Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Purina!

I love incorporating my animals into holiday cards, and I get asked from time to time how we actually get some of them done, especially the photos of the pony in Christmas lights and eating the snowman’s nose.  Here are my secrets:

Step one- Delegate: Get your poor husband involved and make him do the heavy lifting and construction-

Purina Ambassador Guest Post - Boyd and Silva Martin

Good nutrition is a key factor in performance, and we have been very happy with the Purina products that we have been feeding for the past several years. With two barns full of horses competing in both eventing and dressage, from greenies to world-class horses, as well as few older campaigners on maintenance diets, our horses’ nutritional needs cover a broad spectrum.

For instance, Boyd’s four-star eventer Trading Aces, who competes all over the globe and was the leader of the US team at the 2013 Boekelo CCI4* in the Netherlands, is on a high-energy diet of Omolene 500^® horse feed. Some of the hotter event horses who need plenty of fuel for cross-country but have trouble containing all that energy in the dressage are on Purina Ultium^® Competition Horse Formula.

Purina Ambassador Shawn Flarida Guest Post

Hi Purina fans! My name is Shawn Flarida and I am the National Reining Horse Association’s Leading Rider with $4.9 Million Dollars in earnings. I have been partnered with Purina for several years and it has been one of the best relationships I have had with a company. I spent many years experimenting with different types and brands of feeds before I discovered Purina and their great products. We also have the same outlook on what we do. Both Purina and I want to be the best at what we do and we work hard to make sure that we are providing a great product for our customers.

My training program has everything from yearlings, two year olds, three year old futurity horses, breeding stallions and aged horses in it so I need a company that can provide a wide variety of high quality feeds. Although my facility is focused on show horses, my wife Michele and I own several broodmares and raise four-five babies each year too. Horses need different feeding programs depending upon where they are in the growth cycle as well as the training cycle.

5 Tips for Preparing Your Horse (and Yourself) for Winter

Winter is just around the corner, and it is time to start thinking about how you are going to keep your horse in top health during the season. There are many aspects to your horse management, nutritional and veterinary health programs that should be assessed prior to the onset of cold weather. Here are 5 tips that may help you “winterize” your horse and get your management practices geared up for the weather changes ahead. 

1.  Water, Water, Water. 

Providing a clean, abundant water source in the winter can be a real challenge. But adequate water intake is especially critical in the winter as dry cold air can cause a horse to dehydrate quickly and additional hay intake increases the horse’s need for water. Most instances of impaction colic occur in the winter and the middle of summer because this is when horses are most likely to not consume enough water which compromises gut motility, fiber digestion and the movement of manure through the small colon. Consider adding Purina^® HyrdaSalt^® supplement to your horses’ daily ration to encourage maximum water intake. Be sure your horse always has easy access to water; avoid overflowing your water troughs and creating ice around them; and make sure tank heaters are in good working order and that electrical cords are out of reach of the horses. Some horses have a strong preference for a particular water temperature. Water that is too cold or too warm may make horses back off from drinking. Providing water at the horses’ preferred temperature range will help to encourage drinking.

Purina® Hydration Hay® Blocks Improved Hydration Levels During High-Heat Transport

Since we launched Purina® Hydration Hay® in early 2013, we have had numerous reports of horses benefiting from the combination of quality hay immersed in water for an all-in-one meal. Horses during transport, at horse shows, in the veterinary clinic, during cold snaps and more were staying hydrated and healthy from this innovative product. But with most things at Purina, we love to rely on hard numbers and scientific experiments. We had completed a lot of manufacturing trials and field study work with this product, but wanted to follow it up with a controlled experiment looking at hydration in horses, especially during transport, comparing Hydration Hay® to long-stem hay. I am happy to report, the data are now in! And it’s very “cool”:

• Horses eating Hydration Hay® before, during and after transport averaged a 3.3L higher water intake than horses eating long-stem hay

• Horses in the Hydration Hay® group during the first (higher ambient temperature) haul had lower rectal temperatures during transport

• Horses in the Hydration Hay® group had lower respiratory rates by the end of the trailer ride compared to horses eating long-stem hay

• Horses in the Hydration Hay® group had a trend for lower packed cell volumes during transport

What does this mean? Horses that received Hydration Hay® during transport demonstrated multiple improvements in hydration status compared to horses with access to long-stem hay. Overall, these horses arrived back at the university cooler and less stressed than their hay-eating counterparts.  These are very exciting results with implications for helping horses to remain hydrated and healthy on the road, especially during long trips under high temperatures. 

