Category Archives: horse health

Hard ground, abscesses, and no time to ride

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, hoof care, Horse care, horse health and tagged with

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. Usually at this time of year my clients withdraw into a quiet hibernation and we start planning for the new year. This year, there’s been no stopping.

I’m not complaining — work is a good thing! Especially as it coincided with some freezing weather that left the ground rock hard and lumpy. Although I love where I board my horse, it’s weather like this that makes me long for an indoor that has soft, even footing.

Today, the sun came out and the temperatures are going to hit the low 50s. I had planned to wrap up my last proposal and go for a nice long ride. But, it’s never that simple. When I arrived at the barn to feed I found Freedom was three-legged lame. Based on the heat in his foot and the digital pulse, my best guess is that he’s brewing an abscess, brought on by bruising form the uber hard ground.

It has crossed my mind to put his hoof boots on him a few days ago. He looked a bit ouchy when he was navigating the paddock. Now I wish I had.

I’ll still spend my time at the barn. There’s lots of clean up that can be done now that the ground has thawed. And I can give Freedom a massage while I’m soaking his foot. But I can’t help but be a bit annoyed that my long anticipated ride will have to be deferred until he’s feeling better. I sure hope that the warm weather lasts until then!

Aortic rupture caused Hickstead’s death

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with ,
Hickstead's death was caused by a ruptured aorta.

Hickstead's death was caused by a ruptured aorta.

A necropsy revealed that an acute aortic rupture caused Hickstead’s death on November 6th. While this will end speculation, it still leaves questions because very little is known about what causes aortic ruptures.

An article in The Horse, quotes Janice Bright, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (Specialty of Cardiology), associate professor of cardiology, Colorado State University who explains:

Aortic ruptures usually occur very close to the junction of the aorta with the heart. This may result in acute hemorrhage into the pericardial sac. Because there is such a large volume of blood that flows under very high pressure within the aorta, aortic ruptures close to the heart often result in very serious clinical consequences, including sudden collapse and sudden death.

Why it happens is far less understood. Some vets believe that a congenital aneurysm might be the cause; others believe that there is a gradual weakening caused by a degenerative disease. Another theory is that migrating parasites, such as strongyles, could weaken a horse’s heart which could cause structural weakness to the wall. Or that a deficiency in copper — copper is needed to make strong bond between elastin and collagen in blood vessel walls.

According to Eric Lamaze, Hickstead felt fine during the competition, even during his last jumping efforts. Right up until the moment when he collapsed. It could not have been prevented and there is nothing that could have been done to save him. I know that when Kroni died, I took a small amount of comfort from the fact that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I hope that Hickstead’s connections are able to find some comfort, too, knowing that it was beyond their control.

 

Go natural with vitamin E

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, equine nutrition, Horse care, horse health and tagged with ,
Horses get vitamin E from green pasture

Horses get vitamin E from green pasture. I guess Freedom needs more grass!

When Freedom was tested for Lyme, my vet also suggested testing his vitamin E levels. Horses that are deficient in vitamin E can have muscle soreness and long-term deficiency can cause neurological dysfunction.

Horses get vitamin E from fresh, green pasture. Freedom is out on pasture but we don’t have that much, especially at this time of the year. He’s also on a high fat diet and there’s been some research that shows animals on high fat diets have an increased need for vitamin E.

Grains typically have some vitamin E added, but not all that much. For example, the ration balancer that I feed Freedom has 500 IU of vitamin E per pound; the recommended daily amount is 2000 IU per day to prevent neurological dysfunction.

Freedom’s blood work shows that he is slightly deficient, with a level of slightly under 1400.

So, while it’s not a huge deficiency, I’m now supplementing his vitamin E intake because this is a case where preventive measures work better than treatment. At least with vitamin E toxicity isn’t really an issue so if you feed a bit too much, it’s not a problem.

Here’s the catch: you need to feed vitamin E that’s derived from natural, rather than synthetic sources. Synthetic vitamin E has significantly lower biological activity than natural vitamin E. Other studies indicate that the body may at worse, just excrete synthetic E and at best, not retain it as long as natural E.

You can tell the difference between synthetic and natural E by the ingredients. The difference is subtle:

Natural = d alpha-tocopherol
Synthetic = dl alpha-tocopheryl

When I started to look at equine supplements I was actually quite surprised by how many of the E supplements use the synthetic version. The big giveaway is price: supplements with natural vitamin E are far more expensive than those made with the synthetic vitamin. In the end, I bought the supplements from Costco.

Vitamin E is also a vitamin that needs to be stored carefully in a dark, cool location. Exposure to heat and light can cause the potency of the vitamin to degrade.

