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July 2009 
Equine Ulcer Symptoms Respond To AntacidsWith nearly constant reports of widespread gastric ulcers in horses, horse owners are understandably concerned. However, while severe ulceration can definitely cause problems, there is also some unwarranted hysteria. Has your horse ever had gastric ulcers? Probably. Should you worry about that? Probably not. Multiple studies have found that 50 to 70% of horses with no symptoms have evidence of gastric irritation to actual ulceration of varying severity. Racehorses and endurance horses are likely to have the most severe changes, but a 2008 study found 70.9% of broodmares on pasture had gastric ulcers with an average score of 3 on a scale of 0 to 5. The finding that a high percentage of horses of all types and ages have ulcers, including those without symptoms, suggests that gastric irritation and ulceration are a fact of life for horses. According to endoscopic surveys and postmortem data, if your horse was scoped today there’s a 50 to 70% chance that irritation or ulceration would be found. However, that doesn’t mean you’ve got a problem severe enough to cause symptoms and need treatment. Horse Riding And Compression Garments Stretch breeches are pretty unforgiving to figure flaws, and the white show breeches that dressage and jumper riders wear can be particularly unkind. The idea of a garment that will smooth things out a bit for riders is appealing. We found two: SmartPak’s SmartSlim and Carousel Action Wear Long-Line Underwear at Equestrian Collections in their 1824 collection that specializes in plus-size riding apparel. At the same time, we looked at a selection of light compression garments available in the general market but didn’t see any with a long-enough leg or a crotch design that would be suitable for riding. The good news: SmartSlim and Action Wear both smooth out some of the bulges and lines visible when wearing breeches and jeans. The bad news: There just isn’t enough compression to reduce the number of inches in tummy and hips. Breeches don’t fit any better. One-Step Horse Bathing Kits Even if you’re blessed with a good wash-stall arrangement, bathing your horse is a time-consuming job. You know the routine: Hose the horse down. Mix shampoo in a bucket. Sponge and scrub down the horse. Rinse. Enter sprayer systems. They’re similar to the mixing sprayers for pesticides that you can attach to your garden hose. Some products have the sprayer attached directly to the product container, while others require you purchase a separate unit. In general, the sprayer heads have dials for "Off," "Rinse," and "Wash," with a few having additional wash settings to vary the amount of shampoo used. For ease of giving a bath, we give this new method a huge "thumbs up." It’s much faster than traditional bathing and wastes less water (and you stay drier, too). How well the products cleaned was more related to their composition/ingredients and the filth level of the horse than the actual method. Best Horse Cooling Sheets and Blankets Horses sweat to eliminate body heat generated by working muscles. Because this heat comes from within, a horse that is working hard will sweat even when the weather is cool. In fact, horses working at high speed in frigid weather can have the sweat freeze right on them. Sweating continues until the body temperature returns to normal. In warm weather, this isn’t a problem. But when it’s cold, too-rapid cooling can lead to muscle cramping. Coolers keep the horse warm and wick moisture away from the skin and out to the surface of the blanket. They can help keep the horse’s muscles warm and supple between warm-up and competition time. They’re also great to have on hand for some added warmth on those brisk early mornings at shows. Our Readers Agree: Learned Helplessness Is Harmful The hardest decisions for anyone who trains horses—whether a professional with numerous horses or an owner with one horse—involve when to push, when to back off, when to discipline and when to forgive. There is no single standard or rule of thumb. And perhaps that’s why our March article "Learned Helplessness—A Dangerous Method" caused an unprecedented amount of reader response. Some congratulated us for publishing the article, some took issue with certain observations, and some asked for advice on redeeming horses who’ve been ruined by trainers who implement learned helplessness. In this month’s article we’ll address some of those questions and objections. "Thank you for the article on learned helplessness," wrote reader Sue Stimson. "I have been horrified for years seeing horses with noses forced behind vertical, whether it is in performance like dressage or jumping or in breeds like Arabian. I am also depressed to see America’s Quarter Horse made into a robot. I long for more horses like eventers galloping happily forward on interesting courses, reiners executing wonderful spins and circles, Lipizzaners floating softly across the arena, all with heads at comfortable, balanced positions and attitudes looking forward to what’s next!" Flexion Tests For Horses A flexion test is when a part of the horse’s body is held in a flexed position for a period of time, then the horse immediately jogged/trotted off in hand to see if the test causes any obvious discomfort or worsening of lameness. With a positive test, the first few steps when the horse jogs off will show an obvious lameness including things like short striding and head bobs. If a hind leg, the horse may "hop" when jogged off. When doing a flexion test, it’s important to pay attention to what you’re doing or you may stress other areas, too, which will confuse your results. To start, make sure the horse is standing square before you begin, facing in the direction you want him to jog off. Ask your handler to keep the horse as motionless as possible during the test, and to be ready to jog off at a trot as soon as you release the leg. You’ll probably have to cluck, clap or tap the horse to get him to move off quickly. If the horse walks instead of trotting, repeat the test. Conversely, some horses will high tail it away from you quickly when the leg is released, also making it difficult to see if there was any effect. Again, if this happens repeat the test. Oral Doxycycline Studies And Your Horse Doxycycline is an antibiotic used to treat Lyme disease, Ehrlichia and a variety of other bacterial infections. The drug is also known to have activity against MMP enzymes—matrix metalloproteinases. MMPs are enzymes found throughout the body tissues. Their function is to break down connective tissues, either as part of normal body processes and repairs, or in response to inflammation. Since connective tissue is found virtually anywhere, a wide variety of conditions involve MMP activation. It’s been known for a long time that doxycycline and related drugs can slow the destruction caused by arthritis. Recent research in horses has confirmed doxycycline reaches levels in joints sufficient to suppress MMPs. Small Strongyles Gain Strength: Moxidectin May Be Failing, Too In our October 2008 issue, we told you about studies that had found small strongyle fecal egg counts can become positive again in as short a period as 30 days after ivermectin treatment. This likely represents the emergence of strains with ultra-short life cycles that will flourish on the more traditional eight-week deworming timing. Now a study from Auburn University has found the same is true for moxidectin (Quest). A herd of draft horses that had been routinely dewormed with moxidectin for five years was checked for eggs at 0, 7, 30, 60 and 90 days after deworming. Egg counts were reduced at 7 and 30 days, but not 60 and 90. Insulin Resistance And The Pregnant Mare When a mare is pregnant, all her body systems are geared toward providing nutrition for the growing foal. One way nature accomplishes this is to induce a degree of insulin resistance in the mare. This helps divert glucose away from the mare’s own tissues to ensure a generous and steady supply for the fetus. For most mares, this isn’t a problem, but if the mare was insulin-resistant already, it can put her at a higher risk for developing laminitis. Most people think the pregnant mare has to have a highly supplemented feed to be certain all the needs of the mare and foal are met during this critical time. However, concentrated fat or carbohydrate sources all but guarantee laminitis in these mares. |
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