'Pretty Boy' Mark is such a delicate flower. Photo by Lorraine Peachey.
The watch word of this week is vaccination. While most folks have likely already vaccinated their equines earlier in the season, some may have not. And, unfortunately, we are in the part of the season when reports of areas testing positive for the West Nile virus are surfacing. (I always wondered what those little purple nets hanging in the trees were for.) While having your horses vaccinated is an important step that you can take to help keep your horses healthy, sometimes the unexpected can happen.
When my own horses had their vaccinations administered by my trusted veterinarian this year, I found that Mark had his very first reaction to them. The day after receiving his full set of vaccines, he only picked at his grain, and upon taking his temperature, I found that he had spiked a very low-grade fever. The good news is that with the day off, he was completely fine by the next day. Even though I have always had all annual vaccines administered during a single visit, I plan to break the vaccinations into multiple visits from my vet next year to avoid such a side effect.
A recent article from The Horse shares that 9 out of 10 horses receive their vaccinations without showing any side effects, but what causes side effects to occur in that final 10 percent of horses? Check out the article here at TheHorse.com.
X-ray Study Reveals Hoof Changes as Horses Age: A recent study conducted by the California Polytechnic State University found that horse’s hooves undergo a gradual reduction in the amount of tissue that is under the coffin bone as they grow older. This conclusion was drawn through the study of x-rays of the coffin bones of both front feet of 544 horses of various breeds and x-rays from an addition 278 quarter horses. [Horsetalk]
What are the Most Common Equine Toxins?: Can being domesticated actually put your horse at a higher risk for ingesting toxins? A survey conducted by the Swiss researchers inquired into toxicity cases reported in Swiss horse, donkeys and ponies. After the results were consolidated, it was discovered that 44 percent of poisoning events were due to horses ingesting toxic plants, while an additional 25 percent of incidents stemmed from ingestion of weed killers, rodent products, and gardening products. Further still, 15 percent of poisoning incidents are caused by veterinary products. [The Horse]
Broken Coat Colours a Safety Bonus for Road-Going Horses: Does riding a paint really lower your risk of a roadside accident? British research suggests that not only does bright or fluorescent colors lower the risk of near accidents for riders and horses that are traveling along roadways; researchers have also suggested that riders whose horses have broken coat colors have a lower rate of near misses on the road than solid colored horses do. [Horsetalk]
Wisconsin Reports First Equine WNV Case of 2014: Reports are in that an unvaccinated mare located in St. Croix County is the first horse in the state of Wisconsin to contract the West Nile virus during 2014. The affected equine is a four-and-a-half year old quarter horse, which is currently recovering under the treatment of a veterinarian. [The Horse]
EN Product Review: UltraShield Green Gel Natural Fly: Since fly season has been in full swing, I’ve been doing my best to keep my horses from being too annoying by biting flies and insects. Check out my review of Absorbine’s Green Gel here!
And make sure to check out this incredible story via Horse Nation about a horse whose owner had him tattooed around the eyes in order to absorb harmful sunlight that was irritating the pigments of the eye, which caused ulcers.
