Pacific Crest Equine

How does your horse score on the Henneke scale? Most horse owners understand the dangers of a horse dropping weight and becoming too thin; however, many of thos...e same horse owners underestimate the fact that an overweight horse is just as unhealthy, and can be much more difficult to manage and rehabilitate than a thin animal. An overweight horse will not only have a compromised quality of life; it will also be at higher risk of a number of health problems like laminitis, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, the formation of colic-causing lipomas (fat tumors in the abdomen), joint and bone problems, reduced reproduction efficiency and increased stress on their heart and lungs. Being able to assess your equine friend's weight and body condition is a valuable skill. Because "fitness" is subjective, the Henneke Body Condition Scoring Chart provides a standard scoring system for you, the veterinarian, the nutritionist and other health care professionals involved in the care of your animal. The horse's physical condition is rated on visual appraisal and palpation (feel) of six key conformation points: the amount of flesh or fat covering along the neck; the withers; down the crease of the back; at the tailhead; ribs; and behind the shoulder at the girth. A body condition score of somewhere between 4 and 6 is ideal for most horses. However, keep in mind that in some disciplines (like racing, polo and eventing) and some life stages (like pregnancy) a higher or lower body score might be more appropriate. If you think your horse is too fat or too thin (or even if you are unsure), have a chat with your veterinarian to discuss the appropriate condition and a feeding and exercise program for your animal!

As many of you stated, yes! A mare who has not passed the placenta fully after 3 hours is absolutely an emergency. Following the foaling 1-2-3 rule: the foal should stand in 1 hour, nurse in 2 hours, and placenta/fetal membranes should be passed by 3 hours. A mare who does not fully pass the placenta by hour 3 runs the risk of severe infection, sepsis, laminitis, and even death. If this occurs, an emergency call to the veterinarian is warranted. Medications to counteract inf...ection, and help pass the placenta in a timely manner will be administered. In no circumstance should you ever try to pull on the placenta, as you run the risk of leaving small pieces behind. This procedure should be performed by a licensed veterinarian to avoid further damage to the uterus, and appropriate placental explosion. Once out the placenta will be evaluated to ensure we have it all, as seen in the photo! See more

It’s foaling season- our goal is to make sure everyone knows what a healthy mare and goal delivery process looks like! This weeks case is a mare who has previously foaled with no issue, but this time around something seems to not be following our rules. Birth of the foal seemed easy enough, she went through all the stages of parturition and the foal was born. She is a strong little chestnut fully who was up and nursing in about 40 minutes! Now it has been about 4 hours since the baby hit the ground and the mare is laying down, appears to be pushing frequently but the placenta ( afterbirth) is still there. Is this a medical emergency?

Thank you to everybody who shared their ideas on this month’s clinical case! Our first diagnostic choice was to take radiographs of the stifles. On close examination of the radiographs, there was severe roughening and fragmentation of the lateral trochlear ridge of both the left and right femur, otherwise known asyou guessed it, OCD! You’ve likely heard of OCD before, but what is it exactly? OCD is the shorthand term for osteochondritis dissecans, a relatively common devel...opmental disease that affects the cartilage and bone in the joints of horses. Cartilage in joints with OCD doesn’t form normally, which causes the cartilage and bone underneath it to become weak and irregular in thickness. This can cause the development of cartilage flaps that can either remain partially attached to the bone or break off in the joint, which leads to joint inflammation/swelling and over time may lead to the development of arthritis. OCD most often occurs in young horses and can occur in all breeds, though Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and Standardbreds are overrepresented. Genetics, rapid growth and large body size, high energy or mineral deficient diets, hormonal imbalances, and trauma are all thought to contribute to OCD in horses. OCD lesions are most often found in the stifles, hocks, and fetlocks, so we took radiographs of all those joints in our patient which revealed OCD lesions in the hocks as well. The owner elected for surgical removal of the fragments from each affected joint via a cool technique called arthroscopy (as seen in the photo here). The screen images are pictures of the bone with affected cartilage (or lack thereof) taken with a camera inside the joint during surgery. You can see the reddened and irritated areas with rough edges where it should be a smooth white shiny surface. ( one example image in previous post). The not-so-little guy is currently recovering well at home! See more