Horse’s Health

Bucked Shins

The thin sheath or membrane that covers the cannon bone is called the periosteum. When a calcium deposit (periostitis) develops, new bone growth occurs and gives the appearance of the shins being ‘bucked”. Bucked shins are common among young horses that have not fully grown and are being trained heavily. Soreness is the result and rest is the cure. Bucked shins are very common.

Bone Chips
Bone chips are very common in horses and are actually broken pieces of bone from the knee or ankle. They can be very troublesome and painful or be of no bother at all. The size of the chip and its location determine whether or not removal is necessary. Arthroscopic surgery is the usual course of action and is followed by rest and rehabilitation. Most horses can resume a racing career after chip removal.

Bowed Tendon
A bowed tendon is a serious injury. Less than 50% of horses that suffer a bowed tendon are able to return to racing. Usually caused by severe strain, a bowed tendon is an inflammation and enlargement of the flexor tendon which is located at the back of the front cannon bone. Horses that are “back at the knee”, have long or weak pasterns, or are improperly shoed are more likely to experience this injury. The best treatment is long periods of rest. Enzyme injections and surgical procedures are often used to aid in treatment.

Bleeding
A common problem with racehorses, bleeding or Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH) is commonly found in horses after exercise or in racehorses after or during a race. Some studies indicate that from 70 to 100 percent of horses in training experience EIPH. During a race or training conditions, the blood pressure in the vessels of the horse that lead from the heart to the lungs is very high. The walls of the vessels 
can break and force blood into the airways. The physical make-up of the horse in action can also contribute to bleeding as the muscles that are used in running act as a pump against the chest cavity further exasperating the problem. After a horse bleeds during a race or training they are usually declared ineligible for at least 10 days. A second bleeding incident can put them on the shelf for 20. There is record of bleeding in thoroughbreds as far back as the 18th century. Bleeding Childers, whose name was later changed to Bartlett’s Childers was a bleeder and also the grand sire of Eclipse, who can be found in the bloodlines of over 75% of modern thoroughbreds. Bleeding is often treated with lasix. Lasix can lower the blood pressure of the horse and is also a diuretic that dehydrates the animal. The reduced BP with less fluid pressure against the chest cavity can alleviate bleeding, but is not a cure.

Condylar Fracture
A fracture of the condyle of the cannon bone. The condyle is the bulbous bottom or distal end of the cannon bone that fits into the fetlock joint. Condylar fractures can be repaired surgically. The prognosis for survival and a return to racing soundness is dependent on the severity of injury. In uncomplicated cases, after surgery to fix an uncomplicated condylar fractures, the horse normally is given stall rest for one month, followed by stall rest and hand-walking for another month. After this 60-day period, follow-up x-rays are taken to determine the rate of healing. If all is going well, there likely is another two to four weeks of paddock exercise before the horse might resume training. In the case of more severe fractures, the recovery period could encompass many months before the horse is ready to return to training.

Sesamoid Fracture
The sesamoids are two small, delicate bones located at the back of the fetlock, held in place only by ligaments. These little bones located just behind the pastern serve as pulleys over which the deep digital flexor tendons pass. A fracture to the sesamoids usually involves an injury to the suspensory apparatus. Depending on the severity of the injury, surgery can be performed to treat the fracture.

Curb
A hard enlargement on the rear of the cannon bone immediately below the hock. It begins as an inflammation of the plantar ligament and the inflammation leads to a thickening of the ligament.

Grabbed Quarter
While running, the horse “grabbed” one of its front hooves with a rear hoof, tearing skin and tissue. Cost and amount of training time lost depends on the extent of the injury.

Quarter Crack
Under stress, or if improperly shod, the hard substance of the hoof (similar to the human fingernail) can crack and become a source of pain – sometimes including the development of an infection in the exposed soft tissue underneath. This ailment can be corrected with a fiberglass or epoxy patch, and shoeing. Cost and amount of training time lost, if any, depends on the extent of the injury.

