irritate the underlying girth pain problem which in turn makes it even more difficult for the horse to handle.

Research conducted by Dr Ian Bidstrap on over 4000 horses has found many symptoms which indicate the probability of girth pain which are as follows;

On fastening of the girth:

1. Slight change in facial expression
2. Grunting.
3. Lifting the head, swishing the tail.
4. Inflating the chest
5. Kicking at the girth.
6. Attempting to bite the handler

Once girthed up:

1. Grunting while being ridden (especially when going downhill).
   
2. Short stepping, refusing to move forward freely for 10-20 minutes after being saddled.
3. Being one sided, or having difficulty taking one lead.
4. Resisting leg aids.
5. Swishing the tail, laying ears back.
6. Generally being unhappy and piggy when ridden but is wonderful when not ridden.
7. Often described as being ‘cold backed’  pigrooting or bucking at the start of a ride and (especially during the transition from trot to canter)
8. Severe cases often display violent bucking and/or pigrooting and /or lying down for a short spell after being girthed up.
9. Rushing jumps.
10. Resistance to turning sharply.
11. Readily developing girth sores.

Signs often seen as a response to touch:

1. The skin of the girth area of most horses is ticklish behind the elbow; however, gentle stroking should remove any reaction.  If the skin remains jumpy when touched after gentle stroking then there is probably an active problem.
2. When tapping or prodding the skin behind the elbow, the muscles all jump, including the muscles of the leg above the elbow.
3. Tightness & tenderness of the muscles above the shoulder blade and under the front of the saddle.
4. Tightness and tenderness of the muscles under the girth.

The big question is ........ can this problem be treated? The answer is yes.

With treatment form a therapist experienced in this condition, appropriate exercises and retraining for the psychological effect of long term pain, most horses will have a dramatic improvement or recover completely.

The use of herbs can assist the healing and retraining process in a number of ways. Girth Pain Syndrome often affects more than just the muscular and nervous systems of the horse. As with humans, chronic long term pain can cause multiple system dysfunctions, so in conjunction with treatment for the girth pain a herbal detox is often advantages to normalize function of the horses systems.

Muscle tightness and nervousness are common problems associated with girth/rib pain sensitivity so the use nervine herbs such as  Vervain and Passion flower (two herbs which have been used for anxiety, nervous tension and pain for hundreds of years),may assist with relaxing the muscles and nervous system which in turn allows the retraining process to occur easily.

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Sustainable Cities

This is totally self explanatory so I wont go on....

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Rotational Grazing for Horses

 

Many horse pastures suffer from overgrazing. You can tell if your pasture is overgrazed as it will show areas of bare earth or very short grass which looks like lawn , often coupled with longer grass which horses seem to avoid eating. Weeds will also be apparent and horses will sometimes even start digging the ground up trying to get to tasty roots beneath the soil.

There are several options for managing the grazing of horse properties and you need to work out which one is right for you. There is no black and white answer as all properties are different and what may suit one will not necessarily suit another.

The options are:

1. Continuous grazing – Grazing throughout the year. This is most suited to people with large areas of land where they can limit their stocking rates to approximately 1 horse per 1.2 hectares (3 acres). In this way the pasture is unlikely to be eaten out quicker than it can regenerate.

2. Seasonal grazing – This is where the paddock may be given rest periods throughout the year, particularly in winter when grass growth slows or becomes dormant or in periods of sustained wet weather when paddocks can become inundated.

3. Limited grazing time – This is when horses may be locked up for some period of the day. For example, only allowed out to graze in the mornings, but kept in a stable or holding yard for the rest of the time (with adequate feed and water)

4. Rotational grazing – This is when pastures are divided up into smaller paddocks and horses are confined to one paddock at a time. Once that pasture has been eaten down to a length of about 5cm the horses are then moved on to the next pasture, while the first one is resting and recovering. Again, when the second pasture is eaten to around 5cm the horses are moved on to another pasture and so on.

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The size and number of individual paddocks will vary according to your particular circumstances. You can set up your internal fencing using electric tape. This will give you the flexibility to move it around to get the best result. Start by giving pasture a minimum of four weeks to recover between grazing bouts and see how it works out.

Work your way consecutively through the paddocks until you get back to the initial paddock. If it is not ready to be grazed ( not 15 – 20 cm), keep horses in the sacrifice area/holding yard and hand feed until the pasture has reached the desired length. You can use the sacrifice area/holding yard to give you a buffer while sorting out the best time period to graze each paddock. It can also be used in wet weather to help protect the pasture from hoof damage when soils are soft.

