Rachael’s Corner: Hoof Abscesses

One of our Tictac team, Lauren, recently had the unfortunate experience of her pony Goldie developing a hoof abscess. Poor Goldie was in a lot of pain, and for a few days we were all very worried that she may have seriously damaged a major tendon in her leg as her pain was dramatically worsening day by day. It can be a very situation to be in so we thought we would use Goldie’s abscess to help all of you understand the symptoms that your horse would show if they have a hoof abscess and also some treatments that a vet would use to treat one.

A hoof abscess is a bacterial infection within the hoof wall. A horse’s hoof cannot expand so unlike if we had an infection anywhere in our body and it would swell, the pressure will just build up inside the hoof because it has nowhere to go causing severe pain to the horse L If an abscess is left long enough without treatment, the infection will take the path of least resistance to relieve the pressure. This means that it will leave the hoof at its weakest point which is usually the coronary band.

Signs that your horse may have a hoof abscess may include:

·         Bearing very little or no weight on their leg

·         Heat in the hoof and lower leg

·         Swelling of the leg due to congestion of blood vessels

If you are worried that your horse might have a hoof abscess, you should ring your vet straight away so that your horse will receive prompt treatment; the earlier you treat an abscess the better! When the vet came out to see Goldie, he used hoof testers to test if her hoof was sensitive to pressure at any point. As soon as he squeezed at a spot on her sore hoof she nearly hit the roof! The pain must have been absolutely horrible – poor Goldie! He dug a hole into the sole of her foot to let the puss drain out and for a week afterwards her hoof had to be soaked in salt water every night for ten minutes and then dressed with a poultice to help draw out the rest of the infection and keep it squeaky clean! She was also on antibiotics and pain killers to keep her more comfortable and to kill off any of the remaining bacteria.

If you have any stories or advice for any of our team or our customers, we would love to hear from you

Racahael's Corner: The Importance of Good Conformation

When buying a horse, one of the most important things to look for is good conformation, or that the horse is “well put together.” This means the degree of correctness of a horse’s bone structure, musculature and the proportions of its body in relation to each other.

I myself know all too well about how poor conformation can affect a horse’s wellbeing, if not in the early stages of life, it can take its toll as they get older! It can also affect their ability to perform certain tasks. I bought my horse Angel as a four year old from a friend who had owned her for just under a year. She was full thoroughbred and even though several people had advised me against buying her, she had been sound and happy in that space of time so I bought her with no hesitation. Her knees and pasterns were slightly offset. My farrier informed me that it was called “Z leg.”

She was sound for a good two years, until she was around seven years old when she started to become intermittently lame. A pattern soon appeared that she seemed to be sore after jumping or hacking on hard or uneven ground. My vet advised me to have her taken for x-rays to judge the extent of the damage to her joints because of the uneven ware. It was found that the damage was too severe for anything to be done about it and my farrier was to shoe her as normal. She would be sore every now and again, so I had just to give her some Danilon to keep her comfortable.

I owned her until last year when she was eleven, going on twelve when she sadly had to be put to sleep due to an internal infection in her hock. I was absolutely devastated but I knew she had had the best life possible. In the end, she was basically retired for the last year of her life due to arthritis in her knees, pasterns and hocks. As a ten year old! I couldn’t believe it. She was on some top quality supplements throughout her life like Cortaflex, NAF Super Flex and I even fed her Bluechip Dynamic on top of these. They all dramatically helped but she was still never going to be able to perform to the level I bought her for.

Here at Tictac Equestrian, we would advise you to have your potential new horse vetted, even to the lowest stage, to ensure they are fit, healthy and up for the job you would like them to do.  We wish you the best of luck and would love to hear if you have any advice or stories for us and our customers. We stock a wide range of quality joint, muscle and bone supplements and also a selection of natural pain relief supplements that you can buy from our website at www.tictacequestrian.com

Rachael’s Corner: Tying Up In Horses

Today in the Tictac Equestrian office, we have been discussing horses that are prone to tying up, or developing Rhabdomyolysis syndrome as it is more commonly known. This is a condition in which the horse develops stiffness in the lower back and thigh area. The episodes of stiffness can range from mild cramping to a severe problem where muscle destruction occurs. In these cases, the urine will darken due to the muscle fibres breaking down.

