Wow, wow, wow, what a year it has been! Can you believe we are only 3 days away from a New Year? Where has the time gone? That’s an easy answer for me: I have spent the last 8,349 hours sleeping, the remaining 363 hours I have been eating. Surprisingly, time really does fly when you are having fun. I figured this week we could recap 2020 and talk about some New Year’s Resolutions for 2021. I have heard over and over again from my minions what a crazy year 2020 has been for everyone. I sincerely hope for the sake of my sanity that 2021 is a little quieter so I can get my full 23.5 hours of sleep in each day!

2020 started off mild, just some buzzing around about the Royal Family when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle elected to quit the Royal Family. Why anyone would quit being royal, I do not know. Being a cat automatically makes me royalty, and personally, I wouldn’t give it up for the world. But alas, to each their own. I haven’t heard much more about Harry and Meghan the rest of the year, and can do nothing but wish them well.

One day, probably around mid-March, I was basking on the roof of one of my doc’s trucks when I saw a client pull in.  Nothing new, nothing surprising. Clients come to see me all the time. This time it was different though. This time before the client got out of her car, she put on a muzzle.  I have heard of dogs and cats being muzzled because they don’t like the vet, but I have never seen a human in a muzzle.  This person piqued my interest, so I followed them inside. 

My mind was racing. How do I protect my minions from this vicious person? What if they come after me, can people get rabies, and can they give rabies to cats or other people if they bite? Needless to say, I was very anxious about allowing this person into my clinic. I kept my distance while planning my attack but close enough to follow them into the clinic. Much to my surprise, I was greeted by my staff who are also all muzzled. No one seemed ill though. No foaming at the mouth, no growling, no obvious signs of any problems among the staff or the clinic. So why would they all be muzzled? I had to delve further into this situation. I confided with Teenie, who lives inside at all times. She told me everything has been status quo around the clinic, and since she can’t see, she really could tell if someone was acting a little off.

In order to obtain more insight into the situation I pretended to sleep quietly in my usual chair. This is when I heard my staff and the client talk about Corona and how they have to help stop the spread of Corona.  Well, I was even more confused now.  Why prevent people from drinking beer? Is there something wrong with a particular batch of Corona beer, and how would a muzzle prevent the spread? Hoping to find out more about this odd behavior I continued my stealthy plan of “sleeping”. This is when I found out that they were not talking about Corona the beer but Corona Virus, or Covid-19. I listened further and learned that they were not in fact wearing muzzles but that the masks they were wearing were to prevent the spread of the virus.  Now it all made sense. 

Things changed pretty significantly around the clinic. Everyone was wearing masks, there was hand sanitizer on every surface, and clients were asked to remain outside the building. My minions have certainly done their part on preventing the spread, and so have all of you. I am bursting with pride at how well all of you have embraced the changes we made at the clinic and during appointments. You all have been remarkably understanding and welcoming of the changes which has allowed my docs and staff to continue to treat your horses with the best care possible. For this I thank you. We have not let the Corona virus prevent us from treating your horses and we will continue to do whatever is necessary to keep everyone safe while providing top veterinary care to your equine companions.

I am pretty sure we have heard enough about the Corona virus. But what about those Murder Hornets? What a short-lived fright to give us all just a brief distraction from the pandemic mayhem.  I guess avoiding hornets is significantly easier than avoiding microscopic virus particles. Nevertheless, Murder Hornets cannot be forgotten and I remind you all to stay diligent and avoid wasps and any kind of stinging insects. 

Speaking of stinging insects, there were plenty of outbreaks of Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus that affected horses all over the country this year. Those pesky mosquitos really took advantage of the warm humid weather. Reports of EEE and West Nile were made in our own back yard in Alachua County. Even though we have had freezing cold temperatures the last few days, mosquitos are still all around and can still spread these viruses. Here is your reminder to get your horses vaccinated twice a year to help prevent them contracting one of these deadly viruses.

