More Than Ulcers? Girthiness May Be Coming From More Than One Cause

Even the most pleasant horse may act cranky when his girth is tightened, and it's not because you're telling him he's chubby. Some horses will gnash their teeth, snake their heads, swish their tails and try to move away when their girth is being tightened, telling their owners and riders that something is amiss.

Veterinarians often become involved in the issue when a normally stoic horse becomes opposed to being girthed. Drs. Esther Millares-Ramirez and Sarah Le Jeune completed a retrospective study of 37 horses who had been referred to the University of California-Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital for girth aversion.

The horses in the study were of various breeds and ridden in a range of disciplines. Upon referral, each horse had a physical exam that included recording of vital signs and a musculoskeletal exam that included palpation and flexion tests. The horses worked in straight lines and circled on hard and soft ground and were also lunged. Thirteen horses had a gastroscopy, seven had their saddles examined, and three had abdominal radiographs performed.

Of the 13 horses that were scoped, 12 had gastric ulcers. The horses were prescribed omeprazole and the owners said the girthiness resolved with the ulcer treatment. Ten of the horses had orthopedic issues. All 10 horses became less girthy when their musculoskeletal issues were addressed. Three horses had poorly-fitted saddles; once this was addressed and the horses received chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, the angst at being girthed resolved.

The other study horses with aversions to being girthed had a variety of issues, including ovarian tumor, urinary tract infection, girth mass, sand impaction and more.

The team determined that the primary reasons horses exhibit an unwillingness to be girthed include gastric ulcers, orthopedic issues and poor saddle fit.

Read more at EquiManagement.

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Horses That Struggle With Attention May Be Battling Pain

Horses that ignore their surroundings (including their handlers) may not be cranky or depressed—they may be in pain. Drs. Louise Dodds, Laura Knight, Kate Allen and Joanna Murrell created a study that tested the reactions of 20 horses to novel objects and sounds just before and after they underwent a surgical procedure. They compared the surgical horse's reactions to those of 16 control horses who didn't have surgery.

The research team found that the surgical horses spent significantly less time interacting with a pool noodle and a flipper immediately after surgery than they did before the surgery. There was no difference in interaction times in the control horses when they encountered the objects a second time.

Surgical horses also were less likely to react to the noise of a hair dryer after surgery than before. The response of the control horses did not change from one exposure to the next.

The scientists conclude that pain effect a horse's response and startle times. Exposing the horse to a situation that demands attention may be a useful biomarker of pain, they say.

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

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