Heartbeats and Hoofbeats Newsletter

Early Spring 2023 | Issue 2

Dear Sheena,

The days are getting longer and horses are starting to shed which can only mean that spring is here! We at North Bridge Equine Associates will be welcoming warmer temperatures with open arms! In this month's newsletter we are focusing on equine wellness to help you keep your horse healthy from teeth to the tail- literally! We want to provide you with the most up to date information you want and need the most. Please reach out and let us know what you want read more of in the upcoming months!

Straight From the Horse's Mouth - All about a horse's teeth

Hypsodont: adj \ˈhip-sə-ˌdänt\

Horses have hypsodont teeth, which by definition means they have a long enamel crown and a comparatively short root. What this means at a practical level is that as horses eat course fiber, such as hay, and their teeth are worn away that there is extra tooth hidden beneath the gumline that can emerge to take its place. When a horse is young the reserve tooth is as much as 4 inches long. As the tooth erupts and is ground down throughout their lifetime this reserve tooth is gradually reduced. When old horses loose teeth it is quite literally because their roots have grown right out of their head.

The reason we "float" horses teeth is that the grinding process is not even. Horses with regular mouths will normally develop enamel "points" on the sides of their teeth where there is less grinding. These points are on the outside of the upper teeth, and the inside of the lower teeth. This is directly related to the normal grinding motion of all horses. Sharp enamel points can cut into cheek and tongue tissue and can cause painful ulceration, poor eating, weight loss and performance limitations. "Hooks" occur when the teeth are not evenly matched front-to-back and can either occur at the front of the top teeth and interfere with the bit or in the back of the mouth and make completely closing the jaw uncomfortable. "Ramps," "steps," and "waves" are other abnormalities caused by abnormal conformation and therefore abnormal grinding can lead to difficulty eating, TMJ (jaw joint) pain and ultimately lead to performance issues.

Routine oral exams can identify tooth abnormalities before they interfere with your horse's performance or well being. Dental exams should be performed annually in horses 5-18 and every 6 months in horses less than 5 years old or greater than 18 years old.

Why powerfloat?

Power floating uses a rotary grinding disk to correct problems with dentition. The carbide disk is atraumatic to your horse's gums and allows efficient and low impact access to even the furthest reaches of your horse's mouth. Compared to hand floating, powerfloating is proven to cause less bleeding and bruising of your horse's gums and less stress on their temporomandibular joint (TMJ - jaw joint).

Powerfloating is also more effective than hand floating at targeting localized problems such as hooks, steps, and waves. Short term sedation while powerfloating allows the floating process to be peaceful, thorough, and efficient. Your horse will wake up eager to try out his or her new chompers and improvement in appetite and comfort in the bridle are instantaneous!

NBEA strongly encourages clients to utilize the services of specialized Veterinary Dentists. These veterinarians can safely sedate your horse, use appropriate lighting and a full mouth speculum and mirror to give your horse a full in depth oral exam. Many problems can only be located with a mirror in experienced hands.

Pasture Management for Springtime Grass

After months of barren ground or snow covered fields, we are slowly starting to see the gorgeous signs of spring in New England once again. The horses are shedding and eagerly awaiting any chance they have to nibble some delicious green grass. Below we provide very helpful guidelines for the slow controlled introduction to keep our horses safe and healthy.

Horses that always live outside have the benefit of mother nature's slow introduction to grass as it grows through the first weeks of spring. Horses living in stalls with only partial day turnout have to be more strictly controlled in their introduction to pasture to prevent the serious trouble that can occur with too much fresh grass too quickly. Over indulgence in grass can result in gas colic and laminitis. So what can you do to protect your horse from the potential hazards of too much grass too quickly?

Here are guidelines to assist you in coming up with a pasture introduction plan:

Horses on 2-12 hours a day of pasture:

If you have limited pasture but still want your horse to reap the benefits of daily turnout you probably fall into this category. Most horses in a boarding situation with access to grass will be in this group. Take care to closely follow a pre-determined time scale of introduction for these horses. Begin with 20 min of grazing a day, adding 20 min every 2-4 days until the horses is up to his regular daily turnout time. You can also use a grazing muzzle (see below) if you need to introduce pasture more rapidly. With a grazing muzzle you can add 20 min per day of turnout until on full turnout. Once on full turn out keep muzzle on for about a week then alternate every other day for a week then it should be safe to remove the grazing muzzle.

Horses living out 24/7, a field big enough for constant grazing all season:

These horses normally do fine by themselves. Nature gives its own slow introduction to new grass and horses graze as the grass grows and adapt on a day- to- day basis. These situations are far more common in geographical areas like in the western US where grazing lands are plentiful. If your grass begins to come up very quickly you may want to use a grazing muzzle for a week or two to slow your horse's grass consumption during this period of rapid grass growth.

The most important thing to remember is that grass is a great source of calories for your horse. For the hard keeper thoroughbred-type, this is a great way to bulk them up after a long winter. For the rest of us with hearty warmbloods or chubby ponies, we have to watch these horses very carefully. In addition to the introduction guidelines above, we recommend the easy keepers or over conditioned horses use a grazing muzzle to slow their intake of grass and thus calories. While you may think this is cruel you are really doing your horse a huge favor. They can still eat grass normally it simply reduces the amount of grass they eat in a given time. If your horse has EMS (Equine Metabolic Syndrome) or PPID (Cushing's) please consult NBEA Veterinarians to come up with a safe plan catered to your horse.

