Oct 18, 2016 | Events, Farriers, Feed, FES, Hoof Care, Lameness, Our Facility, Pet Pigs, Uncategorized
Well, what a whirlwind this last week has been! The humans around here moved everything up off the floor during their Hurricane Matthew preparation, and it took them far too long to get it all back to the way Teenie and I like it. Then there were several late-night colics that came into the clinic for fluids and emergency care, which would have been fine, except that no one would let me out of the office to prowl supervise because it was night time. Geesh. And finally, there is a mountain of stuff in the office that is to be given away during the Open House (pronounced “See Tony Event”), and it is blocking all my favorite sleeping places except the computer keyboard! It’s hard being at the top.
Stephanie has been working hard organizing this Open House, which takes place this Saturday, October 22nd from 10am til 2pm. She has been on the phone during my Official Nap Time (which is daytime, basically) arranging for all these feed stores, tack shops, drug companies, trainers, boarding barns, and someplace called Backyard BBQ who is catering lunch (I assume they specialize in cat food?) to be here, with all these door prizes and so on. The doctors and techs are going to have educational stations set up, and they even have a farrier coming to talk about hoof care, trimming, shoeing, and to answer questions.
In addition to the farrier’s hoof trimming demonstration, there will also be a chance for you to check out Sox for Horses, and see how they go on and off (there is a special technique that makes it easier if you have a horse with giant feet, like Dr. Lacher’s Ernie), and Mallie Jo will be demonstrating the FES, which is taking the barrel racing world by storm right now. If you have a performance horse of any kind and you don’t know about the FES, you don’t want to miss this!
One of the things everyone is excited about is the Wellness giveaway. From what I hear, everyone who signs a horse up for a 2017 Wellness plan between October 1st and the end of the Open House on the 22nd goes into a drawing, and one horse will win a refund, giving them a year of free Wellness! That is a big deal, which you know if you read the flier I sent you. If you don’t know about Wellness yet, or want to know more, you can read up on it at www.SpringhillEquine.com/wellness or you can call and talk to Stephanie about it.
The other thing everyone is excited about is getting to see me, of course. I’m something of a celebrity around here, in case you didn’t know. I have been in a lot of selfies with people on Facebook, and if you bring me a cat treat, I might be in yours, too! So, load up the kids and come on out to Springhill Equine this Saturday!
Aug 2, 2016 | Farriers, Hoof Care, Infections, White Line Disease
Tuesdays with Tony – White Line Disease
It seems there has been an awful lot of something called White Line around here lately. I decided if there was going to be a bunch of it, I was going to learn about it. As it happens, we had one of these horses come in to the Clinic to have his feet worked on, so I got first-hand experience.
This horse was seen by our Docs for a Wellness visit. Small shameless plug for our Wellness Program: It’s everything your horse needs for the year, it has built in discounts, there’s no emergency fee if you are on the Plan, there’s an awesome Kentucky Derby Party, and we take care of all the remembering of what needs to be done. I really don’t understand why everyone who has a horse isn’t on one of our Wellness Plans. Anyway, back to what we were talking about… While there, they examined him for a right front lameness. As with all lameness evaluations, the exam started at the foot. This guy had a whole flap of hoof wall that wasn’t attached! I have now learned this is a tell-tale sign that you’ve got White Line. Yes, I did purposefully make that rhyme. It’s called a Cat-ch Phrase!
I started my adventure by assisting with x-ray set up. I find there is no better resting place than atop a keyboard on a computer. Turns out the humans don’t like it much, but we compromised and I was allowed to observe from an adjacent table as long as I agreed not to touch the x-ray computer. They get sooo protective of their stuff. We started our work on this horse with an x-ray of the front feet. X-rays let our Docs and Shawn (the farrier) get an idea how much White Line Disease is present before they bring out the nippers, knives, and rasps. The x-ray also shows if there are any other problems going on, such as founder. I learned White Line can so compromise the structural integrity of the foot that founder starts. Scary stuff. I know from years of managing this Clinic that founder is very hard on horses. Turns out this guy had a little bit of a change to the bones in his leg and foot. The Docs and Shawn explained to me this wasn’t because of founder (looked the same to me) but was because this horse had something called a Club Foot.
