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Retired Horses

Retired Horses

Mar 20, 2023 | Retired

Tuesdays with Tony

There comes a time in every cat’s life where he hangs up his author hat and takes on a more… advisory role. While I very much enjoy imparting my cat wisdoms to you lowly humans, which I’ve been doing since 2011, I’m finding it more enjoyable to soak up sunshine out on the porch in my old age. So, it’s time to announce that this will be my last blog. Now don’t you worry, I wouldn’t leave you humans without continued teachings. I’d like to introduce Whinnifred—Whinny for short. And she is short. This little field mouse is a longtime friend of mine and I’ve been instructing her in the ways of communicating with the lesser species… you.

Before you start to question my feline ferocity, let me remind you that I could very well choose to catch my meals, but why would I, when my staff will do it for me? So, I can remain friends with the other animal brethren that frequent the grounds around Springhill Equine. Hence, Whinny. She’ll have a new blog title (it can’t very well stay Tuesdays with Tony when I’m not writing it). Her blog title will be Whinny’s Wisdoms. And as long as you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll be subscribed to hers. You are subscribed, right?

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Retiring Horses

 I figured since I’ve announced my own retirement in this blog, it’s only appropriate to talk about equine retirement today. Lots of horses never have jobs. They’re what we call “pasture ornaments,” and there is no shame in that game, coming from a soon-to-be self-proclaimed clinic ornament. But many horses start out with a job where they run, or jump, or do ballet, all for their humans (do you realize what a gift that is?) and eventually retire to life in a pasture. Some horses even leave a job like that to start teaching small humans how to ride and be around horses. That’s probably the most prestigious horse job of all, if you ask me, but I’m still relieved that cats don’t do that stuff.

Let’s talk about the care and management of a retired horse. This could be an old or a young horse – many retire because of age, but some are forced to because of an injury or other issue that prevents them being an athlete. However, this doesn’t stop them being a wonderful companion.

I’ll make one point very clear at the start: retired horses still need regular vet care. They still need exams, vaccines, farrier work, and at least yearly (if not twice yearly) dentals. Many will need long term medication to manage arthritis, Cushings, or other ailments that you should talk to my docs about.

Many times, my docs will recommend additional yearly things for our retired horse population, things like yearly blood work, or screening radiographs of the feet to try to catch disease early. I hear them say over and over again: age is not a disease, but it can bring diseases with it.

Making the Transition

Retiring a horse usually means they go from being ridden regularly, whether that’s daily or a few times a week, to not really being ridden at all anymore, except for maybe the occasional trail ride or bareback hack. For some horses, this is easy and welcomed; for others, they take the lack of work as a lack of purpose and attention and can have some opinions about it. If your horse begins acting aggressive or nervous following retirement, that’s a good indication they need a part-time retirement gig.

What’s important, when going from riding a horse regularly to not riding, is that you humans don’t suddenly start ignoring them. Just because they’re no longer carrying you around doesn’t mean they’re any less important. Just ask my humans: they love me just as much whether I’m an author or a retiree, and they are still going to cater to my whims each day (mostly opening the door repeatedly and scratching under my chin on demand). My point here is you should try to spend time with your retired horses just like you do your working horses. This can still involve training—my docs love talking to people about clicker training!—or can involve simple things like grazing, baths, and grooming.

In or Out?

In general, retired horses do best if they can be turned out for as much time as possible. It goes without saying that if my docs give you a different plan for a specific horse, listen to them. But especially when horses are retired for arthritis or old age changes, gentle movement is really helpful in keeping their joints lubricated.

Most horses have a routine when they’re in work; retired horses would often like a set routine as well. So even if they’re out in the field, if you make a point to feed or bring them in at the same time every day, that will help keep them happy.

Diet

Remember that your horse likely doesn’t need the same diet as a retiree that they did while in active work. The specific changes you make are going to be very dependent on what ailments your horse is experiencing and why they were retired, but this is a conversation to have with my docs or an equine nutritionist.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

In general, a retired horse that’s not in work won’t need as much energy or simple carbohydrates (read: grain/concentrate) as they did while they were in work. And it’s a continued conversation. It may be that the initial changes you make to the diet don’t stay consistent after your horse is retired for 2-3 years. Remember, any diet changes should always be done gradually.

