Equisearch.com

Check out my new favorite web site,

www.equisearch.com It has a lot of educational information on it along with some interesting blogs.

This is a picture I took in Germany.

Lindsey

This is my very cute niece Lindsey learning to
paddle in the Boundary Waters.

Case of Week

This is a closer view of the case of the week for 7/21/06. 

Case of the week 7/21/06

What causes the hoof to get this way?
Note, the farrier has removed some hoofwall.
Post answers on my comments. 

Gastric Ulcers

This is a picture of a large gastric ulcer in a horse taken with a 3 meter endoscope. The red area is the ulcer. Gastric ulcers in horses are much more common than one would think. Many scientific reports give a prevalence of 50-90% depending on activity type, feed intake, and management. The clinical signs of ulcers can be quite vague and nonspecific, but probably the most common finding associated with gastric ulcers are related to feed consumption. Horses with ulcers typically take longer to consume their feed and owners/trainers report that it is more difficult maintaining good body condition in these animals. I also have seen depression as a clinical sign, ears down, dull look, are both signs of depression.
This is just a reminder not to forget ulcers if your horse is depressed and off feed. 

Chronic Suspensory Ligament Desmitis

Have you ever seen an old horse with it's hind fetlocks dropping down close to the ground? Well if you have, this is what's going on inside the leg. Inside the box is the branch of the suspensory ligament where it attaches to the sesamoid bone. The red area of the ligament is showing how inflammed it is and the attachement to the bone is almost gone. The function of the suspensory ligament is to "suspend" the fetlock up off the ground. When the ligament breaks down, the fetlock drops.
Inside the circle is fibrous tissue that develops secondary to the suspensory ligament breakdown. These horses are very painful and have difficulty moving around. 

Answer Case of the Week

Club Foot - A club foot is one that has a foot axis (angle created between the ground and the front of the foot) of 60 degrees or more. This horse has a hoof angle of 70.5 degrees. A club foot can arise in one of two ways. 1.) It can develop secondary to an injury that has prevented proper use of the foot, leading to contracture of the deep digital flexor tendon and the foot, or 2.) It can may be inherited or due to a nutritional deficiency/excess as a foal. This will lead to contracture of the deep digital flexor tendon, pulling the coffin bone back as it contracts. This condition can be helped if treated early when the horse is still young. There are medical and surgical treatments that can be performed, depending on the individual case. 

Anatomy specimen

This is a picture of a skull, looking from the muzzle, back towards the horse. It demonstrates how a horses upper molars overhang the lower molars. I put this picture in here to let people know that if your horses teeth become sharp from improper wear, the cheekpiece of the bridle can then cause pain by pushing the cheek into the sharp points that overhang on the upper molars. If your horse is doing a lot of head tossing when you pull back on the reins, this may be a sign that it's teeth are sharp and need to be examined by your veterinarian. 

4th of July

Cliffs overlooking Canada. Minnesota to the left, Canada to the right. It was so beautiful. 

4th of July

That's my niece Ashlee overlooking Canada from the cliffs we hiked to.

4th of July

Me and Misty. 

4th of July

Sunset at camp. 

4th of July

Misty had soo much fun. She loved it!! 

4th of July

The water was so clear you could see the fish below. 

4th of July

Hungary Jack Outfitters is owned and operated by good friends of my sister, Dave and Nancy S. 

4th of July Weekend

I went to the Boundary Waters for 5 days over the fourth of July. I'll share a few pictures with you. We went in off of the Gunflint Trail and were outfitted by Hungary Jack Outfitters. 

Case of the Week, 7/6/06

What is this condition called? Post your answers on my comments. 

July 4th weekend

A picture I took on my vacation to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area over the 4th of July weekend. 

Puppy number 2

Another Maggie baby. 

So cute

This is one of "Maggie's" babies. Maggie belongs to Ross and Terri Danielson, well respected Arabian breeders. 

"Lucy"

"Hello, this is Lucy, I can't talk long, I'm getting
my belly rubbed" (Sarah Lyons dog Lucy) 

Sarah Lyons and "Sammy"

Sarah and Sammy getting ready for their Open Hunter Pleasure Mares Class at the State Fair grounds on July 6th. I went to watch them at the Morgan show and they did well against the professionals.