The Horse's Advocate Podcast

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 the brain, and how both horses and humans think to connect and prevent a disaster. It might be refreshing, or it might be something you have heard before but need help understanding. Either way, it is how I have learned to connect with horses I've never seen before and, within 30 seconds, start floating their teeth without medication. What I do can be used today by you without any other gear. It is all in the way you think.

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 taking a stand. It is the start of Helping Horses Thrive In A Human World™, and I am grateful. I discuss the article and add other ideas that will interest all owners, including metabolic flexibility, a description of the batteries within all cells, and a brief discussion using physics to explain why athletic horses do not need an extra 200 pounds (about 100kg).

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 themselves fairly. They want dental care for their horses based on evidence, on one hand, and on the other hand, what is in the best interest of their horses.

There will never be randomized, controlled studies with enough horses and without bias done over long enough periods to answer, with a reasonable degree of specificity, the questions asked by horse owners: is what we do necessary and not harmful?

We do, however, have anecdotal evidence that has accumulated over a long time with many horses: 80,000 horses in 41 years. The purpose of this podcast is to say that while there is no proof of the causation of specific dental conditions in horses, abundant observations show strong correlations. With the AVMA pronouncing February as Pet Dental Month, horses (and all farm animals) are not mentioned. This absence is not encouraging.

Many horse owners want an alternative to what their veterinarian offers for the dentistry of their horses. I worry that the horses will go with no dentistry if they decline the advanced dentistry techniques of the veterinarians, who cannot offer both styles. This decision may not be an issue with the declining number of veterinarians electing to work with horses. 

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, ultrasonography of the equine tendon sheaths, and equine asthma. Each topic was informative, helping at a basic level with terminology and mechanics. But I add to the discussions to give you more depth and clear conclusions that will help your horses.

Join me as I review my notes and add more in-depth details to bring relevance to horse owners and Help Horses Thrive In A Human World™.

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 anyone to visit a farm with a horse needing care.

My podcast examines what might be happening and where to assign the blame. If you are listening to this podcast, please look at the images in the show notes or listen to my description of the paintings.

You may be surprised at who I blame, so don't get upset if I mention you in the run-up to my conclusion. As always, thank you for listening or watching. If you want to be part of the solution, pass on this information.

above - Veterinary care for a horse in 1895

above - Veterinary care for a horse in 2005

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" when feeding individual horses, but this concept is lost in modern technology. Computers automatically adjust factors in engineering, such as automobiles. However, when feeding horses, what kind and how much going in will be balanced with their overall health by systems within the horse. Adjusting the food and its associated inflammatory factors will positively or negatively affect these systems. It is one example of the many "factors" affecting both sides of the "calories in equals calories out" equation.

Helping to understand this complex concept, I use a simple banking analogy called the balance sheet: money in versus money out. Having too little makes painful problems, but having too much can too. Balancing the stress of taxes and excess work associated with more income offsets the extra work involved in maintaining what the money buys. To this point, horse owners work harder and longer to create the extra cash for the care of horses (or eat more food to build body fat reserves), while enjoying the use of the horse requires time and energy in training and competing (diet and exercise to maintain the ideal weight).

Adding the work needed to keep both sides close to balance is a lifelong challenge for all things, including our horses. The better we do this, the healthier our horses will be.

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 cortisol circulates in the body. This higher level affects systems, causing increased appetite, body fat storage, and muscle degradation. Over time, obesity occurs along with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), muscle wasting, lameness, hoof problems, immune suppression and autoimmune diseases, and other ailments commonly seen today.

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 explains what proteins are and why it is essential to start here.

Using a protein-first approach to feeding your horses, you are arming them to fight disease, illness, and lameness; all of these will end your horse's usefulness prematurely or worse. High-quality protein is the key to giving horses a healthspan and improving your return on your investment.

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 cells for use? I answer these questions to clarify the confusing information we all get from the noise of experts and marketing.

In a nutshell, horses get their fat from the cellulose they eat. If allowed to migrate over great distances, I'm sure there are other sources, such as oils from grains eaten in a short growing season. But when fed only pasture and hay, horses do very well in making what they need from the bacterial digestion of cellulose.