Location, Location, Location

Let’s briefly get on a litter box (I hate soap). My humans and I all understand that everyone’s lives are different and sometimes unexpected situations come up, but we’d all urge you to remember just how much work your horses put in for you before they were retired. Horses—and all animals—are lifelong commitments, and if there’s a way for you to ensure a really great retirement for your companions, you should do it.

Most often the surest way to ensure that is to maintain ownership of them and retire them on your property, but there are often also options to send them to a trusted friend or family member’s home where you can still be kept in the loop of their health and happiness. What this cat wants you to avoid is taking your retiring horses to a random auction or just selling them to the highest bidder on the Face Place. Those are really risky endeavors and more often than not they put your retired horses in bad places.

Creating New Habits

Mostly, your retired horse is still a horse. As far as general care, they need a lot of the same things they used to. You can try to prevent problems by staying on top of looking at them every day or as often as you can. This is especially true for eyes and underbellies. Both of these areas can get issues—things like eye ulcers or cancer—but when horses aren’t tacked up every day, they may not get attention in those spots. If your pasture ornament wears a fly mask or any blankets regularly, they must be removed, and the underlying skin or eyes inspected every single day.

Shifting Goals

My docs always preach about having a great relationship with your veterinarian, and when you have a retired horse, it’s even more important. The goals of their care adjust from performance-type elements to being solely focused on quality of life. Your veterinarian can help you determine how to objectively monitor quality of life so that you can plan for the future.

I can’t wait for my quality of life to improve as I no longer have to grind away on this keyboard. My toe beans are slowing down, and Whinny has become pretty adept at scurrying across the keys, so I know she’s ready to take on the job. I’ll admit it’s been a pleasure instructing you humans all these years. Remember, cats are always right, and this cat is going to continue to be right…. right over there laying in the sun!

Farewell,

Tony

P.S. Have you been keeping up with the new videos over on my YouTube Channel? There’s a new series called Horse Girl Goes to the Vet that is hilarious, and you don’t want to miss out on that. There have also been some really good seminars recently, including one on wound care that you definitely want to check out. If you’re subscribed to the YouTube Channel, you should get a notification when a new video comes out, so make sure you do that. Okay, now I’m done, off to my favorite nap spot.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Equine Biosecurity

Equine Biosecurity

Mar 13, 2023 | Biosecurity

Tuesdays with Tony

Biosecurity is the practice of decreasing the spread of contagious diseases. As the Clinic Cat, I feel like I’m above such things, though I’ll admit that my docs would argue that one. Whinny, who is the Clinic Mouse and my understudy (more on that soon) is an expert in the spread of disease, as mice carry a lot of responsibility in this area. But let’s focus on horses! From show horses to pleasure horses, biosecurity is important and can easily be implemented into your routine. Prevention is the best medicine, and it’s never too soon to consider how your farm will handle a contagious disease outbreak and what you can do to help decrease the spread of disease and contribute to the general wellbeing of horses in your community. It’s also your responsibility as a horse owner.

The reason to decrease the spread of the disease can be overly simple – no one likes to be sick! In the case of performance horses, illness can have long term effects on respiratory function, increasing the time it takes to bring them back to the fitness level they were at before becoming ill. Diseases can also spread further than you may think. For horses specifically, a sneeze or cough can travel about 150 feet. That’s about the width of a football field! So even if you’re at a trail ride or event and are not necessarily nose to nose with other horses, you may accidentally share a communicable disease.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Respiratory diseases are probably the largest culprit when thinking of highly contagious diseases in horses. Strangles is a common name we think of when considering contagious respiratory disease. Strangles is caused by the bacterial organism, Streptococcus equi subspecies equi and is characterized by a high fever, nasal discharge and enlarged lymph nodes around the throat of the horse that are often draining purulent discharge.