 

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A New Way of Looking at Horse Keeping - Paddock Paradise

 

I’ve been doing quite a lot of research lately into varying theories on horse keeping from the Paddock Paradise Track System  to general rotational and strip grazing and Jane Myers Equicentral System. I’ve been pondering over what is the best system, what works and what doesn’t and most importantly what is best for the environment of the horse and human.

This is the first installment in a report of my findings:

Paddock Paradise is the brainchild of Jaime Jackson a veteran hoof care professional who

spent from 1982-1986 travelling among wild horse populations studying the nature of how they live and of their environment. From this study and further research he discovered three main points :

1. horses need freedom of movement and engagement within their environment ( in a natural life, although they like familiar surroundings and keep to a ‘home range’ horses are constantly on the move between feed areas, resting spots, watering spots, rolling spots etc ).

2. horses need variety in their food ( given free choice, horses eat a wide variety of grass species as well as legumes and other broad leaved plants, bark, trees  and leaves)

3. horses need to behave like real horses in a herd situation (horses living a natural life live in herds).

As Jaime points out these three criteria are very often not met within our current horse keeping systems. We tend to keep horses in confined spaces be it paddock or stable/yard,  we tend not to feed them a vast variety of food types and quite often we keep horses in the abovementioned places alone, removed from the herd environment which comes naturally to them.

Jaime postulates that when these three criteria are not met horses have the propensity to develop ailments from poor hoof quality, to laminitis, to emotional disturbance and general ill health.

To remedy this Jaime has come up with a unique horse keeping system which uses a track design to encourage movement. The general gist of it is that the horses live in a herd  on a track shaped paddock being very long and narrow. The horses are encouraged to move along the track by providing ‘desire lines’ different experiences for them in different areas along the track. Experiences include being fed with variety all along the track, providing a spot for mineral blocks, rolling, resting, salt licks, watering holes, mud baths, walking on rough ground etc. The movement is intended to improve hoof condition to the point that the horses can be barefoot and also general health and well being.

The plan below will help explain it further.

Generally, I really like this concept. It makes total sense to me to keep horses moving as I believe that having them move very little is bad for their health in all the ways Jamiee points out. Horses move very little in paddocks, especially small ones. 

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From a Landscape Architects point of view, I also really like it as it provides tremendous opportunity to improve the visual amenity of a horse farm by making much more land available for landscaping as you won’t have horses walking over your entire property. So screening of unattractive areas, growing trees, growing shrubs, growing crops,  can be done outside the track protected  from horses. 

Inspecting a Track System in Europe. Note the track cannot be seen.

From an environmental point of view I can’t see a lot of problems with it either, unless you live in an extremely wet area where the track would constantly be muddy (there are, however, ways you could prevent this from happening and the actual construction of the track needs to be thought out better than just removing the existing vegetation in order for it to be maintained in a good state). Your land use possibilities could be greatly improved by keeping a large part of your land available for  occasional grazing, cropping, arenas, jumps, general riding etc. I see the track as not any more invasive on the land as a dirt road and I like the flexibility of the inner electric fencing.

On the downside I think the amount of time spent removing manure and feeding along the track would make it impossible for some people, both financially and time wise. Also I'm not all together comfortable with the idea of horses having no access to grass as it would not take long for the track to become pretty denuded of vegetation. But most importantly, from a designers point of view, there is not enough information on the requirements. Just simple things like what is the minimum amount of land needed to do this? How wide should the track be? What is a safe size for a camping area? How much feed will you need for your horse?  I would hope that some time in the future Jamie could team up with a Landscape Architect (there are so many accomplished ones in the USA)  and formalize some of his theories as more detailed information is needed.

Having said that I still believe Paddock Paradise is a great idea that would work for some farms.  It is definitely worth exploring to see if it suits you and your circumstances and environment. Jaimes' book, Paddock Paradise, A Guide To Natural Horse Boarding is extremely informative and his research into wild horse populations is interesting.  The book is well worth getting if you would like more information.

Jamies books can be purchased here:http://www.paddockparadise.com/ Tweet

What to do about Greasy Heel

Had a few requests for info on Greasy Heel as well due to our bad weather. So here it is :

GREASY HEEL is caused by the same bacteria as Rain Scald. As most horse owners know a horse with white socks is more prone to developing chronic greasy heal.