The rest of 2020 has not been all fun and games either. From the presidential election to numerous protests, there has not been a lack of news out there. We have seen wildfires out west and deaths of many famous people including Kobe Bryant, Eddie Van Halen, and Alex Trebek.  Now we are witnessing the release of the first Covid-19 vaccines. 2020 is sure to go out with a bang leaving everyone hoping that 2021 brings a bright future with health and happiness for all. 

I am sure you all have your ideas of New Year’s Resolutions heading into 2021. I have one more that I want you to add to your list.  Sign your horses up on the 2021 Wellness Plan. This is the best way to keep your horses happy and healthy. Help me, help you, to help my docs, help your horse.  My Wellness Plans will keep your horses up to date on vaccines and routine dental examinations and flotations. In my opinion, the biggest perk of the Wellness Plan is that any horse who is enrolled on a Wellness Plan will not be charged an emergency fee should the need to call my docs after hours arise. 

Needless to say, 2020 has been an interesting year. You and your horses have all been amazing as usual.  I speak not only for myself but for everyone here at Springhill Equine: we are looking forward to a bright New Year in 2021 with you all!

Until next week/year,

~Tony

It’s a chilly December in Florida and I’m celebrating the season by finding the warmest patches of sunshine in the Springhill Equine parking lot and knocking holiday decorations off the counters. Meanwhile, my clinic humans are busy preparing for the new year, and that includes a lot of talk about Wellness plans.

 Wellness plans are the discounted healthcare packages available from Springhill Equine to take care of your horse’s routine healthcare. Because the needs of an active show horse differ somewhat from the pasture pet that never goes further than the greenest patch of grass in your back yard, we have 3 different plans to best fit your horse’s lifestyle. Personally, I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t sign up for one of these plans, unless they like shredding up dollar bills as much as I like shredding potted plants.

 The Pasture Pet plan is for the homebody. You rarely take your horse off property and there’s not much horse traffic on and off your farm to expose your horse to diseases carried by other horses. But don’t give me the excuse that your horse doesn’t travel so he doesn’t need vaccines. Mosquitoes travel on to your property and so can a rabid raccoon. They carry deadly diseases and they’re not going to respect your property lines. The Pasture Pet plan is perfect to take care of your horse’s basic healthcare needs. It includes wellness exams and the EWT/WN vaccine twice a year, and the rabies vaccine, coggins, dental float, sheath cleaning, fecal exam, and deworming once a year. This plan is $430 a year.

 The Weekend Warrior plan is great for the horse that heads out to trail rides or small horse shows occasionally. Because he’ll be exposed to other horses, his risk for diseases such as rhinopneumonitis and influenza is increased. In addition to everything on the Pasture Pet plan, the Weekend Warrior plan also includes vaccination against Rhino and Flu to keep your partner well protected. This plan is $500 a year.

 If you’re actively showing in any discipline, the Performance Plan is designed for your horse. In addition to all that other stuff, we include an extra visit to identify and address any minor problems and a 3^rd EWT/WN/Rhino vaccine, since your horse has a significant exposure level. This is also a good plan for horses younger than 3 years old who need extra vaccines to stay safe. Bonus – you even get a $10 discount off each Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) session! Don’t get me started on how awesome FES is for treating muscle pain and giving your horse that extra competitive edge. That’s a topic for another day. The Performance plan is $620 a year.

 If you add up all the services in any of the Wellness Plans, the discounted package price of the plan is significantly cheaper than if you paid for all the things separately. You want your horse taken care of? Yes of course you do. And who would want to pay more for that stuff than necessary? I feel sure you could find better things to buy with the money you save. Like cat nip, or that salmon filet you left out on the counter the other day. Puurrrrr.

 One of the best things about being on Any of our Wellness Plans is that you pay NO EMERGENCY FEES! That’s a $100-$150 value for each emergency! You really want to pay an extra hundred bucks every time you need one of my docs on emergency? Do you enjoy shredding $100 bills in your spare time? It’s not like your horses are going to give you a break from colics, or lacerations, or hoof abscesses. I mean, you have met horses, right? You know they will find any way imaginable to get hurt. Our Wellness Plans are literally handing you back the $100 that your horses are definitely planning to cost you. They are plotting this right now. I can hear them plotting, can’t you?

