Infectious diseases horses can get

Botulism:

• Cause: from spore forming bacteria which is found in the environment, but mostly found in soil.
• Effects: there may be nerve damage if it is not treated immediately.
• Treatment/Prevention: Vaccinations will help prevent it, and get rid of feed if there is bird poop in it.

Sleeping Sickness:

• Cause: a virus that is carried by mosquitoes. There are three different types: Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan.
• Effects: usually very serious, but each strain has different effects.
• Treatment/Prevention: Vaccinations will help prevent this, and if they do get this consult vet on how to treat.

Influenza:

• Cause: viral infection.
• Effects: there may be respiratory disease and a fever. it is very contagious and does not respond to antibiotics.
• Treatment/Prevention: vaccines for prevention, and call vet if the horse has this and they willl tell you how to treat.

Pneumonia:

• Cause: bacteria in lungs.
• Effects: rapid and shallow breathing, coughing, wheezing, rattling noises in lungs, fever, discharge from nostrils, and badly smelling breath.
• Treatment/Prevention: keep horse away from other horses, have horse in a warm barn, with fresh and clean water. Good nourishing feed to eat.

Rabies:

• Cause: spread by saliva of infected animals to uninfected, or by biting or licking wounds or lesions of an infected animal
• Effects: the two most common signs are difficultly swallowing and drooling.
• Treatment/Prevention: vaccines to prevent, all horses should be vaccinated for this.

Tetanus:

• Cause: toxin produced by a bacteria in the digestive tract and in soils with lots of animal manure.
• Effects: destroys nervous system and paralyzes breathing muscles.
• Treatment/Prevention: Vaccination to prevent.

              

How to prevent/ minimize diseases

• Vaccinate all of your horses. Only vaccinate your horse against that are well known in your area. the vaccinations should always be given when your horse is healthy and not stressed.
• Keep horses in a safe, healthy and stress free environment. If a horse is stressed them may become sick. Horses do not like loud noises, crowding, extreme temperature, not enough water, to much exercise, exhaustion, and other types of stress. 
• Do not let your horse drink from other water tanks other than their water tank. Such as if they are at fairgrounds or on a trail rides. Diseases can be spread from horses drinking other horses water.
• Keep feed and water supplies clean and uncontaminated.
• Minimize exposure with strange horse, because another horse may have a disease that you don't know about and they may give it to your horse.
• If you get another horse for the first two weeks keep it isolated from other horses, just to make sure the horse does not have any diseases. So put the new horse in a separate pen till you are sure the horse is healthy.
• If a horse becomes sick then you should separate the horse from your other horses. Especially if the horse has a contagious disease, so the infection does not spread.       

 

Plants toxic to horses

Horses will usually stay away from toxic plants, but if a horses pasture is lacking good quality grasses then a horse may start eating other plants so they feel full. If a horse eats a toxic plant they may have an immediate reaction or they may just have mild discomfort. Some plants toxic to horses are:

• Black Locust: which is found in Norther Texas and south-central and eastern US. The effects are colic, diarrhea, dilated pupils, altered heartbeat, depression, or death.

•  Bracken Fern: this is found all over the world. the effects are neurological problems which is due to repeated consumption over a few weeks.

• Boxwood: which is very toxic to horses. it is found in Northern America and Western Canada. Effects are colic, there may be blood in their manure, or respiratory failure. 

• Buttercup: which is very well known. there flower is the toxic part. it is found all over the world. there may be some diarrhea and it may cause severe blindness.

• Castor Bean: it is found in most of Mexico and in central and southern US. Only a few beans can kill a horse, the seeds can cause colic, diarrhea, sweating, or their heart may be racing.

• Chokecherry: they are only poisonous when the leaves are wilted. They are found throughout North America except in some parts in southern in the US. the effects are death.

• Alsike Clover: Found all over the the US. the effects are photo sensitivity, chronic poisoning causes slobbers, depression, colic, or liver damage.

• Dogbane: is usually never eaten. It is found in the US. Effects can be staggering, bloat, convulsions, elevated pulse, but usually if they eat it they will die.

