Another horse disease is in the news today: Equine Infectious Anemia has hit Ireland for the first time, ever. That's the problem with being an island; your flies don't get exposed to diseases. The horses in Ireland have never needed Coggins tests, so what will they do now? According to news reports, the outbreak is blamed not on imported flies, as you might expect, but to a tainted supply of medication or vaccine.
No matter how it got to Ireland, it's there, and when flies bite an infected horses, the fly becomes a carrier and infects other horses. And horses that recover can be carriers forever.
It's not unusual for Irish horses to pop over to England or Scotland or even France to race, and we all know that every horse in Ireland is for sale. It is a market country and a nursery for the Thoroughbred and jumping horses of all types. This outbreak will require a major national education campaign.
I can hear them down at the pub now, asking "Who's this fellow Coggins, then, and why do our horses need to take his test?"(Good questions, who is/was Coggins?)
Keep an eye on this story. It reminds me of when West Nile Virus arrived in New York. Let's hope Ireland finds a way to stop a major outbreak, and a major change in how they manage and move their fabulous horses.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Barbaro's cast was replaced today
From our friends at New Bolton Center:
KENNETT SQUARE, PA – Today Chief of Surgery Dean W. Richardson replaced the cast that had been on Barbaro’s hind leg since surgery on May 21. “His leg looks excellent,” said Dr. Richardson. “The incision has healed well and judging by the radiographs, the graft is opacifying (“taking”). Callus is forming nicely, and all of the implants (plate and screws) look unchanged.” The cast was replaced under general anesthesia, and Barbaro had a very smooth pool recovery.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Farrier Memorial Planned for Saratoga Racecourse
Some kind people in the New York racing scene are planning a memorial for farriers who live on in the memories of many. Jim Brummit, Bruce Scott and Charlie Campbell were three friends of Hoofcare & Lameness who shod on the NY tracks and had many happy times at Saratoga each August.
In fact, the last time I saw Brummit was next to the Oklahoma Track when he pulled up beside me one day. I'd just been taking pictures of Ray Amato shoeing at Todd Pletcher's barn. How Brummit knew I was there, I'll never know. I think that they have spy pigeons or something at that track. His last words to me were some sort of a curse about the magazine being late again. Now, he's gone; cancer, of course. Ditto for Charlie.
You can read more about Charlie here: www.hoofcare.com/charlie_campbell.html
Charlie was the paddock farrier at Saratoga. I just saw today that they named a race for him; it was run at Saratoga on Labor Day, which I think was the last day of the meet in 2005.
If you've never been to Saratoga, the racetrack is a beautiful park-like place; Oklahoma is the training track, dating back to the 1800s, and the barns around it are wooden. The horses are bathed or walked in the shade under huge old trees. I always think that I have taken beautiful photos there, but they never do it justice when I see them afterwards. The place is beautiful to look at, but part of it too is the sounds, and the smell, and the way you feel because it's only 7 a.m. and you are already so hot. I've been going there since I was 13. I couldn't go to the races in the afternoon until I was older, but in the morning, the backside was all mine.
"Oklahoma" is a perfect place for a memorial. Every track should have a farrier memorial.
I hope they raise a lot of money and I also hope you'll go there and see it. I am sure that contributions would be very welcome but I don't have any details yet.
Watch Hoofcare & Lameness for more details sometime this summer. I plan to be in Saratoga on Tuesday and Wednesdays this year. How about you?
In fact, the last time I saw Brummit was next to the Oklahoma Track when he pulled up beside me one day. I'd just been taking pictures of Ray Amato shoeing at Todd Pletcher's barn. How Brummit knew I was there, I'll never know. I think that they have spy pigeons or something at that track. His last words to me were some sort of a curse about the magazine being late again. Now, he's gone; cancer, of course. Ditto for Charlie.
You can read more about Charlie here: www.hoofcare.com/charlie_campbell.html
Charlie was the paddock farrier at Saratoga. I just saw today that they named a race for him; it was run at Saratoga on Labor Day, which I think was the last day of the meet in 2005.
If you've never been to Saratoga, the racetrack is a beautiful park-like place; Oklahoma is the training track, dating back to the 1800s, and the barns around it are wooden. The horses are bathed or walked in the shade under huge old trees. I always think that I have taken beautiful photos there, but they never do it justice when I see them afterwards. The place is beautiful to look at, but part of it too is the sounds, and the smell, and the way you feel because it's only 7 a.m. and you are already so hot. I've been going there since I was 13. I couldn't go to the races in the afternoon until I was older, but in the morning, the backside was all mine.