There is very little vitamin E added to most bagged horse feeds. What little there is can be destroyed by storage, heat, age, and sunlight – and the same is true of the vitamin E in your supplement bottles. Fresh vitamin E supplements, properly stored (in a dark bottle in a cool place), may help your horse. Old or inappropriately-stored vitamin E supplements may have no effect whatsoever.

What about Selenium?

You will notice if you look through supplement catalogs that many Vitamin E supplements are co-packaged with selenium. Selenium is a trace mineral that helps with the absorption of vitamin E. In many parts of the US the soil has very low — or non existent — levels of Selenium so it must be provided via a supplement. The tricky thing about Selenium is that it is toxic in large doses (remember the polo ponies that died in Palm Beach? That was caused by an improperly compounded supplement that contained toxic levels of Selenium).

The dose for an adult horse is about 1-3% of body weight. There is still discussion in the scientific community as to whether horses in heavy work require more selenium than those in light work.

So, before feeding a vitamin E/Selenium supplement it’s a good idea to find out how much is provided in your feed and how much is present in your soil.

Thermal imaging as a diagnostic tool

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with , , ,
A thermal scan of Freedom's head

This is a thermal scan of Freedom's head. Lighter areas indicate "hotter" areas. You can see that the area where his cribbing strap goes is lighter.

Thermal imaging is a diagnostic tool that can help you find injuries or stressed areas on your horse –  sometimes weeks before you can see the problems with your own eyes.

Using a thermal imaging camera, a vet can measure the surface heat patterns on the body of your horse and identify “hot spots” (which appear lighter in the photo) by mapping skin surface temperature in response to changes in blood flow. Thermal imaging systems are incredibly sensitive: they can detect temperature differences of less than 0.05 degrees Centigrade

Thermal imaging can be used help find injuries or diseases that cause inflammation, such as damage from an ill-fitting saddle, suspensory injuries, tendon injuries, ringbone, kissing spine, hoof abscesses, etc.,  or lack of circulation, which can be an indicator of nerve damage or muscle atrophy. It’s a non-invasive tool — the images are taken from several feet away from your horse — you get instant feedback and it’s portable. It is one of the only cost effective ways to get whole body imaging.

The problem is finding a vet who has a thermal imaging camera. Although it’s been around for more than 40 years, it was initially used primarily for racehorses and other performance horses rather than for your average riding horse. At the 1996 Olympics, it was the most diagnostic tool most frequently requested by the equestrian teams.

I’ve never had a vet who offered the service before so I jumped at the chance to have Freedom used as a thermal model when my veterinarian friend, Carol, brought a colleague over to the barn with his camera. Much thanks to Ed Leonard, DVM, for letting us “see” Freedom in a whole new way!

Because Freedom has Lyme disease and has had some overall body soreness I wanted to see if there were any hot spots that might indicate an underlying problem. Specifically I wanted to see if the slight lameness I’ve felt is the result of a muscle problem.

Dr. Leonard explained that in a healthy horse you will see symmetry in the thermal images on both sides of the horse. He also mentioned that dirt and water show up as darker spots so starting with a clean horse, and preferably one without a heavy winter coat, gives you the best results.

Turning a thermal camera on your horse can give you pause. What if we found a problem that I didn’t know existed? I suppose it’s always good to know what’s bothering your horse even if it hasn’t become an active issue.

Luckily, in Freedom’s case, there was nothing unexpected that showed up. He had some “hot spots” where his cribbing collar sits and also where his girth goes. That wasn’t a big surprise because he’s always very sensitive there. His back, neck, shoulders and hind end were fine. That’s good news as it’s where he’s been the most sensitive since being diagnosed with Lyme. I forgot to ask for a thermal image of his right hind hoof — I would have liked to know if the slight lameness I felt was caused by bruising, but it completely slipped my mind.

Still, it’s nice to know what isn’t inflamed. When my vet had examined Freedom (prior to the Lyme diagnosis) she mentioned some of the other things that would cause the soreness that I was feeling: kissing spines and a muscle injury were two. Now I can rule those out.

Whole body thermal scan

Here you can see a whole body thermal scan of Willow. She showed no hot spots other than those created by a bit of mud.

We also took thermal scans of my friend Carol’s horse, Willow. Here you see a whole body scan. With an animal as large as a horse there are very few tools that give you this type of holistic view — this view, and the one of Freedom’s head, were also the only ones that were immediately recognizable as being a horse.

Willow’s “hot spots” were mostly due to mud. It happened to be a day when most of our pasture was under water.

In addition to the thermal camera, Dr. Leonard also brought a laser that can be used to stimulate acupuncture points. Another very interesting tool . . . but more on that another day.

Dr. Leonard has offered to answer any questions that you might have about thermal imaging so send ‘em my way!

