Gosh, this week’s been rather quiet for science news in the equestrian world, so I’m afraid there isn’t that much to report, but here are a couple of stories to keep you informed.

Last week I reported that The Blue Cross were worried lots of horses would be carrying excess weight this winter but now over in Ireland the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have different concerns.

They believe that the economic crisis has led to lots of homeless horses who could starve to death this winter. According to Horse & Hound Online many of these horses are racehorses who had been funded through racing syndicates until people could no longer afford to pay for them. The article suggests that more than 1,000 horses could die this winter and the Dublin SPCA have already taken in 84 horses.

Sticking with the theme of nutrition, you may remember my discussion a while ago about using a weigh tape on your horse and how it wasn’t always accurate if the horse was carrying a lot of fat. Well, now a new study carried out by scientists at the University of Liverpool has been examining body condition scoring and its relevance to helping fat ponies shed some excess fat.

The study, which was presented to the British Equine Veterinary Association, found that when overweight pones had their hard feed intake restricted over a 12 week period despite them losing weight at a steady rate their body condition scores didn’t change. This surprising result may suggest that body condition scoring isn’t the best way to measure whether your pony is losing weight or not.

The research group, who worked closely with World Horse Welfare and The Waltham Equine Studies group, are now hoping to develop a new condition-scoring system specific to ponies. Alex Dugdale, the lead researcher from the University of Liverpool, told Horsetalk.co.nz : "This will involve validating the relationship between actual measurements of body fatness and the external appearance of the pony.” Anyone with concerns about their pony’s weight should speak to their vet or a nutritionist.

Taking a break from all things nutritional, thoroughbred fans out there who are based in or near the UK may be interested in Europe’s Biggest Annual Thoroughbred Conference which is going to be taking place on 12th November at Cheltenham Racecourse. Tickets for the day are currently £69 with the prices going up shortly.

There are a host of seminars on from talks about jetlag in racehorses, how effective wormers really are, respiratory disease in foals and modern diagnostic techniques. Anyone interested in attending can book online on the official website here.

And finally, here’s a great video webcast on strangles in horses, courtesy of vetpulse.tv and is definitely an essential video for horse owners worldwide!



Now an anatomy trivia question for you:

Q. How many bones does an average horse have in it's body (excluding Arabs):
1. 100
2. 125
3. 150
4. 175

The answer can be found here on my profile page.