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, our memory fails.

This podcast is the first in a series that starts this process. I take one of the seven things placed inside the horse - sugar - and I define it and then discuss its relationship to the other things placed in the horse. Future podcasts will do the same for fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Later, I will bring these concepts together and look at how they work in our horses (metabolism) both on the cell level and the whole body.

If I do this correctly, everyone will have the information to feed horses in a way that will help them thrive. But only some people need the details to think that what I say makes sense. They "get it" but may not be able to defend it. These podcasts will help those who want to spread the information to others, and this is as important as helping your horses because there are so many more horses out there waiting to hear this message.

Let me leave you with what my client said yesterday, after switching over to a no-grain diet plus soybean meal eight months ago, "all of my horses are happier, fitter, healthier, coats are beautiful, weights look consistently perfect, and the performance has been nothing but fantastic!" Let's get this message out to others. Thank you for watching or listening. Doc T

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 Icelandic horses living in Germany, and the other paper discusses the incidence of oral health of the incisors and canines of Icelandic horses residing in Iceland, their natural environment.

The second subject of this podcast is understanding the scientific method of reporting studies and the interpretation and further questioning I have after reading them. It requires a mind willing not to take things at face value. There is no right or wrong to my interpretations. However, I make a clear point: reading scientific papers requires a lot of thought. Being spoon-fed information gets us all in trouble while thinking “outside the box” creates more questions than answers. Through better questioning, better solutions evolve.

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. For over 31 years, he helped Thoroughbreds compete at the New York race tracks, working with some of the best and famous. He left the racing world and moved to South Florida, where he and his wife built Left Bank Equine, a farm for rehabilitating horses, and a thriving sport horse practice.

Today, at 83 years of age, Dr Belden is riding reining horses and specializing in "project horses." He took some time to sit with me to discuss a variety of subjects you all will find interesting. Whenever James and I meet on a farm, time stops as we talk endlessly about horses and veterinary medicine. Sharp as a tack and with deep knowledge over more years than most, he offers his thoughts on today's approach to horse care. He agreed to spend his time tonight as we would on any farm on any day. Our live audience had questions for him, and he gave his best thoughts based on a world of experience few other vets can match.

This discussion took place at a "Rounds With Doc T" meeting available to members of The Horse's Advocate (TheHorsesAdvocate.com). Attendees were able to ask questions throughout our time together. It's on this podcast for all to hear worldwide because Dr. Belden's knowledge is worth sharing with everyone.

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 thereof) and the efforts of its findings to mislead horse owners about their horses' care. I then added the dental report that came with a horse I saw today. The bottom line is this: Floating teeth is all about removing oral pain from horses, nothing more.

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 disease." You must have clinical signs despite the blood work. It is a catabolic disease, so the horse must be losing weight: these and other tidbits.

3) Prevention Of Endocrinopathic Laminitis By IDing ID - Dianne McFarlane, DVM - She discusses how insulin is involved in laminitis, though it raises some questions about other causes. Testing, including the oral glucose tolerance test and others, are discussed. Prevention and treatment are also touched on.

4) Treating Equine Endocrine Disease: Is There Anything New? - Dianne McFarlane, DVM - Diet, metformin, and SGLT2 inhibitors are discussed.

5) Vitamin E For Horses: What Veterinarians Need To Know - Kelly Vineyard, PhD - The diseases of vitamin E in horses are discussed, along with familiar dietary sources for horses. She promotes a Purina balancer product, explaining why all horses should be fed this supplement.

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 Horses: Any Reason To Panic? Nicola Pusterla, DVM. Whether horses can get or give Sars-CoV-2 from or to humans is discussed. The Equine Coronavirus, unlike Covid-19, affects the gastrointestinal tract. Should we worry about this?

3) Protozoal MuloWHAT? Updates You Must Know. Nicola Pusterla, DVM. Equine Protozoal Myelitis (EPM) is one of 3 protozoal diseases horses can be affected by. How they are differentiated and treated, and preventive measures are discussed.