Colic
Colic is a general term used to describe pain in the gastrointestinal tract of a horse. Colic can happen any time to any horse and has many causes. It is the number one killer of horses. Treatments vary depending on the type of colic and its severity. A “simple” colic may cost around $100 for treatment. More severe or prolonged colics can cost several hundred dollars to treat. If the colic is severe enough to require surgery, the cost of treatment can be several thousand dollars.

Places to buy Arabian Horses

Adena Springs

It is owned by the Frank Stronach family.  The main farm is located in paris, KY and Adena also has farms in Canada and Florida.  At the Kentucky location Adena Springs stands such stallions as Awesome Again, Ghostzapper, & Macho Uno.

Adena Springs/Frank Stronach has been North America’s Leading Breeder for five consecutive years, including 2007. In 2006 and 2005 we made history as the only breeder to win the Eclipse Award and the Sovereign Award the same year. Stronach Stable received Eclipse Awards as outstanding breeder every year from 2004 to 2006 and as outstanding owner from 1998 to 2000. Adena Springs has won the Breeders’ Eclipse in 2000, and is the only breeder to win this award four times in a seven year span. Mr. Stronach has earned nine Sovereign Awards in 12 years – most recently in 2005 – as Canada ‘s Leading Owner. The Adena Springs breeding program has produced three Broodmares of the Year since 2000, including Baby Zip in 2005.

Stronach Stable has bred and/or campaigned more than 200 stakes winners. This impressive collection is topped by Champions Ghostzapper, Macho Uno, Perfect Sting, and Phantom Light, and includes: Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Red Bullet, a Florida-based stallion who was represented by a $2.5 million sales colt in his first crop; 2007 Grade I winners Ginger Punch, Sugar Shake, and Citronnade; multiple 2006 Grade I winner Spun Sugar; multiple Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Milwaukee Brew; Pimlico Special (G1) winner Golden Missile; Queen Elizabeth II (G1) winner Collect the Cash. The best of these runners have or will be returned to the Adena Springs Farms as stallions or as broodmares, ensuring the success of our program for generations to come.

Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm is widely recognized for its world-wide reputation as a respected Thoroughbred breeding and consignment operation. Developed with an uncompromising commitment to quality, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm currently operates an elite and successful breeding and sales program centered around a select group of Thoroughbreds with enviable pedigrees. Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm’s philosophy is to carefully schedule its population so that each animal receives hands-on attention. In addition, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm believes that the key to successful operations is not only in the number of horses produced but in the careful selection of stallions and broodmares to produce a high proportion of outstanding foals. In its many years of operation, Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm has developed a reputation for breeding and selling some of the best race horses in the world. Indeed, its home bred-horses have proven to be very successful in recent competitions. Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm sits on prime Thoroughbred breeding land in the heart of the Bluegrass.

Taylor Made farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky is owned by the Taylor Brothers (Duncan, Frank, Ben, and Mark) , and has been built into one of the leading breeding and sales agencies in the world. Taylor Made Sales Agency has sold over $1,000,000,000 in horses since its inception over 25 years ago due to its beliefs in horsemanship, customer service and innovation.

Arabian Horses Breed characteristics

Arabian Horse Characteristics


Arabian horses have refined, wedge-shaped heads, with a broad forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and small muzzles. Most display a distinctive profile that is concave, sometimes referred to as “dished.” Many Arabians also have a slight bulge between their eyes, called the “jibbah” by the Bedouin, that adds additional sinus capacity, believed to have helped the Arabian horse live in its native dry desert climate. 

Another breed characteristic is an arched neck with a large, well-set windpipe set on a fine, clean throatlatch. This structure of the poll and throatlatch was called the “mitbah” by the Bedouin, and in the best Arabians is long and somewhat straight, allowing flexibility in the bridle and ample room for the windpipe. Most Arabian horses have a compact body with a short back. Many, though not all, have 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of the usual 6. Thus, in spite of their smaller size, Arabians can carry a heavy rider with ease. Other distinctive features are a relatively long, level croup and naturally high tail carriage. All quality Arabians have a deep, well-angled hip and well laid-back shoulder.