The bacteria burrow into the skin which causes a greasy discharge which mats the hair. The inflamed skin dries out, cracks and can cause discomfort and even lameness.

In horses with white socks the skin reaction is usually more severe due to the lack of pigment and subsequent exposure to UV light. 

Click link below to download
fact sheet

WHAT CAN YOU DO

• Gently scrub off the grease and scabs with a warm solution of a mild soap eg. Sunlight Soap using a soft brush. You must do a thorough job. Pat dry and apply a weak iodine solution such as Betadine twice daily until any broken skin is healed.

• Each morning apply a thin coating of Zinc Cream. It will protect from the sun and repel moisture.

• Another solution is to smother the area in a mix of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) mixed with 1/3rd Filtabac - the antibacterial sunscreen available from vets and saddleries. This softens the scabs overnight allowing you to gently rub them off. Then cover the area with Filtabac to heal and protect the skin.

• If possible keep the horse in a dry area away from mud. If a severe case occurs contact your vet as you may need more powerful treatment.


Click here to download Greasy Heel Fact Sheet http://issuu.com/goldcoasthorse/docs/1_greasy_heel/1

What To Do About Rain Scald

Today we are talking about the condition known as Rain Scald as we have had quite a lot of rain in our area recently and I suspect some horses may be suffering from it by now.

RAIN SCALD   is caused by a naturally occurring skin bacteria that grows out of control.

The bacteria (Dermatophilus) flourishes in moist damp conditions which can occur quite often on The Gold Coast and in other regions of high rain fall. The growth of the bacteria causes a waxy crust to develop on the skin which mats the hairs together and patches of it can fall out leaving pink damaged skin underneath. It usually occurs on the head and neck, back and rump but can also be found in other places. There is usually no itchiness or  secondary infection, but in some cases there may be. Further complications can occur if secondary infection is present so in this case it would be best to contact your vet for advice on treatment.

Click link below to download
this Fact Sheet

WHAT CAN YOU DO

• Clean off the flaky skin and hair thoroughly and then bathe the area in an

Iodine solution such as Betadine. You may need to do this for several days for the condition to clear up, but don’t worry the hair will grow back.

• Try and keep the horse dry as the condition flourishes in damp conditions, so horses left in wet muddy paddocks and especially in wet rugs, during spring

and summer rains are most at risk.

• You may need to contact your vet if it has a severe condition or if there is swelling involved. Sometimes it may be difficult to ascertain whether the condition is Rain Scald or Queensland Itch as the two conditions are difficult to tell apart. Rain Scald does not usually cause itching but contact your vet if you are unsure as the correct treatment is imperative.

Rain Scald Fact Sheet -http://issuu.com/goldcoasthorse/docs/2_rain_scald

Easy Manure Management for Small Farms

One horse needs about 1.2 hectares

If you are lucky enough to have a large land holding which has a stocking rate of around 1 horse for every 1.2 hectares you wont have to manage the manure as it will manage itself. You probably wont even have to feed your horse very much, if at all, providing you have a good pasture cover. But these days as land has become more scarce we have less and less of it for our horses and so we overstock it because we have no choice. This leads to all sorts of issues and one of the biggest problems is managing manure.

As everyone knows excess horse manure in your paddocks can be a real problem. It reduces the area available for grazing, it provides a perfect habitat for flies to breed, it contains worms and worm eggs which can be passed on from horse to horse, it can contaminate waterways and dams and it reduces the aesthetic appeal of your paddocks.

Compost is great for the garden

Ross Mckinnon, Gardening Guru says composted horse manure is a little milder than cow or chicken manure but still very good. If it contains urine also it makes a magnificent organic fertilizer to turn into a liquid fertilizer, because it can contain up to 18 per cent nitrogen, 4.5 per cent phosphorous and 13.2 per cent potassium _ all elements needed for vigorous root systems, flower-set and fruiting. Manure can also be used to even out uneven land by filling up holes with it, it can be used as a weed suppressing mulch and can be spread to cover bare patches of earth to help them recover lost pasture.

HARROWING AND SLASHING:

In larger paddocks that are being grazed rotationally, slashing and harrowing may be enough to keep manure under control.

