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SAMPLE NEWSLETTER: Hoofcare News To: Horse Owner Friends of Hoofcare & Lameness Magazine and www.hoofcare.com 22 April 2002
The environment is a huge key to our horses' health, and one that is being puzzled over tonight, and every night, by researchers. Keep up with the latest research and understand how weather, water, insects, pesticides, feed, and stress affect your horse's soundness and health. We've gathered some hot-news headlines for you on this Earth Day, with an emphasis on the immediate danger of grass laminitis in the Northern Hemisphere...read on, and learn more! PS Feel free to forward this newsletter to other owners; if you'd like to have a subscription to Hoofcare Online for Horse Owners sent directly to you by email, send an email to hoofcareonline@earthlink.net and let us know that you'd like the owner's edition. Current Headlines: 1. BULLETIN: New research on grass founder from Australia could be important to your horses this year! 2. PREVENTION BULLETIN: Vet, farrier and therapist advice for avoiding grass founder this year 3. QUIZ: Can you name Dr Tracy Turner's top six hoof balance theories? (answer below) 4. OWNER ALERT: Equine supplements with "illegal" ingredients may face new regulatory action 5. EDUCATION: Tufts vet school, animal welfare institute, and vet/farrier panel will discuss "Strasser Barefoot Hoofcare" with German veterinarian 6. MANAGEMENT MATTERS: Grass clippings linked to deaths of three horses; horse farms warned to keep mares off pastures in Kentucky DETAILED NEWS REPORTS: 1. BULLETIN: New research on grass founder from Australia could be important to your horses this year! Details: In Europe last month, Dr Chris Pollitt of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit detailed his most recent research into the disease process of laminitis. He fed test horses large doses of isolated fructans, a complex carbohydrate found in fast-growing spring and fall grasses, and the horses soon had laminitis. Pollitt chronicles his theory on how the fructans upset the microfloral balance in the hind gut in issue #76 of Hoofcare & Lameness: The Journa of Equine Foot Science. The bottom line: We still have a lot to learn about how weather conditions affect the fructan levels in spring and fall grasses. We now know that they cause laminitis; can we develop new strains of grasses that are low in fructans? Is there something we can feed horses to neutralize fructans? Stay tuned to Hoofcare Online: we will keep you updated! Pollitt has collected the results of his past five years of laminitis into a chronicle of the disease with recommendations for treatment and therapy: the new all-color book "Equine Laminitis" is now available in the USA, available from Hoofcare & Lameness at www.hoofcare.com or call 978 281 3222. Cost is $25 plus $5 postage in USA/Canada, $10 postage elsewhere. 2. PREVENTION BULLETIN: Vet, farrier and therapist advice for avoiding grass founder this year How many hours of sunlight fell on your horse's grazing today? Was there a fluctuation in temperature? Your horse's risk of developing grass-related laminitis is higher on days with fluctuating temperatures. Copy this little jingle and post it in your barn to help you remember which days are the riskiest. Thanks to horse owner Katy Watts from Colorado for this ditty: "The Fructan Jingle" When you wake at crack of dawn, In Hoofcare & Lameness issue #76 we have a guide to grazing muzzles for horses to be used on horses that have foundered in the past, are overweight, or that are at risk for laminitis, such as Cushings syndrome sufferers or ponies. We also focus on quick therapies for at-risk horses that were exposed perhaps to over-grazing, turned out in the wrong field, etc. The most important aspect of grass laminitis prevention is that by the time your horse is lame, the damage is done. Any avoidance therapy must be initiated before the pain begins. If you think your horse has over-grazed on rich grass, act immediately: call your vet, get the horse off grass, and get ready to fight for your horse's soundness. Ad: 3. Can you name Dr Tracy Turner's top six hoof balance theories? Navicular syndrome expert Dr Tracy Turner of the University of Minnesota lists six different approaches to determining a horse hoof's relative "balance": Dynamic, static, natural, hairline, four-point, and "Duckett's Dot". (Turner admitted that he personally utilized the Duckett's Dot system.) Turner has observed that differences in terminology between the theories are yet another stumbling block for practitioners of the same or different professions when discussing cases. Do you know which system of balance is used by your farrier? Or by your vet? Does one worry that the horse lands flat while the other worries that the hairline isn't level? Do you know the difference between the theories? Follow hoof balance theory by reading Hoofcare & Lameness. Our editorial mission is to educate the horse world about the hoof, and you will find balanced coverage of the many points of view in hoofcare science. 