Science of Saddle-Fitting
There is a growing body of evidence that poorly fitted saddles can have a negative effect on the welfare and performance of ridden horses.
There is a growing body of evidence that poorly fitted saddles can have a negative effect on the welfare and performance of ridden horses.
A dappled coat has long been a sign of optimum equine health and good nutrition, but the reality behind dappling is more complicated. An equine nutritionist offers advice on bringing out the bloom in a horse’s coat.
A special “virtual” issue of the Equine Veterinary Journal focusing on gait analysis is being made available online, with 15 articles provided. There is free access to this special virtual issue up to October 4, 2020.
The Mounted Patrol Foundation and the Woodside-area Horse Owners Association announced they would be giving an Equestrian Merit Scholarship Award. The $10,000 scholarship is available to high school seniors in San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties. The application deadline is 3 p.m. on April 10.
You can enrol on this Horse Well Being and Welfare course for FREE until end of February 2020. The aim of this course is to give you some information on up to date research and advice on equine welfare so that you are ensuring that your horse is happy, that his stress levels are reduced…
Scientists recently tested a noninvasive, wireless, wearable device that allows veterinarians to monitor heart function, sounds and murmurs, and more while the horse remains free to move around her normal surroundings.
Suze Wood shares her experience attending a practicum for certification as a Master Saddle Fitting Consultant in France. A rigorous 750-hour course developed by a Dutch veterinarian who specializes in equine back pain and rehabilitation, the course culminated in a timed testing of saddle fault identification, horse conformation, gait analysis, physical examination, bridle and bit…
Animal welfare opens a very interesting but a very difficult research area, where strong emotional and popular beliefs risk overriding scientific evidence,” writes Clemence Lesimple, with the Laboratory of Human and Animal Ethology, in the open-access journal Animals. The status of horses, she says, elicits strong emotional reactions.
Daylight cycles influence physiology and behavior rhythms. And, as an Irish researcher recently reported, understanding how horses respond to these cycles can help you better manage your animals.
We’re moving toward a new era of equine welfare. And with it comes a new understanding of how to assess how well each horse is faring. Specifically, a shift from focusing on negative welfare to positive welfare has pushed scientists and handlers alike to try to read horses’ emotions.