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Volume 20 • Number 4 April 2013

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE2 Editorial

6 Diagnostic Tools9 Safety Thought10 Drifting Over Jumps12 Budget Crunching13 Ask Horse Journal, Moldy Hay14 Feeding Garlic15 Oleander Poisoning16 Commentary

www.horse-journal.com

Around The Barn:

Call it what you want—crib-bing, crib-biting or wind-suck-ing—we all know it when we

see it or hear it. The horse latches onto a horizontal surface with his front teeth, arches his neck, and makes a grunting sound while pull-ing back. Afflicting an estimated 5 to 10% of horses, you’re bound to see one sooner or later.

Cribbing is often grouped with other stereotypic behaviors, in-cluding weaving, stall walking, self-mutilation and wood chewing. However, many animal behaviorists now believe cribbing is more of a “functional” habit, meaning it meets a physiological need of the horse.

So what causes cribbing? Most people believe it’s due to boredom or mimicry (picking up the habit from watching another horse do it). Wrong! Both have been ruled out by researchers as primary causes. Exceptions are rare. The more likely possible causes are management, ulcers and heredity.

The Cribbing ControversyIt’s not a compulsion. It’s actually meeting a physical need.

Consider This . . .Cribbing differs from wood chewing. When a horse cribs, he actually grabs the surface and arches his neck. When he chews wood, he, well, just nibbles or bites the wood.

Most horses begin cribbing before the age of 5, so the proper management of young horses is critical.

Horses have stopped or greatly lessened their cribbing, purely with barn management changes.

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MANAgEMENT. It’s unlikely that any two people maintain their horses in exactly the same manner, so it’s difficult to isolate a single component that would trigger crib-bing. However, researchers agree that feeding has a lot to do with it.

Common denominators are high-sugar “sweet” feeds composing a large portion of the horse’s diet, limited roughage, and long periods with no available feed.

In some cases, cribbing horses do less damage than actual wood chewers.

Editor-in-ChiefCynthia Foley

Associate EditorMargaret Freeman

Performance EditorJohn Strassburger

Contributing Veterinary EditorsDeb M. Eldredge, DVM,

Grant Miller, DVM

Contributing Farrier EditorsLee Foley, Steve Kraus, CJF

Contributing Nutrition EditorJuliet M. Getty, Ph.D.

Contributing WritersBeth Benard, Nancy Butler,

Beth Hyman, Susan Quinn, Esq.

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EDITORIAL

Efrem Zimbalist III CHAIRMAN AND CEOAndrew W. Clurman PRESIDENT AND COOBrian Sellstrom SENIOR VP AND CFOPatricia B. Fox SENIOR VP OPERATIONS

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The goal of Horse Journal is to provide practical solutions and hands-on information our readers can take into the barn and use. We work to make bottom-line recommendations on products we believe will best serve our readers while standing firm with a back-to-the-basics philosophy on training, nutrition and horse care. We base our evaluations on field trials, research and experience. Horse Journal does not accept commercial advertising.

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Editorial:

For many of us, the American Horse Council (www.horsecoun-cil.org) is an organization we

know exists. But that’s about it. Many don’t even realize there are state horse councils, too. And that’s too bad. The American Horse Council (AHC) is an incredible organization, and many state groups are pretty amazing as well.

One of the most important efforts the AHC makes is through its division called the “Unwanted Horse Coali-tion,” which focuses on the welfare and safety of homeless horses. Its primary goal is to educate would-be horse own-ers before they plunk down $500 to purchase a horse they actually can’t afford—a horse that then often ends up falling on bad times. As the old say-ing goes, “Stop whining that you can’t save enough money to buy a horse. If you can’t buy a horse, you sure as heck can’t afford to care for it.”

The AIM Equine Network—of which Horse Journal is part—began its “A Home For Every Horse” program in partnership with the AHC’s Unwanted Horse Coalition. You can visit www.equine.com and click on the “Rescue” tab to see the astonishing number of wonderful horses looking for a perma-nent home. But, I’m warning you, it’ll tear your heart out.

If you’re a horse business, you should be aware of what the American Horse Council does for us legislatively, with issues like horseback riding in parks, taxes and equine busi-nesses, liability and insurance laws, even USDA rules.

We Need Our Horse CouncilsIt’s never been more critical.

AHC membership begins at just $25 per year, and you get a lot for the money, including some commercial discounts.

At the state level, I’ve been amazed at the brilliant ideas underway. The Ken-tucky Horse Council promotes how to recognize horse abuse and abandoned horses and what to do about it: Visit: http://www.kentuckyhorse.org/report-ing/ to learn about it. (Yes, people actually turn horses loose in the wild, humming “Born Free.”)

The Virginia Horse Council (www.vir-giniahorsecouncil.org) offers the “Ride Alert 24/7 Emergency Identification Support Service” as part of its mem-bership package. It gives you a unique wristband ID Device, which is recorded with the Ride Alert 24/7 Emergency Support Team (www.ridealert.us).

Like many state groups, the Iowa Horse Council (www.iowahorsecoun-cil.org) is working on keeping horse trails available. (Parents, they also offer a scholarship program!)

I will tell you that not all the state councils I investigated were impres-sive. If your state’s group is one of those, maybe it would be worth your time to get involved and revive it. It’s more important than ever to support

these organizations to keep trails open, equine laws fair and to protect horses.

Cynthia FoleyEditor-in-Chief

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AROUND THE BARN

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When cribbers are fed a “sweet-ened feed” (pellets are usually bound together with molasses), they crib 30% of the day vs. 16% of the day when fed plain oats as their grain concentrate. Sweets, even apples and carrots, trigger cribbing so reliably they’re used to test drug efficacy for cribbing reduction.

The lack of forage also has an im-pact on the frequency of cribbing. Research in the United Kingdom demonstrated feeding grain caused the study horses to increase their cribbing behavior from a baseline of 11 cribbings in 5 minutes to 24 crib-bings in 5 minutes and the duration of this elevation was 40 minutes. After being fed forage, cribbing fell to 5 attempts in 5 minutes and the decrease lasted for 50 minutes.

Foals fed a concentrate after wean-ing are four times more likely to be-come cribbers than foals fed forage only. So, if you want the recipe to produce a cribber, it’s: early wean-ing, a high concentrate/low forage diet, infrequent feedings, social isolation and a stall environment.

ULCERS. Since the advent of endoscopy for horses, the link between ulcers and cribbing has strengthened, but no one will state unequivocally that one causes the other. Many horses with ulcers don’t crib, and some cribbers don’t have ulcers.

We know foals who crib have more serious stomach ulceration than foals that don’t. We also know that cribbing stimulates the vagus nerve, which increases stomach pH. And we know a cribber’s motiva-tion to crib is equal to his motiva-tion to eat.

There is a widely held apocryphal belief that cribbing releases saliva that then buffers stomach acid. One small study (two horses with cannulated parotid glands) demon-strated the opposite: after 20 crib-bing efforts, only 1 ml (5 ml = 1 tsp.) of saliva was produced; by compari-son, 31 ml of saliva was produced while consuming 200 grams of grain. It has been found, however, that cribbers have a lower baseline level of saliva than non-cribbers.

Over many years of breeding, I produced three cribbers, Robo, Len and Nasdaq, repre-senting 8% of my foals. None had parents that cribbed, although all three had a grandsire that did. (Robo and Len were full brothers. None of the other eight full siblings from that cross cribbed.)

