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.
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6 TheHorse.com THE HORSE December 2017 Presented by Elizabeth Tadros, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM. TheHorse.com/ UKLectures Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is a noninvasive modality used to stimulate healing. Sponsored by PulseVet. TheHorse. com/30200 Do you have an equine nutrition question? Send it to THEditorialStaff@TheHorse.com. Sponsored by LMF Feeds. ■ Corn in Horse Feed: Good or Bad? TheHorse.com/39827 ■ Keeping Rodents Out of Your Feed Room TheHorse.com/39779 ■ Late-Cut Hay, TheHorse.com/39488 WHAT'S ONLINE Saving Horses From the Northern California Wildfires Listen: Horse Ownership and Attractive Nuisance Risk CURRENTLY on What if an adult or child enters your horse pasture without permission and gets hurt? Attorney Rachel Kosmal McCart offers insight. TheHorse.com/39814. Practical Nutrition Advice Watch: Endocrine Diseases of the Older Horse Download: Shock Wave Therapy ISTOCK.COM ISTOCK.COM ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Read: Treat-Training While Riding Most horses are more engaged when their trainers offer them food rewards. TheHorse.com/37844. ■ HORSE HEALTH This award-winning e-newsletter offers news on diseases, veterinary research, and health events, along with in-depth articles on common equine health conditions. Supported by Zoetis . ■ HORSE WELFARE AND INDUSTRY Get the latest news on equine welfare, industry happenings, and horse-related business news. E-NEWSLETTERS Get Horse Health News Delivered To You! ■ SPECIALTY WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTERS ■ Nutrition ■ Soundness & Lameness ■ Reader Favorites MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTERS ■ Behavior ■ Breeding ■ Farm & Barn ■ Older Horse Care ■ Sports Medicine ■ Bluegrass Equine Digest is published monthly in partnership with UK Ag Equine and the Gluck Equine Research Center and is supported by Zoetis . 1 F all is the ideal time to overseed cool-season pastures to thicken a stand and fi ll in bare areas. The following recommendations will improve the chances of a successful overseeding. Apply any needed lime and fertilizer amendments. An up-to-date soil test will indicate which nutrients are needed for both established and growing plants. For more informa- tion, contact your local county Extension agent or consult the University of Kentucky (UK) publication Soil Sampling and Nutrient Management in Horse Pastures at uky.edu/Ag/ Forage/agr200.pdf . Additionally, applying nitrogen in the fall can benefi t new seedings as well as most horse pastures. Spread two applica- tions of 30 to 40 pounds per acre of actual nitrogen 45 days apart to thicken stands and increase winter survival rates. Use high-quality seed of an improved variety . Use a seed variety that has proven to be a top performer under conditions in your area. The UK Forage Variety Testing Program looks at the seed- ling vigor, stand persistence, yield, and survival under horse grazing. Find this data in the Forage Variety Trials reports at uky.edu/Ag/Forage/ foragevarietytrials2.htm . High-quality seed has good germination rates and is free of contamination from weed seed. Remember, quality seed will produce a pasture that lasts for years; "cheap seed" will only lead to headaches. Purchase seed well in advance, as quality seed will be in high demand close to planting dates. Store seed in rodent-proof containers in a cool, dry area. If you plan to store seed for more than six months, keep it in a refrigerator to maintain viability. Plant enough seed at the right time. Seeding rates are determined by the grass mixture you choose to plant. See Table 1 (above right) for the recommended seeding rates for common forage plants. Also, be sure to seed as early as possible—anywhere from mid-August to mid-September is ideal for Kentucky and most northern states, while later in the year is better in the Deep South). Use the best seeding method available. No-till drill seeding is recommended for overseeding existing pastures. But with any method, place the seed ¼ to ½ of an inch into the soil and cover it to achieve good seed-to-soil contact. Drill seed in two directions across the fi eld to ensure better coverage. Control competition. Close mowing or grazing prior to overseeding in the late summer and fall will reduce weed and grass competition. Be sure to follow recommended waiting periods when applying herbicides. In addition to limiting grazing of an overseeded pasture, limit herbicide applications at critical times. It's typically recommended to seed at least six weeks after spraying and wait until the grass seedlings are at least 4 to 5 inches tall before spraying again. Always follow herbicide labels—some of the newer herbi- cides have even longer waiting periods. For more informa- tion, see Weed Management in Grass Pastures, Hayfi elds, and Other Farmstead Sites at c a.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr172/ agr172.pdf . Allow time for seedlings to establish. Returning horses to an overseeded pasture too soon can wipe out any seed- lings via grazing or trampling. Ideally, a pasture should have six months of rest after overseeding before heavy grazing resumes; however, seedlings can generally tolerate a few light grazing sessions. Harvesting the pasture once for hay after the grass has reached maturity and before returning B luegrass Equine DIGEST CA.UKY.EDU/EQUINE ❙ THEHORSE.COM ❙ JULY 2016 Tips for Overseeding Fall Horse Pastures In is Issue Estate Planning Tips for Horse Owners 02 The Grass Guide: Large Crabgrass 05 I'm Selling My Horse. What Should I Disclose? 