Equine management

1
Equine Management
Invited Lecture to Veterinary Officers in
RSLMTI, Jaipur Rajasthan

• Dr Dushyant Yadav
• (M.V.Sc., Ph.D.)
• Teaching Associate
• PGIVER, Jaipur, Rajasthan, INDIA

2
Contents

• Introduction
• Classification of Horse
• Body Parts of Horse
• Diseases of Horses
• Vaccination and de-worming of Horses
• Vices of Horse
• Reproduction in Horse

3
INTRODUCTION

• Horse symbol of valour, power, strength
  respectfulness
• French and Spanish cave paintings-15000 years
  ago, earliest record
• Also use in Army, racing and sports etc
• Population decline very rapidly in recent years
• Provide livelihood to landless, small and
  marginal farmers

4

• The horse has-
• Almost 350 vision
• Dichromatic color vision (i.e. like a color-blind
  person)
• Sense of taste- discriminates between safe and
  toxic plants with variable accuracy
• Highly developed accessory olfaction
• Ability to hear within and beyond the range of
  human hearing
• Predictable zones of very sensitive cutaneous
  sensation.

5
Scientific Classification

• Kingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass
  MammaliaOrder PerissodactylaFamily
  EquidaeGenus Equus
• The horse is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal,
  one of ten living species of the family Equidae.

6

• Horse Equus caballus
• Donkey Equus asinus
• Chromosomes
• - Horse 64
• - Donkey 62
• - Mule 63

7
Body Part
8
Normal parameters

• Normal body temperature 99.5-100.5 F
• Normal pulse rate 28-36 (36)/minute
• Normal respiratory rate 12-15(13)/minute
• Dental formula I3-3/3-3,C1-1/1-1,PM3-3/3-3,M
  3-3/3/3
• Age at puberty 15-24 months
• Length of estrus cycle 21(5 days)
• Length of estrus 6 days(4 days)

9
Disease conditions

• Surra - Trypanosoma evansi
• Strangles- Streptococcus equi
• Glander- Burkholderia mallei
• Tetanus (lockjaw)-Clostridium tetani
• Equine Encephalomyelitis (sleeping sickness)
  equine encephalomyelitis viruses

10

• Equine Influenza
• Equine Herpesvirus (rhinopneumonitis, rhino,
  viral abortion)
• West Nile Virus
• Rabies

11
Diseases and Conditions of Foot

• Canker
• Thrush
• Laminitis
• Hoof crack
• Foot abscess
• Seedy toe
• Corn
• Quittor

12
canker

• Bacterial/ fungal infection-affects the frog,
  heal and underlying structures of the hoof
• Sign
• Frog horn loosens to reveal foul smelling
  necrotic tissue
• Thick ,cream-colored
• Bleeds easily and is very susceptible to screw
  worm maggots

13
(No Transcript)
14
Thrush-

• usually occurs within the frog and its sulci

15
Treatment

• Trim any horn flaps and improve the foot shape
  to allow more air to reach the sulci
• Clean with dilute povidon-iodine or hydrogen
  peroxide
• Aim is to dry out the area and expose it to the
  air do not bandage the foot

16
Laminitis

• Severe inflammation and avascular necrosis of the
  sensitive tissues (laminae) which attach hoof to
  the pedal bone
• Cause
• Mechanical overload
• Over exercise, excessive weight bearing on one
  leg because of lameness in the other
• Bacterial endotoxin
• High carbohydrate intake, retained placenta,
  mastitis
• Laminitis may be
• Acute
• Chonic

17
(No Transcript)
18

• Clinical signs
• Severe pain
• Short shuffling strides
• Increased heart rate, respiratory rate due to
  pain
• Bounding digital pulse
• Increased heat in hoof wall and coronary band
• Sinking of pedal bone causes a flat sole and a
  depression at the coronary band
• Treatment
• Remove underlying cause
• Rest animal completely
• Place frog supports on all affected feet
• NSAIDs at maximum dose rate
• Vasodilators
• Fluid therapy in case of signs of shock
• Shoeing with bar or reverse shoe to support the
  frog and heels
• Corticosteriods strictly contraindicated