Robo and Len were fed a molasses-based, foal-specific grain at weaning. Nasdaq got Triple Crown Lite. (I’d gotten smarter by then.) They all had free-choice hay.

All three were initially maintained as stallions for possible breeding use. Although they received dawn-to-dusk turnout on good pasture, Robo and Len’s only social contacts, starting as yearlings, were across-the-fence interactions. Nasdaq was turned out with young geldings.

All three began cribbing around age 4½. Robo started after he was sold and boarded at a facility with a two feedings/day regimen and a small dirt paddock. Len began cribbing when his turnout time was cut in half, in spite of generous hay and six hours on pasture.

Nasdaq began during a brutal winter, even though he was hayed four times per day. He was immediately placed in a cribbing strap. When the strap came off six months later, he resumed infrequent cribbing—but ONLY when outside. Interestingly, all three started cribbing about 5 months after being gelded.

After successful careers, both Robo and Len retired here. Robo was ulcer-prone during his 17 years of competition and had two minor impaction colics in his entire life. He’s now 25. Len, 21, is susceptible to gas colic if fed coarse hay. They aren’t restricted from cribbing, although there is angle iron on their stalls to prevent damage. Other than the dental wear, both are healthy. They rarely crib on pasture during grazing, but cribbing ramps up again throughout the winter. Beth Benard, Contributing Writer

Success With TimeI believe that much of a cribber’s problem is due to ulcers com-bined with the environmental stress of not being allowed to live like a horse. With the cribber in our family, we decided to imple-ment strict management changes. He was given maximum turn-out in a healthy pasture with a variety of grasses. Forage was fed free-choice and available 24/7, nutrition was optimal, with no sweet feeds, cereal grains, or sweet treats. He did not wear a cribbing collar, nor did we use any paints or other crutches. We made sure he enjoyed socializing with other horses, with plenty of room to roam, and received regular exercise. His attempts at cribbing were ignored. It took nearly three years of incredible patience to finally say he had stopped cribbing, but it was worth every bit of effort. Dr. Juliet Getty, Nutrition Editor

The Story of Three Cribbers

Note what a gentle grip Len has on the wood.

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AROUND THE BARN

Device Cost Comments

Barclay anti-cribbing collarwww.barclayscollar.com(located in Australia)

$157-$210

This emits a low voltage charge whenever the horse attempts to crib. The manufacturer claims it’s no stronger than the shock from static electricity or a “bug zapper.” The website also offers instruction for adding additional wiring to the sides of the strap if the basic set-up is not effective. It comes with nylon sides for $157 or with stainless steel/leather sides for $210, which includes shipping.

Dare Cribbing Collarwww.schutzbrothers.com800-348-0576

$75 This is a single leather strap with a rectangular box-like attachment at the throat that presses into the horse’s airway when he attempts to crib. Because of the placement of the leather-covered box, this collar does not need to be attached as tightly as regular collars.

Weaver Miracle Collar www.weaverleather.com800-932-8371

$45 This has two straps—the usual one at the throatlatch, and another across the horse’s brow in front of his ears. Both straps hold a leather-covered metal throat plate in place. Available in several sizes and with an optional fleece covering. This collar is widely considered to be effective.

Equipe Cribbing Strapwww.laselleria.com Contact your retailer.

$200 Uses two straps, one across the horse’s brow in front of his ears and the other behind the ears. Comes fully lined with natural sheepskin for comfort.

French Cribbing Strap. Generic design. Contact your retailer.

$30 This thick leather strap has a steel plate at the throat area and needs to be applied quite snugly to be effective. We prefer other designs.

Nutcracker style collar. Generic design. Contact your retailer.

$25 This has uncovered, hinged metal at the throat with a single strap. The strap is designed to prevent the horse from completing the throat and neck motions necessary to crib. We prefer other designs.

To Crib or Not To CribFew horses ever completely stop cribbing once they have the habit. The need to crib is physi-ological. For that reason, a growing segment of experts believe horses are better off cribbing when they feel the “need” and that not being able to crib only makes things worse.

If you decide to let him crib freely, you still need to help him kick the habit. Stick rigidly to maxi-mum turnout on grass, socialization with other horses, exercise, and no sweets. It could take a year or more to lessen, and you still may see it sometimes even after that, but it should become less frequent. (Winter is particularly difficult.)

If you can’t make these changes and don’t want to allow him to crib, there are commercial op-tions. However, the paints, vile concoctions, and noxious sprays we’ve painted on potential crib-bing surfaces were mostly a waste of time and money. A desperate horse will crib on his own knee if necessary.

Electric fences help outdoors, but you shouldn’t use that in a stall. You’ll just make him more stressed and desperate to crib. There are surger-ies to make the horse physically unable to crib, but we find them ethically questionable.

Anti-cribbing muzzles work but can get expen-sive. A study done at Cornell demonstrated hors-es apply an average of 30 kg of force every time they crib. Your muzzled horse will still try to crib, and the force he puts on the muzzle will eventually bend it. (Grazing muzzles aren’t suitable, as the hole rapidly enlarges.) Our advice—if you can’t let him go “cold turkey” because of colic concerns or barn rules or something else—is an anti-cribbing collar, although you still should make those important management changes.

Horse Journal Editor’s Choice

Bes

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oice

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The Dare Collar.

The Miracle Collar.

Anti-Cribbing Collars

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AROUND THE BARN

Cribbing and Your Horse’s HealthScience has confirmed at least one old-time cribbing belief: Cribbers are prone to colic, making them largely uninsurable due to their high risk of mortality.

But gas colic isn’t the prob-lem, as the horse doesn’t swallow air. In fact, it’s the release of air from the back of the throat that causes the distinctive cribbing grunt. Researchers claim a horse swallows air after cribbing only when he cribs while eating. No study has proven cribbers are more likely to have gas colic than any other horse.

There may, however, be an increased occurrence of im-paction colic. When horses are prevented from cribbing by whatever means, gastric motility decreases, setting up an environment ripe for both ulcers and impaction.

The most serious colic associated with cribbers is called epiploic foramen entrapment (EFE). This is the most common cause of small intestine strangulation, a surgical emergency. Cribbers are 10 times more likely to have EFE than non-cribbers. Even with timely surgical intervention, only 78% of these horses survive to discharge, and only 34% are alive 2 years later.

Cribbing can also cause mechanical damage to the horse, including abnormal muscular development and stylo-hyoid osteoarthritis of the horse’s jaw, both of which can make bitting a challenge. Dental wear is an obvious complication, with unusual wear patterns on the inci-sors. Few horses progress to the point where they are unable to graze, however, and the grinding teeth—the molars—are unaffected.

Should You Buy A Cribber?Most people hold strong opinions about cribbing. But, surprisingly, some with direct experience with cribbers respond more favorably to them. One survey revealed people who have owned them in the past would not be put off purchasing or caring for another cribber.

Years ago, thee-day event legend Denny Emerson asked famous riders to name the horse they would choose to ride “if their life de-pended on it.” He then asked what the horses themselves were like. Almost to a person, the riders described the horses as “tough,” “dif-ficult” and “tense.” And most of them were cribbers.

