Overview of the Horse Industry: Functions & Purposes Lecture 1 Horse Management
Purpose - Role of the Horse Primary Purposes in the United States: 90 % Pleasure - leisure, trail riding, showing, lessons racing rodeo, polo, carriage, hitches police, transportation, work
History of Horse in United States Year # horses # in Type/ in US Indiana Uses 1910 26.5 M.62 M draft work 1940 4.5 M 110,000 draft wealthy 1970 2.2 M 87,000 Light breeds 2000 7.1M 185,000 Light breeds Race, show pleasure
Industry Overview 85-90% of horses kept for recreation only 1.4 Million FTE employed 1.9 Million own horses 3.9 horses/owner - Herd size 7.1 Million involved with horse industry Horse population follows human population
Types of Equine _Draft_ - cold blooded, heavy horses 17-19 hands tall, weigh about 2000 lbs... Belgian, Percheron, Clydesdale, Suffolk, Shire Light Breeds - more refined and athletic Race - Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds Show/Pleasure - Arabian, Quarter Horse, ++ 14-17 hands tall, weigh 400-1300 lbs... _Ponies_ - mature less than 58 inches Shetland, Hackney, Welsh, P.O.A. s
Draft Breeds
Light Breeds
Ponies
Breed Demographics - Foals Registered in 2000 American Quarter Horse - 110,714 = = American Paint - 54,400 + + + + Thoroughbred - 35,400 - - - Arabian - 11,594 - - - Standardbred- 11,336 - - - Tennessee Walker - 11,120 + + Appaloosa - 11,030 = =
State Demographics - Rank Order _Texas _California_ Florida Oklahoma Illinois Colorado Ohio New York Kentucky Michigan...14. Indiana - 24th
World Distribution of Equus - 1997 Country Equine X 1,000 Horses per capita Equine / sq. mile Russia 13,500.05 1.46 Brazil 11,158.129 2.48 China 9,800.012 3.42 Mexico 9,013.155 6.59 Argentina 8,786.236 4.44 Poland 7,842.098 23.61 USA 7,125.012.59
Most Common Unsoundnesses Bowed Tendons - tearing flexor tendons usually in front, low weak pasterns, deep surface Splints - pulled metacarpal ligament Ca deposits on upper cannon bone - offset knees Navicular - erosion of distal sesamoid in heel often steep pasterns, small foot, contracted heels Laminitis - chronic founder, damaged laminae often obesity, over eating, concussion Spavins - hock problems, posty or sickle hocked
Vital Signs of Horses Resting Normals Performance Maximums Pulse - _40_ bpm Resp. Rate - 10 bpm Temp. - 100-101 o F Pulse - _250_ bpm Resp. Rate -100bpm Temp. 105 0 F
Housing - Fences protect from weather, dry place to eat, storage 3-sided shed - closed cold barns - closed warm barns - ventilation - drainage - - keep them in - safely boards and posts woven wire w/board or electric pipe or pipe gates PVC - poly vinyl chloride plastic covered high tensile wire
Routine Health Management Internal Parasite Control Contagious Diseases Dental Care EIA - Coggins Hoof Care
Internal Parasite Control Strongyles (large and small) - larvae damage arteries and cause G.I. colic Ascarids (round worms) - migrate from G.I. Tract to lungs, problem in foals Bots - fly lays yellow nits, larvae damage stomach lining Pinworms - female lays eggs around rectum in tail irritant, indicator of parasites
Deworm Regularly Frequency depends on: horse density on pasture age use Methods Purge Naso-gastric tube Paste Continuous Daily in feed
Body Condition Scoring 1-3 Poor-Thin 4 Can see ribs, vertebra ridge evident 5 Back flat, can t see ribs, but can feel them 6 Crease down back, fat deposits 7-9 Fleshy - Extremely fat
Routine Health Management Floating Molars points on inside of upper and outside of lower interfere with chewing check mouth for irritating points at least 2x/year file with guarded file Hoof Trimming hoof grows 1/3-1/2 /mo... If grow>wear = trim if grow<wear = shoe reset shoes every 5-8 weeks
Diseases / Vaccinations TETANUS - lockjaw, clostridium - ALL RHINO_ PNEUMONITIS - virus flu & abortions ENCEPHELOMYELYTIS - EE, WE, & VE Strangles - distemper, strep bacteria, lymph Influenza -flu, various strains Potomac Horse Fever - ricketsia vector, water Rabies - virus carried in wild animals
Current Hot Diseases Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome 1980/2001 late term stillborn/abortions 60-90 day abortions cyanide, wild cherry trees, Eastern Tent Caterpillars West Nile Virus concern of human population birds two cases in IN new vaccine - conditional approval
Current Hot Diseases Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) blood borne w/ insects or needles, COGGINS Test for AB s no vaccine, always a carrier Equine Protozoal Myelitis (EPM) bird and raccoon spinal cord lesions test AB s in spinal fluid can treat and live
Metabolic Diseases of Nutritional Nature Colic Laminitis/Founder Physitis/Epiphysitis Exertional Myopathy - tying up paralytic myoglobinuria, rhabdomyolysis Rickets/osteomalacia, Osteochondrosis Acidosis, ketosis, alkali disease Toxicities - micotoxins, minerals, etc.
Digestive Categories of Horses Maintenance - basic requirements of life Growth - youngest has highest requirements Gestation - last three months Lactation - first three months Work - depends on activity light, moderate, intense
Levels of Performance/Work Light - western and English pleasure, trail riding, equitation, hacking Moderate - dressage, ranch work, roping, cutting, barrel racing, jumping Intense - race training, polo, cutting,
Digestive Tract - 100 feet long Stomach - small, frequent, meals; initiates digestion, like non-ruminant Small Intestine - site of most amino acid from dietary protein, most soluble CHO energy on grain diet, fat digested Cecum - site of bacteria needed to digest cellulose to VFA s in forages like ruminants Colon - absorb water, urea, no bacteria
Feeding Guidelines Eat 2.5 % of BW as Dry Matter Forage Always more forage than grains Access to water and minerals (salt) Need regular exercise - be athletic Most horse are overweight
Colic - #2 cause of death Most horses die of old age Colic - abdominal pain from numerous causes Medical colics - 95 % respond to mineral oil, pain killers, etc... Surgical colics - don t respond to medicine about 50% return to initial use
Breeding Management Seasonally Polyestrus - cycle regularly during seasons of increasing days length Estrous is 21-22 days Estrus lasts 5-7 days - ovulation last 24 hrs. Gestation is 340 days foals weigh 10-12% of the dam s weight commonly use A.I. with cooled semen, embryo transfer, now more frozen semen
Breeding Technologies Day Light - long day breeders (16 hours) Ultrasound - detect pregnancy Embryo transfer Flow cytometry - sex sorting semen Artificial Insemination cooled and shipped semen
Genetic Diseases CID - Combined Immuno Deficiency mostly Arabians autosomal _recessive_ dd diseased Dd carrier (hidden) DD normal HyPP -Hyper kalemic Periodic Paralysis Quarter Horses of Impressive breeding autosomal _dominant_ hh - normal Hh - diseased HH diseased
Careers in the Horse Industry Veterinarian Trainer/Exhibitor Breeder Farrier Instructor Boarding Stable Manager Feed Sales / Research Tack and Equipment Manufacturer/Sales Truck & Trailer Sales Fencing & barn builders Health Care Product Sales
Horse Industry Summary Small herd size primarily for fun dependant on discretionary income density follows people population high turnover in ownership Little long-term knowledge of horse management careers in education, services and products increasing science & technology It s the economy!