19

• Corns (Subsolar
  bruising)
• Sole trauma leading to hemorrhage between
  sensitive and insensitive layers of the hoof,
  between bars and the wall
• Diagnosis
• Bilateral lameness although more severe in one
  limb
• Poor foot conformation and weight bearing of shoe
  inside white line
• Hoof tester evinces pain
• Differential Diagnosis
• Foot abscess
• Navicular disease
• Treatment
• Proper shoeing like wide web shoes with grinding
  out inside upper surface, bar shoe
• Anti inflammatory for 5 to 7 days

20
(No Transcript)
21

• Foot abscess (Nail
  prick)
• Bacterial access to sensitive structures via
  cracks in sole or hoof wall
• History
• Recently shod
• Wet conditions
• Foreign body penetration
• Diagnosis
• Acute severe lameness
• Digital pulse
• Heat in foot or coronary band
• Differential Diagnosis
• Fractures
• Laminitis
• corn
• Treatment
• Effective drainage
• Antibiotic in generalized cases

22
Foot abscess
23

• Foot cracks (Grass
  sand cracks)
• Because of hoof getting dehydrated and brittle
• History
• Previous trauma
• Poor hoof care
• Laminitis, seedy toe
• Diagnosis
• Self evident cracks
• Treatment
• Trimming and rehydration with hoof dressing
• Stabilize crack with sutures, wires
• Bar shoe may be helpful to reduce excessive wall
  movement

24
(No Transcript)
25

• 
  Seedy toe
• Separation of hoof wall and sensitive laminae at
  the toe of the foot
• Resulting space filled with crumbly horn.
• History of laminitis
• Clinical signs
• Mostly no lameness
• But if gap filled with dirt etc then may cause
  lameness
• Treatment
• Cleaning and debridement of necrotic tissue
• Regular trimming and keeping foot dry to reduce
  recurrence
• DD
• Foot abscess

26

• Colic Diagnosis and Management

27
Pelvic flexure
Diaphragmatic flexure
Sternal flexure
28
left dorsal colon
cranial
caudal
left ventral colon
right dorsal colon
right ventral colon
cecum
29

• Definition
• A syndrome (not an actual disease)
• It is caused by digestive tract problems
• Located in the abdominal cavity
• Colic much pain for the horse

30
Colic pain

• Abdominal pain
• Gastrointestinal
• Renal (stones)
• Liver
• Reproductive
• Orthopedic
• Laminitis
• rhabdomyolysis
• Thoracic
• Pleuropneumonia

31

• Horses with thoracic or musculoskeletal pain
  roll or move excessively

32

• Predisposing anatomical/functional factors-
• Inability of horse to vomit
• Unfixed position of left colon
• Long mesentery of small intestine
• Upward movement of ingesta and narrowing of lumen
  of pelvic flexure
• Termination of the right dorsal colon into much
  narrow transverse colon

33
Types Of Colic Medical / Surgical

• Gaseous gas formation in the digestive tract
• Impaction blockage of the intestine
• Spasmodic severe contraction of intestine
• Intestinal Accidents twists, hernia, etc.

34
Causes Of Gaseous Colic

• Over Ingestion of Feed
• Too much grain
• Too much lush green grass
• Greedy Eating (gaseous or impaction)
• Moldy or Spoiled Feed

35
Causes Of Impaction Colic

• Low Quality Indigestible Roughage
• Sand and/or Other Foreign Objects
• Mineral Imbalance
• Improper Chewing (due to lack of tooth care)
• Greedy Eating (can be impaction or gaseous)
• Lack of Water
• Lack of effective regular deworming

36
Causes Of Spasmodic Colic

• Feeding large amounts infrequently
• Too much water given to hot horse
• Irregular exercise
• Stress

37
Signs

• Mild signs
• Kicking at belly
• Pawing
• Laying down
• Looking at sides
• Curling lip (Flehmen response)
• Playing in water
• Grinding teeth
• Refusing feed
• Change in attitude
• Standing at back of stall
• Fecal output change
• Decrease output
• Consistency change

38
More obvious signs

• Down and rolling
• Evidence the horse has rolled
• Breathing hard
• Sweating
• Abdominal distention (bloating)

