Equine All-Sports Medicine Center

03/09/2026

An educational video about Kissing Spines.. all the newest insights and comprehensive understanding of the problem by Dr van Wessum as he presented this lecture at the Horse Expo in East Lansing Friday March 6th 2026:

ydetailed visoe by a equine top specialist in back pain in horses about kissing spines

03/06/2026

Big shout out for Carlos Valadez: we had a clients horse refusing to get back home in their trailer after several efforts in 2 days. Called Carlos and within 3 hours he picked up the horse that walked into his large trailer without any problem. That is problem solving on the spot!!

02/26/2026

Here is a link to our YouTube video about neck problems in horses:

educational video about neck problems in horse, their symptoms, the diagnosis process and treatment options by a boarded specialist in Equine Sports Medicine...

02/20/2026

more info about the lectures Dr van Wessum is giving at the Michigan Horse Expo!

✨𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Dr Rob van Wessum DVM, MS -Equine All-Sports Medicine Center

▪Friday, March 6th at 4:00 p.m: 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲
▪Saturday, March 7th at 12:00 p.m.: 𝗔 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸- 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸
▪Sunday, March 8th at 1:00 p.m.: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲

Rob van Wessum, a native of the Netherlands, emigrated to the US in 2005. He was appointed at MSU as the Lameness and Sports Medicine Expert at the McPhail Equine Performance Center at MSU. Dr van Wessum started his own sports medicine clinic in Mason in 2010. Dr van Wessum is a board-certified specialist in Sports Medicine and a board-certified specialist in Equine Medicine. He has published several papers and book chapters and has presented many times at annual conventions of AAEP and FAEP. His main field of expertise is equine back problems.

He and his wife Kim, an equine surgeon, live on their farm in Mason and enjoy the life with horses in hobby and professional life.

At this moment Kim and Rob own 5 dressage horses which they compete from 44th level up to Grand Prix. Rob earned his USDF bronze, silver and gold medal and the gold freestyle bar.

For more information on Equine All-Sports Medicine Center PLLC: www.equineallsports.com

02/19/2026

Dr van Wessum is presenting at the Michigan Horse Expo 2026 (March 6-8) at the MSU Pavillion:

Friday 4 pm: "All you want to know about Kissing Spines"

Saturday 12 pm: "A pain in the neck-what goes on in the equine neck?

Sunday 1 pm: "how to take care of the aging horse"

02/13/2026

Some cold weather advise:
it is nearly never too cold to ride for your horse (you might feel different yourself..), but you need to keep some things in mind:
warm up is very important when temperatures come below 20 F; muscles are stiffer and less fast to contract, and it will take your horse longer to adapt to work... Walk in an active walk for at least 15 minutes before starting work. Do some shorter episodes of trot and canter, walk in between so your horse can adapt.
Avoid extender trot, it may put too much stress on tendons when muscles are not as supple.
Let your horse cool down in walk again, 10 minutes, and wait until it's breathing is back to normal before putting a blanket on again after work.
Realize that when a horse is out in the cold (not a problem for a short time..like 1 or 2 hours) their blood flow to their legs shuts off for a while. By doing that, temperature of the body stays comfortable. However, the extra blood flow that now is on the core only will stimulate the kidney to flush out the extra amount of circulating volume. The horse will p*e soon, but even when it is not p*eing yet, the volume of fluid in the body is now down because some is in the bladder..
When the blood distributes to the limbs when the horse warms up inside, there is suddenly a decreased amount of fluid in the core, and some water will be resorbed from the colon to supply adequate perfusion of the limbs. That is why many impactions occur in winter!
Give your horse access to fresh (not too cold) water directly after coming in from pasture or after work to reduce the chance for an impaction!
During cold days, it is useful to give your horse some (warm) bran mash, because the fiber in it will lock more water into the colon, avoiding an impaction.
Enjoy these wintery days!

02/03/2026

Good to know!

💧 𝐃𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬?

Soaking feed or utilizing mashes is a common practice intended to increase water intake in horses - but does it actually help?

I decided to take a dive into the research, as many horse owners soak feed in the winter, particularly during cold weather snaps, to encourage water intake. And while digging, I came across two studies you may find interesting!

🧪𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟏 (𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)
The first study took place in Florida, where the average ambient temperature during the study was 55°F (13°C). This research evaluated horses consuming soaked pelleted feed, alfalfa cubes, or beet pulp in a 2:1 ratio of water to concentrate.

This study found that horses rapidly self-regulated voluntary water intake based on the amount of water provided in the meal. This means, when water was added to their feed, they voluntarily drank less so total water consumption remained the same.

This was shown as horses on dry feed had a voluntary water intake of 32.2 L while horses on soaked feed reduced voluntary water intake to 25.4 L to accommodate the ~6 L of water provided in the mash, for a total water intake of 31.5 L.

