The New Reality: Helpful Horse Health Weekends

by Fran Jurga | 27 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Oregon farrier Gregg Meyers was among the many horsecare professionals who donated time on Saturday to work on horses who needed some care. A special horse health fair in Albany, Oregon helped prepare needy horses for the winter ahead. (Photo links to Albany Democrat-Herald story about this event.)

I don't get to watch television very often. This weekend was an exception, but only because I was feeling under the weather, and home-in-bed seemed like the place to be.

CNN had a feature about a free health clinic at a big convention center in Houston, Texas. They showed a view of the people lining up about six in the morning on Saturday to take advantage of free medical services from a small army of 700 medical professionals who had volunteered their time. The event was organized by media MD Mehmet Oz, who is often featured on Oprah Winfrey's television show. By day's end, they had helped 2000 patients, many of them chronically ill and without health insurance.

"Wow," I thought, through my feverish haze. "Someone should do that for horses."

And they did.

On the very same day, the Oregon Horse Welfare Council organized a free health fair for horses whose owners needed financial help. At the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany, Oregon, they set up something quite parallel to what Dr Oz was doing at the same time for humans in Houston. Horses traveled around to stations set up in a big arena and visited a farrier and a massage therapist; they got vaccinations and worming. There was advice from a nutritionist and a trainer. And a lot more.

The professionals providing the services donated their time as an acknowledgment of the hardship some horse owners are facing in providing for their animals during challenging economic conditions. A similar event was held in Sutherlin, Oregon in the spring.

According to its web site, the Oregon Horse Welfare Council is an ad hoc group of concerned horsepeople from throughout Oregon dedicated to helping horse owners struggling to provide for their animals, and saving as many horses as possible from abuse, abandonment and neglect. The group is comprised of individuals from rescue organizations, breed groups, veterinarians, state officials, law enforcement agencies, equine media, and concerned citizens.

You can read a newspaper article from the Albany Democrat-Herald about the horse health fair if you click here.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, it was a big weekend for the Minnesota Horse Welfare Coalition's Gelding Project. Colts and stallions were castrated by supervised veterinary students from the University of Minnesota at a clinic at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo. Horse owners needed a referral from a veterinarian or a humane investigation team, but the surgery was free.

Lots of the news you read on this blog is about how bad things are, but I never, ever underestimate the good and kind spirits of horse people to help each other out. Organizing to help a horse get a healthy start on a winter that will be here before we know it, or to remove the possibility of a stud horse breeding foals that won't have rosy futures--those are very worthwhile ways to spend a weekend as a volunteer in the horse world.

I hope the Oregon and Minnesota organizations have a lot of imitators out there; you can also visit either website and make a donation.

Mom Always Liked You Best: Wild Horse Research Shows That Mares Pamper Colts More than Fillies

Wild horse mares and foals in Australia are also being studied by the Wild Horse Research Group at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science. GPS transmitters have been attached to some horses to monitor their location and the distances covered. Learn more about the Australian studies at www.wildhorseresearch.com. Australia has more wild horses (and wild camels) than any country on earth. (Photo by Dr Chris Pollitt)

What will a mother sacrifice for her child? Lots more for her son than for her daughter, if she's a wild horse mare.

Researchers from the University of Pretoria in South Africa trekked to the mountains of New Zealand to observe wild horse parental behavior, and suggest that the behavior mirrors human tendencies.

The mares often sacrificed more for colts in order to provide more milk and spent more time playing with colts than with fillies. Physical condition of mares raising colts was often worse than those raising fillies. Researchers presume that the most active and best fed colts developed into the strongest and healthiest stallions. Since horses are polygynous, the mare's genetic influence is increased by a colt who will go on to breed more offspring.

The scientists did mention the catch that if a colt does not grow up to be a dominant male, he will not be able to pass on the mother's genetic code, whereas chances are good that fillies do at least produce a number of offspring over their lifetime.

The scientific research will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Animal Behavior, but is capsulated in a terrific article prepared by the Discovery channel's web site. Comparisons are made to sex-preference studies in human mothers.

I have read studies like this before but this report is interesting because of the focus not just on the size of colts vs fillies but also the physical activity levels. Do colts play more and grow larger and stronger because they receive better care and nutrition from the mares? Or does their larger size and activity level require more nutrition and attention?