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Horse Boots: Fashionable Equine Leg Wear

Horse Boots: Fashionable Equine Leg Wear

Oct 29, 2018 | Boots, Leg issues

Tuesdays with Tony

Horse Boots

It’s Fall Fashion season. Before you ask, yes, I keep my paw on the pulse of the fashion world. Okay, mostly I watch the models to get new judgey, slightly disdainful, you humans are beneath me looks. Can’t beat the runways for that! A funny thing caught my eye while I was watching:

This got me thinking about boots. The kind for horses, not fashion models. And so, down the rabbit hole of horse boots investigation I went.

Support, but not too much support

Ask any woman, and they will tell you: there is such a thing as too much support. What about boots, though? Number one thing I hear around the Clinic about boots is “Which ones give the most support?” The answer is: it’s complicated. First, what structures do you want to support? In horse boot land, that normally translates to minimizing the drop of the fetlock when the horse is landing on that foot. I hit PubMed looking for scientific articles about this. I’ll save you time by letting you know there aren’t a lot of them. However, the ones that do exist have looked at products like the Professional’s Choice Sports Medicine Boot (SMB). They did find that boots like these reduced fetlock drop at the trot on horses on treadmills. Where the data is lacking is at the lope, and in big maneuvers like jumping, piaffe, sliding or spinning, and the complicated things a horse does to turn a barrel. The authors of all the papers also discuss that reduction of fetlock drop may transfer forces from the tendons and ligaments to areas higher up like the shoulder, SI, back, and neck. All the papers also agree that polo wraps don’t do much of anything. However, this cat feels polos are the go-to for fashion, and sometimes that’s pretty darn important.

Whack a leg

Like Whack-a-mole, but instead of great prizes like a giant stuffed bear, you get a vet bill instead. A much less fun game. Lots of boots work for this! From the expensive Kevlar ones, to the plastic lined with neoprene ones, to the SMB type boots, they all offer decent protection from whacks. This is a super important task for boots!!! I don’t know if you guys have ever watched a horse’s legs while they’re doing some of the crazy stuff you do, but holy cow, I don’t know how they don’t tangle up in a knot of legs and go down every time! This means that unless you’re moseying, or showing in an event where leg attire is not allowed, it’s probably a good idea to at least have boots on the front legs. This video https://youtu.be/WHlqZ6VZvKE has an excellent illustration about why at approximately the 18:30 minute mark. If you have a weak stomach, don’t watch it, but it is a great video about how truly amazing horses are!

Like a Sauna

An often overlooked problem of boot application to the lower leg is heat. It’s summer in Florida. It’s 100 degrees, and the humidity is 98%. Now, put a boot on your horse, and go exercise. Imagine the temperatures in there! Boot manufacturers know about this problem, and have updated many of the designs to help get some air in there. However, no matter what, there will be more heat under a boot than if the leg is naked. Something to think about when selecting your horse’s fashion accessories. Also something to think about when shipping. Those shipping boots that model is wearing can get mighty toasty. Standing wraps and quilts can too! I’m not saying don’t use them, I’m saying think about if they are needed before using them. Free tip from this wise cat: check out Sox for Horses. They offer all the support, and don’t heat the leg up, AND they fight skin funk! I love these things. And, no, they don’t give me catnip to say that. In fact, they don’t give me anything.

Rehab boots

There is one case where fetlock support may be a good thing, and that’s rehab of tendons or ligaments like the suspensory or deep digital flexor tendon. The scientists aren’t 100% on this, but they feel like having a horse wear SMB-type boots may help in the early stages of rehab. There’s even a brand of boot out there just for rehab that supports the fetlock even more than SMBs. It doesn’t work for everyday, but may help horses just starting walk and trot work. I can’t overemphasize this enough: talk to one of my wise Docs about this before jumping in with both feet. There’s a process!

I learned a lot in that rabbit hole. Turns out boots were made for more than walking. Now be a good human: scroll down and hit subscribe to get my weekly words of wisdom delivered straight to your Inbox.

Until next week,

Tony

P.S. Want more horse info? Check out the podcast the humans do called Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. It’s loaded with way more information than I can type (without interrupting my nap schedule, which is very important). 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

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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Preventing Colic

Preventing Colic

Oct 22, 2018 | Colic

Tuesdays with Tony

Preventing Colic during Colic Season

As a cat, there is nothing I love more than sunbathing. The mid 90 degree temperatures of Fall in Florida have been less than ideal for this pastime. However, I am assured cooler temps will arrive one day, and my sunbathing can return to its normal schedule. What has arrived on schedule is decreasing daylight. With shorter days comes slower-growing grass, and with less grass comes hay season. Oh goody. Around the clinic we also call this Colic Season. Being the generous cat I am, I’m going to teach you how NOT to be a part of Colic Season.

 

Step 1: Go Slow

 

This is not something you humans are very good at. You are all about the ‘go big or go home’. When you start feeding hay (or even just feeding more hay), patience is key. It’s rather like my sunbathing. You must be patient! If your horse has only been eating pasture, begin by adding 5-7 pounds of hay per feeding. Coastal hay especially should be started slowly. Throwing a bunch of hay at a GI tract that’s been used to green grass is a recipe for an unscheduled visit from my Docs. Add an additional 2-3 pounds of hay every 4-5 days until your horse is leaving some hay behind. Absolutely DO NOT put a roll of coastal hay out until your horse is walking away without finishing their hay.

 

Step 2: Add some legumes

 

That would be alfalfa and peanut hay around these parts. These hays are salty, which helps remind your horse to drink. They also have a laxative effect on the GI tract. Both hays bring water into the gut, which helps prevent impactions. Small amounts of these hays does wonders, which is good because both are pretty high in calories. Four to five pounds per day can dramatically reduce the colic risk. As a cat who struggles with his weight, I understand keeping calories down, but a little bit of legume goes a long way!

