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Ringworm

Ringworm

Apr 10, 2023 | Ringworm

Whinny’s Wisdoms

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Hey everybody, Whinny here. Tony is back from his first vacation, and he’s scratching up a storm and leaving cat dandruff everywhere. His skin breaks out every spring, poor fella. That got me thinking that you humans are probably due for a series of blogs on various forms of equine skin funk.

Skin diseases can be a common problem for horses in Florida. While we all love the hot and sunny weather down here, the warm environment, bugs and rain can make it more likely for our horses to contract one of these diseases. Some of the most common skin diseases that affect our horses in sub-tropical climes are ringworm, rain rot, scratches (pastern dermatitis) and summer sores (habronemiasis). You know, all the things that make me glad I’m a mouse! These diseases are common and important enough that we will be devoting several blog posts to them. In this first installment, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about ringworm.

Ringworm, also known as dermatophytosis, can be a frustrating condition for several reasons including its unsightly appearance, contagiousness, and the cost of its treatment. You may not know, but even the name ringworm itself is a misnomer. This skin infection is actually caused by a fungus, not a parasite or ‘worm’. Clinical signs of a ringworm infection include loss of hair in a circular pattern, crusting, and hive-like lesions. As is the case for many other medical conditions, young horses and immunocompromised horses are more susceptible to the disease.

Whinny Wisdom: Ringworm is a zoonotic disease, which means that it can be passed from animals to humans. Therefore, diligent handwashing along with the use of gloves is recommended to protect yourself from contracting the disease.

Luckily, testing is available to help us determine if a lesion is actually ringworm. The most reliable test my docs use is a fungal culture. A less reliable diagnostic measure involves plucking hair from the infected area and examining it under a microscope. However, this method may fail to catch the disease because the sample needs to contain spores from the ringworm organism in order to identify the disease. Even if spores are not found, my docs will usually make a presumptive diagnosis of ringworm and will initiate treatment without a definitive diagnosis.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

In some cases, ringworm can resolve spontaneously without treatment. However, deciding not to treat this disease is not the best approach, since the horse will still be contagious and spreading the disease during this time. The recommended treatment includes topical anti-fungals, such as dilute betadine baths, and topical creams. Griseofulvin is an oral paste that is also available and can be used in cases that do not resolve with diligent topical treatment. 

Ringworm can be a frustrating disease since it is extremely contagious. It is easily passed from horse to horse through direct contact or through shared equipment such as grooming tools, sheets, and tack. I know you humans like to share, but sometimes it’s a bad plan. When treating a horse with ringworm the best practice is to disinfect equipment and housing using bleach. In addition, the infected horse should be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease to other horses in the barn.

Ringworm can definitely be frustrating, but by following these best practices, you can cure your horse of this disease while preventing it from spreading to yourself or your other animals. Like me!

That’s it for this week!

~Whinny

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Whinny’s Wisdoms is the official blog of Whinny the Clinic Mouse 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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Pastern Dermatitis

Pastern Dermatitis

Apr 3, 2023 | Pasterns, Skin Funk

Whinny’s Wisdoms

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Woohoo, this blog-writing stuff is fun! Tony, my amazing blog mentor, said it was tedious trying to get the humans to understand. I think he, like many cats, is a bit jaded. I, on the other hand, am a humble mouse who is excited to learn and share all the things I glean hanging around the Clinic. This week I learned that horses have a body part called a pastern, and that it is prone to skin infections. I also learned horse people love to call the same thing by a bunch of different names. Pastern dermatitis is the fancy name, but it has been known to go by Scratches, Mud Fever, Dew Poisoning, Greasy Heel, and the list goes on. Let’s learn all about it this week!

Location, Location, Location

Since I’m new to all this horse stuff, Tony and I started with a talk about anatomy. We also started with him informing me that it’s a pastern, not a pasture. I felt my confusion was understandable. As a field mouse, I’m well acquainted with pastures. Pasterns, not so much. Anywho, pasterns are the bit of the leg between the hoof and the ankle. It became apparent why they might be prone to skin infections once I understood the location. That area gets exposed to all that pastures, footing in an arena, and water running off the body has to offer. Listening to the Doctors talk about it further confirmed my suspicions. This location takes a beating!

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

What Is Pastern Dermatitis?

