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05/30/2003: "What Every Horse Owner MUST Know - Repost"

This is a repost of this entry because the Great Server God ate the first one. ;o)

I decided to write this after reading Becky’s Journal entry, “Knowledge Is Power.” I wanted to second that because it’s SO true, and it seems too many horse owners don’t realize that by being well informed themselves they could well save their horse’s life someday.

First, it must be understood that there is a GREAT deal about horses that NO vet knows because horses have long gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to money for basic research. Ever since the automobile replaced the horse for transportation, horses have been in a sort of limbo. Fitting neither “working” “food” nor “companion” categories, horses have fallen through the cracks. This is beginning to change to some extent, but equine vets - through no fault of their own - are still miles behind food and companion animal vets, not only in basic knowledge but also in approved treatments.

This is NOT to say that all vets are created equal however, and this is why it’s so vital for horse owners to be informed themselves. For one example of this, read Becky’s Journal if you haven’t already. I will now provide a few hair-raising incidents from my own notebook.

Horror Story Number 1:

I bought my first horse, Sirron, a 16-year-old QH, in 1977. I bought him form the owner of the stable where I planned to keep him. He had lived there most of his life. In the fall of 1978, I noticed that he didn’t seem to be feeling well after being tube wormed. (That’s how all worming was done in those days.) He went off feed and was attempting - unsuccessfully - to urinate with increasing frequency. The only vet I knew was the vet the stable owner regularly used. But, since both the owner and his son - and barn manager - were excellent horsemen, I had no reason to hesitate to call him.

“Vet1” was a HUGE man with a mixed practice. When he came out and examined Sirron, he directed ALL his comments to the Manager. I might as well been at home for all the attention he paid to me. Now, maybe I was new to horses, but I was over 30, relatively intelligent, and I was PAYING THE BILL.

Vet1 examined Sirron several times over the next few weeks - without coming up with a diagnosis - and he treated me this way every time. Like, “Don’t worry your punkin’ head, little lady. Us men-folk will take care of everything and besides, you probably wouldn’t understand a word I said if I TRIED to explain things to you.” Was I steamed? You don’t even WANT to know how much.

Vet1 never came up with anything, but the symptoms started easing by themselves, so they told me the tube must have irritated his throat, blah, blah, blah… However - the next year after worming, the symptoms were back but MUCH worse this time.

Vet1 again tried everything he could think of, and once again came up empty. This time however, the symptoms were NOT going away. Sirron soon stopped eating anything, and worse, was not drinking either. He was obviously stressed and depressed, almost continually stretching out attempting to urinate. I was absolutely beside myself with worry.

Finally - after some six weeks of this - Vet1 said he THOUGHT Sirron had liver damage. He said he could either treat him with steroids or I could take him down to the large animal hospital at Texas A&M.

HELLO? I did not have a truck or trailer; I’d never even DRIVEN a rig; and A&M is in College Station - some 300 miles from Dallas. I didn’t even KNOW anyone with that capability to get a horse all that way. Even the barn owner didn’t have a trailer at that time, nor did HE know anyone who could help me.

I ended up digging up a professional hauler and paid him to take Sirron to A&M. After a VERY long week, they found an old, very deep laceration at the back of Sirron’s tongue! The tube worming didn’t create this wound, but it did irritate it, which was why we had the reaction every time he was wormed. They never could tell me HOW this could have happened, but they put Sirron under general anesthesia - somewhat of a risk at that time, especially for an older horse - and cleaned up the old scar tissue so the cut could finally heal. Sirron came through the surgery with flying colors, came home and never had any more problems with it.

Needless to say, I found another vet, and equine only practitioner who always explained in detail what he was doing and why - and treated me like he thought I was perfectly capable of understanding his explanations. I truly HATED to leave him when me moved to Indiana. Which leads to…

Horror Story Number 2

This happened after we came to Indiana. I was using the vets from the closest large animal clinic. Everyone around here used them and told me that their “horse guy” was very good. “Doc” turned out to be an older man, very experienced, and I liked him on sight. Everything went well until our third summer here.

