While clicking through the internet over this long holiday weekend I came upon this picture of yours truly:
It got me thinking about boots. I make these boots look darn good. This got myself, Teannie, and our weekend guest, a charming horse name Goose, talking about boots in general. We marveled at all the colors, textures, patterns, and types of boots that humans have for their feet. Teannie and I remarked that as the perfect creatures we are, we never have to wear such things. OK, so that one time I had to wear a cast for a long time after Teannie broke my foot when I made, what she considers a disparaging, remark about her ears, but other than that, no foot wear. Goose informed us we just didn’t know all the fun we were missing. He gets to wear boots all the time when he works, and he finds them stylish and comfortable. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him we don’t work. However, Goose’s statement did make me head off for some research about boots and horses.
My first question to you humans is REALLY??!!??!? Do you really need all of the 8,482 different types of boots I found? There are open front boots, support boots, cross country, splint, ankle, bell, and galloping just to name a few. And the colors and patterns. Don’t get me started on all that. Let’s just say I am never wearing anything in tie dye. Especially not on my feet. Looking in to the why so many freakin’ kinds of boots did inform me that many different kinds are needed for all the crazy things you guys do with horses. Lots of people like the all around support kind. If you jump over things, you like the kind open in front. If your horse hits his ankles you like the ankle kind. You get the gist. Anyway I will give you all the different kinds.
My next question was can they seriously do all the things they say they can? Here’s where life gets a little fuzzy. Let’s start with support. When it comes to the equine limb that is a tricky statement at best. Support what? If you support the fetlock, then more concussion goes up the limb and that can be damaging to the shoulder. With all the weight horses bring to the game, it turns out “support” can’t be done without compromising range of motion, which means no more daring moves of athletic prowess. So how about concussion? This one does turn out to have some validity. When you ask horses to turn quickly around trash cans, jump over sticks, and prance sideways they have a tendency to tangle up those long legs at some point in the process. Those tangles can have some serious forces behind them. A good boot will absorb some of the concussion and prevent lacerations from hooves.
Goose pointed out that sometimes his legs get hot in those boots. Seems reasonable in this ridiculous Florida weather; also important for the health of your horse’s tendons and ligaments. Tendons and ligaments can take normal heat but researchers have found temperatures of up to 145F following exercise! Newer boot manufacturing techniques are looking at the heat build-up problem and working on solutions. I would certainly put boots on just before exercise and take them off just after work to keep those legs happy.
In case you need a good reason to make your horse wear boots, watch this video at around 18 minutes in. Words of warning it is a bit graphic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsvS6gEBJuE
And on that note, I’m off to ponder my new line of feline footwear.
Continuing on my athlete theme from last week….Let’s talk fitness! I will admit to having to research this Tuesday’s edition. This cat is not in to fitness, working out, sweating, or any activity which threatens to burn more calories than I consume. You people seem to want to do stuff with horses and that means a certain level of fitness.
Got a new horse or starting one over? The most important thing to remember is slow, slow, and more slow. This is a concept I can really get behind. I do slow very well. Step one: check your horse’s vital signs before you even get on. Especially in the heat of summer, add work in very small increments. Use those smart phones for something smart and set up timers for yourself. Begin with lots of walking. I’m talking 20-30 minutes of walking. Walking builds a base level of fitness while not stressing joints and tendons. It also lets everyone get used to the ridiculously hot weather we have during summer. At the end of your 30 minute walk, check your horse’s vital signs. Heart rate and respiratory rate should return to normal in 5-7 minutes. Since you are only walking this may happen faster and that’s ok. It means you are ready to add more! Add 3-5 minutes of trot or canter work every 7-10 days until you are doing the work you want to do. If in doubt, check those vital signs!
Shiny thing distraction: These two companies are coming out with FitBits for horses!
On the horse that is already in work, it is important to remember that high temps can change how much work they are capable of safely doing. Vital signs are, again, key to how much is enough. Work your horse at their normal level, then stop and evaluate respiration. You may notice that in this ridiculously hot weather, your normally really fit horse will take longer to come back to normal respirations. That is because horses don’t just exchange oxygen, they also blow off a lot of heat with each breath. I always say horses are full of hot air and I see this as proof.
