1. Horse OwnersVETERINARYHandbookThird EditionTom Gore, DVMPaula Gore, MT, ASCP, BBJames M. Giffin, MDEdited by Beth Adelman

2. Horse OwnersVETERINARYHandbook 3. This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of veterinari-ans.Readers should regularly consult a veterinarian in matters relating totheir horses health, and particularly with respect to any symptoms that mayrequire medical attention.In writing this book, we have described the signs and symptoms that willlead you to a preliminary idea of what is happening with your horse, so youcan weigh the severity of the problem. Knowing when to call your veterinar-ianis very important. Delays can be dangerous.At the same time, we have sought to provide guidance for the acute oremergency situations that you must handle on your own until you can get vet-erinaryattention for your horse. Life-saving procedures are explained step bystep. However, a veterinary handbook is not a substitute for professional care.Advice from a book can never be as helpful or as safe as actual medical advice.No text can replace the interview and the hands-on examination that enablesa veterinarian to make a speedy and accurate diagnosis.However, the knowledge provided in this book will enable you to moreeffectively cooperate and better understand your interactions with your vet-erinarian.Youll be more alert to the signs of health problems and better ableto describe them. Youll know more about basic care for your horse, and youllbe prepared in an emergency. 4. Horse OwnersVETERINARYHandbookThird EditionTom Gore, DVMPaula Gore, MT, ASCP, BBJames M. Giffin, MDEdited by Beth Adelman 5. Copyright 2008 by Howell Book House. All rights reserved.Howell Book HousePublished by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except aspermitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either theprior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copyfee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher forpermission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 CrosspointBlvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, Howell Book House, and related trademarks are trademarks or reg-isteredtrademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trademarks are the prop-ertyof their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendormentioned in this book.The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy orcompleteness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including withoutlimitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended bysales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable forevery situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in render-inglegal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the servicesof a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall beliable for damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in thiswork as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author orthe publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendationsit may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may havechanged or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support please con-tactour Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317)572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in printmay not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, please visitour web site at www.wiley.com.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Gore, Tom.Horse owners veterinary handbook / Tom Gore, Paula Gore, James M. Giffin ; edited byBeth Adelman. 3rd ed.p. cm.ISBN-13: 978-0-470-12679-01. Horses DiseasesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. HorsesHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Gore, Paula,1956 II. Giffin, James M. III. Giffin, James M. Horse owners veterinary handbook. IV. Title.SF951.G45 2008616.10896dc22200800141810 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Third EditionCover design by Jos AlmaguerBook production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services 6. A horse gallops with its lungs,perseveres with its heart,and wins with its character.Tessio 7. FINDING IT QUICKLYA special Index of Signs and Symptoms is on the inside of the front cover forfast referral. Consult this index if your horse exhibits any unexplained behav-ior.It will help you locate the problem.The detailed Contents outlines the organs and body systems that are thesites of disease. If you can locate the problem anatomically, look here first.The Index begins on page 657 and gives you a comprehensive guide to thebooks medical information. Where a page number is in bold, it indicatesmore detailed coverage of the subject.Cross-references note pertinent supplementary or related information.A Glossary on page 634 defines medical terms used preferentially to bestexplain the subject or condition. Many of these words are now being usedcommonly among veterinarians and their clients. Glossary terms are found initalics in the text. (Italics may also be used for emphasis.)An appendix of Normal Physiological Data can be found on page 619.vi 8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe are grateful to the numerous researchers, clinicians, and educators whosework served as sources for our information. Some are mentioned here, butthere were countless others who inspired us.We appreciate the time and effort Dr. Tim Holt spent with us so we couldunderstand equine acupunctureand his great photos.We would like to express our thanks to the Colorado State UniversityLibrary and Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for theunlimited resources available. A special thanks to our daughter, Katie, whoferried books home for us to use and return in a timely manner, only to haveus check them out againthanks for keeping your good humor.We extend our sincerest appreciate to Wiley Publishing and RoxanneCerda, who gave us the opportunity to produce this work, and to BethAdelman, for not only editing our revision but for keeping us on track. ToShawn Bott, DVM, of Countryside Large Animal Veterinary Service inGreeley, Colorado, our sincerest thanks for the technical advice.We appreciate the time and efforts of Dr. Lauren Cinagey and Dr.Christina Kobe in the technical review of our book. Different perspectives areinvaluable.We are forever indebted to Dr. Jim Giffin for inviting us to participate tobegin with. We will miss his collaboration, his keen mind, and his good eyefor detail.And finally, we dedicate this edition to our mothers. They never held usback, always encouraged us to do our best, and admonished us to just be care-ful.viiWe love you, Mom!Tom and Paula Gore 9. CONTENTSIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxviiChapter 1: EMERGENCIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Handling and Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Head Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Halter and Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Twitches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Handling the Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Preventing the Horse from Kicking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Stocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Tail Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Restraining a Foal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Chemical Restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Abdominal Pain (Colic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Cardiovascular Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Sudden Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Exhausted Horse Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Dehydration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Electric Shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Exertional Myopathy (The Tying-Up Syndrome and Azoturia) . . . . 18Heat Stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Insect Stings, Spiders, and Scorpions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21General Treatment for Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Poison Baits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Insecticides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Shock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Circulatory Shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Anaphylactic Shock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Snake and Lizard Bites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Pit Vipers (Rattlesnakes, Moccasins, Copperheads) . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Coral Snake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Lizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Treating Snake and Lizard Bites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Sudden Unexplained Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31viii 10. CONTENTS ixWounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Controlling the Bleeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Preventing Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Wound Care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Granulation Tissue (Proud Flesh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Bandaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Chapter 2: PARASITES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Internal Parasites (Worms) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Strongyles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Ascarids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Threadworms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Stomach Bots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Pinworms (Oxyuris). