While out on your regular ride, you notice that your horse seems a little clumsier than usual, tripping over sticks and stumbling.  You put it down to him being lazy, but notice it’s becoming a common pattern.  Should you be concerned?

Many horses with spinal problems will exhibit signs of clumsiness as they are being ridden.  In particular, Wobbler syndrome occurs when the spinal vertebrae have been compressed.  This causes nerve damage resulting in the horse being unable to know where their limbs are positioned.   This syndrome can be seen in all horses, regardless of age, breed, or gender, but seems to most often crop up in male horses of fast growing breeds, such as Thoroughbreds or Quarter Horses.  It can affect the front legs or the back.

If you suspect that your horse might be suffering from this syndrome, it is important to call your veterinarian for an accurate diagnosis.  Wobbler is sometimes confused with the neurological disease, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), which causes muscle wasting, facial paralysis, and behavioral changes.  In order to properly diagnose, your veterinarian will locate the affected area on your horse’s neck or back, and then take radiographs.  These will help your veterinarian to pinpoint exactly what is going on in your horse’s spine to cause the symptoms.  Sometimes radiographs are not enough to clearly diagnose the disease, in which case a myelogram may be necessary.  This is a procedure where colored dye is injected into the horse’s spine to show on the radiographs where exactly the compression of the spine has occurred.  Because the horse must be under anesthesia for this procedure, it is not always a convenient or even possible option.

Wobbler Syndrome can be treated without surgery.  Most notably, benefits have been seen in supplementing an affected horse’s diet with vitamin E.  For horses that are still growing, a change in diet and turnout in a small paddock can help their bodies to realign.  Surgery is an option, however, in which case the surgeon will actually remove pieces of the horse’s vertebrae to eliminate the compression.

As equine medicine progresses, and routine stable management improves, horse owners are finding that their horses and ponies are living to a much more advanced age.  Because of this, it is important for horse owners to be aware of age-related diseases.  Cushing’s Disease is a relatively common problem affecting older horses, and particularly ponies.  Cushing’s Disease is caused by a benign tumor growing in the pituitary gland.  This creates an increase in the number of chemical messengers sent throughout the body, and in particular to the adrenal glands which control all the hormones in the body.

Horses suffering from this disease tend to have a long shaggy coat that looks almost curly.  They typically grow their winter coat in early and fail to shed it out in the spring.  This thick, heavy coat causes them to heat up quickly for no apparent reason, and often results in skin infections since the skin is unable to breathe and dry once it becomes sweaty.  The disease also causes laminitis, chronic hoof abscesses, excessive thirst, muscle wasting, and a sway back appearance.  Immunodeficiency also accompanies the disease, and affected horses will often have difficulty healing from wounds.

The signs of the disease can be both subtle and gradual, making it difficult for you to immediately notice changes in your horse.  Cushing’s should always be suspected in chronic laminitis cases in older horses and also in the case of a coat that even partially won’t shed.  If you are concerned about the disease, have your vet examine your horse to confirm diagnosis.  Although surgery is rarely an option, there are drug treatments that are extremely effective in dealing with this problem.  This drug therapy is costly, and must be continued for the duration of the horse’s life, but is proven to improve the horse’s condition almost immediately.

If your horse is experiencing chronic but low intensity colic, your veterinarian may suspect that enteroliths are at the root of the problem.  Enteroliths are mineralized stones that form in a horse’s intestinal tract.  At the centre of these stones is always an ingested object, such as a piece of stone, wood, or metal that does not pass through the horse’s gut.  Enteroliths are common in different geographical regions, depending on the minerals present in soil and feed.  Cases are particularly high in California.  If left undetected, these stones can cause your horse’s intestinal tract to rupture, causing death.  The only way to diagnose is through x-rays or abdominal surgery.  Horses with enteroliths must have them surgically removed, a procedure that is highly successful unless there are already complications due to the rupturing of the intestinal tract.

If you live in a high risk area, you will want to discuss tools for prevention with your veterinarian.  Since diets high in magnesium and protein may be contributing to the development of enteroliths, lucerne hay should be avoided.  Lucerne hay is also more digestible than other hays, resulting in less fiber passing through the horse’s intestinal system and clearing out any potential objects that might cause an enterolith to develop.  Your horse should also be fed several times per day to encourage intestinal movement, and also receive regular exercise.  Since pH is a factor as well, some horses benefit from having a cup of vinegar added to their daily feed.  Finally, genetics do also play a role, with Arabs being the most common breed for developing these stones.

Since enteroliths have such fatal implications for your horse, if you live in a high risk area, it is important to understand the signs and symptoms of enterolith formation, and to be able to obtain quick treatment for your horse.

