Tabla de contenidos para June 2017 en Equus

Advice for rescuers I have bought horses from kill pens, and I have to agree that this is not the best way to rescue them (“From Sickness to Health,” EQUUS 473). However, I do not regret for an instant saving these horses from this fate. Once I purchased a herd of yearlings that had been sold directly to a kill buyer. I ended up putting one down, but the rest turned into nice horses. Another time I purchased a lame horse who should have been humanely euthanatized by his owners rather than sent to auction. He was a dear, sweet horse. I kept him three years until his incurable issues started to approach a crisis, and then I put him down. My veterinarian said if he had been shipped to…

A new study from the University of Helsinki clouds hopes that blood sucrose levels will prove useful in determining whether horses have gastric ulcers. Currently, the only way to definitively diagnose gastric ulcers in a horse is gastroscopy--- sliding a slender tube with a light and a camera down his throat and into the stomach to look for lesions. Seeking an economical and less invasive alternative, researchers postulated that blood sucrose levels may be indicative of the presence of gastric ulcers: Sucrose molecules are too large to pass through healthy gut tissue but they have been found to cross stomach walls damaged by ulcers. Because sucrose is normally excreted quickly from the body, an increased level in the blood after a horse receives a dose could correlate to the presence…

Several different skin conditions can lead to scabbing and crusting on a horse’s lower limbs. Here are some questions to help you narrow down the cause of the problem: Are only white areas affected? If scabs are covering only your horse’s white markings---and especially if all areas covered by white hair are affected ---chances are good that what you are seeing is photosensitization. This is an intense inflammatory reaction that occurs when a horse ingests certain plants that contain phototoxic compounds. These substances enter the bloodstream and, when exposed to sunlight through pink skin, cause painful blistering and crusting. Treating photosensitization is a multi-step process. You need to identify and eliminate the causative plant (alsike clover and St. Johnswort are common culprits) and shield the horse from sunlight with UVprotective…

Today, the threat of rabies to American horses may seem remote. Vaccination against the disease is extremely effective and affordable. And rabies is rare in the United States: Only 25 cases were reported among horses and mules in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You need not lie awake at night worrying about rabies. But you don’t want to become complacent, either. Usually transmitted through the bite of an infected animal, rabies is invariably fatal---the virus ravages a horse’s nervous system and there is no cure. In fact, rabies has the highest mortality rate of any infectious disease---functionally 100 percent since euthanasia is the only option once signs of illness appear. And reservoirs of rabies virus continue to exist in the wild, causing periodic outbreaks of…

Poisoning from toxic plants is fortunately fairly rare among horses---mainly because those with access to ample hay and/ or pasture grass tend to avoid plants that smell or taste funny. Still, it’s a good idea to be familiar with the exceptional cases ---plants that are especially deadly, or those that may be more palatable and thus encourage horses to ingest a toxic amount. Some toxic plants are cultivated widely across the country. Many others grow wild, and their ranges may be limited to specific regions. Other plants are most hazardous mainly when cut into hay. Your local extension agent is a good source for information if you want to know more about which specific toxic plants are a threat in your area. To get started, try this 10-question quiz to…

AAEP RESORT SYMPOSIUM COVERAGE Brought to you by Merial MERIAL Have you ever contacted your veterinarian when your horse “just isn’t right” or has an acute onset of lameness? When the veterinarian arrives, he or she likely wants to do a full workup, which might include neurologic testing. According to presenter Amy L. Johnson, DVM, DACVIM (in Large Animal and Neurology), an Assistant Professor of Large Animal Medicine and Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, veterinarians know that neurologic disease can mimic or be mistaken for an orthopedic problem. And some horses might have both lameness and a neurologic deficit. “Careful clinical examination and appropriate diagnostic testing and interpretation are the keys to accurate diagnosis,” said Johnson. Knowing that equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) and Lyme disease are…