4) Gait Deficits Associated To The Cervicothoracobrachial (CTB) Syndrome - Jean-Marie Denoix, DVM - This part of the spine includes the neck and vertebrae near the withers. It also includes the forearm area, specifically the innervation of the forelimb and the relative position of these nerves to the vertebra and the 1st rib.

5) Gait Deficits Associated To Thoracolumbar Conditions - Jean-Marie Denoix, DVM - This part of the spine is the collection of the vertebra between the front limbs and the hind limbs. He discusses Spondylosis and Kissing Spine.

6) Gait Deficits Associated To Sacroiliac Injuries - Jean-Marie Denoix, DVM - The discussion revolves around injuries to the pelvis and its connection to the spinal vertebra and the associated neurologic damage.

Here are the lectures covered on this day.

1) Why Understanding Injury Pathogenesis Is Important, Chris Kawcak, DVM. He first discusses why understanding injury is essential, then moves to define lameness versus asymmetry. The problem is predicting the outcome for individual horses.

2) Using What We Know To Influence Injury Prevention, Chris Kawcak, DVM. The task of identifying at-risk horses before they are injured. This discussion is divided into 1) external data using wearable devices, 2) internal data, 3) perceptual well-being, and 4) readiness. He touches on machine learning (AI), reiterating the importance of easily predicting before they occur.

3) Medical Perspectives in the Equine Social License to Operate, Chris Kowcak, DVM. This talk was about how the world perceives the use of horses in sports, creating a loss in industries such as Greyhound racing and reducing the workforce in all horse-related endeavors. He discusses the industry's efforts to provide transparency to make things better for horses.

4) Update on Yearling Thoroughbred Repository Findings, Chris Kowcak, DVM. This well-funded study brought radiographs of 2-year-old sale Thoroughbreds that independent radiologists assessed. Then, race results analyzed a year later helped to look back on the radiographic findings with a clearer insight into their ability to predict injury or lack of further damage based on lesions seen.

Here are the lectures covered on this half day.

1) Healing With Horse Power, Liberty Getman, DVM - discussing regenerative medicine for osteoarthritis using IRAP (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein), PRP (platelet rich plasma), Restigen®, Pro-Stride® and PPP (platelet poor plasma). 

2) Emergency Service: Thinking Outside The Box, Amy Grice, DVM - The crisis of the reduction of equine veterinary practitioners is addressed, specifically in the ability to provide emergency care for clients. 24/7 availability ranks as the #1 reason a client chooses a veterinarian and the #2 reason practitioners quit.

3) The Science Of Joint Supplements: What Does The Evidence Say? Chris Elliott, MRCVS - A discussion of the various supplements used to remove pain from joints with osteoarthritis. He notes that we are moving away from pain medication towards antioxidant supplements that remove the cause of pain.

4) This wasn't at the meeting but was worth reporting on. The Horse magazine posts a question about soybean meal (SBM), which the principal equine nutritionist at Purina answers. I discussed her response. Interestingly, I met her a few days later at this conference.

The annual Florida Association of Equine Practitioners meeting is in Palm Beach, FL this week. I review the topics to be covered, helping you see what the world of practicing equine veterinarians is discussing.

I also discuss the importance of the insulin-to-glucagon ratio in adding or removing body fat as a glimpse of the detailed discussion on the recent membership “Rounds With Doc T.”

I want to give horse owners a different perspective on whether to feed their horses vitamins. Most discussions on this subject discuss what diseases are prevented by supplementing with which vitamin. I will not repeat this because 1) others have done this, and 2) there needs to be more good science behind their findings. Instead, I will tell you how vitamins work, if supplementation works, and the difference between vitamins from food, food sources, and chemicals like coal tar. 

Doing a thought experiment, I asked listeners if giving synthetic vitamins (and amino acids) can cause inflammation. I also ask if processed foods have more benefits to health than whole foods, identifying some unique situations where they may be indicated (soybean meal).

