Northernhorse.com Blog

Animals, like people, are moving around the country more than ever before. We have already experienced some disease outbreaks in humans and animals that made us aware of how fast a deadly virus could travel through the population of most countries. Canada is working on a way to keep track of our animals and now the U.S. is working on a plan too.

Read more on cattlenetwork

Our dread of the tall grass and the mosquitoes that it contains has encouraged us to do more “drive-by” checks on the herd in the north field than usual. Not exacting a bonding experience with the horses but it works well for all problems visible from the knees up. The beautiful moisture we have had this year (we haven’t had the great excesses some areas have had but just a really nice amount really) encourages scratches and the pasture has some low, swampy areas which adds to the problem. Chips, the stallion has a bad case of scratches on both hind legs.

I brought him home. I googled “scratches”. It seems that every cure has it proponents and opponents. Some folks have success with some things, others with other things. So I thought I would just see what is working for folks in our little Northernhorse world. Please share any success stories you have in treating scratches on your horses. I am hoping for a quick recovery. I already have the 4 saddle horses hanging around the back yard – I call it the Jenny Craig pen. It would be nice if Chips could get healed up and go back to the pasture asap. Besides I don’t want Keeper figuring out that she isn’t a gelding and falling in love. LOL

Today we took Keeper to a Chiropractor. Keeper has been taking it easy for about 6 weeks or so since the trip to the mountains where our attempt to put 2 pairs of horses together went wrong and she hurt something. At first I hoped it was just a bruised sole or perhaps an abscess as there were lots of opportunities to bruise something on the stumps and roots and rocks and trees – not that she had to use that stage to demonstrate her eligibility to be on “So You Think You Can Dance”. Continue Reading »

I don’t have my horses vaccinated yet. I was contemplating just forgetting about it this year but son Todd (who had probably already bought the vaccine for me) told me I should. I would be interested in hearing about how many folks do vaccinate and for what. I have been vaccinating for West Nile but didn’t vaccinate for years before that except for one year we used nasal strangles vaccine (live) – sickest bunch of horses we have ever had.  Please share your vaccination experiences and opinions with us on the comments below.

“The infection rate for mosquitoes, birds, and humans is strongly associated with their proximity to a creek impacted by sewage,” says Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, the Emory University disease ecologist.  More information about: Sewage raising the risk of contacting West Nile Virus.

In February 2010 USDA announced a cost-sharing voluntary CEM testing program for stallions resident in the USA. The intent was primarily to determine if there was an absence of the causative organism Taylorella equigenitalis in the domestic herd, or if it was found to be present to facilitate traceback ability and determine degree of prevalence. In order to achieve this level of testing, USDA shares the primary cost of the evaluation covering provision of swab and shipping materials, shipping costs and all lab costs for growing and reading the resulting cultures. The stallion owner is solely responsible for the veterinary costs of the swab collection (typically a call-out fee and time for the collection process which should require only a few minutes). Continue Reading »

We have received the following press release – The Breeds & Industry Division of Equine Canada would like to inform all stakeholders that, due to the reported finding of horses infected with vesicular stomatitis (VS) in Arizona, US, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has asked the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to suspend the issuance or endorsement of export certificates for horses and other equines for all end-uses originating from the state of Arizona.

The imposed restrictions on the import of equidae into Canada from Arizona is effective immediately. The CFIA has confirmed that the import restrictions only apply to live horse, donkey or mule imports and not to equine semen or equine embryo imports. Continue Reading »

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health is advising Albertans to take precautions against Lyme disease as ticks carrying the disease have been identified in three areas of the province. Three ticks have tested positive for Borrelia, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The ticks were found on dogs in the Calgary, High River and Ardrossan areas, and submitted for testing by veterinarians. Borrelia was first identified in Alberta in 2007, in ticks found on dogs in the Stony Plain area. A bite by an infected tick can cause illness in people, wildlife and domestic animals.

“Lyme disease can be a serious condition if it’s not detected early and left untreated,” said Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We advise anyone who is spending time outdoors to take precautions against tick bites. Your best defence against Lyme disease is prevention. To avoid being bitten by ticks, use insect repellents and cover up when walking in tall grass, woods or brush.”

There have been 20 cases of human Lyme disease reported in Alberta from 1989 to 2009. The majority of cases have been linked to travel in the U.S. or Europe. Public health officials have not been able to confirm that any of the infections were acquired in Alberta. Infected ticks reported in 2007 were thought to be carried to Alberta by migratory birds, as neither the species of tick nor the bacteria had been seen here before. Continue Reading »

Diane was kind enough to get back to us and thank everyone for their suggestions.

Lynn – thanks for putting my request on the website. Many useful suggestions.  We
are using Cut Heal spray – he doesn’t like the taste of it – with hydrotherapy twice a
day.  We have made an apron with legs (out of blue jeans) that we put on after washing.
It is heauy enough for now to be working.  Again thank everyone for their help.
Diane

What follows is the original post for help.  Thanks to those who shared their ideas. You can still add your ideas and knowledge to this post. We could even repost it once in awhile or repost the ideas on a permanent page for sure.

We got this call for help this morning. If you have any ideas that might help please share them with us.  You can  post it in the comment section below or email lynn@northernhorse.com.

I need help with a month old foal that got cut up in barbed wire a few days ago.  It is across the chest & shoulder, the vet sewed it up, but it has broke open.  He wants to chew at himself.  We put on old shirt on him to cover it & keep clean.  Hydrotherapy & spray are helping.  How can we stop him from chewing ???   Help

With all the talk of drought in 2009 and concerns over feed shortages, it’s no surprise the alarm bells are sounding once again. With dry conditions last year and plants already impacted by over-grazing, pastures are expected to grow at a less than normal rate through the spring, especially if moisture conditions remain low.

“We’re much drier than this time last year,” confirms Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development soil moisture specialist Ralph Wright. “Extremely low soil moisture, typically seen once in 12-to-25 years on average, is being recorded across large areas of Alberta. That extreme dry soil zone is four times larger than this time last year.”

“Most of the province didn’t get enough precipitation to recharge soil moisture reserves in the fall before the ground froze,” says Wright. “Plenty of spring rain will be needed to replenish dry soils and avoid a repeat of last year when drought conditions across much of the province crippled pasture and hay production.”

With Environment Canada predicting below-normal precipitation for much of Western Canada from March through May, concern is high over the availability of feed for livestock this spring. The message in the fall was to plan ahead, secure hay supplies and seek out alternatives where hay was not in adequate supply. The spring message — more of the same.

Plan ahead. Don’t put your horses out on a pasture that has not had a chance to grow sufficiently. Plants should be 6-8 inches in height before you start grazing and this may take a little longer this spring, some experts are saying as much as a month. Prolonged dry soil conditions mean that plants are stressed and can take twice as long as healthy plants to grow. If you normally put your horses out on pasture in mid-May, plan for mid-June to give your pasture the rest and rebuilding time it requires.

After estimating when your pasture will be ready for grazing, calculate how much hay you will need between now and then and check your stock. If you think you might be short, start looking for backup supplies. If spring rain means the pasture grows more quickly than expected and the horses are turned out earlier, you can always store the additional hay for next year. Properly stored hay will retain most of the nutrients it started with.

We published this before but it gets lost in all the posts and so I thought I would just publish it again so those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to download it will get the chance.

http://www.aqha.com/showing/awards/incentivefund/media/guideToFoaling.pdf