Arabian Horses


Bloodlines of the Arabian are found in the ancestry of almost every modern breed of riding horse. The strength of the Arabian made it a desirable breed to add endurance, strength and refinement to many modern breeds of horses. For centuries, Arabian horses lived in the desert in close association with humans. Prized war mares were sometimes kept in the family tent, along with small children. This gave rise to an inborn tendency of the horse to try to cooperate with and please humans. Because only horses with a naturally good disposition were allowed to breed on, Arabians today are one of the few breeds where the United States Equestrian Federation allows children to exhibit stallions in show ring classes limited to riders under 18.On the other hand, the Arabian is also classified as a “hot-blooded” breed, a category that includes refined, spirited horses bred for speed, such as the Thoroughbred and the Barb. Like other hot-bloods, Arabians’ sensitivity and intelligence enable quick learning and greater communication with their riders.

Main characteristics 

• His skeleton is characterized by a relative shortness of skull, a slenderness of the lower jaw, a larger size of brain case. Also to be noted are fewer vertebrae in the back and tail, and more horizontal pelvic bone position.
• The Arabian’s head is a real thing of beauty, the upper half being larger in proportion to the whole size of the horse, especially in the depth across the jowls.
• The head has a triangular shape which diminishes rapidly to a small and fine muzzle, which is so small that it can be enclosed in the palm of the hand. The lips are fine and thin. The nostrils are long, thin, delicately curled, running upward, and projecting outward. In action or when the horse is excited, the nostrils may become greatly dilated.
• The eyes are set far apart and are large, lustrous, and , when aroused, extremely attentive. They are set more nearly in the middle of the head.
• It is interesting to note that the distance from the top of the head to the top of the eyes is often within one inch of the distance from the lower eyelid to the top of the nostril. The overall appearance of the Arabian head is frequently enhanced by a slight protrusion over the forehead and extending to just below the eyes, called the “Jibbah” by the Arabs, and greatly prized.
• The cheek bones spread wide apart at the throat, often between five or six inches, enabling the muzzle to be drawn in without compressing the windpipe, and permitting the animal to breathe easily when running.
• The ears, smaller in stallions and of good size in mares, are pointed, set evenly together in an upright position, and of great flexibility.
• Generally speaking, the head should be lean, somewhat well chiseled, and showing energy, intelligence, courage, and nobility. The neck is long and arched, set on high, and run well back into the withers.
• In height, the Arabian horse generally measures 14.1 to 15.1 hands at the withers, although there are horses which measure above or below this height.
• The animal’s coat is thick, close, fine, soft, and silky. The mane and tail are long, and very fine in texture.
• In weight, the Arab may be from 800 to 1,100 pounds, according to his size, but there are individuals who exceed this weight occasionally.
• In color, Arabians are bay, gray, chestnut and black, with an occasional roan. Common markings are stars, strips or blaze faces, as are also snip noses, a white foot or more, or white stockings.
• Arabians that appear white are actually gray, since white looking Arabians have black skin. White hair on horses grows out of pink skin as can be found under an Arabian’s white markings. The Arabian Horse Association verifies breed purity through blood typing and pedigree for every foal registered from pure-bred Arabian mating. The Association makes this information available as a service-an invaluable tool for the serious horseperson in breeding selection.

The origin of Arabian Horses

Origin

The origin of the Arabian horse remains a great zoological mystery. Although this unique breed has had a distinctive national identity for centuries, its history nevertheless is full of subtleties, complexities and contradictions. It defies simple interpretation.

When we first encounter the Arabian, or the prototype of what is known today as the Arabian, he is somewhat smaller than his counterpart today. Otherwise he has essentially remained unchanged throughout the centuries.

