EQUUS: Hands On Pop Quiz Final Exam Part 7

Test your equine knowledge with Part 7 of the EQUUS: Hands On Pop Quiz Final Exam--a 10-question Pop Quiz from the editors of EQUUS magazine, covering many aspects of horse health and care.

Each question in this Pop Quiz is on its own page. The question is repeated with the corresponding answer on the following page.

Question 1 Behind historical figures of the preautomotive era, there was often a great horse. Can you match the following people with the horses they rode?

1.Napoleon Bonaparte 2.Robert E. Lee 3.Myles Keogh 4.Caligula

a.Comanche b.Marengo c.Inciatus d.Traveller

Answer on next page >

Question 1 Behind historical figures of the preautomotive era, there was often a great horse. Can you match the following people with the horses they rode?

1.Napoleon Bonaparte 2.Robert E. Lee 3.Myles Keogh 4.Caligula

a.Comanche b.Marengo c.Inciatus d.Traveller

Answer 1 1.B. A white stallion named in honor of a battle in which the French cavalry defeated the Austrians, Marengo accompanied Napoleon to Elba and carried him for eight hours during the battle of Waterloo. 2.D. Originally called Greenbriar but renamed Traveller, this gray gelding carried the Confederate general through many battles and finally to the Appomattox surrender to General Grant in April 1865. 3.A. Born into a U.S. Army herd on the Texas plains, this hardy dun horse was purchased by the Army Captain Keogh in 1868. Eight years later, the pair faithfully followed General Custer into the Battle of Little Big Horn. At the end of that bloody Sunday, Comanche was the only living creature left on the battlefield. 4.C. Being the favorite horse of the madman Caligula, who ruled Rome from A.D. 37 to 41, had its perks. According to writings of the time, Inciatus was housed in a marble stall in the palace, fed hay from an ivory manger, fanned by servants and entertained by musicians.

Question 2 >

Question 2 Horses (and their owners) may seem to go out of their way to do what isn’t expected of them. But statistically, we’re a pretty predictable lot, likely to behave in certain ways. Can you match the following percentages to the conditions they quantify?

1.90 percent 2.70 percent 3.25 percent 4.4 percent

a.Amount of a 24-hour period that a horse spends grazing b.Percentage of lost shoes that are front shoes c.Owners who regularly use fecal egg counts to monitor their horses’ parasite burdens d.Amount of heat horses dissipate through respiration

Answer on next page >

Question 2 Horses (and their owners) may seem to go out of their way to do what isn’t expected of them. But statistically, we’re a pretty predictable lot, likely to behave in certain ways. Can you match the following percentages to the conditions they quantify?

1.90 percent 2.70 percent 3.25 percent 4.4 percent

a.Amount of a 24-hour period that a horse spends grazing b.Percentage of lost shoes that are front shoes c.Owners who regularly use fecal egg counts to monitor their horses’ parasite burdens d.Amount of heat horses dissipate through respiration

Answer 2 1.B. An overwhelming number of lost shoes are front shoes, usually pulled off by overreaching hind feet. 2.A. Your horse spends 70 percent of the daily cycle grazing, eating during some part of each hour during daylight and at intervals of two to three hours at night. 3.D. In the warmer months, a quarter of the heat dissipated from a horse escapes via the respiratory tract, 60 percent is lost through sweating and the remainder enters the air through convection. 4.C. A study by the United States Department of Agriculture found that although 99.5 percent of horse owners deworm their horses, only 4 percent of them use fecal egg counts to monitor the effectiveness of their parasite-control programs.

Question 3 >

Question 3 From laminitis to rainrot to colic, there always seems to be an equine health issue for an owner to fret over. Fortunately, horses just don’t get certain diseases, letting you off the hook when it comes to worrying about them. Which of the five following diseases won’t befall your horse?

1.Clogged arteries 2.Gallstones 3.Diabetes 4.Polio 5.Gingivitis

Answer on next page >

Question 3 From laminitis to rainrot to colic, there always seems to be an equine health issue for an owner to fret over. Fortunately, horses just don’t get certain diseases, letting you off the hook when it comes to worrying about them. Which of the five following diseases won’t befall your horse?

1.Clogged arteries 2.Gallstones 3.Diabetes 4.Polio 5.Gingivitis

Answer 31, 2 and 4: Pour as much corn oil as you’d like on your horse’s feed, because his arteries are essentially immune to hardening and clogging. The consistency and nature of the equine diet along with the elasticity of the blood vessels play a role in making arterial disease a nonissue for the species. Gallstones are an anatomical impossibility in horses, since they have no gallbladders. However, horses can conceivably develop similar hard formations in their bile ducts, although it is an exceedingly rare occurrence. Finally, horses can’t contract polio because the responsible virus does not infect the equine spinal cord as it does the human central nervous system.