Pastern dermatitis is usually a collection of a bunch of different kinds of bacteria, and sometimes a bit of fungus. These critters just love all the moisture and dirt that collects at the pastern. If your horse lives outside for some or all of the day, that area may stay wet for a good portion of the day. Especially in Florida in the summer, the day starts with a heavy dew on the grass, then the heat and humidity really kick in, and the day ends with a lovely thunderstorm. The pastern never gets a chance to fully dry, and that’s a recipe bacteria and fungus love! Then the body makes crusts and scabs from the infection, which makes even better living conditions for microscopic things. The key point here is that pastern dermatitis is not just one kind of bacteria or fungus. It’s a collection. This means a broad spectrum approach is needed. 

Making it Go Away

Listening to the Doctors talk about pastern dermatitis, I learned that Equishield CK salve is their go-to treatment. This salve has an antibacterial and an antifungal component, so it takes care of all the potential causes of the problem. I heard them say the salve also does a great job repelling water from the skin. Based on what I learned about moisture and pastern dermatitis, this salve seems perfect! 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

The Doctors said for most horses, this is all that’s needed. Daily application to get the infection under control, and then once or twice weekly application to make pastern dermatitis stay away. However, they also spoke about horses with really bad cases of pastern dermatitis. For these horses, systemic antibiotics might be necessary, along with pain medications, and a more aggressive topical therapy than CK salve. Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often! 

What you never, ever want to do with pastern dermatitis is scrub hard. The best way to get the crusts and scabs to go away is to soften them with topical salves, then rinse them off the next day. Do not pick them off, despite how much you humans love to do such things!

Prevention

Tony filled me in on the human saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That sure seems to apply here. Keeping those pasterns clean and dry makes it hard for bacteria and fungus to grow there. Applying products like CK Salve or diaper rash ointment to the pasterns keeps the moisture from sticking when your horse is outside. Diligent monitoring for any scabs lets you start treatment quickly before pastern dermatitis becomes a big deal. All that seems simple!

Sometimes it’s Different

Tony has also told me that horses are weird. He says that a lot. Pastern dermatitis has its own version of weirdness. If your horse’s leg is white or roan, it might have leukocytoclastic vasculitis instead of pastern dermatitis. Whoa, those are big words!!! The Doctors said this is an immune mediated problem that is set up by sunlight on white legs. It can look a lot like pastern dermatitis, but it doesn’t respond to the same treatments. So if you’ve got a horse with a white leg, and you’re doing all the right things and that pastern dermatitis isn’t responding, it’s time to call the Doctors for a visit!

Whew! Made it through another blog! As the newly appointed Official Clinic Mouse and Blog Writer, I was nervous, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Pastern dermatitis was very interesting, and I can’t wait to learn even more about horses. Tony has been great, too. We go over my blogs before I send them to you guys, then he returns to driving his golf cart around, and yelling at kids to get off his lawn. You know, the stuff retired folks do. 

That’s it for this week!

~Whinny

P.S. Have you seen the new video series that the humans around here put on YouTube? It’s called, Horse Girl Goes to the Vet, and it’s a riot! If you have 3 minutes for a good laugh (and maybe a nugget of wisdom!),  click this link to check it out! And make sure you subscribe while you’re there so you don’t miss out on upcoming videos!

Whinny’s Wisdoms is the official blog of Whinny the Clinic Mouse 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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Hoof Abscesses

Hoof Abscesses

Mar 27, 2023 | Abscesses

Whinny’s Wisdoms

Springhill Equine Veterinary ClinicAs the Clinic Mouse, I’m pretty good at seeing things around the clinic (but not being seen–being a mouse has its advantages!). But I am best at seeing things closer to my eyeline… and I’m all about horse feet. The doctors here at Springhill Equine pay special attention to their patients’ hooves because they are so important and can cause oh so many things to go wrong if not cared for properly.

The most expert of all the experts on horse feet is Dr. Staples. She’s an equine podiatrist, which means she’s a veterinarian, and certified journeyman farrier. We’re very fortunate to have her in our corner of the world!

Whinny Wisdom: Podiatry is a branch of medicine dedicated to diagnosing and managing conditions affecting the foot.

