Sunday, February 24, 2013

Behavior Types

○ Contactual
         • Maternal
         • "huddle"
○ Ingestive
         • Overheating
         • Undereating
○ Eliminative
         • Elimination area
         • Coprophy
○ Sexual
         • Stallions & Mare
○ Epimeletic
         • Mare & Foal
         • "friends"
○ Et-epimeletic
         • Calling
         • Seperation Anxiety
○ Investigative
         • Curiosity
○ Allelomimetic
         • Mimicry
         • Fight or flight

T E E T H

○ Mandible - lower jaw
○ Maxillae - upper jaw
          • carries the premolars and molars
○ Check incisors for age up to 9 years old
          • 6 incisors in upper jaw
          • 6 incisors in lower jaw
○ Canine teeth - only found in male
          • in interdental spaces
○ There are 6 premolars, 6 molars in each jaw on every horse
○ Wolf teeth - small pointed teeth that appear at the base of the first premolar tooth.
   ○ A male horse has a range of 40-42 teeth
   ○ A female horse has a range of 36-38 teeth

○ I.C.P.M. - Incisors, Canines, Premolars, Molars
          • First incisor comes in at about 2.5- 3 years of age
          • Second incisor comes in at 3.5 years
          • Third incisor comes in at 4.5 years
          • Canine teeth come in at about 4-5 years of age

○ Foals often don't have incisors visible at birth
○ The 12 incisors are all replaced by 4.5 years old
○Determine age between 6-9 years by using the wear or smoothness of the cups (indentations) in the incisors.
          • Cups disappear from lower central, intermediate and corner incisors at 6-8 years.
          • Cups disappear from upper central, intermediate and corner incisors at 9-11 years.
          • At 10 years, the Galvayne's groove appears at
             the gum line of the upper corner incisor.
          • Galvayne's groove is halfway down by 15 years old, and all the way down by 20 years.
          • At 30 years old, Galvayne's groove has completely disappeared from the corner incisor
○ As the horse ages, the chewing surfaces of the teeth change from oval to triangular
○ Environmental conditions affect the wear of the incisors.
○ The horse is capable of lateral grinding of the jaw while chewing (side to side)
          • causes sharp surfaces on the inner edge of the lower molars & outer edge of the upper
             molars.
                     • the sharp surfaces can cause damage to the soft tissues of the mouth, like the tongue 
                       and the cheek
                    • results in need of floating- filing the sharp edges of the tooth
                    • damage is not recognized by many horse owners
                    • also can result in weight loss, change in eating behavior, head tossing with a bit in its 
                       mouth, sides of the face becomes sensitive to pressure.
○ Abnormalities in the jaw bone can result in an overshot jaw(parrot mouth) or and undershot jaw(monkey mouth).
          • Interferes with successful grazing.

Skeletal System notes!

○ Consists of trunk & limbs.
         • trunk: skull, spinal column, ribs, and breastbone.
○ Ligaments: binds the bones together to form joints.
○ Tendons: muscles attached to bones.
○ Bones protect vital organs.
○ Bones act as levers, stores minerals, and are the site of blood cell formation.
○ There are 205 bones in the horse's skeletal system.
          • vertebral column - 54
          • ribs - 36
          • sternum - 1
          • skull - 34 - irregular
          • thoracic limbs - 40
          • pelvic limbs - 40
○ Bones are classified as long, short, flat, or irregular.
          • Long bones - act as levers & aid in support of weight and locomotion
                    • Locomotion: the ability to move from one place to another.
          • Short bones - absorb concussion
                    • found in complex joints such as knees, hocks, fetlocks..
          • Flat bones - enclose cavities containing vital organs.
                    (skull: brain ; ribs: heart & lungs)
                    • also provide large areas for attachment of muscles.
          • Irregular bones - protects the central nervous system
Periosteum: a tough membrane that covers the bones throughout the body except at their points of articulation.
          • protects the bones
          • site of healing if there is a fracture
          • abnormal growth is called extosis
          • injury may result in undesirable bone growths (splints, spavins, ringbone)
          • covered with a thick, smooth cartilage that reduces concussion and friction.
○ Cranial Cavity - protects the brain and supports many sense organs
○ Orbital Cavity - bony socket that surrounds and protects the eye
○ Nasal Cavity - passageway the the respiratory system
○ Oral Cavity - mouth - passageway to the digestive tract