Great horses are not often easy horses. They have big egos and idio-syncrasies and quirks and foibles. Horses of a lifetime do exist, but only for riders so skillful, tactful and courageous that they can unlock and then reveal the brilliance of their equine partners,” Emerson concluded. So, weigh the purchase of a horse who cribs carefully, but consider this: If you change his life, he might just change yours.

Administering antacids to crib-bers does raise the pH of the stomach (making it less acidic), but it doesn’t reduce the frequency of cribbing. According to a spokes-person at Merial, the company that makes the ulcer medicine Gastro-Gard, no studies have been done to determine the efficacy of their product on reducing cribbing.

Cribbing may be the horse’s at-tempt to release saliva—particular-ly in the absence of roughage—but the amount of time spent cribbing can interfere with roughage intake when it is available, causing in-creased ulceration and weight loss.

HEREDITy. There seems to be little doubt among researchers that cribbing has a heritable component. Among breeds, Thoroughbreds hold the distinction of having the largest population of cribbers (8.3 to 10%). However, don’t blame racing. Stan-dardbreds, which undergo similar training, feeding and housing regi-men, have a much lower incidence.

Several studies have confirmed a high incidence of cribbing in dressage horses. This discipline includes many warmbloods, who, by definition, trace back to Thor-oughbreds. School, pleasure and endurance horses have the lowest reported pools of cribbers.

No one has yet documented the method of inheritance. It does ap-pear to be somewhat genetic, and we know it skips generations. Nev-ertheless, we can’t state strongly enough that cribbers should never be bred, regardless of their confor-mation or potential.

BOTTOM LINE. If you have a crib-ber, make every effort to keep forage or pasture available at all times, us-ing “slow feeders.” Toss out all the “sweet” feeds and treats. Check for ulcers, and maximize turnout on quality pasture with good buddies.

Cribbing is still a controversial topic, as there truly is no one cor-rect answer. That said, experts agree that whether you use a collar or choose not to, you still owe it to your horse to make those critical management changes.

Article by Contributing Writer Beth Benard.

Note the wear on this 25-year-old cribber’s teeth.

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VETERINARy CARE

Have you ever gotten lost in the conversation with your veterinarian when he or she

mentions the need to “do a nuke scan” or “ultrasound” on your horse? Incredibly, some owners don’t even ask why a certain diag-nostic procedure is needed.

On the flip side of the coin, veteri-narians often gloss over diagnostic terms, thinking you already under-stand them. You should always ask your vet about anything you’re not sure about, but sometimes you need at least a little knowledge to even ask a question.

RADIOgRApHy. Out of all the diagnostic modalities, the “x-ray,” aka radiography, is the most well-known. However, veterinarians rarely use the term “x-ray” because that term only refers to the radio-active beam taking the picture. Radiographs refer to the actual photograph of the body part.

To take a radiograph, the horse must hold still. In many cases, the veterinarian will sedate the horse in order to achieve the level

Veterinary Diagnostic ToolsYour understanding of the pros and cons of these high-tech devices may save you money.

Veterinary Care:

of cooperation needed to take the pictures. By sedating the horse, the veterinarian and expensive equip-ment are safer, and everyone will be exposed to less radiation because pesky “retakes” can be avoided. And your pocketbook will benefit, too, as vets charge for each shot.

Veterinarians will commonly take radiographs first when trying to determine lame-ness. This is because most equine lameness cases are bone/joint-relat-ed, making radiography a handy on-the-farm tool.

Radiology Reality:• Because many veteri-

narians get into a routine, they can sometimes forget to ask you if you’re pregnant before taking radiographs. If you’re pregnant or even could be, speak up and let the veterinarian know!

• Digital radiography is widely considered to be superior to conventional analog films. With digi-

tal radiography, the plate transmits an image to a laptop computer right there on the farm. Advantages include: Superior image quality and the instant ability to retake a shot if it didn’t turn out well.

• With the advent of digital tech-nology, the price of radiographs has increased significantly. Not much more to say about that. We all just have to grin and bear it.

• When taking radiographs, it’s wise to wear lead shielding if possible (it’s a necessity if you’re pregnant). Examples of protective equipment include aprons, gloves and thyroid shields. If you aren’t assisting, stand at least 10 feet away while the images are being taken in order to minimize “scatter” radia-tion exposure.

• Although radiographs primarily look at bone, they can be used to detect masses in the head as well.

• The “field units” that veteri-narians bring to the farm are only powerful enough to look at legs and feet, the head and neck, and the withers. Other body parts like the backbone, the thorax (heart and lungs) and the abdomen (liver, kid-neys, spleen, etc.) can only be im-aged by a powerful wall-mounted unit found in equine hospitals.

• Even wall-mounted units can’t generate a beam powerful enough to penetrate through the hips and pelvis of a standing horse, however.

• Sometimes, to look at the bones in the foot, the horse’s shoe will have to come off. Grin and bear it.

ULTRASOUND. The ultrasound (or “sonogram”) is the second most common diagnostic tool used in equine practice. Ultrasound machines are digital and com-pact—often smaller than a laptop computer! They’re used to look at soft-tissue structures in most in-stances. Examples include tendons and ligaments, eyes, the heart, lung surfaces, internal organs, and the ovaries and fetus.

Ultrasound is a dynamic diag-nostic modality, as it’s more like a video than a photograph. It can evaluate how the heart beats, and even watch direction of blood flow

continued on page 8

Digital radiography provides high detail real-time images of bones. They enable vets to find problems such as the one in this hock joint (circled) right on the farm.

Digital radiographs being taken of a horse’s neck.

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VETERINARy CARE

Name Slang Terms Primary Use Secondary Use Parts of Body Location Ballpark Cost

Radiography X-Ray Looks at bones, especially the legs and feet.

Can see masses in the sinus and brain.

Head, neck, withers, legs and feet.

Farm or hospital.

Depends, but it can run $500 to $800.

Ultrasound Sonogram Looks at soft-tissue musculoskeletal structures like tendons and ligaments.

Reproduction, thoracic and abdominal organs and rim of pelvis, neck and spine.

Just about anywhere in the body.

Farm or hospital.

Usually $300 to $500.

Computed Tomography

CT Scan or CAT Scan

High quality image of bones (legs, head, and first few neck vertebrae).

Moderate detail for soft-tissue imaging (legs, head, first few vertebrae).

Head, first part of neck, and legs.

Hospital only.

Usually $2,000 to $3,000.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MRI Very high quality detailed imaging of soft tissue.

Moderate detail quality for imaging bone.

Depending on system, limted to knee down or pastern down.

Hospital only.

Usually $1,500 to $3,000.

Nuclear Scintigraphy

Nuclear Scan, “Nuke Scan,”Gamma Camera

To find inflammation None. Anywhere in the body. Hospital only.

Usually $2,000 to $3,000.

Thermal Camera

Thermal Scan To look for inflammation by tissue temperature.

None. Anywhere in the body. Farm or hospital.

Usually runs between $150 and $250.

How Do These Diagnostic Devices Work?Radiography/X-ray: The radiograph image is generated when an imaging plate is placed on one side of the body part, and the X-ray machine is pointed at it from the other side. When the veterinarian pushes the but-ton to take the image, a radioactive beam is shot out from the x-ray machine, through the body part, and the image is captured on the plate.

Ultrasounds: The head of an ultrasound probe has crystals in it that vibrate. When they vibrate, they cause sound to be released. That sound is directed into the tissue that is being examined. It then bounces off the tissue and comes back to the probe head. The crystals are then able to measure the time and intensity at which the sound returns, and then translate that into an image on the computer screen. In a way, it is kind of like whales and dolphins using sonar in the dark of the ocean to let them know what is around them.

