Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

22 August 2019Horse& Hound 21

Pictures

by

arnd.nl,

Chris

Strickland/Alamy

and

Yay

Media

AS/Alamy

X-rayfindings:

whytheymaynotbe

black and white

NEXT

WEEK

WHAT’SNEW

inthe veterinaryworld?

PeterGreenMRCVSlooksatthe

perilsofgroomingand the power

of music to soothe

A BRUSHWITH

DANGER

FRENCHscientistshave

studied 69 differenthorse

andhandlerpairsduring

groomingsessions.

Thehorsesrangedfrom

pleasurehorsestoelitesports

horses.Thegroomsalsovaried

inbothageandexperience:

somewerenovices,others

professionals;somewere

teenagers,othersmature

peoplewhohadworked

withhorsesalltheirlives.

Thescientistswereequine

behaviouristswhocould

analysethehorses’expressions,

andbehaviours.

Tostartwith,andcontrary

toacceptedopinion,the

scientistssawclearlythat,for

mostofthehorses,grooming

wasnotenjoyable.Infact,

only5%ofthehorsesshowed

anysignsofrelaxationand

enjoyment.Therestclearly

resentedwhatwashappening.

Thiswasa revelation,but

whatwasevenmoreshocking

wasthat100%ofthegroomers

failedtorecognisethesigns

ofaversivebehaviourthat

couldeasilyhaveledtokicking

orbiting—andeverysingle

groomtookseriousrisks

aroundthelimbsandfaceof

thehorsestheyweregrooming.

Only7%worea hardhat.

Experiencedgrooms

werenobetterthannovices,

demonstratingthatbadand

riskypracticeshadbecome

habitual.Weknowfrom

hospitalrecordsthatasmany

injuriesfromhorseshappen

whenthepersonis handling

a horseaswheninthesaddle,

and that the most serious

injuriesoccurmorefrequently

whenthepersonis on foot.

MUSICTO

THEIREARS?

BASEDonourknowledgeof

ageinghumans,it is safeto

assumethatmanyolderhorses

sufferachesandpainsbecause

ofspinalandjointarthritisor

otherorthopaedicproblems.

Thereis evidencetoshow

thatrelaxingmusicimproves

themoodofolderpeopleand

relievessomeofthesepains,so

scientistsinPolandwondered

whetherthesamewouldbe

trueforgeriatrichorses.

Theyplayedspecially

composedequine-friendly

new-agemusictohorsesaged

20 yearsormorewhowere

retiredbecauseoflamenessor

backpain,studyingtheirstress

levelswhileintheirstables.

Themusicwasspecially

adaptedtocorrespondtothe

equinehearingrange.

A similargroupofold

horseswaskeptinsilence.

Neithergroupreceivedany

painkillersorothermedicine.

Resultsshowedthemusic

hada positiveeffect—it made

themmorerelaxed,while

theircardiacactivityshowed

theywerelessstressedby

theirmovementsinthestable.

Unfortunately,theeffectdid

notlastformorethantwoto

threeweeks.

Thescientistssuggestthat

relaxingmusicforveteran

horsescouldbeusedtoassist

attimeswhentheachesand

painsofoldagemightbe

worse—perhapsaftera dental

orfoot-trimmingsession,or

following transportation.H&H

DIDI,a ZiziTopx San

Remomare,hadbred

fourfoalspreviously

andMarjolijnis not

awarethatshehas

everproducedtwins.

Hernewoffspring

continuetothrive.

“Thelittlecoltwas

waysmalleratbirth

anddidn’tknowhow

tosuckle,sowefed

himbybottleseveraltimesthatnight,”shesays.“Bythemorning,he

wasstandingandsucklingbyhimself. The vet checked the foals and

foundthemtobehealthy.

“WegaveDidispecial

supplementstomake

sureshecouldprovide

enoughmilkforboth,”

addsMarjolijn.“The

foalsaredoingreally

well.Thefilly,Onoro,is

justasbigasourother

foalsfromthesameyear.

Althoughthelittlecolt,

O’Neill,is stillsmaller,the

differenceis minimal.

“Werealisethatwe’ve

beenverylucky.We’reso

happywiththetwins—

we’ll never forget them.”

PROGRESSREPORT

Theplacentais designedtoprovideforonefoal,nottwo

(crush)onebyhandatthe15-16

dayexam,whentheprocedureis

relativelysimpleandhasminimal

effectontheremainingembryo.

Didiwasscannedseveral

timesbythevetduringherearly

pregnancy,yeta secondembryo

wasneverspotted.Howdoesa

twinfoalremainundetected?

“Identifyinga twinpregnancy

canbedifficult”explainsCharles.

“Apregnancycanbesurprisingly

similartoa uterinecyst,whichis a

dilationofsofttissueintheuterus,

soanembryonestledupagainst

cystscan‘blendin’.Repeatscans

canhelp.”

“Iftheembryossettlenext

toeachotheratthebaseofthe

sameuterinehorn[arm],they

areincompetitionforspace

andnutritionalcontactwiththe

uterus.Theymightbothbelostor

reducespontaneously,although

thiscannotberelieduponand

happenslaterthanthe15-16day

vetsqueeze.Manualreduction

is alwaysthebestoptionfora

single, healthy pregnancy. Those

inseparatehornscandevelop

independently,whichusually

leadstoproblemsinmid-late

pregnancy.

“Complicationsinclude

musculoskeletalissuesfor

themare,uterinetraumaand

infection,orabortionwith

possible‘dystocia’[delivery

problems].”

Iftwinsarebornlive,their

combinedweightis oftenthe

sameasthesinglefoalthemare’s

uterusis designedtocarry,

explainsCharles.Theytendtobe

veryweakwithanincreasedrisk

ofneonatalillness.

“Twinfoalsarealwaysa

worryandaretobeavoided

wherepossible,soultrasound

examinationinearlypregnancy

is somethingwealways

recommend,”hesays.“Whenthey

dooccurandsurvive,theyare

headline news for a reason.”

Research showed some horses do not enjoy grooming sessions