Brief, occasional canters may be of some help in maintaining a horse’s fitness during lay-ups or other low-activity periods. In a study conducted by researchers at the Japan Racing Association, 27 Thoroughbreds underwent an 18-week conditioning regimen using treadmills. The horses were then divided into three treatment groups: One group was cantered at 70 percent of their maximal rate of oxygen consumption (a measure of fitness) for three minutes a day, five days a week; the second group was walked for an hour daily, five days a week; and the third group was kept on stall rest. At the end of the 12-week study period, each horse’s cardiovascular fitness— including maximal cardiac output and oxygen consumption— was measured. The data showed significant decreases in the fitness levels of horses in all…

Reduced kidney function is an ominous sign in horses battling serious respiratory disease, according to a new study. Horses with bloodwork showing elevated kidney values were five times less likely to survive the illness. Researchers at Purdue University and Hagyard Equine Medical Institute examined the records of 97 horses admitted to their facilities with pleuropneumonia, an infection of the lungs that causes inflammation and the accumulation of fluid in the chest cavity. Commonly known as “shipping fever,” pleuropneumonia is mainly associated with transport, but other factors can also make a horse susceptible to the condition. “A significant number of horses in this study were racehorses, in whom viral infections, stress and high-intensity exercise influence in the development of the disease,” says Gabriela Arroyo, DVM. “Prolonged head elevation and general anesthesia…

As we prepare for the hottest days of summer, be aware that certain supplements in your feed room may spoil faster at this time of year. Heat can cause oils, such as corn oil, and even powdered fatbased calorieboosting products to go rancid within a few days. The best place to store such supplements is in a refrigerator in the feed room, but if that’s not possible, keep only small amounts on hand and store the rest in a climate-controlled house or garage. Oil products that go “off” may change in appearance, becoming darker or cloudy, or they may take on an unpleasant smell. Powdered fat products tend to clump as they pick up moisture and spoil. At best, feeding spoiled supplement will cause your horse to reject the entire…

Purchase: Spray bottle • Considerations: A spray bottle needs to do one thing— spray product where and when you need it. Reliability and longevity, then, are the key considerations. You may also want spray stream “options” to change the size of the misting range for more targeted application. If your horse is a skittish sort, the sound the sprayer makes may also be a consideration. • Options: Spray bottles come in a greater variety of materials and price points than you may imagine. Look for one made with chemically resistant material and plastic that can withstand being dropped on the aisle floor. The option to replace only the sprayer portion of the bottle and a “leak-proof” guarantee are also appealing. If you have a large herd or a sound-sensitive horse,…

▸Definition: viral disease of the central nervous system ▸Signs: infection produces no signs until the virus reaches the spinal cord and brain. Once that happens, the horse may show acute (also referred to as “furious”) signs such as aggression, agitation, hyperactivity and paralysis of the tongue and face. He might also show paralytic (or “dumb”) signs, such as depression, weakness, ataxia, recumbency, paralysis and excessive salivation. If not euthanatized, the horse will usually die within days. ▸Causes: The rabies virus is excreted in saliva of infected animals and usually transmitted through bites. ▸Diagnosis: No definitive laboratory test can identify rabies in a live horse. Diagnosis on a living horse is done through a history and observation of signs. Postmortem examination of the brain can confirm the diagnosis. ▸Treatment: Nothing can…

It can be scary to think about how many poisonous plants your horse may encounter, and you could never eliminate all of them from his world. But you can take steps to limit the threats they pose: • Provide ample forage. Horses who have plenty of hay or healthy pasture grasses are less likely to spend much time nibbling on plants that are less palatable. Keep an eye on the health of your pasture, and provide hay if the grasses are getting overgrazed or dying back due to drought or other factors. Some toxic weeds are more of a threat in early spring or late fall because they are green and growing when the grass isn’t. Drought can also stress grasses, allowing potentially toxic weeds to gain a firmer foothold and…