CT Scan/Cat Scan: A CT machine looks somewhat like a gigantic donut with a diving board in the middle. CT scanning requires the horse to be down, flat out, and under general anesthesia. When scanning the head and neck, the horse is on his back with his chin outstretched. When looking at a limb, he’s on his side. The ma-chine works in a similar manner to radiography in the sense that it utilizes ionizing radiation to penetrate and “photograph” the body tissues. Inside the donut is a camera and a digital “film cassette.” It rotates around the patient and takes thousands of images in seconds. Those images are all pieced together by a computer to get a comprehensive 360° characterization of the body part.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging/MRI: MRI works by creating a strong magnetic field when electricity is passed through wire loops (hence, a magnet). While this is happening, other coils in the magnet send and receive radio waves. This triggers protons in the body to align themselves. Once aligned, radio waves are absorbed by the protons, which stimulate spinning. Energy is released after “exciting” the molecules, which in turn emits energy signals that are picked up by the coil. This information is then sent to a computer that pro-cesses all the signals and translates them into an image. The final product is a 3-D image representation of the area being examined. It creates an incredibly accurate and detailed depiction of the body tissue.

Nuclear Scintigraphy: Nuclear scintigraphy utilizes a gamma camera that picks up on gamma radiation that leaves the body after a special radioactive dye is injected into the horse’s bloodstream. The camera has crystals in it that scintillate (glow) when they’re struck by gamma photons that a horse emits from its tissues. The idea is that inflamed tissue will absorb more radioactive dye from the blood. In the end, when the horse is scanned, areas of inflammation light up as hot spots on the image. Although the images are somewhat crude, they’re very effective in illuminating areas of inflammation in both soft tissue and in bone.

Thermal Camera: A thermal camera basically looks like a video camera. But, when the thermographer looks at the horse through the camera, he or she sees light being emitted from the horse in the infrared region of the light spectrum. Infrared light isn’t reflected but rather emitted from objects. In other words, it’s heat. That heat, or inflammation, shows up as emitting more light (aka hotter).

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VETERINARy CARE

continued from page 6

with technology called “color dop-pler.” One of our favorite uses of ultrasound is seeing the heartbeat of a neonatal foal!

Ultrasound Pointers:• Rectal ultrasound (as performed

routinely in breeding practices) comes with risk. When the vet-erinarian gently slides his or her arm inside the rectum, there’s a risk of tearing the rectal wall. In most cases, this is fatal to the horse. Again, sedation can help reduce the likelihood of a tear because it will relax the mare and stop her from straining against the veterinarian.

• Ultrasound isn’t as easy as it looks. If the probe isn’t held cor-rectly, it can make the image on the screen look like it is damaged. With just a slight change in angle, the image can change dramati-cally. Therefore, looking at soft-tis-sue structures from several beam angles is essential to ruling an injury in or out.

• While some ultrasound ma-chines can image soft-tissue struc-tures through hair soaked with rubbing alcohol, superior imagery is achieved when the hair is clipped.

• Diagnostic ultrasound (low-intensity sound waves) is often times confused with therapeutic ultrasound (aka “acoustic shock-wave”), which is a high-intensity wave emission (more on therapeutic ultrasound in an upcoming issue). The two are quite different. Diag-nostic ultrasound has no therapeu-tic capabilities whatsoever.

• We commonly use ultrasound to diagnose tendon or ligament injuries in the leg and foot. Keep in mind that waiting to ultrasound an injury until seven or more days after it occurs may be beneficial in terms of the information that you can gather. If you have a horse with a swollen leg, the veterinarian will likely have you ice the leg, give the horse NSAIDS, put a wrap on it, and have the horse stand still in a stall until it gets under control. If the swollen limb is ultrasounded right away, you’re likely to see the injury. However, if you wait about a week, you’re more

likely to have an accurate diagno-sis of the severity of the injury.

In other words, a soft-tissue in-jury can look mild on ultrasound on day 1, but if you come back a week later and look again, it can look much more severe. This is important because the extent of the injury often will determine the course of treatment.

COMpUTED TOMOgRApHy. This diagnostic method can be thought of as “3D Radiographs on Steroids.” Sometimes known as a “CT” or “Cat Scan,” this imaging system looks in high detail at bone. It can be used to assess bone in a three-dimensional aspect, such as with a catastrophic injury to a joint.

CT scanning requires the horse to be unconscious and flat out under general anesthesia. Some equine hospitals use CT guidance when performing intricate procedures such as injecting stem cells into the foot or into a small tendon or liga-ment. It’s also used frequently on horses with dental issues. The CT scan helps veterinarians determine which teeth are involved and the extent of the issue.

CT Bites:• There is a risk in anesthetiz-

ing the horse (albeit a small one). There are also risks associated with horses waking up from anesthesia (injuries, etc.).

• Sometimes the veterinarians will use a contrast dye to enhance an image. The dyes are either injected into a joint or into the bloodstream. They’re generally safe. (Always check to see if your insur-ance will cover a CT scan. Some do. See October 2012 issue for more information.)

MAgNETIC RESONANCE IMAg-INg. This diagnostic tool, fre-quently termed “MRI,” provides an

incredibly high level of detail when looking at soft tissue and slightly less detail when looking at bone. It is commonly used to identify soft-tissue injuries inside the hoof capsule.

MRI is performed in a hospital set-ting, although we’re seeing mobile MRI clinics in the form of a semi-truck and trailer popping up. MRI can be performed in a heavily se-dated standing horse, or in a horse that is under general anesthesia and lying down.

Some controversy exists as to which method and machine is more accurate. Either way, MRI provides the veterinarian with an incred-ibly accurate depiction of the body tissue.

MRI Tips:• It doesn’t involve any radiation

like CT scan or radiographs.• The horse can’t have any metal

on or in the body part being exam-ined. Horses with screws and/or plates in a pastern for instance, can’t have that pastern put into an MRI machine. Similarly, all shoes must be off.

• In order for an MRI to be accu-rate, the horse must be completely still. As mentioned, some machines are set up for the horse to be com-pletely knocked out and laying down under general anesthesia. Other machines allow the horse to stand. But be prepared! The

amount of sedation to get the horse to stand completely still can be significant.

• Sometimes veterinarians will inject the horse with a contrast medium (a dye for lack of a better term) in order to en-hance the imaging capabilities of the MRI. Very few adverse reactions in horses have been

A CT image of a horse’s foot.

An MRI image of a horse’s foot.

Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com April �013 �

VETERINARY CARE

reported. (Check to see if your in-surance will pay for an MRI.)

NUCLEAR SCINTIgRApHy. Hors-es that have lameness coming from multiple locations, or lameness coming from “who knows where” often end up in front of a Gamma Camera (also known as Nuke/Nuc Scanning). With this tool, a horse is injected with a radioactive dye. During exact time intervals, a spe-cial gamma camera is then used to take photographs of the horse.

Gamma cameras pick up on gam-ma radiation that leaves the body after a special radioactive dye is in-jected into the horse’s bloodstream. The general idea is that inflamed tissue will have a more dramatic or energetic release of gamma radia-tion due to an increased metabo-lism that will absorb more radioac-tive dye from the blood. Areas of inflammation light up as hot spots on the image.