From a fitness standpoint your goal for most arena sports (dressage, hunter/jumper, barrel racing, western pleasure, etc.) your horse should be fit enough to twice what you need for the event. So if you are a barrel racer 30-40 seconds of very intense work with very rapid return to normal vitals will tell you your horse is fit enough to do the job. A dressage horse will need to be able to hold that canter for 5-6 minutes at a time to do all that is necessary in one stretch of training level. Really sit down and look at the athletic endeavor you want to do and then determine what is necessary in terms of fitness. Need help? Call our Docs. They both love this stuff.
Meanwhile, I’m off to train. I’m working up to 4 straight hours of napping. It’s hard work but someone has to do it.
This weekend I learned why I am best suited to my supervisory role here at the clinic. I monitored while Dr. Lacher worked closely with a farrier to determine the best treatment for a horse with a bunch of issues in her feet. I marveled at the way in which they worked as a team, batted around each other’s ideas, and came up with solutions that addressed all the issues. It was like watching TV in a foreign language. As a cat, I am not a team player. Heck, Teannie and I can barely get along. Turns out you need a team to manage your horse. High performance, senior, or just for fun. All horses seem to require a team. Not cats. We only require staff that will jump at our every request. I feel I have trained my minions well.
Anyway, Teamwork. Turns out teamwork is very important for performance horses. There is often a trainer, owner, veterinarian, and farrier at the very least. Trainers and owners need to feel comfortable talking to their veterinarian and farrier about how the horse is performing. It may be something as minor as a lift of the head in a transition one way, but not the other. Based on a trainer’s description of the problem, our Dr. Lacher will put her detective hat on and start investigating. Dr. Lacher uses her 30+ years of horse experience alongside her veterinary knowledge to help track down the source of pain. (We won’t tell her I talked about her 30+ years)
Treatment and rehab come next on the list. Again, teamwork is critical. I really don’t understand why there has to be all this teamwork. I would just impose my will; no questions allowed. Veterinarians today have a wide variety of therapies available. Joint injections with steroids are the most common treatment used. Problem is, those steroids come with some side effects. Hocks handle those side effects well, and can be repeatedly injected. However, every other joint doesn’t. Every steroid injection takes a little tiny bit off the end of a horse’s career. This means careful discussion with everyone involved to determine if injections will help the horse get better faster and cause less damage than the injury they have. Maybe some of the new, crazy advanced therapies like stem cells and platelet rich plasma should be used instead. Maybe rest and targeted exercises should be used. All of that has to be talked about and factored in. With all this talking, I’m going to need more nap time. And more food.
One of the biggest collaborations happens between our Docs and farriers. With the utterly ridiculous design horses have for feet, they need constant attention. Lots of horses need special shoeing to keep those feet comfortable or to help them heal from an injury. Our Docs use radiographs (x-rays) to help farriers line up their shoes perfectly. There is also a whole lot of discussion that goes on about what the Docs have found out from their exam and what the farriers think. There’s always tons of communication going on. I try to make sure I am nearby to assist with this process.
It can be a challenge to determine the best, right thing for these crazy horses sometimes. Making sure you have a winning team sure makes it easier. Until next week.
Well, we are into that time of year when I don’t know whether to prepare for a monsoon or to park myself directly in front of the fan all day. As I’m sure you know, cats hate water. We also hate tropical storms, flooding, hurricanes, and basically anything that causes puddles of water which we are then forced to tread through with our delicate paws. Thus it was no surprise to me that tropical storm Colin, that jerk, caused a bunch of flooding that is going to bring on even more mosquitos than usual this summer!
As the self-proclaimed manager of a veterinary practice, mosquitos of course make me think of diseases, which make me think of vaccinations! Many of the core diseases that we vaccinate against here at Springhill Equine, namely West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, are transmitted by those nasty mosquitos. How does that work, you ask?
The simplest way to understand it is to look at it from the virus’ point of view. If I am a virus, my goal is to replicate, and to spread myself to as many individuals as possible. One way to do that is to live in the bloodstream of birds. When a mosquito bites an infected bird, it will ingest blood laden with me (the virus). I will replicate inside the mosquito and get into the mosquito’s saliva. Then, when it goes to bite another bird, I (the virus) will infect that bird through the mosquito’s saliva.