4. Equine supplements with "illegal" ingredients may face new regulatory action Many of the supplements routinely fed to horses--and recommended by many veterinarians--contain ingredients that are outside the list of federally-approved substances for animal feed, even though they are widely available for human use. Chief among these are glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate, as well as many herbs like Devils Claw. An organization of state feed inspectors (AAFCO) revealed this winter that they plan to urge individual state members to enforce regulation of federal laws. Opinion is divided as to how many states may or may not take action. At the horse industry exposition "Equine Affaire" in Ohio last weekend, the National Association of Equine Supplement Manufacturers launched a leaflet campaign to galvanize the horse-owning public into action with classic grass-roots strategy to contact federal legislators and state animal feed inspectors and to protest any potential regulation in their home states. This is a hot new issue and affects all animal feeds, including cat and dog foods. We recommend that all owners read the following news stories: Link to a good backgrounder from Dr Eleanor Kellon of Horse Journal Link to details on the FDA and regulatory aspects of the controversy: Link to the National Animal Supplements Council: 5. Tufts vet school and welfare institute and vet/farrier panel toevaluate "Strasser Barefoot Hoofcare" The date: May 4-5, 2002. The place: Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North The mission: Get to the heart of the controversial "Strasser Barefoot Hoofcare Lifestyle". A panel of veterinarians and farriers will discuss the German If you aren't familiar with this new approach to hoofcare and horse management, you will soon be hearing about it, and chances are that you will hear lots of different opinions. Chief among her recommendations is that horses should live outdoors 24/7, not in stalls, and that many of our horses' problems are caused by shoeing. She has been criticised by welfare organizations for allegedly advising owners to trim their horses' hooves themselves, launching the so-called "DIY Hoofcare" movement. While this has helped some horses, many others have been harmed by well-meaning but unskilled owners wielding knives and nippers. Special sections are planned on barefoot therapy for navicular syndrome and laminitis. A recently added panelist is Mr Craig Trnka, the newly-elected president of the American Farrier's Association. Recommendations, endorsements, or cautions from the Tufts panel will be publicized to the veterinary and farrier professions, and to horse-owning public. Check the latest information at http://www.hoofcare.com or go to the Tufts web site: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/continedu/HoofcareNavicular.html 6. MANAGEMENT MATTERS: Grass Clippings Linked to Deaths of Three Horses in the UK It happened right here at our barn: a well-meaning neighbor mowed his picture-perfect lawn and dumped the clippings into the mares' paddock. He heard about it. But what if it had happened on a weekday, when no one was around? Would we have ever known? The British Horse Society has issued a warning to gardeners not to dispose of cuttings where horses can eat them. A pile of grass clippings is very attractive to horses, ponies and donkeys but once eaten can prove fatal. Eating grass clippings can cause colic, and if the grass begins to ferment it can cause a lethal build up of gasses within the gut. This causes the animal severe pain and damage to the digestive system, resulting in a horrible death. The indiscriminate disposal of lawn mowings has already cost the lives of three horses this year in England. Meanwhile, in Kentucky today, the University of Kentucky warned horse farms in the area to keep late-term broodmares out of pastures, as temperatures plummeted. Last year's devastating "MRLS", or Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome, is still being investigated, but researchers think that extreme weather changes may have been involved in some unknown biochemical change in pasture grasses. While grass-related laminitis, colic from fermented lawn clippings, and MRLS are three totally different issues, they are all related to the role of the environment in equine health. The University's information web site on the syndrome can be visited at
this link: ADVERTISEMENT: DETAILS OF NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT EQUINE LAMINITIS by DR. CHRIS POLLITT is now available outside Australia! CONTENTS: Chapter titles: What is Laminitis? / The Horse's Foot / Lamellar Anatomy/ Laminitis in Perspective / Laminitis Current Concepts / The Glucose Theory of Laminitis / Clinical Signs of Laminitis / Laminitis Radiology / Laminitis Medical Therapy / Therapeutic Shoeing / Prognosis and Future Directions/ Appendices Hot subjects covered include the role of free radical scavengers, ice therapy, use of foam sole supports, plastic and steel heart bar shoes, EDSS shoes, heel elevation, glucose theories about laminitis, Cushing's disease, in vitro laboratory experiments, enzymatic theories, metabolic triggers, support limb laminitis, protocol for radiographing acute vs chronic cases, use of sole support compounds, and so much more. DETAILS: Soft cover, 107 pages, full color art and photos throughout including many new photos. COST: $25 per book plus $5 per book postage in USA and Canada; $8 per book postage elsewhere. HOW TO ORDER: To order by email using Visa or Mastercard: send email including account number and expiration date, plus your full name and address to mailto:books@hoofcare.com To order by phone: call 978 281 3222. Please leave a message with your full name and address, phone number, email or fax, and Visa/Mastercard account number and expiration date. Be sure to mention the name of the book and author you wish to order. Dr Pollitt is the author of "Color Atlas of the Horse's Foot" and produced the landmark videotape Horse Foot Studies. Both are available on our website's book department: http://www.hoofcare.com/books.html Other new books: --Adams Lameness in Horses 5th Edition by Ted Stashak et al, NEW edition$119 plus $14 UPS We are planning to add more exciting new books this spring! UPDATE YOUR HOOFCARE ONLINE MEMBERSHIP: Send email changes, requests, or updates to mailto:hoofcareonline@earthlink.net
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