 

Step 3: Get water into horse

 

The. Hardest. Thing. Ever. That saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,” is the truest thing ever spoken by a human. Luckily humans are (sometimes) smarter than horses. My humans have found that you can feed a horse soup, and get them to eat it, thus making them drink, and they don’t even know it!! Especially when weather changes, but also when it’s a new shipment of hay, or you put a new hay roll out, it’s so unbelievably important to get those dang horses to drink. Get your horse used to eating soaked feed now. That way when it goes from 85 to 35 and back again in 12 hours, you can feed soupy food and know your horse got lots to drink whether they wanted to or not.

 

Other stuff to avoid colic

 

We usually talk about electrolytes in the summer to help replenish all the things in sweat, but in winter, electrolytes work great to help stimulate thirst on a cold day. Florida horses are really bad at drinking on those 2 or 3 truly cold days.

Beet pulp is also great at getting water into horses. However, don’t go starting beet pulp on a cold day because it seemed like a good idea that day. Beet pulp gets fermented in the large colon and make a lot of gas. If you want to use beet pulp in the winter, refer back to Step 1: start slow. It’s also important to remember you can add water to any feed, and you can even soak hay. All sneaky ways to get horses to drink!

We all agree cooler weather is amazing. With a few simple steps, you can also keep those beautiful Fall days colic free! Here’s another simple step: scroll down a little more, and subscribe to this blog. That way it will show up in your email!

Want more knowledge about colic? Take the deep dive with Dr. Lacher on our podcast, Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. Episode 2 is loaded with everything you could want to know about colic. You can listen right from our website on your phone or computer, or you can subscribe anywhere you download podcasts.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

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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Vaccines: It Really Is Life and Death

Vaccines: It Really Is Life and Death

Oct 15, 2018 | EEE Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Rabies, Tetanus, Vaccines

Tuesdays with Tony

Vaccines

I know this has been said before, but apparently some of you still need reminding: Vaccinate your horses. Every 6 months. By a veterinarian- not something you picked up at the feed store. Don’t skip Rabies, or West Nile, because you’ve owned a lot of horses and you’ve never had one get those diseases. Please humans, for the love! Bonus tip: if your horse has been vaccinated by a veterinarian within the appropriate time period and does contract the disease he was vaccinated against, the vaccine company will probably pay for your treatment costs. Of course, this would be an extremely unlikely scenario, because these vaccines are so incredibly effective. This whole anti-vaccine movement makes me so mad, I could pee outside my litter box!
    Many of these life-threatening diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes. Now, there are 2 ways to protect your horse from such diseases:
    1. Keep your horse indoors in a fully enclosed, air-conditioned, mosquito-free environment 24/7.
    2. Vaccinate.

Seeing as most horses live outside, horse owners usually choose the latter. That’s not to say you can’t work on mosquito control at your farm. Eliminating standing water, installing fans, and fly spray systems are all great ways to cut down on the number of mosquitoes in your barn. But you are never going to be able to prevent your horse from ever being bitten by a single mosquito; and it only takes one bite. Let’s take a closer look at these diseases, to remind us why it’s well worth a few bucks twice a year to protect horses against them.

 

West Nile Virus

    West Nile Virus is transmitted by a bite from an infected mosquito. The early signs of West Nile are subtle. Your horse may have muscle fasciculations, or twitches, of his face, ears, and neck. He may go off his feed. He may have a fever and act lethargic. You may also notice that he is hyper-reactive to sound, touch, or light. Within a few days, most horses will progress to stumbling, falling down, and being unable to stand. They may go blind. They are often distressed because they want to get up, but their legs are too uncoordinated for them to do so. The rule of thumb with West Nile virus is that once a horse is recumbent, or down, they never get back up. If the horse is not euthanized at this point, his signs will progress to seizures or coma, followed by death.
    Now, on to the treatment for West Nile: oh yeah, there isn’t one. All vets can do is supportive care in the form of IV fluids, anti-inflammatories, nutrition, and slinging the horse to keep it standing. If caught early enough and kept standing, eating, and drinking, about 30% of these horses will survive, but many of them will have lasting neurologic deficits.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis

   This is another mosquito-transmitted disease for which there is no treatment. Some fun facts about Eastern Encephalitis: far and away the most cases of this disease are seen right here in Florida. In fact, we  Floridians have already had 18 cases this year! The EEE vaccine only lasts for 6 months max, so you HAVE to be getting your horses boostered twice a year for this one. Another fun fact: Eastern Encephalitis is almost 90% fatal. This means that no matter how early the signs are noticed, nor how soon supportive care is initiated, the horse is most likely not going to survive longer than 5 days.
    Early signs of Eastern Encephalitis include fever, depression, and going off feed. The condition usually deteriorates rapidly to stumbling, circling, head-pressing, and sometimes blindness. EEE is also called “sleeping sickness,” so named because of the characteristic stance horses tend to adopt during the later stages of the disease. These horses hang their heads low between their legs, often with their tongue sticking out and their eyes nearly swollen shut. From there, many horses become recumbent (there’s our new vocabulary word for the day again), and begin to have seizures or go into a coma. At that point, a decision must be made to euthanize the horse.

Rabies

   When people think of Rabies, they often think of that dog (ugh, dogs) in Old Yeller. He had one form of Rabies, called the “furious” form. But there is another presentation of Rabies called the “stuporous” form that many owners don’t know about. It is also important to note that an aggressive, lunging, biting, foaming at the mouth horse would be in the late stages of this disease. Earlier, more subtle signs include dysphagia, or difficulty eating, and difficulty drinking or water aversion. The horse may also exhibit neurologic signs such as incoordination, stumbling, circling, and an altered mental status. In the stuporous form of Rabies, these horses will become unresponsive to their environment. With the furious form, horses can become hyper-reactive and even aggressive.
   The single most important thing for you to know about Rabies is that it is contagious to humans, and it is nearly 100% fatal. The Rabies virus is passed through the saliva of an infected animal. This means that even without sustaining a bite, you can get Rabies from an affected horse or other animal just by coming into contact with secretions from their mouth, eyes, or nose. Vaccinating your horses against Rabies is really a no-brainer. Horses live outside amongst several wildlife species that can carry Rabies, such as skunks, bats, foxes, and raccoons. Moreover, by vaccinating your horse against Rabies, you are really protecting yourself and your own family from exposure.

