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SASKATCHEWAN Cowtown Saskatoon / Saskatoon Cowtown Regina / Regina Cowtown Weyburn / Weyburn Cowtown Swift Current / Swift Current Lammle’s Western Wear & Tack / Regina
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b IN THIS ISSUE
MARCH/APRIL 2017
42 30 Photo: Tanja Schneider Photography | 42 Photo courtesy of Kevan Garecki | 52 & 62 Photos courtesy of Tania Millen
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62 SPECIAL FEATURES 30 The Horse from Palouse River
42 Guide to Hiring the Right Horse Hauler
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A challenging three-week pack trip following a remote route over the Canadian Rockies.
62 The Wonders of Waterton
When choosing transport for your precious equine cargo, these tips from a fellow hauler will protect your peace of mind.
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Exploring wonderful Waterton Lakes National Park, where the prairies end and the mountains begin.
70 Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat
MARCH/APRIL 2017
Five days of relaxation, camaraderie, and spectacular scenery at a unique riding retreat.
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The story of Howard and Marylin Jackson and their lifelong passion for Appaloosas.
52 Crossing the Continental Divide
ON THE COVER The sunshine’s golden gleam is thrown On sorrel, chestnut, bay and roan. — Oliver Wendell Holmes PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/ANDRZEJ KUBIK
b IN THIS ISSUE
MARCH/APRIL 2017
10 Photo: Shutterstock/Best dog photo | 18 Photo: iStock/SFMorris | 24 Photo: Clix Photography
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10 24 HORSE HEALTH
DEPARTMENTS
10 Regenerative Medicine
New technologies hold promise for improved treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in horses.
18 Self-Mutilation in Horses
Understanding and helping the horse with this selfinjuring stereotypic behaviour.
22 Colostrum – An Exceptional Superfood!
Not just for newborn foals, colostrum can have a remarkable impact on your adult horse’s health.
24 Breeding Your Mare
An appreciation of the myriad details in the process will make the breeding journey go more smoothly, especially for first-time breeders.
2 To Subscribe 8 Editorial 78 Horse Council BC News 82, 84, 88
New & Noteworthy Products & Reviews
80 Canadian Therapeutic
Riding Association News
81 Manitoba Horse Council News 86 Hitchin’ Post,
Index to Advertisers
Inside B/Cover
Country Homes & Acreages
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MARCH/APRIL 2017
HORSE HEALTH
Regenerative Medicine
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/BEST DOG PHOTO
A NEW WAY FORWARD?
BY MARGARET EVANS
What exactly is regenerative medicine? It’s been a buzz phrase for a while now, yet it remains somewhat of a mystery to many horse owners as an application in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries suffered by performance horses in particular. Regenerative medicine is based on therapies that use blood products or stem cells harvested directly from the horse, then returned to the patient in a targeted therapeutic form. Since they are produced by the horse and returned to it, they are deemed to be natural, safe, and effective. Their applications treat a variety of ligament and tendon injuries, and there are a number of regenerative regimes including IRAP, PRP, stem cells and ESWT. 10
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IRAP IRAP stands for “Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein.” When a horse injures a joint, the trauma promotes the release of an inflammatory protein called Interleukin-1. This protein actually speeds up the joint’s inflammation and cartilage damage, resulting in pain. IRAP is an antiinflammatory protein that counteracts Interleukin-1. The IRAP therapy stimulates the horse’s own white blood cells to produce anti-inflammatory properties contained in the Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein. Harvesting IRAP is a process requiring the veterinarian to collect blood from the horse, then incubate the blood for 24 hours in syringes that contain special glass beads. These beads prompt the white cells in the blood to produce the therapeutic protein. The blood is then centrifuged in a machine with a rapidly rotating container, which uses centrifugal force to separate the plasma from the red blood
Figure 1 - IRAP
cells (Figure 1). This protein-rich serum is processed into multiple syringes, one of which can be utilized the following day and the rest frozen for future use. It is administered in doses by being injected directly into the affected joint according to the vet’s protocol. IRAP’s action on the joint brings the needed pain relief, and it has shown success in postsurgical joint therapies and in treating osteoarthritis and suspensory injuries. PRP PRP stands for “platelet rich plasma.” This therapy uses the horse’s own platelets to promote the healing of tendon and ligament injuries. Platelets are responsible for the clotting mechanism in blood. Like the IRAP therapy, blood is collected from the horse and spun in the centrifuge machine to separate out the platelets. When activated, this platelet-rich plasma releases a concentration of growth factors that contribute significantly to wound healing by aiding in the formation of new blood vessels and connective tissue to repair the injured area. It differs from IRAP in that the separated concentrated solution can be injected into the horse the same day it is collected. The goal with this therapy is to facilitate healing to return the site to original strength with minimal scarring. PRP has been found to be extremely effective for ligament and tendon injuries, structures that often do not return to their original strength and integrity with traditional treatments. PRP can also be used for joint injuries and wounds, and for granulation of tissue defects.