 I know you forget stuff. You have notes taped up on your fridge or you have lists on your phone. Or maybe you do neither of those things and you just accept that you are hopeless at remembering things. The last thing you need right now is more stuff to remember, like when your horse is due for his vaccines or his dental float. I mean, we just had to live through 2020…I think you’ve had enough stress, right? But guess who is still planning to visit your horse even though you forgot to schedule his vaccines? Good ol’ Mikey Mosquito, zooming around your horse’s field, giving the gift of West Nile Virus with every bite. The vaccine lasts 6 months, but in Florida, mosquitoes are forever! Do yourself a favor and let my awesome Springhill office staff remind you when it’s time for your appointment.

 You can find the link to the Wellness plan sign ups right here on the Springhill Equine website. Now is the time – we’re signing up for 2021 Wellness right now!

 Until next week,

 Tony

P.S. I almost forgot to mention we have a Wellness 2021 contest going on! Check out the flyer below and be sure to sign your horse or donkey up to be entered. A FREE Pasture Pet Wellness Plan or a FREE SPA DAY are up for grabs.

CASTRATING HORSES

This past Saturday was one of my favorite Saturdays of the year. I hosted veterinary students from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for a day of fun. Every year I have the students out to the clinic to get hands-on experience with my docs performing castrations on horses and donkeys of all ages and sizes.

This year was a little different because of COVID but we made it work. I hosted 24 veterinary students and 16 horses for Saturday’s festivities. All the students got to practice basic physical examinations, medication dosage calculations, intravenous catheter placements and routine castration procedures all while under the watchful eye of my docs. I spent my time monitoring the lunch portion of the day and making sure that each and every student checked in with me for mandatory petting prior to starting the day. Needless to say, a “ball” was had by all.

While overseeing the activities on Saturday I got to thinking about how many castrations my docs do every year, when and why they perform castrations, and what sort of complications can occur. Then I starting thinking, if I’m wondering about these things, you all must also be wondering about them, and luckily for you, I am here with the info.

WHEN

Saturday was utterly exhausting for me. I only got 20 hours of sleep instead of my usual 23 hours. But nonetheless, I woke up early for you all on Sunday and started my research on castrations. What I found was pretty interesting. There is conflicting information floating around out there about what the best age to castrate a horse is. Some think that the earlier it is done the better and will allow the horse to grow large. Others think if it is done too early that the horse will not grow enough. Still others think that waiting until the horse is at least a year old is the way to go. My motto and the motto of my docs is if it has two testicles that are dropped and easily palpable, it’s time for them to go. My docs do not set an age limit young or old on castrations. I have seen them done on horses as young as 4 months old to as old as 21 years old. Age is just a number. That being said, it is possible that the complication rate may be slightly higher for the younger and older age group of horses. However, there are very few situations in which a castration would not be recommended by one of my docs.

The time of year is also important to consider when performing castrations. Castrations in the summer are more prone to complications from insects. But who wants to do a castration in the freezing cold of winter? Not me, I am a warm weather kitty! Ideally spring and fall when the temperatures and weather are mild are the best times to have your horse castrated. A little heat, a few bugs, and some cold temperatures will not stop my docs, though.

WHY

There are a countless number of reasons to castrate your horse. The number one reason people get their horses castrated is behavior.  When your horse’s testicles are removed, their testosterone levels drop, aggressive behavior decreases, and the urge to breed is decreased. It is a stallion’s natural instinct to be protective and to want to be involved with mares. This can become troublesome when it comes to performance horses. Schooling areas are busy places and a stallion who is following his instincts can be dangerous to the other horses in the area. Similarly, the world is a lonely place for stallions. They don’t get to be turned out with other horses, so they live a solitary life. This is for protection of the stallion and others. Castrating your horse will alleviate the stress that comes along with owning a stallion.