The x-rays led to a lively discussion on the causes of White Line Disease. Apparently fungi and bacteria can be cultured from the nasty, chalky stuff that builds up under the loose hoof wall, but that’s not the heart of the problem. Physics is the real problem. The fungi and bacteria under there are just taking advantage of hoof wall that is being pulled away from the foot. Almost always, that hoof wall is being pulled away because the hoof has bad conformation or it has been trimmed/shod poorly. Usually the break-over is way too far in front of where it should be, which causes pull on the hoof wall with every step. That pull opens up tiny cracks where bugs can grow. The bugs then harm the hoof wall allowing it to open even more, which lets the bugs multiply. As you can see, it’s a vicious circle. Check here for more information on the physics of feet: http://springhillequine.com/part-1-everything-you-ever-want-to-know-about-your-horses-feet
What’s a cat to do? Let the air in and fix the physics. We’ll delegate the task out to fix the physics. I’m not one for physics. I lean more towards business management. Step one on White Line cases is to take off all that hoof wall that isn’t attached. The bugs hate fresh air. Take off the hoof wall, and they get more air than they can stand. Off to bacteria/fungi heaven they go. Next a shoe is put on that addresses any of those pesky physics problems.
Voila! The worst of it is done. At home the humans just have to make sure the foot stays clean. They can do this by hosing the foot off, brushing with a wire brush (gently), and the occasional squirt of hydrogen peroxide (not too often, that is some powerful stuff). The hardest part is time. The horse will now need time for the hoof to grow out and heal. Humans just don’t do patience well. I recommend a good nap in a sunny spot. It does wonders for my patience.
With all this talk about feet, I’m off to give myself a nice pedicure on the scratching post. I think I will follow that with some patience practice.
-Tony
Jul 5, 2016 | Abscesses, Athleticism, Competition Horses, Events, Exercise, Hoof Care, Injuries, Lameness, Leg issues
While clicking through the internet over this long holiday weekend I came upon this picture of yours truly:
It got me thinking about boots. I make these boots look darn good. This got myself, Teannie, and our weekend guest, a charming horse name Goose, talking about boots in general. We marveled at all the colors, textures, patterns, and types of boots that humans have for their feet. Teannie and I remarked that as the perfect creatures we are, we never have to wear such things. OK, so that one time I had to wear a cast for a long time after Teannie broke my foot when I made, what she considers a disparaging, remark about her ears, but other than that, no foot wear. Goose informed us we just didn’t know all the fun we were missing. He gets to wear boots all the time when he works, and he finds them stylish and comfortable. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him we don’t work. However, Goose’s statement did make me head off for some research about boots and horses.
My first question to you humans is REALLY??!!??!? Do you really need all of the 8,482 different types of boots I found? There are open front boots, support boots, cross country, splint, ankle, bell, and galloping just to name a few. And the colors and patterns. Don’t get me started on all that. Let’s just say I am never wearing anything in tie dye. Especially not on my feet. Looking in to the why so many freakin’ kinds of boots did inform me that many different kinds are needed for all the crazy things you guys do with horses. Lots of people like the all around support kind. If you jump over things, you like the kind open in front. If your horse hits his ankles you like the ankle kind. You get the gist. Anyway I will give you all the different kinds.
My next question was can they seriously do all the things they say they can? Here’s where life gets a little fuzzy. Let’s start with support. When it comes to the equine limb that is a tricky statement at best. Support what? If you support the fetlock, then more concussion goes up the limb and that can be damaging to the shoulder. With all the weight horses bring to the game, it turns out “support” can’t be done without compromising range of motion, which means no more daring moves of athletic prowess. So how about concussion? This one does turn out to have some validity. When you ask horses to turn quickly around trash cans, jump over sticks, and prance sideways they have a tendency to tangle up those long legs at some point in the process. Those tangles can have some serious forces behind them. A good boot will absorb some of the concussion and prevent lacerations from hooves.
