Rachael's Corner: Sarcoids in Horses

In the Tictac Equestrian office today we have been discussing the horrible equine ailment of “sarcoids”.  My horse Honey is currently suffering from sarcoids on her chest and underneath her girth area – one of which stopped me from riding for a while.  Jenny, the boss, also had a horse with a sarcoid, sadly due to the speed of its growth – it was a particularly terrible type, eventually her horse had to be put to sleep L she was heartbroken.

Often people in the equine community know surprisingly little about this disease and a lot of false information is often passed about. For years sarcoids have been belittled and under estimated by the term "wart." Believe it or not, sarcoids are actually a form of equine skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in horses, sarcoids being the most common of these.

It is thought that if a horse has a sarcoid, it can decrease their value by 90% (therefore, if a horse was worth £10,000, it would be considered to only be worth £1000 due to this condition)… quite a scary fact!  Research is still being carried out across the world to find further treatment for this horrible disease.

It is common for sarcoids to re occur even if removing previous lesions have been successful. There are many treatments available through your vet; including steroid creams, surgical removing, arsenic cream or freezing with liquid nitrogen. If you prefer the more natural / herbal treatments, Botanica has proven extremely successful at healing sarcoids, wounds and mudrash – whilst preventing scars in horses.

If you have any suspicion that your horse may have a sarcoid, please do contact your vet. The earlier they are treated, the higher the likeliness of successful treatment! GOOD LUCK! and please let us know how you get on – we would love to hear your stories and see your before and after photos. Contact us through our Facebook or Twitter page.

Rachael's Corner: Visit Us at Campsie Show!

At Tictac Equestrian, all of our team are excited about the upcoming show season and all of the agricultural shows we are going to be visiting. Our first show of this year is Campsie Agricultural Show, held by Campsie, Strathblane and Baldernock Agricultural Society on Saturday 1^st June.

Our Tictac Equestrian team will be there all day enjoying all of the events going on and meeting all of our loyal online customers! Even if you are not competing at the show, there are lots of different events going on throughout the day for the whole family including light horses (showing and jumping), heavy horses, cattle and sheep, vintage cars and tractors, dog show, a home craft tent, craft tent, children’s entertainment, inflatables, ALBA Falconry static display, young farmers entertainment, Torrance gala parade/crowning of Gala Queen and of course a variety of trade stands including our fabulous Tictac Equestrian stand stocking Mark Todd, John Whitaker, JHL, Fal Pro, Botanica, Carr and Day and Martin, Pikeur, Equino, Dainese, Coolex and many more amazing equestrian brands. 

We look forward to meeting you all and hope that you have an amazing day at the show! If you have any questions for our team, we are more than happy to help J Contact us through our Facebook or Twitter.

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!

Equilibrium Therapy Magnetic Chaps

Equlibrium Therapy Magnetic Chaps
available from Tic Tac Equestrian

Equilibrium Therapy Magnetic Chaps (£64.99) are designed to help relieve pain caused by arthritic changes, injury or trauma and repetitive, stressful work. Lightweight and easy to fit, easy to wash and dry and comes with 4 powerful detachable magnetic strips in pockets.

This pair of chaps is perfect for protecting your horse’s legs whilst being stabled and can be worn all night and day. These boots assist healing and relieve pain of tendon problems, splints, arthritis, Navicular disease, knocks and bumps, cuts and scars, bone chips and fractures.

They’re constructed from a PU coated nylon which is breathable, hard wearing and lightweight. The inner of the chaps features soft plush polyester, and all the magnets will stick easily to any part of the inner lining. 

VITAflex® magnets possess strong, circular and permanent magnetic fields of alternating pole sequences that increase electric charge in the cell's membrane, thereby improving the cell's ability to regenerate.
These boots are shaped to your horse’s lower leg. They have four secure, adjustable touch tape fastenings for ease and safety when fitting. The materials used for these boots also make them easy to maintain.