AUTUMN 2012
NEWS
Plum Park Farm, Watling Street, Paulerspury,
Towcester, Northants NN12 6LQ
☎01327 811007
Getting Your Horse Fit
Preparation
Before you start you must decide if your horse
is ready. Have his teeth been checked recently,
are his vaccinations up to date and if he is
coming back from an illness or injury, has he
had enough time off?
Consider the type of horse you have and the
end level of fitness you would like to achieve.
Your horse will take longer to reach the end
goal if he/she;
- is a heavy breed
- is over weight
- is a youngster or veteran
- has had a considerable time off, rather than
been kept ‘ticking over’
- is coming back from an illness or injury
As you bring your horse back into work
It is important not to place undue stress on the skeletal system. There are no short cuts as
sudden increases in workload increase the risk of injury to your horse therefore you must
not rush your training programme and never ‘over-do’ it. There is no set programme for
getting a horse fit but it is advisable to spend the first 4 – 6 weeks slowly building up the
cardiovascular (aerobic) work before attempting any form of fast work, again consider any
conditions or injurys. At the start hacking out is preferable as straight lines places less stress
on tendons and joints but beware of excessive roadwork. A good basic plan is 1 month walking, 1 month trot work then 1 month canter work. This would suit most horses needing to be
fit enough to hunt or event.
Fitness can be monitored by measuring Heart Rate. A normal resting heart rate for a horse
is 30 – 40 beats per minute (bpm). Most horses can work aerobically up to 170 bpm. As a
horse improves in fitness, he will manage a greater speed at a given heart rate. His recovery
time will also improve. After fast work a fit horse will have a heart rate of less than 100 bpm
2 minutes later, and under 60 bpm after 5 minutes.
Practice News
Our head equine nurse
Michelle Barber is leaving us
after 6 years of service for
pastures new. We wish her
good luck and all the best in
her future endeavours.
Visit our new look website
www.towcester-vets.co.uk
with great new features
including lots of case books
and videos. We are also now
on Facebook and Twitter.
Client Evening at
Moulton College
Our client evening “Stretched to
the Limits” was very well attended
and found to be most informative.
All proceeds have been donated to
Air Ambulance so Thank you for
all your support.
We intend to hold further talks
later on in the year.
Opening Hours
Mon to Fri: 8.30am – 6.00pm
Saturday: 9.00am – 12.00pm
All other hours an equine
vet will be available to
answer any incoming calls
or equine emergencies.
Feeding must reflect the level and intensity
of exercise. It is important to have an
idea of how much your horse weighs and
feed accordingly. A horse in light work
may require 1.5% of his bodymass in low
calorie food such as hay and a horse at the
peak of fitness may need ad lib food with
maximised calorific value. Most horses
will not eat more than 2.5 - 3% of their
body weight in food and therefore we must
increase the density of energy to meet their
requirements if in hard work.
Towcester Veterinary Centre Equine, Clinic Plum Park Farm, Watling Street, Paulerspury, Towcester, Northants NN12 6LQ
Tel: 01327 811007 • www.towcester-vets.co.uk • [email protected]
Towcester Veterinary Centre Equine Clinic and Saracen Horse Feed
Free Shape-Up Club
Are you worried about your horse or ponies weight?
We can provide support and help in managing weight and
therefore reduce your horse or pony’s risk of diseases like
laminitis and Equine metabolic syndrome.
The sugars in grass reduce during autumn but the volume of
grass usually increases so laminitis risk is still high. We still need
to restrict grass intake and try to reduce body fat.
We should work on weight loss all year round but winter is the
ideal time for dieting, food is naturally more sparse and weather
conditions are harsher. It is normal and natural for horses to
loose weight over winter but we prevent this by supplementing
food with preserved forage and hard feed and by rugging and
stabling our horses. If we allow our ponies to get back to nature
and be a little less pampered in winter we can reduce their weight
and laminitis risk ready for next spring.
Remember your ponies can still get laminitis in the winter,
especially grazing on bright, cold frosty days.
By joining our Shape up club we can help you control your
ponies weight.
What is involved?
• You will receive information on forage and diets
• A guide on how to weigh your horse or pony and
appropriate weights
• Information on how to do Body Condition scoring
• Information on how to work out daily feed and
forage quantities
• FREE weigh tape and spring weigh for forage
• Full help, advice and support from Towcester Equine
Vets and Saracen Horse Feed
You can enter the Shape-up challenge and post your stories
and images on our Facebook page.
For full details and to sign up, contact Towcester Equine
Vets or Sharron Harrington at Saracen Horse Feed on;
07590 44 24 16
Haynets with extra small holes
can prolong eating time when
feeding limited rations.
Grazing muzzles can be
used to control grass
intake enabling turnout.
Check out our new look website on www.towcester-vets.co.uk
This Newsletter is provided as an education service to our clients. All news and other items in this newsletter are for information only and should not be treated as a substitute for specialist veterinary advice. For all images, the copyright is the property of the photographer.