The Cornell Equine Hospital and Cornell Cooperative Extension host the next installment of their Equine Seminar Series tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20. Ken Estes, MPS, will present “Is My Horse Getting What It Needs? From Eyeball to Evidence in Feeding, Condition, and the Everyday Work of Horse Management” at 6 p.m. via Zoom.
These monthly virtual talks are presented by equine experts on important equine health and management topics. The seminars are free to attend and open to the public. You must register via this link in order to attend.
Adding ‘a little structure’
Most of us make feeding and condition decisions by feel—a glance at the hay, a look at the horse, a sense of how things are going. But what if we could sharpen that instinct with a little structure? In this webinar, Ken Estes Jr., seventh-generation horseman and Agricultural Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Livingston County, shares why he built a set of free, easy-to-use online tools to bring forage science and body -condition scoring into the everyday barn.
The talk will start with a plain-language look at what really drives a horse’s condition and how the Henneke body condition scoring system works—including why it’s so easy to misjudge. Then, through real case studies, Estes will show how to put two tools to work: one for planning hay and reading forage analyses, and one for scoring body condition consistently. To close, he will step back and look at how these fit into a broader equine farm management tool, as well as the other layers of care and decision-making it brings together. Whether you keep one horse or a whole barn, you’ll leave with a sharper eye for condition and practical tools you can start using right away.
About the presenter
Ken Estes Jr. is the Agricultural Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Livingston County, where he leads a broad agricultural program that includes the Master Gardener Volunteer Program. In addition, he serves as Managing Editor of LivCo Farm & Home News.
Estes also operates JoGlenn Farms, established in 2017 on the Caledonia land his family has farmed for three generations. There he raises Lippitt Morgan sporthorses and produces hay and forage. Ken holds an MPS. in Community and Economic Development from Penn State and sits on the Livingston County Agricultural & Farmland Protection Board. Thus, he brings both hands-on horsemanship and an extension educator’s perspective to his work.
About the series
The Cornell Equine Hospital and Cornell Cooperative Extension are the hosts of the Equine Seminar Series. These free, monthly virtual talks are presented by equine experts on important equine health and management topics.
The hospital is located in Ithaca, New York. For more information, visit https://www.vet.cornell.edu/.