Tetanus

    Tetanus is a recommended core vaccine for horses because most horses have 4 feet in contact with dirt most of the time. Seeing as Tetanus is a bacteria that lives in the soil (definitely all over Florida), horses have an especially high risk for this disease. The Tetanus bacteria can infect a horse through even the tiniest wound. It is a myth that it takes a puncture from a metal object such as a nail to seed tetanus into a wound; any cut or break in the skin or hoof can create an opportunity for tetanus bacteria to enter.
    Tetanus also has a very high mortality rate when tetanus antitoxin is not administered rapidly. The first sign of tetanus is stiffening of the muscles, often first noted in the jaw, which is why this disease is also termed “lock jaw.” From there, all of the horse’s muscles will begin to contract and will be unable to relax. This results in the “sawhorse stance” typical of tetanus infection. Another common sign of tetanus is third eyelid elevation, which means the pink flap at the inner corner of the horse’s eyes becomes prominent. Over a period of only a few days, horses will go down and be unable to stand. Once the muscles of breathing are affected, the horse inevitably dies.

Western Equine Encephalitis

    If we lived on the West coast I would tell you about Western Equine Encephalitis as well, but thankfully we don’t see that disease round these parts. Suffice it to say, this disease is also spread by mosquitoes, and it causes signs very similar to Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
   You may notice a few themes with these diseases:
    1. They all have a high fatality rate. (That’s why we are so hyper about keeping your horses from getting them.)
     2. They are all easily transmitted to horses, either through the bite of a mosquito or other animal, or through the soil.
    3. They all exhibit some pretty horrible signs that you would never want to witness in your horse.
    4.  They are all easily preventable through vaccines.
   We are fortunate that we have vaccines which are extremely safe and effective against all of these core diseases in horses. Now, it is your job as a responsible horse owner to use your noggin and get your horse vaccinated!
   Ok, I’ll get off my cat-box now.
   Until next week,
        -Tony
P.S. Why don’t you check out the Podcast page while you’re here? After you scroll down a bit more and subscribe to this amazing blog, of course. It’s right below my handsome photo in the purple box.

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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Inside Open House 2018

Inside Open House 2018

Sep 24, 2018 | Events

Tuesdays with Tony

Dear followers, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of useful horse care tips to bring you: The Top 10 reasons you should come to my 12th Annual Open House this weekend! Remember, it’s on Saturday, September 29th from 10 am-2 pm at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic, and there will be BBQ from Top Hog in Newberry. Have you tried their BBQ yet? It’s to die for! Bring the whole family for a day of horses and fun. What could be better?!

 

#10: The Movie Theme

That’s right: this year’s Open House is entirely themed after your favorite movies! While munching popcorn, follow the full-sized motion picture posters to visit each blockbuster-themed station and learn something new about caring for your horse. Just like going to the movies, all you need to do is show up. From there just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. I’m not giving away any of the movies we chose- you’ll have to come find out for yourself. The suspense is killing me!

 

#9: The Vendors

We are expecting more vendors than ever this year! Local businesses from feed stores to clothing lines will be there for your convenience. Looking for a new farrier or massage therapist? Are you new to horses and looking for somewhere to take lessons? Look no further than Springhill Equine’s Open House. Learn what is available nearby, catch a great deal, and maybe even snatch up some free swag!

#8: The Door Prizes

While we will have over 100 bags of stuff to give out, they will be distributed on a First Come First Served basis! The first bags will contain the most awesome swag, and so on down the line. In addition to grab bags for the first 100 visitors, we will be raffling off larger prize baskets throughout the day. I have seen these prizes and I’m pretty tempted to lay on them and cover them in cat hair to claim them as my own so they can’t be given away this weekend. But I will refrain, for you. Anyway, this is an opportunity to go home with some seriously cool stuff!

 

#7: The Skin Funk station

Every horse owner deals with skin funk sooner or later. Whether your horse has itchy ears or rain rot, rubs his tail, or cakes his pasterns in mud, we have a solution for you. Our wonderful vet tech Nancy will be womanning the skin funk station this year. She has seen it all when it comes to equine skin issues, and she has tried and tested practically every product out there. Let Nancy share her knowledge and help you choose the right treatment for your horse the first time. Believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble!

 

#6: The Clicker Training station

Do you know how to clicker train your horse? Well, now is your chance to learn! Our fantastic vet tech Monique will be teaching this useful trick, which can be applied to a variety of situations. Look out for a live horse demonstration at this station! Some of the most common applications of clicker training we use here at the clinic include getting your horse to tolerate shots, loading on a trailer, putting on a fly mask, standing still during an undesirable procedure, etc. Clicker training is a valuable tool to have in your equestrian toolbox. Let us show you the way!

 

#5: The Dentistry station

Did you ever wonder why horses need a dental every year? Do you want to see some of the worst teeth we’ve ever encountered? Let our awesome vet tech Rachel take you through the wonderland of equine dentistry. This is a hands-on station where touching and feeling dental instruments and equipment is strongly encouraged! Keep small children close by though…this station has some serious bite!

