First of all, Andero and I want to wish each and every one of you a most joyful holiday season! I wish I’d been able to write this particular article several months ago as planned, but life definitely has a way of proceeding at a pace that’s largely beyond one’s control. In fact, I’d fully intended to finish up the series on proper landings as well as post several other articles I’ve been working on, but instead have spent much of my time this past year working on what I think will prove to be some exciting and useful new products. So things are finally in hand again – if only temporarily 😉 – and perhaps you’ll be able to brighten your own or someone else’s life with the first of those products, which I’m about to describe below…
A few years ago, someone gave me a belt whose buckle was a re-envisioned application of an inexpensive folding hoof pick, which I really liked! I’d already been toying with the idea of creating a belt buckle for the “hoof world,” and the way this particular belt adjusted and fastened inspired me to move forward with the project using a similar technique. That product is now available for purchase here, and I thought I’d introduce it by talking a bit about the entire product development process, which hopefully you’ll find interesting.
Regardless of the type of design I’m working on – electronic, mechanical, software, or aesthetic – most begin with a number of sketches such as the one shown below. In this case, I’m trying to capture the right shape and size for the buckle to evoke the impression a properly-trimmed bare hoof leaves in the sand.
Once I come up with a suitable rough design, I usually switch to the computer to more accurately capture the design intent and start working out the problems. For the buckle, I created a 3D solid model of it in my CAD (computer-aided design) software so I could get a better sense of its proportions as a three-dimensional object and fine-tune its dimensions.
There are always issues and potential issues with any new design, and identifying and solving them early on is always preferable to waiting until the design is actually in production. So after finally coming up with a cosmetically-acceptable CAD model, I also verified the design from a structural perspective by subjecting the model to various analyses such as the stress analysis below. In this particular case, I was examining the amount of displacement (“bending”) the finished product, made of brass, would experience if the hook had 20 pound of pulling force applied to it. Note that the maximum amount of bending would occur at the very end of the hook, which would flex only 17 thousandths of an inch!
The computer is a wonderful tool, but it’s difficult to substitute anything for actually touching and feeling a physical prototype. So I then had several minor dimensional variations of the design 3D printed so I could test the functionality of the buckle with various leather thicknesses. Once I identified the specific dimensions I wanted, I had a pattern for casting machined, and then off it went to the metal casting company to have the parts made.
As I was finalizing the buckle design and manufacturing, I was also visiting second-hand stores to find used belts I could cut up to make belt prototypes. Once I’d decided on dimensions and belt sizes, I created an engineering drawing for the vendor. And after two or three variations, an acceptable design emerged and the belt was finally done. Thus, a product is born!
All of this took months to get through, and I’m not going to drag this out by giving you the details of locating acceptable vendors and coming up with packaging for the belt. But I will say that more designs are in the works, and include some very useful tools for hoof care as well as other “fashion” designs. All of these products can now be found on my new eCommerce site.
Have a wonderful holiday! More articles (I promise!) and products to come in 2015…
It’s been my intention from the beginning of Enlightened Equine to occasionally showcase products and services I believe to be of exceptional value to horse owners and horse care professionals, but thus far I really haven’t done so. However, that’s all about to change as I devote this article to describing what I consider to be an extremely useful product AND service for owners and care providers just introduced by my friend and client Dr. Daniel Michaels. Like us, Danny is a “horse person,” and this product reflects his solid understanding of the horse owner’s wants and needs.
I can’t say for certain, but I suspect we all feel pretty much the same way about our horses. Translation: we spend a lot of time, energy, and money on them, and are therefore always interested in anything that may save any one or more of those. Well, EQUITAG HORSE is just such a product!
Simply put, EQUITAG is a system for managing practically every aspect of your horses’ lives from any smart device. Nearly any horse-relevant information can be stored in EQUITAG‘s online database, and then accessed from your smartphone or tablet. Vaccination records, feed information, favorite photos, training notes, vet appointments, YouTube videos – all of it, and much more, can now be quickly and easily stored in one convenient location. No more digging through files or piles to figure out when your horse’s teeth were last floated!
But the real power in Dr. Michaels’ product lies in the way this information can be accessed and shared. When you purchase a subscription (the introductory rate is $44.95/year, or – better still – a lifetime subscription is only $59.95), you’ll also receive a set of EQUITAGs photo-etched with your horse’s unique QR code. These tags, which can be scanned with a free app on any smart device, lead directly to your horse’s own profile page with all of his information, as shown above. The current EQUITAG subscription includes one aluminum stall tag, two aluminum keyring tags (think halter!), and one vinyl trailer (or tack box) tag. So you don’t have to carry those radiographs or Coggins test results with you any more; just scan one of your tags to retrieve them! And, of course, you can always access your profile page through the EQUITAG website via any Internet-connected computer or mobile device.