So, what does all this stuff about birds and mosquitos have to do with horses? Well, nothing really. Horses are an accidental, or “dead end” host for the virus. The virus cannot replicate within horses (or humans for that matter). Thus it cannot spread from an infected horse to any other individual. That stinks for the virus. But unfortunately for horses, when an infected mosquito bites an unvaccinated horse instead of a bird, the horse will still show symptoms of the disease, which are often fatal.
So, horses and my other mammalian followers, make sure to lather yourselves up with Mosquito Halt this summer! Oh, and don’t forget to have our docs out to catch you up on your West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis vaccines! Stay dry, stay cool, stay classy.
Knowledge is power. As one of the wisest creatures on earth, a cat, you can be sure I understand this. Google has a lot of knowledge and, therefore, a lot of power. Where is this headed, you ask? To Dr. Google, of course. Now I enjoy some time on the internet. I Googled best cat toy and this really great fuzzy, dead rat looking, toy showed up. It really is a great toy. When I was briefly diabetic, I Googled tips for getting my blood sugar down without insulin. I got a lot of great information. The office also got a lot of tips and tricks for how to give me shots. I appreciated that (trust me, I appreciated a good shot administration technique). Dr. Lacher even Googled diabetes in cats to get some more information. Dr. Lacher isn’t so up on her cat diabetes treatment regimes. That’s my cross to bear as the cat in the equine hospital. What we don’t do is take information from the Google and apply is all willy nilly without consulting with my actual cat doctor. And that is the power of Google.
So how do you use Dr. Google wisely? Really think about what your concern is. Let’s say your horse is suddenly sore on a leg. Googling “horse sore leg” is a sure way to get too broad a result. Add some time and severity descriptors. Try Googling “horse suddenly very lame one leg.” No matter what you Google in this manner, the first results will be forums of some sort. As a wise cat I am going to give you some free advice: Don’t go there. I will tell you later when you can go there, but until you have an answer from one of the Docs, JUST. DON’T. GO. THERE. Sometimes you humans can be dense, so hopefully, I conveyed that point well enough. At this point in a search you want facts not wild ideas from people who shouldn’t be banned from idea coming up with activities. Look for sources like The Horse Magazine, Veterinary Clinic websites, and well recognized professional sites. These sources will give you quality answers and may lead you to more questions. This is what the internet was made for: giving you humans access to information. It was actually made so that I could order that cat treat I love so much that is hard to find locally but this is also a good use.
Now you have Googled and found some information. Use that information to evaluate your horse and your circumstances. The internet is really good at putting information out there, now apply it to you. Continuing our example of a very lame horse, it is unlikely that an attack by a vampire bat is a likely cause in Gainesville, Florida. This means you can start crossing things off the list of possibilities. You can also examine your horse and decide if the leg is swollen or tender anywhere, push and poke things, and think about what you guys have been doing the past few days. Armed with this information you can give our Docs a better idea about why your horse’s problem before they arrive. I promise you, they are not upset by this use of the Google.
A consultation with our Docs has determined that they do need to see your horse to better determine why the leg is really sore. After a thorough examination, they will give you a diagnosis of the problem. NOW you may Google the problem and click on those chat forums. BUT do it with a purpose. The internet is full of tips and tricks for caring for horses with problems. Our Docs have picked up numerous time and sanity savers over their years of experience. Evaluate these ideas and see if it is something you can apply to your situation. The Google will have reports of diagnostic tests and therapies that others have tried. Again critically evaluate these tests and treatments. Ask the Docs about them. They are more than willing to discuss what you found. What they don’t want is for you to have doubts and questions about your horse’s care that go unanswered!
Remember Dr. Google sorts results by popularity not rightness quotient. If you are a wise cat, trust the team at Springhill Equine to come up with the best, right answer for your horse.
Check out this link I found, it’ll be stuck in my head until next week! This is what happens when humans don’t have enough cat supervision.
I know my adoring fans are used to hearing me talk about blood, manure, urine, and infections. But today I am going to discuss one of the lesser blogged about bodily fluids of horses: sweat. I often see horses come through the clinic that are as sweaty as Steven Avery in Ken Kratz’s fake murder narrative (yes, I watched a lot of Netflix over Memorial Day Weekend). Sometimes I hear owners complain about their sweaty equid, questioning whether he could perhaps be sweating too much? The answer is a resounding NO! Remember folks, if you are a horse, sweating is definitely a good thing!
