About this episode

Nancy McLean discusses the connection between cortisol and stress-driven behaviors in geldings, along with training and management strategies to mitigate these issues.

In this episode Nancy McLean answers listener emails about geldings that chew lead ropes and reins, she explains how cortisol and the HPA axis relate to stress-driven behaviors, and describes how consistent training, handler calmness, routines, turnout, and nutrition can help horses down-regulate stress. The episode also summarizes research on cortisol sampling methods (plasma, saliva, hair) for short- and long-term stress assessment, and closes with a brief update on a new world screwworm outbreak, what has been done historically to eradicate it, and practical steps owners should take if they suspect infestation. Research: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/12/2219 https://assets.cureus.com/uploads/review_article/pdf/413141/20251106-69309-xadaoe.pdf

People in this episode

Host: Nancy McLean

Topics covered

• stress-driven behaviors
• cortisol
• HPA axis
• horse training
• nutrition
• screwworm outbreak

Keywords

• cortisol
• HPA axis
• stress
• geldings
• training
• nutrition
• screwworm

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HPA axis, world screwworm, Cureus, MDPI

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