For horses with back and spine pain, or pain coming from the pel-vic region, nuclear scanning can be useful. If a horse has poly-arthritis (inflammation in multiple joints), nuclear scanning does a good job at determining which “wheels are the squeakiest.”

Scintigraphy can be performed with the horse standing, but the horse is heavily sedated in order to achieve stillness. Scintigraphy is only performed in a hospital setting, and health regulations require that the horse remain in the hospital for a period of time (like 24 hours) after the scan in order to void all of the radioactive dye from its body via urination.

Nuclear Scintigraphy Pointers:• It can find inflammation only.

We all know that pain is associated with inflammation, so if a nuclear scan finds “hot spots,” those are likely sources of pain. But not all pain is due to inflammation. For instance, nerves can be irritated or impinged with no accompanying inflammation. So, even if the scan comes out clean, it doesn’t neces-sarily mean your horse is pain-free.

• The radioactive isotope dye is safe to inject. Side effects are rarely reported.

• A lot of horse owners decide to “go for gusto” and get whole-body nuclear scans performed when their horse may really only be lame in one part of the body.

In most of these cases, the horse is insured, and the insurance is paying for the scan. OK, but we advise you to think long and hard about “full body scans” and only do them when necessary. Reason: If the insurance company gets a full body scan that shows 15 areas of significant inflammation, don’t be surprised if those areas get written out of your renewal contract. They count as “pre-existing conditions” whether they are clinically bother-ing your horse or not.

THERMAL CAMERA. It’s easy to confuse nuclear scintigraphy with a thermal camera, probably because they both help to locate inflamma-tion. The similarities stop there, however.

Scintigraphy is performed in a hospital and involves a highly tech-nical photograph of the horse after he has been injected with radioac-

Once you’re done riding for the day, even if you keep on your heeled boots, be sure to remove your spurs, especially if they are long-shanked ones. It’s too easy to trip over your own feet while wearing

spurs. Don’t even think about climbing the stairs or a ladder into the loft while wearing spurs. The same goes for longeing, where you can not only trip making a tight turn, but it is easy for the end of the line to get caught on the spur (although it shouldn’t drop that low to begin with).

Don’t get Tripped UpSpurs are for when you’re riding only.

Safety Thought:

tive dye. A thermal camera, on the other hand, can be used right on the farm and doesn’t involve any injected substances.

Animals emit infrared light radia-tion as a result of normal physi-ological processes. Because tissue metabolism speeds up in inflamed areas, they show up through the thermal camera as an area that is emitting more light (aka hotter) than others when a horse is being viewed through the camera. There-fore, a thermal camera can be use-ful for evaluating inflamed areas.

Thermography Facts:• As promising as this diagnostic

modality sounds, it has many cave-ats. For instance, the horse needs to be trotted for about 10 minutes in order for the camera to “see” inflamed areas more clearly. Also, a thermal image can be heavily influenced by ambient temperature. Therefore, imaging needs to be done in a relatively narrow tem-perature range.

• There are dozens of thermal imaging systems on the market, at many different price points. How-ever, it’s the interpretation of the results that makes a difference in your horse’s health. This practice shouldn’t be performed without veterinary supervision.

• Thermal cameras give owners a hint about possible problem areas in their horses, but they aren’t a final diagnostic tool. Rather, they may help to confirm or refute clini-cal findings in a horse and serve as a precursor to other advanced diagnostics.

Article by Contributing Veterinary Editor Grant Miller, DVM.

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pERFORMANCE

Jumping to one side or the other is a common problem—

one with many poten-tial causes and just as many possible cures.

A horse who lacks straightness over his fences can get himself and his rider into a host of problems—from missing a carefully chosen line to the next fence, to jumping awkwardly, to knock-ing down a rail, and to incurring a refusal or a run-out. This problem, commonly called “drift-ing,” requires focused consideration on the part of riders and train-ers, but once cured the result will be a horse who jumps far better than before.

Several factors can cause a horse to drift over his jumps, and de-termining why it’s occurring will determine which of the numerous remedies are most likely to solve the problem.

pHySICAL REASONS. The first cause of drifting can be a physi-cal problem with the horse. If a previously straight-jumping horse suddenly develops a drift, the first place to look is the hind limb on the same side as the drift. That is,

Straightness Is Critical When you’re AirborneThese exercises teach your horse not to drift.

the horse will push off the sore leg less, therefore the “good” leg will push more, causing the horse to leave the ground unevenly, creating the drift. So a horse with pain in the right hind leg will push himself to the right over the jump by using the left leg more.

Another potential source of a sudden drift can be a sore front limb that the horse doesn’t want to land on (usually the lower leg, most often the hoof). In this case, the place to look is the opposite front leg from the drift, as the horse will

lean toward his “good” leg, endeav-oring to get his less sore leg down to the ground first, to alleviate the force of landing.

If the horse has always exhibited a drift, then he’s most likely demon-strating a long-standing weakness. The source of this weakness can be benign (a young horse is simply left- or right-handed and needs more

strength to become even) or more serious (a soundness issue). If the horse suddenly develops a drift, call in your veterinarian right away. If a young or unfit horse demon-strates a chronic drift, work through some of the exercises we describe here, and if you see no improvement, or wors-ening, consult your veterinar-ian or equine chiropractor. Always check the fit of your saddle, too. Uneven pressure on his back can cause a horse to twist or drift in the air.

RIDER IMpACT. If you’re sure that your horse doesn’t have a physical reason for his the lack of straightness, then the next place to check is at yourself, the rider. Although we often imagine horses as too big and strong to be influenced by our weight or

balance, that’s often not true.Often, it’s simply a case of inex-

perience. As a rider learns the ins and outs of jumping, it’s natural to have some missteps with their own balance, which can affect the horse. But a horse losing his straightness can also be indicative of a rider’s own physical problems.

Ask yourself these questions: Are you keeping your weight

evenly balanced in both stirrups? When you break over in the

air, are you keeping your chin cen-tered over the horse’s neck, or are you ducking to one side of the neck or another? Are your legs equally closed

on the horse’s sides, keeping you balanced?

This is where an experienced trainer is extremely valuable. Experienced eyes on the ground can pinpoint things a rider is doing to negatively influence the horse’s

Consider This . . . Determine the cause of the drift to pinpoint how to fix it.

The solution depends on the horse and rider’s experience.

Always factor in the rider’s balance and fit of the tack.

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Performance:

The double X oxer, with rails on the ground in front, encourages the horse to push off evenly with his hind legs.

Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com April �013 11

pERFORMANCE

balance and trajectory. If you have no access to such help, ask a friend with a video camera to provide footage for you to study, to see if you can pinpoint where the prob-lem lies. Head-on shots may be the most valuable, but footage from every angle, including behind, can give you clues.

BAD HABITS DIE HARD. If your horse has a chronic drift and you’ve ruled out physical causes, then the unfortunate answer may be that it’s a training fault—someone has allowed your horse to develop a bad habit. If this is the case with your horse, then you have to think in terms of retraining his attitude, as well as his body.

To understand when and why a horse drifts over fences, we must understand the mechanics of a horse’s jump. Drifting occurs most commonly when a horse ap-proaches a fence and finds that he’s going to end up at a deep distance, close to the base of the fence. This is a distance that requires the most effort from the horse, requir-ing him to really rock back, hold himself off the fence and use his hind end powerfully. A horse that doesn’t want to work that hard (due to laziness, pain, lack of strength or lack of experience) will usually give himself more room to jump the fence by drifting, thus making the act of jumping easier.