Another reason to consider castration is horse overpopulation. There are unwanted horses throughout the country and across the world. Unwanted horses can end up in horrible situations. They can be neglected, starved, and even sent to a kill pen at auction or slaughtered. Castrating horses who are not intended for breeding purposes helps to lower the unwanted horse population and decrease the horse overpopulation situation.

COMPLICATIONS

While everyone here at Springhill Equine thoroughly loves a good castration (I mean, I have an entire day dedicated to castrations, so if that’s not love, I don’t know what is), as with anything horse related, there are complications that must be considered when a castration is performed.

First and foremost, all castrations that my docs perform are performed under injectable anesthesia. This means that after a thorough physical examination, the horse is sedated and then laid down for the remainder of the procedure. This ensures the safety of my docs, my techs, owners, and the horse. That being said, anytime a horse is sedated and placed under anesthesia there is the risk of death. Death is extremely unlikely, but it also has to be considered when deciding to perform any kind of surgery, including castrations. Recovery from anesthesia also presents some risk and possible complications. Such complications include tendon and ligament injury as well as the possibility of breaking a limb during recovery. Again, these complications are rare but must be mentioned.

Some other complications that are slightly more common include bleeding from the surgical site, excessive swelling, and infection. A small amount of blood after surgery is normal and expected. Testicles being the annoying little suckers that they are, are extremely vascular. This opens the possibility that a horse may not clot well or may become too active shortly after surgery and disrupt the clot resulting in excessive bleeding.  Horses are giant creatures and can stand to lose a large amount of blood safely, but if the bleeding does not stop it can be a life-threatening situation.

The aftercare protocol my docs follow after a castration is designed to reduce the risk of swelling. Occasionally some horses will develop more swelling than expected at their surgical site. Luckily, this usually can be resolved with some anti-inflammatories, controlled exercise, and cold hosing.

Finally, any surgery, including castrations, opens up the patient to infection.  Some infections can be minor and easily treated with systemic antibiotics. Others can become more serious and travel up the surgical site into the body and form abscesses. These kinds of infections can cause the horse to become systemically sick and may require surgery to correct the problem.

Needless to say, I really love castrations, particularly when they involve students who provide me with all the love. Castrations make for some really lovely geldings in this world. Who doesn’t love a gelding? Be sure to talk with my docs about any questions or concerns you may have prior to scheduling your horse’s surgery.

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Looking for more information on castrating your horse or donkey? My docs have spent a lot of time working on their podcast, be sure to check them out on the podcast page of our website. While on our website, be sure to check out our Wellness Plans. We are currently signing up for the 2021 calendar year.

There’s a crazy bug out there. It lives in critters that wander the pastures with your horses. In a very few horses this bug gets into the spinal cord, and wreaks all kinds of havoc. What am I talking about? Equine Protozoal Myeloenchepalitis, or EPM. Three letters that strike fear into the hearts of horse people everywhere. This week, let’s talk about why you shouldn’t be scared of a little old E, P, and M, and why, sometimes, you should be. But first here’s a spoiler: your horse most likely doesn’t have EPM. Cats love spoilers. We’re a little bit evil like that. 

Let’s talk Lifecycle

Where does this bug come from? That’s a complicated answer. You see, bugs like the one that causes EPM go through several different life stages inside several different animals on their way to adulthood. I’ve gotten ahead of myself. 

To begin with, there are two main bugs that cause EPM. They are Sarcocystis neurona, and Neospora hughesi. Being a cat, I’m going to start with the easier of the two: Neospora hughesi. Humans don’t know a thing about this one. That’s right. They don’t know what animals it comes from or how it goes through its life cycle. Moving on to Sarcocystis neurona. This guy hangs out in a wide variety of animals during its teenage years. Racoons, skunks, armadillos, sea otters, and, whoa, wait, what?!? Even cats(!!) can help these guys go from babies to teenagers. 

