Horse Health

FITNESS IS NOT ONE THING

A horse can become less breathless before every tissue in the body is ready to take on more load. Cardiovascular fitness, muscular conditioning, bone adaptation, tendon capacity and technical skill do not progress as one unit at one pace. The problem with ‘he feels fit’ Riders often judge fitness by how easily a horse completes a…

BylizzieAugust 4, 20260Comments

Horse and Rider Horse Health Horse Training

WHAT FATIGUE DOES TO MOVEMENT

A tired horse does not simply perform the same movement with less enthusiasm. Fatigue can alter force production, coordination and stride-to-stride consistency, but it does not create one universal pattern. Movement depends on more than strength Every stride requires the nervous system to recruit muscles in the right sequence and at the right intensity. The horse…

BylizzieAugust 3, 20260Comments

Horse and Rider Horse Health

YOUR HORSE MAY BE TIRED BEFORE HE LOOKS TIRED

Fatigue is not confined to a horse who is blowing hard at the end of a session. It can appear much earlier, and far more subtley, as a loss of strength, coordination, consistency or willingness. What do we mean by fatigue? In ordinary equestrian conversation, we tend to recognise fatigue only at its most obvious: a…

BylizzieAugust 2, 20260Comments

Horse at sunset - peak risk time for AHS

Horse Health

IMPROVED DETECTION OF AHS

How faster diagnosis protects South African horses Researchers at Onderstepoort have refined the PCR assays used to detect African Horse Sickness virus, improving diagnostic sensitivity and speed. For South African breeders and equestrians in endemic and control zones, faster confirmation of AHS status means quicker decisions about movement, treatment and herd management. African Horse Sickness remains…

BylizzieJuly 8, 20260Comments

Horse Health

UNDERSTANDING GUT HEALTH IN HORSES

And how you can improve it Text: Ricolette du Preez, Founder of Supreme Equine Nutrition and Independent Equine Nutritionist, (BTEC) Professional Dip in Equine Nutrition (UK), BSc Dietetics. Gut health plays a fundamental role in the overall wellbeing, performance, recovery, and behaviour of horses. However, many factors can negatively affect or compromise the equine gastrointestinal system…

BylizzieJuly 6, 20260Comments

Image for article on variability in horse state and behaviour.

Horse Health

WHY YOUR HORSE FEELS AMAZING ONE DAY AND AWFUL THE NEXT

We've all been there when we arrive in the same arena with the same plan, but our horse feels completely different. One day our horse is soft and forward, and two days later he is stiff and distracted. Interestingly, this is rarely to do with the situation in the moment. How a horse feels under…

BylizzieJune 29, 20260Comments

Horse Health

WHEN IN DOUBT, CALL THE VET – WHAT NEW WOUND RESEARCH SHOWS

A new study from the UK suggests that how we handle the first few hours after a wound occurs matters more, and varies more, than we might like to admit. Researchers at the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with the British Horse Society, asked owners to report on real wounds in their own horses, from injury…

BylizzieJune 28, 20260Comments

Horse Health

BREWER’S YEAST – THE QUIET POWERHOUSE IN YOUR FEED ROOM

Our guide to what brewer's yeast really does for your horse, where the science is strong, and where the marketing gets ahead of the evidence. Few feed-room ingredients have travelled as far as brewer's yeast. What began as a by-product of beer fermentation has become one of the most widely used supplements in equine nutrition, quietly…

BylizzieJune 25, 20260Comments

Horse Health

YOUR HORSE’S BODY CLOCK

Why the overnight hours matter more than you think We spend a lot of time perfecting the concentrate feeds and worrying about what happens in the day when we're around the barn. For many of us, the ten or twelve hours in between, the overnight stretch, mostly look after themselves. However, new research suggests these…

BylizzieJune 24, 20260Comments

Horse Health

WHAT IS A CT SCAN USED FOR IN HORSES?

A CT (computed tomography) scan is becoming a more familiar part of equine veterinary care, but for most of us, it sits in a grey area: more than the X-ray we're used to and less familiar than the MRI we have vaguely heard of. Here is a plain-language look at what a CT does, when…

BylizzieJune 23, 20260Comments

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