06 UK Researcher Develops New Tall Fescue Variety 07 UKVDL Releases New Testing Fees 12 TABLE 1 COMMON SEEDING RATES AND OPTIMUM SEEDING DATES FOR HORSE PASTURES Species Rate lb/A (seeded alone) Rate lb/A (in mixtures) Optimum Seeding Dates* Novel or endophyte- free tall fescue 20 - 40 10 - 20 8/15 - 9/15 Orchardgrass 15 - 30 10 - 15 8/15 - 9/15 Kentucky bluegrass 15 - 30 10 - 15 8/15 - 9/15 Endophyte-free perennial ryegrass 20 - 40 5 - 10 8/15 - 9/15 *Seeding dates are for Kentucky and the transition zone. Using high-quality seed is essential for a successful overseeding. UNIV ERSITY OF KENTUCKY Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017 ❙ 8 p.m. EST Navicular Disease: Early Intervention and Long-Term Care Learn about diagnosis and management of navicular horses. Sponsored by Dechra. ASK THE HORSE LIVE! Visit TheHorse.com/ AskTheHorseLive As wildfires raged in California this past October, horse owners in Sonoma County worked together to evacuate and care for horses and other livestock. TheHorse.com/39807 ISTOCK.COM Veterinarians can adjust various settings on the shock wave unit to tailor the therapy to a horse's individual needs. The three main set- tings vets need to consider include: 1 1. Energy , usually expressed in millijoules (mJ)/mm. 2 This refers to the amount of energy traveling through the tissue. Some treat- ments are denoted as high- or low-energy, depending on the setting. 2. Impulses are the number of shock waves delivered per session. Depending on the underlying pathology, the impulses delivered can vary from 500 to several thousand. 3. Focus depth , as alluded to previously, indicates how deep the shock waves penetrate the horse's body. Standard depths range from 0 mm to approximately 110 mm. While practitioners have devised various treatment protocols— delineating not only energy, number of impulses, and focus but also number of treatments and days between treatments—these provide only general guidelines. Due to the lack of science-based evidence supporting exact protocols, veterinarians typically must modify ESWT schedules to fi t each patient's individual needs and therapy response. 2,3 HOW ESWT BENEFITS HORSES Despite ESWT's relative popularity, its exact mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. One theory is that the shock waves impact cell-to-cell communication by altering the expression of various molecules, such as growth factors and cytokines, to promote heal- ing. 3 To test this theory, one research group created wounds in both forelimbs of horses. They treated one forelimb with ESWT and left the other untreated. The researchers measured the levels of various genes involved in wound-healing throughout the study. A recently published review article 1 explained that ESWT impacts not only growth factors that result in healing but also mediators that support blood vessel growth (angiogenic cytokines). It also increases SHOCKWAVES FAC T SHEET SPONSORED BY BENEFITS OF EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK WAVE THERAPY IN HORSES Learn the newest information about shock wave therapy for helping horses heal BY STACEY OKE, DVM, MSC; REVIEWED BY SARAH LE JEUNE, DVM, DIPL. ACVS, ECVS, ACVSMR, CVA, CVC C lassifi ed among physical therapy/rehabilita- tion techniques, extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) remains an important tool for helping manage a variety of equine conditions/ injuries. 1 Issues amenable to ESWT in horses in- clude, but are not limited to: ◆ Tendinopathy/tendinitis, a leading cause of injury in athletic horses; ◆ Desmitits (ligament injuries, infl ammation), especially where liga- ments insert onto bone (e.g., chronic injury/infl ammation of the suspensory ligament located at the back of the cannon bone); ◆ Osteoarthritis (OA, degenerative joint disease), including bone spavin (OA of the lower hock joint); ◆ Bone injuries such as stress fractures of the outer portion of the cannon bone (dorsal cortical stress fractures) and incomplete frac- tures of the sesamoid bones; ◆ Navicular disease or, more accurately, podotrochleitis; and ◆ Deep muscle pain. As you can see, this list primarily involves musculoskeletal condi- tions. Musculoskeletal injuries occur commonly in horses and all too frequently result in loss of use, early retirement, or even euthanasia. Combined with the fact that some injuries, such as lesions involving the superfi cial digital fl exor tendon, have a propensity to recur despite extensive rest and controlled exercise programs, 2 modalities such as ESWT continue to gain popularity in managing them. Studies also support the use of ESWT in wound-healing. Many wounds affecting the lower parts of the equine limb heal slowly and often develop some degree of excessive scar (granulation) tissue, com- monly referred to as proud fl esh. As with any intervention, seek your veterinarian's advice prior to instituting any type of therapy to avoid further compromising your horse's well-being. WHAT IS ESWT THERAPY? Described as both safe and effective, ESWT involves applying shock waves to an injured area of the body. Shock waves are intense, but short, energy pulses that travel so quickly—a whopping 1,500 meters/ second—they literally break the sound barrier. This is the same event that occurs when airplanes break the speed of sound, except in a much smaller format. The "extracorporeal" part of the name simply refers to the fact that the shock waves are generated outside the body. A probe attached to a generator unit applies the shock waves di- rectly to the injured region of the horse. Shock wave machines often have several probes capable of delivering shock waves to different tis- sue depths. This allows veterinarians to treat superfi cial injuries, such as wounds or lower limb tendons that are close to the skin's surface, as well as deeper injuries, such as to muscles or back joints. PULSEVET Shock wave therapy is used as to treat a variety of equine musculoskeletal issues and wounds.