Table of contents for Winter 2021 in Equus

Have you met your soulmate? I have. Twice. I can't take credit for the first time. When I was 6, my dad heard about a 3-year-old Morgan/Arabian cross that everyone thought was something special. North Star’s Pride and I grew up together, developing an amazing learning/teaching relationship. We eventually trained through the upper levels of equestrian sports. Since then, I have ridden, trained and schooled more horses than I can count, and Pride taught me more than all of them combined. He also protected me and became my shoulder to cry on—my partner and best friend for nearly 20 years. Losing him was so devastating that I wanted out. I sold my other horses and most of my tack, because without Pride, my heart just wasn’t in it. Fast forward…

World maps showing selected ambling and non-ambling breeds. Red indicates the percentage of individuals tested who carry the DMRT3-STOP gene (data after Staiger et al., 2017). This chart shows the percentage chance, based on genetic survey, of finding DMRT3-STOP carriers within a given breed (data after Promerova et al., 2016). Note that the Promerova team’s survey covers a larger array of breeds and the percentages are a little different than those found by the Staiger team’s work. This is partly due to the fact that percentages for some breeds were calculated on as few as 2 individuals; the average number of animals tested per breed is 12. Percentages for some breeds (marked by asterisk) are estimates based on observation when DNA samples were not available. All acknowledge that further study…

This painting, done by James Seymour, in about 1740 shows the size of the horse (greater than 14 hands) relative to his groom. The DMRT3-STOP gene came to the Thoroughbred population not only from Hobbies but from this type of Turkmene horse, which is shorter and more compact than the Akhal-Teke. Three Ottoman officials travel together on ambling Turkmene horses in this late 18th century watercolor by an artist of the court of Sultan Selim III. This is the type of Turkmene horse, bred for riding, not racing, that arrived in England either as booty of war or in the form of diplomatic gifts. The Turkish Rahvan is an ambling breed from northern Turkey that has been in existence since at least the 16th century. Today they are used as…

Hoping to learn more about the best way to train and handle horses in hippotherapy programs, researchers at the Temple Grandin Research Center have begun documenting how therapy horses there behave during sessions. Currently, there are no certification programs for horses in physical or occupational therapy programs, but the Grandin Center follows standards set forth by organizations, such as PATH International, for how often and how long a horse can be worked. In addition, the center has its own guidelines for ensuring the welfare of its therapy horses. Although the work of therapy horses may not seem strenuous, incredible demands are sometimes placed on them. A therapy horse must be able to maintain adequate self-carriage and support a physically or emotionally challenged rider. Therapists certified through the American Hippotherapy Association…

Anatomy lesson The statement/answer in the Hands On Pop Quiz for your Autumn 2021 edition (“Comparative Anatomy,” EQUUS 506) is partially right and partially wrong. The horse does not have a gall bladder, as is stated. However, the appendix and cecum are 2 different structures. Both humans and horses have a cecum, albeit it is quite small in humans and quite large in horses. Humans (and some other species) additionally have an appendix that is attached to the “blind” end of the cecum. Horses (and other common domestic mammals) do not have an appendix, nor does the appendix become the cecum (a fairly common misconception). Therefore, both a and b answers in your pop quiz are correct. Lola C. Hudson, DVM PhDApex, North Carolina Prescription for the horse industry I…

The sort of horse called a “Barb” in 18th century England was usually a blend of either Barb and Turkmene or Barb and Hobby. This mid-18th century portrait by Stubbs shows both the conformation and the frequent white markings very realistically. Of the three root strains, the Barb is the least likely to be a natural ambler and this strain probably maintained the wild-type DMRT3 allele in the Thoroughbred population. Very few Asil or pure-blooded Arabians probably contributed to the foundation of the Thoroughbred; most of them which were so called were Turks or else “diplomatic Arabians,” which were crosses of Arabian on Turkmene. These, too, were unlikely to be amblers. Estimated percentage of Hobby, Barb, Turkmene, and Asil Arabian in the pedigrees of Thoroughbreds surveyed for this article and…

This well-circulated photograph of Rysdyk’s Hambletonian was taken in 1860 when the stallion was 31 years old and had developed a somewhat sagging back. His huge pelvis, somewhat coarse head, substantial limbs and long neck are also evident. In next month’s installment I will present another portrait of this horse as he looked during the prime of his life. Pedigree of Rysdyk’s Hambletonian Color coding indicates tail-female ancestry: light blue, Barb; yellow, Old Bald Peg (Hobby); green, Tregonwell’s Natural Barb mare (Barb); tan, Turkmene; dark blue, Norfolk Trotter; pink, Hobby; salmon, Canadian pacer. Blended colors indicate two preponderant strains in the tail-female. RH’s tail-female is approximately 27 percent Hobby, 40 percent Barb, 14 percent Turk and 19 percent Norfolk Trotter. He has a huge number of crosses to Old Bald…