Horses need to sweat to cool off (another bad design in my estimation). We cats, being superior and well, clean, never sweat. We simply pant if we get overheated, or preferably just lay in the air conditioning all day. Where horses run into trouble is when their sweating mechanisms fail. This usually occurs due to chronic over-stimulation of sweat glands in warmer climates (i.e. Florida). Stress is also thought to play a role, but the source of stress can be as simple as hot weather! Ironic, right? Hot weather causes horses to stress out which makes them stop sweating which makes them even hotter. NOT the smartest species, obviously.
If you have a horse with anhidrosis, the technical term for non-sweating, you probably already know it. Look for signs like dry skin after a hard ride, sweating in patches instead of all over, increased breathing rate, and acting slow or lethargic in hot weather. If you suspect your horse may be a non-sweater, give our docs a call so they can check him out. Anhidrosis can lead to overheating. A temperature over 102.5 is always abnormal, and once it gets much higher horses are at risk of heatstroke and thermal damage. Yikes!
So, what can you do if your horse becomes a non-sweater or partial non-sweater? Most importantly, cool them off! This should go without saying, but if your horse is unable to sweat, you probably shouldn’t ride him for an hour outside at 2pm in July in Florida. Even a cat knows that. Try to ride in the early mornings or late evenings during the summer months, and if your horse begins to get overheated, cool him off as soon as possible with a bath, fans, shade, and cool water to drink.
There are several supplements available to treat anhidrosis as well, such as One AC, Platinum Refresh, and beer (yes, the alcoholic kind). Talk to the docs for their recommendation on what would be best for your horse. Hopefully horses will someday see the wisdom in my ways and learn to pant to cool off. Until then remember, sweat may be gross but it is more crucial than evidence in the Making A Murderer trial! Sorry, the Netflix…
Ah May…It’s hot and dry, then we get rain, then it’s beautiful out but dry. Last year was weird with all the rain. This year seems more like the days I remember as a young kitten. Turns out this weather is fantastic for making hoof abscesses. And while those are fun for the Docs (they have an unnatural love for pus), they are no fun for you or your horse.
I realize I talk about the stupid design of horses a lot, and here I go again. That hard hoof wall is great for walking on but it makes it extremely painful if there is any swelling of the soft tissues inside. Hoof abscesses form when a tiny bit of bacteria get between the hoof wall and those soft tissues. The body reacts to the bacteria by sending white blood cells to kill the bacteria, and, Voila!, pus. The white blood cells also release some chemicals which cause swelling and pain all on their own. All that extra stuff stuck underneath the hoof wall hurts worse than whacking your thumb with a hammer. I do love when humans do that. I laugh every time.
Abscesses usually make their presence very well known. Much like when I sleep on the computer keyboard, you can’t help but notice your horse is not right. It may start as a limp on one leg, however, they always progress to “Holy Cow I can’t stand on my foot!” Once they reach the Holy Cow stage they are ready to be opened. You can get them to this stage faster by soaking the foot daily in warm Epsom salts for 5-10 minutes. This often goes about as well as bathing a cat so may I suggest the baby diaper method. Take one baby diaper (Newborn – size 3 depending on the size of your horses hoof), place a small amount of Epsom salts in the baby butt area, add enough water to make it pasty, place diaper on foot, securing convenient tabs around the pastern while you grab duct tape, run duct tape across the bottom and around the hoof to secure the diaper. Change this daily.
Our Docs can help the whole abscess process get done and over quicker. The closer your horse is to the Holy Cow it hurts stage the more likely they are to open the abscess. Dr. Lacher or Dr. Vurgason will start by cleaning the bottom of the hoof, then applying hoof testers. Hoof testers are these incredibly barbaric pinchy things that help the Docs find the sorest spot on the hoof. Once they find it they will use a hoof knife to pare the hoof away and open up the affected area. They will dig a bit but don’t be surprised if they stop before they open up the abscess. This can be tricky thing. If you dig too deep you can create more problems so the Docs tend to be very conservative. Like I said earlier, they do love to pop an abscess so rest assured they are going to try as hard as they can to get it opened.
