JBK Show Horses

KNOW YOUR ZONE: What happens inside a NWS Infested Zone?
An Infested Zone comes with additional precautions designed to reduce the risk of New World screwworm spreading beyond the area.

Depending on the circumstances, response activities can include:
🔎Enhanced surveillance: animals and wildlife are monitored for signs of infestation.
🚫Movement controls: animal movement may be restricted or require specific conditions before animals can leave the zone.
🩺Inspection & treatment: animals may need to be inspected for New World screwworm and, if necessary, treated before movement.
🪰Fly Trapping: surveillance helps officials determine whether New World screwworm flies are present and where they may be moving.

These measures work together to find, contain, and eliminate New World screwworm.

Equine brain size. It's something I dipped into during my research into prematurity when I started to measure the volume of the cranial vault ... I became a bit obsessed about the different ratios, but thankfully realised the error of my ways and stopped while I still could 😆 It was when I learned how many samples I'd need to make the stats meaningful - and I only had 12!

As a blog post it does very well and attracts a lot of readers. (Then there were the guys in the comments who started protesting about walnuts - I had to explain it's just a proverb/figure of speech that OTHER people have used in the past in a derogatory way! I think we'd run into a language barrier.)

‘'The Size of a Walnut'' – Does Equine Brain Size Matter?' Link in comments.

📖 🐎 MANAGING THE MIRACLE FOAL - The Essential Handbook for Owners of Premature and Dysmature Foals - by Dr Jane Clothier. Now available on Amazon, Apple Books, and your favourite eBooks platform. Just search Miracle Foal! 📖 🖋️🐎

Did you know that a horse can become overheated enough to cause neurological injury—if he survives?

Severe overheating can progress to exertional heat illness or heatstroke, a potentially life-threatening condition in which the horse’s core temperature rises to dangerous levels and his normal cooling mechanisms can no longer keep up.

Is the Horse Essentially Being “Cooked”?

In very severe hyperthermia, that is actually a useful analogy.

The body’s cells and proteins can only function properly within a certain temperature range. When body temperature becomes extremely high, heat begins interfering with normal cellular function and can directly damage tissues.

At the same time, other things are going wrong. Dehydration reduces circulating blood volume, circulation may become compromised, and less blood may reach important organs, including the brain. Severe heat illness can also trigger widespread inflammation and abnormalities in blood clotting.

The damage can therefore come from a combination of extreme heat, impaired circulation, inflammation and disruption of normal cellular function.

The nervous system is particularly vulnerable. Reduced blood flow to the brain can contribute to inadequate oxygen delivery, swelling, disruption of the blood-brain barrier and injury to nerve cells.

Neurological Signs Can Develop

As heat illness becomes more severe, a horse may show:

* Changes in behavior or awareness
* Disorientation
* Stumbling or incoordination
* Weakness or collapse
* Loss of normal reflexes
* Seizures or convulsions
* Stupor or coma in the most severe cases

Some horses survive a severe episode and recover completely. When overheating is sufficiently severe or prolonged, however, neurological injury and damage to other organs may persist even after the horse’s temperature has returned to normal.

Heatstroke Can Affect the Whole Body

The brain is only one of the organs at risk.

Severe heat illness can also lead to:

* Severe dehydration
* Electrolyte and acid-base disturbances
* Gastrointestinal injury
* Circulatory problems
* Widespread inflammation
* Abnormal blood clotting
* Kidney, liver or muscle injury
* Multiple-organ failure

This is why severe heatstroke can continue to be dangerous even after the horse has been cooled.

What Increases the Risk?

Heat illness becomes more likely when a horse exercises in hot, humid conditions because exercise generates large amounts of internal heat while the environment makes that heat harder to lose.

High humidity is especially important because it reduces the effectiveness of evaporative cooling from sweat. Poor airflow, intense or prolonged exercise, dehydration, lack of acclimatization, heavy body condition and inadequate cooling during or after work can all increase the risk.

A horse can overheat surprisingly quickly when several of these factors occur together.

An Elevated Temperature After Exercise Is Not Automatically Heatstroke

A horse’s body temperature normally rises during strenuous exercise, particularly in hot and humid conditions.

The greater concern is severe or prolonged hyperthermia accompanied by signs that the horse is no longer coping normally, such as altered behavior, weakness, incoordination, collapse or other signs of systemic illness.

A re**al temperature around 105–106°F (40.6–41.1°C) or above is particularly concerning, but temperature alone does not tell us how much injury has occurred. How high the horse’s temperature rises, how long it remains elevated, his hydration and circulation, and his individual response all matter.

Suspected heatstroke is an emergency. Begin actively cooling the horse immediately and contact your veterinarian.

https://koperequine.com/31-things-every-horse-owner-should-know-about-horses-and-heat/

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The Ugly Duckling Nobody Wanted Became Racing's Most Priceless Swan🐎
He was too thin. He had a temper inherited from his sire. No American breeder truly wanted him — not even at Keeneland, where his own owner had to buy him back because no one made a serious bid.
Sunday Silence won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, beating rival Easy Goer in one of the greatest rivalries in turf history, then closed the season with the Breeders' Cup Classic and Horse of the Year honors.
"He was a wonderful creature. He was all heart. I don't think I've ever had more respect for anybody or anything than I have for him. He tried so hard." — Arthur Hancock III, owner and breeder.
Rejected by American breeders, he was sold to Japan. There he became the founding father of a dynasty: Japan's leading sire for 13 consecutive years, sire of Deep Impact, with progeny earnings surpassing $713 million over his career🐎

They called him a cheap horse. Common blood, humble roots, nothing in the pedigree to suggest greatness.
California Chrome didn't need royal blood to make history. He just needed a heart that refused to quit — and he had plenty of it.
Born in California to a $2,500 mare and a $2,000 stallion, no one expected him to make headlines. But the moment he stepped onto the track, it was clear this was no ordinary c**t.
In 2014, he took the country by storm: winning the Santa Anita Derby, then the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, a blend of raw speed and swagger. That flashing white blaze became the emblem of an underdog the whole nation fell in love with.
The Belmont, the final leg of the Triple Crown, humbled him — he finished fourth. The doubts came rushing back.
But Chrome didn't fade — he grew. After an injury and time on the sidelines, he returned in 2016 better than ever. At age 5, he crossed the ocean to Dubai and won the Dubai World Cup, sweeping wide, never flinching, pure power to the wire.
Back home, he dominated the Pacific Classic and the Awesome Again, taking on younger horses under heavier weight — and still coming out on top.
He retired with over $14 million in earnings, the richest racehorse in American history at the time. But his real legacy isn't measured in dollars — he gave hope to everyone watching from the outside, proving greatness doesn't only come from million-dollar pedigrees or powerhouse barns. Sometimes it comes from a stable painted purple and green, and two first-time owners who simply believed.
California Chrome wasn't just fast. He was a dreamer's horse🐎