Ticks, Lyme disease and horses

Since surfacing as an issue in 1975, Lyme disease has managed to steadily spread. Tick-borne disease, such as Lyme, accounts for 30-40 percent of the equine practice for Lodi Veterinary Care, according to David Kolb, DVM. The disease affects humans with joint inflammation, pain and fever. Unsurprisingly, horses also turn up with similar symptoms when infected, said Corinne Wade, Equine DVM, Lodi Veterinary Care.

In the case of Lyme, the culprit is a tick-borne bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi, she said, that invades the immune system and causes its trouble. It’s the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis ) that harbors and transmits the Lyme bacteria.

Horse owners are left trying to prevent animals from getting Lyme in the first place and dealing with it once a horse ends up with the infection. Starting with what to do, Wade said there is now a new test for Lyme that can detect disease titers at different stages.

“Knowing what stage the disease is in is important for us in determining a treatment program,” Wade said. But the test costs almost $100, the pain of which is reduced if a stable runs the test on multiple animals and captures the discount for volume.

Treatments involve antibiotics sometimes administered repeatedly for more chronic infections. Anyway you look at it a horse with Lyme disease is a problem. If you can prevent the infection in the first place you are money ahead.

“There is a canine vaccine that shows some promise for horses,” Wade said. “The vaccine isn’t yet approved and it’s not 100 percent effective. But a vaccine creates antibodies in the blood and gives the horse some resistance to the disease.” If approved, the vaccine will cost about $30.

The next preventive strategy is to look at what do about the tick itself, said Kolb. There are basic means of dealing with the tick: avoidance and repellants, habitat control, and insecticides.

“The last 10 years or so we’ve seen a spike in cases of Lyme’s,” Kolb said. “Now, 30 to 40 percent of our equine practice is dealing with tick-borne disease. It’s a regional issue with pockets of problems found in various regions of the country including Wisconsin and Minnesota.”

According to Phil Pellitteri, director of the UW-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, the only season deer ticks aren’t a problem is if there is snow cover. Anytime other time you can encounter deer ticks. The ticks like undisturbed grass and brushy areas.

“Mowing makes a big difference,” Pellitteri said. “If you can mow back the edges and keep trails well groomed, the deer ticks are less of a problem.”

Spraying an approved insecticide along edges will kill ticks and knock back populations temporarily. But widespread spraying can become expensive and impractical for large areas. Next in the preventive lineup are various repellants.

“There are some insecticides you can pour on the horse that work well,” Kolb said. “But the top two are toxic to cats. You may not want that in your barn.”

Lodi Veterinary Care now offers kits that include repellant leg bands. The leg bands are generally effective and can last up to three months. There also are repellents and insecticides that horse owners can apply directly to the horse.

“You can apply the material to those areas where the ticks are likely to encounter the horse like the muzzle, legs, chest,” he said. “They’ll need to be re-applied.”

Anytime you work with repellants and insecticides you should take care to read and follow all label instructions and warnings. Because tick-borne infections are regional, some research before heading off on a trail ride is a good idea.

There are various theories for why the tick and its associated Lyme disease continue to spread, Pellitteri said. Kolb explained one notion is related to the White-Footed Mouse, a woodland creature that is host to deer tick. Fox prey on the mice and keep populations in check but there are areas where coyote move in and the foxes leave. Without the fox, the mice population goes up.

“But I think moisture patterns have something to do with it,” Pellitteri said. “The only time I’ve seen a drop in tick populations is because of a drought. They don’t like dry conditions.”

The fat unhappy horse

Likely as not, if you have a fat horse you have a horse with other problems as well. Laminitis, for example, can become a chronic issue with overweight horses and little makes a horse as unhappy as sore feet all the time.

Technically, issues with fat horses are being lumped together under the umbrella of “Equine Metabolic Syndrome.” Several specific problems such as poor reproductive performance, insulin resistance, and founder, can fit under the EMS umbrella, explained Simon Peek, clinical professor, UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

“This is not Cushing’s Disease,” Peek said. “EMS tends to affect horses much earlier in life; before they are 10 years of age. Cushing’s comes along much later in life.”

