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Equine Growth Seminars begin June 21

A series of equine growth research seminars, presented by Saracen Horse Feeds in conjunction with the Kentucky Equine Research, begins Tuesday, June 21, continuing through June 23. The two live seminars will be staged at the Millenium Suite at Newmarket June 21 followed by the Owner's Club at Newbury June 23. For those unable to attend in person, an online webinar will be held Wednesday, June 22. Open to breeders, vets, farriers and all thoroughbred industry professionals, the sessions have been accredited the CPD Certification Service.

KER is responsible for a worldwide investigation into the relationship between the size and growth rates of foals and their racing career performance. Data collected by KER's partners in the U.S., Europe and Australia have been analysed to assess whether size is significantly associated with radiographic findings, and how growth measurements, alongside any regional, environmental and seasonal effects, are related to skeletal soundness, and sales and racing performance.

During the sessions, the findings will be discussed with a panel of veterinary specialists. The goals of these studies are to identify at-risk foals earlier, modify feed and management practices to reduce problems in racehorses.

President and Founder of Kentucky Equine Research, Dr. Joe Pagan has led research on the effects of nutrition and growth for more than 30 years.

“Kentucky Equine Research works with dozens of feed manufacturers worldwide to ensure that the latest findings in equine nutrition science are utilised in real-world feeding programmes.. Saracen is an excellent example of our partnership programme at its best–we collaborate on studies, bring expertise in formulation, and provide custom software and technical service for their outstanding team of nutrition advisors.”

For more information or to register, click here.

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Colic Survival Scoring System In Horses

Colic, defined as any acute abdominal pain, is an important sign of gastrointestinal disease in horses. Because colic may stem from many causes, predicting survival is challenging, if not impossible, at times. Could a scoring system reliably predict colic survival based on certain clinical evidence? A group of researchers thought so, and here's how they went about it.*

The researchers took a two-pronged approach to the question. First, they designed a retrospective study to determine the clinical parameters described in horses that survived colic and used them to formulate a survival scoring system. Second, a prospective study used horses presented for colic at two different veterinary clinics to determine the validity of the scoring system.

In the retrospective study, 658 horses with colic signs were identified. At the end of their review, the researchers settled on six health variables to use in the scoring system based on their strong predictive value for outcome at discharge: heart rate, respiratory rate, total calcium, blood lactate, abnormal abdominal ultrasound, and abnormal rectal examination. A total assessment score of 0 to 12 was possible, with a range of 0 to 2 points for each of the six variables.

As for the prospective study, data from 95 horses with colic were collected to assess the validity of the colic scoring system. Those that received a score equal to or less than 7 were predicted to survive, while those that received a score greater than 7 were predicted to die.

Researchers concluded that the scoring system “developed in this study is applicable for clinicians in a hospital setting with a clinical caseload of horses with colic signs using data available in most equine practices.”

Sound feeding management is one way to keep colic at bay, according to Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist at Kentucky Equine Research.

“Many of the nutritional strategies that horse owners follow daily, sometimes subconsciously, evolved with gastrointestinal health in mind: near constant availability of forage, whether it's pasture or hay; small concentrate meals; access to potable water; and the provision of clean, or hygienic, feedstuffs,” she said. Everyday awareness of these and other management practices fosters gastrointestinal health.

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“More recently, we have begun to understand the importance of balancing all-forage diets with vitamins and minerals, and augmenting diets with nutritional supplements that target specific problems,” she explained. “Kentucky Equine Research has developed ways to support gastrointestinal health on many fronts, such as protecting the stomach from ulceration and maintaining a healthy hindgut microbiome.”

*Farrell, A., K. Kersh, R. Liepman, and K.A. Dembek. 2021. Development of a colic scoring system to predict outcome in horses. Frontiers in Veterinary Science:697589.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

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Winter Feeding: Keeping Horses In Good Weight

Shivering helps horses maintain their core body temperature in winter, yet the metabolic price is high, considering temperature regulation requires significant calories. Additional calories will likely be needed to maintain an appropriate body condition score (BCS) during cold snaps. Exactly how much more feed does your horse need to consume when the mercury drops?

According to Dr. Kathleen Crandell, a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research, some horses won't require any additional calories, whereas others may need to consume up to 25 percent more calories each day to maintain condition.

For example, if a horse typically consumes approximately 2 percent of its body weight in forage per day (equivalent to 20 pounds of dry forage for an average 1,000-pound horse), then this horse could require almost 30 pounds of dry forage per day in cold weather. Rather than simply feeding more of the same forage to offer additional calories, horses can be fed concentrates, fat (either as oil or high-fat supplements such as rice bran), or energy-dense forages such as alfalfa or clover mixed with their regular hay.

