Newsletter

2008 Fall Newsletter

2008 September Newsletter

2008 Sept News:

Welcome to the breeding season!

Please look on our web site (www.adelaideplainsequine.com) for information about foaling, prenatal care of your mare, and this seasons reproduction information. The take-home points are:

• Don’t over feed your mare but make sure she has a good broodmare supplement
• Vaccinate your mare ~1 month before the birth with tetanus as a minimum
• Worm the mare with an ivermectin based product close to foaling
• When labour begins (we mean the real deal-water gushing down on the ground and straining), and you are not seeing progressive movement, call us.
• Unless you are a pro, have our number by your phone, and be prepared to get either Alison or Elizabeth’s mobile number from our after hours answering machine. You can even call us during the day and warn us that your mare is close to foaling and where she is located. Time is of the essence.
• The foal should stand and nurse within 3 hours.
• The mare should pass her placenta within 6 hours (Hey, if it is early in the morning just wait until at least 7 am to call)
• A sleepy sweet foal may likely be a sick foal.

We recommend having a new foal exam and an IgG test performed on all foals at 12 to 24 hours of age to make sure the foal received adequate colostrum and is healthy.

Attention: we need colostrum!
If you have a mare that has buckets of milk and you are sure your foal is getting their fair share, please milk out even 100mls and throw it in the freezer. If the foal is dead, we still may be able to milk the mare and save the colostrum for a future foal.

Along those lines, the number one call we get is for mares that won’t let the foals nurse. A few tricks are to first either hold the mare firmly or twitch her. Often the udder is full and edematous and requires milking out a small amount; this should then relax the mare. Smear some milk on the teat and allow the foal to suck on your fingers, then draw the mouth up to the teat (sometimes from the opposite side). This will help to guide the foal onto the teat. If the foal has no suck reflex, call us (day or night) and don’t wait.
See our power points for more info.

Beans
Beans, beans, good for the heart.
The more you eat the more you (something that rhymes with dart).
Okay, beans in horses are not good for the heart, and are not even in the heart area.
Beans are collections of smegma (word of the month meaning: a waxy or cheesy accumulation of debris around the penis and in the urethral orifice.) The bean can be anywhere from the size of a pea, to my largest one that was about the size of an apricot. They can become irritating to geldings and occasionally require removal. Some horses will let you express them out and some resist. We can help with those guys that don’t see bean removal as high on their hit parade. Along those lines, only clean the penis and sheath if it is really dirty; we recommend a regular cleaning once a year (good to coordinate with yearly dental check-up and tetanus vaccine). This should not be part of your daily ritual or we will consider you to be a weird client. Use a very mild non-detergent soap. We use Amway LOC, but there are other generic soaps that work as well.

Figure 1 Urethral orifice Figure 2 A large bean (ouch)

Mini weights: There is a great article in The Horse Magazine about feeding minis.
Nancy Loving, DVM has quoted Dr. Phillip Johnson (Alison’s former boss) on the problems associated with minis including fatty liver, hyperlipemia, and insulin resistance.
The article contains a few formulas for estimating the weight of miniature horses.
The KER method weight estimation:
(Girth in inches x 11.68) + (height in inches x 2.85) - 357.26 = BW in pounds/ 2.2 =Body weight in kg.
85 % of yearlings to aged horses are 215 lbs (95 kg) while only 15 % are above 250 lbs (110 kg) They suggest you feed 1.8 to 2 kg Hay per day or 1 kg twice daily.

Hendra Virus
As many of you know, a veterinarian from the Brisbane area contracted Hendra Virus and died last week. The virus has not been seen in our area, but since little research has been done on the prevalence of the virus, it may have been here and gone unnoticed. It is unlikely we will see the virus anytime soon, but since it has mutated and changed from a predominantly respiratory virus to a more neurological virus, we need to be vigilant to its emergence from the Queensland area. If you have a horse exhibiting unusual symptoms, please call us ASAP and avoid contact with bodily fluids.

Some cutting edge research
My old college friend, Chris Ross, DVM, had a nice article in The Horse about predicting catastrophic breakdowns in horses. She uses ECG’s or electrocardiograms to note undetected stress in horses. In the normal horse, the time between each heartbeat varies; it is a small variation, but it is measurable. If a horse is stressed, there is a decrease in the variation in the times between beats. The nervous system takes over and the hear rate becomes very steady. Chris’ work is getting some publicity recently due to the large number of high-profile breakdowns. Yes, we do ECG’s.

EI Editorial
The government is considering whether to allow people to vaccinate their horses for equine influenza. There are groups that want mandatory ongoing vaccination and there are groups that want no vaccination. We feel that the owner should be allowed to decide for their animal. Do we think it is wise to vaccinate at this time? No, but we think you should be allowed to decide for yourselves. Having read all of the transcripts from the Callahan inquiry, Elizabeth found the lack of responsibility and accountability disturbing in the government’s department. While few horses died or were more than darn sick, many businesses and horse people suffered far more than would have been necessary had an appropriate plan been adopted in the first place. That would be a plan that included a novel 20th century idea called vaccine. We vote to let you decide for yourselves and not for others.

Must Read
19 interesting things about horses :
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/features/interesting-158.shtml

APEC in a Treatment Trial
We are looking for horses to trial a deer velvet byproduct that may help with some lameness’s. Please call us if you want to try this product for three weeks. The product is free, but the horse does need to be evaluated prior to the trial and after and it must be lame.

NH (non-horsey) Request
Elizabeth is looking for positive stories about teachers. She may be writing a book about true stories where teachers inspired people or kids to go one step better or even took them from the cliff edge. So, if you want to write a story about a teacher that inspired you or your child, and want the credit, please write it up and send it in. We have good editors so don’t let your English skills stop you. If you have a great story but no time or will to write, call or email her and she will write it for you.
Please pass it on to your friends. The story does not have to end with you becoming a brain surgeon, but maybe you finished a year, when you originally expected to just drop out, due to a kind word or a boot up the backside from a teacher. For those of you that prefer the horse stories, that is in the works as well. We want to name names and “out” some good teachers even if they are long dead. Maybe we will inspire your children’s teacher with examples.
Please send them to: theherbs@chariot.net.au 08 85234777

A Note from Alison
I have just completed my first year here at Adelaide Plains Equine Clinic and am looking forward to the busy year ahead. Equine Influenza put a damper on horse shows last year so now I am excited to get out there and visit many of you at the shows this season. Please keep us informed of show dates or local events, as I do enjoy going out and seeing the shows! During the past year, I was also fortunate enough to speak to groups such as Riding for the Disabled as well as for Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board with their Land Management Program. Let me know if your group needs a speaker-I have a few presentations that might suit your interests. This year we started a new website, www.adelaideplainsequine.com, and we are trying to add new educational information to it periodically. I have also started a library here at the clinic with lots of articles concerning nutrition, laminitis, and sports medicine, among many others. Please use us as a resource-the Internet is a great tool for gaining info, but much of it is not necessarily correct! Thanks to all of you who have made this year so great for me!

Happy trails
APEC