Other contagious respiratory diseases are of viral origin. There are two that we think of most commonly, equine influenza (aka flu) and equine herpes (aka ‘rhino’ or rhinopneumonitis) viruses, but there are lots of others. Common clinical signs of these diseases are coughing, fever, and nasal discharge. In the case of equine herpes virus, different strains can cause abortion in pregnant mares, or neurologic signs in addition to respiratory symptoms. Other contagious diseases in horses include ringworm and Salmonella. Ringworm is a fungal skin infection that can cause circular, itchy lesions with hair loss. Salmonella is a contagious bacterial disease that often presents with fever and severe diarrhea.

All of these diseases can be spread either from horse to horse, or through fomites. Fomites are objects or organisms that can transmit any disease. These can include commonly used equipment, like wheelbarrows, water hoses, pitch forks, bridles, brushes and many other objects. Fomites can also include people! Barn staff, volunteers, visitors, farriers, veterinarians, and you even have the potential for carrying contagious disease! It hurts my pride too much to mention cats or mice, but dogs are definitely a potential risk as well. Basically, anything that can step in, rub against, pet, lick, or sniff a drop of infected horse saliva, snot, or poop could become a Typhoid Mary.

How biosecurity is implemented may vary from barn to barn, but the main principles will remain the same. New horses, or ones that travel to competitions or routinely haul off the property, should be quarantined for a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks when they return to the farm. This duration may vary based on your veterinarian’s recommendations for your farm and situation. In the case of a disease outbreak, this duration is determined based on the diagnosis of the disease and duration that it can be shed, which is often a minimum of 21 days for many diseases. For new horses that have recently traveled, taking daily temperatures is essential in catching a potentially contagious disease early. A horse that already has nasal discharge and is feeling down in the dumps has likely spiked a fever a few days prior and has already been spreading disease.

Be mindful of traffic through the barn. Horses that are sick or quarantined due to recent travel should be placed in an area where there is limited foot traffic. They should also be stabled away from common areas, such as the wash rack or grooming area, and should never share a fence with other horses. Keeping equipment clean and sanitizing stalls and common areas also helps decrease the spread of disease. Be mindful that disinfectants do not work when there is bulk dirt or manure on the surface you’re cleaning.

Of course, vaccination can play a major role in preventing the spread of disease. They are not able to provide 100% coverage, but they offer good protection and can decrease the amount and length of sickness. The timing of giving a vaccination is important since the body needs time in order to reach peak immunity and protection. This is often a minimum of two weeks. Vaccinating the day before a competition or travel unfortunately provides protection too late. Therefore, contact your veterinarian to create a schedule of vaccinations from some of our common contagious diseases that are available. 

Even the best managed barns can contract a contagious disease, or you may be at an event where a horse becomes ill. When this happens, do your best not to panic and definitely do not travel if your horse has the potential to have been around another sick horse! Talk to your veterinarian about testing for the suspected disease and what you can do to help mitigate the outbreak. In the case of respiratory diseases, which are the most common to occur while at a competition or traveling, testing often includes nasal swab paired with blood testing, since most respiratory diseases can present in an identical fashion. Repeat testing may have to occur, depending on the disease and situation.

There’s nothing worse than an infectious disease outbreak at your farm, but luckily there are ways that we can both prevent and manage these situations. As always, if you have questions, please reach out to your favorite veterinarian! My docs just released a YouTube video talking about how to look at your farm layout from a biosecurity perspective, so make sure you check that out. For more information, the Equine Disease Communication Center can give you up to date and accurate information regarding equine outbreaks and diseases in your area.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. While you’re on my YouTube Channel watching that video, make sure you check out my other videos. I just released the first 5 videos in a new series called Horse Girl Goes to the Vet, which are quite entertaining, if I do say so myself. There will be more coming soon, of course, so make sure you subscribe!

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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EPM 101

EPM 101

Mar 6, 2023 | EPM

Tuesdays with Tony

What is EPM?

EPM stands for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis. Breaking this down into normal person-speak instead of doctor-speak, it means a small organism called a protozoa gets in the brain and/or spinal cord and causes inflammation. There are two protozoa commonly associated with EPM. These are called Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora hughesi. These little buggers are just about everywhere in the environment. They use a variety of small mammals and birds to mature until they are ready to head to a opossum, who then poops out eggs of S. neurona and N. hughesi so that those same small animals can eat them and get infected again. Most of the time the goal is to not overly affect the animals involved while carrying out your life cycle. This keeps your hosts happy, and able to continue being a good place for you to live. 