So, in order to teach the horse to jump straight, you have to be able to convince him to work harder to jump correctly. Once you’ve taught him the correct technique, it should be much easier for you to keep him straight with your aids.

A pROgRESSION. When you’re planning exercises to teach your horse to jump straight, view them as a progression of difficulty. Start with the more straightforward exercises and progress to the more difficult ones when you’re ready. The purpose of these exercises is to teach the horse to jump straight without you working hard to do it. The rails should do it for you.

Level 1: Jump construction. The first step to improving straightness in the air is the construction of the

jump itself. The good, old-fash-ioned crossrail is the most basic example of this, but a crossrail can also be used to construct an X-oxer. You can also raise or lower one side of the X, or bring the standards in narrower, to make the lower/jump-able area of the fence bigger or smaller. Younger or greener horses should have a wider low, jump-able space than more experienced horses. (Although the crossrail is a standard competition warm-up fence, young horses often struggle to understand that they aren’t to jump the top of the X.)

The crossrail can also be used to construct two types of oxers to help keep the horse straight. The first is a crossrail oxer—an oxer with a straight rail behind it. The second is an X oxer—two crossrails set parallel to each other. The crossrail oxer is a more optically encourag-ing choice for younger or less expe-rienced horses and riders, while the X oxer is a useful choice for more experienced horses, as it forces them to maintain their straightness over a fence with width.

Level 2: Poles on the ground, perpendicular to the fence. You can place guide poles on the ground on the take-off side of the fence, and, depending on the horse, you

Making the Rider StraightA rider who has jumped for years by ducking and becoming unbal-anced will require diligent work to correct those issues. But a newly developed case of crookedness should be easier to fix.

Before you try to fix your own straightness over fences, get straight on the flat. Make sure your stirrups are even, for starters. Then ride without stirrups, practicing sitting evenly on both seat bones, while keeping your hips and shoulders even and your head centered be-tween your shoulder blades. Even better, ride without stirrups on the longe line.

The surest method to improve your position over fences is to prac-tice jumping low grids without stirrups, concentrating on staying in the middle of your horse as your hips and body follow him over the jumps. But a certain level of strength and skill is required to make this exercise safe and worthwhile.

You can also practice your position over low gymnastic grids with stirrups. Concentrate on keeping both your heels down, on weighting your stirrups evenly, on keeping your hips and shoulders level, and on keeping your eyes up by looking straight between your horse’s ears at something in the distance.

Encourage Straightness

A placing rail in front of the first crossrail sets the horse up for this two-stride (30-foot) combination.

Two rails, placed in V shape against the jump, lead the horse straight to the center.

This gymnastic combination—a cross-rail, one stride, to a crossrail oxer—re-quires horses to hold a straight line.

1� Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com Apri l �013

Open supplements are best used up within 30 days.

Search out sources of fresh grass. You might find a vacant field nearby you could “rent” for grazing. If so, look at your local freebie listings for inexpensive movable fence. If your horse isn’t likely to be contained easily, fit in time to hand graze him.

Look at how you’re feeding your hay. Loose hay on the ground may be “natural,” but how much is wasted? A hay net, especially a “slow feed” net, can pay for itself in a short time with a messy horse.

Bedding: You don’t want your horse dealing with excess manure or smells, but you can be more efficient. If you pick out manure multiple times a day (even twice is better than once), you can often save bedding, as your horse hasn’t scattered his manure all around.

Wet straw can be spread outside on hot sunny days and will gain a day or two of added use. (It’s a lot of work, but if you’re pinched it might be worth it.) It doesn’t work as well with damp shavings or pellets.

Frequent stall cleaning and look-ing at placement of your manure pile can help cut down on flies. You’ll save a bundle on fly spray if your farm invests in fly parasites (see June 2010). Fly traps are also cost-effective in the long run, but they take more effort on your part.

Hoof Care: You might be able to save a few dollars by combin-ing a visit with other horse own-ers nearby, but don’t stretch the time between visits. If you have a

farrier school nearby, sometimes student visits can be arranged at a discount. If you have a horse with unusual shoe-ing requirements though, stick with your regular farrier!

Contributing Veterinary Editor Deb Eldredge, DVM.

VETERINARy VIEWpOINT

can also place them on the landing side. For a dedicated drifter, you’ll need poles on both sides. For a young or inexperienced horse, rails on just the take-off side should be sufficient.

Start with them set rather wide, say a quarter of the way in on each side. For a younger horse just need-ing guidance, that may be enough, but for a more dedicated drifter, you’ll need to progressively roll the poles in farther, until the “lane” between them is only slightly wider than the width of the horse’s body.

Level 3: Poles on the fence. This is the most demanding type of pole intervention, and it requires a cer-tain level of accuracy from the rider and a certain level of experience from the horse. This step should not be used with young horses or green horses or riders. A horse without the experience to correctly “read” a fence can become easily confused by the rails and badly misread the takeoff, resulting in jumping efforts that can scare both the horse and the rider.

Set the poles in an upside-down V shape, with the narrow point (approximately 2 feet wide) set on the front or top rail of the jump and the poles then reaching down and outward to the ground in front of the fence. The top of the poles (the top of the V) should not stick up above the jump’s top rail more than a few inches.

You can build this exercise as a single jump (vertical or oxer) or in a gymnastic line of two to four jumps. A gymnastic line with V-shaped poles is a particularly useful exercise for horses who drift due to weakness or poor training. It will practically force them to stay in the middle of the jumps.

BOTTOM LINE. Failure to jump straight is most often caused by a horse’s weakness or unsoundness. After you’ve diagnosed and begun to correct those problems, the pro-gressive training we’ve described should correct this jumping fault. Don’t expect it to be a magical, one-time cure, though. It will require many schooling sessions.

Article by Performance Editor John Strassburger.

Hopeful signs say the economy is improving, but for many of us it’s still tough financially.

But there are ways to economize without jeopardizing your horse’s health. Let’s look at the essentials:

Vaccines: Talk to your veterinar-ian about vaccines your horse truly needs (see January 2012). If your horse is a home body and only goes for trail rides down through the neighboring fields, your necessary vaccines will differ from a horse out campaigning every weekend.

Check your state law on Cog-gins testing. No need to have that expense on an off year, or if your horse isn’t traveling or planning to be sold. And you only need a full health certificate if you plan to travel across state lines.

Deworming: In this case, you may have to spend money to save money. Drop a manure sample off at your veterinary clinic for a quantitative evaluation so you know what para-sites you need to deworm for and how often (mailing the sample risks it drying before it arrives at the lab, skewing results). If you can cut back on a worming medication or two, the sample testing will pay for itself (see February, March 2012).

Feed: Skimping on feed will often cost you more in the long run. Stick to the protein and fat content your horse does well on. But consider a local feed mill brand in place of a more expensive national brand. Our local mill has great feed at equally great prices.

Look at supplements you’re feed-ing and evaluate if your horse truly needs them. (Talk with your vet or nutritionist, not the supplement seller!). Watch for sales and coupons. Go in on an order with friends to purchase a larger con-tainer to share, if you use the same products.

Budget CrunchingPinching pennies is always a sound idea.