• Foxglove: which is very toxic but is rarely eaten. found in most of the US and Canada. horses may have colic, bloody manure, frequent urination, a loss of appetite, abdominal pain, or an irregular heartbeat.

• Horsetail: this is more toxic to horses than to other animals, this is found all over the world. It depletes vitamin B which degenerates peripheral nerves.

• Jimsonweed: if a horse eats this the poison acts very fast. this is found throughout the US. effects are depression, excessive thirst, diarrhea, convulsions, or respiratory paralysis.

• Red Maple: which is found in eastern US and in Canada. the horse may become weak, be depressed, dark urine, renal hepatic failure, abortion, and sometimes death. 

• St. John's Wort: found all over the US and all over Canada. There may be some photo sensitivity, fever increase in pulse, diarrhea, and sensitivity to cold water.         

Reading a horses body language

You can tell what a horse is thinking by the position of their head and neck, their stance, their ears, and their tail and legs. You can tell if your horse is content and relaxed, friendly, alert, unfriendly, fearful, hyper, or sick.

Content and Relaxed: when a horse is relaxing they usually have one of their hind legs resting. Their head and neck in a lowered position. Their eyes may be somewhat closed, their ear look relaxed and may tipped to the side. Their muscles are relaxed. When a horse is relaxing it’s because they feel safe and secure.

Friendly: when a horse is friendly they tend to have their ears up and forward, their head is up and, their eyes look interested, but their muscles are relaxed.

Alert: when a horse is alert their ears are up and forward so they can hear clearly. Their head is up so they can see and their nostrils are open so they can take in scents in the air. They tend to be standing perfectly still but there is no fear in their eyes.

Unfriendly: when a horse is unfriendly their head is low and they are reaching aggressively with their muzzle. They may be showing teeth and have their ears back. Their eyes will be cold and glaring and their nostrils will be pinched and wrinkled.

Fearful: when a horse is fearful they look as if they are ready to flee. Their head and neck are up and alert. Their eyes are wide open and are looking at the danger. Their muscles are tense and ready if they need to start running.

Hyper: when a horse is hyper they are just playful and have confident facial expression. Their head is up and they are running around and their tail may even be up.

Sick: when a horse is sick they will be lying down or be standing still. Their ears will be back and their head 

down. If they do walk they may not want to walk and they may stumble. 

   

Parts of the horse

What horses don't like

       Horses don’t like to be scared, when a horse feels threatened or get confused they end up being fearful all the time and will panic. They will even end up being scared of their owner and may even try to hurt their owner.

       A horse does not like to be in physical pain, horses don’t like it when a bit is yanked because its hurts their mouth. They also don’t like it when a saddle is to small, or being whipped really hard. Some horses will suck it up but other horses will not tolerate it and will try to get rid of what is hurting them. For example if a saddle is too small a horse might bolt, kick, or rear.

        Horses don’t like inconsistency; they like to have routines and to know what is expected of them. They like to know if they have to behave a certain way, so they don’t like it when they get in trouble one day for acting the same as they do every day, it’s confusing.

        Horses don’t like to be surprised; they don’t like loud noises or people jumping and screaming around them. They may even be scared of small rustling noises. If they are surprised by a person then they may try to hurt the person because they feel threatened.

  Horses don’t like to be restrained and restricted, if a horse is in danger they can’t flee. They will eventually start to get used to it but if they are really scared they might try to get free and they may hurt themselves or you.

       They don’t like to be all alone, they like to be with other horses, horses may adapt to being alone if their owner pays a lot of attention to them. Horses like to be with other horses but they can also be put with other animals such as cows.

       Horses don’t like to be chased, since they are prey animals they really don’t like to be chased. Dogs may be small but when they are chasing a horse the horse see them as a threat. Even if a person is walking but following a horse the horse see the person as a threat, and the horse may flee or stay and try to fight the person.  

What a horse needs

1.             To avoid being injured or eaten by a predator: a horse is a prey animal, so throughout history the horse has survived of being wary of predators. The dog and cat families and humans are considered to be a predator of a horse. Horses are always very alert, wary, suspicious, have very good flight reflex, and they are ready to fight if they have to. Horses do not like to be chased or cornered; they like to stay in groups with other horses. Horses use sight, sound, and smell to know where danger is.
   

