TOXIC WASTE
MEET THE EXPERT
LEONA BRAMALL
MVB CertAVP(EM) MRCVS, an equine vet at Oakhill Veterinary Centre in Lancashire, holds an advanced veterinary practitioner certificate in equine medicine. Her primary areas of interest lie in foal medicine, dermatology and gastrointestinal disease. Visit oakhill-vets.com/equine.
A HORSE’S STABLE ENVIRONMENT plays an integral role in his health, wellbeing and, by association, his athletic performance. While we are all aware of the implications of stable dust on a horse’s respiratory tract, stable ammonia, a noxious gas, is frequently forgotten.
Urea, a protein breakdown product, is eliminated from the body in urine. Ammonia gas is formed when bacteria which produce an enzyme called urease break down the urea in this urine. Bacterial numbers subsequently increase and the process perpetuates. Ammonia- producing bacteria live on the stable floor and beneath and in between rubber matting, and as horses can produce 15-30ml of
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