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Tapeworms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Lungworms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Stomach Worms (Habronema) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Hairworms (Small Stomach Worms) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Liver Flukes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Controlling Internal Parasites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Deworming Agents (Anthelmintics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Deworming Your Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Deworming Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Environmental Control of Internal Parasites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57External Parasites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Flies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Mosquitoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Lice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Chiggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Ticks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Controlling External Parasites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Insecticides and Repellents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Control on Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Premise Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Chapter 3: INFECTIOUS DISEASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Bacterial Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Salmonellosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Proliferative Enteropathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Strangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Clostridial Infections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 11. x CONTENTSColitis X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Lyme Disease (Borreliosis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Ulcerative Lymphangitis (Pigeon Fever) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Brucellosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Tuberculosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Anthrax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Viral Diseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Rabies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Equine Viral Encephalomyelitis (Sleeping Sickness) . . . . . . . . . . . . 81West Nile Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Equine Viral Respiratory Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Equine Infectious Anemia (Swamp Fever). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Vesicular Stomatitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89African Horse Sickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Rickettsial Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Equine Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Potomac Horse Fever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Systemic Fungal Diseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Histoplasmosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Coccidioidomycosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Aspergillosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Cryptococcosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Protozoan Diseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Equine Piroplasmosis (Babesiosis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Antibodies and Immunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Vaccinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Core and Noncore Vaccines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Combination Vaccines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Why Vaccines Sometimes Fail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Adverse Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Special Circumstances for Foals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Chapter 4: THE SKIN AND COAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106How to Avoid Coat and Skin Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Grooming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Bathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Special Bath Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Cleaning the Sheath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112The Mane and Tail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Blanketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Cleaning Tack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Sorting Out Skin Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 12. CONTENTS xiAbnormal Sweating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Anhidrosis (Absence of Sweating) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Hyperhidrosis (Excessive Sweating) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Allergies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Hives (Urticaria) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Contact and Allergic Contact Dermatitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Ventral Midline Dermatitis (Onchocerciasis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Summer Sores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Insect Bite Allergies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Pyoderma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123General Treatment of Pyoderma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Grease Heel (Scratches, Mud Fever) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Pemphigus Foliaceus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Mange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Dermatophilosis (Rain Scalds, Rain Rot) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Fungus Infections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Ringworm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Phycomycosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Sporotrichosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Seborrhea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Environmental and Traumatic Skin Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Photosensitivity Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Friction and Pressure Sores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Tumors and Cancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Neoplasms in the Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Benign Surface Tumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Malignant Surface Tumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Lymphoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Chapter 5: THE EYES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Field of Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142The Eye Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143If Your Horse Has an Eye Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Signs of Eye Ailments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Medicating the Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146The Eyelids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Blepharospasm (Severe Squinting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Film over the Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Puffy Eyelids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Blepharitis (Inflamed Eyelids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Trichiasis (Eyelash Irritation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 13. xii CONTENTSEntropion (Eyelid Rolled Inward) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Ectropion (Eyelid Rolled Outward) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Eyelid Lacerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Tumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Foreign Bodies and Chemicals in the Eye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152The Outer Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Conjunctivitis (Red Eye) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Dermoid Cyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155The Eyeball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Exophthalmos (Bulging Eye). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Enophthalmos (Sunken Eye) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Strabismus (Cross-eyed Gaze) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157The Tearing Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Blocked Tear Duct (Watery Eye). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca (Dry Eye) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158The Cornea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Corneal Abrasion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Corneal Ulcer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Keratitis (Cloudy Eye) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160The Inner Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Uveitis (Equine Recurrent Uveitis, Moon Blindness) . . . . . . . . . . 161Cataracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Glaucoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Displacement of the Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Retinal Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Anterior Segment Dysgenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166The Blind Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Testing for Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Chapter 6: THE EARS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Ear Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170The Pinna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Bites and Lacerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Fly-Bite Dermatitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Ear Plaques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Tumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171The Ear Canal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Foreign Bodies in the Ear Canal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Ear Ticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Otitis Externa (Ear Canal Infection) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 14. CONTENTS xiiiThe Middle and Inner Ear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Labyrinthitis (Vestibular Disease). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Deafness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174Chapter 7: THE MOUTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Signs of Mouth Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175How to Examine the Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Problems in the Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Lacerations of the Mouth, Lips, and Tongue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Foreign Bodies in the Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Stomatitis (Sore Mouth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Growths in the Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179The Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Deciduous Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Permanent Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Aging a Horse by His Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Taking Care of Your Horses Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Floating the Teeth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Other Dental Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Special Problems of Miniature Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Dental Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Teething Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Malocclusion (Incorrect Bite) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Abnormal Wear Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Periodontal Disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Abscessed Tooth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Chapter 8: THE FEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197The Laminae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198The Elastic Tissues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199The Hoof as a Shock Absorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Hoof Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Hoof Trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Putting on Horseshoes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Lost Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Corrective Trimming and Shoeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Natural Hoof Care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Foot Wounds and Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Treating Foot Wounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Puncture Wounds of the White Line (Gravel). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Hoof Wall Cracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 15. xiv CONTENTSCorns and Bruised Soles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Sheared Heels and Quarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216Foot and Hoof Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217White Line Disease (Seedy Toe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Keratoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Diseases of the Frog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218Lateral Cartilage Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Navicular Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Laminitis (Founder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Acute Laminitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Chronic Laminitis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Equine Metabolic Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Chapter 9: THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230Conformation and Soundness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Lameness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Determining the Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Tendon Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Tendonitis (Flexor Tendonitis, Bowed Tendons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Constriction of the Annular Ligament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241Lacerated or Ruptured Tendons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242Tenosynovitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Stringhalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Bursitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Bicipital (Shoulder Joint) Bursitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Trochanteric Bursitis (Whorlbone Lameness) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Cunean Tendon Bursitis (Jacks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Calcaneal Bursitis (Capped Hock) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Olecranon Bursitis (Capped Elbow) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Hygroma of the Knee (Capped Knee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Joint and Ligament Injuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Injuries of the Suspensory Apparatus of the Fetlock . . . . . . . . . . . 251Sprains of the Distal Sesamoid Ligaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252Carpitis (Sprained Knee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253Sprain of the Accessory Ligament of the SuperficialDigital Flexor Tendon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Sacroiliac Strain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Dislocation of the Hip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Gonitis (Stifle Lameness) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Sprain of the Plantar Ligament (Curb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 16. CONTENTS xvPeriostitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Bucked Shins and Stress Fractures of the Cannon Bone. . . . . . . . . 258Splints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Sesamoiditis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259Ringbone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Developmental Orthopedic Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Osteochondrosis and Osteochondritis Dissecans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Physeal Dysplasia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Angular Limb Deformities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Flexural Limb Deformities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266Arthritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268Degenerative Joint Disease (Osteoarthritis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268Acute Serous Arthritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269Septic Arthritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Bone Spavin (Jack Spavin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Osselets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Omarthritis (Shoulder Joint Arthritis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Broken Bones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272Treating Broken Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Fractures of the Shoulder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Fractures of the Forearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274Knee Joint (Carpal) Fractures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274Cannon Bone Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274Splint Bone Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275Fetlock Joint and Long Pastern Bone Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275Fractures of the Sesamoid Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276Pastern and Coffin Joint Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276Navicular Bone Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276Broken Ribs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Pelvic Bone Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Femur Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Stifle Joint Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278Tibia and Fibula (Gaskin) Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278Hock Joint Fractures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278Skull Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279Vertebral Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280Muscle Injuries and Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280Muscle Strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280Sore Back and Loin Syndrome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Overlapping of the Spinous Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Fibrotic Myopathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282Myopathy of Prolonged Recumbency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 17. xvi CONTENTSChapter 10: THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285Nasopharyngeal Endoscopy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286Signs of Nasal Irritation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Nasal Discharge (Runny Nose) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Sneezing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Epistaxis (Nosebleeds). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289The Nasopharynx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289Problems with the Nostrils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289Rhinitis (Nasal Cavity Infection) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290Sinusitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290Nasopharyngeal Tumors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292The Guttural Pouches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292Guttural Pouch Empyema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Guttural Pouch Mycosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Tympany of the Guttural Pouch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294The Soft Palate and Epiglottis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295Epiglottic Entrapment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296Pharyngeal Cysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296The Throat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296Pharyngitis (Sore Throat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296The Larynx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297Laryngitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298Laryngeal Hemiplegia (Vocal Cord Paralysis, Roaring) . . . . . . . . . 298Arytenoid Chondritis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299The Lower Respiratory System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Dyspnea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300Noisy Breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Splinting (Shallow Breathing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Coughing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Bronchitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Recurrent Airway Obstruction (Heaves) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Pneumonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306Pleuritis and Pleural Effusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (Bleeders) . . . . . . . . . . 307Ammonia Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309Chapter 11: THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310Evaluating the Circulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312Pulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312Jugular Venous Pulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314Murmurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 18. CONTENTS xviiCapillary Refill Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315Edema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316Diagnostic Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317Arrhythmias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318Atrial Fibrillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318Congestive Heart Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Right-Sided Heart Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Left-Sided Heart Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Treating Heart Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320Cardiovascular Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320Valvular Heart Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320Cardiomyopathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321Myocarditis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321Pericarditis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321Congenital Heart Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322Vascular Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323Jugular Vein Thrombophlebitis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323Arterial Vascular Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324Anemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325Inadequate Red Blood Cell Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326Hemolysis and Hemolytic Anemias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326Blood Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Equine Blood Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328Cold-blooded, Hot-blooded, Warm-blooded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Chapter 12: THE URINARY SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330Signs of Urinary Tract Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331Diagnosing Urinary Tract Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Urinary Tract Infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333Cystitis (Bladder Infection) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333Pyelonephritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334Paralyzed Bladder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334Uroliths (Urinary Tract Stones) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335Kidney Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336Acute Renal Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337Chronic Renal Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338Kidney Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339Glomerulonephritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339Interstitial Nephritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339Acute Tubular Nephrosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 19. xviii CONTENTSChapter 13: THE NERVOUS SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341The Neurological Examination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342Assessing Posture and Gait problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343Cranial Nerve Paralysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343Peripheral Nerve Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345Suprascapular Nerve (Sweeny) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346Radial Nerve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346Femoral Nerve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347Sciatic Nerve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347Treating Peripheral Nerve Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348Head Trauma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348Signs of Brain Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350Treating Brain Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350Spinal Cord Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351Vertebral Trauma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351Cervical Vertebral Myelopathy (Wobbler Syndrome) . . . . . . . . . . 352Cauda Equina Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353Brain and Spinal Cord Infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Encephalitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Parasitic Myeloencephalitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Equine Degenerative Myeloencephalopathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356Equine Herpes Myeloencephalitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356Meningitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357West Nile Virus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358Brain Abscess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358Seizures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358Chapter 14: THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360The Esophagus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362Choking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363Strictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364The Stomach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365Gastric Dilatation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365Gastric Rupture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366Gastric Outlet Obstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367Gastritis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368Peritonitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369Acute Peritonitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369Chronic Peritonitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 20. CONTENTS xixThe Small Intestines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370Enteritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371Intestinal Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372Strangulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372Impactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374Enteroliths and Foreign Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378Displacement of the Large Colon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380Colic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381Diagnosing