After Sarcocystis neurona reaches teenagehood, it moves onto opossums, and almost definitely some other critters, but humans aren’t sure which ones. From there the adults hang in the opossum GI tract, which sounds like an awful place to live, and spit out eggs which are then spread by opossums pooping. Did you notice I didn’t mention horses anywhere in there? Yeah, that’s because they aren’t supposed to get them. Horses don’t work as a good choice for completing the life cycle. The little guys get to be teenagers, but then can’t leave. I hear you humans sometimes have a similar problem.  The technical term for this is aberrant intermediate host. Kinda like Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Horses aren’t supposed to have this organism living in them. Good job, horses. 

Those troublesome teenagers

Alright, back to teenage EPM organisms. What do they do to cause trouble? When a horse gets infected, these guys head for the brain and spinal cord. When they do, they start to take up space where there already wasn’t much room. This is sounding more and more like human teenagers. That space was used by a nerve that was sending a signal to some body part, or doing something important if it’s inside the brain. This explains why EPM symptoms can vary so wildly! It all depends on where that tiny guy takes up residence. 

The most common symptom of EPM is an area of muscle wasting away before your very eyes. OK, maybe not that fast, but certainly over a few days. Now, there are a bunch of different things that can cause this. EPM does it by taking up the space where the signal is formed on the spinal cord, and squishing it. EPM usually causes those signals to be blocked in a very one-sided way. For example, if the muscle on the forehead is affected, it will be only the right or left one, not both. That little organism would have to line itself up very, very purposefully to hit the signal for both sides of the body. That’s probably tough when you are made up of only one single cell. These bugs can be anywhere in the spinal cord, or, less often, brain, which means any muscle can be affected. To make things even more confusing, they can be affected badly, or mildly. This can make diagnosing EPM a challenge. Whoa, that was an awesome segway into my next section.

Diagnosing EPM

I’m going to start discussing diagnosis with a few statistics. For the entire United States, current best estimates are that 0.14% of the horses get actual EPM. That’s not a lot of horses. The odds are it’s not your horse. For the State of Florida, that’s 539 horses out of the 385,000 horses that live here. Again, a very tiny number. I can hear you humans now…..but my neighbors, cousins, sisters friend had her horse tested and it was positive. More on that in a minute. 

So you’ve called my Docs because you checked with Dr. Google (you know you did) and Dr. Google said EPM. My Docs are going to start with a very thorough physical exam focusing on symmetry. Remember, I talked about how important that was earlier. Then they’re going to ask your horse to do some fancy footwork to make sure your horse knows where his feet are. They ask for backing, spinning in tight circles, and walking with the head up and the head down at the very minimum. Based on that exam, they’re going to decide if they should continue on with testing for EPM. 

There’s only one tried and true way to diagnose EPM, and that’s a spinal tap. This is where a needle is placed into the area around the spinal cord, and some fluid is removed. Yes, it sounds scary. It is a tiny bit scary. However, it is a low risk procedure that can even be done with your horse standing. This is the only test that will tell you if there are organisms in the spinal cord. That’s right. The one and only test. Yes, yes your friend of a friend of a friend had a blood test. There are several available. They all are good if they’re negative, but worthless if they’re positive. No, I am not being a contrary cat. Allow me to explain. 

A negative blood test for EPM means there is no evidence of exposure. This means your horse hasn’t seen an EPM organism in the past 12-18 months minimum, or that your horse was literally just exposed and hasn’t had time to acknowledge the presence of EPM yet. That second scenario is super unlikely. The body mounts an attack in as little as 3 days. The chances that you are seeing symptoms, have gotten an appointment with my Docs, and had a blood test done and three days haven’t passed are pretty miniscule. It’s close to the chance I could walk by a piece of tuna without gobbling it down. So that’s negative. 

A positive test only means your horse has had an EPM organism inside them. In some areas that can be as many as 90% of the horses. Back to that 0.14%. This means that of those 90%, 99.84% of them clear the organism by themselves.  The immune system is impressive like that. It’s how we stay alive. It’s also why a positive blood test doesn’t mean a whole lot. A positive spinal tap, on the other hand, is really, really significant! 