My horse Honey has tied up now on three occasions, which can be pretty frightening if you do not know enough or anything about it at all!  Her episodes, so far, have been very severe. In every case she has been unable to walk and she starts to become increasingly distressed the longer she is left untreated. The first time this happened, I called my vet straight away and he came out to treat her. He gave me enough pain killers to keep her comfortable for the week, and due to the severity of her pain he thought on that occasion that it would be kind to mildly sedate her to help relax her muscles. He also took blood to examine in case it was something else underlying causing her problem, this came back negative. In the following two occasions that she has tied up, I have been able to treat her and keep her comfortable without having to call out the vet. I have given her two weeks off of ridden work afterwards to ensure her muscles have fully recovered before bringing her gradually back into work.

It is advised to keep your horse warm and not to move them if it is possible as this can cause further damage to the skeletal muscle fibres. Although, be careful not to over-rug as due to the stress, sweating can occur. In Honey’s case, she tied up after strenuous exercise but in some cases, horses are known to tie up with no sort of strain put on the muscles at all. This could be caused by an electrolyte imbalance which can be resolved by supplementing your horse’s diet with electrolyte salts which can be fed with hard feeding or dissolved in your horse’s water. You can buy these from our website. This can affect horses more frequently in hard exercise or in the summer due to excessive sweating in which they lose too much salt.

In the 1990s, research was carried out which suggested this condition could also be brought on by a defect in a horses carbohydrate metabolism which can affect the skeletal muscle fibres. Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (EPSM) is when a horse is unable to effectively break down carbohydrates. This is one of the reasons my vet suggested to me that Honey persistently tied up. I stopped feeding her hard feed which contains high carbohydrate and starch levels, and started feeding her Dengie Alfa A Oil and British Horse Feed Fibre Beet which contain high levels of fibre and oil which my vet told me would prevent further problems. Since I changed her diet, she has not tied up again! Thank goodness! Prevention is always better than cure after all. A good quality supplement such as NAF Vitamin-e, Selenium & Lysine will provide your horse with the vitamins and minerals that they will be lacking to cause this problem. You can buy this off of our Tictac Equestrian website. Honey has been supplemented with this for just over a year now and I believe that this has also prevented her tying up again.

If you find yourself in the situation I did and feel that your horse may be tying up, phone your vet as soon as you can and explain their symptoms. Keep them as comfortable and calm as possible until your vet arrives and also keep yourself safe! Horses can become very distressed and unpredictable in this situation. We hope that this never happens to your horse but if it does, we’d love to hear your experiences and any advice you have to give to our customers and the Tictac Equestrian team. Good Luck!

White Line Disease and How To Prevent It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lnk9RWP2nU


Horses don't get sick as often as other animals. However, a horse's hooves are a breeding ground for most of the common horse diseases. The reason why is because horses spend most, if not all of their lives, standing and aren't able to lie down for any length of time without getting sick. This is why horse shoes are very important, and taking care of your horse's hooves and making sure they can withstand normal wear and tear is the most important part of horse care.
One of the most common problems in a horse's hooves is white line disease. This disease attacks the part of the foot where the hoof actually meets the foot, the inner hoof wall. If left undetected, it'll eventually cause the complete separation of the laminae and hoof wall and cause the coffin bone of the horse to rotate. It starts as a simple white line that may not look very serious, but as it deteriorates and eats away at the hoof, your horse will experience a great deal of pain. If you don't catch it and treat it, your horse will go lame and you may be forced to put him down.

The actual disease is a bacteria and fungi combination that usually lives around the barn or pasture but really thrives in a non-oxygen environment, like a cracked hoof. Horses become more likely to contact the disease if their hooves are cracked, have chronic infections like abscesses, are unbalanced, or have suffered some major trauma. It doesn't matter what horse breed you own: it affects all breeds and can be found in one or all four hooves.

The early signs of white line disease infestation are: a bulge shape in the hoof, a hollow sound when the hoof is tapped with a hammer, tender soles, and of course, a white line that's soft and chalky. If your horse has lost a shoe and piece of hoof, that may also be a sign of infestation. To figure out what the best treatment is, you should consult a veterinarian and a farrier. They may need to x-ray the horse's hoof to determine how extensive the damage is. The farrier will need access to these x-rays if s/he needs to shoe the horse therapeutically to support the weakened hoof wall.

The only way to stop it is by applying medicine (like bedatine, merthiolate, or two-percent iodine) and making sure your horse's hooves are filed down to the point there they are no longer affected by it. If the disease has progressed, this might be even harder for you to do. One of the best ways you can prevent this is to follow the same path when preventing other common horse diseases: making sure your horse is living in a safe, warm, dry, and clean area where they don't have to worry about bacteria.

Of course there are other common horse diseases, like colic, to which your horse may fall victim. Be a diligent owner who takes the time to make sure bacteria doesn't have a chance to grown and infect your horse, and you and your horse will be enjoying many happy riding years together.