Colic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381Treating Colic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382Types of Colic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382The Liver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384Liver Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385The Rectum and Anus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Prolapse of the Rectum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Lacerations and Tears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Fecal Incontinence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388Constipation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388Diarrhea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Acute Diarrhea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Chronic Diarrhea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390Chapter 15: NUTRITION AND FEEDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Nutritional Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396Carbohydrates and Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399Essential Fatty Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400Vitamins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406Feedstuffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409Roughages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409Concentrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Commercial Horse Feeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412How to Feed Your Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414How Often to Feed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414Feeding Adult Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415Adding to or Changing the Ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418Cold Weather Care and Feeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 21. xx CONTENTSWeight Gain and Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420Obesity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420Weight Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421Emaciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424The Hardkeeper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425Wood Chewing and Cribbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425Forage Toxicities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427Fescue Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427Selenium Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428Locoweed Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429Sorghum Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429Ryegrass and Dallis Grass Staggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430Ergot Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430Moldy Corn Poisoning (Blind Staggers). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430Botulism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431Yellow Star Thistle and Russian Knapweed (Chewing Disease) . . . . 432Other Poisonous Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433Blister Beetle Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437Cattle Feed Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438Lead Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438Fluoride Toxicity (Fluorosis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439Wood Preservative Poisoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439Chapter 16: SEX AND REPRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441The Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441Natural Breeding Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442Operational Breeding Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443The Estrous (Heat) Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444Estrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445Diestrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446Determining Estrus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446Abnormal Heat Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448Anestrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448Transitional Heat Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449Prolonged Estrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450Split Estrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451Persistent Corpus Luteum (Prolonged Diestrus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451Silent Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452Nymphomania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453Preparing the Mare for Breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453The Breeding Soundness Examination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 22. CONTENTS xxiThe Stallion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458Male Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458Preparing the Stallion for Breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459The Breeding Soundness Examination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460Handling the Stallion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461Genetic Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462Color Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464Breeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465Pasture Breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465Hand Breeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466Artificial Insemination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467When to Breed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469Covering the Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Breeding on the Foal Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476Twins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477Infertility in the Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Refusal to Mate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Assisted Reproduction Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Forced Ovulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Estrus (Heat) Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479Embryo Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479Infertility in the Stallion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480Low Libido . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480Male Functional Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481Semen Quality Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482Sexually Transmitted Diseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483Contagious Equine Metritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484Equine Viral Arteritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485Coital Exanthema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486Dourine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487Diseases of the Female Reproductive System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487Vaginitis and Vulvitis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487Vaginal Bleeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488Diseases of the Cervix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488Uterine Infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488Endometritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489Pyometra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491Diseases of the Male Reproductive System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492The Penis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492The Urethra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494The Testicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495Preventing Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 23. xxii CONTENTSPreventing Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499Terminating a Pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500Ovariectomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500Gelding (Castration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501Chapter 17: PREGNANCY AND FOALING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503Care and Feeding During Pregnancy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505Vaccinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505Deworming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506Fetal Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506Early Embryonic Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506Abortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506Life-Threatening Complications of Pregnancy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510Ruptured Prepubic Tendon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510Ruptured Uterus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Rupture of the Uterine Artery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Torsion of the Uterus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512Preparing for Foaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512Signs of Foaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514Normal Labor and Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515First Stage of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516Second Stage of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517Third Stage of Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520Reviving a Depressed Foal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520After the Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521Worming and Vaccinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523Care of the Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524Meconium Colic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525Imprinting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527Dystocia (Prolonged Labor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529Abnormal Presentations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529Other Causes of Dystocia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532When to Call the Veterinarian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533Cesarean Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533Postpartum Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534Hemorrhage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534Perineal and Vulvar Lacerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534Retained Placenta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535Delayed Uterine Involution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535Postpartum Metritis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536Invagination of the Uterine Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 24. CONTENTS xxiiiProlapsed Uterus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537Mares Who Reject or Injure Their Foals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537Lactation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538Feeding During Lactation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538Nursing Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539Chapter 18: PEDIATRICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541Feeding for the First Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541The New Foal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541The Orphan Foal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542The Weanling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544The Yearling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547Preventive Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547Vaccinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547Deworming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548Diseases of the Foal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549Lack of colostrum (Failure of Passive Transfer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549Foal Septicemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550Actinobacillosis (Sleepy Foal Syndrome) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552Umbilical Infection (Navel Ill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552Septic Arthritis and Osteomyelitis (Joint Ill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553Foal Pneumonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554Tyzzers Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555Foal Diarrhea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555Ulcers in Foals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome(Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560Shaker Foal Syndrome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561Narcolepsy-Cataplexy (Fainting Foal Syndrome) . . . . . . . . . . . . 562Neonatal Isoerythrolysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562Congenital Disorders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564Ruptured Bladder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564Patent Urachus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565Broken Rib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565Hernia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565Nutritional Myopathy (White Muscle Disease) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567Myotonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568Contracted Foal Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568Limb Deformities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568Eye Diseases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569Cleft Palate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569Absence of the Anus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570 25. xxiv CONTENTSOvero Lethal White Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570Heart Defects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Neonatal Hypothyroidism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Combined Immunodeficiency Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Cerebellar Abiotrophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571Occipitoatlantoaxial Malformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572Hydrocephalus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573Lavender Foal Syndrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573Neonatal Epilepsy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574Chapter 19: GERIATRICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575Physical Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576The Musculoskeletal System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576The Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576The Skin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577The Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577The Lungs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577The Kidneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577The Liver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578The Intestines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578The Teeth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579The Senses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581Behavioral Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581Equine Cushings Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581Caring for the Geriatric Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583Diet and Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584Managing Chronic Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585Euthanasia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587A Final Memorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587Chapter 20: DRUGS AND MEDICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588Anesthetics and Tranquilizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Analgesics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590Corticosteroids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591Other Anti-Inflammatory Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592Chondroprotectants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593 26. CONTENTS xxvAntibiotics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593Why Antibiotics May Not Be Effective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594Complications of Antibiotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595How to Give Medications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596Capsules and Tablets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596Pastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597Liquids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597Stomach Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598Injections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599Enemas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602Chapter 21: ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603Nutraceuticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604Indications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605Contraindications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605Herbal Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605Drug Testing and Herbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606Indications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607Contraindications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608Homeopathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608Manual Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609Massage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609Therapeutic Ultrasound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611Physical Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612Chiropractic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612Acupuncture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614Indications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617Contraindications for Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618Appendix A: NORMAL PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619Appendix B: LABORATORY TESTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634About The Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657 27. INTRODUCTIONHorses have captivated our hearts and imaginations since the beginning oftime, when they were immortalized on cave walls. As humans industrializedand technology boomed, horses could have become obsolete to the point ofnear extinction, and yet their popularity has continued to grow. The equineindustry has exploded and the horse enjoys a popularity not previously seen.Today, horses turn up in books and on television and movie screens in surpris-inglylarge numbers.If you type great horses into any Internet search engine, you will get morethan 12 million hits. Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines great assuperior in character or quality. I would add to that definition ability. Noone would dispute the greatness of Secretariat, Citation, and Seabiscuit; any-onewatching Barbaro run his last, heart-breaking race would agree his chanceat greatness ended too soon. Yet, each of us may have a different definition ofwhat a great horse is to us, not necessarily limited to public fame.Two decades ago, a red filly was born with a silly lop ear and a crookedfront leg. Not the most beautiful horse, Lucy (named after a famous redhead)achieved greatness in our family. Her ear straightened out and her crooked legnever interfered with her abilities (except as a halter horse). Easy to train, shecarried me and my unborn son elk hunting one fall, my 8-year-old daughterlearned to drive her in competition, my son barrel raced her, she won moneyteam penning, she loved cattle work, and would willingly pack an elk. Lucyhad an impressive resume. At a time when she might be considered old, shebecame some one elses dream come true. As a retired gentlemans first horse,we hope she will again achieve greatness, due to her superior character anddependability.Our equine companions enrich our lives, and for that alone they deservethe best care. Health care has become increasingly more focused on preven-tivemedicine, and this is no less important for the horse. Advances in medi-cinehave increased our ability to prevent disease and have given us manytreatment options. When properly cared for, horses are living longer, moreproductive lives.Along with the advances in traditional medicine comes the growing popu-larityof alternative therapies. With this in mind, in this new, fully updatedand expanded edition, we include a new chapter introducing some of theholistic options available. The equine industry is constantly being challengedwith newly emerging diseases, and these too have been included in this edi-tion.Not so long ago, West Nile virus was a problem in a few areas of Newxxvii 28. York State; now its reached the West Coast in epidemic proportions, and avaccine has been developed to help prevent it. The equine industry is con-stantlychallenged with these newly emerging diseases, and this editionreflects the huge amount of research and medical developments that havetaken place.This book is intended as a guide, and we have made every attempt to be asaccurate and current as possible. We cannot stress enough how important it isfor you to cultivate a relationship with your veterinarian. Your veterinarianwill want you to know what you can do yourself as well as what needs promptprofessional medical care. Not only will your veterinarian be happy to showyou how to give vaccinations, for example, but the equine veterinarian is animportant source of information about horse care. This book and your veteri-narianare just tools in the horse owners toolbox, enabling you to give yourhorse the very best care.The price of prevention is certainly less expensive than the cost oftreatmentand perhaps loss.Paula Gorexxviii INTRODUCTION 29. Chapter 1EMERGENCIESEmergency care is just thatcare applied to a potentially serious conditionthat must be dealt with immediately. One of the cardinal rules in dealing withany emergency is for you to remain calm. If you panic, you wont be thinkingclearly and you will panic your horse. Take a deep breath, quietly reassure yourhorse, and then do what is necessary. Dont hesitate to ask for help andremember that your horse is relying on you.11ThroatlatchNoseForelockWithersLoinMuzzlePollNeckBack Flank CroupDockPoint ofButtockThighGaskinHockCannonFetlockPasternCoronetStifleBellyBrisketJugular GrooveShoulderElbowKneeCannonFetlockPasternHoofBasic anatomy of the horse. 30. 2 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKHandling and RestraintA horse who is frightened, injured, or in pain is a potential danger to himselfand to his handlers. Do not handle or attempt to treat an agitated horse with-outprofessional assistance. In most cases, an injured horse will need to begiven an intravenous sedative or be tranquilized before treatment can begin.Most horses should be restrained for routine procedures such as shoeing,applying insecticides, floating the teeth, deworming, and giving injections.When restrained, a well-socialized horse recognizes that he is going to be han-dledand submits readily to the customary treatment.The method of restraint will depend on the horses disposition and spirit,his prior training, the duration of treatment, and whether the procedure islikely to cause pain. In general, it is best to begin with the least severerestraint that will allow examination.Some specific methods for handling and restraint are discussed in this section.Head RestraintEven when a procedure is relatively minor and painless, it is still important tohave an assistant restrain the horses head. The assistant should hold the leadand be prepared to divert the horses attention. The assistant should stand onthe same side as the examiner, to keep the horse from wheeling into or kick-ingthe examiner. Both should be on the left side whenever possible, becausehorses are used to being handled on the left.A simple and effective method of restraining the head is to have the assis-tanthold the horses muzzle with the left hand and the nape of the neck withthe right (as shown in the photo at the top of page 3). To prevent the horsefrom ducking, the left thumb is inserted beneath the noseband of the halter.This method is useful for procedures such as floating the teeth.Secure the horse with a halter and a lead before beginning any sort of exami-nationor treatment. 31. EMERGENCIES 3This is a simple way foran assistant to restrainthe horses head for ashort procedure, such asgiving an injection.When working alone, it is safer to cross-tie the horse than to tie him to a fence or post.When an assistant is not available, you can restrain the horses head bycross-tying the horse between two walls or posts. The tie ropes should beanchored firmly at about the level of the horses shoulders and snapped ontothe halter. Tie the anchored ends with a slipknot for quick release.Halter and LeadThe first step in dealing with a frightened or difficult horse is to gain controlwith the halter and lead. Approach the horse from the front while talking ina soothing and familiar manner. Never approach a horse from the rear or outof his line of vision. 32. 4 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKIf the horse is agitated, take as much time as necessary to gain his confi-dence.It is best to approach from the left, because horses are used to beinghandled from that side. Rub the horse on the shoulder or neck for a fewmoments to establish physical contact and to help calm the horse. Then slipthe halter over his nose and tighten the buckle.A chain across the gums is an effective restraint and keeps the horse from backingor rearing.The chain can be placed through the horses mouth, as shown here, or over thenose. 33. EMERGENCIES 5Always lead from the left side, holding the shank about 18 inches from thehalter. Hold the lead firmly but do not wrap it around your hand or thumb;this would be unsafe if the horse decided to pull back or jump away and thelead was wrapped around your hand. When administering treatment, dont tiethe lead shank to a fence or post. Many horses restrained in this manner fortreatment will sit back forcefully on their haunches, invariably breaking thefence or a piece of tack. If the horse realizes he can escape by force, it will beextremely difficult to tie that horse up in the future. If you are forced to workalone, cross-tie the horse as described in the previous section.The least aggressive restraint is to pass the lead shank under the horses chin.This restraint will suffice for most handling situations. However, if the horserears, do not jerk on the chain as it could cause him to fall over backward.A chain shank or war bridle should be removed whenever a horse is tied. Ifthe horse becomes upset and pulls back, the bridle or shank will constrictaround his head or muzzle and cause serious injury.Another method that can be used for a horse who refuses to advance onthe lead (for example, through a door) is to blindfold the horse and theneither lead or back him through the door.TwitchesTwitches are among the oldest and most widely used methods of restraint. Atwitch is thought to stimulate the release of endorphins in a manner similarto acupuncture and to produce sedation comparable in degree to chemicaltranquilization.Apply the skin twitch by grasping afold of skin in front of the shoulder.The ear twitch can make the horsehead-shy. It should be used only byexperienced handlers. 34. 6 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKTo apply a nose twitch, grasp thehorses upper lip to steady his head . . .. . . then slip the loop over the horsesnose with the lips folded under.Some horses should not be twitched. Because of past abuse, they maygreatly resent the twitch and even fight it. These horses should be restrainedin some other manner.The skin twitch is applied by grasping a fold of skin just in front of thehorses shoulder. It may provide enough distraction for you to perform shortprocedures.The ear twitch is applied by grasping and squeezing the ear with the heelof the hand pressed against the horses scalp. Slight pressure is exertedA lip twitch attached to the halter is useful when an assistant is not available. 