"Oklahoma" is a perfect place for a memorial. Every track should have a farrier memorial.
I hope they raise a lot of money and I also hope you'll go there and see it. I am sure that contributions would be very welcome but I don't have any details yet.
Watch Hoofcare & Lameness for more details sometime this summer. I plan to be in Saratoga on Tuesday and Wednesdays this year. How about you?
Horse Beats Humans (Again)
The Welsh held their annual horse vs human cross-country race today; 300 humans showed up and tried to outrun 30 horses. A horse won the 22-mile race.
I read about this race every year and it fascinates me, for some reason. Last year, a human won.
I don’t think I really care who wins, I am just curious why and how they run this race.
More at http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
I read about this race every year and it fascinates me, for some reason. Last year, a human won.
I don’t think I really care who wins, I am just curious why and how they run this race.
More at http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Health Warning: MRSA Bacteria Infection and Horses
I'm copying this from an Elsevier newsletter received today, just as a reminder....
MRSA -- a vigorous bacterial infection resistant to standard drug treatments - -can be picked up in dirty hospitals, as most people know. But there have been increasing reports of domestic animals transmitting MRSA to humans and the potential for animals to become a reservoir of MRSA.
A new study suggests that it can also be picked up from horses, even when normal precautions are taken. This has wide implications for farmers, the racing industry, recreational horse owners, horse farm personnel, and veterinary practices.
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to most standard antimicrobials and frequently to a wide range of additional antimicrobial classes. Infections are difficult to treat and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and treatment costs.
A study by Ontario-based veterinary scientist Dr Scott Weese published in Elsevier's journal Veterinary Microbiology reports that a team caring for a new-born foal quickly developed symptoms of MRSA, in the form of skin lesions, almost certainly arising from close contact with the foal.
The foal was under treatment in a Canadian animal hospital for renal failure and septicaemia. Part of the foal's management involved veterinary students providing 24-hour nursing care to individual foals in 4-hour shifts. In most situations, students sit in direct contact with the foal for the entirety of their shift, often with the foal partially on the students' lap to enable proper restraint, feeding and provision of nursing care.
Although glove use is mandatory for any horse-contact, and personnel wear clean coveralls, contact with horse bodily secretions is inevitable because of the duration of contact and the sometimes fractious or excitable nature of foals.
In this case, within less than a week tests on the foal revealed that MRSA had been isolated from the admission nasal swabs of the foal, and checks on the hospital staff quickly showed that some of those treating the foal were, in turn, already developing MRSA skin infections.
The study warns that occupational or recreational exposure to horses might be an important risk factor for MRSA infection or colonisation. This needs to be considered when managing animals with MRSA infection or colonisation, either in a veterinary hospital or on farms. The authors also suggest that human medical doctors investigating skin and soft tissue infections should check for prior contact with animals, particularly horses.
MRSA -- a vigorous bacterial infection resistant to standard drug treatments - -can be picked up in dirty hospitals, as most people know. But there have been increasing reports of domestic animals transmitting MRSA to humans and the potential for animals to become a reservoir of MRSA.
A new study suggests that it can also be picked up from horses, even when normal precautions are taken. This has wide implications for farmers, the racing industry, recreational horse owners, horse farm personnel, and veterinary practices.
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to most standard antimicrobials and frequently to a wide range of additional antimicrobial classes. Infections are difficult to treat and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and treatment costs.
A study by Ontario-based veterinary scientist Dr Scott Weese published in Elsevier's journal Veterinary Microbiology reports that a team caring for a new-born foal quickly developed symptoms of MRSA, in the form of skin lesions, almost certainly arising from close contact with the foal.
The foal was under treatment in a Canadian animal hospital for renal failure and septicaemia. Part of the foal's management involved veterinary students providing 24-hour nursing care to individual foals in 4-hour shifts. In most situations, students sit in direct contact with the foal for the entirety of their shift, often with the foal partially on the students' lap to enable proper restraint, feeding and provision of nursing care.
Although glove use is mandatory for any horse-contact, and personnel wear clean coveralls, contact with horse bodily secretions is inevitable because of the duration of contact and the sometimes fractious or excitable nature of foals.
In this case, within less than a week tests on the foal revealed that MRSA had been isolated from the admission nasal swabs of the foal, and checks on the hospital staff quickly showed that some of those treating the foal were, in turn, already developing MRSA skin infections.