Dr. Staples says that horses with abscesses are acutely lame on just a single foot. While there can be multiple causes for a single-leg lameness, abscess is always high on the list! Tony (the best kitty mentor a mouse could ask for) says that “abscesses usually make their presence very well known.” In fact, I hear it’s not unusual for a human to call in saying they think their horse has broken their leg, but when our team gets out there it’s just a foot abscess! I’ve used that word a lot, so I should define it, huh?

An abscess is basically just a pocket of pus. Pus is a collection of immune cells, dead tissue, and bacteria. Abscesses can form anywhere in the body, but they love to form when a bit of bacteria sneak their way in between the hard hoof wall and the soft inner tissues of the foot. They can also form if your horse steps on something and sustains a small puncture wound which allows bacteria in. It always amazes me how much you humans miss being up there–the ground around horses is often hiding little nails, metal pieces, or other things that can injure your horse (or mouse!).

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

When abscesses occur under the skin due to injury, there is usually room for the skin and surrounding tissues to expand and swell. The veterinarians and technicians here at Springhill all get very excited when they get to “pop” one of these big swellings! But in the hoof, there’s a hard outer covering preventing major swelling. Still, the way to make the pain go away is to establish drainage. When the horses are lucky, that drainage happens out the bottom of the foot, but sometimes it comes out the top, near the coronet band.

The best thing you as the human can do to help your horse once it’s been diagnosed with an abscess is help to promote drainage. The doctors like to use epsom salts as a drawing agent. They even have a video to show you how use a baby diaper and secure it to your horse’s foot. Alternatively, you can soak your horse’s foot in warm water with epsom salts a few times per day. Usually I see ground feeders or other small buckets used for this–just once I wish they’d fill one up for me to have a little mousey soak without a giant horse hoof in the way.

So, let’s say you call the clinic to send a doctor out for your horse’s acute, non-weight bearing lameness. Let me talk about what you’ll see happen. First, they’ll ask you all about when you first noticed it, if you’ve given your horse any medications (don’t do this without asking first!), and if he’s ever had any hoof issues before. They might ask about when the last time the farrier was there too. Then, they’ll likely take a look and a feel of the leg and the hoof.

You may see them examine more legs than the one you think is the problem, and there’s a few reasons for that. It’s always easiest to tell what abnormal is when it is compared to normal, so the doctors may do a lot of compare and contrast of the different legs to help determine the cause. You’ll likely see them bring a hoofpick and a big, barbaric looking tool called a hoof tester. Hoof testers are used to apply pressure to specific spots around the hoof to look for reaction or pain.

Depending on how obvious the lameness is, the doctor may need to see the horse walk or trot, or they may perform diagnostic local anesthesia to isolate the problem to the hoof. If your horse has a very obvious soft or painful spot, the doctor may take a hoof knife and gently and carefully remove some sole. It’s very easy to do more harm than good with this, so it’s a strictly DVM endeavor.

Often, our veterinarians will need to take radiographs–otherwise known as x-rays–of your horse’s foot to look for the abscess location.

Whinny Wisdom: X-rays involve taking a 2-D image of a 3-D structure, so at least two views are always needed. Often 3 or more views are needed to see the problem in all planes and get an exact location.

Sometimes the doctor needs to sedate or even block the foot just to take those x-rays because the horse is so painful. But once they can find the location, they can give you a better idea of how long you’ll need to treat. And as Tony says, the good news with abscesses is that, almost always, once they are opened and drained, your horse will return to being happy and comfortable. He may be a cat, but even I have to admit he’s right most of the time. In addition to the diaper and/or soaking treatments, our team will likely put your horse on pain medication. The pain medication not only helps them feel better, but also encourages them to put full weight on the problem hoof, thereby squishing out the abscess.

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

So how do you prevent hoof abscesses? Well, you can’t prevent all of them, but regular trimming by an experienced farrier is a good start. In between trims, you should clean your horse’s feet every day with a hoof pick. And keep a close eye at mouse-level around your barn for nails, screws, or any other possible puncture risks. Any time your horse is lame, give the clinic a call and let us get you an appointment to figure out why.

That’s it for this week!

~Whinny

P.S. Are you subscribed to my blog? If not, there’s a big purple box just below where you can sign up! Don’t rely on Facebook to tell you when my newest blog is out, get it right in your email!

