Debunking Horse Myths
by Beth A. Valentine, DVM, PhD

If you’ve been around horses long, you’ve heard a lot of “facts” about them. How do you know these “facts” are true? Because everyone says so.

Well, as it turns out, some of what we know to be facts turn out to be myths. How do we know they’re myths? Because someone has analyzed and, in many cases, tested for the truth.

Researchers are starting to question some of the well-known horse facts, believed even by veterinarians coming out of veterinary school. Let’s look at a few horse myths, the truths, and suggestions for where the myths may have come from.

Myth: A white hoof is weaker than a dark hoof.

Truth: Many studies have shown that pigment does not at all cause increased hoof strength, and lack of pigment does not cause a weak hoof.

Possible origin: A crack or chip is far easier to see in a white hoof than in a dark hoof.

Myth: Applying used motor oil or other oily hoof dressing improves hoof quality.

Truth: Applying these kinds of oil actually dries out the hoof. The hoof needs moisture to maintain health. If you must use something, use a lanolin based cream. Even more important, provide a healthy diet and, if your horse has poor hoof quality, feed a biotin hoof supplement containing a high level of methionine, zinc, and sulfur. In really dry weather, provide a muddy area for your horses to walk through.

Possible origin: An oiled hoof does look better, for awhile.

Myth: A horse that is overweight and has a cresty neck is at increased risk for laminitis and founder.

Truth: Just being overweight from too many calories won’t increase the risk of laminitis (inflammation of the connections of the hoof wall to the underlying coffin bone). But an overweight horse that develops laminitis for another reason is more prone to founder (sinking or rotation of the coffin bone), simply because of the extra weight. A cresty neck is the norm for many breeds, especially draft related breeds.

Possible origin: A recently identified problem known as equine metabolic syndrome causes a horse to tend toward obesity, despite a normal daily intake of calories, and to develop a cresty neck that wasn’t cresty before. The underlying metabolic syndrome, not the body shape, causes the laminitis. When in doubt about your horse’s weight and neck, ask your veterinarian for advice.

Myth: Horses need to eat grain.

Truth: Other than possibly vitamin E (if the horse does not get green grass or alfalfa) and selenium (if your area is selenium deficient), the only thing a horse on good quality forage needs from grain is extra calories, most of which come from starch and sugar. An intake of starch and sugar increases the risk of bone and joint problems in young growing horses and of colic, founder, and stomach ulcers in adults.

Possible origin: When the cavalry needed to carry concentrated feeds on trips across country with poor grazing, and when hard working horses in cities needed extra calories to maintain weight, the only feeds available were grains. These days we have a lot more options that are healthier than grains, such as high fiber and high fat feeds, and good vitamin E and selenium supplements.

Myth: Alfalfa and other high protein feeds make horses hot and hard to handle.

Truth: A few horses seem to be honestly sensitive to something in alfalfa, but otherwise dietary protein does not cause a horse to be overly energetic.

Possible origin: High protein feeds are higher in calories, and too many calories can give any horse unwanted energy. Alfalfa hay, for example, has about 1,000 calories per pound compared to about 800 for grass hay. A flake of alfalfa hay typically weighs more than a flake of grass hay, so if you replace six flakes of grass hay per day with six flakes of alfalfa, the horse gets a lot more calories.

 Myth: Too much protein causes kidney or liver damage.

Truth: Absolutely not. If a horse has a healthy liver and healthy kidneys, extra protein will be passed in the urine, causing the horse to drink more water and urinate more. The result is a messier stall, but not damage to either liver or kidneys.

Possible origin: I honestly don’t know where this one came from, other than the fact that horses with damaged kidneys or liver should have a lower protein diet.

Myth: Don’t let a hot horse drink water or it will colic, founder, or develop muscle cramps.

Truth: Several recent studies have disproved this myth, and no one can think of a good mechanism for how cold water might affect the intestines or hooves. Cold water is no longer cold by the time it reaches the horse’s stomach; the temperature of the blood in a hot horse’s carotid artery can be up to 106{deg}F, and the carotid artery is close to the horse’s esophagus, the tube that moves water from the mouth to the stomach.

