What struck me the most was the amount of pride that this industry has for its breed. The Arabian horse is rooted in history, and the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) doesn't fail to recognize that. Costume classes pay homage to the breeds heritage in the Middle East. While memorial classes recognize those persons who have made an impact on the industry itself. It is encouraging, in the turbulent environment we live in, to see so many young people sharing an enthusiasm for the breed. The Arabian industry took a hit when the economy turned but, with so much interest from a younger generation, numbers are coming back up and hopefully will stay that way for years to come.
From our position as show vet, we got a unique perspective of the show. We arrived on Tuesday with the show set to start that Friday and run to the following Saturday. Only a fraction of the horses had arrived yet, but we were already hitting the ground running. Equine Athlete brought quite an impressive team with them. Five veterinarians, two from the Texas branch and three from the Central Michigan group. Including our newest edition, Dr. Bailey Smith. To assist, there were five technicians/vet student assistants, two from Texas and three from Central Michigan. All in all we had a team of ten taking on Youth Nationals.
Once we arrived the work seemed to never stop. The first battle we had to face was respiratory distress induced by the long travel and high temperatures in Oklahoma; commonly referred to as shipping fever. A lot of our clients had traveled more than 15 hours in order to reach Oklahoma. Long rides like that put a lot of stress on horses, not to mention the huge temperature change from the Midwest. High heat and humidity, combined with the position horses are in when in trailers creates a perfect storm for respiratory pathogens. Naturally, horses eat with their heads down. This allows dust and debris that might be in the hay to be cleared from the horses airway by gravity. When trailering, horses stand for long periods with their heads tied up, preventing the clearing of microorganisms and debris. After a stressful trip or the excitement of being in a new place, many horses presented with respiratory symptoms. Luckily, these horses get the best care possible. As soon as they come off the trailer farms take their temperature and look them over for any scrapes or soreness. If anything is out of sorts, we are immediately called over to assess and treat.
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| Image 1. Infected region of lung |
Shipping fever presents in a relatively recognizable fashion. Horses will have an elevated temperature, increased respiration rate (often coupled with a labored breathing pattern), 'harshness' upon auscultation of the lung fields, and lethargy (head droop, reluctance to move, refusal of feed). Our exam includes a complete physical, paying close attention to auscultation of the the lungs and gastrointestinal tract (in case the stress has induced colic). Next we will ultrasound the lungs and look for evidence of consolidation/infection (Image 1). Some major pathologies that we will see are "comet" like streaks indicating infected regions of lung, or darker, fluid filled regions indicating a possible abscess. We also ran a stable side test for SAA or serum amyloid A. SAA is an indicator of the severity of the respiratory disease process. SAA is a bio-marker for the inflammatory process, which takes place when the lungs become infected. More traditionally, fibrinogen levels are the standard for measurement of the inflammatory response, yet they take longer to elevate and are not as convenient in these acute cases. Levels of SAA are measured for many pathologies resulting in inflammation; including laminitis, cellulitis, joint swelling, etc. We monitor these levels every few days and use them to help paint a picture of the horses recovery. Levels below 50 ug/mL (according to StableLab guidelines) are considered normal, although it takes a while for the levels to drop completely. As long as they trend downwards consistently the doctors consider that an indicator of healing. If the horses are dehydrated we will place a catheter and run them fluids to help get them on the road to recovery. We then place them on a round of antibiotics if the case warrants them. Depending on the presentation and severity horses were mostly placed on a combination of Gentimicin and Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), or Naxcel (ceftiofur sodium). We rechecked the horses twice a day and continued the antibiotics for at least three-five days until they showed significant improvement. Thankfully all of our respiratory cases resolved before the actual start of the show.
The rest of Youth went by in a whirlwind of treatments, a few colics, a handful of lacerations, and not much sleep. It was thrilling to see the event proceed and the teams at each stable working together to make their riders dreams come true. I enjoyed watching horses that I now recognized from the different farms go in and show at their best thanks, in small part, to our hard work. The common consensus was that this turned out to be one of the most competitive years to date; between the quality of horses in the ring, and skill presented by the youth riders. This industry is so very different from anything I have seen before. The quality of animals, kindness and enthusiasm of the people, and sheer passion show by all involved. I won't soon forget the feeling of being at Youth, or my fortune in being part of a team of practitioners that helped make it happen. We now set our sights on Canadian Nationals but will be riding the high of Youth for some time.
The final class at Youth Nationals!
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