Western Equine Wellness

🐴 Bot Fly Season! 🐝🙅🏼‍♀️

Bot flies resemble small bees and lay eggs on your horse’s hair, commonly on the legs and shoulders. Here’s what happens next:

🥚 Eggs hatch: As your horse licks or rubs the area with their mouth, warmth and saliva stimulate the eggs to hatch.
👅 Larvae enter the mouth: They spend several weeks developing in the tissues of the tongue and gums.
🐴 They move into the digestive tract: The larvae are swallowed and attach inside the stomach, where they can remain for months.
🔄 The cycle continues: Eventually, they pass out in manure, develop in the soil, and emerge as adult flies.

This is why bot control belongs in your horse’s parasite plan. Although bots usually don’t cause obvious illness, they can irritate the mouth and stomach. Removing eggs helps reduce exposure, but it won’t remove larvae already inside your horse.

Not every dewormer treats bots! Ask your veterinarian about the right product and timing for your horse—ivermectin is commonly used. Routine f***l egg counts don’t detect bots, so a low count doesn’t rule them out. However, f***l egg counts, can help determine egg counts for all larvae as well. 

Make checking for eggs part of your grooming routine. A bot fly knife helps remove those stubborn eggs from the hair—use gently and follow the tool’s instructions.

🛒 Pick up a bot fly knife here:
https://link.amazon/B033MZRRj

𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙎
Whether you have dealt with this condition in previous winters or you are new to it, we know many of you are already worrying about it. Cold-induced hoof pain, aka Winter Laminitis, is different from endocrinopathic laminitis, although it may present very similarly.

What is Winter Laminitis? How do you know if your equine is suffering from it as opposed to endocrinopathic laminitis? What can you do to help your horse?

Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD, and ECIR Board President Kathleen M. Gustafson, PhD, will address this in the live webinar
𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙎
November 4, 2026. 5:00 PM EDT (USA).
Register now at https://www.ecirhorse.org/webinars.php.

𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦:
WHERE: Zoom Live Meeting and recorded for later viewing.
WHAT: Each topic has 30 minutes of lecture and 30 minutes for Q&A.
COST: $30 each webinar includes one-year of video access to individual topic from date of each webinar.

Hoof Pros: Continuing Education Credits have been approved for PHCP, IAPF, and CEHCA members.

If you missed our webinars
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙨?
𝙉𝙎𝘾 𝙤𝙧 𝙃𝘾 – 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙩 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧?
𝙋𝙋𝙄𝘿 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙍𝙞𝙨𝙚
you can still sign up for access to the Zoom-recorded events. Recordings for all webinars will be available via a dedicated on-demand link for one year from date of presentation. Register now at https://www.ecirhorse.org/webinars.php.

ECIR Group Inc. thanks our Diamond Benefactors for supporting this project.

DIAMOND
Custom Equine Nutrition, LLC (Vermont Blend)
Equine Balanced Support
California Trace
Forageplus
Soft Ride Equine Comfort Boots
Hay Chix

A little whole-body TLC 🐴✨
All of our PEMF sessions include red light therapy! Spot the red light “bonnet” over the poll—putting that cute headwear to work. 🤎

We are 𝓢𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 into the weekend! 😉
What are you weekend plans or riding activities?

You might be thinking, “Is it just me, or does that shoe look a little different?” 👀🔨

It’s not just you! That extra width is there for a reason.
This shoe was nailed up with added lateral support to help a horse recovering from a heel bulb injury—notice the wider branch of the shoe on that right side.

That extra width creates a larger surface to bear weight, helping support the heel. The goal is a more stable base beneath the injured area while it heals 😊

The UC Davis Horse Day schedule is here! We hope to see you there!

https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/horseday

Say cheese… or in Darla’s case, say cookies! 😂🍪

Your horse could smile this big with Get Back in Motion’s C*D cookies, too!
Darla clearly approves ✔️ These cookies are a non negotiable MUST-have around here!

🎃 All treats, no tricks… this one’s for your horse! 🐴🍬

GI Stable Mix EZ is 15% OFF now through October 31! 🙌

Your horse called… apparently their Halloween treat request is a bag of G.I. EZ 😂🧡

As we head into October and the cooler months ahead, changes in pasture, feed, and routines can bring changes in digestion, too. 🍂 G.I. EZ offers digestive support to help your horse through these seasonal transitions!

Use code HAPPYGUT15 at checkout to save! ⬇️
https://www.westernequinewellness.com/product/gi-stable-ez-by-stable-mix/30