Goose pointed out that sometimes his legs get hot in those boots. Seems reasonable in this ridiculous Florida weather; also important for the health of your horse’s tendons and ligaments. Tendons and ligaments can take normal heat but researchers have found temperatures of up to 145F following exercise! Newer boot manufacturing techniques are looking at the heat build-up problem and working on solutions. I would certainly put boots on just before exercise and take them off just after work to keep those legs happy.
In case you need a good reason to make your horse wear boots, watch this video at around 18 minutes in. Words of warning it is a bit graphic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsvS6gEBJuE
And on that note, I’m off to ponder my new line of feline footwear.
Jun 21, 2016 | Athleticism, Farriers, Hoof Care, Lameness
This weekend I learned why I am best suited to my supervisory role here at the clinic. I monitored while Dr. Lacher worked closely with a farrier to determine the best treatment for a horse with a bunch of issues in her feet. I marveled at the way in which they worked as a team, batted around each other’s ideas, and came up with solutions that addressed all the issues. It was like watching TV in a foreign language. As a cat, I am not a team player. Heck, Teannie and I can barely get along. Turns out you need a team to manage your horse. High performance, senior, or just for fun. All horses seem to require a team. Not cats. We only require staff that will jump at our every request. I feel I have trained my minions well.
Anyway, Teamwork. Turns out teamwork is very important for performance horses. There is often a trainer, owner, veterinarian, and farrier at the very least. Trainers and owners need to feel comfortable talking to their veterinarian and farrier about how the horse is performing. It may be something as minor as a lift of the head in a transition one way, but not the other. Based on a trainer’s description of the problem, our Dr. Lacher will put her detective hat on and start investigating. Dr. Lacher uses her 30+ years of horse experience alongside her veterinary knowledge to help track down the source of pain. (We won’t tell her I talked about her 30+ years)
Treatment and rehab come next on the list. Again, teamwork is critical. I really don’t understand why there has to be all this teamwork. I would just impose my will; no questions allowed. Veterinarians today have a wide variety of therapies available. Joint injections with steroids are the most common treatment used. Problem is, those steroids come with some side effects. Hocks handle those side effects well, and can be repeatedly injected. However, every other joint doesn’t. Every steroid injection takes a little tiny bit off the end of a horse’s career. This means careful discussion with everyone involved to determine if injections will help the horse get better faster and cause less damage than the injury they have. Maybe some of the new, crazy advanced therapies like stem cells and platelet rich plasma should be used instead. Maybe rest and targeted exercises should be used. All of that has to be talked about and factored in. With all this talking, I’m going to need more nap time. And more food.
One of the biggest collaborations happens between our Docs and farriers. With the utterly ridiculous design horses have for feet, they need constant attention. Lots of horses need special shoeing to keep those feet comfortable or to help them heal from an injury. Our Docs use radiographs (x-rays) to help farriers line up their shoes perfectly. There is also a whole lot of discussion that goes on about what the Docs have found out from their exam and what the farriers think. There’s always tons of communication going on. I try to make sure I am nearby to assist with this process.
It can be a challenge to determine the best, right thing for these crazy horses sometimes. Making sure you have a winning team sure makes it easier. Until next week.
Feb 8, 2016 | Feed, Hoof Care, Q & A
I was just wondering what fescue grass hay is? I have lived in Florida all my life, and have never heard of this kind of hay. I plan on moving my horse to Virginia, and the barn there feeds fescue grass blend hay, and I was just wanting to get more information about this hay.
Fescue hay is the most common type of grass hay that grows in the Southeastern US. It is similar to Coastal Bermuda grass hay that is used here. Less nutritious and palatable than Timothy or Orchard grass hay, it is also much lower in protein, calories, and calcium compared to Alfalfa or Peanut hay.
It is a fine hay for most horses, but you may need to feed more of it to get the same amount of nutrients, and they tend to waste more because it doesn’t taste as good as Alfalfa, Timothy, or Orchard grass.