Enter horses, because horses are often bad at life. On rare occasions in horses, the organism gets into the brain or spinal cord. This also happens with diseases like Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and West Nile Virus. They aren’t supposed to get into the central nervous system. When they do, they can’t replicate like they’re supposed to, which means they can’t complete that great circle of life. The important thing to know is that this happens in less than 1% of horses exposed to EPM. Read that again: Less than 1% of exposed horses!

What Does an EPM Horse Look Like?

My Docs talk to lots and lots of people who are sure their horse has EPM because of behavior changes, or poor performance, or lameness, or any of a million different things. What EPM horses most commonly look like is muscle loss in one spot. Because EPM most commonly affects a spot in the spinal cord, it stops the signal coming from the brain to a muscle. That signal also tells the muscle to stay all muscley and pumped up. When the signal stops, the muscle goes away, or atrophies. 

For EPM horses, this occurs in one particular area, and only on one side. If you think about it, that makes sense. The organism won’t line itself up perfectly on the centerline of the spinal cord and cause even muscle loss on both sides. If it is affecting a big enough area to hit both sides of the body, it will be way worse on one side than the other. This is a hallmark of EPM horses. They are never symmetrical. Almost always, only one side of the body is affected. In the rare case both sides are affected, one side will be way worse than the other. 

This means the first clue for my Docs is a sudden area of muscle loss. Some horses aren’t as obvious, and may present with subtle neurological signs like tripping, or sudden difficulty turning one direction or the other. Again, my Docs are going to look for areas of muscle wasting associated with these signs. They’re also going to do a very thorough lameness and neurologic exam. EPM horses will display neurological symptoms as opposed to lameness symptoms. This can sometimes take a lot of pushing, pulling, walking in weird ways, and putting horses in odd positions to determine. Luckily, my Docs are persistent.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Testing for EPM

Here is where the really sticky widget comes in. Conclusive testing for EPM simply can’t be done by blood test, and here’s why: if the blood test is positive, it just means your horse has been exposed to EPM, it doesn’t mean it’s in their brain or spine. If the blood test is negative, it means your horse hasn’t been exposed. In many areas of the United States, it is highly, highly unlikely your horse has not been exposed to EPM. The organism is everywhere. 

“But Tony,” you say. “Does this mean there isn’t a conclusive test?” Never fear, testing can be done. But: it does require a spinal tap. This can be done as a standing procedure in 99.9% of horses. And yes, it does have to be a spinal tap. You see, the fluid around the brain and spine is special. It has huge barriers to entry from the rest of the body. You may have heard of the blood-brain barrier. That’s what I’m talking about. This means the test is only positive if the organism is actually in the brain or spinal cord. Exposure to the organism in the usual fashion won’t cause high levels in the spinal fluid. So: a spinal tap is the only way to be sure of your results.

Is it Treatable?

The short answer is yes. Very nearly all the time is the longer answer. For most horses, a diagnosis of EPM means a round of drugs to kill the protozoa. They get a strong version for at least 30 days, followed by a weaker version for several months. Marquis and Protazil are the most common drugs used for that first 30 days. Both do a great job of really hitting the protozoa hard. From there, the follow-up medication is used to actually kill the little buggers. This plan works great for most horses. 

Here’s the deal for any horse with a neurologic disease: we can only improve them one grade from their worst grade. The grades are numbered 0-5. Numbers 0-2 can usually be ridden. This means if my Docs give your horse a score of 4, they will likely improve to a 3 with the very best in therapy, AND a good response from the horse’s own immune system, which means they will be a danger to ride. This is why I said they respond nearly all the time. Sometimes the organism gets into a very, very bad spot, and/or the body responds with a big huge inflammation response, and a whole lot of damage is done in a very short amount of time. These are the worst case EPM scenarios that no veterinarian or horse owner wants to deal with. 

But My Horse Felt Better with Drugs!

