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11 March 2018 THE HORSE TheHorse.com For additional news items, see TheHorse.com/News A New Approach for Assessing Working Equid Welfare Researchers have lent a "hand" to those evaluating working equid health and welfare: They've validated a five-step approach that gives working equid owners, vet- erinarians, and local authorites in developing countries an easy way to remember which basic health and welfare aspects to assess by looking at their hands. Each finger represents a health and welfare category that must be considered and evaluated: ■ Thumb: behavior, quality of communication between animal and caregiver; ■ Index: body condition score; ■ Middle: presence/absence of wounds; ■ Ring: presence/absence of lameness; and ■ Pinkie: ill health. They also use the palm of the hand to consider the life of the equid within the community, with mainly resource-based indicators (age, end-of-life issues, etc.). A research team from Chile recently used this technique to evaluate working horses, donkeys, and mules and found the hands- on approach effective in covering all bases of health and welfare on a basic level. Learn more about this approach and how researchers validated its usefulness at TheHorse. com/40091. —Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA Study: Not All Working Equids Suffer From Serious Welfare Issues Working equids can have it rough, suffering from overwork, poor nutrition, parasites, inad- equate hoof care, extreme tem- peratures, ill-fitting tack, disease, excessively heavy loads, and more. But, as it turns out, the picture isn't always grim. In a recent study Chilean researchers determined that working equid welfare status can vary considerably from coun- try to country even among owners of similar socioeconomic status. In Chile the horses belonging to even the poorest individuals often lead good and healthy lives, they reported. "In general, we have found that the welfare state of working equines in Chile is better than in other countries," said Tamara Ta- dich, PhD, of the University of Chile Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, in Santiago. "We believe this is associated with the fact that the work intensity is lower, the climate factors are more favorable, and most owners are concerned about their horses; they are practically part of their family and treated as such." In their study, Tadich and col- leagues evaluated 100 urban draft horses and their owners in Chile's Metropolitana de Santiago and Araucania regions. The horses were nearly 9 years old, on average, and 61% were mares. More than 80% had adequate body condition scores, and 97% had an alert attitude with friendly responses to the owner and observer. A little more than half the horses showed hoof abnormalities, and a little less than half had minor skin lesions, generally from harness wear. Almost all the horses had regular water access throughout the day, and 83% were fed two or three times a day. About half had been treated for intestinal parasites in the past six months. What's more, owners had a strong tendency to use familiar terms when talking about their horses, including "partner," "friend," "my life," or "family member," with some owners even saying, "He's like a son to me," she said. Despite their poverty level, owners generally invested in their horses' health and welfare, said Ta- dich. "Owners are aware that their horses have some basic needs in order to maintain their health and that they need a healthy horse in order to work, but at the same time we have found that they have high levels of empathy toward animals, which could also influ- ence their decisions," she said. Ultimately, the researchers hope to change the way people generally view working equids, Tadich said: "I believe there is a global need to visualize the roles that working equids have in different communi- ties. They are a part of not only the financial capital but the social one, as well." Read more at TheHorse. com/40105. —Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA Leptospirosis-Associated Kidney Disease in Foals Although many horses are exposed to the bacterium Leptospira interrogans, only a few develop disease. The main health concerns associated with Leptospira species are abortion in pregnant mares and equine recurrent uveitis in adult horses. Less commonly, foals can also develop acute renal (kidney) disease and respiratory failure due to leptospirosis infection. Foals with acute renal injury due to leptospirosis usually show nonspecific clinical signs, such as unwillingness to nurse, a lack of alertness, and fever. Blood work can help veterinar- ians gain more information about the foal's state. Affected foals have abnormally high concentrations of the body waste compounds urea and creatinine in their blood. If the veterinarian makes a diagnosis early and implements intensive care and treatment immediately, the foal has a fair to good chance to make a full recovery. Find out how veterinarians treat Leptospira-associated kidney disease in foals at TheHorse.com/40227. —Nathalie Fouché, DrMedVet, Dipl. ECEIM, of the Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine (ISME), and Vince Gerber, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, ECEIM, FVH, of ISME, WEVA treasurer and junior-vice president weva ISTOCK.COM ANNE M. EBERHARDT/THE HORSE ISTOCK.COM