I had been concerned about Ami and all the grass. Even though she’d been fine for two years, I still worried because of her sex - mare, her breeding - QH/pony, and the fact that she was getting very overweight and cresty. Then one morning in June I noticed she was moving very stiffly - as if she just hurt all over. I immediately suspected laminitis - although I’d never actually SEEN a case of laminitis before - and called Doc.

Doc gave Ami the once over but was puzzled by what he found. Not only did she seem much better than she’d been earlier, she didn’t have a bounding pulse in her feet and was unresponsive to hoof testers. Doc said maybe she’d strained some muscles or something and to keep him posted on her condition.

The next couple of months turned out to be a nightmare of Ami being sore but by the time Doc got out here, she would come galloping up the field like she’d never taken a lame step. I began to be afraid Doc thought I was crazy. I began to wonder if I WAS crazy. I asked Doc if I should keep her off the grass, but he said he didn’t see any reason to do that. And, the fact was, I couldn’t do it anyway - not without building paddocks and remodeling the barn - all things we PLANNED to do in the future, but not right now. Kinda hard to convince Mike to drop everything and find a way to get all that done NOW when Doc said it was unnecessary.

Finally, after many ups and downs, Ami came up EXTREMELY lame on August 1. I examined her feet once again, and what I saw made my blood run cold. Even I, who had never seen a laminitic foot before, could see the stretching of the white line in her front feet - and recognize what it meant. There could be NO doubt about laminitis now. I put in an emergency call to the vet clinic. To my horror, they told me that Doc had RETIRED, but they would send Doc2 on out.

My horror was not only because Doc was no longer available - it was also because of what I already knew about Doc2. While he was a horse owner himself, his veterinary specialty was NOT horses, but other farm animals. I’d also been warned that he was not the vet of choice of my friends. Still, he was the only one I knew of to call.

Doc2 came out and examined Ami. He said yep, she was foundering all right. Well, DUH. He said to keep her off the grass, give her some Bute and starve her. Those were his EXACT words. Then he left. No talk of x-rays, follow-up, nothing.

I started to panic. I called every large animal practice I could find ANYWHERE within 50 miles. What did I get? I was told I was too far away/they weren’t taking any new clients/both of the above. Bottom line - Ami’s feet were coming apart inside and NO vet would come out to treat her, even on a one-time emergency basis. So much for whatever vow they took at vet school.

Finally, Mike remembered seeing an ad in the local Ag newspaper by a new equine-only vet in Goshen - further away than some who had already refused to come. Her name was Dr. Karin Jensen, and in desperation, we called her. Would she come? “I’ll be there as quickly as I can.” THANK GOD!

Since this is very long already, I won’t go into all the details of the suffering Dr. Karin saw Ami through. Ami’s a tough little cookie, and Karin is a dedicated and determined vet. Thanks to that and my wonderful farrier, Matt Gillis - who worked hand-in-hand with Karin - Ami is not only alive, she is SOUND.

Since finding Karin, I have found another wonderful vet - Dr. Ron Conley of Ft. Wayne. Dr. Conley would have come and treated Ami back in that dark August, but I didn’t know about him then. Perhaps it’s just as well. If I’d gotten Dr. Conley back then, I would probably never have met Karin. As it is, I have both of them to call upon, and you DO need at least two vets you can trust. No matter how dedicated, NO vet can be available 24/7/365. And if you have only one vet, something is going to happen to your horse when that vet is out of pocket - count on it.

I realize this has run VERY long, but I think it was necessary to make my point. YOUR horse is YOUR responsibility, and ultimately, you must take charge and make the decisions - no matter WHO says WHAT.

This is equally true when it comes to farriers. I believe however, that I will save the tale of my trials and tribulations before finding Matt for another post. Because I’m afraid that one will be just as long as this one!