Equine nutrition and its specific role in lameness has tremendous potential.

Most everyone has a basic understanding of intestinal tract bacteria and that there are good and bad bacteria that can play important roles in health or disease. Many of us are also familiar with the term probiotic, but what is a prebiotic and how can both of these support health and wellness.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the number and variety of oral supplements available for our horses. The shear volume of supplements and the continuous marketing of these products can create confusion and frustration with owners and veterinarians who are trying to support equine health and performance.

With high grain prices and projected greater increases, maximizing equine pasture nutrition makes good economic sense.

The majority of lameness´ in horses go undetected. These are mild to moderate lameness´ that the owner and rider are not aware of.

Most horse owners realize that one of the keys to a healthy horse is their feeding program. Not only are high quality feedstuffs important for the horse's overall health, but feeds, feeding practices, feed mixtures, feed contaminants and stress all contribute to gastro-intestinal condition.

Gastric ulcers can lead to poor performance, poor weight gain, anorexia, poor condition, excessive nervousness, poor attitude, and colic.

For equine veterinarians colic is, by far, the most common cause for emergency calls and distressed horse owners. Although there have been great strides in equine medicine and surgery over the past 25 years, and the ability to treat and cure many colic conditions has drastically improved, there is no single answer or drug that will end all colic.

The annual colic rate for our horse population is estimated to be 10-11%. One of the causes of colic, sand ingestion, can be a substantial risk to certain horses.

Colic is the most common, troubling and nerve racking disease for horse owners and veterinarians. More disturbing than the horse that occasionally goes through a bout of colic is the horse that colicks on a regular basis.