Treating the beast

Well, you’ve lost the horsey lottery, and gotten a positive spinal tap back. What now, you ask? The good news is we have some good drugs to treat these nasty bugs with. The biggest two we use are Marquis and Protazil. Both are a drug that specifically targets the EPM organism and knocks it down. Both are pretty pricey. This means typically my Docs start with one of these drugs then transition to a cheaper drug that does a great job killing these nasties once they’ve been weakened. The most common version they use is one called Rebalance. 

These drugs are usually used for about 3 months total. Then your horse is back to normal, right? Nope. Nerves take a long time to grow back. It’s typically 10-12 months before horses are fully healed, and it’s going to take a whole lot of rehab to get them back there. It’s also important to know that the worse off the horse is when treatment starts, the harder it is to get them back to normal. That’s a kick in the pants right there. This is why it’s important to call my Docs quickly when you think your horse isn’t quite right. EPM, like most things, does best when diagnosed and treated quickly. 

A little mythbusting

I can totally hear you muttering under your breath that you treated your horse for EPM and it got better from whatever it was it was doing. Let’s talk about why you may be right. The drugs we use to treat EPM have what my Docs call an anabolic effect. This is like the steroids those sports guys took, and they got in big huge trouble. They build muscle, reduce inflammation, all kinds of good stuff. Unlike the ones the sports guys took, these drugs only have a smidge of this effect. However, it’s enough to make your horse feel better. And that’s what really happened when you gave EPM medications and your horse felt better. Wouldn’t you rather know what was really bugging them, and treat that instead? A smart cat would. 

I get it. EPM is scary, and complicated, and Dr. Google, and all your friends say it’s everywhere. Rest easy tonight knowing it isn’t everywhere, and chances are good (0.14% good) your horse doesn’t have it. Instead, call my Docs, set up an appointment and talk with them about what’s going on. They’ll help you find the reason, and design a program that gets you back enjoying your horse in no time!

Until next week,
~Tony

P.S. If I haven’t given you enough information here, the humans did an entire podcast episode about EPM, and why your horse probably doesn’t have it. You can find it over on the Podcast Page.

For reasons unknown to me, horses simply love to injure their legs. Yet more proof that us cats are superior to horses, am I right? And they are so creative about it! Lameness or lacerations, tendonitis or trailer rides…there are many reasons why my docs might ask you to bandage your horse’s leg. If you don’t know how to do it, it can be a bit intimidating. And though bandaging is really useful, if done wrong it can actually do more harm than good. This week, I’m going to go through two of the most common bandages and the materials you’ll need for them. My doc will direct you on which one to use when she sees your horse, but if you follow my instructions, you’ll be well prepared!

Standing bandages

This is the most common type of bandage, applied around the horse’s lower leg from the top of the cannon bone down to the fetlock or pastern. The basic materials are a thick padding and a compressive bandage on top. A standing bandage is great for covering a wound, supporting an injured tendon, or controlling swelling. It’s also a good option for protecting your horse’s legs when trailering. Keep in mind, this is not the same thing as a polo wrap that you might ride a horse in. Let’s look at the layers first so you know what to have on hand.

 The quilt or “cotton” layer: It’s a thick, cushy padding. Even though it may be called a “cotton”, I do NOT mean the kind of cotton roll that pulls apart into bits. My doc uses that stuff for cleaning sheaths. She hates it for leg wraps, because it bunches up and causes pressure points or the little cotton fibers stick to the wound. You have 2 options for this bandage layer. One is a disposable product such as a combine roll that is commonly used in a hospital to cover a wound. This is only meant to be used once and can’t be washed.

The other option is a fabric wrap like a quilt or “no-bow” bandage. These can be washed and reused indefinitely and are really useful to have around the barn. In my not-so-humble opinion, all horse people should own them. Don’t try to cut corners and use a thin padding or a towel for this purpose – you’re more likely to cause a skin or tendon injury if you don’t have sufficient padding.