Centrifuge
Blood Draw
STEM CELLS Stem cells, harvested from the newborn or adult horse’s body, are referred to as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). They are commonly taken either from bone marrow or fat (adipose) tissue but can also be taken from a foal’s umbilical cord or cord blood following birth. Stem cells have shown enormous promise to aid in the healing of a variety of conditions including damaged cartilage, fractures, and ligament injuries. While a great deal of research continues to be done on the benefits of stem cell therapy, it is known that they have significant antiinflammatory properties, particularly when it comes to helping tendons heal. ESWT ESWT stands for “extracorporeal shock wave therapy” and uses non-invasive, high intensity shock waves to stimulate
Centrifuge
Cell Concentrate
Solution for Injection
healing. The waves are not actual electrical shocks but a rise in pressure generated by electricity. The waves promote energy to the site through pressure and density, which, in turn, stimulates a biological response in the release of growth factors and blood vessel formation. It has been used in conjunction with IRAP, PRP, and stem cell therapies. Clearly, regenerative medicine has opened up new, exciting modalities for healing, taking technologies to a whole new level beyond the days of cortisone. “The old standard for controlling pain in a region was always cortisone,” says Dr. Nick Kleider, owner of Kleider Veterinary Services, Langley, BC. “We still frequently use it as a primary treatment since one injection rarely hurts and it is very effective for decreasing inflammation. The problem with cortisone is that it decreases the metabolism of the area, and therefore can decrease the strength and integrity of the tissue with long-term use. By adding regenerative medicine to our treatment regime, we can pick and choose some of the healing MARCH/APRIL 2017
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HORSE HEALTH
Breeding Your Mare WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
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BY DR. LINDSAY ROGERS, DVM
PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY
F
rom bloodlines to athletic career to temperament, there are many different reasons to breed your mare. While the mare owner may have no trouble making the decision to breed their mare and choosing the perfect stallion, sorting through the myriad details involved in the actual breeding process can be challenging. Being informed about mares’ cycles and the different options for breeding can help make the breeding process go more smoothly, especially for first-time breeders. Mares are seasonally polyestrus. This means they have multiple heat cycles (estrus cycles) throughout the breeding season, but go through a period of not cycling (anestrus) during the winter, with transition periods in the spring and fall. A normal, cycling mare has an average 21-day cycle when she is out of heat (diestrus) for about 14 days and in heat (estrus) for about seven days. The lengths of diestrus and estrus can vary among mares, but an individual mare is usually consistent within her own cycles. During the estrus portion of the cycle, a follicle, which contains the unfertilized egg, increases in size on the ovary. In the average mare, a follicle reaches 35-65 millimetres in diameter before ovulating. The variation in follicle size is typically due to breed, but each individual mare will have a fairly consistent follicle size at which she ovulates. She will ovulate and release an egg at the end of her heat cycle. For best results, the mare should be bred as close to ovulation as possible, as this is the most fertile part of the cycle and hormones can induce ovulation within a certain time period. The egg is fertilized in the oviduct (which connects the ovary to the uterus) and then the fertilized egg drops down into the uterus about five days after fertilization. A normal mare will continue to cycle this way throughout most of her lifetime, but fertility does decline with age. Mares generally have good fertility until they are about 15 years old and then fertility begins to slowly decline between 15-20 years of age. After 20 years of age, fertility declines rapidly and mares will often no longer cycle once they reach their mid-20s. In order to determine where a mare is in her cycle, two different methods can be employed. In more intensive breeding management programs, these methods are often used in conjunction with each other. The simpler method, usually employed by breeders who are hand-breeding, is to tease the mare to be bred. To do this, the mare is brought to the stallion or the stallion is brought to the mare, and they are allowed to meet over a fence called a teasing board. This fence is usually covered with mats for protection from injury to stallion and mare. The mare is assessed to see if she shows signs of estrus, if she is disinterested in, or if she is aggressive towards the stallion. The other method is via palpation and ultrasound. Palpation is used to determine the tone of the uterus and cervix, and the size of the ovaries. Palpation is typically followed by ultrasound to look for visual changes in the uterus and to measure follicular size. This is commonly done when artificial insemination is being used to ensure timing is appropriate for breeding. There are many different options for breeding a mare, under two MARCH/APRIL 2017
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CANADIAN HORSE JOURNAL
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The
Horse from Palouse River
AND THE STORY OF
BC APPALOOSA CENTRE BY MARGARET EVANS
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The man steps cautiously in the darkness, pulling his fur clothing closer to him in the frigid cave air. He feels the roughness of the wall, his fingers tracing the lines etched by those who had come before. He is driven by an overpowering urge to precisely draw the beauty of the animal he saw. With a sharp piece of flint, he scrapes the surface smooth. Then, using mixtures of clay ochre, earth pigments, charcoal, minerals, and cave water, he mixes his paint on a piece of curved bone and applies it to the wall with his fingers and pads of moss. He shapes and shades the drawing with the use of a brush made of animal hair and blows pigment through his mouth. By the torchlight, he sees the horse take shape on the wall, the one with the white coat and the black spots he saw pawing for grass in the snow-streaked valley, its coat blending dream-like into the dappled shadows of the ice-white glacier. He has no idea that the allure of the spotted horse will capture the imagination of people 25,000 years into his future when the horse will PHOTO: TANJA SCHNEIDER PHOTOGRAPHY
become known as the Appaloosa… Until recently, archaeologists theorized that the spotted horses drawn on cave walls in southern France thousands of years ago were fanciful depictions with maybe some form of symbolic meaning. But, in fact, an international team of researchers using ancient DNA found that all the colour variations seen in cave paintings — including the celebrated Dappled Horses of Pech-Merle in France dating back more than 25,000 years — actually existed. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2011, was the first to produce evidence for prehistoric white spotted Heading to the winter watering hole.