But that brings us to the second study 👇

❄️ 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟐 (𝐑𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑)
This study evaluated seasonal differences in water intake during the fall (55°F; 12.8 °C) and winter (-4 to 33°F; -20 to 0.67°C) in Wisconsin. Horses were fed a pelleted concentrate at 0.5% body weight, with soaked feed provided at 2 L water/kg feed.

This study found that horses drank:
🍁 29.3 L/day in the fall
❄️ 24.7 L/day in the winter

This decrease supports previous findings that water intake drops by approximately 6–12% during the cold winter months.

However, this study also evaluated soaked vs dry feed.

While no difference in voluntary water intake was observed during the fall trial, horses in the winter consumed more water when eating a mash (26.9 L) compared to when consuming dry feed (22.4 L), a difference of about 1.2 gallons per day. The study found that horses consuming the mash drank equal to or more water than horses consuming the dry grain, in addition to the water they consumed in their feed.

✨𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞
Cold weather can reduce voluntary water intake in horses, but feeding a mash during winter can help combat that decline. In more mild weather, however, soaking feeds likely does not increase total water intake, as horses will self-regulate.

Will these studies make you more likely to soak you feeds - why or why not?

Stay warm out there!
Dr. DeBoer

Ferreira N, Binder D, Garbati IH, Lance JM, Warren LK. Effect of soaking feed on water intake and hydration in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2025 May 1;148:105449.

Rucker NK, Hiney KM. Voluntary water intake in horses when fed a dry versus mash grain in two different seasons. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2013 May;33(5):355-6.

02/01/2026

Good to know...

Did you know that Prascend (and all forms of pergolide) tablets are unstable once taken out of their special nitrogen-filled foil compartment?

Some horse owners mistakenly take them out of the packaging ahead of time for convenience, which can lead to rapid degradation. Another dilemma is when horses are supposed to get a partial tablet. What's the best practice?

The very best option for storing partial pergolide tablets is to keep them in their original nitrogen-flushed blister packs until the moment of administration to prevent rapid degradation from light and other factors.

If a tablet must be split, store the unused portion in a small, sealed, dark container with a silica gel packet.

Store in Dark/Cool Location: Keep the container away from direct sunlight and in a cool, dry place (at or below 77°F/25°C).

Time Limit: Use the partial tablet within 24 hours to ensure effectiveness.

Alternative - Foil: Some owners tightly wrap the unused, halved tablet in aluminum foil and store it in a small, sealed container.

Do not pre-cut tablets for more than one or two days in advance.

01/23/2026

some info about riding in the snow

01/14/2026

A very weird case…

Last week, Dr van Wessum was asked for advice by one of our referring veterinarians. The horse the vet was talking about, a 19-year-old family horse (great with the kids) would suddenly not stand on LH, buckling over and not weight bearing on it at all. The horse was clearly in pain with an elevated heart rate. The vet did an initial work up, and radiographs of the entire lower limb were all within normal limits. The vet thought that likely the extensor apparatus (all the muscles and tendons involved in extending the leg, stretching in and reaching forward) was damaged, but could not find any clear problem.
Initially Dr van Wessum agreed with te thoughts about the extensor apparatus problem, but by looking at the video over and over, he felt it looked more like a spastic movement (stiff and jigged) than a not being able to extend movement. The referring vet had tried to make the horse stand on the leg with assisted forward movement (taking over the extensor apparatus function) but the horse refused to stand on it. With an extensor apparatus failure, the horse still can stand on the leg when somebody helps it to bring the leg forward and put the foot on the ground. Something very painful in the heel might cause this behavior, but the radiographs didn’t show any sign of it (no fracture or swelling of soft tissue). A heel abscess could still be a possibility, but the foot was cold to touch and checking the foot with hoof testers was negative.

Dr van Wessum was thinking of a spasm of the muscles that pull on the flexor tendons (muscles of the tight and croup) which might be caused by a painful problem in one of the joints higher in the leg like hock or stifle, but there were not any signs of that at all. Based on that, Dr van Wessum suggested a metabolic cause for the spams, likely low Magnesium. Blood was drawn to send to the lab and the horse was given a muscle relaxant and some banamine to deal with soft tissue pain and muscle pain. Within a couple of hours, the horse was sound again and moved normal. Lab work showed low Mg and since it had been on Mg supplementation it is moving better and better, according to the owner It “aged back 10 years”.

This case showed that good cooperation between a referring veterinarian in the field and a sports medicine and equine medicine specialist (much more trained and experienced in not only lameness but also metabolic problems) will be a perfect way to solve problems!

01/11/2026

Tip for the cold weather training: many horses do have stiffer and tighter areas in their back ( this horse has a tight sacrocaudalis muscle...top of the tail) which might take long to warm up and get looser in cold weather. Warm it up while tacking up and brushing with a microwavable hot pack ( filled with beans..gives also a moist heat) and your training will go much smoother..

01/06/2026

a good case report from the past