35. EMERGENCIES 7downward. The major disadvantage of the ear twitch is that it can make thehorse head-shy. Therefore, the ear twitch should be used cautiously and onlyby experienced horsemen.The nose twitch and the lip twitch are used most often. However, theytend to lose their effectiveness when the skin becomes numb. To delay numb-ness,the twitch can be applied loosely and tightened as necessary. To apply anose twitch, first grasp the upper lip between thumb and fingers to steady thehead. Slip the loop over the horses nose with the lip folded under so that thelining of the mouth is not exposed. Tighten the loop by twisting the handle.The most humane twitch is a lip twitch attached to the halter so that itcant come off during the procedure. This twitch is a simple clamp with astring and a snap attached to the handles. Place your hand through the opentwitch, firmly grasp the horses nose, slide the twitch onto the nose, squeezethe handles together, wrap the string around the handles, and attach the snapto the halter to hold it in place. The lip twitch is especially useful when youare unfamiliar with horse restraints or are obliged to work alone.Handling the FeetTo pick up the front foot, stand to the side in case the horse strikes out. Slideyour hand down the horses leg while squeezing on either side of the flexortendon above the fetlock. It may be necessary to push the horse onto theopposite leg while picking up the foot and flexing the joint.When preparing to pick up a back foot, approach from the side. A horsewho resents being approached from behind sometimes (but not always) givesevidence by moving away and taking weight off the leg in preparation forkicking. For safety reasons, do not approach him from the rear.To pick up the foot, slide your hand along the inside of the leg behind the can-nonbone and draw the leg forward, then pull backward. Lift the leg and supportit on your thigh. Note that the stifle joint is extended and the hock and toe areheld in a flexed position. This helps to restrict voluntary movement of the leg.When releasing the foot, simply reverse the procedure.Preventing the Horse from KickingIf a horse is inclined to kick while undergoing treatment, lifting a front legwill prevent him from doing so because a horse cannot kick with one foot offthe ground. The leg can be restrained by tying it up with a rope or strap. Therope or strap should be equipped with a quick-release mechanism in case thehorse loses his balance. Youll need a sideline to tie up a back leg.Hobbling the hocks prevents kicking and allows the horse to bear weighton all four legs. This is important for long procedures or when a mare has tosupport the weight of a mounting stallion. 36. 8 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKWhen picking up thefront foot, be sure tostand well to the side.Flex the horses knee toexamine the sole andfrog.When picking up the back foot,approach the horse from the side.Slide your hand inside the cannonbone and draw the leg forward. 37. EMERGENCIES 9Support the leg on your thigh withthe horses stifle joint extended. Thismakes it difficult for the horse topull free.StocksFor rectal and vaginal examinations, it is most convenient to restrain thehorse in stocks or a palpation chute. In addition, stocks are particularly suitablefor dental extractions and surgery on a standing horse. A partition at the backof the stock protects the examiner from being kicked. Once in stocks, thehorse should be backed up against the partition to prevent him from kickingover the top.A stock with a kickingpartition at the backis a safe restraint forrectal and vaginalexaminations.Tail RestraintTying a rope to the tail and pulling it straight back is a useful restraint for rec-taland vaginal examinations. The rope should be held by an assistant and nottied to a stationary object. 38. 10 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKThe tail restraint shouldalways be held by anassistant.Restraining a FoalYoung foals who are not halter-broken but are wearing a halter should not berestrained by grasping the halter. These young horses often react by rearingback and falling. This can lead to a brain concussion or a spine fracture.Instead, another kind of tail restraint is a good way to control weanlings whoare not halter-broken. (Forced tail flexion should be used with caution inolder horses, because coccygeal fractures and nerve injuries may occur.)Grasp the foals tail and pull it over the back in an arc while encircling thebase of his neck with your other arm. This provides effective immobilizationfor short procedures, such as passing a stomach tube or giving an injection.Nursing foals become excessively agitated and difficult to control if sepa-ratedfrom their dams. If the foal cannot be approached easily in the paddockor field, mother and foal should both be led into a small enclosure such as asmooth-walled stall. The foal is then cornered and can be easily held with onearm encircling his chest and the other behind the rear legs above the hocks.The tail can be held over the back, as well.This is the correctmethod for restrain-inga foal. 39. Chemical RestraintIntravenous sedation is indicated for horses who resist physical restraint, andfor those in pain or about to undergo a painful procedure. Intravenous seda-tionis given by injection into the jugular vein. Depending on the circum-stances,your veterinarian may select a drug or drug combination from thefollowing classes. Phenothiazines (such as acepromazine) are tranquilizers that act on thecentral nervous system to produce calming and deep drowsiness. Rarely,they produce extreme anxiety, muscle twitching, dropping of the penis,sweating, and convulsions. Narcotics (such as morphine, Demerol, and butorphanol) are painkillers.When used in pain-free horses, they may produce excitation, apprehension,and increased muscular activity. Constipation and urinary retention arepossible side effects. Untoward effects can be reversed by giving an antidote. Xylazine (Rompun) combines both tranquilization and pain control. Ithas a good margin of safety and can be used in combination with otherdrugs for better sedation and anesthesia. It is often the drug of choice forprocedures requiring intravenous sedation. Drugs such as detomidine(Dormosedan), romifidine (Sedivet), and other alpha-2 agonists aregaining popularity.Keep in mind that the effects of tranquilizers and sedatives vary. A horsemay still kick or strike even though he seemed to be fully tranquilized.Exercise the same precautions as you would around a horse who is notsedated. Sedated horses should be kept away from forage and concentrate untilthey are fully awake to prevent choking.For more information on tranquilizers and sedatives, see Anesthetics andTranquilizers (page 588).Abdominal Pain (Colic)Sudden, severe pain in the abdomen in the horse is called colic. A horse withcolic appears anxious and upset, and may kick at his abdomen, roll on hisback, kick his feet in the air, break out in a sweat, and strain as if he is tryingto pass urine or stool.Treatment: Colic is a symptom rather than a specific disease. There are agreat many diseases associated with signs of colic. Accordingly, a veterinaryexamination is necessary to determine the nature and seriousness of the prob-lem.For more information, see Colic (page 381).EMERGENCIES 11 40. 12 HORSE OWNERS VETERINARY HANDBOOKBurnsBurns are caused by fire, electric shocks, skin friction, frostbite, and causticchemicals. Acids, alkalis, solutions that contain iodine, and petroleum prod-uctsare the most common causes of chemical burns. Saddle sores, galls, ropeburns, and friction injuries are discussed in chapter 4, The Skin and Coat.Frostbite usually affects the ears and can lead to a loss of skin and cartilage,leaving a cropped appearance.Steam, hot water scalds, and flame burns cause damage to the skin andunderlying tissue in proportion to the length and intensity of exposure. Witha surface burn you will see skin redness, occasional blistering, perhaps slightswelling, and the burn is painful. With deep burns the skin appears white andthe hair comes out easily when pulled. Paradoxically, deep burns are not nec-essarilypainful because the nerve endings may have been destroyed. Whenmore than 20 percent of the body surface is involved in a deep burn, the out-lookis poor. Fluid losses are excessive and shock will quickly set in.Treatment: Treat chemical, acid, and alkali burns by flushing copiouslywith large amounts of lukewarm water. To be effective, this must be doneimmediately after the exposure.Apply cold water compresses or ice packs to local burns for 30 minutes torelieve pain. Replace as compresses become warm. Clip away hair and washgently with a mild soap, such as Ivory. Do not break blisters, because they pro-videa natural barrier to infection. Apply a topical antibiotic ointment such asFuracin, Silvadene cream, or triple antibiotic ointment. Aloe vera cream hasmedicinal properties and is particularly soothing on mild burns. Do not applyoil, grease, or iodine-containing surgical cleansing solutions, because they areirritating and will increase the depth of the burn and thus the potential forinfection.Burns can be treated by leaving them open to the air, or closed under abandage or dressing, depending on the location of the injury. Where practical,protect the wound with an outer gauze dressing and change it daily (seeWounds, page 32).Cardiovascular CollapseToo much stress on the heart can lead to sudden circulatory collapse. In race-horses,the stress is that of maximum physical exertion over a relatively shortperiod of time. In hard-working performance and endurance horses, the stressis less than the maximum but occurs over an extended period of time. Theinitial signs are those of exhausted horse syndrom