The Horse Doctor

In case anyone has forgotten, there are still a lot of Jihadists out there that want to kill people. There was a report/video several weeks ago of Terrorists "graduating" from terrorist school and were being sent to Europe and the United States......I don't think it was for post doc study. Now we have 2 car bombs found in London ( during Wimbledon) and today a car bomb driven into the terminal in Glasgow Scotland . Not long ago during the debates for the upcoming Presidential elections candidate John Edwards said " the War on Terrorism was just a bumper sticker slogan" yea-right. NEW YORK — Democratic White House hopeful John Edwards , in a major foreign policy speech Wednesday, minimized the Bush administration's War on Terror as nothing more than a "bumper sticker slogan" used to justify the war in Iraq and "bludgeon political opponents." Power-line is now reporting " Meanwhile, the Scotsman says the authorities are looking f...

It was just published that a group of scientists lead by Dr Craig Vintner ( the 1st to have his DNA read by the genome project) transfered the entire genome from one bacteria into another, making it the 1st species transplantation. He said it was like taking a Mac and turning it into a PC by inserting new software. The plan now is to take a new genome created in the lab and insert that into a cell. Since the 1970s, scientists have moved genes - instructions to make proteins - between different organisms. But this marks the first time that the entire instruction set, consisting of more than a million “letters” of DNA, has been transplanted, transforming one species of bacterium into another. They are attempting to build a microbe with the minimal set of genes needed for life, with the goal of then adding other useful genes, such as ones for making biofuels.The scientists want to create new kinds of bacterium to make new types of bugs which can be used as green fuels to replace oil and c...

Just when I was beginning to think everyone in Europe had lost their spine....along comes this gem. Salman Rushdie ( remember him) the Indian writer that wrote "the Satanic Verses" and had a Fatwa written by the Ayatollah calling upon all peace loving Muslims to , of course......kill him. Well it turns out that the Queen of England must clank when she walks because she just Knighted him. Talk about a finger in the eye of the Iranians. You don't think this could have anything to do with the recent capture and humiliation of British sailors, do you? This is classic British humor, seeing as how the hated crusaders were after all.....knights. The down side to this is that those same peace loving Muslims will no doubt start to riot like they did when they didn't like the Danish car toons. Setting fire to cars in France and marching with all of those wonderful loving signs.

This next week I will be going back to Washington DC with the Fishweir Elementary School Patrols. For those that don't know, the safety patrols are 5 th grade students that apply to work as leaders and crossing guards at the local schools. This is very popular in southern and western schools. Reports actually say that the first school patrols were started in Jacksonville at Fishweir Elementary almost 90 years ago and since at least the 1960's these school patrols make a summer trip to our nations capital. I was a safety patrol and made the trip by train in 1970 and have returned with each of my four children when they did the same....this year it's Mac's turn. I love the history found in DC and particularly the Smithsonian museums and each time I go I try to find something new to see. Two years ago when I was there with Polly I found " Rienzi " also known as "Winchester" that was Sheridans horse during the Civil War. ...

This past week the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine held their annual meeting, this year in Seattle Wash. Beth and I went and met up with some great friends from our days at Cornell. Eric and Patty Peterson and DL Step. It's hard to believe everyone is so respectable now. Many nights out, great food and way to many adult beverages. Thank God this is the home port for Starbucks coffee. This is a very unique meeting in that unlike most Veterinary meetings this one concentrates on recent advancements and ongoing research projects. There are some review sessions...but not many. What I find to be the most useful are the research abstracts that are presented every 15 minutes for several days. This year there was a focus on glucose and insulin interactions. While this may seem really dull.....let me point out how this may effect your horse. For years now we have been working on a condition in the horse called EMS-equine Metabolic Syndrome. This is the overweight horse tha...

The start of Hurricane season was this past Friday June 1st and not surprisingly our first tropical system crossed the state this weekend. For those living in the coastal areas it's time to start planning just in case a major storm heads this way. I have posted items of interest on this blog in the past and you can find a more detailed list of plans on our web site www.ja xequine.com . There is also a short worksheet that you can use to organize yourself. If you decide to stay in the path of a storm you should consider some important facts. Your horses are at a greater risk "inside" your barn than outside. Think about it for a minute, your barn was probably built by the lowest bidder, has minimal roof support and was designed to maximize airflow. Unlike your house which are usually built north and south to take advantage of the sun.....your barn was built east and west to take advantage of the breeze. Thats a bad thing in a hurricane. If you have a large open fiel...

The oldest pony " sugarpuff " has died at the age of.....get this....56 years old. The oldest I have ever seen was a 44 year old pony when I was working in Ocala Fl. I was always told there were 2 kinds of ponies, those that had foundered and those that were going to. That old one had foundered at 20 and was on 1 gram of bute daily for 24 years. (Sugar Puff, a 10hh Shetland-Exmoor gelding was put down at home in West Sussex on 25 May following "complicated problems" with his health. Owner Sally Botting told H&H: "His organs packed up. He had been fine in the morning but then just collapsed. The vet said no more could be done.") There was a report several years ago of a Florida cracker-horse that was 55, it was a search done by Purina for their Equine Senior diet. Either way it shows that horses and ponies can live a really long time if you keep up with good health management.