Tying up is a condition that can affect horses in many different situations, from the casual riders who do a few trails over the weekend, all the way up to competitively working horses in all disciplines.  Horses suffering from this form of muscle breakdown show stiffness and poor performance in its mildest form, and in more severe cases will have elevated heart rate, sweating, pain, and will pass dark-coloured urine.

Known by many other names, including azoturia, Monday morning disease, or myoglobinurea, tying up is usually brought on through exercise, but can also develop from stressful situations such as trailer loading, or even viral infections.  Similar in many ways to humans who play too hard on the weekends, the milder forms can simply be due to high lactic acid levels in muscles.  However, some horses may be at risk due to electrolyte imbalances or dehydration.

If you suspect that your horse has had episodes of tying up, your vet can perform bloodwork that will analyze their enzyme levels.  This will help determine whether the horse actually was tying up and, if so, how severe the episode was.  Mild cases may simply be treated with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory to make the horse more comfortable, while severe cases may require intravenous fluids to prevent kidney damage and to keep them hydrated.  Sedatives may also be prescribed to keep the horse relaxed and calm.

For horses that are prone to this condition, stable management can also be key to preventing future attacks.  Keeping the horse calm and in a consistent environment with regular routines, as well as strictly monitoring diet, water intake and exercise, will go a long way towards making a horse that ties up much more comfortable.

Heaves, also known as broken wind or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is a devastating disease that affects the respiratory system of a horse.  It is usually caused by ingesting dusty or moldy hay, or being exposed to dust, mold or pollen in bedding and elsewhere in the horse’s environment.  Depending on the length of time that the horse has been exposed to the irritant, their symptoms may be mild or severe.

The usual symptom associated with heaves is a dry cough, particularly one that comes on with exercise.  It can also cause a yellowish nasal discharge and increased or laboured breathing.  In severe cases, the horse may be listless, show loss of appetite due to breathing difficulties, and can even develop what is called a heave line, or a muscular line along the barrel caused by the horse constantly taking a double exhalation.

There is no cure for heaves.  Once diagnosed, the best options are to minimize the horse’s contact with respiratory irritants.  This can be accomplished by feeding good quality hay that is neither dusty nor moldy, and also keeping the horse in an extremely well ventilated environment.  Many horses with heaves are best kept out of stables and instead housed outside.  This is a chronic condition that causes gradual damage to the lungs, so good stable management can halt the disease in its tracks.  Depending on your horse’s situation, your veterinarian may also prescribe drugs or natural remedies to assist your horse with his breathing.  Many horses with a mild form of heaves are able to carry an almost normal workload.  However, it is important to remember that if your horse is diagnosed with heaves, he will always be at risk for further lung damage.

As with humans, horses can become very ill from the normal influenza virus.  Although most horses can and do make a full recovery from the disease, those with a compromised immune system, and in particular very old and very young animals, are at a higher risk of succumbing to their illness.  Additionally, secondary infections such as pneumonia can develop and cause more difficulty for the horse, including lung and heart damage.

Horses with the equine flu present very similar symptoms to humans with a flu bug.  They tend to lose their appetite, be lethargic, run a fever, and have a harsh cough and nasal discharge.  Equine flu is very contagious, and is spread through airborne particles, as well as through infected buckets, brushes, or even unwashed hands.  The disease is extremely contagious, and entire stables can quickly become infected.

Prevention is the best option, and it is always advised to keep your horse up to date on his vaccinations, including the influenza vaccine.  Also, good hygiene is very important and all stables should maintain a regular routine of sterilization of equipment and good hand-washing.  Avoid sharing brushes or buckets with other horses, unless they have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected first.

Should your horse develop the disease, he should be moved to a large, clean, and dust-and draft-free stall.  If he can tolerate it, it might be wise to give him small amounts of light exercise, such as hand-walking, to help his body drain fluids and improve circulation.  As he recovers, you will be able to slowly re-introduce regular exercise to his routine.

Also known as swamp fever, this devastating disease is mainly prevalent in the southern United States, as well as in some areas of Canada.  The disease is spread through the bites of blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes.  As a mosquito bites an infected horse, then moves on and bites an uninfected horse, the second horse will be at risk to contract the disease.

EIA causes an overall decline in the horse’s health.  Infected horses become listless and experience loss of coordination, weakness, jaundice, fluid retention and small lesions on their mucous membranes.  Usually these symptoms occur in a cycle of every two weeks or so and typically come on after exercise.  There is no cure or treatment for the disease.  Although rarely fatal, the disease is so highly infectious that most countries have a strict requirement that all known infected animals must be either euthanized or fully quarantined in a completely fly proof building.