The study warns that occupational or recreational exposure to horses might be an important risk factor for MRSA infection or colonisation. This needs to be considered when managing animals with MRSA infection or colonisation, either in a veterinary hospital or on farms. The authors also suggest that human medical doctors investigating skin and soft tissue infections should check for prior contact with animals, particularly horses.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Clones Fail to "Kick Ass"
It was nature vs nuture in Winnemuca, Nevada yesterday...and nature prevailed. It wasn't even close. The two cloned mules, first ever to race, and genetically identical to each other, finished third and seventh in an eight-mule race yesterday.
(See yesterday's post for more on this story.)
Wait a minute. Maybe the story here is that there were eight mules entered in one race at all. Around here, eight horses entered in a race would be big crowd.
(See yesterday's post for more on this story.)
Wait a minute. Maybe the story here is that there were eight mules entered in one race at all. Around here, eight horses entered in a race would be big crowd.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing's First Book Sale (EVER)
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| A few nice old horse and vet books seen on a shelf in the library at Tufts vet school in Massachusetts. Photo by Amit Gupta. |
Ok, here we go! I have started to list some of the farrier, veteirnary and horse books we are offering for sale. Most of these are LEFTOVERS, USED, or DAMAGED books, cd-roms, dvds, or videotapes. Most are drastically reduced in price. Storage space here is limited, and I have been meaning to do this for a long time.
Check back soon and often, as I will try to add a few more each day. It takes a while to do each one. Thanks!
Here's the link:
http://hoofcarebooksale.blogspot.com/
Mule clones: But do their feet match?
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No two alike: Australian riders raced mules at Gaza (then part of Egypt) in a military post entertainment during World War II. Taken in 1942 by Dvr Tom Beazley. Photo courtesy of AussieJeff.
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The news this morning is about the two three-year-old racing mule clones who ran for the first time yesterday in Winnemuca, Nevada.
It seems each won his qualifying heat, and now the two will race each other in the final heat today. Or race himself--that might be more accurate.
I'm not sure I really care who wins (does it really matter? is this an exercise in equine existentialism?) but I would like to see the right front foot on each of them, to see if they developed the same. Could you pull a racing plate off one (if indeed racing mules are even shod) and nail it right onto the other?
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Laminitis Prevention for Barbaro: Copper Sulfate Silicon Hoof Packing and Sigafoos Glue-On Shoe on “The Good Foot”
Photos by Susan Hankin, JD, MPH
Many thanks to Upenn Chief of Farrier Services Rob Sigafoos for sharing with us the first official release of photos and information on the shoe designed for Barbaro’s “good” foot. The good foot must be supported in an effort to prevent what is called “support limb laminitis”, caused by over-stressing the good leg during recovery from an injury in the opposite limb.
While support limb laminitis is more of a risk in horses who injure the front legs, which bear more weight than the hind, there is still a risk of developing laminitis in the hind limb.
According to Rob, who granted Hoofcare & Lameness his first interview on the case today, Barbaro was laid down on the surgical table around noon on Sunday, after being admitted on Saturday following his injury in the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland.
All the colt's race plates were pulled off by Rob and his feet were trimmed. Rob traced the left hind at this time, and went to work building a shoe to fit the tracing while Dr Dean Richardson moved the horse into the sterile surgical suite to begin surgery.
Later that night, when the operation was finally complete, Rob returned to the surgical suite and met up with Barbaro again when he was removed from the sterile setting and the cast was applied to his injured leg. Rob glued the shoe on the left hind (“the good foot”) at that time, while the horse was laying down. The horse was then lowered via hydraulic sling into the recovery pool, where he emerged safely from anesthesia.
The shoe is a double hospital-plate device. It is quite possible that blog viewers will not be able to read the fine lettering on the art that accompanies the official statement from the vet school about the device, so I will describe it to the best of my ability:
The bottom layer is what is called by farriers a hospital plate. It is a 1/8” thick sheet of aluminum, cut in the shape of the foot, and is held on with four bolts that are threaded into the two bottom layers of the device.
The “sandwich” layer is high-density polyethelene used as a spacer, followed by the second plate, also made from 1/8” high-grade aluminum, which attaches to the shoe, which is made from 3/16” high-grade aluminum, and is bonded to high-performance polyurethane, which is in turn bonded to Vectran/polyester braided fabric, which forms the “cuff” of the shoe. Thickened with adhesive, the Vectran becomes an artificial outer wall for most of the hoof and holds the shoe in place. A PMMA-type adhesive is used; in this case the commercial name is EquAcrylic.