39
Diagnosis

• Heart rate
• Mild pain 50-60
• Severe pain gt70
• CRT lt 3 seconds

40
Auscultation landmarks

• Cecum
• Ventral colon
• Jejunum
• Small (descending) colon
• Stomach

A
D
E
C
B
41
Rectal exam

• Be systematic and thorough in your rectal exam
• 360 degree evaluation
• Rectal findings in combination with other
  examination may help determine the most likely
  cause of the colic

42
Peritoneal pericentesis

• Normal peritoneal fluid is clear, slightly yellow
• Abnormal-Cloudy
• hemorrhagic- compromised
• bowel

43
Blood analysis

• PVC Total protein
• Indicate hydration status
• Lactate analysis
• Indicator of decreased oxygen uptake at tissue
  levels
• .

44
Treatment of Colic

• Usually considered a veterinary emergency
• Treatment is dependent on type of colic
• Pain killers (provide comfort)
• Mineral oil ?????
• Rehydration
• Surgery

45
Analgesics-

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories
• Flunixin meglumine, Phenylbutazone
• Flunixin meglumine-
• Low dose 0.25 mg/kg will decrease clinical signs
  of endotoxemia
• Higher dose 0.5-1.0 mg/kg is analgesic and
  anti-endotoxic
• Phenylbutazone- 2.2- 4.4 mg/kg IV once
• also good analgesia/anti-inflammatory

46
Opiates-

• Butorphanol-
• analgesia alone is poor
• 0.02- 0.1 mg/kg IV
• Morphine- good analgesia

47
Fluid therapy-

• To resolve dehydration and soften impactions

48

• Vaccination Schedule for Horses

49
Age Adult Horse Booster Series Adult Horse Primary Vaccinations Broodmare Booster Series Broodmare Primary Vaccinations Foal
Tetanus annually or following injury 2-dose series annually, 4-6 weekspre-partum 2-dose series 3-dose series
2-way or 3-way Sleeping Sickness annually 2-dose series annually, 4-6 weekspre-partum 2-dose series 3-dose or 4-dose series
West Nile Virus annually single dose or 2-dose series annually, 4-6 weekspre-partum Not recommended unless high risk. 2-dose or 3-dose series
Rabies annually single dose annually, pre-partumOR pre-breeding single dose, pre-partum or pre-breeding single dose or 2-dose series
50
Age Adult Horse Booster Series Adult Horse Primary Vaccinations Broodmare Booster Series Broodmare Primary Vaccinations Foal
Rhino (EHV) Abortion annually 3-dose series 3-dose series 3-dose series 3-dose series
Influenza semi-annually to annually 1-dose, 2-dose or 3-dose series semi-annually, with one dose given 4-6 weeks pre-partum 2-dose or 3-dose series 2-dose or 3-dose series
Potomac Horse Fever semi-annually to annually 2-dose series semi-annually, with one dose given 4-6 weeks pre-partum 2-dose series 2-dose series
Strangles semi-annually to annually 2-dose or 3-dose series semi-annually, with one dose given 4-6 weeks pre-partum 3-dose series 3-dose series
51

• Vices of Horse

52

• Chewing
• Lip-licking
• Licking environment
• Wood-chewing
• Crib-biting
• Wind-sucking
• Box-walking
• Weaving
• Pawing
• Tail-swishing

53

• Door-kicking (front feet)
• Box-kicking (hind feet)
• Rubbing self
• Self-biting
• Head-tossing
• Head-circling
• Head-shaking
• Head-nodding
• Head-extending, ears back and nodding
• Kicking stall (hind feet) etc.

54

• Odd or unusual behaviour
• Highly repetitive nature
• Lack of external goal
• Not result from pathologic process
• Economic importance

55
Classification

• Metabolic Vices
• Aggressive Vices
• Vices Due to Fear
• Performance-Related Vices
• Stall Vices
• Miscellaneous Vices

56
Metabolic Vices

• Crib biting-
• Horse bites an object,
• flexes its neck, pulls
  back with its teeth
• Wind sucking- swallows air.

