It is sad how many horses have to do their jobs while in less than sound condition. So often, riders, trainers, even judges fail to notice lameness. They shrug it off as just poor ability, or poor performance. When horse people are not trained to detect lameness, it often gets missed and horses suffer. Whether a horse is in light, […]
Breeding mares with artificial insemination (AI). What you need to know.
Breeding a favorite mare, watching her go through her pregnancy, and then have a beautiful foal by her side. It’s idyllic when it all works out well, but you need to go into it with your eyes open. There is a lot you need to know about the realities of the process, and you need to be aware of the […]
Systemic Antibiotics- What Horse People Should Know
Flash had a small wound on his lower leg that had taken forever to heal. His vet recommended an antibiotic for a week, but the owner didn’t think the wound was healing fast enough. She discussed this with her friend, not her vet. Her friend happened to have another antibiotic in her tack trunk. They added that one in too. […]
Cases From the Clinic: A Non-Healing Wound of the Throatlatch of a Mare
Bella came to our veterinary practice with a long-standing, non-healing wound of her right throatlatch. History: The wound had been there over 6 months, and to the owner’s knowledge she didn’t have an accident that caused it. Over that time, she had been to a few different veterinarians and had been on antibiotic courses, wound cleaning and flushing. But the […]
The Letting Go
Jackson was one of my absolute favorites, of all the tens of thousands of horses I have put my hands on, over almost 27 years as an equine vet. He was something special – a distinguished dark bay Quarter Horse gelding with a beautiful and refined face – and gray around his big, soft, brown, kind eyes. When I […]
Understanding Navicular Syndrome & Heel Pain in Horses
Navicular Syndrome (also called Podotrochleosis, Podotrochlitis, Palmar Foot Pain, Caudal Foot Pain,Heel Pain, and Chronic Heel Pain, among many others), typically involves degeneration of the navicular bone and the adjacent anatomy of the back half of the hoof, resulting in chronic lameness that usually involves both forefeet. Conditions affecting the navicular bone and the surrounding structures are extremely important; […]
Resistant!
Equine parasites are becoming resistant to our de-worming compounds. This blog post addresses why this is a HUGE CONCERN not only for your horse, but for the entire horse industry. Recently I had to euthanize a world-class 4-year-old Quarter Horse mare, a real tragedy. She had badly damaged intestines, and after 2 colic operations, we decided to put her […]
Golden Eagles & Lead-Free Bullets: A Small Change, A Huge Impact!
Note: This blog post is not about horse health. Instead, it is a personal story about another animal I care deeply about. Please take some time to read and share this blog post. I truly believe this is an important and worthy cause. My Personal Story I have been a practicing equine veterinarian for 25 years. Before that, I grew up […]
Injecting Your Horse Can Be Hazardous. Know the Risks!
Sunny, a 10 year old paint gelding, was given his routine vaccinations. A day later, there was some swelling at one of the injection sites in his neck. After talking to her veterinarian, the owners gave him some bute. He seemed to improve for a while, but suddenly the swelling worsened, he spiked a fever of 104, and he stopped […]
What Vaccines Does My Horse Really Need? The Basics of Equine Infectious Disease & Prevention
Infectious diseases are important causes of equine suffering and mortality. You have a vital role in preventing these diseases in your horses. Vaccination is ONE important tool we have to reduce these diseases in our horses. But it’s not as simple as going to the feed store and buying a guarantee that your horse won’t get sick. To be the best […]
Lower Limb Casts: A Remarkable Treatment For Severe Equine Lower Limb Wounds
Fancy, a 20 year old quarter horse sustained a severe heel bulb laceration. Her owners had tried a variety of topical wound ointments, but the wound actually became larger, and developed severe proud flesh. We first saw Fancy 3 months after injury. We removed excessive proud flesh and kept the limb bandaged for 30 days. The wound improved, but stopped healing at […]
Sole Abscesses in Horses: What You Need to Know
While there are several more common diagnoses for a horse that is suddenly, inexplicably SEVERELY lame, sole (foot) abscess is the most common cause. Most horses with sole abscess are very lame at the walk, and some cannot bear weight at all. Early or small sole abscesses may cause less severe lameness. In most cases, horses with sole abscess become increasingly lame […]
