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Horse Behavior

Horse Behavior

Oct 9, 2017 | Behavior

Tuesdays with Tony

 In case you missed my fabulous See Tony event last week, I will generously give you a recap. Dr. Wickens did a wonderful job summarizing all things Behavior for you horse-crazy humans. Also, I learned that horses like banana flavor ?.

Biology: Horses are prey animals

Horses have a keen fight-or-flight instinct. That’s because they had to escape predators in order to survive, and only the ones that got away lived to reproduce! Everything from the position of horses eyes on their face to their tendency to fling their head in the air when anything comes toward them is all intended to enhance this fight-or-flight thing. Horse eyes are pretty weird if you ask me. Their pupils are the wrong shape and go the wrong direction. My pupils are vertically oriented, while horses pupils sit horizontal. Supposedly this allows them to scan the horizon while eating. I can see where that would be useful. Sometimes Teannie tries for the sneak attack while I’m eating and it would be nice to be able to see her! Speaking of which, those horizontal, bug eyes on the side of their head mean they can see nearly all the way around their body. Dr. Wickens also talked about the myth that horses can’t see color. Turns out they can see color, but it’s more like a red-green colorblind person sees color. I can attest to the extreme usefulness of ears that move. I don’t know how you humans survive without swiveling ears. Both horses and cats can move their ears to hear waaay better than humans. That’s why you think we freak out about nothing. It’s not nothing, you just can’t see or hear it! Dr. Wickens also talked about the importance of smell and touch to horses understanding of their environment. I will say cats and horses share the desire to get more information about something with all their senses. Dr. Wickens said horses will often change their body position to try to see better what they can hear, touch what they can see and hear, and taste what they touch. When that information conflicts or they don’t understand it they can go to flight status VERY quickly!!!

Science: Horses have brains

Anyone who has tried to teach a horse something will realize that they are thinkers. Like us, they learn by positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or negative punishment. Positive reinforcement is like giving a treat when your horse touches a jolly ball. Negative reinforcement is like taking your leg pressure off when your horse moves forward (the most common type of training used in horses). True positive punishment would be like hitting your horse with a crop continuously until he stops bucking. Negative punishment would be like taking away his dinner when he pins his ears at other horses. Each of these has a place in the training of horses (and I use them regularly to train humans). Dr. Wickens said reinforcement-based training is generally the most effective. Punishment-based training can easily be done incorrectly! She talked about the example of the bucking horse. Seems you humans often experience a scenario like this: your horse bucks, you give him a whack with a crop to let him know that was wrong, except you do this after the buck has happened, another buck occurs, and another whack happens afterwards. You end up punishing the wrong behavior! I learned I need to be very careful to reward or punish at the correct moment to teach the humans around here more effectively.

Training: Horses are smart

To help all of us see the proper way to do all this positive/negative stuff we moved on to my favorite part of Dr. Wickens’ presentation: she clicker-trained Dr. Lacher’s horse to touch a jolly ball! It was incredible how quickly Gigi learned to associate the click with a treat. Of course, it helps when you have an extremely food-motivated horse like Gigi! You can use clicker training, and target training (like with the jolly ball) to teach your horse to do (or not do) just about anything. Dr. Wickens showed us versions of these training principles that got horses to accept clippers, needles, and stop bad behaviors. Want to see more of the amazing Dr. Wickens? Watch the Facebook Live of this fantastic seminar!!
Until next week,
~Tony

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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The Ideal Hoof

The Ideal Hoof

Oct 2, 2017 | Farriers, Feet, Hoof, Hoof Care, Shoeing

Tuesdays with Tony

I’m going to revive a classic Tuesdays with Tony here: The April 2015 Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Your Horse’s Feet. I’ll post a link to this at the bottom, don’t worry! I hear the Docs talking about feet a lot so it must be important. My understanding is that the ideal horse hoof shape is simple to understand, but not easy to achieve.

Who thought that was a good idea??

Equine Leg Anatomy from Springhill Equine hoof care seminarYou humans have a thing you do with your middle finger. Horses one-up you: they walk on theirs!  That’s right. The coffin bone is the tip of your middle finger. Feel the bones moving down your finger, back toward your hand, and you have the equivalent of the short pastern, long pastern, and cannon bone.  You’ve got a navicular bone too, but only in your thumb. This whole ‘walking on one finger’ thing is why horses have so many lower leg problems.

What’s a foot supposed to look like?