The spacer plate (white polyethelene) is used to equalize the horse’s limbs, so that they will be the same length and increase the probability that the horse will easily shift weight from one leg to the other and bear weight normally while standing in the stall.
Rob’s secret weapon is the use of copper sulfate-impregnated silicon hoof packing. While no one is predicting that the horse will develop laminitis (according to Rob, the foot looked normal in conformation, with no visible evidence of past hoof disease), it is important to be pro-active. The hoof packing will keep the sole clean, in the event of laminitis.
The hospital plates can be unscrewed and removed to check the bottom of the foot. If the horse does develop laminitis, the sole and frog will be accessible for medication and treatment without removing the shoe.
“This copper sulfate silicon packing is the closest thing I have seen to a silver bullet in laminitis treatment,” Rob told me today. “In this case, of course, the use is prophylactic and we certainly hope that this horse does not develop laminitis.”
The wad of blue hoof packing will pop out of the foot once the hospital plate is removed. In addition to keeping the sole clean, the copper sulfate will toughen the sole as well. It will be carefully monitored.
Shoeing to prevent support-limb laminitis in orthopedics cases is often a “Catch 22” situation, according to Rob. If the horse does not get laminitis, the shoe will not get the credit, the horse will, for standing on both legs. If the horse does get laminitis, the shoe design will be blamed—-it should be have shorter, taller, more support, different configuration, etc.
Rob didn’t mention it, but the horse is probably also wearing support wraps on the good leg.
In closing, both Rob and New Bolton Center farrier Laura Florence remarked on the media frenzy and the outpouring of support from the public. Delivery trucks are bringing cases of apples and carrots, and a wall of get-well wishes lines the highway outside the campus.
Sigafoos shoes link (Sound Horse Technologies in Pennsylvania): http://www.soundhorse.com Copper sulfate silicon link: http://www.soundhorse.com/copper_sulfate.htm
Text and photos © 2006 Hoofcare Publishing. Text and photos posted on “The HoofBlog”, a casual news source for subscribers and friends of Hoofcare & Lameness: The Journal of Equine Foot Science. Learn more (and subscribe online using our secure server) at http://www.hoofcare.com or write to Hoofcare Publishing, 19 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA 01930 USA. Tel USA 978 281 3222; Fax 978 283 8775, or email hoofblog@hoofcare.com
Note: this blog is an interactive web page. By clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom of an article, you can instantly email that article to a friend. By clicking on the word “comment” after a post, you can leave a message, which may be viewed by future blog readers who click on the same “comment”. Commenting may require registering with Blogger.com. You may also comment by emailing the author, Fran Jurga, at fran@hoofcare.com and your comment will be posted for you, technology willing.
Diagram of Support Shoe Package for Barbaro
This artwork was provided by Rob Sigafoos and New Bolton Center. In order to post it here, it had to be reduced in size and resolution. I hope you can still see it. My narrative post (see above) explains the layers and construction of the device.
To learn more about Sigafoos shoes and copper sulfate silicone hoof packing, please visit: http://www.soundhorse.com/
If you wish to contact Rob Sigafoos directly, and of course many people do want to, please DO NOT call the central switchboard at New Bolton Center. They are swamped with calls.
To reach Bill Kirkpatrick at Sound Horse Technologies, manufacturers of the Sigafoos shoes and the other products used on Barbaro, please call call 1 800-801-2654 in the USA or 610-347-0453; fax: 610-347-1822 or email horseshoes@soundhorse.com.
Text and photos © 2006 Hoofcare Publishing. Text and photos posted on “The HoofBlog”. Learn more (and subscribe online using our secure server) at http://www.hoofcare.com or write to Hoofcare Publishing, 19 Harbor Loop, Gloucester MA 01930 USA. Tel USA 978 281 3222; Fax 978 283 8775, or email hoofblog@hoofcare.com.
Note: this blog is an interactive web page. By clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom of an article, you can instantly email that article to a friend. By clicking on the word “comment” after a post, you can leave a message, which may be viewed by future blog readers who click on the same “comment”. Commenting may require registering with Blogger.com. You may also comment by emailing the author, Fran Jurga, at fran@hoofcare.com and your comment will be posted for you, technology willing.
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