As with any hay, the most important factor in nutrition is the ”cutting” or stage of maturity at harvest. First cutting hay is usually soft, leafy, tasty, and has a high nutrient density. 3rd cutting or later hay is often coarse, stemmy, and has a lower nutrient value.
Thanks for the question!
Oreo is losing some muscle mass this winter. I can see more ribs than usual this time of year. He has lost behind the withers, and also his rump above the tail. He will be 18 in April. He has access to Tifton 85 hay 24/7. I give him chopped forage in the morning with a cup of oats and a supplement. Do I need to feed some kind of grain? Or something else?
Short Answer: Yes.
Long Answer: It seems that every horse has a certain day of a week, of a month, of a year, when they suddenly decide to become an old horse overnight. 18 years old is about right for this transformation.
Congratulations, your easy keeper that has stayed fat and happy on a certain ration his entire life has now become a hard keeper, and needs to be fed about 3 times as much!
In addition to your horse’s new title as a “senior,” there are other factors that could be contributing to his weight loss. For example, older horses sometimes don’t have the best teeth. Regular dentals can help with that, but at a very old age they simply run out of teeth to chew with! As horses age, they are also at increased risk for Cushing’s disease, which can cause weight loss, among other symptoms. Regular fecal egg counts and a good deworming program are also important so that your horse can effectively absorb the nutrients he is eating.
As far as choice of grain, it may be time to consider a Senior feed for Oreo. Nutrena, Triple Crown, Seminole, Purina… take your pick. Every major brand has a specially-formulated Senior feed that is a bit more digestible and higher in fat, fiber, and protein than your standard Maintenance feed. Keep the hay and chopped coming as well, because forage is always the most important part of a horse’s diet.
Spreading out Oreo’s ration over two feedings (three for super skinny horses) is a good way to put weight on a horse, because it is closer to how they would eat in the wild. Any feed changes should be made gradually over a period of about two weeks. If you don’t see positive results after one month of the new diet, we should come out to check Oreo for any underlying problems that may be contributing to his weight loss.
Thank you for the excellent question!
One of my horses have splits in his front hooves. What can I do to get rid of them?
There are two types of cracks we generally see in horse’s feet: vertical at the toe or heels, and horizontal at the heels. All cracks are indications of unbalanced forces on the hoof wall. The direction of the crack and the location gives us clues about the forces involved.
Vertical cracks at the toe are most commonly seen in horses with naturally poor quality hoof wall who live in sandy environments and don’t wear shoes. These cracks can be improved by making sure the foot is trimmed appropriately and the breakover brought back to the right spot. For more on what a proper trim looks like and what the heck a breakover is, check out this back-issue of Tony the Office Cat’s blog here: Tuesday’s with Tony blog. It is important to remember that any changes will take a lot of time to appear in the hoof. It takes an entire year for the hoof wall to grow from top to bottom. Sometimes it takes a proper trim and shoes to fully control the stress on the front of the foot. These cracks can sometimes become a wonderful environment for White Line disease, so it is important to have Springhill Equine check the feet to rule out this insidious problem.
Cracks at the heel are much harder to deal with. Heel cracks are a direct result of very unbalanced forces on the hoof wall. We highly recommend radiographs and a combined veterinary/farrier appointment. This allows Springhill Equine and the farrier to best determine where the issue lies and formulate a plan to fix it in the most efficient manner.
Thanks for the question, and we hope this helps!
Jul 4, 2015 | Feed, Hay, Hoof Care, Leg issues
The Naughty Pony
brought to you by Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic
July 2015 Issue 51
Person of the Month:
Dr. Vurgason graduated from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine
in 2014. During vet school, she worked in the Equine ICU, and participated in
numerous externship experiences across the country. She was captain of the Foal Watch
Team at Mizzou, and enjoyed a unique trip to South Africa to practice wildlife medicine.
Please join us July 22nd @ 6:30pm at Springhill Equine Clinic to Meet and Greet
Dr Vurgason and the Gainesville Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit
Main Topic:
The list of supplements available and the things they will fix is simply awe inspiring. I
recently flipped through the SmartPak catalog and came up with several new problems I
didn’t even know my horse could have! And I went to Veterinary School. What’s a horse
owner to do?
