Horse Health

Farm Bureau Equine Seminar - Lameness

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The Farm Bureau Equine Seminar had a Horse Lameness panel speak briefly about diagnosing lameness in horses, and then answer audience questions on specific lameness issues. The panel consisted of Dr. Sarah Schreiber, her husband Dr. Mark Schreiber , and Beth Blevins.

Ms. Blevins stated that she almost always starts by checking the horse’s hooves when lameness is an issue, since 95% of lameness comes from hoof problems. Also, moving the horse at a trot in a circle will help identify which leg or foot is affected since the legs on the inside of the circle get the most stress. Sometimes it can be helpful to actually video the horse as it trots in a circle, and then play the video back, at slower speeds if possible, to better observe the problem.

Another method of diagnostics mentioned by Dr. Sarah Schreiber included flexing muscles and joints for a short period of time and then noticing if it affects the horse’s lameness. If so, they know to zero in on that particular area.

Dr. Mark Schreiber said that it is impractical to use radiographs or X-rays as a diagnostic tool before isolating the area that is the problem because of the expense, and because of the fact that they might turn up irregularities that were not actually causing the problem. Isolating the lameness area is the first step and then they can move on to x-rays or ultasound. X-rays are more for bone and joint problems, while ultrasound will do a better job with soft tissue problems.

The panel ansered questions from the audience afterwards. Many of the questions involved correct shoeing, natural balance shoeing, and types of shoes. Dr. Sarah Schreiber took a common sense approach to the shoeing questions, stating that she had seen cases where many different types of shoeing and shoes were successful, but that it depended a lot on the individual horse, their conformation, type of use, etc. as to what would be successful.

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Farm Bureau Equine Seminar - Horse Dentistry

The Montana Farm Bureau hosted a seminar in Billings, MT as part of their annual convention. The seminar covered equine issues, including horse dentistry, lameness, and horse marketing.

Dr. Sarah Schreiber, co-owner with her husband Dr. Mark Schreiber of the Moxey-Schreiber Veterinary Clinic in Sheridan, WY, spoke about different problems she has addressed with horses’ teeth and illustrated her remarks with slides of the teeth. Dr. Schreiber said that one of the most common problems that they see is “points” on the teeth, which are literally sharp points that form on the edges of teeth from uneven grinding as the horse chews. If left untreated these points can cause sores in the mouth of the horse, which then can cause problems with holding the bit (performance) and eventually cause them to lose condition (health). Points can be removed fairly easily by hand floating, and this can be done by a veterinarian on the ranch.

More serious and also more difficult to treat, are “hooks” which are larger long teeth that need to be either cut off or ground down with a power float. Dr. Schreiber credits the power float with saving the lives of older horses that would not be able to withstand the stress of being anesthetized to fix the hooks. Power floating is normally done at the vet clinic, but the horse can remain standing and does not need anesthetic.

She recommends that prospective horse owners check a horse’s mouth before purchasing, because defects such as “parrot mouth” can add a lot to their horse health issues and consequently their vet bill over the life of the horse. In her experience, a horse’s genetic makeup can also affect their teeth since some breeds seem to have more problems than others. She stated that she’s seen a lot of miniature horses with poor teeth, and mules seem to have good teeth.

It’s a good idea after age 10 or 11 to have a horse’s teeth checked every year to 2 years, but it varies a lot with each individual horse. Dr. Schreiber said watching a horse’s condition and habits can indicate a prospective problem before it becomes serious.