Dwarfism in Miniature Horses - Interesting site!! Go see!

Rural Heritage Vet Clinic

Dr. Terry Gerros - Many useful articles on a wide range of equine health topics from Dr. Terry Gerros DVM, MS, Diplomate, ACVIM. Brought to you by Scott Creek Farm.

Miniature Horse Health Links - Put together by Knee-High Acres.

Eating Acorns & Cedar Berries - My minis eat the acorns & cedar berries from our trees. They seem to love them. We haven't had any problems yet, should I be worried? Its not like there are so many they can fill up on them, but they like to clean up what falls off the trees

Mini Having Seizures - I have a yearling mini that acts really weird sometimes when he is given oral medication with a syringe. A few months ago, he had a respiratory infection that needed to be treated with oral medication. Most of the time he was fine, but once after being given the medicine he reared up, flipped himself over backwards, and started thrashing around on the ground. It was really scary--I thought he was having an allergic reaction, but after a few seconds he got up and was perfectly fine. This did not happen again until just recently. His infection has come back and needs to be treated again. The first time he was given medication orally this time he was okay, but the second time he braced himself on all four feet and started convulsing. This again only lasted for a few seconds and then he was fine. We have started mixing in his medication with his feed, but have had to change his diet slightly in order to better mask the taste. The vet says it is a sort of a seizure that has been happening, but he is not entirely sure. I am just wondering if anybody has seen this sort of thing before, or has any info on what could be happening.

Colic Emergencies - Colic! A dreaded term for anyone who has had to deal with a serious bout of colic in his or her horse. This disruption of the horse's natural digestive process can range in severity from a case of simple discomfort to a truly and agonizingly life threatening condition. The purpose of this information sheet is to give the reader some perspective into this disorder, which can occur in any horse, and provide some insights as to how colic can be managed. Please contact your Vet if you are not experienced in treating Colic! This article was written for a full size horse!

What is Colic? - Colic is a general term which applies to two types of disruption of the horse's normal intestinal processes. Depending on the cause of the colic, the horse may be experiencing a digestive spasm (temporary hyperactivity of the digestive tract) or his intestinal activity may be reduced.

Increased activity colic, or hyperperistalsis, can be caused by excessive parasites (worms), eating moldy or spoiled hay, grain or forage, and in a few mares colic spasms can be triggered by heat cycles and pregnancies. See Note-1.

Decreased activity colic, or hypoperistalsis or aperistalsis, can be caused by excessive parasites (worms), excessive increase in grains (such as the horse getting into the grain barrel), sudden feed changes, feeding grain to an exhausted horse, allowing a very hot horse too much water, dental problems (improperly ground up feed) and ingestion of foreign bodies and materials (including dust and sand).

Typical Signs and Symptoms - Most horses will show some restlessness or uneasiness as the digestive process starts to go awry. As the discomfort increases, a horse may paw, look at his flanks, nip at his flanks, kick at his abdomen, keep getting up and lying down, roll or stretch into odd positions, stand and rest in odd positions, rock back against a solid object and repeatedly change weight on the hind legs.

If you suspect sand or dust in your horse, take a zip-lock food storage bag, turn it inside out over your hand and pick up two or three relatively fresh and clean manure balls. Turn the bag right side out again and squish up the balls. (If the manure balls feel unusually hard when you squish them, you probably have a dehydration impaction rather than a sand problem.) Fill the bag about half full with water and pin or clip the bag to hang on a post or wall. After a few minutes inspect the bag and see if sand or dust has settled out of the manure. Discuss these findings with your vet and let him/her see your manure test when he/she arrives.

Before the Colic Occurs - There are several things which you can do to improve your horse's chances BEFORE he colics. Discuss colic with your veterinarian, what to look for, what "standing orders" he/she has for you until you can reach him/her, what symptoms to describe when making the call and what medications you should keep on hand (and how to administer them). Know how to take pulse, respiration and listen for gut sounds. Know and record what is "normal" for your horse. When you suspect colic, be able to take these "vital signs" and be able to describe to your vet how they compare with your horse's normal signs when you first place the call for help. Realize that with good information, your vet may recommend a course of action which you can undertake yourself in mild cases, or in more severe instances, your vet may realize that you have a true emergency, not just "another colic," and can rearrange his/her schedule to get to you more promptly.