In conducting the study, we collaborated with a colleague of Dr. Vineyard’s at Texas A&M University-Commerce, Dr. Jackie Wahrmund. We felt the high Texas heat was a perfect place to test Hydration Hay® in action.  Next, we designed a cross-over study looking at feeding Hydration Hay® before, during and after trailering, compared to feeding typical long stem hay. Then we measured many variables related to hydration status before, during and after long transport of approximately 9 hours.  Some of those measurements included body weight, water intake, heart rate, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, blood urea nitrogen, creatine, packed cell volume, skin turgor and capillary refill time.   As predicted, it was hot and humid during our two hauls. The ambient temperature for the first haul was 105º F with a heat index of 109º F!  The second haul a week later was thankfully about 10 degrees cooler.

Visit purinahorsehayblocks.com for a $10-off coupon on Hydration Hay® and get your horse ready to roll for his next trip!

Citations:
H.N. Graham, J.L. Wahrmund, M. E. Gordon, K.R. Vineyard, K.L. Dowdle, and L.L. Walton. Effect of Hydration Hay™ on blood metabolites, vital signs, and bodyweight change of horses transported long distances during summer conditions. American Society of Animal Science Meeting (Southern section).
 H.M. Huff, J.L. Wahrmund, H.N. Graham, M.E. Gordon, K.R. Vineyard, and K.L. Dowdle. Effect of Hydration Hay™ on Water Intake, Blood Urea Nitrogen to Creatinine Ratio and Vital Signs of Horses Transported Long Distances During the Summer.  American Society of Animal Science Meeting (Southern section).

2013 Purina Equine Veterinarian and Vet Technician Conference – Another great meeting!

The 14^th Annual Purina Equine Veterinarian Conference, held at the Double Tree Hotel within the historic Union Station, downtown St. Louis on October 11 – 13 was by all reports, a resounding success.  Consistent with the standard that Purina has set over the years for hosting a high-quality, informative yet fun meeting, this year’s conference was rated highly by over 350 attending veterinarians, vet technicians and vet students.  The group was hosted by over 30 Purina Sales Specialists and the entire Purina Horse Business team.  We all learned a great deal and had a wonderful weekend. 

The meeting kicked off on Friday evening with a joint presentation by Dr. Mike Pownall, DVM and Mr. John A. Chalk, Jr., CPA, JD, CFP who talked to the audience about tools for managing and even building business in today’s tough economy.  The presentations on Saturday and Sunday were focused on equine endocrine and myopathic conditions, topics that were timely and important to the attendees.  Purina was very proud to have Dr.’s Dianne McFarlane, DVM, PhD, DACVIM  and Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, DACVIM present the latest research findings on conditions including PPID, EMS, PSSM, Shivers and other equine myopathies, along with case-based information and experience to help practitioners with differential diagnostics and treatments.   

Red Maple Toxicity (RMT) – A Fall Danger for Horses

The drought in Missouri has caused an early leaf change in our trees this year at the research center.  As I got into my truck this morning, there were fallen leaves from the huge silver maple that sits next to my driveway stuck in my windshield wipers and it got me to thinking about the dangers dead maple leaves can pose to horses and I decided to write a blog post about it.

Red maple tree just beginning to show its’ fall colors – Photo by K. Williamson

Red maple trees (Acer rubrum) are absolutely gorgeous in the fall when their leaves turn bright flame red, which is one reason why they are among the most popular ornamental trees in the United States.  However, red maples can pose a serious health risk to horses.  The dried or wilted leaves of the red maple contain an unknown oxidant toxin or combination of toxins which cause damage to red blood cells leading to a condition known as acute hemolytic anemia and/or increased formation or abnormal accumulation of methemoglobin (an abnormal form of hemoglobin that is not capable of carrying oxygen).  Horses are more susceptible and commonly affected by RMT than other species.  Red maple toxicity may occur throughout the growing season but cases are more common during the late summer and fall.  The seasonal increase in cases of RMT appears to be due to 2 main factors:  First, the toxic principle(s) in the leaves appear to increase later in the growing season and are especially abundant in the fall.  Second, horses have more access to the toxic leaves during the fall months when the trees are shedding their leaves which may fall or be blown into pastures.  Consumption of as little as 1 gram of red maples leaves per kilogram body weight can result in fatality.