Freedom is on the mend

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with ,
One of the field we ride around

This is one of the fields we rode around today. He was not content to walk so I let him canter for a bit.

Today Freedom started to feel more like himself.

I hadn’t taken him out for the past two days, what with the rain and my work schedule. Today was beautiful, sunny and warm. I thought we’d go for a nice long walk and see how he felt at the trot.

He would have none of that. When we got to the first field, he started to jig. I let him trot and he struggled with me to go faster. When he’s feeling good like that he gets very animated and starts to do a very extravagant lengthening where he floats over the ground and flings his front legs out. He was snorting and spooky and obviously feeling good.

Up until now he was content to walk on a loose rein. When I asked for a bit of trotting he felt discombobulated and uncomfortable. It was a relief to feel the old, more balanced Freedom.

Freedom looking alert

Freedom was definitely more alert and felt brighter today. He also was noticeably less body sore.

Today I let him canter for a bit too, but not too much. I want to see if he’s still feeling good tomorrow.

The test results are in

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with , ,

I got the results of the multiplex test today. Freedom is on the low end of positive — his titer is 1600 and they recommend treatment for anything above 1200.

My vet recommends keeping him on Doxy for six weeks. Since he’s showing no adverse signs to it, that’s what I’m planning to do.

Interestingly, from what I’ve read, the severity of clinical symptoms do not necessarily correlate with higher titer readings. Did anyone else experience that?

Now I just need to find the best source for the Doxy. The two week supply of peppermint flavored powder was $160. He’s eating it, which is a plus. It would be even better if it cost less!

I Wish I were Out Hunting

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, foxhunting, Horse care, horse health and tagged with , , , , ,

Out huntingI couldn’t hunt today but at least I can dream about it. This postcard is from the early 1900s. It looks idyllic to me!

Freedom is being a good boy and eating his Doxy without complaint. Life is so much easier with a horse that doesn’t require meds in a syringe. That really only works for the first couple of days. Once they cotton onto the routine, the next few weeks are like wrestling an alligator.

We are on a program of walking. He’s completely happy walking. Ears forward, marching along and taking everything in. On Sunday we walked for about two hours. Today and yesterday, it was closer to 45 minutes.

I don’t want to stress his immune system by making him work too hard but I know he’ll go stir crazy if I do nothing with him at all.

His body soreness is diminishing. After I ride I give him a massage. While he’s still tight, he’s not flinching away from my touch and he’s not yawning continuously in relief.

I am going to assume that means he’s feeling at least somewhat better.

I’m still waiting for the results of the Lyme multiplex test. With any luck, I should have them tomorrow.

More thoughts on Lyme

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with ,

Considering how many horses are being treated for Lyme disease in the North East, you’d think that there would be more definitive research about Lyme and its treatment.

In truth, there is still a lot that we (the royal we here, including veterinary researchers) just don’t know about how Lyme (and other tick-borne diseases) affect horses. Although it has been shown that horses are infected by Lyme, the connection between the infection and the symptoms associated with Lyme are more tenuous. In some studies (at least one at Cornell) where horses have been intentionally infected with Lyme, the majority of the subjects showed no signs of illness during either the acute and the recovery phase. In other words, it’s hard to create Lyme in a controlled setting.

It does not, however, appear to be difficult to find horses with symptoms of Lyme out in the real world. Which makes you wonder how often Lyme is mis-diagnosed. The symptoms associated with Lyme can often be attributed to other causes. When my vet examined Freedom she offered some alternative scenarios: he could have a virus . . . a vitamin E deficiency could cause the soreness . . . pain in his front feed could have made him reluctant to jump . . . or he could have pulled a muscle

Confusing the issue even more is that because Doxy has such strong anti inflammatory properties, it might be “curing” something other than a tick borne disease. One vet told me that if you gave owners bute instead of Doxy, close to 75% of the horses treated would show marked improvement during the course of treatment.

That has not stopped me from treating Freedom for Lyme. Right now he’s on Doxy while I wait for the more detailed results of the multiplex test. It is obvious that he was in pain — maybe not continuous, but certainly bad enough at times to make him really uncomfortable. He is such a willing horse that he must have been trying his best to keep soldiering forward and I feel guilty for pushing him.

Today I took him for a long walk out on the trails. We went early — before the humidity and heat set in, and he was alert and happy to moving out. He also seemed very slightly off on his right hind. Of course, while it’s easy not to associate every symptom with the Lyme, I think it’s more likely that he bruised his sole on the rocks.

His body certainly is still sore. After the ride I gave him a massage and got lots of releases again. I think this will be our plan for the next few days. Long walks and massages until he tells me he’s ready to do more.