A - Z of Colours & Markings

A is Albino.
B is for Bay.
C is for Cream.
D is for Dun.

 
E is for Ermine Marks.
F is for Frosted Appaloosa.
G is for Grey.

 
H is for Heart- Shaped Star.
I is for Iron Grey.
J is for Just one colour, top to toe.
K is for Kind eye - struggling for K's!
L is for Liver Chestnut.

M is for Marble Appaloosa.
N is for Narrow Stripe.
O is for Overo Pattern (Pattern seen on Skewbald, Piebald and Tri-coloured horses).
P is for Palamino.

Q is for Quite unusual, as some markings can be ...
R is for Roan.
S is for Snip.

T is for Ticked Markings
U is for Unusual Markings, these are great for distinguishing horses.
V is for Vital Information, colours and markings should be detailed on your horse's passport.
W is for Whorl
X is for Xtra Markings like scars.
Y is for Yellow Dun
Z is for Zebra Stripes

Did you see last week's vlog?    Horse Life and Love
Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil, and Daisy.

Until next time!

Jo

All About - Muscles (Part 1)

This is a big topic including Cardiac muscle, Smooth muscle and Skeletal muscle.  Muscles are made up of muscle tissue, which consists of long cells which are called muscle fibres.  These fibres are able to change their length and so produce tension or pull.  This is the function of a muscle - to move parts of the body.

Cardiac Muscle is what makes up most of the heart and what makes it beat.

Smooth Muscle is found in parts of the body such as the skin and digestive system.

Skeletal Muscle is attached to bones and is responsible for voluntary movement.  When these muscles contract they pull the bones closer together or allow parts of the body to resist force from outside. 
Skeletal muscles are attached to at least 2 bones by tendons and the muscles themselves work in pairs.   As a muscle contracts (get shorter) the bones are moved.  The bones are moved back into place by another muscle contracting!

Ligaments attach bone to bone or sometimes help to keep tendons in place. 

In this blog I am planning to cover major superficial skeletal muscles but look out for future blogs about more muscles!  Check out my skeleton blog to help with the bones mentioned below.

The main superficial muscles are listed below.

Head & Neck:

·         Masseter (jaw)

·         Rhomboideus (top of neck)

·         Splenius (neck)

·         Trapezius (bottom part of neck and around withers)

·         Sternocephalicus (throat area)

·         Brachiocephalicus (main part of neck)

Shoulder & Forearm:

·         Deltoid (shoulder area)

·         Triceps (large section at top of foreleg)

·         Superficial Pectoral (chest)

·         Radial (front of foreleg)

·         Lateral Digital Extensor (middle of foreleg)

·         Common Digital Extensor ( large part of foreleg)

·         Lateral Carpal Flexor (back of foreleg)

Back and Barrel:

·         Latissimus Dorsi (about where saddle knee rolls sit)

·         Intercostal (over ribs)

·         Longissiums Dorsi (is deeper across the back)

·         Posterior Pectoral (girth area)

Hindquarters and Hindleg:

·         Superficial Gluteal (middle of hindquarters)

·         Semitendinosus (muscled down back of hindquarters)

·         Biceps Femoris (main part of hindquarters)

·         Deep Digital Flexor (behind lateral digital extensor)

·         Long Digital Extensor (main part of hindleg)

·         Lateral Digital Extensor (middle of hindleg)

Lower Leg:

·         Suspensory Ligament

·         Lateral Digital Extensor Tendon

·         Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon

·         Common Digital Extensor Tendon

·         Deep Digital Flexor Tendon

·         The Annular Ligament - not pictured - surrounds the sesamoid bones

The lower leg is where a large percentage of lameness originates, it is a good idea to have an understanding of the structure of this and how it works together.  There are no muscles in the lower leg - the bones are connected to the muscles above the knee via long tendons (see picture).

The Deep Digital Flexor Tendon is attached to the Deep Digital Flexor Muscle.  This tendon runs over the back of the knee (held in place by a check ligament) and down the back of the cannon bone.  It lies between the Suspensory Ligament and the Superficial Flexor Tendon.  Another check ligament holds the tendon in place halfway down the cannon bone.  The Deep Digital Flexor Tendon then passes over the sesamoid bones and down to connect to the pedal bone.

The Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon similarly attaches to the Superficial Flexor Muscle (not pictured).  This tendon runs down the back of the leg (behind the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon).  As it reaches the bottom of the leg it widens(to become part of the Annular Ligament) and then divides into 2 to pass either side of the pastern bones.  These 2 branches divide again and attach to the long and short pastern bones.

The Suspensory Ligament begins at the back of the knee passing just behind the cannon bone it divides just above the fetlock.  Part of the ligament becomes part of the Annular Ligament and part attaches to each sesamoid bone, the remainder passes around the front of the long pastern and joins to the Common Digital Extensor Tendon.

This gives you a good basis for knowing about muscles.  If you get a chance Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out gives some fantastic demonstrations of how muscles work to help our horses achieve everything they do!

