The month of January was very cold with long periods of freezing temperatures. Keeping water available for our horses was difficult to say the least. Many owners used a tank heater to combat the frozen water troughs. Be aware, a client using a tank heater said her horses would not drink or get near the trough. The owner then realized they were getting shocked when trying to drink! In her case, this was due to a short in the plug which resulted in electricity being sent into the tank. For safety’s sake, when using a tank heater, it is advisable to plug into a GFI receptacle. Also, you must confirm the heater is properly grounded.
During the freezing temps, one client’s solution was every evening to fill a large igloo cooler with hot water and place it on a hay bale. This provided her with warm water to give to the horses the next morning. Using electric heated water buckets, insulated wall mount buckets, and insulated bucket covers help avoid frozen drinking water. These items are sold online on many equine sites.
STOMACH ULCERS
I saw several horses during the cold weather with stomach ulcers. We treated them with a molasses flavored Sucralfate Powder (Sucralfate coats the stomach). Most horses readily eat the powder on their feed or it can be mixed with water and given orally in a syringe. We also treated them with Gastrogard (Omeprazole). After ulcers are controlled, it is advisable to keep horses under stress or ulcer prone horses on a preventative supplement. U-Gard, U7 Gastric Aid, Neigh-Lox, Gut X, or Purina Feeds Outlast are a few of the products available.
POLYESTER HALTERS & STRANGLES BACTERIA
A study was done on disinfecting halters using very hot water. Researchers found that the strangles bacteria persisted on polyester halters. The bacteria hide in the rough texture of the polyester webbing. On nylon halters, the bacteria did not persist after the hot water washing. (I’m not sure I can tell the difference between nylon and polyester web). On leather halters, the bacteria did not persist after 3 days, even without washing.
The Strangles bacteria did not persist on wood, concrete, plastic surfaces after washing. With Strangles it is advisable to disinfect everything with Lysol liquid, which is not inactivated by organic material, dirt, pus, etc.
VACCINATION TIME FOR PREGNANT MARES
Check to see if it is time to give the 7WAY & Rabies vaccines to your pregnant mare. The objective is to vaccinate your mare at least one month before foaling, not after. The “pre-foaling” vaccines are given so her colostrum (mare’s 1st milk) will have 3X’s the antibody levels in it. The foal is born without antibodies, so this will protect it for the first 4 months of life. I recommend worming the mare 2-4 days after foaling.
BASIC CARING FOR THE NEW FOAL
- Make sure the foal is nursing. Bend down and make sure that the foal is latched on to the teat, not just searching or bumping the bag. The foal should continue to nurse 2-3 times per hour, in between naps.
- Give an enema, when the foal is standing and walking.
- Disinfect Navel, using diluted Chlorhex (Nolvasan) or Gentle iodine (Betadine) You can pick up a foal kit from us.
- If the mare has not passed the placenta in 4 hours, it is time to call the vet to remove it.
MARE PREDICTION PH TEST KIT
We have PH strip test kits, to test the mare’s milk using just a drop on the PH strip. If blue, she is not going to foal. If it is green-yellow, that means she is going to foal that night or within the next 3 days.
CASTRATION SIGNS: February 6-12, weather permitting.
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