It gets even better. Once your barn manager or other care provider sets up his or her own free EQUITAG caregiver account, he/she then has access to (but cannot modify) all of your information! That means your care provider can verify your current feed or supplement schedule any time, or check when to bring your horse in for your upcoming hoof care appointment. But more importantly, in an emergency situation when minutes may count, he or she has immediate access to all of your horse’s medical information, which may mean the difference between life and death.
And since you can see and share profiles, it’s also a lot of fun! Meet other horse owners with similar interests. Set up people as Friends so you can exchange event information, coordinate training and show schedules, and schedule same-visit vet and massage therapist appointments. Imagine your entire barn equipped with EQUITAGs and simply scanning your stablemates’ tags to know when the dentist will visit!
I sincerely hope you’ll consider simplifying and enriching your “horse life” by adding EQUITAG to your horse’s life; you’ll both be glad you did!
Jared Lee’s cartoon makes light of what is pretty obvious to most of us: the horse is far better equipped to carry people than the other way ’round! And yet, as the size of our population continues to increase, the shrinking weight difference between horse and rider is definitely having an impact on the horse world. For example, one of the owners of the guest ranch I frequent in Arizona (the White Stallion Ranch) told me that although they don’t have an upper weight limit for riders (unlike most guest ranches, by the way), they’ve had to buy increasingly-larger horses to keep up with the changes in guest size. Likewise, my travels to various horse farms have led me to the same undeniable conclusion: there is a growing number of larger riders.
At this point, I realize some of you may be thinking “Oh no! I don’t think I like where this is headed!” But as I’ve mentioned before, my commitment is to the long-term comfort and soundness of the horse. And that includes not only proper hoof care, but nearly every aspect of equine management. So please understand that I’m just delivering information; what you choose to do (or not do) with it is up to you! On we go…
A few years ago, this subject caught the attention of a couple of our equine professors who were interested in finding research in support of some particular method of determining the maximum weight-carrying capability of a horse, particularly the common assertion that a horse should carry no more than 20% of its body weight. But as with many of the horse world’s popularly-held ideas, they found very little actual data to support any specific method or assertion. And so they decided to design a study of their own to investigate the effects of a horse carrying 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% of its body weight. The resulting paper, entitled “Evaluation of Indicators of Weight-Carrying Ability of Light Riding Horses” (DM Powell et al) was published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science (Vol 28, No 1Â (2008)). Their publication forms the basis for the information presented in the first part of this article.
I won’t go into great depth on their methodology here, but a brief summary is as follows:
Eight fit, mature horses – geldings and mares – of light horse type were used, with feed intake adjusted weekly to maintain initial body weight
During the course of the study, the horses were housed individually in stalls, with daily turnout
Each horse carried 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% of their body weight in a series of randomly-assigned trials, with 14-day rest periods between trials
After a standardized warmup, each horse performed a standardized exercise test with one of three experienced riders, with the load adjusted by means of lead weights added symmetrically to the saddle
Twenty-four hours before and after each exercise test, muscle soreness and tightness changes were evaluated by the same professional animal massage therapist in 40 consistent locations on each horse
Blood samples were collected immediately before and after exercise, with additional samples taken 10 minutes, 24 hours, and 48 hours after exercise
Heart rate, respiration rate, and rectal temperature were measured immediately before and after exercise
Both the subjective and objective results showed statistically-significant differences indicating greater work rates when the horses carried 25% and 30% of their body weight compared to 15% and 20%. More importantly, when horses carried 30% of their body weight, their serum creatine kinase activity – an indicator of skeletal muscle damage – was elevated immediately after exercise, and remained higher when measured 24 and 48 hours after exercise. So the recommendation that a horse carry no more than 20% of its body weight does, indeed, seem to have some defensible logic behind it!
For heavier riders, then, it might seem logical to use larger horses, right? Well, unfortunately, only to a point, because there’s also arguably an upper limit beyond which a horse’s congenital soundness is in question. Read what Dr. Deb Bennett, noted equine anatomist and author, has to say about equine size and soundness in Principles of Equine Orthopedics –
 Before horses were brought into domestication more than 5,000 years ago, the species averaged 13 hands, 2 inches in height and around 800 lbs. Until as late as 1820, horses over 15 hands, 2 inches and about 1100 lbs. were an absolute rarity – and this, by the way, is the maximum size that any wild equine ever attains. Only after the advent of railroad transport did teamsters see an advantage to utilizing cart and carriage horses that were in the 16- to 17-hand range and drafters going as high as 2200 lbs. (And no – despite what you may think you have learned from Hollywood, there were no knightly chargers as big as the modern Shire; the Medieval “Great Horse” stood 14 hands, 2 inches and weighed around 1000 lbs.). The modern Shire is twice as massive as the largest wild equine that ever lived, and the average riding horse which stands 16 hands and weighs 1400 lbs. is itself “pushing the design envelope”….It is sheer foolishness not to recognize massiveness as a significant contributor to abnormalities of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and dentition of modern horses. A good rule of thumb: any horse standing over 16 hands, 2 inches, or weighing in excess of 1450 lbs., is automatically and congenitally unsound for any use involving prolonged trotting, cantering, or jumping. In terms of horseshoeing, even when large horses are used for walk-activities such as pulling wagons or other heavy loads, their massiveness implies a need not merely for correct work but for constant orthopedic prophylaxis or “preventive and supportive medicine.”
