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history of horse use
initially used for food, but then started being used for transportation, labour, and entertainment
a part of mythology, art, and religion
how can horses help the economy
direct economic benefit in the billions
creating job
what are the top three provinces for owning the most horses
Alberta > Ontario > Quebec
horse uses in alberta
mostly for backyard ownership/riding and sport
lots of money is made from slaughterhouses mainly exporting meat to other countries
Stallion
Male intact adult horse
Gelding
Sterilized male adult horse
colt
baby male horse
adult female horse
mare
baby female horse
filly
ungendered baby horse
foal
hand
use for measuring the height of horses
one hand is 4 inches
ponies
less than 14.2 hands at withers
light horse
15-17.2 hands at withers
heavy horse
16-18 hands, heavy muscle, large bones and sturdy legs
male donkey x female horse
mule
female donkey x male horse
hinny
hot bloods
lighter bodies ideal for speed
temperament is high strung
hot blood breeds
Arabian, thoroughbred, quarter horse
Warm Bloods
Mild temperament, good for dressage and jumping
type of warm blood breeds
hanoverian, irish sport horse, trakehner
cold blood
mild manner, docile
good for heavy work
cold blood breeds
percheron, clydesdales, shire
Arabian
oldest horse breed
agile
excellent stamina
distinctive dish face
Thoroughbred
developed from arabian stallions
fastest at intermediate distances
Quarter horse
strong hindquarters
fastest at short distances but don’t have high stamina
standardbred
good for harness racing and dressage and hunter jumpers
trotters
run diagonally
pacers
run laterally
base colour of horse coats
black and red
how are colours determined
complex combination involving 16 genes
dominant masking colours
white and grey
true white horses
valued, but not possible. True white horses have lethal white foal syndrome
lethal white foal syndrome
lethal from homozygous white gene
causes intestinal and neurological abnormalities
foals die within 12 hours of life if not in utero
horse teeth
important for digesting cellulose for hind gut fermentation
digestive system of horses
digest fiber using fermentation in the hind gut, releasing volatile fatty acids
colostrum
the first milk to babies in the critical first hours following delivery that is rich with antibodies
horse vision
wide field but cannot see directly in front or behind
eyes can see independently (monocular)
horse hearing
responds well to low tones
ears can rotate 180 degrees
horse smell
better than humans
use smell for pheromone detection and predator detection
mares and foals bond through smell
flehmen reaction
horse rolling upper lip to detect unusual smell, especially important for detecting pheromones
colic
abdominal pain usually due to gastrointestinal issues, but might have other causes
signs of colic
curling lips
pawing
kicking at belly
lying down
rolling
pulse elevated, sweating, pink to blue gums
digestive colic
caused by too much feed or a change in feed
spasmodic colic
also known as gas colic, caused by eating too fast or toxins in feed
can be helped by running them
sand colic
caused by sand in feed
impaction colic
caused by not enough water
identifying colic by location
better categorization for identifying colic then by cause, but is hard to do and you have to know what the normal state is like
gastric colic
colic in the stomach caused by dilation as fluid contents increase without vomiting and eventually the stomach ruptures
causes of intestinal colic
obstruction
strangulation of cut off blood flow to intestine
intussusception (one intestine sliding into the other)
volvulus (rotation of intestine)
impaction
cranial mesenteric arteritis (inflammation of artery that supplies blood to gut)
enteroliths
cecal impaction
ileal impaction
impaction of the distal part of the intestine which is the most common location of impaction in the small intestine
pedunculated lipoma
strangulation of the intestine causing colic
like wrapping a band around your finger
must be surgically removed
volvulus
very sever 360 rotation of the intestine on a 180 axis
no medical treatment except surgery if caught early
verminous arteritis
caused by parasites crawling into abdominal aorta and cutting off the intestinal from blood flow
cannot be treated but can be prevented by deworming