The outer compressive layer: This holds your quilt in place. You can use a disposable product such as Vetrap or a reusable stable bandage.  You may be tempted to use a polo wrap, but it really doesn’t work very well.

Optional: If your horse has a wound, you may also be using a thin bandage underneath the standing bandage, made up of a non-adherent pad and some white roll gauze. This can cover the wound without sticking to it and keep wound ointment in place.

Tips for putting on a standing bandage

• Despite what you have probably heard, it doesn’t actually matter which direction you wrap in! The convention is to wrap clockwise on the right leg and counterclockwise on the left, but you don’t have to. I know, I know, other horse people may judge you if they think you’re going in the wrong direction. But really, it’s a habit, rather than a medical necessity. You can be a rebel if you want to.
• When you buy a stable bandage, it will be all wrapped up nicely in the package with the Velcro on the outside. That’s useless for actually putting it on the horse. You will have to unroll it and re-roll it the right way. **This part is important to avoid much frustration and potential curse words**. When you roll the bandage, fold the Velcro ends towards each other and then roll the wrap with the Velcro towards the inside. That way, when you get to the end of your beautiful bandage, you won’t find that the Velcro is on the inside of the wrap and hence, not at all useful for securing the bandage.

• Pull firmly but not excessively. It’s helpful to practice this to get the right tension. Too loose and the bandage could slip down, but too tight and it can injure the skin or tendons. If your quilt layer is nice and thick, injury is less likely to happen.
• Smooth out the wrinkles as you apply the layers, so they don’t cause pressure points.
• For the compressive layer, each layer should overlap the last one by about 50%.
• Leave about an inch of the white padding layer exposed on the top and the bottom
• For safety, don’t sit on the ground when applying the wrap, just in case your horse objects. Horses wearing hind limb bandages will frequently lift their back legs high on the first few steps. Just keep him moving for a few steps and he will usually get over it.

Check out this video of one of our awesome Springhill technicians applying a beautiful standing wrap.

Hoof bandage

This bandage is really useful if your horse has a hoof abscess and you need to poultice his foot or protect it once the abscess has drained.

 The materials you will need:

• A diaper. Not tiny baby sized, unless you have a tiny horse. A size 4 is about right for most horses.
• Some duct tape (gorilla tape works even better and won’t wear through as easily)
• Scissors

The steps:

• First, make a duct-tape patch. Tear off approximately 6 strips of duct tape roughly 12 inches long and place them side by side vertically. Then tear off another 6 strips and place them side by side horizontally, on top of the vertical strips. So you will have 2 layers of tape, going in different directions. It helps to stick the pieces of tape to a surface as you are making the patch, and then peel the patch off when all the layers are on. Pro tip – don’t do this on a surface you would be upset about peeling the paint off. In a pinch, your thigh will do.

• Make a 2-inch cut on each of the corners

• Hold your horse’s foot up and apply whatever poultice or dressing is being used under the bandage (if any)
• Place the middle of the diaper on the bottom of the hoof and fold the top of the diaper around the pastern. Many diapers will have Velcro ends you can use to secure it.
• Place the middle of the duct tape patch on the bottom of the hoof. You may then find it easier to allow him to place his foot down and do the rest with him standing on the patch
• Fold each side upwards and overlap the cut corners snugly to fit the shape of his hoof. You should still have diaper extending further up than the duct tape reaches. This will protect the skin.

• Take the roll of duct tape and wrap it around the hoof so it secures the patch in place. Don’t pull too tightly over the heel bulbs. Make sure the diaper is high enough that the duct tape doesn’t contact the skin.
• Check the bottom of the hood bandage a couple times a day, as your horse will eventually wear through the bottom of the duct tape, depending how actively he is walking.

There are several other types of bandages you may need in specific situations, but my docs can show you those if your horse needs them. If you have a good handle on the standing wrap and the hoof bandage, you’ll be well prepared for most situations and will earn this cat’s nod of approval!

Until next week,

~Tony

P.S. Want more step-by-step videos? Check out my YouTube Channel! If you watch every video on there, you will be as smart as this cat. Well, almost.