   A horse that is alert

   
   
   2.   To eat and drink for survival: in the wild horses for about 12 to 16 hours of the day, domestic horses will eat for about 16 hours of the day. Wild horses eat about 25 to 30 pounds of pasture and grass hay since they are always on the move. Domestic horses do not eat as much; if they do eat too much they will get sick. Domestic horses drink about 5 to 10 gallons of water a day; they usually drink more water in the summer than the winter. Horses like cold water than warm water. They also salt and minerals in order to replenish electrolytes. 
   
   
   

   

   3.      To breed: Domestic horses all have the sexual urges but they are not allowed to breed whenever   they want, usually. Horses obviously need to breed so they do not all die out but humans do not want them to become over populated. 
   4.      To be social and have routines: Horses like to stay in groups. It is best if you have a horse to  have another horse because they like to have another horse to be with. You may have another animal for the horse to be with. I have two horses and I also live on a dairy farm so my horses never get lonely, they usually are in a pasture that has cows or heifers in it. Horses also like to have routines; they like to do things at about the same time every day, especially getting fed. Horses need to be fed multiple times a day, and if they are on pasture you need to regulate how much they get so they don’t get sick.
   

    Horses in a group

     

The Different Breeds

There are more than 150 breeds and types of horses in the world today. The development of each of them has been influenced by man. When they where domesticated that then resulted in selective breeding and more nutritious feeding. Both of those things increase the size and quality of the horse. The biggest influencing factor was the work which man required their particular horse to perform. The terms coldblood and warmblood are used to describe horses. Coldblood is the heavy draught breeds. Warmblood is the lighter, riding type of horse. Some of my favorite types of horses are:

·         The Appaloosa: their spotted coat colouring traces back to stock imported by the Spanish Conquistadores. This spotted horse became particularly prized by the Nez Perce Indian tribe. The word Appaloosa is derived from Palouse country, an area named after the Palouse River. Following the defeat of the Indians by the US army the Appaloosa escaped being slaughtered and became scattered all around the US.    

·         The Clydesdale: is Scotland’s breed of heavy horse. They originated in Lanarkshire through which the Clyde River runs. They began to evolve during the second half of the 18^th century when Flemish stallions were used to improve the stock, descended from the pack animals, of local farmers. Shire blood was used in the breed’s development; the Clydesdale and Shire are believed to be of the same origin.

·         The Paint: they are found all around the world, but are mainly known to be associated with the North American Indians. This horse can be known as a paint horse or a pinto. The terms Overo and Tobiano are used to describe the two different types with in the breed.

·         The Palomino: Throughout history humans have prized horses with a golden coloured coat. Golden horses are referred to in Homer’s Iliad and in Norse legend. In Spain Queen Isabella encouraged their breeding and in Spain they are sometimes referred to as “Isabella’s”. Palomino horses are mainly associated in North America; they were introduced by the Spanish Conquistadores.

  

Horse history

The modern horse which is known as equus caballus, belongs to the family Equidae, which also includes zebras and asses. The Equidae are placed in the Perissodactyla which the rhinoceroses are also in. They have descended from the Condylarthra, a group of primitive, long extinct mammals which were the ancestors of all hoofed mammals. The evolution of the horse has been over a period of about 60 million years. The history of the horse starts with the Eohippus which is also called the Dawn Horse, which is known to have lived in North America about 54 to 38 million years ago. They were an animal no larger than a small dog; the Eohippus was designed to live in the forest. They had four toes on its fore feet and three on its back feet and they had pads similar to a dog.  They had small crowned teeth to eat leaves. Then about 37 to 26 million years ago started showing distinct changes: their legs became longer, the back straighter, and the whole body larger, one of the toes on the fore foot disappeared, and their teeth started to change. Then the environment started to change and this made their teeth change, it made their necks longer, and they also their single toe and hoof began to evolve. Then the horse family became more complex, the Equus is the genus of the modern horse finally emerged about a million years ago.