Standard Practices for Colic - Assess the situation. What has recently happened (the probable cause of the colic)?

Take vital signs. (see this page about Your Horse's Vital Signs)

Do not let the horse eat hay. However, providing a warm bran mash (Note-2) with ground up aspirin or phenylbutazone (bute) can often get the animal through without use of heavy drugs. (Don't give your horse anything orally, however, unless it is part of your veterinarian's "standing orders.") If within 30 minutes of eating the bran mash the horse is not showing signs of improvement, call your veterinarian.

We must repeat: The administration of any drugs, including aspirin, should be done only after consultation with your vet or under "standing orders" as these medications will affect the appearance of your horse to the veterinarian during the exam and in some cases may impact what drugs the veterinarian can use once he/she arrives.

If You Can't Reach the Vet! - If you suspect a colic and the symptoms all indicate that a digestive problem is occurring and is getting worse, you should always contact your veterinarian. However there may be cases where you cannot reach a vet, or perhaps you in a situation where you don't even have a phone! The horse may well need some relief from pain so that his intestinal muscles can relax and the gas or obstruction can resume its journey. In such circumstances the following suggestions are offered by James Naviaux, DVM, in his book Horses in Health and Disease:

Note: If your horse experiences sand or dust colics, it may be more appropriate to administer psyllium mucilloid instead of bran, however the choice depends a great deal on your horse's history and the actual symptoms which you are seeing (e.g., your horse is passing manure but it doesn't look right, contains a lot of sand, and the horse is uncomfortable). Again, the value of "what to do" discussions with your vet and establishing "standing orders" in advance of such emergencies cannot be overstated!

Prevention - The best cure for colic is prevention!

Note 2: Bran Mashes - We typically use "Vita Bran" or red flaky wheat bran for bran mashes. We put up to a one pound coffee can of bran into a feed tub, add some ground hay and/or shaved carrots for flavor, then add hot water to which a modest amount of molasses has been added to make the mash enticing. We stir the mixture, adding more water a little at a time until it becomes the consistency of sloppy oatmeal. If the mix is too runny or the horse is especially picky, we will add small amounts of grain ration to give it some body, but the mixture should still be moist and slightly "loose". (Count on the horses making a big, sloppy mess when they eat it!)

Sneezing & Runny Nose - My two minis have seemed to have a cold for weeks. One has a white discharge coming from one nostril and the other has a white discharge coming from both eyes. They both sneeze. I called the vet and they said to wait a week. This however, has gone on for two weeks before I called. Have any of you had that problem. Both are eating as normal, but something must be wrong for them to sneeze and drain. By the way, our weather has been crazy with warm and cold spells back to back. They both have a good wind block and shed protection too. I could use some imput as to calm my nerves.

• We have had the same symptoms with all our young'uns this year too, more than any other year since we have owned Minis. I believe it is the quick dramatic weather changes we have had here in Ky. --- If there is no signs of lymph node swelling under the horses jaw and the horse is not making audible "ratteling" noises when breathing, is eating well and seems generally ok other than the discharge I would keep a close watch on them, but not worry too much. --- If however, they begin having any of the symptoms I described above, or you feel something is amiss, call the vet. Many of these symptoms just run their course, but anytime you have a discharge need to be sure it doesn't change color, green, yellow, or a combination. Viral infections usually are clear or whitish discharge, but need to watch for the color change which may be a bacterial invasion in the nice wet environment the virus created! --- We chased this around the barn for close to 2 months, one would clear up then another would get it, then pass it back and forth! We have never had this much trouble with our young ones before. They were current on shots, but we administered the 5 in 1 shot I spoke of on the Forum under shots (see Shots (reactions) and FINALLY no more snotty noses or runny eyes to clean every morning! --- We did have one colt who developed a bacterial infection whom we had to give IM antibiotics to he had a low grade fever, depressed appetite, and began "ratteling" with each breath, these are RED ALERTS, call your vet! A young horse can go down hill very rapidly so you must be observant each day you check them. --- Everyone else cleared up on their own with no complications, one with complications out of 8 yearlings wasn't too bad.