Harrowing breaks up the clods and makes them break down into the soil much more easily. Once your horses have eaten your grass down to 5cm. It’s time to move them on to the next paddock, mow the resting paddock to and even length, and then harrow.
You don’t even need to go out and buy a harrow, you can use something as simple as a piece of old cyclone mesh fencing or and old gate dragged behind a vehicle.

COMPOSTING:


Lots of people, with all good intentions, try composting horse manure and don’t have any luck, though it is easy though. There are just a few crucial things you need to do and you will be sure to have lovely compost for your gardens, or to spread back on your paddocks to replenish nutrients for the grass.

The first thing you need to do is choose the location to compost. You will want somewhere that is easy to access for both adding manure to the compost and for taking the composted material away, where the chance of any odours reaching yours or your neighbours houses are minimized ie. not somewhere where the prevailing winds will blow passed the compost and into your kitchen, it will need to be in the sun and you will need to be able to get water to it if need be.  Recently, at a presentation, someone asked me what to do if they couldn't get a hose to their compost heap or if they were on tank water. The answer to this is to think about putting in a tank just for your compost heap. It doesn't need to be big. There are lots of small tanks available these days. Perhaps you could catch runoff from a shed or other outbuilding.

You will also want to make sure that runoff from storm water runoff won't carry your compost away through overland flow to the nearest creek or neighbours  pool.

You will need to work out how much space to set aside for your composting operation. If it’s just for one or two horses a corner of the paddock will do nicely and you don’t even have to make a formal structure for it you can just pile it up in a few square metres.

If you have more horses and a larger operation you may want to build yourself some more formalized composting bays, but they still don’t need to be too complicated.

A shovel and barrow will be required

Once you have decided where to put your compost the rest is simple.

Here is my tried and true easy composting method.

1. Be patient : The poo pile needs to get very BIG before it will generate enough heat to begin the composting process. It needs to be around 2 metres across at least and about 1.2 metres high.

2. It needs to be in the SUN. A shady pile will take the rest of your life to compost.

3. It needs to be DAMP. When I say damp, I mean that if you put a pair of gloves on, pick up a handful and squeeze it, it will stay together. Not too wet though, not mushy and oozing water, just enough dampness to stay together. This means that in our climate sometimes in the heat of summer, the poo will dry out before it has a chance to start composting, so you might need to give it a bit of a hose now and then to dampen it (of course abide by any water restrictions and wait for rain if you have to). If you don't have a hose that can reach it you may need to think about building it where you can also incorporate a small rainwater tank. These are readily available at hardware stores.

The pile needs to get big before it will begin composting

4. Some people like to build elaborate structures for their compost heap, but you don’t really need one. The ground will do fine. Just as long as it isn’t in a spot where it will float off to the nearest creek or into the neighbours dam (or pool) at the first heavy rain. I have even composted in a deep depression in a paddock to fill it up and make it even with the surrounding ground which put a smile on the farm managers face when he realized he didn’t have to avoid it with his tractor any more. If you do want something more permanent here is a link to a really simple design made from old pallets : http://smallfootprints.com.au/blogs/garden-blog/default.aspx

5. You should think about locating it where it is easy for you to get at with a wheel barrow or trailer (for when it is ready).

6. Don’t worry about flies. Flies don’t like the compost heap. It gets too hot for them. My horses spent all last summer standing right next to ours because it was the only place that didn’t have flies. You can cover it with a tarp if it bothers you.

7. Once your compost heap is happening it will get so hot, it will kill all the weed seeds, so don’t worry about them either.

8. Compost heaps need to be tossed around a bit to keep fresh air getting in too. The easiest way I find to do this is every time I take a barrow to the heap I dig it over a bit before I throw the next load on. Before you know it there will be worms in there.  I have found ’build it and they will come’.

Lots more Sustainable Horsekeeping information, including some great free booklets, can be found here : GOLD COAST HORSE

Saddle Fitting with Peter Horobin

Recently we were chatting on Facebook about saddle fitting. There were lots of questions and lots of confusion so when I was offered the chance to go to a saddle fitting appointment a friend had made with Peter Horobin, I jumped at the chance.

Peter Horobin is a saddle maker who first started his leather apprenticeship at Passier & Son in Germany when he was 15 years old. Moving to Australia in 1985 he started his own saddlery business manufacturing race saddles and exercise saddles which has been built up today into a thriving business. Peter has worked with many hugely successful equestrians including the likes of Brett Parbury and Heike Kemmer.