The best prevention of the disease is through aggressive testing and fly control programs.  Because the disease is so easily transmitted from horse to horse, and because many horses without symptoms can still be infected carriers of the disease, it is vital that all new horses entering a boarding facility or stable have a current Coggins test.  The Coggins test is a blood test that determines whether a horse is a carrier of the EIA virus. 

Fly control is also essential to preventing outbreaks, as with any insect-borne disease.  Reducing the number of flies attracted to your barn will automatically reduce your horse’s risk of being infected.  At this point in time, there is no vaccination available for the virus, so prevention is your best option.

All animals, including humans, have a tendency towards arthritis as they get older.  In horses the disease can the result of the ageing process and general wear and tear on joints, or can come on at any age due to an injury.

Arthritis specifically refers to the inflammation of your horse’s joints, especially weight bearing ones, which then causes erosion of cartilage.  As the disease progresses it causes stiffness, pain, and can eventually cripple your horse.  Typical symptoms of arthritis include stiffness when first being worked, swollen or puffy lower leg joints, and a change in his gait or ability to perform exercises that he used to do with ease.  If you suspect that your horse has the beginnings of arthritis, talk to your vet about x-rays and a possible treatment plan.

In the meantime, there are some simple things you can do to keep your senior horse from being at risk of this debilitating disease.

• Keep him fit and active.  Even moderate exercise keeps joints flexible and improves circulation in his body.  Being able to move around allows him to shift his weight bearing, and lets the cartilage in his joints work the way it was meant to.  If he doesn’t have pasture to walk around on all day, a paddock is still better than a stall.
• Try equine physiotherapy or simple stretches on your own.  Keeping your horse flexible and his muscles warmed up will not only make him more comfortable, but will also improve his ability to exercise
• Feed an appropriate diet.  There are many supplements that are known to assist with joint maintenance.  Talk to your veterinarian to be sure your older horse is getting all the nutrients he needs.

Although they are complex structures designed to be the foundation that holds your horse’s weight, his hooves are remarkably vulnerable.  White Line Disease occurs when the inner layer of the hoof wall begins to deteriorate.  This non-pigmented layer, called the white line, protects the inside of the hoof from damaging pathogens and bacteria.  When it has been compromised, deterioration of the hoof wall can eventually result in extensive damage of the laminae and rotation of the coffin bone.

White Line Disease is often hard to spot until the horse comes up lame and the damage has already been done.  The first sign of the disease is a white powdery substance that forms along the junction of the hoof wall and the sole.  It can occur in all four feet and is not isolated to any particular breed.  The horse may be tender on his feet, and the use of hoof testers can sometimes lead to early detection.  As the disease develops, the horse may wind up with flat soles, a dish on one side of the hoof with an accompanying bulge on the other side, and slow hoof growth.  Additionally, when the hoof is tapped with a hammer, a hollow sound will be heard.

Veterinarians and farriers are still unsure of the cause of the disease, but it seems to be more prevalent in hot, humid climates.  Also associated with White Line Disease are poor trimming, frequent abscesses, contracted tendons, clubfoot, or punctures to the hoof.  Horses with chronic laminitis may also be susceptible to the disease.

Treatment involves therapeutic shoeing combined with a resection-removal of the affected area.  Depending on the severity of the case, the resectioned area may need to be packed with dressing and covered with duct tape.

As the number one killer of horses, colic is a very serious issue for horse owners everywhere.  To maximize you horse’s chance of survival, know the symptoms and be prepared to take immediate action.  Common symptoms include refusing to eat, inability to defecate, nipping at their sides, and kicking at their abdomen with a hind leg.  Should your horse show any of these signs, be prepared to call your veterinarian immediately for advice.  Although the common practice is to walk a colicky horse, be cautious of not exhausting him.  If he’s not trying to roll, let him stand still.  However, walking can be beneficial for a horse that is trying to go down – you will want to prevent him from rolling so that he does not twist his bowels.  Be cautious of a colicky horse who is rolling as he will likely thrash and will be in too much pain to be aware of the people around him.

Prevention is difficult because there is no one cause of colic.  Some factors that can increase a horse’s risk are changes to their diet, diets with a high concentration of grain, being stall bound, and recovering from other illnesses.  There are some things you can do to lessen your horse’s risk of having a bout with colic.  Keeping your horse’s feeding routine consistent, including the time of feedings and the type of food, will go a long way towards keeping your horse healthy.  If you do have to change your horse’s food, take your time and do it slowly.  Keep food locked away in case your horse gets loose – horses will binge if they can get into a sack of grain.  Feed small amounts of grain and other carbohydrate rich feed, as these can cause a horse’s system to overload.  Since parasites have been known to cause colic in some horses, keep to a regular deworming schedule.