Whinny’s Wisdoms is the official blog of Whinny the Clinic Mouse 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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Retired Horses

Retired Horses

Mar 20, 2023 | Retired

Tuesdays with Tony

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Retiring Horses

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

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

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

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

Making the Transition

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

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

In or Out?

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

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

Diet

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

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

Location, Location, Location

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

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

Creating New Habits

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

Shifting Goals

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

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

Farewell,

Tony

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

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

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Equine Biosecurity

Equine Biosecurity

Mar 13, 2023 | Biosecurity

Tuesdays with Tony

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next week,

~Tony

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

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

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EPM 101

EPM 101

Mar 6, 2023 | EPM

Tuesdays with Tony

What is EPM?

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

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

What Does an EPM Horse Look Like?

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

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Testing for EPM

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

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

Is it Treatable?

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

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

But My Horse Felt Better with Drugs!

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

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

Until next week,

~Tony

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

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

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Acupuncture

Acupuncture

Feb 27, 2023 | Acupuncture

Tuesdays with Tony

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

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

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

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

The Exam

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

The Personality Types:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Treatment

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

Follow-up

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

How Can Acupuncture Help Your Horse?

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

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

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

Until next week,

~ Tony

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

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

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Equine Senior Care and Considerations

Equine Senior Care and Considerations

Feb 20, 2023 | Seniors

Tuesdays with Tony

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

Vaccines

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

Deworming

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

No Hoof, No Horse

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

Condition

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

Nutrition

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

Dentistry

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

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

Disease Vulnerability

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

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

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

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic 

Golden Golden Years

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

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

Until next week,

~Tony

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

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

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Floating Teeth: Equine Dental Care

Floating Teeth: Equine Dental Care

Feb 13, 2023 | Dentals

Tuesdays with Tony

I, being the hard working feline that I am, am often hand fed by my humans and do not often have to think about the use of my teeth. Your horse, however, requires roughage (hay, grass, other gross green things) in their diet which they generally need to use their teeth for. Today we are going to talk about equine dentistry and the effects it has on your horse’s well-being. 

If you’re a reader of this blog, I know you care deeply for your equine friends. You have your veterinarian out on a regular basis, vaccinate for the things they recommend, and only deworm based on fecal egg counts as directed by your veterinarian. So, who’s floating your horse’s teeth?

If it’s not also your veterinarian, keep reading. Oh–and even if it is–you should still read the rest of my blog.

What Do We Do to Horse Teeth During a “Dental”

Horse teeth are designed to grow continuously throughout the horse’s life. As the horse chews, they wear down their teeth. When the mouth is balanced, the teeth wear down in a relatively even way. Once imbalances start though, they only get worse as the grinding action occurs every day. Horses can develop imbalances–things like malocclusions, sharp enamel points, and hooks–for a variety of reasons, and yes they do develop these things “in the wild” too. Some imbalances are relatively minor and don’t prevent the horse from eating, but some cause severe oral pain and make your herbivorous friend taste blood in their mouth. 

So, when my docs go in there with their special tools, what they are doing is correcting those imbalances. My docs use tools called “power floats” which make the dentals quicker and put less strain on their overworked backs, but you may see your veterinarian use tools called “hand floats” which basically just look like metal rasps. And that is where the term “floating a horse’s teeth” comes from–just the name of the tool used! The floats are designed to be used in specific ways to safely grind down the high or sharp points on various surfaces of the teeth in order to bring things closer to being balanced. It is very possible to “over float” however, which is why a dental speculum and bright light are absolutely vital to the dental–and you can’t use those effectively without the magic word: sedation!

Sedation can only be used and administered by or under direct supervision of a veterinarian. There are lay people who claim to float horse teeth out there who use sedation but this cat knows they went under the table to get it–and that spot is reserved for me. So, sedation is used by my docs to make the horses a bit more calm and amenable to the whole process. It is a very light sedation that keeps them standing and aware, but also allows the doctor and technician to be safe while the speculum goes into the mouth and holds it open for the dental exam. 