Walking on one finger means the hoof has to be balanced just right. If it isn’t, too much pressure gets put on one part of the anatomy. Excess pressure leads to badness. Here’s where ‘simple, but not easy’ comes in. On a freshly trimmed hoof (that’s important and I’ll tell you why in a minute), a line drawn at the widest part of the hoof should have 50% of the hoof in front of it, and 50% behind it.  A line drawn down the center of the hoof from toe to heel should have 50% of the hoof on the inside, and 50% on the outside. In the pictures I’m using as an example here, one half of the foot is trimmed, and the other half isn’t. That will help you see the differences.  

proper trim sole demo at equine hoof care seminarproper trim sole long equine hoof care seminarNow why did I say in a freshly trimmed foot? Take a look at where the heel is located on this hoof. It’s nearly ¾” farther forward on the untrimmed side, when compared to the trimmed side. That’s not because the farrier did it wrong 5 weeks ago, that’s because the foot grew forward. It’s what they do.

heel bulb demo at equine hoof care seminarAfter assessing the bottom of the hoof, pick up the leg. Put your hand underneath the end of the cannon bone, and let the hoof hang. Notice there are no human hands in this picture. That’s they way it’s supposed to be! When you hang the hoof like this, a line drawn down the center of the pastern and heels should be perpendicular to the bottom of the hoof.

My horse’s hoof looks nothing like this

There’s two reasons your horse’s foot doesn’t look this:

1. Conformation.

2. The Farrier.

Number 1 is WAY, WAY, WAY more common that number 2!

Crooked-legged horses end up with crooked feet. Your farrier’s job is to try to compensate for what Mother Nature did a less-than-ideal job of creating. For instance, if there’s more foot on the outside, your farrier will more aggressively trim and rasp this area to keep the foot from getting too off-kilter. However, sometimes the foot is too far off or the pressures of the job are too great. This is where shoes become necessary. A shoe will help your farrier compensate by preventing excess wear on parts of the foot, and allowing for support on other areas. Think that’s easy? There are approximately 1.3 million types of shoes (this may be an exaggeration) for horses. That alone tells me it ain’t easy!!

Got foot questions? Send in pictures of the bottom of your horse’s foot, a picture from the front, and one from the side taken at ground level, and my smart Docs will tell you what they see. To expedite the process, please include 1 bag of Temptations Savory Salmon cat treats with written instructions for the whole bag to be given to me (my minions think it’s appropriate to give me two or three treats at a time, which is ridiculous). You can also come and deliver them in person (and ask questions) at our Behavior Seminar this Thursday! I’m hosting the seminar here at the Clinic, so make sure you come scratch my ears. Oh, and learn about horse behavior, that too. That’s Thursday, October 5th at 6:30pm, right here at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry. Just look for the big black cat!

Links to original posts:

Part 1: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Your Horse’s Feet

Part 2: Everything You Need to Know About Your Horses Feet

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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Hot, Hairy Horses

Hot, Hairy Horses

Sep 25, 2017 | Cushings, Heat, PPID, Seniors

Tuesdays with Tony

Why is my horse growing his winter coat already??

Horses are weird. I say that a lot, because it’s true. I was checking out a horse that was hanging out at the Clinic with Teannie and I over the weekend, and noticed he was growing his winter coat. I’m thinking, “It’s not even close to winter, what are you thinking????” Okay, I may not have thought that, I may have said it out loud. And where do I go with my questions? To my Docs…Dr. Vurgason was the first one I saw so I asked her, “What is that horse thinking getting a winter coat when it’s 90 degrees out?” And here’s her answer:

Horses like cold weather

To be more accurate, they evolved in areas where it got really cold. We get a skewed view of seasons here in Florida, but in other parts of the world, it isn’t 90 degrees for 8 months out of the year. Dr. Vurgason informed me that this morning it was 30 degrees in Stowe, Vermont. I informed her I don’t want to live wherever that is, but I did concede that a horse might need a winter coat by now if he lived there. Dr. Vurgason told me there are some breed differences, as well. For instance, Thoroughbreds, in general, don’t grow as much hair as, say, a Percheron.

Sometimes hair isn’t just hair

But, (and with the humans there’s always a but) sometimes horses aren’t just preparing for winter. Dr. Vurgason told me one of the early signs of Cushing’s (also called PPID because humans also like initials) was growing a winter coat earlier or heavier than normal. She told me this is because the pituitary gland, which is the main problem-child in Cushing’s disease, is in charge of knowing if it’s Winter or Summer, and it gets confused. So if your horse is growing way more coat, or growing it earlier than last year, you better contact my minions and get them checked! The test is a simple blood draw, no need to study or purchase Cliff notes or anything like that.

You’re going to need to cut that hair

Due to the aforementioned lack of actual Winter in Florida, you may need to cut that newly grown winter coat off. Horse hair is an amazing insulator, so when it’s 85 degrees on Christmas Day and you want to go ride, you may find your furry horse is a less than willing partner. Never fear, this doesn’t mean you have to go spend $1000 in horse blankets. You can do what I refer to as the “crazy horse people haircuts.” I have heard other people call them bib or trace clips. I still think they look funny. However, they do let your horse sweat and release heat in all the important places, while giving them protection from our “cold” weather. And if you get inspired to add some zest and style to your clip job, take a picture and put it on our Facebook page!

Now go out and inspect that hair coat. Got questions? Let my minions know! Until next week

Tony

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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Summer Sores

Summer Sores

Sep 19, 2017 | Summer Sores

Tuesdays with Tony

It’s a wound, it’s a tumor, no wait…it’s a summer sore! The docs have been reporting a lot of these ugly things recently. Maybe it’s the weather we’ve been having. Maybe it’s just the fact that we are lucky enough to live in glorious Florida!! Whatever the reason, summer sores have been popping up left and right, so here I am to tell you what to do about them.