PHOTO: MARYLIN JACKSON MARCH/APRIL 2017
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HOLIDAYS ON HORSEBACK
Crossing A THREE-WEEK PACK TRIP TRAVERSING THE CANADIAN ROCKIES BY TANIA MILLEN
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the
Continental Divide “Whoa up,” I called. One of the pack horses had broken loose and was causing havoc in our seven horse string. It was the first day of a three-week pack trip and all the horses were antsy, particularly my Spanish Mustang, Chocolate. He wasn’t happy being tucked in behind horses he didn’t know, leading one he didn’t like. I hopped off Chocolate and foolishly left him loose, breaking one of the golden rules of backcountry travel: always hang on to your horses. While Sue held horses, and Tom and I caught the troublesome pack horse,
Chocolate stealthily turned around then bolted down the back trail. “I’m going after him,” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran down the trail in his hoof prints. My running attire — chaps, hiking boots and a wax jacket — was not ideal. I was ticked off at myself and had lots to worry about: bears, how far Chocolate would go, and whether I’d ever catch the bugger. Eventually, I ran around a corner and found him grazing, wearing an oh there you are! expression. I hopped on and trotted back to Sue and Tom, concluding a nice 10 kilometre jaunt for him… not so nice for me.
Heading down to Azure Lake in Jasper National Park.
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HOLIDAYS ON HORSEBACK
THE WONDERS OF BY TANIA MILLEN
“Hey, bear,” I called out. I was leading Chocolate — my go-to Spanish Mustang — up a steep scree slope in thick fog. We’d just heard the telltale tinkle, tinkle of shale sliding down a slope, which had undoubtedly been kicked off by a travelling critter. After encountering two grizzlies on a previous ride, I was wary of bumping into mystery wildlife when visibility was limited to two metres.
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Waterton
The view at Avion Ridge in Waterton Lakes National Park.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN GARECKI
TRAILER & TRANSPORT
Guide to Hiring the
RIGHT HORSE
HAULER BY KEVAN GARECKI
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I’ve noticed a number of new start-ups on the local hauling scene. While I’m the first one to encourage any entrepreneur, the horse hauling business requires a little more under one’s belt than simply a truck and a trailer. So, in the interests of keeping all of us honest, I’d like to offer some tips to keep in mind when choosing someone to haul your horse. In today’s era of discount stores, no one can dispute the fact that “price is king.” The trend to market by price reminds me of the common law of business balance: The principle that one cannot pay a little and get a lot. In addition, paying a cheap price will not guarantee the buyer will receive a product of high quality value. There are few guarantees when it comes to the quality of discounted offerings from merchandise to services. One can be reasonably assured that by buying brand names we can expect a higher degree of quality, and there can be some “good deals” out there as well. Translating this to horse transportation obviously makes the decision more complex than choosing an appliance for one’s home. There are many things to consider when choosing a hauler:
Experience – This is always my principal consideration when shopping for any professional service. The longer they’ve been around, the more likely they are to have a good reputation. At the very least, their longevity is a good yardstick by which to measure the level of service they provide. If they’re no good, they wouldn’t have stayed in business for long. Reputation – Closely tied to experience is what folks have to say about them. Even the best transport company will have clients who have had negative experiences, but it should be easier to gather good stories about a hauler than bad ones. If you can’t find anyone who has used that hauler before, and/or the hauler doesn’t provide you with confirmed references, keep shopping.