The term “easy keeper” is used to refer to a horse that seems to gain weight regardless of what or how much is being fed. But such animals probably have some type of EMS. Much of the blame for fat horses and “pasture inspired founder” was attributed to lush pastures. Pasture and diet have a role, but Peek said EMS is a much broader problem.

Some breeds of horses are more susceptible to EMS, for example. Ponies, Morgan, Arabians, Paso Finos and Saddlebreds are known to gain weight and develop laminitis. Any breed of horse can develop EMS, he added, but some are just more known to have such issues.

All tied together, EMS is a combination of diet, exercise, and genetics. An EMS horse is easy to spot with its crested neck, rounded body, and layers of dimpled fat over the rump above the hip. Isolating the specific nature of the EMS should involve an exam that includes testing blood glucose levels, radiographs of the hooves, and body condition scoring – a system for visually determining obesity and tracking change over time.

“There are four or five university groups looking into more advanced diagnostics,” Peek said. “The emphasis for controlling EMS is on management, because there is no specific drug therapy available.”

Once the horse’s feet are comfortably recovered from laminitis, the next phase of EMS management is exercise. A minimum of two to three hours a week of exercise is required. “And it’s better if you provide the exercise in a series of 20 or 30 minute episodes over the course of the week,” Peek said.

People seem to quickly grasp the idea of providing more exercise, Peek said, but don’t always want to buy into diet and pasture management. “Some horses shouldn’t be on pasture and to a lot of people that seems cruel,” Peek said. “But if you want the horse in the future, you have to learn how to manage pasture and diet.”

For the EMS horse, soluble carbohydrates are the enemy. Pasture, especially unlimited lush pasture, produces soluble carbohydrates in abundance. Anything sweet or high in carbohydrates is a threat. For the EMS horse, it’s 1.5 lb of grass hay per 100 lb of horse body weight.

People who use forage analysis are looking for a grass hay with less than 10 percent soluble carbohydrate. “You can reduce the carbohydrate challenge in some hay by soaking it in water for six or eight hours,” Peek mentioned.

Good grass hay, restricted pasture, increased exercise and a recommended mineral/vitamin supplement will go a long way toward maintaining the easy keeper in good health. Under the right management, Peek said you should be able to use and enjoy your horse for many years.

Vaccinations close door on disease

If proof is needed that vaccinations work, horse owners should look no further than cases of West Nile Virus (WNV). WNV showed up several years ago and swept through the horse world in a wave.

“We started seeing WNV about 15 years ago and it’s still one of the most common neurological diseases we have,” said Traci Busalacchie, DVM, Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic. “But the number of cases of WNV has dropped dramatically since we started vaccinating for it.”

Another vaccination success story was for “sleeping sickness” or Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis. The use of vaccinations knocked back incidences of the disease to the point people quit vaccinating for it. Once vaccinations were reduced, the disease has made a comeback, she said.

Among the neurological diseases in horses, tetanus remains a common problem. Horses are exposed to tetanus primarily through puncture wounds. An unvaccinated horse with a puncture wound, such as a nail poked into a hoof, should get an antitoxin instead of the vaccination. Otherwise give your horse tetanus boosters on a regular schedule and keep your barn and stables areas as free of dangerous sharp items as possible.

“When it comes to vaccinations; that’s something I don’t skimp on,” Busalacchi said, while speaking at the recent Keeping Your Horse Healthy seminar as part of the bi-state extension horse conference. “Vaccinations don’t give you a 100 percent guarantee but they will stop most infections and greatly reduce the severity of any cases the horses do get.”

Vaccinations come in inactivated and modified live forms and combination, or multiple disease, vaccination products are available. Depending on the product and the vaccination program the drugs are typically given by injection or nasal spray.

Vaccinations take time to work. The time to vaccinate is not when a flu is running through the herd. Most vaccines need about two weeks to become effective in the horse’s immune system.

If at all possible, Busalacchi said she likes to follow the same schedule at a barn. Depending on the challenges in the barn or the region boosters may be needed more frequently. High traffic barns where animals are coming and going, for example, may need booster shots more often. Likewise if the barn is in an area prone to specific infections, more boosters are a safe investment.

