There is a turf war between veterinarians and non-veterinarians, both wanting to provide horses with preventive dental care. It started in the late 1990s and has gained protection behind laws meant to protect horse owners. But is there proof that any approach to floating is better than another? Or is it just positioning based on territorialism? I used the following script to make this podcast, but I also added to it freely to emphasize several points. This podcast is more formal than usual...

This podcast is about sugar as a fuel for our horses to use when it's needed to run away from danger. However, I also tell the story of the risks of eating more sugar daily than is required to fuel the body.  The first thing to know is that the body can make all the sugar needed to make it through the day. Adding sugar to food is required for only two things: replenishing stored sugar as glycogen for the next emergency and storing it as body fat for future use. Think of it as cash that you...

This podcast breaks down how to feed horses into five simple rules based on what the food does, good and bad, within the horse. It is a short discussion that avoids a deep dive into science. Instead, it is a to-the-point instruction set for those wondering why their horses are falling apart in front of their eyes and what they can do to help the horse survive. There are no gimmicks or supplements. If your horse is sick or lame, there is a strong chance it has been caused by the food they...

This podcast provides an alternative perspective to an interview published in an equine veterinary magazine with a board-certified veterinary equine dentist about EOTRH (Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis). I am troubled by what was said. Professionals are skipping to conclusions in a world demanding scientific evidence for decision-making on health issues. Worse, their focus is on treating this disease while saying multiple times that the cause is still unknown. In...

This podcast discusses the basics of breeding the mare and delivering the newborn foal. The number one rule of getting your mare bred is to develop good daily observational skills and record what you observe. This will show the subtle signs needed to get your mare bred successfully. The next most important thing to do is to create a good working relationship with a veterinarian skilled in reproduction. Delivering mares requires no intervention 90% of the time. However, you should still...

This podcast discusses two significant thoughts about equine veterinary medicine. The first is the breadth and scope of veterinary medicine, which is so much more than just horses. This is evidenced by my discussion of all the articles presented in this month's Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA). The second is that most new veterinary graduates are being trained for and applying to small animal medical practices. Horse owners have two responsibilities: first, to...

This podcast discusses a comment by a listener who likes what I'm saying but doesn't like to feed herself or her horses anything genetically modified or treated with chemicals. All of us will agree with her. But is it possible in today's world? Is avoiding these two criteria (GMOs and chemicals) important relative to other factors, such as chronic protein deficiency? What can we control with the care of horses, and what is beyond our control? Most horse foods are altered and treated...

In this podcast, I discuss two diseases that affect horses: Kissing Spine, which involves the overriding spinous processes, and peripheral vestibular disease, which is discussed at about the 16 to 17-minute mark. Kissing Spine is a relatively new condition discovered thanks to advancements in X-ray technology. The images show abnormal bone on and between the upright vertebrae spines. However, some veterinarians question the significance of finding these lesions on the X-ray of the...

Many people face difficulties in convincing horse professionals such as vets and farriers to consider alternative approaches to horses' health. These professionals tend to resist change, making it uncomfortable to persuade them to adopt new ideas. I have recorded a podcast to discuss a book on horse health that was written over a hundred years ago in 1916.  During the podcast, I read some paragraphs from the book and encouraged the listeners to question why certain diseases occur in...

Published March 13, 2024 The First Law in my book, The Ten Irrefutable Laws Of Horsemanship, states, "A Horse Can Kill You." They are quicker and more muscular than humans, with clubs at the end of each limb. My original mentor, John Steiner, DVM, was killed by a horse while he was working on a stallion after his retirement. This week, two horses tried to add me to the list of fatalities caused by horses. But they didn't.  This podcast is about why they didn't, how I use the knowledge of...

Published March 6, 2024 Feeding grain and processed feeds and supplements are killing our horses, yet these companies continue advertising to horse owners in all the horse magazines. However, with the Spring 2024 issue of The Horse, I discovered there were no ads for these foods, except for three supplements. Why? Because this issue focuses on equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). How can they do this and simultaneously promote the cause of EMS? They can't! Kudos to this magazine for...

February 21, 2024 I floated my 80,000th horse this week since my first one in May 1983. I include horses I helped in training others and a low estimate of the numbers I did from 1983 to 1997. So, if you want to be picky, you can reduce this to about 65,000 horses. But this podcast isn't about me and the enormous amount of horses I've seen for dental care. It is, instead, a call for help for the profession to start listening to horse owners who want their horses treated with respect and...