Time for a giant cat pet peeve. My Docs hear this All.The.Time. My horse got better while on EPM treatment. Yep, they sure did. Every one of the medications used to treat EPM have what is known as anabolic effects. That means they work like those steroids the pro-athletes aren’t supposed to take. They aren’t as strong as the big, bad steroid injections, but they still have moderate effects. Of course your horse feels better! They were getting juiced! This my horse felt better statement is often followed by, they felt worse when they came off EPM meds, so they must have it. Now you know the real reason they felt better, and the real reason they felt worse when they stopped medication. It had nothing to do with EPM.

The moral of my tale this week is that EPM, as a cause of neurological symptoms, is not all that common. If your horse is having neurologic signs or poor performance issues, the best place to start is a good thorough physical exam, followed by a good thorough lameness exam. This gives my Docs the best chance to recommend diagnostics to determine the real underlying cause. Once they know the true problem, they can target treatments and rehab protocols to help you and your horse get back to doing what you love. If you want to see what a neuro exam is like, check out this amazing video my docs made for you!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you liked that neuro exam video, there’s more where that came from! Check out my YouTube Channel for dozens and dozens of videos, as well as seminars, how-to tutorials, ASMR videos, and more!

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Acupuncture

Acupuncture

Feb 27, 2023 | Acupuncture

Tuesdays with Tony

Did you know that two of my Springhill docs are trained to use acupuncture to treat your horses? Acupuncture may seem mysterious to some of you. Not to me though. I’m a cat and I know everything, so let me explain.

Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into specific points in the body to cause a healing response. It’s been used to treat humans and animals in China for thousands of years, and now is used all around the world. Acupuncture is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses, and positive results have been shown in many clinical research studies. Each of those acupuncture points has a specific effect when it’s stimulated by the needle. Scientific studies have shown that most acupuncture points are located in regions where there is a nerve plexus and higher electrical conductivity than the surrounding tissue.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

In traditional Chinese medicine, the acupuncture points are connected by pathways in the body called meridians. These pathways create an energy flow throughout the body that maintains overall health. This energy is called Qi (pronounced chee). When the flow is disrupted, disease can occur. By stimulating certain acupuncture points, the energy flow can be restored.

In Western terms, acupuncture stimulates the nervous system, releasing chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These biochemical effects stimulate the body’s natural healing abilities. They can increase blood circulation, relieve muscle spasm, and release pain-controlling endorphins. The National Institute of Health consensus statement concluded that there was compelling evidence of acupuncture’s ability to control multiple ailments in people, including osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal pain, asthma, nausea, and headaches.

So while Eastern and Western traditions may use their own terms for these concepts, they’re really not all that different. Not so mysterious after all, right?

The Exam

Acupuncture diagnosis and treatment is very individualized to the patient. In addition to their usual veterinary examination, my docs will employ a few additional diagnostic techniques. In Chinese medicine, personality type can predispose an animal to certain illnesses or injuries. When my doc comes out to see your horse, she will ask questions to determine which personality your horse leans towards, and this is taken into consideration when she is choosing a treatment.

The Personality Types:

Wood: Wood personalities are confident, they are competitive, can sometimes be aggressive, and are often dominant. Many of our best show horses are wood personalities since they thrive on competition.

Fire: Fire personalities want to be the center of attention; they are friendly and playful but often sensitive. These kinds of horses are the ones that are always getting into something, these are the mischievous ones who open stall doors and let all their friends out, too.

Earth: Earth personalities are mellow, easy going, friendly, slow moving, and tolerant.

Metal: Metal personalities are rather aloof, independent, and like rules and order.

Water: Water personalities are timid and shy. They may be nervous and tend to react based on their fear.