57
Food Bolting- Eating food too fast without
adequate
chewing. Pica Coprophagy or Dirt Eating- Horse
eats manure
or dirt. Mane and Tail Chewing- Horse chews on
herdmate's manes or tails causing an unsightly
appearance Wood Chewing- Horse chews on wood
fences or stalls. Self mutilation- sniff, lick
bite itself to the point causing injury
stereotypies
58
Aggressive Vices
Biting- Horse nips at people as they pass by or
during handling. Charging- Horse attacks
attendants or passers-by. Crowding- Horse
squeezes handler against walls. Fighting-
Dominant horse bites, kicks, or chases.
59

• Rearing- Horse strikes with front legs while
  standing on hind legs.
• Striking- Horse reaches for attendant with either
  or both front feet.
• Kicking- Horse lifts hind feet forward and kicks
  back in a sideward
• motion

60
Vices Due to Fear

• Avoiding Clippers- Horse tosses head, pulls
  halter, or displays
• aggression when
  clipping.
• Halter Pulling- Horse pulls back when tied or
  panics when crosstied.
• Evading Halter- Horse runs away when
  approached or otherwise avoids
• being caught.
• Shying or Spooking- Horse bolts at loud sounds
  or edges away from
• objects.

61
Performance-Related Vices

• Backing- Horse backs up without a cue
• and often refuses to stop.
• Balking- Horse resists moving forward.
• Bucking- Horse kicks up hind legs.
• Head Tossing- Horse throws head up
• when grooming, exercising, or
• being ridden.

62
Stall Vices

• Stall Weaving- Horse shifts rhythmically
• from forefoot to forefoot, sometimes
  swinging
• head as well.
• Digging or Pawing- Horse paws at floor,
• creating holes that could cause leg
  injuries.
• Tail Rubbing- Horse rubs its tail against
• fences, walls, or other objects.
• Stall Walking- Horse continuously circles
• stall.
• Stall Kicking- Horse kicks walls of stall.

63
Miscellaneous Vices

• Teeth grinding
• Tongue flicking
• Resistance to Saddling- Horse pulls at
  halter and shifts
• constantly
  when being saddled
• Trailer Problems- Horse refuses to load

64
Effects of vices

• Vices affect a horse's usefulness, dependability
  and health
• Cribbing- weight loss,
• gaseous
  colic,
• excessive
  tooth wear.
• Food bolting- decreases nutrient
  absorption
• choking
  and colic
• pica- colic or gastrointestinal
  ulcers, and other digestive
• disorders,
• intestinal obstructions,
  impaction colic, tooth wear and
• fence damage.

65
Effects of vices

• Pawing or digging-
• abnormal hoof wear and
  lameness,
• damage the flooring of
  the box stall.
• Stall Weaving- weight loss,
• poor performance
  and weak tendons.
• Economic loss- Thoroughbred, value fall
  by- av. 37
• Max for crib biting
  and wind sucking- 50
• Least for rug tearing
  (Hardy et. al, 1990)

66
Prevalence and causes

• All breeds ages
• Increase with age
• 
  (leuscher et.al, 1996)
• Learning from each other
• Causes
• 
  Presisposing
• 
  precipitating

67
Predisposing causes

• Genetic predisposition-
• non
  sex-linked,
• recessive
  genes,
• very few
  alleles are involved.
• Neurophysiology-
• More
  dopaminergic activity

68
Precipitating causes

• Feeding- low fibres and high protein
  diets
• Low time spent in
  feeding
• Relative amount of
  tyrosine and phenylalanine to
• 
  tryptophan
• High palatability-
  more beta- endorphin
• Social restrictions
• Lack of exercise
• boredom

69
Pharmocological support-

• For immediate cessation
• Dopaminergic antagonists
• Tryptophan purified powder (1-3gm p.o. 2-3
  times a
• 
  day)
• Adverse conditioning
• ( e.g, electric shock
  for crib biting
• 
  but ineffective)

70
Physical prevention

• Antiweave griller
• Anticribbing collar

71

• Reproduction in Horse

72
(No Transcript)
73
(No Transcript)
74
(No Transcript)
75
(No Transcript)
76
Per-rectal examination
77
(No Transcript)
78
(No Transcript)
79
Estrous cycle
80
(No Transcript)
81
(No Transcript)
82
(No Transcript)
83
Uterine body
Follicles
84
Pre- ovulatory follicle
Hemorrhagic follicle
85
26 days
21 days

22 days
28 days
86
(No Transcript)
87
Artificial Vagina
88
Thanks