This topic was submitted to us by one of you! If you have an idea for a topic you want to learn more about related to your horse's health, please email Sheena.

Submit a topic!

Daydreaming of Spring? Think of vaccines!

Annual Wellness Exams and Vaccines

North Bridge Equine offers a comprehensive preventative care and vaccination program for your horses. Sport horses usually receive vaccinations divided into 2-3 appointments approximately two weeks apart. Pleasure horses may receive vaccinations in 1 or 2 visits dependent on use, age, and any history of reactions to vaccines. We suggest spring vaccination be completed between March and May. Please call Allison (978-337-1260) to schedule your spring vaccine appointments.

At the BOTTOM of this newsletter is our Easy-to-Read chart on vaccines we suggest for all adult horses. Free feel to print out a copy of this chart by clicking on this link below

Vaccine Chart

Things to remember about vaccinations:

JOINT INJECTIONS should not be performed within 2 weeks of vaccination as steroids prevent the immune system from mounting an appropriate response to vaccines.

TRAILERING for four or more hours should be avoided within 2 weeks of vaccination due to increased risk of shipping fever.

EXERCISE is OK on the day of vaccination and very light work or rest for 1-2 days following vaccinations. Those horses receiving all vaccines in one visit should be given 3-4 days off from exercise.

NSAIDS (BUTE, BANAMINE, FIROCOXIB) ideally should not be administered after vaccination or within 1 week of vaccination, unless otherwise directed by your veterinarian. These drugs can decrease the effectiveness of the vaccines. NBEA veterinarians will decide if your horse should receive NSAIDS based on their medical history.

COMPLICATIONS: Some horses will develop localized muscle soreness, swelling or fever after vaccination. These signs typically resolve quickly and are indicative of immune response. Importantly, lack of strong outward reaction does not indicate lack of immune response. Very rarely more serious complications such as abscess formation, colic and EXTREMELY rarely death can occur. NBEA veterinarians can work with you to determine the safest, most effective and appropriate strategy to make sure your horse has the protection that they need.

Targeted Deworming!

In recent years there has been a dramatic shift away from daily and frequent rotational deworming. This change in protocol is aimed at reducing our horses's exposure to unnecessary drugs and helps to reduce drug resistance in the worm populations. Targeted deworming minimizes cost and maintains effectiveness of the medications that we have available to us.

Fecal Testing: Twice yearly fecal egg counts (FEC) allow us to quantify the number of (predominantly) round worms in your horse's GI tract. Horses live and eat in an inherently unsanitary environment and all horses carry at least some worm burden. Low shedding horses are typically managed with twice yearly deworming. Higher shedding horses require a more strategic management plan that NBEA veterinarians will work with you to develop. Fecal egg counts cannot detect tape worms or bot fly larvae, so we always assume that there are a few.

Deworm twice a year: (mid spring and fall after a hard frost) with the drugs ivermectin and praziquantal. Our go-to combination paste is Equimax but Zimectrin Gold and Quest Plus are comparable products and all are available over the counter at tack stores, feed stores, or can be purchased through North Bridge Equine. Our veterinarians will let you know if your horse requires more than twice annual deworming based on your FEC.

**Please note that Quest dewormer is the strongest dewormer we have available and we typically reserve this drug for specific situations. Please consult an NBEA veterinarian if considering using Quest products as a first line dewormer.**

PICK UP THE POOP: The single most effective way to decrease the worm burden in horses is preventing them from eating manure. Dedicating time to picking paddocks and keeping stalls clean will keep even the most worm-prone horse from worm infestations (as a bonus, it also helps control fly populations, looks nice, and prevents green-sided gray horses!). Or get a goat. Or a sheep, or a mini cow! Multi-species cohabitation decreases ground worm contamination as most worms are species specific and only survive in their preferred host. While NBEA will admire your lovely small ruminant (unless it's an alpaca or a llama) we will unfortunately refer you away for their actual veterinary care.

Ask the Vet!

Send in your questions about basic horse health that we can answer to educate our owners!

Ask Away!

Announcements:

There is still time to save big on certain items from our pharmacy!

From now until April 15th, save BIG on Boehringer Ingelheim products when you order through our online pharmacy!

Save on common medications such as:

LEGEND

EQUIOXX

ULCERGARD

GASTROGARD

Order and SAVE today!

Click here for bonus offer QR code!

From our patients and their owners!

Owner submitted picture from Mary:

"These are my 4 standardbred horses playing with my Grandson's play tunnel.

They take turns sticking their head down in the hole. My mare who is 30 years old sometimes drags it away to play by herself."

Submit a photo!

Vaccine Chart

*Essential vaccines recommended for all horses

Vaccination for Botulism, Lyme, and other diseases are available. Please discuss with our veterinarians if these vaccines are recommended for your horse.

Our Company | Contact Us | FAQs | Privacy Policy

Heartbeats and Hoofbeats Newsletter﻿

Dear Sheena,

Straight From the Horse's Mouth - All about a horse's teeth

Pasture Management for Springtime Grass

Daydreaming of Spring? Think of vaccines!

Annual Wellness Exams and Vaccines

Things to remember about vaccinations:

Targeted Deworming!

Vaccine Chart

Heartbeats and Hoofbeats Newsletter