After my doc determines your horse’s personality type, she will assess his tongue.  Based on the color, texture, and moisture of the tongue, she can gain clues on what organ systems are affected and if there is a deficiency or stagnation in the energy flow. She will then feel your horse’s pulses, which will help her narrow down where the abnormality is coming from. Next comes the scan. My docs will apply pressure with an instrument to assess each meridian or channel where energy flows. She will watch your horse carefully for his reaction to certain acupuncture points or entire channels. For example, there are certain points that indicate hock pain or stomach ulcers. My doc will score each reaction then put all the pieces together to make a diagnosis.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Treatment

Now that we have a diagnosis, treatment can begin. Based on your horse’s personality and diagnosis, my doc will perform the treatment that will best suit your horse on that day. You’re probably most familiar with the idea of thin needles placed in specific acupuncture points, but there are several other types of treatment that may also be used. Electro-acupuncture involves sending a light electric current through wires connected to the needles in your horse to increase the stimulation of the points. Moxibustion involves burning dried mugwort over specific points to encourage the movement of energy and relieve stagnation. Vitamin B12 can also be injected directly into acupuncture points for a long-term stimulation of the point that will last days after treatment.

Follow-up

After your horse’s initial examination and treatment, my doc will recommend follow up treatments. During these treatments, she will perform the same examination done at the initial visit to determine where your horse has improved, where there have been changes, and what needs to be addressed now. Usually, it takes 3-4 treatments 1-2 weeks apart to fully treat an ailment. In other words, acupuncture requires commitment.

How Can Acupuncture Help Your Horse?

My doc’s preferred way to practice is to incorporate both Western medicine and acupuncture together to achieve the best results for your horse. They use acupuncture to assist in the treatment of musculoskeletal problems such as arthritis, tendon/ligament injuries, and sore backs. Acupuncture can also be used to treat respiratory issues such as asthma or heaves, anhidrosis (non-sweaters), and anxiety problems. It can stimulate appetite, soothe some types of colic, and reduce diarrhea. Using acupuncture, my doc may be able to decrease the amount of medication necessary to treat your horse.

Acupuncture doesn’t cure every condition, but there are many applications where it can improve your horse’s quality of life and facilitate healing!

If you want to schedule an appointment for your horse’s initial acupuncture treatment, call my minions today. And make sure you tell them I deserve a treat for all my hard work around here.

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. Do you know how many videos I’ve got on my YouTube Channel? It’s a LOT! You can binge watch my videos and become a horse healthcare expert. Not on my level, of course, but on a high level for a human. Just click the link to check it out, and make sure you subscribe. I put up new content all the time, and you don’t want to miss out. You’re welcome.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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Equine Senior Care and Considerations

Equine Senior Care and Considerations

Feb 20, 2023 | Seniors

Tuesdays with Tony

As a cat, I have 9 lives, and am therefore perpetually young, despite my many years of experience. Don’t question me on this. Horses, though… . After many seasons of showing, trail riding, or general riding, you eventually find that your horse has reached the age of retirement and is entering his golden senior years. This can be different for each individual animal, but in general, we consider a horse as a “senior” around 15 to 20 years and older. Senior care is important and can often be overlooked (cats would never allow this, of course). Our senior horses have general maintenance requirements that are very similar to our younger horses that are still in work. Additionally, there are some special considerations when it comes to nutrition, diseases, and cases of chronic lameness. 

Vaccines

In my [not-humble cat] opinion, one of the most important aspects of senior care is to continue the general maintenance that was part of their routine health care. This would include continuing to booster the core vaccines (Eastern Encephalitis, Western Encephalitis, Tetanus, West Nile and Rabies). This is important because horses are constantly exposed to these diseases through mosquitoes, the soil, or other animals, in the case of rabies. Therefore, even if they have been vaccinated their entire life, that does not mean that once they hit their senior years that they no longer need to be boosted. 

Deworming

Similarly, deworming based on fecal analysis is just as important, if not more so, in elderly horses that may have secondary conditions impacting their immune system. These issues make them more susceptible to intestinal parasites. They might have been able to fend them off when they were young, but getting old is rough. I like to deny my geriatric status, but it does make everything a little harder. Cushings (PPID) is just one common senior disease that makes it easier for parasites to flourish. This can mean even if your horse was a low shedder in their younger days, they may not retain that status. The only way to know for sure is at least yearly fecal egg counts. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

No Hoof, No Horse

We should never forget about podiatry care for the senior horse. Not only can they have conditions impacting their feet, but chronic conditions of the tendons and arthritis of the joints can be exacerbated if their feet are overgrown or imbalanced. Have you heard of the saying, “no hoof, no horse?” That applies at all stages of life! 

