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EQUINE REVIEW
AUTUMN 2010
12
Anti-oxidants and the fit old horse
Something else the Missus has been reading
about is the fact that when we exercise we
use more oxygen. When we use oxygen we
produce free radicals. Now fit, young and
mature horses up-regulate their anti-oxidants to
combat the increased levels of free radicals.
But I am sad to say that Dr Rachel Neville,
Senior Lecturer at Lincoln University who is Dr
Anti-oxidants, has shown that old horses that
are in work are unable to up-regulate in the
same way... thank goodness I get extra
anti-oxidants from my bucket feed. That helps
minimise cell damage and at our age one
needs all the help one can get!!!
Overweight youngsters
No this isn’t just a whinge from an older horse
about the youth of today…..but can’t they take
more pride in their appearance.
Nearly all the youngsters I see in the show ring
today are overweight…..you know you can’t
see their ribs, they have lovely apple shaped
bottoms and you see the fat wobble
over the shoulder and as for the crest;
well really it’s simply not sexy!.
They really need to understand the
importance of a balanced diet. By
the time they get to my age they will
be insulin resistant, laminitic and
obese and be suffering from Equine
Metabolic Syndrome, (EMS). When
I was young no-one had heard of
Cushings; now lots of us oldies get
it. Mark my words in 10-15yrs time
these youngsters will be suffering
from EMS. It is preventable just get
them to lose weight.
Mind you the owners can’t just
starve them. They need vitamins and
minerals especially anti-oxidants and
omega 3’s are good… staves off
that arthritis for a little longer. If they
are overweight the stress on their
limbs, lungs and hearts is far more
significant than what a few extra
supplements are able to alleviate.
Talking of showing and fatness I think
Dr T should remind us all of the latest
work that was presented at BEVA
(British Equine Veterinary Association
Annual Congress 2010). It might seem
from the quote below, that we are a
little behind on our awareness, but of
course until recently other illnesses
killed humans and horses before the
longterm risks of fatness had a chance
to have an effect. Indeed really our
increasing waistlines can be traced to
an increase in ready, high calorie
meals and a more sedentary lifestyle...
so here’s the latest!
Update on the longterm effects of
fatness on the health and welfare
of horses,(BEVA 2010)
‘Sudden death is more common in
those that are naturally fat than in
the lean’,
Hippocrates 400BC.
The danger of fatness is neither new
nor unique to the showing world;
however the showing world is more
in the spotlight and often shapes the
views of many horse owners. So real
is the risk of longterm fatness to the
health of horses, that the veterinary
profession dedicated a whole session
at BEVA to the latest research in the
subject; to put it in perspective horses
are developing Cushings as young as
6yrs (Dr John Keen, University of
Edinburgh); fat horses are 6 times
more likely to develop laminitis
(L Salonon, RVC).
The health risks of being fat are similar
in both horses and humans and are
cumulative. Not all the fat is the same;
some secretes hormones causing insulin
resistance, chronic inflammation and
changes to the lining of the blood
vessels (endothelium) resulting in blood
flow changes causing heart attacks in
humans and laminitis in horses. The
longer you are fat, the more dangers
to health; you get a heart attack
because you’ve been eating too many
calories for years, horses get laminitis
because they have been eating too
many calories from a young age.
Children are getting type 2 diabetes
because they are born to parents
that have been fat and are on an
unbalanced diet; similarly ponies can
get laminitis at a young age. Fatness
is inheritable.
Think of laminitis as the horse
equivalent to the human heart attack,
the metabolic and biochemical
changes are very similar.
Old, fat horses won’t get laminitis or
EMS because of what they eat today,
any more than you and I get a heart
attack because we ate a doughnut
today. They get the life threatening
problems because their metabolism
has changed over a period of time
due to being fat; in addition they
maybe genetically predisposed,
they might be stressed (increases
cortisol), or they might have long
term mechanical damage to their
lamellae from carrying around
excess weight...
The longterm effects of fatness on the health and welfare of horses...
Fact...
The danger of FATNESS is
neither new nor unique to
the showing world; however
the showing world is more
IN THE SPOTLIGHT and
often shapes the views of
many HORSE OWNERS.
Dr John Keen, University of Edinburgh
COMING IN THE WINTER EDITION OF EQUINE REVIEW:
PART 2
of ‘An Old Codger’s Blog’. Read about forage
and occupational therapy and the facts about when a
horse gets old...
Read more...