I attended the 2024 Ocala Equine Conference for my continuing education credits. While attendance is mandatory for maintaining my veterinary license, I have always found that these meetings fall short of inspiring me to learn. Instead, they help confirm that I am on the right track in bringing current information to you, the horse owner, while also generating more questions for me to investigate. In this podcast, I cover three topics discussed at this convention: free fecal water syndrome,...

The first six weeks of 2024 have the highs of positive comments about horse owners changing the way they care for their horses, with them seeing positive results, and the lows of horse owners on the point of frustration because they can't get the care they need. The lift I get from those who have found my information helpful is the fuel to keep me going. However, in the past seven days, several stories have come to me describing ineffective care, advice, and even outright inability to get...

When used to understand nutrition, "calories in equals calories out" is the message of the First Law Of Thermodynamics. Everything on Earth, including horses, abides by this law; however, many factors affect both sides of the equation. It makes sense because every horse responds differently to the foods eaten and the amount of work done. Identifying the factors affecting a horse's response to what they are fed starts with understanding this law. I offer the vision of "adjusting the dials"...

Stress comes in two parts: the immediate response from the adrenal glands with adrenaline and the longer-lasting response from the adrenals with cortisol. There are specific reasons all mammals (humans and horses) have these stress systems: life is stress-filled. In the past, stress factors were much less frequent, so the body had a chance to "reset." Unfortunately, in today's world, the effect of continuous stress adds to the "set point," causing it to rise with the result that more...

This podcast continues the simplification of one of the 7 "things" placed into our horses. These are air, water, minerals, various plant compounds, sugar, protein, and fat. The last two podcasts covered sugar and fat. Today, I discuss protein in the diets of horses. Proteins are the most important of all the ingredients that horses need besides air and water. When planning horse diets, you must determine how much protein is required before adding carbohydrates and fats. This podcast...

This podcast continues the simplification of one of the 7 "things" placed into our horses. These are air, water, minerals, various plant compounds, sugar, protein, and fat. The last podcast covered sugar, and the next podcast will cover protein. Today, I discuss fat in the diets of horses. Where do horses naturally get their fat in their diets? Is adding fat to the diet good for horses? What exactly is fat, the Omega fats, and how do fats get from the gut or the fat cells to the muscle...

PLEASE NOTE AN ERROR AT 32 minutes and 25 seconds: I said (and wrote) pyruvate, but I meant to say PROPIONATE as one of the short chain fatty acids. Welcome to 2024! This year, I aim to break down all the details of what we feed our horses into bite-sized, easy-to-digest pieces of information. Based on feedback, when we get an overload of information, only parts stick in our memories and knowledge base. When challenges, either by ourselves or others asking questions about what we've learned,...

This podcast is a mix of two subjects. The first subject concerns oral care and teeth health in horses. I go over a paper about peripheral carries, which is the decay of the outer edge of the cheek teeth near the gum line. I explain how the tooth is demineralized (loses minerals) as the pH of the oral cavity changes by the food and water consumed.  I also looked at two related papers. One goes over the prevalence of EOTRH (a disease of the jaw, incisors, and canine teeth of horses) in...

James Belden, DVM, is a quiet horse vet who became a friend when I helped him find the Hertz car rental facility at Newark airport on a cold January day in 2006. From that serendipitous meeting, James became a mentor and kindred spirit. He is my colleague with more horse experience than I can imagine with all types of horses and veterinary cases. James worked with horses on the farm as a boy and moved quickly through school, graduating from Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1964....

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I have a special message at the end of this podcast, but the essence of it is this - I am thankful for each person who takes the time to listen to my podcast and then share it with others. Together, we all will Help Horses Thrive In A Human World! I ran across a brief article filled with so much misinformation about dentistry in horses and its relationship to their nutrition that I had to pick it apart. Join me on this quick rant about science (or the lack...

Here are the lectures covered on this day. 1) A Review Of A Novel Treatment For Equine Osteoarthritis: Intra-articular 2.5% Polyacrylamide Hydrogel - Megan Green, DVM - A product manufacturer presented this talk. She described using a registered medical device injected into the joints of horses (and humans) that helps cushion the concussion and provides a scaffolding for cartilage repair. 2) Diagnosis Of PPID In Practice - Dianne McFarlane, DVM - "This is a dopaminergic neurodegenerative...

Here are the lectures covered this day. 1) Relevance Impact of Common and Lesser Characterized Respiratory Viruses Associated With Upper Airway Disease. Nicola Pusterla, DVM. Identifying common viruses and separating them from the common bacterial infections of the upper airway is the main focus of this talk. Discussion includes Equine Herpes Virus 1&4, 2&5, Equine Influenza Virus, Equine Rhinitis Virus, and the bacteria Strep equi. Prevention is touched on. 2) Coronavirus In...