Veterinary Viewpoint:

Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com April �013 13

Ask Horse Journal:

ASK HORSE JOURNAL

I have a 20-year-old Thorough-bred, hard keeper who is on pretty good quality grass all day

(quality round bale during winter) and 3 to 4 large flakes of hay per evening. He also gets little quality senior (low starch) grain morn-ing and night (I am not a big fan of grain for horses). He started to lose weight, so we added beet pulp, which did not work.

I recently started him on 2 large scoops daily of Blue Seal Hay Stretcher to gain weight (which worked), but I would much rather give him hay pellets than “oat hulls, etc.,” so I am considering a switch to hay pellets.

He is somewhat prone to colic and he tends to get hot on grain, so I figured timothy hay pellets were probably the best bet. I would like your advice on a few things because there is so much information out there, I don’t know what is reliable.

1) Do hay pellets generally make a horse “hot”?

2) Are hay pellets more nutritious than a hay stretcher (with oat hulls, alfalfa meal, etc)?

2) Do hay pellets have any omega 3’s? (I may supplement with ground flax seed for weight and nutrition, but before I spend money on supple-ments, I want to know if the pellets might help with weight gain and omegas).

3) Do you think the pellets will help with weight gain?

4) Do hay pellets cause colic?

Nutrition Editor Dr. Juliet Getty Responds: When a horse needs to gain weight, it’s important to pay attention to both the foregut (where carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are digested) as well as the hindgut (where the microbial population produces digestive enzymes that digest fibers). The hay pellets or

Hay pellets Or Stretchers?My horse is somewhat prone to colic and gets hot on grain. He’s starting to lose weight.

hay replacers you describe offer your horse calories via hindgut microbial digestion. Both types will provide fiber, and your horse will benefit from the variety of forages to boost the overall protein quality.

Rather than a hay stretcher, I would consider alfalfa pellets to not only add more calories but to pro-vide more amino acids that round out and improve the protein qual-

Hay stored on top of cement floors can accumulate moisture during the warmer months. To prevent losing the hay, go to your local lumber store and purchase a few 2 x 4 boards. For a storage area

of approximately 4 x 8 feet, you’ll need three 8-foot boards and one piece of plywood. Space the boards evenly apart and put the plywood on top of that. Then store your hay on the plywood. The hay is off of the ground with air circulation under the plywood, so the hay won’t absorb the humidity from the cement floor. Hint: You may think wood pal-lets would be easier. Think again. Spiders and mice think pallets make great homes, and wood pallets are not easy to sweep clean.

Hay Molds Sitting In StorageIn warm weather, moisture can accumulate under bottom bales.

Fix A Problem:

Alfalfa hay pellets won’t make your horse hot but will provide more calories and protein.

ity. They don’t make a horse hot, nor do they promote colic.

But regardless of the fiber source, it is advisable to provide a prebi-otic (we like Ration Plus at www.rationplus.com, 800-728-4667) to your horse’s diet to boost the overall numbers of bacteria living in the cecum and large colon. This will make digestion more efficient, resulting in more calories derived from forage.

Since your horse is already receiv-ing forage on a free-choice basis (be sure he doesn’t run out of hay dur-ing the night), use the hay pellets as a carrier for more supplementation.

Omega 3s are an important com-ponent of the diet and they aren’t found in hay pellets (or to any large extent in any hay, for that matter). Add a ground flaxseed product that is stabilized. We like Nutra-Flax (www.horsetech.com, 800-831-3309) as it has a small amount of calcium added to balance out the naturally high levels of phosphorus found in flax. Feed ½ cup per 400 lbs. of body weight.

Vitamins and minerals may also need to be added, especially those vitamins that no longer exist in hay. Once fresh grass is cut, dried and stored, it loses vitamins C, D and E, plus beta-carotene (used to make vitamin A) and essential fatty acids.

Consider a comprehensive supple-ment to fill in all the nutritional gaps. We like IntegriHoof (www.

1� Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com Apri l �013

ASK HORSE JOURNAL

ka-hi.com, 800-332-5244) and Life Data Lab’s Farrier’s Formula (www.lifedatalabs.com, 800-624-1873).

If more calories are needed, you can add fat in the form of rice bran or rice bran oil. Avoid soybean or corn oils since they are too high in omega 6s, creating an imbalance that can promote inflammation.

Finally, it’s best to moisten pellets rather than feeding them dry. Some horses are prone to choke when consuming hard pellets at too fast a rate. Also feed on the ground, us-ing a ground feeder, rather than one that is at shoulder height.

TEMpO AND IMpULSIONMy horse loses tempo. If I get him moving nicely forward and try to collect him a little, he loses impul-sion. I feel like the gas pedal gets stuck. What exercises can I do so that I’m not constantly pulling on his mouth to get him to slow down, then urging him forward because he slows down too much?

Associate Editor Margaret Free-man responds: You never want to use a hand aid that is stronger than the leg aid. It’s important to remember that connection issues originate behind the saddle, so if your horse slows down too much when you give a hand aid there wasn’t enough leg to begin with. Think uphill with all your aids and also with your position. Too much rein aid that isn’t backed up with a leg aid, puts the horse on his forehand, just as would too much leg aid not backed up with a steady rein aid.

Also, if you tend to tilt forward

with your upper body when you use your hands and legs, this also sends the horse onto his forehand, so he loses his balance and either speeds up or slows down to get comfortable over his four feet again. If you use too much leg aid and rotate your heel up around your knee, this also tilts you forward and affects the horses balance.

As for exercises, do frequent quick transitions. With each transition evaluate the horse’s response and assess your aids/position accord-ingly. Here is an example: Go on a 20-meter circle and alternate post-ing trot and sitting trot every eight strides. If the horse changes in any way when you post or sit—speeds up, slows down, inverts his neck —make a change in your equitation and see how the horse responds the next time you post or sit.

Another transition exercise is again on a 20-meter circle. Do quick trot/walk transitions—trot several strides, then walk but for just one step, and trot again. Each time try for less hand aid on the downward transition and the lightest aid you can use that will achieve a crisp upward transition. You can do the same thing with canter/trot transitions, except alter-nate half a circle of canter with half a circle of trot.

OLD HORSE JOINT pRODUCTSThe glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin supplements I’ve used had trace amounts of each, so I am not con-vinced they did my old horse any good. Still, searching hundreds of supplements is hard. For example, when I find one with 100mg HA,

they are short of everything else. What should I do?

Contributing Veterinary Editor Grant Miller, DVM, responds: Yes, there are hundreds of joint supple-ments on the market. Searching through all of them can be over-whelming, but we published our criteria and top picks in January and February 2012 to help you.

When looking for solutions for your elderly horse, keep in mind:

1) Following our advice on rec-ommended levels of ingredients increases the chance of success.

2) Use a double dose “loading dose” of a joint supplement for the first two weeks.

3) Sometimes, oral supplements need to be changed up a bit. If you aren’t getting a result with one brand, try a different product.

4) If you aren’t seeing satisfactory results with oral supplements, it may be time to try an injectable like Legend or Adequan (Sept. 2011).

5) You may even have to use mul-tiple joint supplements in order to achieve enough of an effect to keep an old horse comfortable.

6) Sometimes, a horse needs actual prescribed medication to ward away joint pain. One such medication is Equiloxx/Previcox, a non-steroidal Cox-2 selective anti-inflammatory that is designed for long-term, once-a-day use to aid in the control of musculoskeletal inflammation. In more severe cases, your vet may need to inject corti-sone directly into the joints to help control inflammation and pain.