 

#4: The Nutrition station

Dr. Vurgason joins the helpful folks from Nutrena at this station to bring you everything you ever wanted to know about equine nutrition. Super senior horse? Easy keeper? Metabolic issue? We will make a feed plan to fit your horse’s specific needs! Come to this station armed with questions, and expect to leave with all the answers. In addition to grain, feel free to pick Dr. Vurgason’s brain regarding supplements and forages as well. She owns everything from an old hard-keeper picky-eater off-the-track Thoroughbred to a fat laminitic insulin-resistant donkey. Nutrition can be complicated; visit this station and let Dr. Vurgason simplify your life!

 

#3: The Lameness station

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Never is this more evident than in the complex world of equine lameness. Come learn from Dr. Lacher what you can start doing today to avoid ending up with a lame horse in the future. Follow the story of a lameness workup to see how our docs arrive at their diagnosis. This is also a great opportunity to pick Dr. Lacher’s brain about lameness treatment options from joint injections to shoes to supplements to alternative therapies. Hint: some work, others are a waste of your hard-earned money. This station is definitely going to be worth your while!

 

#2: The chance to win a Wellness Package!

You heard right. Each person who attends Open House and visits each station will be entered to win a 2019 Wellness Package for one horse. That is over a $400 value you guys! The package includes 2 visits a year with wellness exams, all core vaccines (Encephalitis, Tetanus, West Nile, & Rabies), a Coggins, a dental float (sedation included), 2 fecal egg counts, and NO emergency fees for the entire year. Make sure to pick up a card when you check in, fill it out with your info, then get a sticker at each station as you go, and turn your card in at the end to be entered to win. You could be this year’s lucky winner- so don’t miss your chance!

 

#1: Me

Obviously the top reason to attend Open House this year: I will be there. Duh! And I will be available to receive your affections. See you then!

 

-The Magnificent, One and Only Tony, the Official Clinic Cat of Springhill Equine

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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Keeping Super Seniors Super

Keeping Super Seniors Super

Sep 17, 2018 | Cancer, Seniors

Tuesdays with Tony

Keeping Super Seniors Super

 

A very cool thing happened this week: a horse on our Senior Wellness Program was diagnosed with cancer. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Before you get mad at the cat for being insensitive about life (which I am), give a guy a moment to explain why this is cool. This horse’s cancer got found super early, because she is in the Wellness Program. This means my Docs are able to start her on medications early, giving her a significantly better quality of life. And quality of life is the most important thing you can give us critters.

 

The Bloodwork

 

On our Senior Wellness Program my Docs pull blood twice yearly. At one of those checks, they are looking for PPID (Cushings), and insulin resistance. PPID really takes a toll on horses. It makes it tough for them to cool off in the summer, and keep warm in the winter. It makes them susceptible to infections. It can cause laminitis. It’s just an awful disease. Luckily there is a treatment, and the earlier the disease is identified, the easier the symptoms are to get under control. Insulin resistance almost always leads to PPID, and is a major cause of laminitis. The good news is insulin resistance can be well-controlled with diet and exercise! At the other bloodwork check, a Complete Blood Count (CBC) and Chemistry panel are pulled. A CBC checks all the types of cells in the blood. The two big categories are red blood cells and white blood cells. Chemistry panels check the function of the major organs like liver and kidneys. I’ll drop some wisdom on you about chemistry panels in a future episode. Today we’ll stick to CBCs.

 

Oxygen is good

 

Let’s talk about the red ones first. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. It is fairly common to find low red blood cell numbers in older horses. When that happens, my Docs start with an evaluation of the diet. Older horses have a harder time getting all those key nutrients from their food, so a high quality diet is very important! If the diet is good, the Docs start looking for evidence of inflammation.

 

The Fighters

 

That brings us to the white blood cells. There are three main types of white blood cells: neutrophils, lymphocytes, and eosinophils. There are a few others added in there, but these are the biggies. In a huge oversimplification of things, they work as follows: neutrophils handle bacteria, lymphocytes handle viruses, and eosinophils are in charge of allergies. So if the red blood cell count was low, and there were a lot of neutrophils, my Docs would start looking for an infection. This hunt generally starts with an ultrasound of the abdomen and chest.

 

Back to the cancer

 

I know, I know, what about my opener? You thought this blog was going to be about cancer. Finally, I have arrived at the cancer, you inpatient human. This past week my Docs pulled a CBC and Chemistry panel as part of a routine visit for a horse on our Senior Wellness Plan. The blood work came back with a really high lymphocyte number. Since you have been paying attention to this blog, you think, “Ah, virus!” Good job, you have been listening! However, in this case the number was way, way too high to be a virus. Lymphocyte numbers this high mean lymphoma, and in older horses that’s usually in the intestinal tract.

 

What’s next?

 

Next up for this horse will be an ultrasound of her abdomen to see how thick her intestines are. The Docs will also ultrasound, and maybe even x-ray her chest to see if there has been any spread. From there, they will work to come up with a treatment plan that will help this lovely horse live the rest of her days as happy as she can possibly be. This means working to reduce inflammation, and keep her eating. How much time are we talking? Probably about 6-8 months. However, those can be some pretty good months!

 

Senior horses hold a very, very special place at Springhill Equine. My Docs own Super Seniors themselves, and know the joy that comes from keeping them happy and healthy as long as possible. My Docs also know that quality of life is way, way more important than quantity. When issues like this horse’s lymphoma come up, they work very hard to come up with the best right answer for this horse and her owner. I admire that. It makes me feel a tiny bit of remorse at the harsh looks of disapproval I give my humans from time to time. Never fear, since I’m a cat, I get over that feeling quickly.

Before you go over to the Wellness page on my website, scroll down and subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss one. It’s the big purple box below, you can’t miss it.

Looking for more info on Super Senior horses? Make sure you check out Episode 11 of our podcast, Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. It’s a half hour of amazing discussion about older horses. Even I, a sleepy cat, was awake and riveted through the whole thing.