Busalacchi added that bio-safety precautions also can reduce the spread of many diseases. For the high traffic barns or when new animals are introduced a quarantine area and up to 60 days of separation are good practices.

“Flu is the most common respiratory disease of horses,” she said. “Flu is spread by coughing, sneezing or snorting and can travel 30 yards. Separation is very important.”

Horses will usually recover from the flu in about 10 days with good care. But the disease can linger or get worse if the horse is put back to work too soon. Her thumb rule is to give a horse a week off for every day it’s sick. With that rule, if the horse is sick two days it should have two days off. If the horse is sick for a week, it needs seven weeks to fully recover.

Follow a vet approved vaccination program with an eye for the unique challenges at your barn, follow basic bio-safety measures and be consistent to maintain a solid disease prevention program.

Box Canyon, Ouray, Colorado

Box Canyon, Ouray, Colorado, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

Deep up the creek so to say...

Alone here

 

Tooth care for the equine set

Travis Henry, DVM

With 12 pounds of teeth in the head of the average 5-year-old horse, dental care is an important part of overall equine health, said veterinarian Travis Henry of Midwest Equine Services in Elkhorn. Routine, professional annual exams and care help prevent problems, improve the well-being of the animal and prolong its useful life.

"I’m not so concerned with floating the teeth and removing all the sharp points," Henry said. "We do have to maintain the teeth; that’s true. But what’s important is heading off periodontal diseases. That’s what can save a horse’s life."

Henry encouraged horse owners and managers to enlist the help of a fully trained and licensed veterinarian for all equine dental care. Not only do veterinarians have the training and experience to handle a wide range of dental challenges, veterinarians also are licensed and insured to protect themselves and the client, he said.

A thorough oral exam requires the use of a mouth speculum and sedation of the horse. A "dental technician" has no license to sedate a horse and may not have the training needed to actually do a good exam. There’s more to equine dental care than filing off a few points.

"It’s dentistry. Not carpentry," Henry said, speaking at the recent Keeping Your Horse Healthy program sponsored by the Illinois and Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Bi-state Horse Program.

Horses chew hay and grass in a circular motion going side to side and back and forth (rostal and caudal). When chewing with its head raised, a horse will chew side to side and when it lowers its head and chews, the horse will tend to use the back-and-forth motion. Food is worked into a ball that’s sized to pass through a small opening in the throat, he explained.

With all that grinding action, there are opportunities for something to go amiss. When problems appear, those problems often are related one way or another to some human action. Genetics can play a role in creating horses with poor dental conformation and sometimes it’s an action taken by an owner to make the horse do something to perform.

Either way, the teeth and gums are a direct line into the head of the horse and especially the sinus cavity, Henry said. A dental problem sometimes appears as nasal discharge, eruptions on the cheek or elsewhere on the nose or even a foul smell.

"Sometimes you’ll smell a problem before you see it," he said.

"The live tissue in a tooth is pretty important," Henry said. "If it’s missing or there’s something wrong with the tissue, it’s just a tube right up into the head and the sinuses. The sinuses can hold about a quart and a half so an infection can sometimes involve the whole head."

A key to knowing what’s going on in a horse’s mouth is X-rays. Anatomy of the mouth and head frequently play a role in where food gets caught and how food is chewed, so having a baseline picture of the structure can help veterinarians pinpoint possible trouble spots.

The X-ray also helps the vet see inside the bone tissue to have an idea if it’s healthy. Henry suggested annual radiographs to monitor changes over time and to spot any developing issues before something more serious crops up.

Henry encouraged horse owners and managers to keep a close eye on what’s going on in the mouth and around the teeth. Red tissue, bad smells, discharges or eruptions are all strong indicators of something going haywire. Changes in eating or finding spit-up hay balls in paddocks and pastures also are a clue.

"Dental problems are painful for the horse," he said. "They know exactly where in the mouth it hurts the most."

   

The old ounce of prevention

Liv Sandberg

Keeping a horse healthy often depends on keeping track of things. Providing a good environment and then knowing what to look for go a long way toward maintaining a healthy horse.