7) Make sure that you determine how many scoops of the product

Allicin, the bug-repelling ingredient in raw garlic, can lead to Heinz Body anemia when your horse eats it. That’s a disease that destroys your horse’s red blood cells. Most horses like the taste of

garlic, and they’re happy to consume it. And anecdotal evidence does show it repels flies. But at what cost? Reduced red blood cells can lead to exercise intolerance and reduced immunity to disease.

Nutrition Editor Dr. Juliet Getty

garlic May Not Be Worth The RiskIt may keep bugs away, but at what cost?

Did You Know?

Opt for a fly sheet or fly parasites instead.

Horse Journal w w w.horse -journal.com April �013 1�

RESEARCH NEWS

Oleander is a woody shrub seen mostly in southern and western

areas of North America. It’s a pretty flowering shrub, and some people keep it as a pot-ted houseplant. But it doesn’t belong on a horse farm. The potency of this toxic plant was evidenced in the February 15 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Researchers at the veterinary college at the University of California at Davis did a retrospective study looking back at cases of oleander poisoning in 30 horses at the clinic there. Fifty percent of the horses died, with three dying as they arrived at the clinic or shortly thereaf-ter. Clearly, a serious toxin.

Signs seen with horses with oleander poisoning include colic, pos-sibly with diarrhea as well, and kidney damage. The crucial problem however is changes to heart rhythms. Cardiac symptoms were the most common cause of death. The horses who did survive had ex-tended hospital stays with intensive care given.

The scariest part was that many of the horse owners were either un-aware of any oleander on their property or felt there was no way the horse could have possibly eaten any oleander. Some of the horses had been moved to new grazing areas and three of the horses had escaped and been loose for a period of time.

BOTTOM LINE. If you live in an area where oleander can thrive outdoors, check your property thoroughly. Twenty leaves of oleander are enough to kill a horse. Before moving your horse to a new pasture, walk it completely to rule out any oleander—or any other toxic plants. We recommend you become familiar with the Cornell Poisonous Plants database at http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/. Toxic plants from all over are covered there, not just native New York plants. You can also visit http://plants.usda.gov/java/ and look up plants. They generally have excellent photos, too.

Deb M. Eldredge, DVM, Contributing Veterinary Editor

Research News:

This beautiful shrub can be deadly.

Oleander Toxicity

are required to equal one serving. Then, make sure that the serving has decent amounts of supplement (this is where our recommended in-gredient levels can come in handy).

8) Weight control and allowing the horse to be out and moving as much as possible still remain the most effective ways to aid in control of arthritis pain.

9) If you haven’t yet stopped riding, but you’re noticing that your horse is increasingly painful despite the supplements, consider retiring him.

10) As much as we try to help owners through various horse is-sues without telling them to call their vet, it may be a good idea to run things past yours when deter-mining an arthritis management plan for your horse.

No one management plan or supplement will work the same for every horse. It’s not easy to figure out what works for your horse, but don’t give up! It’s worth the effort, and we’re here to help.

LIVER ENzyMES AND OILIs it safe to feed my horse a small amount of flaxseed oil for its omega 3 benefits? He has raised liver enzymes and had a biopsy that showed fibrosis possibly due to ragwort poisoning, but they say it could have been another hepatic in-sult. I gave him six months of hefty steroids, which made no difference, so I stopped. He looks great, and I want to optimize his nutrition to give him a happy life. He is 21. I have Dr. Getty’s book on nutrition and have had advice from some nutritionists not to feed oil. One has said that as my horse doesn’t have “fatty liver syndrome” and he can’t see that a small amount of flax oil would do him any harm. My horse is at livery and not always on good pasture. At the moment he is box rested for a tendon injury. He has spavin in both hocks and ringbone in his right fore. His normal routine would be to go out during the day and stabled at night. Can I feed oil?

Contributing Veterinary Editor Deb Eldredge DVM responds: I really can’t give a definitive answer without knowing exactly what liver

enzymes are up on your horse and exactly what his diet currently is. However, that being said, flaxseed meal is generally not recommended for older horses with liver problems due to the protein level. Ask your vet about milk thistle, which is gen-erally regarded as safe and effective for liver problem in many species.

I understand your desire to increase your horse’s omega 3s. I suggest trying to find places where

your horse can graze, even if it means hand walking him to places with some fresh grass. Avoid areas along the road due to exhaust fumes and possible chemicals from roadwork.

Or, pick grass from around home (make sure no sprays or lawn treat-ments are used) and bring that with you when you go to the barn. But you must feed it immediately (and no mower clippings!).

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Commentary:

The horse world got unwanted publicity on Dec. 27 when The New York Times published an

exposé about a pony hunter named Humble, who collapsed and died at last May’s Devon (Pa.) Horse Show.

The New York Times reported that he was scheduled to receive 15 dif-ferent drug treatments, including anti-inflammatories, corticosteroids and muscle relaxant in the three days before he died. The basis of their report was a photograph of the trainer’s daily drug schedule, taken by the woman who was leasing Humble.

That woman filed a protest against the trainer with the U.S. Equestrian Federation, but their hearing re-sulted in no action since the trainer declined to attend the hearing—be-cause the USEF could not subpoena her. She had paid for a necropsy of Humble, but she only released partial findings, leaving the cause of death unclear. Maybe Humble’s death will force a serious USEF in-

Here’s what we horsemen and the USEF need to do to stop this cycle.

Faster and Easier: Over-Medicated Show Horses

ternal conversation about over-medi-cating competition horses.

The pony’s death also symbolizes what’s wrong with the larger Ameri-can culture, dominated by similar mindsets: Lose weight without alter-ing your lifestyle; make billions of dollars without actually earning it; even communications discourage us from waiting for anything. These at-titudes are why so many riders insist on horses that can “jump clean next week” or “win tomorrow.”

For trainers, this creates a tremen-dous pressure, pressure that makes it tempting to turn to the medicine cabinet. Sure, the USEF’s leaders need to keep evolving drug rules. But rules must continue to balance the needs of the horse as an athlete with moral and cultural values.

The FEI’s no-drugs-at-all policy is no drug policy at all. It just pretends that horses are magical athletes who don’t suffer injuries in

training or competition. The USEF has long had a realistic medication policy that allows for therapeutic treatment of working athletes. But some unethical members always try to find something that “won’t test,” something that they can give horses ever closer to competition “to be sure it works.” There’s our culture again—faster, easier.

Some people are pushing for the AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) position of no medications for 12 hours before com-petition, but that’s the basic intent of the USEF rules. Perhaps that needs to be made clearer, for starters.

What else can the USEF do? Make drug penalties really hurt: longer suspensions, bigger fines. Require necropsies on all horses who die at USEF shows. And make an emer-gency rule change giving the USEF power to subpoena members to hear-ings regarding horses they’re respon-sible for as owner, rider or trainer.

The courts have previously con-firmed that the USEF is a member-ship organization and that participa-tion in its shows is a privilege, not a right. So agreement with these rules must be a term of membership. Don’t agree? Then you can’t show.

And riders and owners should know about their horse’s care and be

brave enough to vote with their checkbook by avoiding medicine-cabinet trainers.

John StrassburgerPerformance Editor