L .R Equine

This has been one of the wettest winters on record, and there have been consequences for horses and their owners across the country. With almost constant access to these wet conditions, cases of ‘mud fever’ have been especially high across the UK. What is 'Mud Fever' and what causes it? Mud Fever is a collective name for a condition commonly associated with horses in regular exposure to muddy, damp conditions, and causes bacteria (that usually live on the skin without issue)

People always want something for nothing. I guess its human nature, but being a self employed horse trainer, I come across this a lot when it involves people putting their hands in their pockets and paying for something. I know other horse trainers have the same issues, but I find it amazing at how many people get in contact asking for advice with their horses, but when I mention hourly rates or mileage charges, very few people actually follow through with this and book a ses

Horsey humans seem to have this obsession with wrapping their horses' legs in ‘fluffy stuff’?! Whether its fleece materials, sheepskin (real or faux) or some expensive types of wool, there seems to be an abundance of equine wear available with various types of ‘fluff’ on it. Humans may like the feel of ‘fluff’ on their skin, keeping them warm and cosy in cold weather for example, but when applying these principles to an exercising horse, you may want to think again about your

We all know that horses' legs can get injured from 'trauma' when being exercised (such as hitting a jump, or brushing one leg against the other) but have you ever considered that horses' legs are also being damaged by overheating as a result of wearing unbreathable boots? During exercise, the tendons and ligaments produce heat as a bi-product of energy. The heat produced causes the legs to get hot internally, and if the horse is wearing boots that aren’t TOTALLY breathable, t

We've all heard the saying 'No Hoof, No Horse' and this constant wet weather has affected Lulas hooves. She has been barefoot since October, and until January, she had coped well with being hacked out on the roads a few times a week. But constantly having wet hooves (thanks to the almost constant Cornish rain) made them soften; she was getting more grit stuck in the white line and she had a touch of thrush in her frogs. I contacted Sam at 'Red Horse Products', and he suggeste

Worming is an important part of horse health management, and it is a necessary task for horse owners to carry out, but the practice of administering the tube can be a challenge?! The sight of this little syringe can often fill horses and humans with fear...sometimes resulting in extreme behaviour and stress for all involved. It's (unfortunately) quite a common sight to see two people struggling to restrain a horse to administer the contents of the syringe into a horses mouth,

Thankfully, the days of routinely worming horses with the same product every 6-8 weeks is long gone. As highlighted in human medicine, some medications are losing their effectiveness because of overuse of the same drugs, leading to resistance. The same situation is occuring with horses. With this in mind, targeting worming plans are becoming more popular with horse owners. Faecal egg count kits have been around for several years, and are offered by various companies and veter