Looking into EHV-1 after the outbreak a few months ago

If you own a horse, you have probably heard about the recent outbreak of EHV-1 in horses. This herpes virus is very serious and very contagious. After a certain amount of horses had been diagnosed with this virus, I was instructed by my vet to keep my horse at home for 30 days and avoid contact with other horses. Of course, for the safety of my horse I took her advice but I wanted to know more about this virus and how dangerous it could be. According to vet Tanis McDonald, EHV-1 can actually cause four different diseases in horses. Dr. McDonald states “In many horses that contract EHV-1 viruses, they spike high fevers, become lethargic, have clear runny noses and generally feel like crap. Many horses only get the respiratory version and clear the virus after a few days and have no further problems with it.

In some horses, and no one understands why they do this, an EHV-1 infection can become the neurologic form. Literally, a mutated form of the virus gets into the spinal fluid and causes a myeloencephalopathy – a severe viral brain and spinal fluid infection. This infection is what causes the horses to become suddenly neurologic.” I actually lost a four year old horse two years ago because he had a severe neurologic disorder called “wobbles”. Neurologic problems in horses are very serious and can often result in a horse being put down.

Dr. McDonald states “The EHV-1 virus is RIDICULOUSLY contagious. It spreads via nasal secretions, and horses can contract it by touching the nose of another horse, through the air or from simply being in a barn that was previously occupied by a horse that was shedding the EHV-1 virus.” Although the frenzy from this virus has settled down a bit over the last couple months, it is still important to be aware of this virus and to be cautious. Here is the link to Tanis McDonald’s website, where there are great tips in what to do to prevent this virus from reaching your horse http://drtanis.com/2011/05/16/ehv-1-what-do-i-need-to-know-right-now/.

 

Breaking horses too young

Me and Sassy

In spring of 2012 my good friend and I will be breaking our Irish Draught filly, Sassy (Reagan’s foal). Sassy turned three in May of 2011 so we will be starting her as a four year old. Why is it so important to wait a few years to break a horse? Why can’t you start training them at a year old? One of the main reasons for this is because young horses (1-2 years) have open joints. The bones are also more fragile in horses while they are in their main growing/developing stages of life. Therefore, if you subject a young horse to too much intense work (jumping, roping, reining etc.) they are more susceptible to injuries and permanent damage to their bones and joints.

Adult horses on the other hand, have stronger bones and joints so they can handle intense work much better than yearlings and two-year-olds. It is still a good idea to handle horses when they are a year old so they get used to you and other things that will make training easier, but it is still important that you hold off on intense training until their older to prevent injuries. Most people are not as conservative as me and like to break horses when they are late two or early three-year-olds. I prefer to break them when they are four to ensure they have had plenty of time to grow and I like to give them as much time as possible to just be horses and enjoy their “baby years”.

Injections

Me and Reagan

My 10 year old mare, Reagan, is quite the athlete! She jumps 4 ft jumps with ease and she’s quite fast to boot! Unfortunately, when Reagan was about 4 years old, being the wild filly she was, bucked so hard playing in the pasture that she injured both her stifles. Her injuries heeled but a few years later when she would first warm up for the day she was relatively stiff in her stifles and would have a hard time moving out with her hind legs. It was about an extra 15 minutes of walking before her stifles loosened up and she was able to go to work. She didn’t seem to be in pain but the stiffness in her stifles from her past injuries would sometimes cause her discomfort. About a year ago Reagan got stifle injections and after that she rarely experienced any stiffness at all. Injections are not only good for horses with past injuries but they are good for all athletic horses who need some relief in their joints.

There are many different places a horse can be injected besides stifles and many injections help horses that have arthritis. Horses can be injected in their coffin joints, SI, hocks, and I’m sure there are other places as well. At this point you may be wondering what is being injected into the horses and how does this help sooth their joints. Here is a great article that can explain injections better than I can and it also explains some possible risks with these injections http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/horse-joint-injection-25382.aspx. You mind read this and decide your horse can benefit from these injections too just like my horse did but a vet must be the one to perform these injections and you must talk with your vet to see if he/she thinks injections could help your horse. Reagan still gets her stifle injections every six months to insure she stays comfortable and happy.

Bit Fit

Willy

As most of you know, proper tack is very important to both horse and rider. The bit especially, plays a very important role. Once you find the correct type of bit for your horse, and yes there are many, it is important that the bit fits correctly. I was actually riding my friend’s horse last week and I noticed that her horse had sores on the outside of his mouth from the bit. These sores were not from the type of bit she was using, but rather, from the size of the bit. My friend’s horse needed a larger size bit because the one she was using on him was too small and was pinching the sides of his mouth.