This seems to happen every few years, an outbreak of plague. If you can remember it's always out west...Colorado, Arizona . ect. The Plague, Black Death, Bubonic Plague, is caused by a bacteria called Yersina Pestis ( primarily transmitted by fleas, hence-"pestis") . The Plague that ravaged Europe in the 1300's originated in the East( probably Ch ina...all diseases come from China) and arrived in Spain ( probably on infected rats on ships) and spread rapidly across Europe. Here's the daily history lesson ( I used to teach History during the summers while in College). The great European famine occurred from 1314-1317, then the Hundred years war started in 1337, then "ta-dah"....the Black Plague arrives in1347. Europe was primed for this, famine and war mean a lot of dead bodies and loss of sanitation and you guessed it.....rats. The Plague killed an estimated 25 million people in just 5 years. In 2000 I had the privilege of attending the Passion Play in...

Yesterday was my birthday, after a great night away with my wife we returned for a short work day and my youngest boys performance at school. Fishweir Elementary is a small public school near our house where my Mother in Law went to school as well as my wife and all our children. They are a magnet school for the arts and do several performances a year. This year was their 90th anniversary and they celebrated each decade with music from that era. Mac represented the 90's doing Micheal Jacksons "Thriller". What a hambone. Here's the link to YouTube. It was classic. If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a link to the video.

A mother bear and her cub were rescued from the wildfire in North Florida. It's burning around and thru Bugaboo island in the Okefenokee swamp. It jumped a major Highway yesterday and is closing in on Lake City. To make things worse there is a water shortage in the area. The bears were spotted in a burned out area and the cub was up a tree. The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission were called in and darted the pair. They were then transfered to the University of Florida College of Vet Med. The Sow has burns on her feet and some lung damage but appears to be doing well. As with any wild animal in captivity the stress can be a killer. Here's to UF....Go Gators.

I just received more photo's taken from the Waycross and Bugaboo fires. WOW....it sure looks bad.

We are once again under a fire alert and smoke is in the air. While there is a large fire near lake City and one in Georgia burning through the Okefenokee swamp.....we haven't had many in Jacksonville ....YET. In 1998 we had a huge number around us requiring constant evacuation and shuffling of horses from barn to barn. What I have seen lately is an increase in respiratory cases seen in our practice. Depending on the location and wind direction , the smoke levels can vary drastically. What should you do? At this time it depends on your horse. If you have one with any respiratory compromise than you must be careful as there may not be enough lung reserve in your horse to handle the stress. One way to manage these compromised horses in to keep them in during the worst parts of the day and let them out at night when the dampness in the air can reduce the smoke levels. If you have alot of smoke in your area and can't evacuate your horses you can also put A/C in the stall.....don...

For those of you with a horse suffering from "Cushings disease" and have been treating it with Pergolide, there is some good news. It appears that Pergolide may remain available for use in horses.Cushings disease is caused by an adenoma on the pituitary gland that causes the increased production of POMC or proopiomelanocortin and cortisol precursors. This leads to hirsutism(long hair coat) laminitis, hoof abscesses and chronic infections. Pergolide has been the best treatment we have had for this condition and recently it has become unavailable for humans where it is used as a treatment for Parkinsons disease due to cardiac health concerns. Here is a link to a blog set up for the issue and a petition if you are interested. Fran Jurga has also posted about it.Here is a copy of a recent letter that should give us hope that the FDA will make it available for Veterinary use. The AAEP has, for the past several years, been working closely with the Center for Veterinary Medicine ...

Someone just sent me some very interesting photos showing the size of the Earth compared to other planets , the Sun and other known stars. Sometimes we really think that we are the center of the Universe and that the Earth is soooooo BIG. When looked at this way it puts things into the proper perspective. In the 1970's we worried that there would be a new ice age, Global cooling. Now it's Global warming and how we are heating up the planet with CO2. We really are an arrogant species.When you look at how large the sun is you can see just how much of an impact even a small change in solar output can have on our climate. Looking at the images from the Hubble telescope really can make one feel small and just how awesome our creator is. This shot is from one of the darkest regions that was seen. Some of the Hubble images are incredibly dense and bright, packed with stars like Antares and Betelgeuse that dwarf our precious Sun. When looked at this way...how small we become.

There is a new tropical depression forming off the Carolina's that is pushing HUGE surf our way. The down side for North Florida surfers is that alot of the swell is swinging past us and pounding South Florida ( Satellite Beach). The Morning report says May 7 , 8am: Well overhead and bombing!!!! Forget the family, the job .... only thing that matters today is how fast you can get off the computer, get your board and get to the beach. Go surf NOW. btw ... sorry the sites been down ... my computer caught an infection in the panhandle .... get some for me ...Shrimp sucks!!! " Report from 2nd light Report Date: 05/08/2007 Location: Satellite Beach Report Time: 7 a.m. Size: 10-12 (ft) Conditions: Glass Comments: Epic The forecast for Jax is for the wind to shift offshore in the morning with4-6 foot swells. The St Augustine bouy is reading ...

It is that time of year again when we can all get together and celebrate the event that is The Kentucky derby. We have done a Derby Party every year since 1986 and I'm getting ready early. This means that it's time to make the "Julep" ( this word has no pleural, you don't have "juleps" ). Here is a great snipet from "A Small Boy's Heroes", Lanterns on the Levee , the autobiography of William Alexander Percy (Louisiana State University Press, 1988) . Father and General Catchins and Captain McNeilly and Captain Wat Stone and Mr. Everman would forgather every so often on our front gallery. These meeting must habitually have taken place in summer, because I remember Mother would be in white, looking very pretty, and would immediately set about making a mint julep for the gentlemen - no hors d'oeuvres, no sandwiches, no cocktails, just a mint julep. After the first long swallow - really a slow and noiseless suck, because the thick crushed ...