The first thing that strikes you about Peter and his wife, Julie is how down to earth they are. They are incredibly warm people. The kind of people you feel like you have known for years on first meeting. In short you feel very comfortable with them.



My friend, Ruth had brought her horse, Charlie, along for a saddle fit. She brought two rather worn old saddles with her to be checked, neither of which were Horobin made saddles, but refreshingly, that did not concern Peter at all. He went about the task of checking the fit of the saddles with the same care and attention to detail that he had given to the previous client with her custom made Horobin saddle.

(Her saddle had needed some adjusting and Peter was fully equipped to do it on the spot with all the tools he needed and wool stuffing).

Next it was Charlies' turn. In Peters' words Charlie is a difficult horse to fit. He has a very high wither and a very long wither and also a prominent backbone.

Peter explained in detail how a saddle was meant to fit. The details of which came as a surprise to all of us. We had had saddle fits done before where only the wither had been measured for gullet size and that was all we expected. However, Peter had a gauge with him that measured the entire fit of the saddle from the gullet right through to the back of the saddle. When you see it , it makes total sense. How could a saddle be deemed to fit from only a wither measurement? There's a lot more involved in a horses back than just the withers. Peter also carefully explained the movement of a horses shoulder and how that contributes to how the saddle sits and fits. Too tight and it will pinch, too loose and it will slump down putting pressure on the top of the wither.

The saddles Ruth brought along for Charlie both appeared to sit in a balanced way, but on closer inspection both had their problems.

One of the saddles, although it appeared to sit perfectly balanced was bridging as can be seen in the image below.

The second saddle, again appeared well balanced but was sitting too low on the wither. Of the two it was decided that it was the better fit but would need a reasonably thick saddle blanket to lift it. That brought an interesting question about saddle blankets up which was, if a saddle fits would a thick saddle blanket underneath it interfere with the fit? And the answer was an emphatic 'yes'. As it turns out saddle blankets were invented to protect the saddle from the horse, but somehow over time we have become accustomed to using them to try to improve the fit of an ill fitting saddle. Peter believes that if the saddle fits properly all you should really need under it is a thin, absorbent saddle blanket.

We discovered quite a few other interesting pieces of information too. Charlies' saddles were both stuffed with rubber! This was a material used some time ago in quite a number of saddles (including Bates) and it is not really possible to restuff them. Another thing was that a saddle fit for an off the rack saddle will usually only measure for gullet size. This can really only give an approximation of the fit. So in essence you could very well have a saddle off the rack that has been fitted to your horse which doesn't fit at all! They just cant make enough sizes for all the different shapes and sizes of horse.

Probably the most worrying thing we discovered was that many saddles cannot be altered. Even some very expensive, very beautiful saddles, due to their construction can't have gullets changed, or be restuffed. It's worrying because people often shop for saddles online now and get them shipped in from overseas. Imagine how distressed you would be if your new European saddle turned out not to fit and you found out you couldn't do anything about it!

The main thing I think we all came away with though was that saddle fitting is not something you could just pick up in a weekend course as many try to do. It is highly technical and requires a great deal of knowledge. And given that, it seems pretty silly to have a saddle fit done by someone who is not a saddle maker. If an off the rack saddle doesn't fit your horse, you'll either need to have it altered or get a custom saddle made, so you're better off just starting with a saddle maker in the first place.

The following video shows a little of what you can expect from a saddle fitting with Peter. It is by no means comprehensive and I urge you all if you get the chance take your horse along to him for a fitting. You wont regret it. He is a true professional in every sense of the word.

 

Peter Horobin regularly travels throughout Australia and internationally and can be engaged for lectures and demonstrations. More information can be found on his website :http://www.horobin.com.au/

ABOUT YOU

What's this blog all about?
It's about you. It's about how you can look after your horse and your horse property in a sustainable way. It's about making sure your property is managed with forethought and care, so it will not only serve your horses well, but it will be gentle to the environment and help maintain it for generations to come.

It's about looking after your horse so it will remain healthy for you to enjoy.

Sustainability has become a bit of a cliche over the years. It even sounds a bit boring. I know many people switch off the minute they hear it. But you know what? It is actually very interesting and knowledge of it can help save you money too.

So we are going to look at it. All aspects of it here. We aren't going to follow any set plan. We'll just let it unfold as we go. So feel free to join me on this journey. It's going to be fun and above all will help you get all the info you need to make informed decisions about your horsekeeping.