Are you prepared for an emergency on the road? At a show? Until the veterinarian arrives? Every horseperson should have a stocked first aid kit handy in the barn, truck, or trailer to get ahead of those illnesses and injuries that our horses seem to endure.

 

Make sure that your kit is easily accessible. We all know what our tack rooms can look like - can you get to your kit in a hurry?

 

Basic items to include are:

 

Thermometer, stethoscope, bandage scissors, duct tape

Roll guaze, cotton, vetwrap, telfapads, bandage tape or Elastikon

Standing wrap with no-bow or pillow bandage

Betadine or Chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, saline eye wash, Triple antibiotic ointment (such as Neosporin)

Easy boot that fits your horse

From your vet by prescription: Banamine, Bute tabs, Acepromazine

A list of phone numbers: insurance company, farrier, veterinarian

 

Do you know what your horse's normal vital signs should be? Do you know what constitutes an emergency? Need to buy a first aid kit?  10% of all profits from the sales of first-aid kits will be directly donated to TB FRIENDS (www.tbfriends.com), a Woodland, CA rescue that saves off-the-track Thorougbreds from slaughter and adopts them into new homes.  Read On...

Acupuncture can be a tricky thing to understand, especially for those who have never received a treatment on themselves. There are mysterious words and energies like "Qi" and "Meridians" and the fact that they are invisible makes them even harder to accept!

 

Qi (Chi) is the unseen energy that governs all living things. Simply put, where there is Qi there is Life, where there is no Qi, there is death.  The Qi flows through the body on different pathways, known as "meridians".  There are 12 core meridians plus two extra channels, for 14 in total.  These are: Lung, Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen, Heart, Small Intestine, Bladder, Gallbladder, Triple Heater, Pericardium, Liver, Kidney, Governing Vessel and Conception Vessel.

 

Though they can't be seen to the naked eye, meridians have been documented in electrical conductivity studies, and the acupuncture points themselves lie along these channels. As a practitioner, I rely on the knowledge of these meridian pathways to help me diagnose and treat diseases. A meridian "scan" tells the practitioner a lot about both the inside and outside of the body and mind.

 

For ease of explanation, I like to think of the meridians as the body's freeway system. When the freeways are clear, traffic is able to flow continuously along these lines, and the "cars" (nerve impulses, blood flow, lymphatic drainage) can get from point A to point B. But, if there's a traffic accident on the highway, then things get backed up. Along the meridians, if there's a problem such as an acute injury, energy blockage, bruising, chronic muscle changes, these will show up at acupuncture points as reactivity (horse is sore, turns to look/bite, moves away, flinches).  Modalities such as chiropractic or acupuncture are the "ambulances" that come in to clear the accidents and get things moving again.

 

To learn more about acupuncture, visit here...

 

Let's review oral glucosamine-chondroitin products - what they are, and do they work. The pages of our horse catalogs are flooded with "joint supplements." Literally, between 45-75 different product listings (for Joint Supplements) in the catalogs I checked. How are you supposed to know which one or ones to pick!?  There are pastes, liquids, powders, granules, injectables... I'm sure someone will invent a transdermal patch at some point...

 

To keep it simple, I'll explain glucosamine and chondroitin (gluc-chon) this month. These are actually two separate compounds, but are typically packaged together. Glucosamine also comes in different forms - glucosamine sulfate and glucosamine chloride. Gluc-chon sources include bovine trachea, shark cartilage, and perna mussels.  Originally studied for human use, Gluc-Chon was examined in a study with knee arthritis patients. The results were dubious, but as there are little to no side-effects of using these products, their use and study was continued.

 

The equine industry picked up on these compounds, and began basic research of its own. Again, often in small, very specific studies (equine carpal joint only) research was performed and the results were shown to have some positive influence on overall pain scales. At least in animals, there is no placebo effect.

 

The market boomed, and suddenly the gluc-chon industry soared. As these products are "nutraceuticals" there is no FDA regulation or requirements on them. Therefore, what is on the label, isn't necessarily in the container.

 

See recommended doses, what these compounds do, and does your horse need them... Read On.

Each month we'll review a case that was seen in practice, and discuss the diagnosis and treatment approach. This month let's look at a fantastic warmblood named "Brighton."

 

Brighton is a 6 year-old chestnut warmblood purchased as an eventing prospect. He was originally from Florida, then moved to California, and has traveled throughout the states.  Suddenly late Summer/early Fall, he developed a severe case of "Headshaking."

 

Headshaking is a poorly understood syndrome. Photic headshaking (sensitivity to sunlight), allergies, biting insects, guttural pouch disease, stylohyoid bone problems, and tigeminal neuritis, have all been blamed as underlying causes. As such, treatments such as riding in flymasks, riding at night, antihistamines, medications to treat guttural pouch problems, and copious homeopathic remedies, have all be tried with varying degrees of success to control the condition.

 

In Chinese medicine, there is usually an underlying consitutional disorder - Shen disturbance, excessive wind (neurologic issues), imbalanced Fire consitution.  In Brighton's case, he was happy, healthy, no underlying constitutional disorder noted, and poorly responsive to any prior treatments. His headshaking occurs with or without exercise and as such he is a young talent that isn't being used to his potential. Is this the end of Brighton's career? Read on...