Equipment – Good workmanship is not just the product of skill and talent, it takes the proper tools as well. The ability to spec trucks and trailers for commercial service is something experience lends to the hauler. It takes a lot of miles to discover what works, what doesn’t, and what makes the difference between a smooth ride and “The Trip From Hell.” Insurance – Anyone can print up a business card and call themselves whatever they want. One measure of competence is the breadth of insurance coverage they provide. Trip Planning – Most clients will want to know where their horses are likely to be at any given point along the way. This means every trip should have at least a tentative itinerary. Rates – Rates may seem high, but when you factor in the following: • cost of a properly spec’d truck and trailer (where even a one-ton truck and four-horse trailer can easily cost over $100,000); • cost of fuel (over 30 percent of any
transport business expense); • repairs and maintenance (25 percent); • insurance and other overhead expenses (20 to 25 percent). After considering the above, there’s really not a lot left for the hauler to take home. At the very least, the rate should make sense. Now that we have a few qualities to look for, let’s dig into each one.
Experience and Reputation
Judging someone’s experience and skill is best done by looking at what they’ve already accomplished. In terms of a hauler, you want names of folks they’ve hauled for, and not just anyone. For the most part “just anyone” could be someone that hauler has asked to provide a reference, and therefore not the most reliable source. Any professional’s best reference is going to come from another professional. So if the hauler offers references, the best ones will come from trainers, barn owners, and breeders. The next best source for information on a particular hauler can come from a mutual acquaintance. If the professional references don’t mean anything to you, ask
Anyone can hang out their shingle and call themselves a professional. When choosing a horse hauler, experience and reputation are essential requirements. Ask for references from other professionals in the industry, and satisfy yourself that their equipment is of good quality and well maintained. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/IOFOTO
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Equine Crib-Guard Spray from EQyss In 1991, some compassionate pet owners in Vista, California, founded EQyss to develop better-quality grooming products for their family pets. They not only committed to making products using scientifically superior ingredients, formulations, and manufacturing processes, but also committed to clean energy technology to lower their carbon footprint by using solar energy, purified water, and FDA manufacturing standards for the highest quality of production. Over the years, they introduced a range of superior products for horses including fly repellents, skin soothers, and mane-andtail detanglers. Now, they are excited to launch their latest product, Equine Crib-Guard Spray, a long-lasting anti-chew spray and gel that is guaranteed to stop your horse from chewing and cribbing. Cribbing is a frustrating behaviour in which the animal will place his upper teeth on a hard surface such as fence board or stall door and suck in a large amount of air. Sometimes the horse grunts as he gulps in the air. Crib-Guard is safe for all surfaces including wooden, plastic or metal fences, stall dividers, blankets, wraps, bandages or any surface your horse habitually chews. What is important is that Crib-Guard will not irritate the skin or harm vegetation, is alcohol-free, is safe on all surfaces including leather, will not stain blankets and wraps, and contributes to avoiding expensive vet bills, dental injuries, and digestive tract problems.
The Turnoverball™
B&W Trailer Hitches BY MARGARET EVANS Anyone who hauls a gooseneck trailer knows how frustrating it can be to have a hitch ball right in the middle of the truck bed during times when you need to use the box for loading supplies or equipment. Roger Baker and Joe Works, founders of B&W Trailer Hitches, knew this too. Thirty years ago, they pioneered an innovative engineering design that created a hitch when you need it, a level bed when you don’t — the Turnoverball™. What makes the Turnoverball™ so unique is that when not in use, the ball can be pulled out, turned over, and dropped back in the hole to stow beneath the bed. The mounting framework actually bolts to the truck frame and needs no welding, drilling, or bed removal to install. Their creation revolutionized the gooseneck hitch industry and is now the gold standard in the hauling industry. This type of ball storage and mounting system is used by nearly every gooseneck hitch manufacturer today. A hitch is only as good as the welds holding it together, so at B&W Trailer Hitches, they make sure those welds are done right at their plant in Humboldt, Kansas. Their skilled employees make those welds according to the ASTM Welding Standard. There’s a lot riding on your hitch, and those relatively small pieces of engineered steel play the leading role in keeping your truck and trailer connected. B&W also manufactures cab protectors designed to protect the cab rear window, and shield you from the impact of accidents that might put you at risk from that load of equipment in the bed of the truck. That’s why B&W produced a flawless structure designed to protect and fit the cab. And it looks good too, with pre-wired LED lights with chrome accents, heavy duty American steel construction, and high gloss powder-coated finish in black. It comes with a mounting kit. They’ve come a long way since those days in a Kansas garage when Roger and Joe put innovation to work and created the Turnoverball™. Today, their 240,000 square foot shop is just a kilometer from that original garage and employs 350 friends and neighbours. Quality remains their number one priority.
Find out more including ways to purchase EQyss products at > www.eqyss.com
PHOTO: CANSTOCK/ALEXEYS
To learn more, visit > www.turnoverball.com
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Cab Protector
PHOTO: ISTOCK / AMR IMAGES
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