The good news with abscesses is that, almost always, once they are opened and drained your horse will return to happy and comfortable. And now back to napping in the sun in the handicapped parking spot. Pretty sure they put that there for me.
Brief activity announcement to start this week: There will be a meet Tony opportunity on Thursday beginning at 6:30pm at the Clinic. Once everyone has seen me, there will be a talk on horse food. You may continue to pet me during the talk, in fact I encourage it.
This is a cat on a soap box. Literally, and figuratively. A report came out this week about a horse with Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). This was a young, happy, healthy horse that never got vaccinated. Now it is a dead horse. Horses look for expensive ways to die every day. They get their feet caught in wires and require thousands of dollars in repair and bandaging. They colic and need surgery. They decide to become lame for no apparent reason.
EEE is not one of these things. This vaccine costs $20. I went on the internet (thank you again to Aaron Vurgason and Oakridge Electric. It’s very quick!!) and looked up some things I could buy for $20. Amazon had a label maker for $15.99, a gun and target alarm clock for $19.62, bacon toothpaste for $6.61 so I could get three of those, a Lifestraw that lets you drink nasty water safely for $19.99, and a pop up hot dog AND bun toaster for $19.99. While all these things are amazing, the only one that might save your life is the straw. So $20 to keep your horse alive and well! It’s a no-brainer.
Now we all know you can find vaccines and give them yourself. Here’s my top 5 reasons that’s not a great plan:
Our vaccines are carefully managed from the time they leave the manufacturer to the time they arrive in your horse. Our distributers are very careful to follow all label directions for temperature management of the vaccines, our staff does the same once it arrives at our door, and we carefully monitor vaccine handling while drawing up and waiting to give them. This is especially important in the summer around these parts.
More than just a vaccine happens when one of our esteemed Docs shows up. They are doing WAY more than you realize. From the moment they pull in they are evaluating your farm and your horse for any potential health issues you may not even know about. Just having them look at your horse is totally worth $20.
The vaccine maker will stand behind any vaccine given by our Docs. Nothing is 100%. If you horse does get sick or has an unusual reaction to the vaccine, the manufacturer will pay for treatment if we give the vaccine.
Is your horse bad about shots? There is no one better than our Docs and technicians at making shots an enjoyable experience for your horse. We go through 50 pounds of horse treats every 2 weeks around here!
Our vets will choose the right combination of vaccines for your horse’s lifestyle.
Horses in Florida are particularly susceptible to EEE and West Nile Virus since we have mosquitoes all the time. Foals can be even more vulnerable since their immune system depends on mom’s milk for the first 4-5 months. Once they reach 5 months of age foals should start on a series of vaccines to get them well protected. Trust me when I say you really, really want Springhill Equine to give your foals their vaccines. They are squirrely little suckers!
This past weekend was my opportunity to thank a select group of my fans: Our Wellness Plan Participants. Every year, on the first Saturday in May, we gather around a shrine called a TV to watch some horses run around in a large circle to the left. There is much fanfare, wearing of some very strange hats, good food, good times, and adoration of Tony. After all the partying died down, I hit the computer on our new faster internet connection and researched this crazy thing called Thoroughbred racing.
As someone who is not very fond of exercise, I found this running thing a bit much. When I found out these horses are only three years old, I thought that seemed like a bad plan. Then a rare thing happened: I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often in the cat world, but if you felt a shudder of the earth, or a sudden chill on Saturday evening around 10pm, that was a cat being wrong. I found numerous well-designed research papers on the influence of early exercise in thoroughbred racehorses. Training as a two year old was directly correlated with a longer career as a racehorse. The horses didn’t necessarily have to race, just being in race training was enough to cause a positive effect. Based on my research, this effect is due to remodeling of lots of structures in the leg due to exercise. The cannon bone, tendons, and ligaments were all found to be stronger when exercise was started at 2 years as opposed to 3 years. In fact, there are studies which show that exercise started as early as 21 days of age didn’t cause developmental issues. I will say that these horses were exercised under very exacting schedules designed to allow the tendons, ligaments, and bone to adapt. Another aspect I found interesting was that the comparison group of foals were allowed free range pasture access. This wasn’t standing in a stall compared to exercising. This was turnout compared to exercising. Made this cat think….