Lameness & The Lameness Exam: What Horse Owners Should Know
WHAT IS EQUINE LAMENESS? Lameness is a term used to describe a horse’s change in gait, usually in response to pain somewhere in a limb, but also possibly as a result of a mechanical restriction on movement. We all think of lameness when a horse is obviously limping, but lameness may only cause a subtle change in gait, or even just […]
10 Common Horse Emergencies & the Skills You Need to Help
#1 Abdominal Pain, Colic Signs Perform Whole Horse Exam™ (WHE) Assess Color of Mucous Membranes Assess Demeanor or Attitude Assess Gut or Intestinal Sounds Assess Manure Assess Capillary Refill Time (CRT) by examining Gums Give Intramuscular (IM) Injection Give Oral Medication Sand Sediment Test Handle Horse With Colic #2 Lower Leg Wound Assess Wound Assess Lameness at the Walk Bandage Limb […]
Why I Created Horse Side Vet Guide
This cartoon is obviously a joke, but as a long-time equine veterinarian, scenarios like this are too familiar to me. Misinformation (usually found on the Internet – a/k/a “Dr. Google”) leads caretakers to make guesses about their horse’s condition rather than contacting a veterinarian. Of course, many horses heal fine without veterinary help, and sometimes the information found online is […]
The Trailer Ride “Cure” for Equine Colic
Over the years, I have heard many stories about how horse owners “cured” their colicy horse by loading it onto a trailer and driving it around for a while – the so-called “Trailer Ride Cure” for colic. It is a little more complicated than that… Remember that the word “colic” simply refers to the signs a horse shows when it is in abdominal pain due […]
Common Veterinary Tests to Diagnose Conditions Causing Colic (CCC’s)
A percentage of horses that experience colic and are treated by a veterinarian in the field will continue to show signs of colic after the veterinary visit. When that happens – for the life of the horse – it becomes critical to make rapid decisions about how to proceed. As a horse persists in colic pain over time, it becomes more […]
The Value of a Diagnosis
Jake, a 20 year old Hanoverian gelding, showed signs of colic (looking at his side, not eating) and also seemed to be having difficulty urinating (based on his stretching out, dropping his penis as if to urinate, but having only a few drops of urine dribble out.) Jake’s owner, after doing a Google Internet search and armed with powerful drugs […]
See You at Equine Affaire!
Tomorrow we are off to Columbus, Ohio to speak at Equine Affaire, a fantastic gathering of all things equine. If you are in the area, please stop by! If you cannot make it, here are the written materials that we will be handing out: Smartphone Apps for Horse Owners Equine Affaire Handout Common Equine Emergencies & Skills for Equine […]
Complementary/Alternative Therapies for Horses: One Veterinarian’s Opinion
In the equine world, there is great interest in “non-western” or “alternative” therapies for horses, including acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic, cold laser therapy, energy work, reiki, herbal medicine, homeopathy, essential oils, magnetic therapy, massage, and many others. My geographic area of practice – Santa Fe, New Mexico – is particularly rich in providers of these therapies. (When these approaches are combined […]
Interference: Equine Limb-to-Limb Contact in Movement
What? You are going to ROLL my horse?
Non-Surgical Correction of Left Dorsal Displacement with Nephrosplenic Entrapment
What’s Wrong with Mr. Ed?
Understanding & Managing the Rising Costs of Equine Veterinary Care
Parasite Control: A New Paradigm
Do You Really Know What Your Equine Dentist is Doing? You Should!
Sand Accumulation in the Colon: A Common Cause of Equine Colic
Vesicular Stomatitis (VS): What Horse Owners Should Know
Bute & Banamine – Commonly Used & Misused in Horses
Equine Colic (Abdominal Pain): Part II
Equine Colic (Abdominal Pain): Part I
Colic Surgery: What Horse Owners Should Know
“Try the Experiment”
ARCHIVES
- September 2020 (1)
- August 2020 (1)
- July 2020 (1)
- October 2019 (2)
- April 2019 (1)
- February 2019 (1)
- February 2018 (1)
- May 2017 (1)
- April 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (1)
- October 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (1)
- March 2016 (1)
- February 2016 (1)
- January 2016 (1)
- September 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (1)
- April 2015 (2)
- February 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- August 2014 (3)
- July 2014 (1)
- June 2014 (1)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (2)
- August 2013 (1)