“Healthy horses living in regions that typically have milder winters, are maintained indoors, or are blanketed when outdoors for limited periods of time can be fed a diet similar to that fed in warmer months,” Crandell advised. Horses that may require additional feed to maintain an appropriate BCS include:

Horses that fall into the senior classification,
Horses with an underlying disease;
Horses asked to perform their regular work throughout the cold season;
Horses that reside primarily outdoors in regions with harsher winters; or
Horses that are not routinely blanketed but do have access to shelter.

Horses maintain their core body temperatures by diverting blood flow from the skin to their internal organs, shivering, growing a thick coat, altering metabolic pathways to produce heat, and fermenting forage.

One of the key factors in determining whether or not your horse requires more feed involves frequent and precise assessment of BCS. While some owners may struggle with this process on the best of days, often underestimating their horse's true condition and therefore overfeeding, the longer, thicker coats and use of blankets can make estimating BCS even more challenging. Nonetheless, this skill is imperative to ensure a healthy horse.

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“Be certain to use your hands to feel for fat cover rather than simply glancing at these regions to assess BCS,” advised Crandell.

Looking for a specific product to maintain an appropriate BCS in the winter? Kentucky Equine Research's feed manufacturing partners offer high-calorie concentrates that will suit your horse's dietary needs.

Pros And Cons Of Antibiotic Injections In Equine Joints

Because of the finesse with which equine veterinarians inject medications into joints, the procedure can appear uncomplicated. While injecting joints with antibiotics can help clear infections, the procedure is not without risks. Veterinarians must therefore consider a number of important factors before moving forward with intra-articular antibiotic therapies.

Managing Osteoarthritis

Medicating joints with corticosteroids, polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, or hyaluronic acid is commonplace in equine sports medicine. Intra-articular injection is often used in conjunction with other modalities, including oral joint health supplements. Oral products decrease inflammation and improve mobility, boosting the overall health of joints. Examples of appropriate products include high-quality supplements that contain proprietary combinations of glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, MSM, and hyaluronic acid.

According to a recent review of intra-articular antibiotic use, 78 percent of veterinarians use intra-articular antibiotics in combination with other medications.^* By adding an antibiotic, often amikacin, to corticosteroid or polysulfated glycosaminoglycan, veterinarians hope to sidestep the development of a septic joint.

Considering the low risk of infection following joint injections, the question then becomes whether or not veterinarians should use prophylactic antibiotics. Moreover, because intra-articular antibiotics are used “off-label,” no researched guidelines for appropriate intra-articular use exist.

Prophylactic intra-articular antibiotic use therefore has two major ramifications:

Veterinarians may administer an excessively high dose. “According to some evidence, antibiotics like amikacin have toxic effects on cartilage cells and other joint tissues,” said Peter Huntington, B.V.Sc., M.A.C.V.Sc., director of nutrition at Kentucky Equine Research.
Unnecessary use of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance. “With few new antibiotics in development and growing multidrug resistance to currently available medication, revisiting the practice of prophylactic antibiotic use in horses may be warranted,” Huntington added.

These concerns associated with intra-articular antibiotic administration supports alternative strategies for maintaining joint health.

Managing Septic Joints

Intra-articular antibiotics are indispensable in the face of a septic joint because direct administration into the joint can achieve high local drug concentrations. If, on the other hand, antibiotics are offered orally, high dosages would be needed for longer durations to achieve the same result as an intra-articular injection.

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“Systemic antibiotics, however, may be associated with important and potentially life-threatening side effects such as gastrointestinal disturbances that disrupt the microbiome. In the face of microbiome disarray, pathogenic bacteria may proliferate, altering immunity and increasing the risk of diarrhea or laminitis,” Huntington explained. When systemic antibiotics must be administered, gastrointestinal support in the form of research-proven supplements should be considered.

Local antibiotic delivery directly into a joint may also:

Improve owner compliance as injections do not rely on the owner administering the entire course of oral antibiotics;
Make treatment more affordable, as a systemic antibiotic maybe be cost prohibitive for an owner;
Shorten the course of treatment and improve outcomes; and
Result in high concentrations at the site of infection that may be particularly useful for fighting “floating biofilm,” which is an accumulation of microbes embedded within a self-produced extracellular matrix that helps protect the bacteria from antibiotics.

^*Pezzanite, L.M., D.A. Hendrickson, S. Dow, L. Chow, D. Krause, and L. Goodrich. 2021. Intra-articular administration of antibiotics in horses: Justifications, risks, reconsideration of use and outcomes. Equine Veterinary Journal:13502.