Thickness and thinness of a bit also play a role when trying to find a bit for your horse. For example, some horses’ mouths are small and so they are not comfortable with a thick bit such as a thick rubber happy-mouth bit. The wrong fit of a bit can cause your horse discomfort and even cause them to be cranky when you ride them. Here is a great video of why it is important to only use bits that fit your horse correctly and how to measure your horse’s mouth to determine what size bit he/she needs. http://www.equestrianlife.com/videos/watch/253/Fitting_Your_Bit. The veterinarian in this video suggests an inexpensive plastic bit measurer that can be found in most catalogs or simply using bailing twine to measure your horse’s mouth for a bit which is something less expensive and quite clever!

Pre-Purchase Exams

Are you in the market to buy a new horse? Not many people are these days but if you do find a horse you are considering buying, make sure you do a pre-purchase check on the horse first. A friend of mine found a horse she really liked and wanted to buy. She went out of town to a well known barn and tried the horse out. He seemed to have no obvious lameness or health issues. He appeared to her to be a healthy, athletic, horse and she chose to purchase him without having a vet perform a lameness exam, x-rays, or blood test on the horse. A few days after she bought him, she noticed he was a little “off” when she rode him. After a few days she called the vet out to examine her new horse. The vet performed x-rays on the horse and found that he had a bone chip. Unfortunately, the horse was limited to what he could do because of this fact. It was likely that that horse had this bone chip prior to purchase and was buted, or given some type of pain reliever to mask his discomfort when she went to try him out. A full pre-purchase exam would have shown the bone chip with x-rays, and the potential pain reliever with a blood test.

It is true that pre-purchase exams are pricey. They can range from the hundreds to the thousands of dollars. However, a pre-purchase exam may save you money on buying an unsound horse and the future vet bills you will face maintaining that unsound horse. It is true that even if you buy a perfectly healthy horse it could always have health problems down the road. Or perhaps the horse has certain health issues that you are ok with and willing to maintain. The important thing is not whether you are buying a perfectly sound horse; the important thing is that you know exactly what you are buying.

Polo Wraps and Boots

 

Last week I sent a tweet about how important it is to protect your horse’s legs with polo wraps or boots. I never jump any of my horses without putting boots or polo wraps on their front legs. The polo wraps or boots will protect the legs, to a degree, when they hit a rail on a jump or when their hind hooves clip the back of the front legs. Even though polo wraps can provide great protection for your horse’s legs, they can also actually cause problems if they are not used properly. A bowed tendon is not an uncommon injury that can result from polo wraps. If polo wraps are wrapped too tight, it can result in a bowed tendon. If the polo wraps are left on too long after exercising your horse, it can result in a bowed tendon as well. It is also said that if you wrap the polos the wrong direction it can also bow a tendon. I have heard many times throughout my riding career that you should wrap the polo wraps clockwise on the front right leg and counter clockwise on the front left leg. Wrapping this way will pull on the bone of the horse’s leg and not the tendon.

It is true that you could use boots instead of polo wraps but boots also have a risk of bowing a tendon of they are put on incorrectly. I, personally, prefer using polo wraps to boots because polo wraps protect all sides of the horse’s legs. Boots are also great but they often are open in the front and my horse’s legs are still exposed when hitting rails on a jump. Some jumper riders like that because it makes the horse jump cleaner but I generally want to make jumping for my horse as painless as possible. Your horse doesn’t have to be a jumper, but you still want to protect their legs from hitting barrels or from clipping their legs with their hind hooves for example. Make sure you protect their legs but make sure you do it correctly.

Teeth Floating

Kahlua’s beautiful smile

 Did you know your horse’s teeth are always growing and changing? Unlike humans, horse’s teeth will be changing until the end of their life. Because of this, horses need a routine visit from their own dentist to have their teeth “floated”. Interesting name considering their teeth don’t float at all during this process. Instead, the teeth are filed and smoothed so the horse can continue to accept the bit, eat, and chew without any complications. Horses that have gone a while without having their teeth floated may develop what is called a “wave”; which is exactly what the teeth will look like; shorter in some parts of the mouth and taller in other parts of the mouth. Horses that have gone a while without having their teeth floated may also experience some of their teeth being sharp instead of smooth.