"Look at health care as a year-round cycle and not based on an event," said Liv Sandberg, UW-Madison Extension equine specialist. "Sometimes it's too late if you only call a vet for an emergency."

Looking ahead to spring, Sandberg cautioned horse owners to keep an eye on pastures. Many places in the state experienced a hard drought and pastures were likely overgrazed.

"Most of the forage specialists believe we'll see more weeds this spring because of conditions last year," she said. "And be aware of toxic weeds coming into pastures and hay fields too. You'll need to be on the forefront of weed control this spring."

Related to spring pastures and feeding is body condition scoring. Guides are available online to help horse owners learn how to do body condition scores. A growing issue is obesity in horses, and learning how to detect changes in the way a horse looks can head off trouble later.

"The guides show you where to look for fatty deposits and assign a number to the condition," Sandberg said. "When you see your horses every day it's sometimes hard to notice gradual changes. Learning how to body condition score is also a way to communicate good information with a vet."

Exercise is important to the health of horses. Routinely working with your horses provides needed exercise and creates the opportunity to know how the animal moves and behaves. Knowing normal movement and behavior is a key to noticing a change, she said.

Body temperature, pulse and respiration all offer clues to horse health. A normal temperature is about 100 degrees; 40 beats per minute is a good pulse as a rule of thumb. A horse at rest should breath about 12 times a minute.

"Taking a temperature is something you can learn to do yourself. And it's a good thing to practice so it's not a big thing for you or the horse," Sandberg said. "Keep in mind that temperatures can vary on a hot day or if your horse is exercising. Taking its temperature once in a while helps you learn what is normal for your horse."

Learning how to take a pulse on your horse is another thing owners can learn to do, she added. The best way is with a stethoscope applied to the horse's side just behind the elbow. "The pulse is very soft and low but with some practice you can learn how," she said.

If you don't have a stethoscope, there is a small vein right under the mandible. Find the vein with a finger and press gently until the pulse is felt. Again, the technique may take practice, but it's a great thing to know, Sandberg said.

Respiration rate is a way to monitor lung and breathing health. It's as simple as holding the back of your hand close to a nostril and counting the times you feel the horse exhale.

"If you find yourself in a spot where you have to call a veterinarian, you'll be able to communicate this information right away if you know how to do a few basic things," Sandberg said.

Another key to horse health is found in its mouth. Mucus membranes and the gums around the teeth should be pink. Bright red flesh can indicate infection and dental issues and pale- or gray-colored flesh also indicates something is wrong, she said. Press your finger into the gums around the teeth and the pink color should pop back right away, which indicates circulation is good in the area.

"Horse owners should all know how to do the skin pinch test to see if the animal is dehydrated," Sandberg said. "Pinch the skin on the horse's body into a tent shape. When you release, the skin should snap back to normal. If it stays tented up, your horse may be dehydrated."

Keep an eye on how often and how much the horse defecates and urinates. Changes in volume, color, consistency and smell can indicate something isn't working.

"Listen for gut sounds," Sandberg said. "You should hear gut sounds every 15 to 30 seconds. If you don't hear anything or if it's churning constantly there may be a problem," she said.

Discharges from eyes or nostrils also are indications something has changed or isn't right. Bright eyes and clear nostrils are signs of a healthy horse.

"Being able to relay this kind of information to a vet can really save a lot of time and may help your horse in case a vet is needed," she said.

Last but not least, Sandberg encouraged horse owners to keep records. If you take the time to look your animal over completely, keep a record of the observations, she said. Just like body condition scoring, it's sometimes hard to detect small changes over time.

Take care of those feet!

Dogs and cats can adjust to the loss of a foot. Horses? Not so much.

Without sound feet and legs, the horse is history, said Kevin Nelson of Bristol Veterinary Clinic. And trouble with hooves is among the most common of all equine ailments.

"With as much as has been studied and written about hooves, we're still learning," Nelson said. "It's the most frustrating topics veterinarians have to deal with."

Determining what exactly a "normal" hoof is supposed to look like is actually part of the frustration. There isn't any uniformity because no two horses are the same and no two horses are ever in the same category of use.

