P I’m All Ears I
n mid-January I delivered my coming-five-year-old gelding to one of the local Ocala, Florida clinics for surgery. He needed one of those all-too-common OCD chips removed from his right hock. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole ordeal but he pulled
through like a champ. While at the clinic, the surgeon happened to mention he performs about five of these surgeries a week. Whoa, five a week? My
analytical brain kicked in and I quickly calculated 250 horses a year (give or take) had OCD surgery, and this is just one of a number of equine surgeons in northern Florida. OCD, or osteochondritis dissecans, is a relatively common developmental disease that affects the cartilage and bone in the joints
of horses. Ultimately bone ‘flaps’ either remain partially attached or break off and float around in the joint, so they usually need to be surgically removed. I already knew OCD was common with larger horses, especially ones that grew quickly. More research taught me about other causes, including high-energy diets or diets missing proper trace minerals, genetics, hormonal imbalances and trauma/ excessive exercise. Of all these causes, two are in our control: diet and exercise. Aſter nine years of publishing Warmbloods Today, I can recall three or four reader requests for an article on feeding our horses
holistically with whole food diets. It always sounded like an enormous subject to take on, and potentially controversial with some of our advertisers, so I put the topic on the back burner of editorial ideas. Ten one evening in early January, I attended a local riding club event, and the guest speaker was a trainer who was feeding a
whole food diet to all nine horses in her barn. I was all ears as she described what she fed her horses and why. She passed around a sample meal she feeds, comprised of five or six ingredients, and it appeared to be less than half of what I was feeding my horses. “We Americans are addicted to giving scoops of horse feed from bags, when in reality, only a portion of each scoop is actually nutritious,” she said more than once. With my young horse’s OCD surgery the following week, I started to think perhaps what he’s been eating for four years has
contributed to his condition. I also had a hard keeper in the barn in heavy work getting a significant amount of grain; without it, his weight would drop. Te next day I spent the morning scouring the internet to educate myself on what horses truly needed for a healthy, whole food diet and discovered a lot of informative websites that—fortunately—didn’t contradict one another. I also placed a call to breeder Jean Brinkman, who has been feeding her horses holistically for decades. Ten I found more equestrians who embrace a similar diet and who agreed to be interviewed. Teir enlightening stories start on page 31. Keeping with the theme of equine health, our horse’s vision is something we oſten take for granted. I’ve witnessed firsthand horses
spooking erratically or overreacting to changes in terrain (dark vs. light) only to learn later they have eyesight problems. You might take a closer look at the article on equine vision on page 37. With the World Equestrian Games in sight, on page 19 we dove in deep to learn just how the USEF selects our teams (a process I
never understood—now I know why!). Breeders who produce horses for eventing, or eventers with young horses, will want to check out the new rule changes with the YEH program (page 44). Other interesting topics in this issue include hauling with a horse van versus a truck and trailer (page 49) and allowing your horse to ‘select’ your music for a freestyle (page 82). Much of what we feature in this issue isn’t discipline specific, especially topics like identifying health issues, signing bad contractual
deals (page 90) or evaluating “uphill” conformation (page 71). Tat was by design. Regardless of our chosen discipline, we all have these wonderful sport horses in common. It’s the journey of learning from one another and from the horses themselves that make it all worthwhile. (And if you are wondering if I switched my horses to a custom whole food diet, the answer is an emphatic yes!) As always, please send me your feedback, positive or negative, along with any article ideas for future issues of Warmbloods Today.
I’m all ears. Happy reading and riding,
Liz Cornell
editor@warmbloodstoday.com
14 March/April 2018
Our Mission: Warmbloods Today is the leading magazine in North America focused on the entire spectrum of Warmblood breeds. It’s a place where people from all aspects of the sport horse community can come together: amateurs, owners, trainers and breeders. Each issue contains interesting, informative and often heart-warming stories of peoples’ experiences with their horses, along with thought-provoking opinions from various professionals and amateurs. We cover all horses from European descent bred for the sports of jumping, dres- sage, eventing and driving including the Iberian breeds and American Warmbloods.
ublisher’s Welcome
Ed Haas
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