First apply a few rules. Just like human diets, quality is key. Using high quality hay as the
foundation of your horse’s feed program starts things off correctly. Next add in a
concentrate (grain) only as needed to fill in the gaps. For the average pony this means
having loose trace minerals and salt available.
However, a thoroughbred in the same field may require 6-8 pounds of a high fat, high
protein concentrate. For most horses this is all they need. Yep that’s it. Hay and a little bit
of concentrate.
The next rule is you should understand all the ingredients in the stuff you use. There are some very fancy words in the ingredient list on most feed bags but those words are often just the scientific names for vitamins and proand pre-biotics. This is an excellent time to use Google. If you Google tocopherol you will find this is a high falutin’ way of saying Vitamin E. If you Google BioThrive Formula E you are not going to understand what it is anymore than you do from the words BioThrive, Formula, and E. It’s like looking up the definition for some of those crazy Words with Friends words: no definition is available at this time but you can use it to play this game. Outrageous claims about the products efficacy and a name that means nothing is code for we put some stuff in a jar with a pretty picture and we have no idea what it does. Run away!
A corollary of this rule is that the quantities of stuff must make sense given the size of a horse. I’m going to pick on resveratrol for this one. There have been several studies done in rats which indicate resveratrol is the stuff in red wine that is good for you. The problem is the rats have been on pretty large doses of resveratrol in those studies. A company came up with a supplement with resveratrol in it. You feed 2-4 ounces per day of this stuff. Based on the rat studies horses would need to consume somewhere between 3 and 4 POUNDS daily to experience the same benefits. Fat supplements are another pet peeve here. Feeding a 1200 pound horse a 2 ounce scoop of a 30% fat supplement means you just gave them a little over one half an ounce of fat.
The last rule: Consult your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist to determine if the need for Fancy Supplement X is real. Sometimes it is, often it isn’t. For example, Dr. Lacher has a “special” horse who doesn’t sweat in the summer and is allergic to everything she comes in contact with. This horse gets alfalfa hay, pasture, and Purina Enrich for her concentrate. To help her sweat she gets Platinum Refresh and to help reduce inflammation in her skin she gets Flax seed oil. If you read the label on Platinum Refresh you would think every horse needs it to help “thermoregulate” in the summer. The truth is most horses thermoregulate just fine. Horses with the medical condition anhidrosis do have a problem regulating and therefore a supplement is needed to help.
We all want to do everything possible for our horses. Trust us we know, we are just as bad.
That’s why everyone at Springhill Equine looks in the mirror and says “Do I really need
this for my horse?”
Erica’s Corner
Holy hotness!! This vet, her technicians, and our patients have been incredibly hot already
this summer. I can tell you Icees and Gatorade are lifesavers this time of year. The horses seem to be handling the weather OK. I will say we see more colics as the weather heats up. It seems once they get used to the hot weather things level back out. The upside of hot weather is fewer lacerations since everyone is just standing around in their fields not looking for trouble.
My horses don’t know it but their vacation is almost over with the arrival of Dr. Vurgason. I
am beyond excited to begin introducing Dr. Vurgason to everyone. I may also be a little bit
excited to not work seven days a week and go back to showing my horses. Dr. Vurgason
brings a lifetime of horse knowledge along with a love of potbelly pigs and Disneyworld. I
hope you can join us at her official Welcome Party on July 22nd, 6:30pm at the Clinic.
Tech Spot
July in Florida means one thing for sure… afternoon showers!
While the grass and our gardens love the rain, our ponies’ feet do not. Consistently wet feet can cause thrush and mushy soles, which can eventually lead to very sore feet.
We all want our horses to be happy and comfortable and aside from keeping them in the barn, there are a few things we can do to help their feet stay hard through the rainy season.
We recommend picking hooves at least once aday, and we always start by applying Durasole or a similar product four times a week. If that is not working please feel free to call the office and we can get you a stronger product and assess different shoeing options.
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