One last thing: Our 13th Annual Open House is coming up on September 29th. I heard that there will be a LOT of free give aways, to include a ton of hay, and a Grand Prize of getting your picture taken me, the Amazing Tony. That should be the grand prize, anyway. Check out the Event Page for all the details.

Until next week,

Tony

 

Large animal veterinarian Levy, Gilchrist

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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!

The Ears Have It

The Ears Have It

Sep 10, 2018 | Allergies, Ears, Itchy Horses

Tuesdays with Tony

The Ears Have It 

 

First things first: please don’t forget that my biggest Meet Tony Event of the year- Open House- is coming up in just a few short weeks! Mark your calendars for Springhill Equine’s 12th Annual Open House on Saturday, September 29th from 10 am – 2 pm. This year you will visit booths themed after favorite movies, enjoy delicious BBQ, and explore what our local vendors have to offer, while getting entered to win a free Wellness Package for one of your horses! I’ll plan on seeing you all there.

Do you ever feel like your week has a theme? For example, you and two of your friends all get a flat tire, or you see a snake in your backyard then the next day you see one on your way in to work, or you hit 2 squirrels with your car within the span of a few days? Well, this week’s theme was definitely ears. We have seen itchy ears, swollen ears, abscessed ears, allergic ears, hyper-sensitive ears, and even an ear with a tick in it! So, I quizzed the docs on the common ear problems horses get, and how to recognize and treat them. Do you know what to do if your horse’s ears are driving him nuts?

 

My horse won’t let me touch his ear

So first, a few questions. Does your horse normally let you touch his ear? Because most horses generally don’t love it. Is it just one ear, or both ears? Both ears make it more likely to be an itchy, allergic, hypersensitivity condition. One ear makes us think of trauma such as a laceration or bruise, or perhaps a tick inside the ear. Side note: the docs tell me that in vet school they teach you that ear ticks are a super-common thing that you will encounter all the time…but in real life they are extremely rare. However, if your horse develops a sudden extreme hypersensitivity in one ear with no other symptoms, an ear tick is definitely on the rule-out list.

If your horse’s ears are irritated in any way, you’re probably darn right that he won’t let you touch them…they hurt! Spoiler alert: it’s going to require a good amount of sedation, a step stool, and a fancy light called an otoscope to get a good look in there. Read as: Call your vet.

 

But doc, this just happened today!

Far and away the most common ear problem our docs encounter is chronic, thickened, irritated ears secondary to a gnat allergy called “Culicoides hypersensitivity.” Often the vet doesn’t get called until the horse itches his ear so badly that he cuts it on something, and the owner finally takes note when blood and/or pus are streaming out of the ear. Without fail, they claim this “just happened” and the ears were normal a few days ago. While the wound may be new, the underlying condition that led the horse to be so uncomfortable that he self-traumatized his ear has taken months, or even years, to develop.

Springhill Equine Veterinary ClinicCulicoides (kyōō′lĭ-koi′dēz′) is a species of gnat very common here in Florida. Many horses are actually allergic to the saliva of this gnat, so every bite by one of these annoying little devils sends the poor horse into an itching frenzy. The early signs of this gnat allergy include frequent scratching and hair loss in the ears, mane, base of tail, and chest. Over time the skin in these places will become thickened, there will be multiple open bite wounds, the hair will be completely gone, and the horse will constantly be scratching on anything and everything he can find. Horses with chronic Culicoides hypersensitivity will often develop a “cauliflower ear” appearance over a period of years. Once this happens, the ears will never return to their original shape.

What can I do for my horse’s poor ears?

It is best and most successful when owners treat horses with gnat allergies early and often. Look closely at your horse’s ears. Is the hair thinning inside and around the edge of the ear? Are there tiny bug bites inside? Do you see any scabs or blood? Is the skin normal, or is it becoming thickened?

At this early stage, you should be able to get the problem under control with just some topical medication and fly gear. We always recommend a fly mask with ears for these horses; fly sheets, neck pieces, leg covers, etc. can be added at your discretion. The topical medication that works best for this condition is Equishield IBH (that stands for Insect Bite Hypersensitivity). It comes as a salve or a spray, depending on your preference. We find that the IBH salve works great for ears, but the IBH spray is awesome when you need to treat a larger area.

itchy horses Springhill EquineOnce the ear has gotten to a point where there is a secondary laceration, abscess, or hematoma, it can be difficult to treat. While we always try conservative options first, these horses sometimes have to undergo surgery under general anesthesia to drain the ear, followed by weeks with the ear taped down against the horse’s head to allow for continued drainage. No fun.

If you have tried the fly protection and IBH products, but your horse is STILL uncontrollably scratching, talk to our docs about a systemic treatment such as an antihistamine to break the chronic itch cycle. There is even a new drug on the market called Apoquel that has been used to treat itchy dogs, but is now finally getting some attention for use in horses. While the medication is pricey for a 1000 lb animal, we have seen promising results with it so far!

As a cat who suffers from itchy skin, let me tell you that constantly feeling itchy is no fun. If (God forbid) I lived outside swarmed by the very creatures that made me so itchy, I would be miserable! So thank you in advance for not ignoring your itchy horses.

Fondly yours,

-Tony

P.S. Want more itchy horse info? Check out Dr. Lacher’s podcast on itchy horses. It’s the latest episode of Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. You can listen right from our website, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! What’s a podcast, you ask? It’s just like a radio talk show, except you can listen to it on your phone or your computer whenever you want to. Try it out, and see what the thousands of other subscribers have already figured out 😉

P.P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to this blog yet, make sure you scroll down to the purple box and sign up. Don’t rely on Facebook to deliver my weekly wisdoms to you, they’re very unreliable!