"We can take MRIs of horse hooves and what we find is a huge range for normal," Nelson said. "And to make it more complicated, we've (humans) created most of the problems we do find."

Nelson described the situation in a horse's hoof as like a person standing all day on his middle finger. There's one bone (coffin bone) encased in a flexible hard shell all attached and wrapped up with other bones, ligaments and muscles like so many strips of Velcro.

"The hoof itself flexes like a spring when the animal moves," Nelson said while speaking at the recent Keeping Your Horse Healthy seminar as part of a bi-state Extension horse conference. "When something seems off with a horse our rule of thumb is that the problem is in the hoof until you can proveIt' otherwise."

Further adding to the frustration with hoof care is the range of potential crossover problems. Physical conformation, diet, injuries, seasonal changes, how the horse is used and an even longer list of items can involve the hoof.

"Human neglect, ignorance, abuse and just being naive can all come into play," he said. "And once a horse has laminitis it becomes a survivor. It's never really cured because there's always potential for a relapse so we manage these horses rather than try to cure."

Horse owners can take precautions to reduce the potential for laminitis. Nelson said to take it easy with feed changes. With spring pasture just around the corner, he advised people to be wary of the fresh, lush grass with many horses. Nelson reported that every spring he sees a wave of foundered horses that went out of the barn and onto lush pastures.

"Exercise is probably the best preventive therapy for all horses," he added. "A well-managed diet and routine exercise go a long way. Often, fitness alone will improve laminitis."

There are, of course, trauma types of injuries with punctures leading the list. Hooves are like nail magnets and that's a leading cause of hoof injury. Keeping pastures and barns free of debris is the best medicine.

Nelson urged people who breed horses to be more aware of what is being passed on. Good conformation in the first place will prevent many issues with feet. He said horses are now often bred for traits that have little to do with good feet and legs.

And there are the many weird things done to horses to make them look better, or perform differently in the show-ring. Some practices can verge on abuse and there are a few things that are in fact banned. It's also important to match the horse to the types of activities that suit the animal. "A Quarter horse with tiny feet probably shouldn't run cross country, for example," he said.

Finally, Nelson suggested that horse owners work with a team of professionals. The team should include a top-notch farrier, a veterinarian, someone good with animal nutrition and all the trainers and stable owners involved in the animal's life.

Doeke

Doeke, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

He's just a 3-year-old baby. But very patient with flash, umbrella and camera.

Jilly!

Jilly!, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

Who needs football with this jock in the family!

Red Whey

Red Whey, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

Need to learn to do product photography in a hurry!

The wind up...

Fogy Oak

From scan. cira 1980

The eater

Circa 1980...

Outward bound

Outward bound, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

One warm fall day!

Broken Oak

Broken Oak, originally uploaded by NetAgra.

Every picture has a story

Auction faces soft season

coaxing a bid

Top bid

A horse sale regarded highly enough to draw registered Morgan consignments from as far west as Wyoming and from as far east as Maryland should bring out the big bidders. But at the end of the annual Hylee’s Production Sale Oct. 27, there was plenty of speculation about the horse market.

"People certainly got some good deals," said Jackie Sweeney, Hylee Farm owner. "I don’t know. It’s an election year."

It’s not that horses didn’t sell; the top bid was more than $17,000. It was the horses that earned only the minimum $750 bid or didn’t sell at all for failure to make the floor. Internet bidding pitted buyers against each other from as far away as British Columbia and provided a boost on several lots.

The sale arena at the Mount Horeb farm was near seating capacity with consigners, potential bidders and onlookers. At the preview event the night before, the barn aisles were crowed with people sizing up the offerings and taking test rides to see if the animals fit the rider. The interest level was high and the excitement was evident.

There was obvious surprise when the sale began sluggishly and continued to drag along in the early going. Auctioneer Bill Addis of Edmond, Okla., repeatedly prodded the crowd, frequently pausing the bidding to talk up the horse, answer questions and let the consigners show off the best of their animals.

"You’ll regret not bidding in the morning," Addis said.

What isn’t good for the seller certainly benefits the buyer as people picked up top-end animals for less than what it cost to raise and train them. Unofficially, out of the 41 lots consigned, 34 lots sold with a couple of scratches.