Possible origin: Horses with pituitary problems (equine Cushing’s disease) drink a lot of water and are quite prone to developing founder. Perhaps someone made the link between drinking a lot of water and founder, and then linked it to drinking while hot. An overstressed and overheated horse might develop colic from dehydration and impaction, but that has nothing to do with whether or not it drank cold water.

Myth: A horse holds its breath while you’re tightening the girth.

Truth: If you watch a horse while a girth is being tightened, it continues to breath. You may have to look for awhile, though, because a horse’s resting respiratory rate is quite slow, about 12 to 20 breaths per minute. What the horse tightens that later causes a loose girth is the abdominal muscles, especially the pectoral muscles on both sides of the bottom of the chest in the girth area.

Possible origin: This myth probably comes from the fact that our chest expands when we take a deep breath and hold it. But the horse’s chest does not expand during breathing nearly as much as that of people and many other animals. This lack of expansion is part of the reason that flank movement, not chest movement, is counted to evaluate a horse’s respiratory rate.

Myth: Too much grain, not enough regular exercise, over-exercising an unconditioned horse, or a deficiency of vitamin E or selenium, causes tying up (Monday morning disease).

Truth: A horse that ties up has a different sort of muscle metabolism than other horses. You can’t make a normal horse tie up by feeding a lot of grain, not enough vitamin E or selenium, keeping it in a stall most of the time, and then working it really hard. Horses that have this metabolic difference can develop a condition known as equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM). The muscle of EPSM horses builds up glycogen, the polysaccharide used by normal horses for muscle energy. What EPSM horses need in their diet is fat, such as from vegetable based oils.

Possible origin: Grain feeding makes EPSM horses worse, but eliminating grain from the diet doesn’t solve the problem. Exercise also helps EPSM muscle work properly, and standing in a stall can make an EPSM horse more likely to develop muscle injury when it is let out. An EPSM horse that is also deficient in vitamin E or selenium may have more obvious problems, because vitamin E and selenium protect against the oxidative injury to cells that can occur when muscle membranes break down during an episode of tying up. The underlying cause is still EPSM.

 Myth: Horses can’t digest fat because they don’t have a gall bladder.

Truth: Horses can digest fat just fine.

Possible origin: It is true that a horse doesn’t have a gall bladder, but horses still have a biliary system that makes bile. The gall bladder is just a storage tank for bile. Even people who have had their gall bladder removed don’t need a fat restricted diet for more than a couple of weeks after surgery. Some people just seem to be looking for a reason not to feed fat to their horses.

Myth: Feeding moldy hay can cause colic.

Truth: This idea is tough to prove or disprove. Veterinarians don’t even agree here. One study seemed to find a link between moldy hay and colic, but other researchers question the validity of that study, and no one can think of any molds in hay that would affect the horse’s stomach or intestines. Molds in hay can lead to severe respiratory allergies in horses, though.

Possible origin: Many horses won’t eat much of a moldy hay, and could develop intestinal problems and colic from eating too little fiber. The moldy hay could also be a change in diet, and any abrupt change in diet has been linked to colic. We definitely need to know more about this subject. Meanwhile, don’t feed moldy hay to your horses.

Myth: A warm bran mash in winter will help prevent colic.

Truth: Tests show that the amount of bran a horse can eat in a mash has no laxative or other positive effect on intestinal function.

Possible origin: The main cause of colic in winter is from horses not drinking enough cold winter water to keep their food from forming impactions in the intestine. Feeding a warm bran mash increases the horse’s water intake. But so does warming your horse’s drinking water, and warming the water is a lot more effective.

Myth: The most likely reason for a horse to rub its tail is infection with pinworms.

Truth: The most common causes of tail rubbing are allergy to gnat bites and a build up of irritating material within the sheath of males or between the udders of females.

Possible origin: Years ago pinworms did cause itching and tail rubbing. Dewormers these days are so effective and easy to use that we virtually never see pinworms anymore. Deworming a horse with an itchy tail is a good idea if the horse is due for deworming, but look for other causes of that itch.

Myth: Apply bacon grease (or any number of other compounds) to a wound if you don’t want the hair to grow back white.

Truth: No matter what you do or don’t do, if the follicles are damaged enough, the hair will be white when it regrows.

Possible origin: Most wounds regrow hair of normal color, so anyone using one of these compounds will swear it works.

 © 2006-2008  by Michael Appugliese     St Lazare, QC       michael@applehorseshoeing.com

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