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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Trailer Safety – Help Your Horse Arrive Alive

Trailer Safety – Help Your Horse Arrive Alive

Sep 3, 2018 | Trailer Safety, trailering

Tuesdays with Tony

Pumpkin Spice is back, therefore Fall is coming someday, right? I know, this is Florida. Fall will be here briefly in late October, and maybe some of November, with bits of the FaWinSpri season continuing through until March. FaWinSpri is a unique Florida season. It’s the time of year when it could be Fall, Winter, or Winter, Spring at any moment over a 24 hour period. Once April comes, you have to add in Summer since that can start happening too. Why my musings on seasons? Well, around September, horse people in Florida start their delusions of cooler weather is coming, I better start getting back in shape. This week we’re going to talk about something else that should be ready for cooler riding weather: the horse trailer.

 

The Horse Trailer Floor

 

Everyone knows the floor should be checked, but how many of you actually do it? Take out all the mats and do a thorough inspection. If you have a wood floor, lightly tap all over the floor with a hammer to be sure there are no hidden spots of rot. For aluminum floors, check very closely for pitting. Take this opportunity to wash the floor thoroughly and let it dry completely before replacing the mats. Want to really, really help your floor? Clean your trailer after every use. All that manure and urine produces compounds which do serious harm to any kind of trailer floor.

This horse went through the floor of a trailer. Yeah, it can really happen.

Surgery on Coby, the horse who fell through a trailer floor

 

The Tires

 

Check the condition and air pressure of your tires. A visual inspection to look for dry rot is great, but a knock with a crowbar will give you a better idea about your tire’s health. Also, splurge $1.99 for an air pressure gauge, and be sure you get one that goes all the way to 100 psi. Trailer tires often require higher pressure than regular car tires. Don’t forget to check both of your spare tires! Want to make those tires last longer? Park on a concrete pad and cover them so they stay out of the sun. While you’re checking air pressure and condition, check your lug nuts. Make sure they are all tight. 

Speaking of lug nuts, be prepared to undo them as well if you have a flat tire. Pro Tip: Look for a piece of pipe that will fit over your lug wrench, and keep it in the tack room. This will help you get extra leverage when you’re trying to loosen those pesky nuts, while sitting on the side of the road, while stressing about your horse, and the traffic is whizzing by you. Oh those ramp things: trailer aid tire ramps. Ahhmazing. Get one now. Here’s another Pro Tip: tires that explode on the highway are usually under-inflated. Tire pressure is important.

horse trailer safety

 

Lights, camera, action

 

This one is going to take two people. Check your lights. Make sure both turn signals, your 4-way flashers, and your brake lights work. You’ve put your most valuable possession (besides your cat) in the trailer, now make sure everyone can tell you’re stopping so you don’t get rear-ended. If your lights don’t work, get them fixed! Keep spare light bulbs with you at all times. This is the easiest fix in the world, and it’s far cheaper than a new horse and a new trailer. Asking those around to guess which way you’re going, or if you’re stopping, doesn’t work any better with a truck and trailer than it does in a crowded warm up arena.  

 

Hitches

 

Take the time to go over your hitch on your towing vehicle. If you have a gooseneck, get under the truck and do a visual inspection of the hitch. If you have a bumper pull, you get to do a visual inspection of the hitch, too. You also need to check the ball where it attaches to the hitch. The nut on the bottom can loosen over time. Give it a good check with a wrench to be sure it’s seated tightly.

 

Details, Details, Details

 

Keeping the little things taken care of on your trailer will prevent them from becoming big things. That door latch that’s not working quite right will become a liability when the door suddenly won’t close as you’re trying to pack up to head home at 9 pm. It’s also easy to let the little things pile up. Then you take the trailer in for repairs and get hit with a huge bill all at once. Doing repairs as needed will prevent that huge bill, especially leaks! Even if everything is great on your trailer, take it to a trusted repair shop every few years for a once-over. They can spot things you may not even realize were a problem!

Good riding weather will come. Get your trailer ready so you can take advantage of every precious moment it!

Now be a well-trained human: scroll down and subscribe to this blog. You’ll get it delivered to your inbox every week. That’s right, a guaranteed weekly dose of Tony. You can’t go wrong there.

Want even more good stuff? Subscribe to the podcast that the humans do. Look for Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth wherever you listen to podcasts.

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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Gelding is Grrrreat!

Gelding is Grrrreat!

Aug 27, 2018 | Castration

Tuesdays with Tony

This week I’m going to open up to you about a topic that is a little personal for me: castration. Now I was as anxious as any tomcat would be about my own castration. All I could think about was the pain and the finality of it all. But I am here to tell you that it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. My vets put me completely under so I didn’t feel a thing; I didn’t even remember what had happened when I woke up! The pain was a non-issue; I was back to my usual routine later the same day. And best of all, now I never have to worry about those pesky hormones again.

I would imagine your spring colts are getting bigger now, and their nipping, striking, mounting behaviors that were so cute when they were first born are becoming a little less cute as they grow. Well, you are in luck because now is the perfect time to sign up for my 2018 Operation Gelding Clinic! The event, sponsored by the Unwanted Horse Coalition, will be held on December 8th. You will enjoy a greatly discounted rate of $50 for the castration, while offering veterinary students a wonderful chance to gain additional experience before they get out into the real world. I know December seems far away, but these highly sought-after spots are filling up fast, so call now!
For your entertainment, here are the answers to our top 3 most frequently asked questions about castrations.

Why don’t you do standing castrations?

The first and most obvious answer is because our docs like their heads! Their brains, with those 4 years of vet school knowledge crammed inside, are their most valuable assets. A vet’s head needs to get pretty close to those hind legs during a  standing castration, and we would hate to have it kicked off by a naughty stallion trying to protect his special area.

Another thing we love is our anesthesia protocol. Our docs have just the right magic cocktail of drugs that allows for the perfect amount of time to castrate a horse, maybe pull a pair of wolf teeth, and let them recover smoothly. One of the drugs in their combo even has an effect on memory, so your horse likely won’t remember what happened to him when he wakes up.

