Support for your Equine
Athlete
With Midge Leitch, DVM (ML), Renee Meronek (RM), Teresa Englehart (TE), Tracy Turner, DVM (TT) and Andrew L. Dibbern, DVM (AD)
(Ms. Englehart was Debbie McDonald’s groom at WEG; the rest of the panel boasted an impressive set of credentials in the field of veterinary medicine).
Friday, December 13, 2002
As with previous discussions, these are not exact quotes, but an attempt to get the gist of what was said on paper.
ML: Strong believer that all horses benefit from regular turnout. All horses can learn to be turned out. Many forget how, but can relearn with the use of drugs and increasing size paddocks. Horses that are turned out are fitter and thinner, but may need muzzles to prevent overeating. They will stretch their backs (less back pain) and move their stifles (less stifle lock and other stifle problems) and also have fewer respiratory problems. Arthritis is also less symptomatic. They also benefit from pasturemates and socialization.
RM: Full agreement. There is a noticeable difference at chiropractic adjustment between horses that receive regular turnout and those that don’t. Horses weren’t meant to live their lives inside. It has only been the last 25 years that horses were confined. It is not normal.
Q: Any relationship between foot size and soundness?
TT: There is a definite relationship between body size and foot size with regard to soundness, or rather, prognosis for soundness. Usually what we find, though, is that a horse has grown to FAT for its foot size, rather than that its feet are too small for its body.
The equation that we use is = [12.56 x weight (in pounds)]÷(circumference at hairline2 ).
(For those of you who don’t like to read equations, multiply the weight in pounds, multiply it by 12.56, and hit the equals sign on the calculator, then divide it by the circumference at the hairline (in inches) and hit the equals sign, and divide it again by the circumference at the hairline (in inches) and hit the equals sign.) The answer should be between 68 and 78. If it is more than 78, your horse is fat. If it is more than 83, your horse is in danger, and needs to go on a diet right away.
Q: Can/should dressage horses show barefoot?
AD: Sure. Whether or not a horse goes barefoot depends on the horse’s environment. It is more difficult in the northwest due to environmental extremes in temperature and wet/dry cycles, however foot balance is more natural and easier to adjust mechanically when the horse is barefoot. Barefoot horses require more frequent trimming than the usual 6 weeks, and you also have to watch out for abrasion, and whether or not the horse grows enough foot to hold up to the mechanical abrasion of the surface the horse works on. That’s often the critical question.
TT: Reasons that a horse absolutely has to wear shoes are for traction, excessive wear and for correction of gait anomalies. Otherwise, horses don’t need them.
Q: Can we delay the effects of aging?
RM: Certainly we see the retirement ages of horses going up and up. This is due to better treatments in general, the use of joint lubricants (Adequan, Legend, and oral joint supplements). We can also keep horses going longer by addressing teeth and other issues. Chiropractic can often keep horses comfortable and going longer, but owners need to be careful in choosing practitioners. Responsible practitioners will schedule maintenance on an as needed basis, usually no more often than every few months for horses still actively in work. Poorly trained practitioners can cause severe injury, and even cripple horses—owners should make sure that chiropractors have been appropriately certified for work on HORSES, and check credentials rather than relying on word of mouth.
Q: What is your opinion regarding the FEI Tests for 5 and 6 Year Old Horses?
ML: We should be teaching movements and not tricks. We should be learning from our Hunter/Jumper friends where Futurity winners are never heard from again. I am firmly opposed to paying money to see these young horses compete.
TT: They can do it because they are fabulous athletes, but they can’t hold up. Their bodies are not mature. There are steps to condition muscles and to teach them to dance. It’s like asking 14 year-olds to do gymnastics and then watching them as cripples when they’re 20 and can’t even walk. Every dressage horses should go out and hack at least twice a week. They need to go out. It’s the best work possible.
ML: People underestimate the level of fitness that dressage horses really need. We ask them for a 1-hour warm-up and then expect them to perform with their tongues hanging out. We need to get them out of the rings and really work them.
AD: They are not ready to campaign until their bones are mature between 6 and 7. Muscle is fairly easy to develop. Tendons are fairly easy to develop. Bone takes event-specific activity and exercise to develop, and the problems we see in older horses are related to bone effects. I think that the sacral problems that have become so prevalent are due to pushing young horses because those 5 vertebrae don’t fuse until growth is done.