Imagine the discomfort we, as humans, would have if we experienced these things. Horses experience discomfort too which is why it is so important that we have their teeth floated at least once a year, or when necessary. Enough discomfort in the mouth may cause your horse to lose interest in food and, therefore, they will start to lose weight. Below is a list of indicators that your horse may need to have its teeth floated. This list was found on the Front Range Frenzy website. http://www.frontrangefrenzy.com/horsecare/floatingteeth.html. If your horse is showing some of these signs, it may be times to call out your horse’s dentist. Remember, all horses require their teeth to be floated regularly, regardless of your horse’s age or discipline.

Possible horse dental problem indicators:

• Drops food from her mouth
• Exhibits difficulty in chewing
• Excessive salivation
• Loss of weight
• Undigested food particles in manure
• Head-tossing
• Excessive bit chewing
• Resisting having the bridle put on
• Difficult handling while riding
• Mouth odor
• Blood in the mouth
• Face swelling
• Nasal discharge

Got Wormer?

Worming your horse is essential you your horse’s health. It is extremely important that as horse owners, we don’t neglect the responsibility we have to worm our horses when needed. Worms are not only a nuisance to get rid of, but they can also be very detrimental to your horse’s overall health. Worms can result in rapid weight loss for your horse, and some types of worms can even be life threatening. Did you know there are many different types of worms your horse can be infested with? I didn’t until recently. I have always wormed my horses’ when I was supposed to but I didn’t know there were at least seven different types of worms I needed to be aware of. According to Surrey County Council, the classes of worms that your horse may be at risk for are: Large Red Worms (Strongyles) these can result in colic, Small Red Worms (Cyathastomes) these can result in fatalities, Tapeworms (Cestodes) these can also lead to colic, Lung Worm (Dictyocaulus arnfieldi), Roundworms (Ascarids), Pinworm (Oxyuris), and Bots (Gastrophilus).

One type of wormer may not treat all of these classes of worms. Surrey County Council actually provides a calendar of what type of wormer you should use and when. I recommend clicking on the link below to view the calendar displayed. This site also provides further information about each type of parasite and the possible consequences of it if gone untreated. Some types of worms may be more common in certain areas, I assume, so it might be a good idea to talk to your vet and find out if your horses is at a higher risk for a certain type of worm.

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Worming+advice?opendocument

Hoof Cracks

A picture taken a few weeks ago of my horse, Reagan's hoof.

 Living in a desert like Nevada, tends to have some negative effects on my horses’ hooves. The heat and dryness from the atmosphere causes their hooves to crack. Cracks in the hooves can be a major problem. If the cracks become too severe or deep, they can actually result in an infection or lameness. Cracks of the hoof wall can actually result from a number of different things according to “horsetalk”. The article mentions that cracks in the hooves can result from poor diet or environment (which is what the factor is in my case). Cracks can result from the hoof being to dry or too wet. Here is the link to the interesting article about hoof cracks. http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/lameness/114-hoofcracks.shtml

About four weeks ago I came across a product that I noticed really did help keep the moisture in my horses’ hooves. I don’t mean to be advertising to you but it took me a while to find something that noticeably helped my horses’ hooves and perhaps you are in that situation too?  The name of the product I have been using is called “Effol Hoof Oil”. I have been applying the oil to my horses’ hooves every other day for four weeks and although it doesn’t “fix” the present cracks, it does prevent those cracks from becoming more severe as well as prevent future cracks. Other products intended to serve the same purpose is “Hoof Alive” and regular hoof dressing. Remember; although cracking of the hoofs is not uncommon, it can pose a serious problem for your horse so make sure you address them before they become too severe.

Equine Health Care

Beaumont

 In 2010, I worked as an equine veterinary assistant in Carson Valley, Nevada. I have always loved horses but the experience of working alongside a vet opened up a new world for me. I got to see, first hand, different diseases and injuries and watch them be treated. After that I knew that just being around animals would never be enough for me. Instead, I needed to learn how to help them and improve their quality of life. So now I am on the road to becoming a large animal vet. I cannot yet blog about any intense medical care regarding horses because I have not yet learned it. I can, however, tell you about basic equine care, which is something I practice with my own horses every day.

If you have horses then you know they require a certain amount of basic health care. This care includes things such as vaccinations, teeth floating, supplements, worming, shoeing (many don’t realize how important it is for a horse to be shoed properly), and annual or semi-annual chiropractic adjustments. I am here to tell you what, I believe, is very important to your horse’s basic care and why. I have 12 years experience riding, training, and competing jumping horses and I have learned many things that are essential to my horses’ basic health. These things, of course, don’t just apply to jumping horses, but horses of all disciplines ranging from roping horses to race horses. No matter what your horse’s discipline is, it is up to you to ensure that he/she gets the care needed. Our faithful steeds count on us more than we know.