b'Vet continued from page 5Straw bedding is adequate if it provides cushioning, insulation, and absorbency against the floor. The same can be said for shavings unless a rubber mat is in place; if thats the case, then enough shavings to provide absorbency are fine. If you need another reason to bed your horse snugly at night, capped hocks and capped elbows can be caused by poorly bedded stalls.Turn off overhead lights at night. If lights are required to stay on for security, consider motion lights or strategic lighting that doesnt shine into the stall. Artificial light can affect your horses sense of day length and interfere with normal sleep/wake cycles. Keep lights off or as dim as possible at night.Consider where your horses stall is in relation to whats going on. Is it next to a round pen or indoor ring, the tack room, the bath stall, the hot walker, or the driveway? If its possible to move him to a quiet end of an aisle, this might help.Protection from the elements should also be considered if your horse is in a pasture. Many horses can be foundMany horses are so regular you can set your watch to them; others vary their patterns for curled up in the rain in their comfy blankets, but excessive wetness may preclude laying down long enough to catchwhatever reason - season, weather, light, how much food he has in front of him, you name it. some decent shuteye. Make sure out in the pasture, your horse has access to a run-in shed if the environment necessitates it. sleep, the adverse effects might not be visible for a fewnarcolepsy, when a fully alert horse suddenly falls asleep, days, but eventually, a horse may become irritable, bad- and hypersomnia, which is excessive sleep. Either of these You may notice in a herd setting, some horses will sleeptempered, and even dangerous. In some cases, a sleep- problems could signify neurological disease. If you suspect while others stand watch because instincts are still strong. deprived horse may even collapse in unlikely places. a sleep disorder, contact your veterinarian right away to The watcher will then swap places with the sleeper until allThere are quite a few documented cases of this. Oftenhelp you figure out the reason and help your horse get some horses within the group have had their rest. they fall to their knees and wake up when their nose hitsshut-eye. the ground. This is clearly a safety issue for you if you Sleep Deprivationare riding, and a safety issue for them if they go down inOf course, there are some horses out there that can sleep There are many other reasons why a horse might nota stall and hit their head on the way down on a window,through anything. Occasionally you might come across an get enough sleep, including stress, isolation, pregnancy,bucket, wall, etc. unusual horse that has no issue with snoozing the hours injury, travel, lack of security from being in a new place,away in the middle of the field, in his stall or just about joint problems, and social insecurity caused by suchREM sleep disorder is a condition in which horses wakeanywhere. Such horses snooze so soundly that even us situations as a new horse being introduced to a herd or athemselves up with excessive body movements, resultinghumans can become a bit jealous. With these horses, some new aggressive horse nearby. If a horse doesnt get enoughin a sleep deficit. Other sleep disorders in equines includeof us might benefit from a few tips from them! Now OpenMidwestern UniversityTher apy InstituteWe are Your Healthcare Team.We are pleased to announce the opening of our new clinic, the Midwestern Clinical PsychologyUniversity Therapy Institute, featuring one ofless than 20 Computer Assisted Pediatric Occupational TherapyRehabilitation Environment (CAREN) systems in the United States.Physical TherapyThe Therapy Institute team provides integrated, cutting-edge virtual reality Speech-Language Pathologyassessment and treatment services for multiple complex health and vision conditions affecting patients of all ages, including stroke, Parkinsons, brain Vision Therapyinjury, balance/vestibular issues, and more.Low Vision RehabilitationCall for an appointment: 623-537-6000Sports Vision Performance TrainingMidwestern University5815 West Utopia Road Therapy InstituteGlendale, Arizona 85308 Your Familys Home for Healthcare mwuclinics.comArizonaRealCountry.com January 2021 7'