The dental exam is one of the most vital parts of the entire procedure and is definitely not being performed by lay people claiming to be able to float teeth. The dental exam involves both visual and tactile assessment of every tooth in the horse’s mouth. The docs look for missing teeth, sharp points, oral ulcerations, tumors, extra teeth, you name it they want to find and document it. Just like doing a physical exam for vaccines helps your veterinarian know what is normal for your horse so they can more easily spot abnormal, doing dental exams every year allows them to track progression of any imbalances or abnormalities your particular horse has.

How Often Should Dentals Happen?

For most horses, my docs recommend a dental exam and float once per year. Exams should start within the first few years of life and often there are already mild sharp points that my docs take down quickly with their power float. Starting dentals early helps find any issues your horse was born with so they can be managed over time. It also helps young horses get used to the sedation of the speculum and the noise of the float in their mouth, which will make them better patients for the next visit.

Regular dental work by a veterinarian can help prevent pain and discomfort, improve chewing ability so they get more out of each piece of food, and can even improve behavior and comfort while working. Sometimes my docs will recommend twice yearly dental work for young horses with pre-set imbalances so we can set them up for success in later life, and very often my docs will recommend twice yearly dental care for older horses who teeth are starting to “expire.” 

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go Tim Burton on you, by expire I just mean teeth that are so worn down they are not very effective at grinding anymore. If a horse lives long enough, this will happen, and it takes a skilled hand to manage the teeth around that one, especially the one directly across the mouth from it. Remember how I said at the beginning that the teeth are designed to grow for the entire life? Well, if one expires, the one opposite on it on the upper or lower jaw will often keep growing, and growing, and growing…

For horses that don’t get regular veterinary dental care, this leads to the sensation of having a giant pillar in their mouth that they can’t quite chew around, and will often make them less likely to eat. If my docs meet an older horse who isn’t keeping weight on or isn’t eating well, one of their first steps will be a dental exam and likely floating the teeth!

Take Home Points

What this cat wants you to know is this: all of your horses should have dental care performed with sedation by their veterinarian at least once per year. 

It doesn’t matter what a lay person tells you about how “skilled” or “specialized” they are in equine dentistry, they are not qualified to appropriately manage your horse’s teeth.

A horse’s teeth are vital to their digestion of nutrients. Most horses eat hay or grass as the majority of their diet. This is known as roughage because the plant fibers need to be broken down by the grinding action of the teeth. This is why older horses that have expired teeth should switch to a complete or “senior” feed. Senior feeds have the roughage component in them already ground down, essentially doing the work of the teeth prior to entering the horse’s mouth! 

Well, I hope that gives you some perspective on equine dentistry. If you have any follow up questions my docs are always happy to answer, just give the clinic a call or talk to them at your horse’s next wellness appointment!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Be a good human and scroll down to the purple box and subscribe to my blog. Don’t rely on Facebook to let you know when a new one is out. My subscribers get it right in their email inbox, and a day earlier than everyone else! Go ahead, just scroll down a little further. Good human. You can do it!

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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Subtle Lameness

Subtle Lameness

Feb 6, 2023 | Lameness

Tuesdays with Tony

Ah, the subtle lameness. This is often a source of medical mystery for my Docs. For me, it’s like a good Netflix drama. Is the problem even what you think it is? One minute you’re sure it’s the left rear leg, but it turns out it’s really the neck, and sometimes it isn’t even a lameness! It’s a neurologic issue, or even a muscle disorder. I tell you, it’s high suspense around here! How do my Docs even begin to unravel the mystery? Read on while I drop some cat wisdom on you.

Start at the Beginning

Everyone always wants lameness exams to start with trotting, or riding, or something where they can show off the lame part. My Docs never start here. It’s even more important with the vague lameness. They start by talking with you about what’s going on. The story is often long, complicated, and can have some subtle plot points. 

It may be that it all started with a day where Flicka didn’t feel quite right. From there, some days have been good, maybe some bad. There could be a buck when turning left and picking up the canter. There could be a skip when coming down to a trot from the canter. All those little clues help my Docs begin to formulate an idea. That idea is just that, an idea. It’s likely to change as more information is added, but it’s the starting point of what’s really going on. Much like that Netflix show, there may be some false clues in here, but without exploring them all, my Docs often can’t know what’s real and what’s not. 

Hands On

We’re still not going to run the horse around. The next step is a full cat scan… er, human scan. I’m generally very involved from a supervisory standpoint for this part. My Docs will poke, prod, flex, extend, and turn all your horse’s parts while standing still. 