As conscientious as we are about scheduling farrier visits and annual vaccinations, we aren’t always quite as proactive about our horse’s dental health. In our defense, the ingenious design of equine teeth means they usually don’t need many interventions throughout most of a horse’s life. The incisors at the front of his mouth are shaped and positioned to clip grass with ease. Tightly packed cheek teeth offer ideal surfaces for grinding forage and grains. His upper jaw is slightly wider than the lower one, permitting it to move easily from side to side, maximizing this grinding efficiency. Because your horse spends most of his waking hours chewing a fibrous diet, the grinding surface of his teeth are constantly being worn away. And he’s well equipped for that, as well: Equine…

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Lis Hartel became the first woman to earn a medal in dressage. But it was only after the competition, when the medals were about to be awarded, that the true magnitude of her achievement became clear. For after guiding her horse through a performance of singular athleticism, precision and grace, Hartel struggled with the simple act of dismounting and taking her place on the medals podium. Unknown to all but a few onlookers was the fact that Hartel had a disability: Years before, polio had left her paralyzed from the knees down. Seeing her difficulty, the gold medalist helped Hartel off her horse and carried her to the awards stand. There, before the cheering crowd, she received her silver medal. Hartel was to become…

NUTRITION Adjusting feed rations for lay-ups Q: I normally ride my horse three or four times a week, but due to work and family commitments, I’m not going to be able to continue that schedule this winter. So, my horse will have no work at all for the next two or three months. Do I need to cut back on his grain to ensure he doesn’t get overweight or develop colic during this time? How do I do that without withholding nutrients that he needs to stay healthy? A: I commend you for looking ahead to try to prevent the problems that might be caused by this change in your horse’s schedule. Diet plays a critical role in a horse’s behavior and gastrointestinal health. Any change to his routine can…

The bearded cowboy looks completely at home in these environs. At the Crossed Arrows Ranch, a small working ranch in the high desert country south of Santa Fe, rolling hills of chaparral and dirt roads extend to a horizon punctuated by the towering Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Against this backdrop, the cowboy prepares his horse with the practiced, assured motions of someone who’s performed this routine many times before. With his black felt hat, pressed shirt and canvas work vest, he looks straight from a calendar. But it wasn’t that long ago that Eric Yorty, a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, was in a very different environment, wearing a very different uniform. At the age of 17, Yorty joined the Army as an infantryman. Soon after, his…

Previously, this series has analyzed the contributions of non-Thoroughbreds in the pedigree of foundational American Standardbred sire Rysdyk’s Hambletonian (through the rest of this article, we’ll call him “RH”). The most important of these ancestors was Bellfounder, an imported Norfolk Trotter, but his pedigree also contains a good deal of Thoroughbred. Why then do Standardbreds both trot and pace? It’s a question worth asking because Bellfounder was a trotter---and the Thoroughbred as we know the breed today is never a pacer. Yet both made significant contributions to the breed now known as the American Standardbred. Join me now in a fascinating quest to find the pacing ghost in what is fundamentally a trotting machine. THE SPECTRUM OF LATERAL GAITS “Lateral” limb coordinations are not all strictly lateral. The extreme form…

Part of the royal palace at Persepolis in Iran, this bas-relief dating to 515 BC shows pacing horses brought as tribute to the Persian King Xerxes I (the Biblical “Ahasuerus”). There are many other images of pacing horses from the ancient Middle East, some showing the horses being driven to two-wheeled vehicles. Amblers have a very long history in Iberia. This 2,300-year-old stele depicts a young Celt-Iberian warrior prince mounted on an Asturcón and carrying a baton of authority (Prado Museum). This painting by Edward Troye poses Virginia planter Brigadier General John Hartwell Cocke on one of his favorite “old style” American Thoroughbreds. This is the sort of ambler-galloper that lies at the root of both the American Saddlebred and American Standardbred. This bas-relief adorns the tomb of a Roman…

Horses featured in this section were all born before 1850; most contributed to RH’s ancestry or are closely related to horses who did. Portraits and descriptions are presented in chronological order of foaling, along with whether the horse was an ambler-galloper (presumptive carrier of the DMRT3-STOP allele) or a trotter-galloper (wild-type allele). 1739: Regulus, by the Godolphin horse out of Grey Robinson by the Bald Galloway by St. Victor’s Barb, she out of a mare by Snake by the Lister Turk. The tail female goes to Hobby. Regulus was a small horse by today’s standards, standing under 14 hands as this realistic portrait by James Seymour shows. The stallion’s ears and tail have been mutilated, ear-trimming and tail-docking having been the height of fashion in mid-18th century England. Regulus was undefeated…

In a year that’s seen wild temperature swings and extreme weather worldwide, horse owners might be wondering what surprises the next few months could bring. “Winter’s worst” may mean just about anything these days, from a freak warm spell to record snow and ice. All this might seem a distant worry as you sit down to your morning coffee, the autumn chill barely kissing the air. But “snow or no,” Mother Nature will soon be calling the shots at your barn. Now more than ever, it’s good to have a game plan for not only the usual seasonal challenges that lie ahead, but for any curve balls that may come your way. Are you ready for whatever winter may bring? Read on for help reviewing your game plan. THE BASICS…