While researching the young horse exercise thing, I found a lot of discussions about racehorses breaking those ridiculously-designed legs they run on. I mean, who designed the “run fast on four sticks” system? Just by its very nature it is bound to break sometimes. I did find out that there are some very interesting reasons racehorses break their legs the way they do and learned about research by veterinarians to try to prevent these fractures. One of the biggest issues trainers, riders, and veterinarians face is the horse’s love of the job. Unlike cats, especially black ones named Tony, horses love to run and do a very bad job recognizing pain when running around a racetrack with eight to ten friends. This means that if the leg starts to fail while the horse is running they are unlikely to demonstrate a lameness or give the jockey any indication of a problem until the leg actually fails. So, veterinarians are working to use standing MRI, CT scans, bone density scanning, x-rays to assess joint geometry, and ultrasound to try to identify early changes in bone and tendon that indicate a problem is coming. There are also programs in many States that perform in-depth post mortem exams on any horse who suffers from one of these serious injuries. As a difficult-to-impress cat, I was impressed by the level of dedication the racing industry has to keeping the horses safe!
Coolest fact I learned while playing on the internet: During each stride a racehorse takes the heart beats once and they take one breath. Here’s how it goes down: front leg of the lead they are on hits the ground, intestines push forward on the diaphragm, this pressure collapses the lungs causing a breath out, and compresses the heart. As the weight is transferred back to the hind end, the intestines slide back, opening the lungs, and allowing the heart to expand and fill with blood. How amazing is that?!?!!?
It may be difficult to admit but I have a little more respect for the athleticism of horses. I have lost a bit of respect for my staff around here after all those funny hats, but since they provide food I will keep them around. Until next week, may your litter box be clean and your food bowl overflowing.
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy (if you’re a cat)! I do love summer. I lounge around in the A/C, sleep on the porch bench in the shade, work on my tan in the parking lot. It’s a good time. Of course, life is always good when you are a cat. Now if you are a horse it’s a whole different story. I hear horses have to do this thing called sweating. It sounds dreadful. Not only do they get hot and stinky, it happens because they are working for you humans.
Sweating is one of the reasons horses are amazing athletes. Let me be clear here, cats are better, but horses are still pretty good. Sweating comes at a price though. Sweating causes a profound loss of electrolytes and water. Horses have to have a way to replace those losses or trouble comes fast. Horse sweat is different than human sweat in a few ways. First, it has a different electrolyte make up. Horse sweat is made up of potassium, sodium, and chloride, in that order. Human sweat is sodium, potassium, chloride. Small amounts of calcium and magnesium are also present in sweat. This means electrolyte supplements for horses need higher potassium concentrations than those for humans. It also means that while Gatorade tastes delicious, it is not an appropriate electrolyte replacement for horses.
Next, have you ever wondered why your horse lathers when he sweats, but you don’t? That is because horses have a protein called latherin in their sweat. I sometimes marvel at human scientists. You named it latherin. Seriously, couldn’t come up with something more original than latherin? Turns out latherin has a very important job. This protein helps the sweat move from the skin, though the hair, and out to the surface where it can evaporate as quickly as possible. Since humans aren’t lucky enough to have fur, they don’t need latherin.
Because horses have to be weird, some of them decide to stop sweating. This is known as anhidrosis. Anhidrosis happens when heat and humidity hits a certain level. Here in Florida we experience lots of heat and lots of humidity. So if it’s July, you are out riding, and your horse isn’t sweating, get them back to the barn and hose them down quickly. The brilliant human scientists aren’t sure why this happens but there are several products out there that help some horses. I would recommend talking with our Docs about treatment options. Management is really important with these guys. They adopt a cat-like attitude about life. They want to be in front of fans at all times and only work in the coolest parts of the day. Unlike yours truly, frequent hose downs will help them stay cool.
While I have no desire to experience this sweating thing myself, it is pretty amazing from a purely cat-curiosity standpoint. And as a cat, I know quite a bit about curiosity. To help your horse deal with all that sweat, be sure they are drinking and replacing electrolytes. Know what is normal for your horse and be ready to stop exercising if something seems off. And most important, if in doubt, take a nap on the porch.
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