The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
Issue link: https://thehorse.epubxp.com/i/539428
10 TheHorse.com THE HORSE August 2015 R esearchers have determined that enhancing a hospitalized horse's en- vironment with diver- sions and opportunities for socialization could help improve patients' welfare, resulting in faster healing and a safer environment for hospital staff. Cécile Le Moal, DVM, of the French Veterinary Faculty of Maisons-Alfort (ENVA), and colleagues stud- ied a dozen horses at ENVA's equine surgery clinic. Half the hospitalized horses lived in an "enriched" environ- ment, which included hay in haynets; a rolling ball dribble treat feeder; a licking stone; a large brush on the wall to scratch against; a permanent equine neighbor in the next stall; and extra visits from staff, with hand walking when possible. The others were cared for using standard techniques, such as hay fed on the ground, no "extras" in stalls or addition- al staff visits, and without a constant neighbor. Horses in the enriched group reacted less to wound care and other treatments, which translated to easier handling and safer human- horse interactions. They also had fewer complications, less inflammation, and lower pain scores than did control horses, Le Moal said. Additionally, the enriched group spent significantly less time performing stereotypic behaviors, such as weaving and cribbing. An unexpected result in the enriched group was increased average heart and respiratory rates."This could be (attributed) to a sort of positive anticipation of in- teraction with the handlers," she said. Further studies involving larger numbers of horses are needed, said Le Moal, but she's confident that "the enriched environment in this sample group has shown to be favorable to healing while reducing the risks involved in handling hospitalized horses." —Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA We know hypoglycin A—a substance found in the the maple sycamore—causes an often deadly muscle illness called atypical myopathy, but predicting whether a horse will survive the condition has been all but impos- sible until recently. Belgian researchers found that they can use a simple blood draw to evalute horses' prognoses, though they're not necessarily measuring what you'd expect. "Some horses can have large quantities of the toxin in their systems and survive, whereas others can have very little and die," said Dominique-Marie Votion, DVM, PhD, of the University of Liege. So knowing how much hypoglycin A is in a horse's blood does little good for predicting survival. A better prognostic indicator is acylcar- nitines (backlogged fat metabolites), Votion said. After ingestion, hypoglycin A metabo- lizes into a toxin that upsets energetic metab- olism, resulting in excess acylcarnitines. Biochemical profiles of energetic metabo- lism revealed distinct differences between affected horses that survived and those that died, Votion said. Of the 34 parameters tested, an average of 23 were outside normal limits in survivors, while an average of 31 were outside normal limits in nonsurvivors. "These parameters are the only reliable prognostic tool we have found so far," she said. "We have seen horses with relatively healthy attitudes, standing and eating for a day or two, which then deteriorate and die within hours. These horses had nonsurvival biochemical profiles from the initial diagnosis." Get more study findings at TheHorse. com/35867.—Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA STUDY Enrichment can Improve Hospitalized Horses' Welfare Enrichment, such as hand walking, could lead to faster healing times. ANNE M. EBERHARDT/THE HORSE Predicting Atypical Myopathy Survival NEWSFRONT Inquiries to: 859/276-6726 E-Mail: News@TheHorse.com ERICA LARSON, News Editor @TH_EricaLarson American Pharoah Wins Triple Crown On June 6 at Belmont Park, Zayat Stables' homebred American Pharoah made history. Under jockey Victor Espinoza, the son of Pioneerof the Nile led the field from start to finish in the Belmont Stakes, drawing away in the stretch to become the first Triple Crown winner since Af- firmed in 1978. The milestone victory in the 147th "Test of the Champion" in a time of 2:26.65 was sweet redemption for the colt's connections, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and Espinoza, as the pair had accumulated five failed Triple Crown bids between them. COGLIANESE PHOTOS/NYRA