Each Doc goes through this a little differently, but the general idea is to get their hands on every part of your horse, and to move those parts through their normal range of motion while standing still. This is often very telling about where horses are stiff, sore, or generally reactive. Excellent clues are gained from this section of the exam. Those ideas from earlier are expanded upon, modified, and sometimes changed all together. 

Finally, We Move

Once there has been time spent on history, and hands laid upon the horse, then we head out to see how they move. Generally, my Docs start on grass footing. They watch the horse walk away from them, towards them, and from the side. They will often watch, and then video. Then they do the same at the trot. Depending on how that goes, next may come flexions, or heading to a hard surface to see what happens there, or some circles in both directions. 

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Different problems show up in different places. Some things don’t like hard surfaces, some don’t like soft, some don’t like to be on the inside of a circle, and some object strongly to being on the outside of the circle. Especially with a subtle lameness, my Docs are going to run through a lot of scenarios. They are also going to video a lot of those scenarios and watch them in slow motion. Slow motion can really highlight an area that isn’t moving normally. Turns out those phones are good for something more than Facebook! 

A Cautionary Tale of Flexions

Flexions are a let’s stress this area and see what happens kind of test. They are far from perfect, but they can sometimes point to an area that hurts when it’s bent, held, and then asked to move. However, flexions can lie in all sorts of ways. Occasionally, there’s a well-performing horse with no issues that trots off like it has a broken leg when flexed. More often there are lame horses that trot off exactly the same when flexed. Flexions add information to the mystery; they don’t solve it!

Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic

Even More Moving

With a subtle lameness, my Docs will often have you ask the horse to perform their normal job. My Docs will watch the horse go through their paces. They nearly always video this part, especially if faster gaits or quick turns are involved. Even my Docs are only human, and videos help them see the subtle changes going on. For many of these not-so-obvious lamenesses, it takes until this step to really fully complete that inkling of an idea that happened way back at talking to you about history. 

Next Steps

Depending on all the previous steps, the next step can be a variety of things: blocking, radiographs, or ultrasound. Blocking involves numbing an area to see if the problem stops. There are obvious issues with this system. Sometimes you have what we call an unblockable area. Many back and pelvis issues fall under these categories. The other issue is some horses really change the way they move when some part of their body is numb. Last week we had one that held his leg up in the air because his foot was blocked. Very, very difficult to continue a lameness like that! There was nothing to do but wait for the block to wear off and try a different plan. Ah horses. 

Some areas my Docs image before they block if they are suspicious. Proximal suspensories often fall in this category. To block them, you have to put liquid where the ultrasound then looks, which makes it look like you have a really, really bad suspensory issue when it might just be your block. Some areas, like backs, don’t always respond great to blocks so x-rays or ultrasound may be the next step. 

Next, Next Steps

After narrowing down their ideas to a primary problem, my Docs will work on a plan to address that primary issue. This may involve injections, rehab therapy, spinal manipulation, acupuncture, a change in tack, or any of a number of things. Often there is a combo pack of things that need to be done to help these horses. Rarely is it a let me give your horse this magic injection (or pill) and all will be fixed! 

Subtle lamenesses can be frustrating. Making sure you have reasonable expectations for the process, and knowing the results often require a lot of work can help everyone arrive at the best answer for the horse. Unlike Law & Order, the perpetrator isn’t always found in 47 minutes. Sometimes it can be an 8-episode series, and there’s no binge watching allowed. We hope for a 2-3 episode max series to solve the mystery, but horses have their own ideas about what’s entertainment.

One thing I didn’t mention was the rider. An unbalanced rider can make it difficult for the horse to do all the things. That’s a whole different blog, and may require some professional help for the rider (physical therapist to figure out your body, mental therapist to help you accept that you’re not perfect, etc). My humans just released a podcast episode about that very topic called Unbalanced Riders, so make sure you’re subscribed to the show, or head over to the Podcast Page of my website to listen in!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Be a good human and scroll down to the purple box and subscribe to my blog. Don’t rely on Facebook to let you know when a new one is out. My subscribers get it right in their email inbox, and a day earlier than everyone else! Go ahead, just scroll down a little further. Good human. You can do it!

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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