Laying a horse down for castrations also affords the doctors a MUCH better view and improved access. Rather than bending at the waist and ducking under the horse’s abdomen, the vet can squat behind the horse’s tail, or lean over one of the horse’s tied hind legs. Everybody, right now, stand up and bend at the waist to almost 90 degrees, then stretch your arms out in front of you. Now imagine holding this pose for 20 minutes. Harder than you thought, right? If you’re planning on doing standing castrations, you better hope you have some tall stallions!

 

Is that a drill?!

Yes, as a matter of fact, the tool we use at Springhill Equine is called a Henderson, and it attaches and is powered by a hand-held drill! The twisting action of the drill spins the spermatic cord so tightly that bleeding is almost never a problem. In addition, the testicle is removed super fast, which cuts down on surgery time. Other castration methods involve clamping and holding, which translates to a long time while your horse is burning through his sedation and thinking about waking up. Most emasculators, as the tool is called, also require cutting the cord just above the clamp. Sharp transection with a blade is a great way to make a horse bleed. With the twisting action of the Henderson, no clamping or cutting is necessary.

In place of the Henderson, you may see our docs using a hand-held modification called an EquiTwister. This tool uses the same twisting motion to prevent bleeding, without the need for battery power that comes with the Henderson. In general, remember that twisting is good, cutting is bad. Plus, I think the docs secretly enjoy the feeling of castrating a 1000lb animal using hand-held power tools!

 

Wait doc, aren’t you going to stitch him up?

Nope! Equine castrations are typically left “open” for the best outcome. You may have noticed that these castrations are usually performed in a field, on the ground, outside…not exactly a sterile environment. And when you take your horse home, he is probably going to lay down in the dirt, in his manure, in the sand, and in his urine. Add on the fact that a horse’s scrotum hangs down where it will inevitably come in contact with whatever is on the ground when he lays down, and you have a perfect recipe for contamination.

For these reasons, we basically assume that a castration incision will get “contaminated”. Keep in mind, contamination is not the same as infection. Even though our docs utilize sterile technique and do their best to keep the site clean during surgery, it is virtually impossible to avoid any contamination from start to finish. By leaving the incision open to the environment, we allow all the contaminated discharge to drain back out before it has a chance to cause infection.

At our practice, we don’t typically give horses antibiotics with a routine castration either. Our rates of post-castration complications are very low. Using antibiotics as a preventative measure is irresponsible, and only contributes to widespread antibiotic resistance. In the unlikely event that your horse develops an infection after castration, the docs can always start antibiotics at that time if warranted.

 

So, all of you human parents of rowdy colts, or even older stallions that you just never got around to gelding, don’t miss this year’s Operation Gelding Clinic. The Unwanted Horse Coalition is generous enough to allow us to castrate 14 horses each year, but these spots are being claimed at a rapid rate, so don’t wait to reserve your place! Take it from me, castrating your animal is one of the best things you can do to give him a happy, healthy long life.

Until next week,

~ Tony

P.S. While I have your attention, let me remind you to A) subscribe to this magnificent blog down at the bottom, B) check out our podcast, Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth, and C) add our 12th Annual Open House on September 29th to your calendar. There, that’s the recipe for a perfect horse owner!

gelding Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic Newberry FL

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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How Horses Hurt Humans

How Horses Hurt Humans

Aug 20, 2018 | Injuries, Safety

Tuesdays with Tony

While doing a little late night reading on the computer, I came across a research paper titled, The demographics of equestrian-related injuries in the United States: injury patterns, orthopedic specific injuries, and avenues for injury prevention. It proved to be fascinating reading. It also led me down what you humans commonly refer to as a rabbit hole. I spent most of the night reading up on how horses hurt you humans, and had to spend the rest of the following day sound asleep on the bench in front of the Clinic. To save you from a sleepless night, I will share with you some of what I learned.

 

Keep your arms and legs inside the ride

 

About 15% of injuries happened while humans were on the ground. Of the non-riding injuries, the majority were to the feet. This made sense to me. If you stand in the Clinic long enough (and by that I mean about 15 minutes) you’ll see a horse stand on a human foot. Many of these foot injuries led to long-term pain. When it came to riding injuries, arms and legs were involved a whopping 46% of the time. This also makes sense if you think about what humans do when they fall off a horse. Arms go flailing, and legs usually get stuck in a stirrup.

 

Mind your melon

 

I’m going to get to the traumatic brain injury part of things, but first it seems if horses don’t stomp your foot, they whack you in the head. In one study around 25% of non-riding injuries were to the head (they also had a mid-facial area but that seems like another word for head if you ask this cat).

For riding injuries, the head came in first for reasons a rider showed up at a hospital. In this study it was 17.5% of the cases. However, head trauma was responsible for the majority of hospital stays, and increased the length of hospital stay. I will say nothing more than wear a helmet when you ride. I know it’s not cool in all disciplines, but horses and head injuries go together.

 

Your age and gender as a factor

 

This should come as no surprise to anyone involved in horses: women and girls were massively over-represented at 89.5% of injuries! Turns out you also don’t get smarter with age. One study found the peak incidence of injuries at 14 years old. However, another found early 20s, followed by late 40s and early 50s to be additional bumps in the injury incidence.

 

Wild Horses

 

There were multiple studies that looked at the human’s level of horse experience, and personality matching of horse to human. Now this is a tough thing to do. However, they found some interesting stuff. The more you actually know about horses, as defined by hours spent with horses in formal training environments, the less likely you are to have serious injury. When humans described themselves as “self-taught” they were more likely to have horse related injuries. Even more fascinating to this cat was this entire paragraph:

Similarly, humans tend to devalue the importance of equine safety at point of sale, possibly where sellers can be seduced by financial return. For example, human desire for financial benefit might result in knowledge of undesirable horse traits and/or dangerous behaviours being withheld from a buyer. Alternatively, it may result from a buyer’s desire to own a horse regardless of such concerns (perhaps due to high self-efficacy in addressing them). More naively, selling unsuitable horses to riders may be facilitated by a lack of buyer expectation and devaluation of safety.1

 

How do you avoid injury?