Q: If you delay starting these horses, then how do you balance the elasticity you want to develop in youth with protecting the developing joints?
TT: Alternate periods of work with hacks, moving forward with periods of long and low. Once you begin fusing bones, you lose the ability to fully stretch.
Q: What is your opinion on leg protection?
ML: It is nonsensical to think that polo wraps can hold a leg up. Boots protect the horse from hitting himself in the field, but the boot hasn’t been made that can hold a leg up. Standing wraps can help with filling in a horse to prone to filling, and dressage boots can have a horse hit leather instead of skin or help keep bar shoes on. So yes, wraps are useful for specific purposes but they can’t do all the things the makers would like to have you think they can do.
TT: My horse goes bare to toughen him up. My wife uses leg wraps. We do not use wraps to support tendons—they don’t work like that. They can be used as a part of rehabilitation. Bell boots are definitely useful to keep shoes on. Since I don’t think they provide any support, I don’t think they weaken the legs, either.
ML: One thing you CAN support is the vasculature. When you stop, you will see a temporary worsening in filling when you stop.
Q: What do you think about the use of ultra-sound shock treatment for back problems?
TT: Primary back problems are rare. They nearly always come from somewhere else. The one exception is kissing lesions of the spine. The jury is still out, however, with the ultra-sound shock therapy, however, as to what it is and isn’t good for.
Q: When should you or should you not use Adequan? Is it good for prevention?
TT: There is excellent data on Adequan’s use intramuscularly for treatment of existing arthritis. The data on its use orally is unclear, as is the data for its use as a preventive treatment. There are some “generics” out there. They really aren’t generics—they are compounded products that are similar to Adequan in that they are also poly-sulfated glucosamines, but they aren’t the same poly-sulfated glucosamines. They are in the same class, but they aren’t the same ones and they haven’t been tested. It is assumed, but not proven, that they work the same way. You have to be careful, because you don’t know for sure whether what you’re getting will have the same effect.
ML: It is not unreasonable to use Adequan preventively if you have a horse that’s working hard that you would like to have a long career IF you can afford it. Strongly favors Adequan. Has mixed feelings about Legend. Will also use Adequan intra-articularly combined with joint rest. Finds that intra-articular hyaluronic acid is too short-lived to be very useful. Prefers to use steroids intra-articularly for that purpose, except in the post-operative joint.
Q: Any words of wisdom about other supplements (non-joint)?
ML: Horses on MSM need Selenium and Vitamin E supplements or the MSM will induce secondary muscle disease because it is a competitive inhibitor of them! There is no benefit to joints from MSM, but it will help with muscle soreness and respiratory problems.
RM: Selenium should be 1 – 2 mg/d. It tends to be deficient in the Northwest.
Q: Advice for hoof care in wet climates?
TT: Water is the hoof’s worst enemy. Use
hoof fat BEFORE hosing the horse off.
.
Q: Treatment of under-run heels?
AD: Egg bar shoes tend to help the gaits in a horse with under-run heels, but they often make under-run heels worse. The horse needs an alternate treatment to correct the underlying problem. The horse needs a consultation with a podiatry vet who can help the farrier to correct the problem while providing adequate support so that the horse can stay in work.
Q: How do you help the horse cope with work in high heat/humidity conditions?
ML: Cool the horse immediately after work with water on/water off. Keep them lean—don’t let them get fat, which only insulates them and keeps the heat in. Help them lose weight by decreasing the hay in their diet. Don’t remove the grain. Don’t train them with a belly full of carbs—adjust their meal schedule around their workouts. DON’T USE COOLERS—HORSE DO NOT NEED COOLING BLANKETS IN THE SUMMERTIME!!! Use fans in the stable area. This makes a huge difference in the horses overall level of comfort. Let them stand still if they are staggering because they are so tired—don’t force them to walk. Keep spraying them with water, and scraping it off. Forcing them to walk may make them tie up, and you can’t walk them out of it.
Q: What is your opinion about stress ulcers and scoping horses?
TT: Scoping horses itself is a stress. Gastrogard works, and is an excellent drug.
ML: Prefers to treat horses clinically, and doesn’t necessarily feel the need to scope horses. Would put horses that show symptoms suggestive of ulcers on Gastrogard prior to/during shipping, especially prior to big shows when you can’t afford trouble. Be careful with the non-name brands, since not all are approved for use by the FEI and USA-E.
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