Authorities are at odds about where the Arabian horse originated. The subject is hazardous, for archaeologists’ spades and shifting sands of time are constantly unsettling previously established thinking. There are certain arguments for the ancestral Arabian having been a wild horse in northern Syria, southern Turkey and possibly the piedmont regions to the east as well. The area along the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent comprising part of Iraq and running along the Euphrates and west across Sinai and along the coast to Egypt, offered a mild climate and enough rain to provide an ideal environment for horses. Other historians suggest this unique breed originated in the southwestern part of Arabia, offering supporting evidence that the three great river beds in this area provided natural wild pastures and were the centers in which Arabian horses appeared as undomesticated creatures to the early inhabitants of southwestern Arabia.

Because the interior of the Arabian peninsula has been dry for approximately 10,000 years, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for horses to exist in that arid land without the aid of man. The domestication of the camel in about 3500 B.C. provided the Bedouins (nomadic inhabitants of the middle east desert regions) with means of transport and sustenance needed to survive the perils of life in central Arabia, an area into which they ventured about 2500 B.C. At that time they took with them the prototype of the modern Arabian horse.

There can be little dispute, however, that the Arabian horse has proved to be, throughout recorded history, an original breed-which remains to this very day.

Neither sacred nor profane history tells us the country where the horse was first domesticated, or whether he was first used for work or riding. He probably was used for both purposes in very early times and in various parts of the world. We know that by 1500 B.C. the people of the east had obtained great mastery over their hot-blooded horses which were the forerunners of the breed which eventually became known as “Arabian.”

About 3500 years ago the hot-blooded horse assumed the role of king-maker in the east, including the valley of the Nile and beyond, changing human history and the face of the world. Through him the Egyptians were made aware of the vast world beyond their own borders. The Pharaohs were able to extend the Egyptian empire by harnessing the horse to their chariots and relying on his power and courage. With his help, societies of such distant lands as the Indus Valley civilizations were united with Mesopotamian cultures. The empires of the Hurrians, Hittites, Kassites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and others rose and fell under his thundering hooves. His strength made possible the initial concepts of a cooperative universal society, such as the Roman empire. The Arabian “pony express” shrank space, accelerated communications and linked empires together throughout the eastern world.

This awe-inspiring horse of the east appears on seal rings, stone pillars and various monuments with regularity after the 16th century B.C. Egyptian hieroglyphics proclaim his value; Old Testament writings are filled with references to his might and strength. Other writings talk of the creation of the Arabian, “thou shallst fly without wings and conquer without swords.” King Solomon some 900 years B.C. eulogized the beauty of “a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots,” while in 490 B.C. the famous Greek horseman, Xinophon proclaimed: “A noble animal which exhibits itself in all its beauty is something so lovely and wonderful that it fascinates young and old alike.” But whence came the “Arabian horse?” We have seen this same horse for many centuries before the word “Arab” was ever used or implied as a race of people or species of horse.

The origin of the word “Arab” is still obscure. A popular concept links the word with nomadism, connecting it with the Hebrew “Arabha,” dark land or steppe land, also with the Hebrew “Erebh,” mixed and hence organized as opposed to organized and ordered life of the sedentary communities, or with the root “Abhar”-to move or pass. “Arab” is a Semitic word meaning “desert” or the inhabitant thereof, with no reference to nationality. In the Koran a’rab is used for Bedouins (nomadic desert dwellers) and the first certain instance of its Biblical use as a proper name occurs in Jer. 25:24: “Kings of Arabia,” Jeremiah having lived between 626 and 586 B.C. The Arabs themselves seem to have used the word at an early date to distinguish the Bedouin from the Arabic-speaking town dwellers.

