JANUARY 2011 THE RIDER /21


WHAT’S UP DOC From the desks of Dr’s Armstrong & Frost.


HALTON EQUINE VETERINARY SERVICES


Q: Doctors can you explain to me what cracked heels are???


Signed Tender tootsies ------ Dear Tootsie,


It is a lovely fall morning as you go out to the barn to let your horse out for its daily romp in the pasture. You had to wear rubber boots because of the heavy dew on the grass and it has been this way every morning for the past week. As you open the stall door to get the horse you notice that its pasterns and ankles are swollen and the backs of the pasterns look very inflamed and painful. What is it? Heel Cracks, Scratches, Mud fever or Mud Rash! At the same time it could be Grease Heel or Dew poisoning!


All of these names are used to describe the same clinical signs of a syndrome known as Equine Pastern Dermatitis (EPD). Why do we call it a syndrome and not a disease? We call it a syndrome because there are sever- al different possible causes. But first lets look at what it really is - an infectious or non-infectious disorder of the skin in the pastern area that results inflammation, ulcera- tion and crusting of the pastern area of the horse. Draft horses with feathers are predisposed to certain types of scratches caused by a mite. Arabians appear to have a greater tendency towards sand irritation to the pastern area. Horses with white pasterns are more likely to have pastern problems related to sunburn in the area. Possible causes of this syndrome include physical or chemical irritation, contact allergy, photosensitization or ultraviolet exposure, skin fungus, mites, parasite larvae or a myriad of other agents and circumstances. Most of these causative agents are in the horse’s normal environ- ment and strike when the horse is most susceptible. Then to add to the problem once the condition develops a sec- ondary bacterial infection can occur compounding the condition.


I currently have a horse that is very sensitive to bac- teria and he constantly suffers from severe inflammation and deep cracks around his coronary bands. How do I know? Well it is also subject to idiopathic infections in other parts of its body such as joints and even muscle tis- sue and every time I treat it with antibiotics the heels and coronary band lesions get better immediately and remain so until a short while after we take it off antibiotics and then they re-appear. It ends up being a no win situation because there is no way we can eliminate bacteria from its environment.


I have had horses that were allergic to either the wood or chemicals in their sawdust bedding and devel- oped very severe coronary band and heel problems. Most horses start with a simple heel irritation from sunlight or moisture and then pick up a bacterial, a fungus or a yeast infection. Actually, a good percentage of them get one, two or three types of infection at a time. On the other hand most of them get over the problem with minimal care.


The important point to remember here is that, if the lesions are not healing the way you had expected them to,


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there are multiple causes for this problem so it is prudent to call your veterinarian and have him/her do the proper testing to determine the possible causes and formulate your treatment plan to handle the actual cause. You must remember that a serious complicated case will require not only the proper treatment regime but also a considerable amount of time and a lot of dedicated care.


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Do you have a question to Ask The Doc? Call (905) 659-4387 or email to: info@hevs.ca, visit www.hevs.ca or email The Rider at barry@therider.com


Don Bailey Saddlery/ Bailey Saddlery Inc.


Ontario Reined Cow Horse Association


Werner Bohner, President, 519-467-5691 Craig Black, Vice President, 519-874-1294 Stefan Winkelhage, Treasurer/Web, 519-463-9956


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