Have you seen Wednesday's vlog 'One Day in June'  ? 
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil and Daisy.

Until next time!

Jo

Mid- June Update

I don't usually write an update until the end of the month but as a few things have been going on I thought I would pop a little one in this month!  If you follow my You Tube channel you will already know that unfortunately we had to take Floss back to her old home.  She had settled in fairly well but as soon as she came into season the other week everything became very difficult.  

Some mares are really easy, just like my old mare it was difficult to tell if she was in season or not.  Chesney grew up with her with no problems.  Basil too,  I recently remembered, was stabled next to a mare before I bought him.  However, Floss is not one of those mares.  It is very obvious that she is in season and she enjoyed teasing Chesney and Basil.  Chesney became almost impossible to handle and both of my boys had kicks and bites.  Chesney had lots of small injuries and then Basil developed a haemotoma. 

I thought long and hard about it but really decided that it was not fair on any of the horses or me to have this happen every 3 weeks.  As Floss was able to return to her old home with no problems I decided that this was the best solution. 

It was very stressful when she first left as Chesney spent over 2 hours trotting up and down the fence looking for her.  Basil settled relatively well but within a day or so they both had accepted the situation and were back to normal.

So, I am now on the look out for a new companion and have contacted a couple of rescue centres to see if I can give a home to one of their horses or ponies.  I will keep you up to date on this!

Have you seen this week's vlog 'One day in June'
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil and Daisy.

Until next time!

Jo

Herbs - Feeding Rosemary

This is a pleasant smelling herb used in many different oils and preparations for human use.  It is a mediterranean plant and enjoys dry, poor soil.  This is another herb I have in my garden! 

This herb seems to have a wide range of uses.  Adding it to a daily feed for the horses could provide a whole host of benefits.  

Bear in mind that the essential oils can be detected in blood tests!

Actions:
See my herb blog for the meanings of these.
Anodyne, Analgesic, Antidepressant, Anti-inflammatory, Antipyretic, Antirheumatic, Antiseptic, Antispasmodic, Aperient,, Aromatic, Astringent, Carminative, Cholagogue, Diaphoretic, Diuretic, Emmenagogue, Nervine, Rubefacient, Sedative, Stimulant, Stomachic, Tonic.

Part Used:
Leaves and young shoots.

 
Usage:
Use as a circulatory and nervine stimulant. Useful for digestion, rheumatism and diarrhoea.

Dosage:
20 - 30gms added to feed daily.

Look out on my You Tube channel tomorrow for this month's vlog.  Horse Life and Love
Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil, Floss and Daisy.

Until next time!

Jo

Would our horses cope if they were returned to the wild?

This is an interesting question.  In previous blogs I have mentioned a horse's natural instincts and their natural environment.  However, have our horses maintained enough of these instincts to actually survive back in their natural environment?

The horse has been evolving for 65 million years.  Over the last few thousand years, since the horse has been domesticated, breeds have been introduced and developed.  Many of these have been developed for specific tasks eg: pulling carts or more recently for racing.  So it is likely that some of these breeds would cope better than others.

Our domesticated horses have maintained their herd instincts.  They still have a well developed 'Fight or Flight' instinct, they have excellent hearing and peripheral vision.  In addition, they have maintained their grazing habits. They still interact in the same way and learn each others 'signals' and so it is likely that a new horse/pony would be able to integrate.  This obviously would be different for a horse or pony that had been kept on its own for a prolonged period as they may no longer understand other horse 'signals'.
 

  

However, the biggest factor affecting a domesticated horse's ability to survive in the wild would probably be the environment.  The climate should be a consideration and the type and quality of grazing available.  On an exposed area with little shelter a horse or pony used to having good shelter in poor weather would find it difficult to stay warm.  Intense cold or punishing winds will affect this too.  If a pony is used to good grazing, they may struggle to survive on sparse, poor quality grass.  They would have to learn to forage for a bigger variety of plants to help them survive.

The breed of the horse will also have an influence.  It is unlikely that a thoroughbred would survive if released on to Exmoor.  The grazing would be too sparse, the moor too exposed and the climate too cold.  These horses have thin coats (even in the winter) and need more care and feed than a native breed.  However, a hairy pony that is a 'good doer' would probably be more likely to cope.

Many of our so called 'wild' horses were at some time domesticated and then released (or sometimes they have escaped) back into the wild!  This includes the Brumbies in Australia and the Mustangs in America.  Mongolian horses that were bred in a zoo were returned to the Steppes and to an area in France.  

So, I think that in theory some horses could adapt to living wild.  If used to living with other horses they would certainly be well able to join and integrate with a herd.  In time many would adapt to growing a sufficiently thick winter coat and if they survived this period of adaption would probably be fine.


Have you seen last week's video 'How to ... Wash your stable rug' ? 
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram for updates on Chesney, Basil, Floss and Daisy.

Until next time!

Jo