Equestrian First Aid & Health Care Tips

A good first aid kit is priceless if you ever experience an equine emergency. The following is a basic list of items which are very helpful. Don't wait for an emergency and frantically scurry about to find them-gather these things up ahead of time before an emergency occurs! Keep a checklist so that you know when it is time to restock items as they are used.  This also helps when packing for a horse trip as you can quickly see what might be needed before hitting the road.  Talk to your veterinarian before attempting first aid on your horse

Essential equipment:

• Clean bucket, towels & warm water
• Twine 
• Wooden tool handle with a hole drilled in it
• Your veterinarian's phone number
• List of alternative Vets for travel
• Scissors

Diagnostic Equipment:

• Flashlight ( fresh batteries)
• Hoof pick
• Stethoscope
• Thermometer

Bandaging Material:

• Non-stick wound covering 
• Non-adhesive & Gauze wraps 
• White medical tape or duct tape
• Ace bandages/Leg cottons or wraps
• Adhesive elastic bandages
• Diapers or feminine pads (sterile absorbent temporary wraps)

Medications:

• Antibacterial ointment 
• Disinfectant (iodine solution or Betadine)
• Phenylbutazone (bute)
• Sterile Saline (to flush wounds or eyes)

COLIC 

Colic is a general term which simply means abdominal pain. Colic may originate from any part of the abdomen, such as the intestinal tract, abdominal cavity, genital tract, or urinary tract.

Common Causes:

• Gas
• Impaction
• Intestinal parasites
• Abdominal infection

Signs of Colic:

• Looking, kicking or nudging at the belly
• Depression
• Loss of appetite
• Pawing the ground
• Stretching
• Rolling
• Shaking or trembling
• Bloated abdomen
• Increased heart rate
• Pale or brick red mucous membranes
• Gums that do not go back to pink a couple seconds after touched
• Increased gut sounds 

Have the following information ready before calling your veterinarian:

• Physical Examination and History
• How long has your horse been colicky? Since the symptoms started does he seem to be getting better or worse, or staying the same?
• Horse's heart rate.  It can be easily taken with a stethoscope placed on the left side of the horse's chest. 
• Horse's gum color. ( pink, pale, or brick red)
• Check gut sounds. Are gut sounds less than normal or are they much greater than normal?
• Call your veterinarian
• Do not feed or water your horse
• Prevent from rolling
• Walking may be beneficial, but if your horse is lying quietly, it is best not to move them.

Tying Up

This is also known as or "Monday morning disease". It is most commonly involving the hind legs and back. It occurs most commonly when your horse has regularly exercise, gets a day or two off, and then goes back to regular exercise schedule. 

Signs

• Reluctance to move with in 30 minutes of initiating exercise 
• Rump muscle pain to the touch
• Red or brown urine

What to do:

• DO NOT MOVE THE HORSE! 
• Call your veterinarian
• Put warm moist towels on the horses hip
• Do not give anti-inflammatory until the vet approves it as it could affect the kidneys.
• Keep your horse in a stall to prevent activity until recovery.  
• Start back slow once he is healed.

Prevention of Tying up

• Provide proper diet by decreasing grain before giving your horse time off from normal exercise 
• Warm up at least ten minutes before you work your horse 

Founder

An inflammation of the soft tissues between the hoof and the coffin bone (normally front feet only). This inflammation will cause tissue damage and may cause the coffin bone to protrude through the sole or rotate downward. 

Signs include:

• Reluctance to walk
• Leaning backward to take weight off the front feet
• In extreme cases, the horse may lay down and refuse to get up.

Causes of Founder

• Severe infection like colitis, salmonella or intense fever
• Grain overload
• Cushing's disease
• Obesity
• Overworking your horse on hard surfaces
• Lameness

Diagnosis and treatment of Laminitis

In addition to diagnosing founder based on the signs listed above, your veterinarian may perform x-rays to assess the severity of coffin bone rotation. 

Treatment of founder

• Walk your horse 2-3 times per day for 12 minutes
• Reduce rich hay & grain from diet
• Decrease the inflammation with anti-flammatory
• Corrective shoeing from professional farrier
• Surgical correction

EPM

1. What is EPM?

EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis) is caused by a protozoal parasite, carried by birds (especially cowbirds).  The parasite invades the central nervous system of the horse and causes damage to the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Infected horses may start to show signs anywhere from 1 month to 2 years after exposure, with young horses affected more than older horses.

Signs:

• lameness & stumbling
• difficulty with balance
• weakness or back soreness
• muscle atrophy, either local or generalized
• paralysis
• roaring
• dropping food out of mouth
• chewed food flowing from nostrils
• ear droop
• equine herpes virus
• wobblers

Diagnosis and treatment of EPM:

• blood test & diagnostic tests
• spinal tap
• specific antibiotics coupled with anti-inflammatory
• 4 months sometimes longer for treatment

SPRING HEALTH CARE

• Gelding sheath cleaned-normally requires sedation
• Worming
• Selenium test
• Dental care

Vaccinations

• "Rhino"-Treated Every 3 Months during exposure
• POTOMAC HORSE FEVER-Treated Annually
• RABIES-Treated Annually
• Encephalitis ("Sleeping Sickness")-For year round mosquito populations Bi-Annual, others Annually in the spring)
• Influenza ("Flu")-Annually unless frequently exposed to other horses, then Bi-Annual
• Lockjaw-Annually

WORMING

With new strands of parasite coming on the scene, it is best to rotate the wormer that you are using.  Treatment is normally performed monthly in warm clients, and those areas with below freezing temperatures will not need to treat year round.

There are five different classes of wormer:

• Benzimidazoles 
• Pyrantel 
• Oxbendazole 
• Ivermectin (twice a year)

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