The low bid for a 4-year-old mare was $550 and one horse went through the auction ring without a bid. Four other lots were held by consignors for not reaching the pre-assigned minimum bid, one of which did reach $6,000 before Addis called it.

The unofficial sale total was $71,700 for an equally unofficial average of $2,100 per lot. By way of comparison, last year’s production sale auction total was $115,500 on 35 head. The auction average on horses sold was $3,300.

An obvious question about the state of the market related to the drought and the short supply of pasture and hay across the nation. Sweeney tended to discount the forage situation as a factor in the sale. She said most of the people interested in such high-quality animals have secured their hay supplies for the season and if they want a horse they’ll bid.

Other people speculated that the shortage of forage and pasture are part of an overall picture that includes a slow economy, an evolving horse business, election year fatigue, contraction in the business and an overall sense of uncertainty. More than one attendee at the sale pointed out the number of stables around the country that are scaling back by reducing inventory.

"Eventually, this cutting back we see in the business now will lead to a shorter supply of good horses," said Joe Doctor, one of the sale ring men. "It’s a supply and demand thing, and we’ll see prices come back once that has happened."

Lettering in horsemanship: High school competition growing

Competition during district two show

While not yet competitive with Friday night football as a high school sport, horse shows as part of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Horsemanship Association are growing in participation. What began as an idea copied from Michigan about five years ago has now joined the mainstream of high school athletic sports here in Wisconsin.

"You can now get a high school athletic letter in horsemanship," said Jill Klubertanz, WIHA district 2 chairwoman. "School districts that recognize the sport can, if they want, offer a letter to participants."

Since its inception in 2007, WIHA has grown from 17 teams across the state to more than 60 teams with more than 300 students participating, said Julia Lepinski, WIHA president. Its growth is partly connected to the team aspect of the competitions.

"You’re part of a team. There are no individual awards. When you compete, you’re helping your team and everyone is cheering and helping each other along," Lepinski said.

Anything connected to high school-sanctioned sports tends to get complicated, but the WIHA tries to make it as easy on school districts as possible to recognize the sport, she said. A big hurdle to adding more sports is money, so WIHA activities and events are completely self-funded.

"The students take on all the costs of having the animals and the transportation," Klubertanz said. "The association takes care of the various liability issues that a school district is usually concerned about. There’s no cost to the school district for having a team."

Wisconsin is divided into 18 districts and students may form teams regardless of whether a school district decides to recognize horsemanship as a lettered sport. Divisions within WIHA are based on the number of riders from a school district: Division A, 11-15 riders; Division B, 6-10 riders; Division C, 3 to 5 riders; Division D, 1-2 riders.

Teams then compete in district shows for the chance to go to the state show. The top two teams from each district division earn the chance to go to the state show. There’s a smorgasbord of 18 competitive WIHA classes such as: western showmanship, hunter hack equitation, reinsmanship, barrels and relay races.

Teams pick six of the available classes in which to compete. The show competition is similar to a track meet where athletes may compete in more than one event, Klubertanz said. Team scores are added up to determine team winners.

"There are individual ribbons, but at the end there is only a team trophy," she said.

"Our season is short; September and October," Klubertanz said. "Each district does three shows. If it’s a small district they may combine shows. It’s unique that we judge only the rider’s ability. The kind of horse a student has doesn’t matter."

Why should youth want to get involved with another high school activity when there already are so many to choose from? Klubertanz says many young people with equestrian interests are so wrapped up with their horses and horse activities that they often forego other high school athletics and programs.

"The students with horses are putting in all the work and making all the sacrifices and learning many of the same lessons as other athletes," she said. "The WIHA gives them the opportunity to get some credit for their work so they use it on college applications and resumes like other students do."

The official association purpose statement reads in part, "...to promote continuous growth in programs fostering horsemanship education, sponsor activities to encourage interscholastic participation and to have cooperative adult supervised leadership (coaching) for all students in grades 6 through 12 who are desirous to participate regardless of race, creed or national origin and meets the association rules and regulations."

Run girl!

Run girl!, originally uploaded by NetAgra.

Cool fall temps and she's perky!