These are the linked articles mentioned in this podcast:

•  
• Vitamins and Minerals | NCCIH

• Vitamin | Definition, Types, & Facts | Britannica

• Vitamins: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

• Vitamins and Minerals | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

• Dietary Supplements: Separating Fact from Fiction

• Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamins – Why It Matters | Dr. Berg

• Avoid this List of Synthetic Vitamins for Gut Health

• Synthetic vs Natural Nutrients: Does it Matter?

• 90% of Vitamins are Synthetic - Myersdetox.com

• All About Where Vitamin Supplements Come From - Precision Nutrition

• ‘Synthetic vs natural’: Start-up targets fortification category disruption with organic plant-derived nutrients

• Big Pharma or Family Owned - Who Makes the Vitamins You Take?

• The 10 Largest Vitamin Companies In The United States - Zippia
• Where Do Supplement Ingredients Come From, and Why Does it Matter? | Vitacost Blog

________________________________

TheHorsesAdvocate.com is a website about horses, horse barns, and farms. There is a membership side of the website where horse owners can attend live meetings to ask questions and get a deeper understanding of things they have learned on the site.

TheEquinePractice.com is a website that discusses how and why I perform equine dentistry without immobilization or the automatic use of drugs. I only accept new clients in Florida. TheEquinePractice.com/appointment

HorsemanshipDentistrySchool.com is a website for those interested in learning how to perform equine dentistry without drugs on 97% of horses. There are eight spots a year for interested students PLUS, there is a separate online course for those wanting to learn how to do this but can never get to South Florida for hands-on training.

Show support for The Horse's Advocate by wearing a hat or shirt or drinking from a cup, all with the official logo. Go to this link for our swag.

Please give a thumbs up or 5-star review and share these everywhere. I know horse owners worldwide listen, and the horses need every one of you in "Helping Horses Thrive In A Human World."

What is an identity? Is it the thing that makes you an individual, or does it make you identical to others? Which one is it for an equine veterinarian? As the number of veterinary schools and new graduates increases, the latter definition of identity generates like-minded, cookie-cutter professionals focused on themselves rather than the people they serve.

Yes, after today's farm visits, I'm a bit angry. I talk about it on this podcast, knowing that some veterinarians may not like what they hear. I hope you hear my passion and don't call me names like "old school." But too many horse owners spend their time with me complaining about the veterinary care available to them. These complaints range from no veterinary care offered in their area to new vets afraid of horses to high prices with poor outcomes.

Only 1.4% of graduates in the United States become horse vets (56 total in 2022), and half quit within five years (28). Why? Could the vet schools be training students to look inward for satisfaction rather than outward at who they serve? If veterinarians forgot about work-life balance, inclusion, equality, and salary and focused on serving people as an honor and a privilege, being grateful for every opportunity to do what we only dreamed about before graduating, there would be less quitting and more happiness. However, in every professional journal, much attention is spent on making the veterinarian happy through social programs and money.

The solution is simple. Veterinarians serve the person asking for help through their animal. Thinking about this may take a moment, but passion develops by serving the owners through their horses. Passion drives you to do more than is expected, and gratefulness is the reward that is addicting. While this applies to all vets and other professionals, large animal vets (horse, cattle, swine, poultry, small ruminants) are unique because they must work in harsh environments and risk their lives driving and working in uncertain environments with large animals. I wouldn't want it any other way.

________________________________

TheHorsesAdvocate.com is a website about horses, horse barns, and farms. There is a membership side of the website where horse owners can attend live meetings to ask questions and get a deeper understanding of things they have learned on the site.

TheEquinePractice.com is a website that discusses how and why I perform equine dentistry without immobilization or the automatic use of drugs. I only accept new clients in Florida. TheEquinePractice.com/appointment

HorsemanshipDentistrySchool.com is a website for those interested in learning how to perform equine dentistry without drugs on 97% of horses. There are eight spots a year for interested students PLUS, there is a separate online course for those wanting to learn how to do this but can never get to South Florida for hands-on training.

Show support for The Horse's Advocate by wearing a hat or shirt or drinking from a cup, all with the official logo. Go to this link for our swag.

Please give a thumbs up or 5-star review and share these everywhere. I know horse owners worldwide listen, and the horses need every one of you in "Helping Horses Thrive In A Human World."