TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1.The competition is open to all, excluding any employees of Equus Horse Feeds and their family members. 2.Decision of judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 3.The prize is not transferable and cannot be converted to cash. 4.Competition closes 31 March 2009. 5.The winner will be notified by e-mail to the address supplied, and published on the Equus website www.equusfeeds.co.za, as well as the Equus newsletter after the closing date. 6.The prize will be delivered free of charge to the feed store stocking Equus products which is closest to the winner. |
WIN A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF THE BEST HORSE FOOD IN SOUTH AFRICA Scroll to the bottom of our newsletter to find out how |
In this issue: • Clonie Ponies (foals from super stars) • Guard Against Spring Laminitis • Win a Year's Supply of Equus Feeds |
CLONING BREAKING NEWS GEM TWIST REBORN The French company CRYOZOOTECH announced the birth of the clone of Gem Twist, the grey thoroughbred gelding three times awarded "Horse of the Year", double silver medal at Seoul Olympic games and "world Best Horse" at the 1990 World Equestrian Games. Eric Palmer, founder of the company, was looking for exceptional champion horses for his cloning project in 2006 when he learned that Gem was still alive. Gem Twist was an outstanding horse but without progeny because of early castration. Two years later arrives the clone Gem Twist who will certainly not be castrated. Breeders are looking for thoroughbred stallions to bring more blood in their genetic pool, but they have very little choice of thoroughbred jumping performers. There are very few of them competing at a high level and almost all of them are geldings. Cryozootech brings a new tool for modern breeding with this innovative approach. What does cloning mean ? Cloning is the process of identical and asexual reproduction. Genes of any cell (skin ones for example) are duplicated. Cloning is unusual in the animal kingdom but very frequent in the vegetable one. Contrary to popular belief, a clone is not a genetically modified organism. It is quite the opposite : a clone is the 100 % original' s genetic copy itself. Cloning is the merging of different laboratory techniques developed by specialists with different backgrounds such as cell culture, cryobiology, microsurgery and embryology. Because the process involves laboratory cell stage manipulations animal suffering is completely avoided. Once the laboratory process is completed a natural gestation process follows with a foster mother carrying the foal. This state-of-the-art technique creates completely new opportunities for the selection of sport horses. |
GEM TWIST World's Best Horse 1990 World Equestrian Games |
LITTLE GEM TWIST |
More on Cloning in the next newsletter: • What stand did the WBFSH adopt on cloning? • What about the ban on cloning by the Race Horse Industry? • More about the technique used and other success stories! |
Also in our next newsletter: • Jump Safety gets serious. • The Colic Fact Sheet. |
GUARD AGAINST SPRING LAMINITIS The forces are gathering in the war against laminitis. The death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro brought sharply into focus the challenges that laminitis, or founder, bring. The champion racehorse survived and recovered from a catastrophic leg injury, only to succumb to laminitis. Barbaro's battle with laminitis raised awareness of the problem, and has re-energised efforts to find solutions. In any war, the first rule is to know your enemy. At a basic level, we know that laminitis is an inflammation of the delicate layers beneath the hoof wall, called laminae. It causes severe pain, similar to when we shut our fingers in the car door, except it is worse for the horse because he or she has to stand with all his or her weight on those bruised areas. If not arrested or reversed quickly the condition might leave little option but to euthanize the animal in some cases. We know that ponies and overweight horses are more prone to the disorder, and we also know that the cause of almost all equine laminitis is poor digestion.. Mechanical overload of a sound leg is another common cause, as is drinking too much cold water after exercise. SPRING GRASS Although food is not the only cause of equine laminitis, the one type of food that causes equine laminitis is rich young spring grass with high levels of fructans. However, rich grass can cause the problem at any time of year and even frosty grass in the winter can damage the digestion in the gut so much that the wrong sort of bacteria start to multiply and release toxins. Grass stores higher levels of fructans in stems than in leaves and levels increase during daylight. When the grass is using a lot of energy for rapid growth, sugar and fructans will be used up, so the amount stored will decrease, reducing the risk. Recent research indicates that 'stressed' grass (i.e: drought stricken, wilted, during frost or grass that is over-grazed) tends to contain much higher levels of fructans as the growth is reduced, seriously increasing the risk of causing laminitis. Click on laminitis to read more about this disease, how to prevent grazing induced Spring Laminitis and more about the diagnosis of laminitis in general. Click on Equus Safe 'n Lite for more information on low NCS diets specifically designed for feeding horses prone to laminitis and related metabolic disorders. |
Train 'n Leisure Already rated as the premium pelleted product available on the market today for medium training and leisure. |
ABOUT EQUUS FEEDS The new Equus range of products is manufactured in the heart of the Waterberg and is aimed at meeting specific performance requirements while maintaining excellent digestive health at all times. |
Cool 'n Perform A textured product for top performance horses |
Safe 'n Lite A specialised product for horses prone to laminitis and all related syndromes. |
Issue # 1 - December 2008 |
X-Ray of a foot showing relative rotation of the coffin bone and the hoof capsule as well as some sinking. While laminitis is present, this is an example of rotational founder |