Condition

Another general consideration for our senior horses is to monitor their hair coat and body condition in the extreme times of the year, when it is excessively hot or cold. Horses that are underweight, or those that are not growing a thick coat, may need to be blanketed in cooler weather, especially if there is limited shelter available. Conversely, if your horse is over-conditioned, or fat, or has a thick hair coat, they may be prone to overheating in the summer. These horses may need to be clipped, given additional shade, and in some cases even stalled with a fan. We’ll discuss some disease conditions in seniors that may predispose them to these sensitivities. 

Nutrition

As with all life stages, nutrition plays an important role in the health of your animal. Luckily, many companies, such as Purina, Nutrena, Triple Crown, and Seminole, among others, formulate complete feed products for senior animals. Complete feeds include chopped roughage, which is important for horses that can’t chew grass or hay well enough anymore. If your senior horse is unable to chew and digest ordinary feed properly, the senior feeds can be fed at higher rates to act as a complete diet for your horse. It’s important to read the quantity of feed recommended on these, as it’s much higher than non-complete feeds, and you can accidently starve your horse by under-feeding them on senior. Complete feeds are often needed with older horses because they may have worn out the life of their teeth. 

Dentistry

Horses are fairly unique with regards to their dentistry because they have hypsodont teeth. This means that their adult teeth gradually erupt throughout their life and get worn down as they age. This is why veterinarians “float” or file down the teeth in certain areas that can get sharp from this wearing-down process as they age. In their late 20’s and early 30’s the horse may completely erupt the end of some of their molars and this may limit their ability to chew and digest hay and forage properly. 

Some horses can also develop a condition that affects their incisors called Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH). It can be a painful condition that we can diagnose based on exam and dental radiographs, signifying the importance of continued yearly dental exams on our older horses. 

Disease Vulnerability

There are a few diseases that we monitor as a horse ages. Some of these diseases are more breed-specific than others. The major endocrine condition that we think of with older horses is Cushing’s Syndrome, also known as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID), which causes increased levels of a hormone called ACTH. Some of the clinical signs of Cushings often include loss of topline musculature, long, thick hairs sticking out of their coat (hirsutism) and chronic laminitis. 

Other conditions that can occur in older horses include Equine Asthma, previously known as Heaves, which is often triggered by allergens. Horses can present with coughing and increased respirations. There is also Uveitis, which is inflammation in the eye that can lead to blindness. A more well-known term for this condition is moon blindness. Finally, previous injuries or the impact of a previous athletic career can result in managing chronic lamenesses and long-term pain management. 

Some medications that can help manage these conditions include Equioxx or bute. Some injuries may need to be managed with joint injections, such as Arthramid or PRP-type products. In any case, having your veterinarian help create long-term strategies for pain management is essential in maintaining an older horse’s quality of life.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic 

Golden Golden Years

Overall, once our horses reach their senior years, they still require some extra love and attention that your equine veterinarian is happy to provide. The key takeaway from this information should be that age is not a disease, it is just a number! We are lucky to have many advances in equine veterinary medicine care that are allowing our horses to live longer than previously expected. With diligent care, we can make our horses’ senior years some of their best years. 

Ask my minions about the Senior Add-on to your Wellness Plan at your next visit! Our Senior Wellness add-on includes routine bloodwork, testing for Cushings (PPID), and foot x-rays. There’s no better way to make sure your Super Senior is monitored for early signs of little problems so they don’t become big problems. This wise cat is on the feline equivalent, which you can also ask about, as we have a wonderful small-animal veterinarian now. I highly recommend it. Tasty treats for us patients come with those blood draws!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to this blog yet, be a good human and scroll down to the big purple box. You can do it! There, that’s a good human. Just put your email address in there, and I’ll email you my blog every week. That way you don’t miss out on any of my cat wisdoms. You’re welcome.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. If you liked this blog, please subscribe below, and share it with your friends on social media! For more information, please call us at (352) 472-1620, visit our website at SpringhillEquine.com, or follow us on Facebook!

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