Got Protozoa on the Brain?

Hay Folks,

I’m glad you stuck around to find out about the nasty protozoa that causes Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM). Remember I talked a little about this month?  If you’re just tuning in, check out my previous blog post, “Recycling Manure”.

Doughnut Denial

Welcome back, friends! It feels like fall is just about here, finally!  I love the beautiful scenery that forms around my pasture and all of the different pumpkin and spice treats that come with these months, but what I am MOST excited about is CANDY!!

Pruning Out Poisonous Plants!

I hope that you have been enjoying the fresh weather breezing in throughout the month of October lately! My favorite gal pal Hugme Christi and I enjoy a brisk morning romp in our field and then graze leisurely while soaking up the warm sun rays during the day. Do you know why fall is the best time of the year? Not only do we get to roll around in all of the leaf piles, but because it smells like a tasty vegetarian Thanksgiving feast for horses! Every day, the air becomes a little more aromatic with the sweet smell of turning leaves and sweet grasses. It’s like an olfactory sensory explosion, and I really just can’t get enough of it! It is almost as tantalizing as an apple-filled doughnut sitting on the picnic table outside my pasture.  Almost.

Dental check up...Float on!

Hey Everybody!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!  The snow couldn’t stop me from getting some treats of my own.  As you already know, I love treats any day of the year and October 31^st is no exception!  I just can’t get enough of those sugary sweet delights!  But with my affection for confections, I need to take good care of my old chompers! I had a recent checkup from my equine dentist friend to help prevent any dental dilemmas. 

If You Can't Stand the Heat...

...get out of the sun!

While most of my human friends can enjoy the air conditioning on a hot and humid day, I seek the shade of a tree or run-in shed to keep cool. This heat is tough on any horse, and since I'm (a little) older than most, I have to be especially careful to be sure I'm consuming enough calories to keep my body functioning and maintain a healthy body weight. Some horses may lose as much as 7 to 10 percent of body weight in sweat per hour in extreme temperatures. That's about 9-10 gallons of horse sweat...gross! Dr. Malinowski keeps my diet high in calories by increasing my grain, adding corn oil to my feed, and feeding me a wide variety of...doughnuts!

June - Celebrations and Itchiness!

June is my favorite month of the year! Not only because it marks the official start of summer, or because the school year is finally over, but it is also the Month of the Horse! New Jersey Department of Agriculture Secretary Doug Fisher and the Equine Science Center's own Dr. Malinowski, kicked off the month of the horse on June 10th at the Standardbred Retirement Foundation Farm (the same folks who brought my research horse pals to Rutgers!) by announcing the various events planned to celebrate New Jersey's state animal! It's like a party that lasts all month long!

Egg-Shaped Third Eye???

Hay Friends,

Remember in my last blog post I promised to share with you the location of a horse's third eye? Well, it's right in front of the ears, hidden underneath the forelock, but you can't see it! Just kidding! Horses don't actually have a REAL third eye - that would be bizarre! They do however have something called a pineal gland in their brain that processes information about the environment, like exposure to daylight, similarly to the actual eye. The pineal is a small reddish brown egg-shaped gland located in the center of the brain tucked between the two hemispheres.

Through a series of chemical reactions, the amount of light, processed through the eye's retina, is sent through various parts of the brain and ultimately received by the pineal gland. The primary functions of the pineal gland are to synthesize and secrete the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is a powerful hormone that plays an important role in adjusting the body to photoperiod and affecting circadian rhythms, such as the sleep-wake cycle, as it processes light exposure. The release of the hormone is not constant however; it is a pattern of the lowest concentrations occurring during daylight hours and peaking at night when it's dark. The varying levels of melatonin tell a horse what season it is and whether or not it should shed its hair or for mares to begin reproductive function. Pretty cool, huh?

Spring IS in the air and my pasture is beginning to sprout new luscious grass. Better for me than hot dogs and peppermints! Did you know that there are different species of grasses grown in horse pastures? Look out for my next blog post, where I'll talk about the different varieties of my most favorite food!

Until next time,

Lord Nelson

Love is in the air!

Hay everyone!

How about this crazy weather we've been having? I've been busy climbing the mountains of snow that have formed in my paddock...the other day my owner couldn't find me because I was behind a snow pile that towered over my head! Check out some of my snow filled pictures in my photo gallery below! I just can't wait for spring to come!

Anyway, Valentine's Day is coming up and love is in the air! I'm looking forward to a romantic day with my gal pal and fellow snow mountain climber HugMe Christi. I'm so in love, that when I see her, my ears perk up, my eyes light up, and my heart starts to beat just a little bit faster! Horses are lovers...we have big hearts! The average weight of an equine heart is between 7 and 9 pounds, but some are even bigger than that...the famous racehorse Secretariat's heart was an estimated 22 pounds! So how does the massive equine heart work? Read more to find out!

What is Lordosis??

Hi friends,

Did you ever see a horse that looks like its belly is pulling its spine toward the ground, causing its back to slope downward just behind its withers? If you aren't sure what I mean, just look at some of the pictures of myself that I've posted here! The condition is commonly known as "sway back" but its scientific name applies more to yours truly..."LORDosis!"

Although the dip in my back may seem to be a cause for concern, it really doesn't bother me or prevent me from living a normal and active life. My owner does make fun of me however; he says eventually, he will have to start strapping the saddle to my belly and riding me upside-down for the saddle to fit properly!

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday!

Hi Friends,

Welcome to 2011! I certainly hope that the recent weather event (the blizzard!) that ended 2010 isn't a prediction of what's yet to come. I'll have more on that a little later - just keep reading!

