How to Help Your Horse Avoid Burnout
We've all seen performance horses who get burned out from too much work and too little support. They go off their feed, have dull hair coats, act depressed, have bad attitudes, or just stop performing well. It's a sad situation because burnout can be easily avoided with sound management and proper nutrition.

What Causes Burnout?
Burnout is the result of an imbalance in the horse's nervous system. Every horse's nervous system has two components: sympathetic and parasympathetic. In brief, the sympathetic nervous system is the "fight or flight" mechanism while the parasympathetic is the rest and relaxation portion.

When your horse is working or training, he is using the sympathetic nervous system, and when he is turned out in pasture or eating, he is using the parasympathetic. For optimum health your horse needs a balance between the two. Too much time in the parasympathetic leads to a fat unconditioned horse, while too much time in the sympathetic leads to burnout.

Horses who have already reached burnout may or may not be able to recover fully. If the adrenal glands (the glands in the sympathetic nervous system that produce the fight or fight hormones) are not too damaged, the horse may recover with six or more months of rest supported by a strong nutritional program that will help them heal. Horses who have been in burnout for too long may never recover. These horses will need special care and nutritional supplementation for the rest of their lives. They may be able to work sporadically, but will then require lengthy recovery periods.

Thanks for reading this preview! The remainder of this section in Holistic Horsekeeping discusses the four ways to prevent burnout (including specific dietary recommendations) and what to do if you feel your horse is on the edge of burnout.

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