Drawing of a mounted knight prepared for battle ca. A.D. 1500 by Albrecht Durer. Note the relatively small size of the horse vs. rider, and the evidence of strain on the horse’s back. From Conquerers: The Roots of New World Horsemanship by Dr. Deb Bennett.
Now, I realize some of you may be inclined to argue that certain breeds have denser bones than others, and are therefore better equipped to carry heavier riders. But Dr. Bennett also did some measurements and calculations of bone density using skeletons at the Smithsonian Institution, with the following results:
Horses that weighed (in life) 1000 lbs. or less had normal bone density. There was no consistent trend as to breed; they all fell within a single, fairly tight, cluster.
Horses that weighed 1500 lbs. or more had below-normal bone density, and although there were a few individual exceptions, the density tended to drop with increasing weight.
Horses between these two weights showed a weaker tendency for below-normal bone density. The majority of animals had normal bone density, but there were some which were as low as the lowest in the heavyweight group.
So although some breeds and individuals obviously have larger-diameter bones than others, and are therefore probably better suited to carrying more weight than other breeds, there’s no scientific basis to support the notion that, for a given bone diameter, the bones of a particular breed are stronger than those of another breed. In fact, based on Dr. Bennett’s evidence, one might argue that the less-dense bones of very large horses are probably weaker on a per-inch-diameter basis, in spite of their being bigger.
I also feel compelled to mention two other factors affecting weight-carrying ability:
 The horses used in the study were fit horses. So if your horse is out of shape and heavy, it seems logical that some percentage of that excess weight must be deducted from his weight-carrying ability. Because the extra body weight is fairly evenly distributed, it’s probably not the full amount, but I’m willing to bet that it’s at least 50% of the excess amount. For example, if his ideal weight (Body Condition Score of 5) is 1,000 pounds, but he weighs 1,100 pounds instead (Body Condition Score of approximately 6), his weight-carrying ability for rider and tack (assuming a 20% maximum load) would be reduced from 200 pounds to 150 pounds.
There’s no weight-carrying “bonus” for riders with good equitation skills, but the poorer the rider, the more of a reduction in weight-carrying ability would seem to be necessary to account for the added weight moving out-of-sync with the horse, which increases peak forces (and therefore strain).
I might also add that although proper foot care is always important for long-term comfort and soundness, Dr. Bennett’s research points out the absolute necessity of it for larger horses. So be certain to use a hoof care provider who not only truly understands the concepts of correct hoof form and function, but who also appreciates the necessity of minimizing unnecessary stresses on these horses’ joints by keeping them barefoot and properly trimmed. That will give your horse the absolute best chance at long-term comfort and soundness.
To help you more quickly determine a given horse’s weight-carrying ability, I’ve created the following charts – in pounds and kilograms – that cover a range of horses from small ponies to those at the upper limit of Dr. Bennett’s recommendation –
Chart in poundsChart in kilograms
I’ve also put printable versions of the charts here (pounds) and here (kilograms), so print one out and hang it in your barn. But don’t be too surprised if it makes some people uncomfortable! For our horses’ sake, it would be far better if we were all “in the green,” but I realize a great many of us are not. So please carefully consider what’s best for all concerned parties. And keep in mind that one fairly simple solution for many riders may be to get rid of that 40-pound Western saddle!
Meanwhile, guess I’d better think about doing away with the Fanta…
As I’ve acknowledged before, one of the best things about my life has always been the opportunity to both teach and learn, and our recent Liberated Horsemanship clinic in La Llacuna, Spain was no exception. With people gathered from Spain, France, Austria, Russia, England, Scotland, and, of course, the United States, we all had a marvelous time seeing, hearing, and sharing with some top-notch presenters and students on a wide range of topics. But now that I’m back home, I need to mention an important update to my writing on a subject very near and dear to the hearts of most horse owners this time of year: laminitis.