New Year's Day is always special for horses in the Northern Hemisphere - it marks our birthday! As you can see from my picture, I celebrated enough for all of my fellow equine friends. I actually cheated and celebrated my birthday a day early (December 31) so that I could share my "affection for confections" with my owner, who brought me cupcakes with candles, and one of my caretakers, Josh, whose birthday is New Year's Eve. You may not be able to tell from the picture that I could not contain my excitement when I saw that plateful of cupcakes. Josh said that I was trembling in an effort to reach out and grab one of those treats!

Holiday Overindulgence!

Hey Gang,

Even though I JUST recovered from my Thanksgiving feast, I am already gearing up for more holiday dinners and sweet treats! I've been taking advantage of this festive holiday season to eat all the little goodies I could swindle from my caretakers! They are always careful not to over-feed me, because that could lead to some serious health problems. When humans overeat they may need to spend a couple of days at the gym, but when horses overeat, it could be deadly!

Why You Shouldn't Look A Gift Horse in the Mouth...

Hey Future Equine Experts!

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?" Ever wonder what it means? Today, it means to be thankful for a gift (even if you secretly want something better) and don't take something given to you for free for granted; but the roots of the phrase go back to when horses were used for everyday work, and when people depended on them for survival.

Did you know you can tell a horse's age by examining its teeth? I ask because to understand the phrase, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," you should know how to estimate a horse's age.

Age - is it really just a number??

Last week, the Equine Science Center was well represented at the first Dorothy Havemeyer Foundation Equine Geriatric Workshop. That means that a bunch of scientists and veterinarians got together to talk about old horses - one of my favorite topics!

HAY Gang!

Ooops - I meant hey!

You'll never guess what happened last week when I went apple picking - there were no apples! No matter where we looked, all the apples had already been harvested. All we could find were tomatoes (Yuck!). I was really bummed out until later in the week when a couple of pretty cool things happened...

"No foot, no horse!"

Hi Friends!

The extremely dry summer we had finally took its toll on me a few weeks ago; therefore, I haven't been able to type with my hoof for a while. Let me tell you what happened...

King Nelson?!

Hello Friends,

My ears were burning last week, and it wasn't because of the heat! People were talking about me!

Some of my friends from the Equine Science Center attended the annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science in Denver. They wanted to spread the word about Equine Science 4 Kids, but most of the professors and students at the meeting already knew about our website and yours truly! Some were a little confused though; they thought my name was Prince Nelson, or King Nelson. I'm normally pretty happy to be called Nelson, but I REALLY like the sound of "King Nelson."

While in Denver, my friends had many opportunities to listen to lectures and presentations about very interesting research, not only in horses, but in every animal species. Topics covered during the conference included nutrition, animal husbandry (or animal care), signaling between and within cells, the immune system, animal growth, the environment, and animal reproduction, to name just a few of the many, many talks.

Conferences are also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues, and to forge new relationships. I hear Denver is an amazing city to visit with a great view of the Rocky Mountains. By the end of the year, my friends at the Equine Science Center will have attended conferences and meetings in Baltimore, Denver, Washington, D.C., Australia, Brazil, Ireland, and South Africa! Who knew that the life of a scientist could be so eventful!

While you are deciding what you want to be when you grow up, think about becoming a scientist. If you like to ask questions and find answers, you already have two of the most important qualities of a good scientist. Everyone, including horses, will depend more and more on scientists to work on the challenges facing us in the future. Plus, think about all the opportunities scientists have to travel and meet new people!

That's all for now; I wonder who I need to talk to in order to be promoted to "King" Nelson...

The EYEs Have It!

Hello Friends!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July. I had a great view of some fireworks from underneath the old apple tree in my pasture, with plenty of treats from the BBQ next door!

Unfortunately, not everything this weekend went perfectly. Last week I got a scratch on my eye, which was quite irritating. My caretakers put a fly mask on my head and put tape over the spot where my right eye is located to keep the sun out. They also had antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine to put in my eye. Now, I really hate having the fly mask on since it keeps me from seeing everything that is going on out at the farm, and I especially hate having medicine rubbed in my eye, but after 37 years I've learned that sometimes you just have to take your medicine and listen to others that know what is best for you.

My caretakers did what every responsible horse-person does and called their veterinarian to take a look at my eye. It turns out that I have more than just a scratch - I have glaucoma (glä-kō-mä). It may sound like really bad news, but lucky for me, they found it early. Up until now my vision has been great and I haven't had any discomfort. You may have heard of your grandparents or people their age having glaucoma, but you might not be too familiar with what it is. Since I'm a pretty web-savvy horse, I hit-up the internet to see what I could find out. In horses, glaucoma basically means that there is a buildup of fluid and pressure in the eye, which will impair vision and be uncomfortable. There is no cure, and I will eventually lose sight in my eye, but that is part of getting old. Right now I am on medicine that will decrease the fluid in my eye and relieve some of the pressure, but it will also decrease the fluid in the rest of my body. This type of medicine is called a diuretic (dī-ur-ĕt-ik). To make sure I don't lose too much fluid, my caretakers are careful to give me plenty of electrolytes and water, and are making sure I don't get overheated!

On the bright side, I got a new feeder this weekend! It is an old tire with a bowl fit in it, so I can bang it around all I want to let my caretakers know I'm hungry. You might not get too excited about new plates and bowls, but to me it was like getting a new baseball glove, bicycle, and Hula Hoop all at once! Check out the new pics in my slideshow of my new tire, me getting some sunscreen, and other happenings at my farm!

Stay tuned for more posts this month, we have some big projects in the works for Equine Science 4 Kids!

Your pal,