Horses do suffer from diabetes, although it is very rare and usually develops only secondarily to a pituitary dysfunction or other disease. Finally, gingivitis does affect horses, leaving their gums red and irritated and making eating painful.

Question 4 >

Question 4 Skeletal muscle, which is connected at either or both ends to a bone, accounts for what percentage of your horse’s total body weight?

a.10 percent b.40 percent c.70 percent d.90 percent

Answer on next page >

Question 4 Skeletal muscle, which is connected at either or both ends to a bone, accounts for what percentage of your horse’s total body weight?

a.10 percent b.40 percent c.70 percent d.90 percent

Answer 4B. The most abundant tissue in the horse’s body, skeletal muscle makes up approximately 40 to 45 percent of a horse’s weight.

Question 5 >

Question 5 What percentage of your horse’s weight is carried in his neck?

Answer on next page >

Question 5 What percentage of your horse’s weight is carried in his neck?

Answer 5 The average horse’s neck accounts for approximately 25 percent of his body weight.

Question 6 >

Question 6 A horse at rest takes between 12 and 14 breaths per minute. What would his breathing rate be at a full gallop?

Answer on next page >

Question 6 A horse at rest takes between 12 and 14 breaths per minute. What would his breathing rate be at a full gallop?

Answer 6 A galloping horse takes between 120 and 150 breaths per minute, depending on his stride rate. A horse will take one breath per stride when he gallops, aided by the movement of his internal organs–as the hind legs come forward, the abdominal organs slide backward, pulling air into the lungs. As the hind legs stretch backward, the abdominal organs slide forward, pushing air out.

Question 7 >

Question 7 While grooming your horse, you notice matching, slightly sticky wet marks on the inside of each of his knees. Where do you look for a possible explanation?

a.His nose b.His eyes c.His water bucket d.The stall floor

Answer on next page >

Question 7 While grooming your horse, you notice matching, slightly sticky wet marks on the inside of each of his knees. Where do you look for a possible explanation?

a.His nose b.His eyes c.His water bucket d.The stall floor

Answer 7B. His eyes. The sticky, wet patches are evidence that the horse has been rubbing his irritated eyes against his knees. Inspect both eyes, looking for excessive discharge and swelling of the conjunctiva–the membrane lining the inside of the eyelid and covering the “white” of the eyeball around the cornea. Then call your veterinarian to report your findings.

Question 8 >

Question 8 The “skin pinch” test for dehydration is best performed on the horse’s neck.

Answer on next page >Question 8 The “skin pinch” test for dehydration is best performed on the horse’s neck. Answer 8False. Although many of us were taught to pinch skin on the neck for this test, the skin on the front of the shoulder provides a more accurate assessment. On a well-hydrated horse, a fold of skin that is pinched up will snap back immediately. Skin that is less elastic and “tents” indicates the horse is dehydrated. Question 9 >Question 9 Drought can make the ground so hard that a horse may bruise his hooves by galloping over it. What’s the best way to determine if the ground is too hard for fast riding? a.How it looks b.How it feels c.How it soundsAnswer on next page >Question 9 Drought can make the ground so hard that a horse may bruise his hooves by galloping over it. What’s the best way to determine if the ground is too hard for fast riding? a.How it looks b.How it feels c.How it soundsAnswer 9C. Ground that is too hard for fast work may look and feel fine but will “ring”–make sharp, crisp sounds rather than muffled thuds–as a horse gallops over it. When riding in such conditions, stick to walking and slow trotting with no faster work or jumping. Horses at liberty will keep their activity to a safe level. Question 10 >Question 10 What is the cause of these common dermatological conditions–insects, infection or something else? 1.Rainrot 2.Sweet itch 3.Ringworm 4.ScratchesAnswer on next page >Question 10 What is the cause of these common dermatological conditions–insects, infection or something else? 1.Rainrot 2.Sweet itch 3.Ringworm 4.ScratchesAnswer 10 1.Infection. Rainrot is an overgrowth of the common bacteria Dermatophilus congolensis, triggered by moisture. 2.Insects. The term “sweet itch” refers to an allergic reaction triggered by the saliva of culicoides, gnats or biting midges. 3.Infection. Ringworm is caused by a fungus, most commonly Trichophyton equinum. 4.Other. Scratches is chapping of the skin, typically in the folds behind the pasterns. Once scratches is established, the irritated skin is susceptible to infection. Back to EQUUS Pop Quiz Final Exam Index

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