Laminitis is a particularly serious and painful condition and is the number 2 killer of horses, so if you’re not particularly familiar with it, I’d recommend you first read my previous posts on the subject:
As some of you know, last year I released an iPhone app to help horse owners assess the risk of their horses developing laminitis based on the work of Dr. Don Walsh, Director of the Animal Health Foundation and the veterinarian who authored a paper entitled Field Treatment and Management of Endocrinopathic Laminitis in Horses and Ponies. Shortly after the app was released, however, Don called to tell me he was very excited about the app but had noticed it was using the average caloric content values for grass given in his paper as if they were dry weight values, and not the grass-plus-moisture-content values I had assumed when I wrote the iPhone app as well as both the free Laminitis Risk Calculator spreadsheet and the Is Your Horse Eating Too Much? charts found under Tools in the sidebar. That meant that all 3 items were overestimating the number of grass calories your horse is consuming by a considerable amount!
And so, after consulting with a couple of my nutritionist colleagues at the university, plus some very helpful advice from Paul Sirois of Dairy One/Equi-Analytical, I revised all of them to use a “wet weight” equivalent of 20% of the dry weight grass calories. Arguably, it may be even smaller than that, but the experts feel it’s a defensible number that errs, if at all, on the conservative side. In other words, it’s a value that represents the “worst-case” situation for your horse. So the prediction of whether or not your horse is at high risk for suffering an episode of laminitis would almost certainly err on the side of caution, telling you your horse is at risk when he’s really not, rather than tell you he’s not when he really is! But after I rewrote the app code, I then spent a frustrating year trying to get the company who compiles my code for the Mac (I’m a PC guy) and actually posts it to the App Store to get the app updated. It’s now finally happened, so if you’ve purchased the app you’ll see an Update appear in the App Store. And if you’ve downloaded either the MS Excel spreadsheet or the graph, please download them again. You can watch the video about the LRC app by clicking on the image below –
I’ll also mention again that this app is a great help in quickly calculating the amount of calories a horse requires to maintain body weight for a particular work load, which makes it very easy to see how changes in feed, hay, and amount of pasture time affect his caloric intake. It makes planning and adjusting every horse’s diet a straightforward task, not just the ones where there are possible laminitis concerns. And if you don’t have an iPhone, you can still take advantage of the same information for free with either the Laminitis Risk Calculator for MS Excel or the caloric intake and requirement charts in Is Your Horse Eating Too Much?
I sincerely hope you’ll consider using one of these tools to help manage your horses’ diet and reduce his risk of suffering from the terrible pain of laminitis. Back to my The Myth of the Heel-First Landing series soon…
I know just how my horse felt when I took this photo many years ago. Following some surgery, he’d been stuck inside for a couple of weeks, so I carried a camera with me (pre-digital days, I might add!) as I turned him loose again for the first time. He was ecstatic!
The weather here in northeastern Ohio has been absolutely miserable this year, so I’ve been feeling rather trapped as well. But I’m fairly confident that soon the snow will disappear for good, the flowers will bloom, and another season of horse-related activities will begin! And to that end, I want to share some information about upcoming clinics and other appearances I’ll be making over the next couple of months.
First up is the Ohio Equine Affaire, held annually at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Columbus, OH. Although I’m not a speaker at this year’s event, I’ll be both attending the show and spending some time in the university’s booth – #702. If you’ve never been to the Equine Affaire (either here or in Springfield, MA), it’s well worth a visit! There are always plenty of horses to see, seminars and events to attend, and a whole lot of shopping. So check out the show schedule on their website, and if you come, please stop by our booth to say ‘hello!”
I’m once again offering my Understanding Natural Hoof Care workshop in May. This 5-hour lecture/demonstration is a wonderful introduction to the science behind proper hoof care, challenging the participants to set aside their preconceptions and watch as we reveal a logical, science-based approach to healthier hooves and happier, better-performing horses! And for those who’ve been curious about the actual trim experience, you can sign up for the full-day workshop version where we discuss the tools and techniques of proper trimming and conclude with cadaver hoof trimming. This is a great opportunity to share the advantages of “true” natural hoof care with others, so be sure to bring your friends!
I’m very excited about my new Equine Hoof Pathologies: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Options clinic, which is an offshoot of the teaching I do for Liberated Horsemanship in Warrenton, MO! I talk to many horse owners whose animals are collectively suffering from a relatively small number of pathologies that are directly tied to management issues such as feeding and footing. This 6-hour lecture/demonstration takes an in-depth look at the origins, diagnosis, and treatment of laminitis/founder, navicular disease/syndrome, white line disease, hoof cracks, abscesses, and infections, with an emphasis on simple preventative steps for the horse owner.
So, there are a few more possibilities for your “horse calendar!” We cover a lot of material in my clinics, but remember: once you’ve paid to attend a clinic, you can always retake that same clinic – any time or place it’s offered – as many times as you want for no additional charge.