alkaloid --bitter, organic-based substance found in plants. body condition score (BCS)--- a designation, based on a nine-point numeric scale, indicating the amount of fat on a horse’s body. A BCS is assigned after a visual and hands-on appraisal. carbohydrates-- large group of carbon-based compounds, including starches, sugars and cellulose, that are found in plants and form the largest class of animal foods. Carbohydrates, together with proteins and lipids, are principal components of cell protoplasm, the viscous fluid that fills plant and animal cells. choke- in horses, obstruction of the esophagus; in people, obstruction of the windpipe (trachea). croup ---topline of hindquarters; rump. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) ---large organic molecule that consists of two chains of nucleotides wound around each other; the material of which genes are made. Genes are responsible for…

It is hard to watch my horse, Lady, lose her friends over and over again. Every few months since I’ve owned her she’s been separated from her latest BFF. We’ve moved barns. She’s changed pastures. Her buddies are taken to another barn. One pasturemate died. She doesn’t understand any of this. Well, perhaps she understood the dying. That was the one time when the loss of a friend didn’t lead to calling and frantic searches. Usually, however, it’s the calling and searching. Yesterday, she insisted we check every single nook and cranny of the barn. Because maybe, just maybe, her friends were hiding there. She’d been with one of the two horses who just left for 18 months. When the third horse moved in, they all became fast friends. They’d…

Stem cells and other biological material found in the dental sockets of newborn foals hold promise for treating arthritis and soft tissue injuries in mature horses, according to a new study from Ohio State University. The focus of the research was dental pulp particles collected from foals who died during or shortly after birth. “Inside the skulls of these foals are internal deep pockets that hold formed blobs of gelatinous material,” explains Alicia Bertone, DVM, PhD. “Those blobs contain stem cells that would have eventually developed into tooth, bone, bone marrow, nerve and ligament tissue within that socket, but at that point they are completely undifferentiated, meaning they could turn into any type of tissue.” The blobs, which also contain hyaluronic0 acid, are held together with extracellular matrix, a collection…

Earlier this year the National Animal Health Monitoring System released the first report from its 2015 study, “Baseline Reference of Equine Health and Management in the United States 2015.” Data for the study was collected through interviews and surveys conducted in 28 states, chosen in part because of the size and density of their equine populations. In all, 3,997 randomly selected equine operations participated in the study, and 71.6 percent of equids (horses, mules, donkeys) living in the United States were represented. For a link to the full study data, visit www.equusmagazine. PERCENT OF OPERATIONS BY REGION THAT DISPOSED OF MANURE USING THE METHODS LISTED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS * (Std. error: Standard error measures how far the sample mean of the data is likely to be from the…

CARRYING WATER Empty and thoroughly cleaned plastic kitty litter jugs are great for carrying water, whether you are lugging it down a barn aisle or hauling it in a trailer. The wide handles don’t dig into your hands and the water doesn’t slosh into your boot, even if you lose the screw-on lid. Send your suggestions for inexpensive horse-care substitutes as well as hints for saving effort and time to Hands On, EQUUS, 656 Quince Orchard Road, #600, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; fax: 301-990- 9015; email: EQLetters@aimmedia.com. Senders of published items will receive selected EQUUS merchandise.…

“Now the wild white horses play, Champ and chafe and toss in the spray.” ---Matthew Arnold, “The Foresaken Merman” Made with a Comfort Dry Technology fabric to wick sweat and keep you cool, the Dublin Shadowfax CDT Short Sleeve Zip Thru Top (suggested retail, $44.99), from Weatherbeeta, features a quarter-zip placket with contrast colors on the standup collar and side panels. Available in XS to XXL, in navy and pink or black and white. Visit www.dublinclothing.com. Now available in a selection of colorful new prints, the SmartPak Icikuls IceFil Printed Long Sleeve Shirt (suggested retail, $89.95), from SmartPak Equine, is made with a high-tech fabric designed to wick moisture and cool the skin. The four-way stretch fabric is antimicrobial and fast drying, and it offers a UPF of 50 for…