 

Summer sores are gross

 

I hope you’re not eating, because this is pretty gnarly. Summer sores happen when larvae from the stomach worm Habronema are deposited in a wound or mucous membrane. Yuck! The larvae cause a severe inflammatory reaction in the skin, which creates the red, thickened, oozing granulation tissue we so fondly recognize as a summer sore. They commonly occur on the legs, in the inner corners of the eyes, on the sheath, or in the corners of the mouth. I’ve never had one myself, but they don’t look like much fun.

 

“Summer sores” are not always summer sores

 

If you suspect your horse has a summer sore, the first thing you should do is definitely call Springhill Equine. There are certain more severe skin conditions (sarcoids, pythium, squamous cell carcinoma) that can masquerade as summer sores, so a proper diagnosis by one of our docs is important. The treatment for these skin conditions is not the same across the board, and treating them like you would a summer sore could actually make them worse.

 

How to kick a summer sore’s butt

 

First, deworm your horse with oral Ivermectin, if you haven’t already. This will not only kill any stomach worms in his belly, but also any larvae living in the wound on his skin. Then, put some antibiotic ointment with steroid on it. The steroid will help with that excessive inflammatory response to the larvae, and the antibiotic will prevent the wound from becoming infected. Finally, cover the area with something loose that will keep flies off. On the face, a long-nose fly mask works best. On the legs, Sox for Horses are great. In aggressive cases, one of the docs may have to surgically remove and/or inject the summer sore to get it to go away. Also, winter helps (providing we actually get a winter this year).

I doubt you will have any questions, because I am pretty much perfect when it comes to explaining things. But if you do, you can always give me a call or a visit here at the clinic, and I will direct you to one of our three amazing docs in exchange for some scratches right there behind my ear.

Until next time,
      -Tony

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!

Tuesdays with Tony – Ulcers

Tuesdays with Tony – Ulcers

Sep 5, 2017 | Ulcers, Uncategorized

  I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we have a pretty exciting event coming up this Thursday, September 7th at 6:30pm! Our very own Dr. Lacher will be telling the world everything they ever wanted to know about stomach ulcers in horses! I’m more than a little ticked off that this event will be held at Canterbury Showplace on Newberry Road, rather than the Clinic, because it means I can’t stalk the attendees for attention, and solicit treats from them that exacerbate my diabetes. It’s a free seminar, as always, so bring a friend!

Why do horses get stomach ulcers?

   No one, not even the omniscient Tony, knows quite what causes ulcers to develop in one horse compared to another. But, with a quick glimpse of their brilliant anatomy *sarcasm* you can understand why horses are so prone to this painful condition, also called EGUS (Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome). You see, horses, like most other animals, use acid to help digest the food in their stomachs. Logically, most of their stomach is coated with an acid-resistant lining. However, the top 1/3 of their stomach lining is uncoated, and when acid splashes on it, *surprise* they get ulcers.

When should I treat my horse for ulcers?

 Some signs of stomach ulcers in horses are obvious, while others are more subtle. When Dr. V’s horse bucked her off because she tightened his girth… that was a pretty obvious sign. But as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you can anticipate stress-inducing events for your horse, it is much easier and less expensive to prevent your horse from developing ulcers in the first place, than to treat them once they are already established.

    For example, Dr. Lacher’s horse just underwent major surgery, and will be on stall rest for an extended period of time. Dr. Lacher has her horse on Gastrotech and Ranitidine to protect him from developing ulcers. Our amazing office assistant, Mallie, has a mare who just weaned a foal and moved to a new farm. Mallie has her on Ulcergard to prevent stress-induced ulcers.

We know that exercise, illness or injury, hauling anywhere, and change in routine are all events that have been linked to ulcers in horses. In general, it is best to treat your horse for ulcers BEFORE you think he has them.

What should I treat my horse’s ulcers with?

    You have probably heard of Gastrogard and Ulcergard (which incidentally are exactly the same product, just marketed differently), but there are a myriad of other ulcer treatments out there. One of the most promising areas of recent ulcer research is in feed and supplements that prevent ulcers by raising stomach pH. Legends Gastrotech and Purina Outlast would be examples of these. Remember from high school chemistry, low pH=acid, high pH=base. In lay-cat’s terms, that means any feed, supplement, or medication that raises stomach pH is going to inhibit ulcers.

How can I learn more about ulcers in horses?

  I’m so glad you asked! Simply come to my event this Thursday, Sept. 7th at 6:30 pm; don’t forget it’s at Canterbury Showplace. I can personally guarantee that every question about equine gastric ulcers will be answered in great detail. I wish I could say I will see you there, but I’ll be stuck holding down the fort at the Clinic with Teanie. Now then, if you’ll excuse me, it’s nap time.

Springhill Equine ulcers