 

Be aware of the fact that horses are big, and have a major flight or fight response. Look at situations from a horse’s point of view, and try to anticipate your horse’s response. This will give you some advanced warning. Speaking of your horse’s point of view….working with your horse to acclimate them to this weird human world will help reduce those fight or flight moments.

Work your brain, too. “The more you learn about horses, the less you know.” – George Morris. This George guy is somewhat famous in some horse circles, but he speaks the truth. Seek out great horse people to teach you more about horses. Then protect that knowledge by wearing a helmet.

 

Want even more Tony knowledge? Scroll a little further and subscribe to my blog. Want even more? Subscribe to the Springhill Equine podcast, Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth.

  1.  Preventing and Investigating Horse-Related Human Injury and Fatality in Work and Non-Work Equestrian Environments: A Consideration of the Workplace Health and Safety Framework

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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, and Why Your Horse Probably Doesn’t Have It

EPM, and Why Your Horse Probably Doesn’t Have It

Aug 13, 2018 | EPM

Tuesdays with Tony

EPM.

Three letters that get humans in such a tizzy. It seems these letters carry some special meaning. Since curiosity is in my nature, I launched an investigation. Moral of the story: your horse probably doesn’t have EPM, but it might. Read on to find out more from this intrepid cat.

 

It’s Everywhere

 

For large parts of the United States, the organisms that cause Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (now you know why they abbreviate it EPM) are pretty common. There are two main bugs responsible: Sarcocystis neurona, and Neospora hughesi. To be honest, there are probably a couple more organisms, but they are super rare. S. neurona, and N. hughesi live a complicated lifestyle involving poop, possums, birds, and possibly some other animals. The short version is that if your horse eats hay, grain, or grass, they’re likely exposed to the organism on a regular basis.

 

But it’s OK!

 

I mildly apologize if that last paragraph sent you into a panic. Just because your horse has been exposed to EPM doesn’t mean they’re going to get it. First off, the overwhelming vast majority of horses, which is 99% or higher, can fend off EPM all by themselves. To say it another way, less than 1% of horses exposed to EPM actually contract it. Their immune system does a really great job with it. If you want to learn more about this part of equine immune systems and EPM, check out the EPM podcast that’s coming out this week on Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. It’s a lot easier to digest when you listen to Dr. Lacher explain it.

The second big reason your horse isn’t likely to get it, even when exposed all the time, is that the organism has to not only get into your horse, it has to get into the central nervous system before it can cause a problem. The central nervous system is rather like Fort Knox. There’s security, and then there’s Central Nervous System security. It’s a whole different level of tough to get past! The >1% of horses who actually get EPM have an immune system (the security system of the body) that doesn’t do a great job recognizing EPM as a bad guy. These immune systems have a blind spot for the organism. Fortunately the immune system is unbelievably complicated, so it’s an uncommon blind spot.

 

But the EPM test was positive

 

Testing for EPM is an excellent illustration of things that are even more complicated than human behavior, and I find that pretty complicated. There are a few different ways to run tests for EPM. My Docs commonly start with a screening type test. Blood is pulled, and then sent to a lab in Kentucky. There they check for some markers of the EPM organisms. If that test is negative, it’s a pretty good bet your horse doesn’t have EPM. There’s a tiny chance your horse could have EPM, but if so, it’s really, really early in the process and the immune system hasn’t gotten around to making the markers that are being checked.

Now that we know what negative means, let’s talk positive. A low positive likely means your horse has been exposed to the organism, but has fended off that attack and everything is going to be alright (this is the 99% of horses we talked about). A mid-range positive means the organism is in attack mode, and without further investigation we really don’t know how the battle is going. A high positive means we really need to move on to the next phase of testing to get a handle on the battle!

 

Yay! More tests!

 

…said no human ever. But it’s really important to follow up screening blood tests to find out if your horse actually has EPM. This is done by getting a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF taps are a relatively simple procedure, but can have some serious complications. We find they are best done in stocks, or with the horse fully anesthetized. This fluid is then submitted to the same lab as the blood. They do the same testing as is done on the blood. These results usually give my Docs a clear answer about the presence or absence of EPM. Since there’s a horse involved, sometimes (but rarely) the answer isn’t so clear.

 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

 

Important Things to Know

 

Every single horse suspected of having EPM should have a very thorough neurologic exam. During this exam, my Docs circle the horse tightly, pull on the tail, and do a wide variety of other weird things trying to determine if this horse knows where all its body parts are. The muscles are also VERY closely inspected. Muscle asymmetry is a common sign of EPM. Muscle asymmetry can also be a sign of a lameness, arthritis, and about fifty other things too, so don’t jump to conclusions!

Lots of people say, “But my horse got better on medication.” Yep. He sure did. That’s because every one of the medications used to treat EPM are also anti-inflammatory drugs, just like bute and Banamine. This means horses with some arthritis or low-level pain will get better on these medications from this “side-effect.” And they’ll get worse again when they go off these medications. That doesn’t mean they are having a relapse.

Speaking of relapse: They are pretty darn rare with EPM. Again, not saying they don’t happen, but it isn’t very common. Remember how I said the immune system is complicated? It’s also a very good learner. An infection with EPM is often enough to trigger it to fix that blind spot.

Whew. You can now cross off one thing to worry about!

Until next week ~

Tony

Want even more wisdom? Check out Straight From the Horse Doctor’s Mouth. It’s a podcast with Dr. Lacher about everything horse and veterinary. Sure, it’s missing my sarcasm, but it’s quality programming nonetheless.

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Tuesdays with Tony is the official blog of Tony the Clinic Cat at Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. 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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