This hot blooded horse which had flourished under the Semitic people of the east now reached its zenith of fame as the horse of the “Arabas.” The Bedouin horse breeders were fanatic about keeping the blood of their desert steeds absolutely pure, and through line-breeding and inbreeding, celebrated strains evolved which were particularly prized for distinguishing characteristics and qualities. The mare evolved as the Bedouin’s most treasured possession. The harsh desert environment ensured that only the strongest and keenest horse survived, and it was responsible for many of the physical characteristics distinguishing the breed to this day.

Strains and pedigrees

For centuries, the Bedouin tracked the ancestry of each horse through an oral tradition. Horses of the purest blood were known as Asil and crossbreeding with non-Asil horses was forbidden. Mares were the most valued, both for riding and breeding, and pedigree families were traced through the female line. The Bedouin did not believe in gelding male horses, and considered stallions too intractable to be good war horses, thus they kept very few colts, selling most, and culling those of poor quality.

Over time, the Bedouin developed several sub-types or strains of Arabian horse, each with unique characteristics,and traced through the maternal line only. According to the Arabian Horse Association, the five primary strains were known as the Keheilan, Seglawi, Abeyan, Hamdani and Hadban.Carl Raswan, a promoter and writer about Arabian horses from the middle of the 20th century, held the belief that there were only three strains, Kehilan, Seglawi and Muniqi. Raswan felt that these strains represented body “types” of the breed, with the Kehilan being “masculine”, the Seglawi being “feminine” and the Muniqi being “speedy”. There were also lesser strains, sub-strains, and regional variations in strain names.Therefore, many Arabian horses were not only Asil, of pure blood, but also bred to be pure in strain, with crossbreeding between strains discouraged, though not forbidden, by some tribes. Purity of bloodline was very important to the Bedouin, and they also believed in telegony, believing if a mare was ever bred to a stallion of “impure” blood, the mare herself and all future offspring would be “contaminated” by the stallion and hence no longer Asil.

This complex web of bloodline and strain was an integral part of Bedouin culture; they not only knew the pedigrees and history of their best war mares in detail, but also carefully tracked the breeding of their camels, Saluki dogs, and their own family or tribal history. Eventually, written records began to be kept; the first written pedigrees in the Middle East that specifically used the term “Arabian” date to 1330 AD.[92] As important as strain was to the Bedouin, modern studies of mitochondrial DNA suggest that Arabian horses alive today with records stating descent from a given strain may not actually share a common maternal ancestry.

Farms for Horse riding lessons

Why would you want to come to Gray Horse Farm? 

Gray Horse Farm would be a great place to train because I am passionate about teaching and bringing along horses. Watching the bond develop between horse and rider is what feeds my soul. I enjoy teaching both Dressage and Jumpers. I secretly enjoy introducing dressage skills to jumper riders and vise a versa. I also get a great charge seeing my riders meet their personal goals and exceeding their expectations.

Horses are magnificent animals and I feel honored to work with all horses and their owners. Gray Horse Farm is a dream come true for me.

Flag Is Up Farms Facilities Full service training for young horses from all disciplines Green pastures for weanlings, yearlings and broodmares Individualized nutritional programs designed and developed within our own feedmill Covered round pens with OttoSport surfaces for superb footing Outdoor multi-disciplinary training areas with complete safe fencing and footing 24,000 square foot covered riding arena 5/8 mile training track recently resurfaced and consistently maintained Starting gates and chute Aquatred A Rower & Rub Equine exerciser Barn stalls complete with Comfort Stall mats New USDA approved export quarantine facilities Rehabilitation and lay ups Specialized training for remedial horses Sales preparation and representation 24-hour resident staff Training Programs Flag Is Up Farms trains horses from all disciplines to learn the basic principles from the ground up. Our team of trainers specializes in starting young horses under saddle, bombproofing trail riding companions and retraining horses that need a new start in their career. Hunter/Jumpers, racehorses, dressage athletes, and Western discipline reiners and cowhorses all begin their training in the safety of the roundpen. Each horse experiences an individualized training program according to his ability, enabling the horse to enjoy his work and develop a cooperative partnership with riders and handlers.