The Horse Doctor

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 ...

There is supposed to be a great program on TV this Monday night. May 7th at 8pm on the RFD channel. Dish network channel 231, Direct TV channel 379, This program will feature a call in segment where you can ask Dr Wendy Vaala questions about Broodmare and Foal care. I'm not sure if there will be any internet broadcast or if it will be offered at other times. I will try to watch it and provide comments since we are in the breeding/foaling season right now.....it's good to be ready for those foals born now and those that are on the way.

Today there is a report that Osama was responsible for planning the suicide attack on the Baghram airbase in Afghanistan while the Vice President was there. To me, that doesn't seem like the well planned attacks OBL was known for. Baghram is HUGE, many kilometers around, it's close in size to the University of Florida campus. I guy in a truck loaded with explosives was stopped at the main gate where he exploded. It killed 14 people including 1 US soldier. There was never any chance that this could succeed.....it was desperation, not inspiration. Still this is what they are telling the Arab world "He is drawing plans in Iraq and Afghanistan ... Praise God he is alive," Mullah Dadullah told Al Jazeera television. I think he is dead....Praise God, so do the Saudi's "In September, a French newspaper quoted French foreign intelligence service as saying the Saudi intelligence were convinced bin Laden had died of typhoid in Pakistan in August". I just hope som...

I'm sure everyone is as stunned as I was yesterday to hear about the murders at Va-Tech. Today we learn more about what happened and some about those involved. The young 18 year old girl that the killer was obsessed with, the Israeli professor that blocked the doorway after he was shot so his students could escape, and a 23 year old South Korean student on Anti-depressants. Not to get me wrong here, I'm a firm believer in poly-pharmacy, I'm an Internist after all and I don't get started until I'm using at least 3 drugs.My mentor in my residency Dr. Bill Rebhun would always chastise me by saying " Weldon, if you have to use 3 medications, you don't know what the hell is going on with your patient". I think he may have been right. Neurochemistry has always been a complex topic for me to try and get my head around and I feel that the complex interactions of various drugs may be something that we need to be aware of in these cases. There is a link(althou...

No ,it's not the same one, there seems to be a rash of these things . Either that or it's a devilish Al Queda plot. I thought it was funny looking at the headline and the "terror alert" crawler . It is strange that yet another horse gets stuck in the mud, although this one was in Texas. "Champ" owned by Robin Harpster was found in the morning after wandering into at pond. A back hoe was used to remove a lot of the mud and make a clear track that the horse could be hauled through. Champ...while exhausted , appeared OK. No age was given but I would speculate that he was older , like the horse in the previous post.

A 33 year old horse died this week near St Augustine after getting loose and falling into a retention pond. It appears the horse " Bunk"was in the pond for awhile and became stuck up to his chest in the mud. The owner June McDonald found him the next morning and while trying to help him up the steep bank...became stuck herself. St Johns Fire/Rescue was able to free Ms. McDonald and then worked on getting Bunk out. It required a dozen rescuers to pull him free, however Bunk was apparently very debilitated by the stress and combined with his age he was unable to rise. After several attempts he collapsed and died. We always hear how dangerous open retention ponds are for kids, it can be just as dangerous for horse, particularly old ones that are weaker. A steep slick side can be almost impossible for them to climb. Not a good way to go.

Today I had a chance to do some work at the Jax Zoo.....they really do a nice job there. There are two really superb Veterinarians on staff there, Dr. Andy Tier and Dr Nick Kapustin. I get to do the sonograms on cases that need more imaging. I had to look at a Zebra with a heart murmur that was being shipped to another zoo. Unlike the horses that I usually work with , zebras are NOT very cooperative and must be immobilized. This allows for a very good echocardiogram. In this case there wasn't much of a problem and the zebra should be fine to ship out. After the Zebra we went over to the Elephant house for some real large animal medicine. Due to the size of an elephant and equipment limitations you can only image tissue no deeper than 24cm ( with 5cm being just the skin). I was looking at the bowel wall for signs of any increased thickness. Even though I was behind the protective bars ,an elephant can still use it's trunk to reach around and grab you. The thought of being pu...

I haven't had much time to blog lately as Dr. Nancarrow has been out with a pretty severe back injury, so Dr. Mary and I have been running hard. To add to the hectic schedule we went to the western Caribbean with the kids for spring break. We did a cruise out of Miami for 7 days, hitting Grand Cayman, Roatan Honduras, Belize and Costa Maya Mexico. It was tough coming back to work. The 2 big highlights were swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman( trying not to let the Weldon feral children be like the Steve Erwin) and Cave tubing in Belize. We took a boat trip out 30 min from port to a large sand bar and 40-50 stingrays came up to us in waist deep water where we could feed them squid. The females are really quite impressive, reaching 190 lbs ( Oprah size). They let you pet them but always being careful to stay away from the large barb midway up the tail. The kids were a little spooked at first except Polly who jumped right in. You could hear Sarah screeching thru her snorkel...

I just got back from another trip to Cumberland Island. It is a barrier Island off the coast of Georgia. There are no road or bridges to it so you have to get there by boat. My wifes family had a small house there in 1970, unfortuneately the Federal Government established a wilderness area right where their house was. The law passed in 1972 and was retro-active to include their house but not those built 1 month before. Those were built by the Rockafeller families....go figure. Beth and I were married there in 1989 and started going back about 8 years ago and every year it is one of the highlights of that year. We go over and stay in a house behind the dunes with the greater extended family...the Van Cleves, Baumans and Weldon ( there are alot of cousins) and various friends come and bring their kids ( Inghams, Stiefels and Ely's). So much for the peace and quiet. It is an amazing place to explore the old history of the coastal south, get the kids outside and away from the books a...

Jacksonville Episcopal High School requires all of their students to do some form of community service each semester. This morning Horse Sense and Sensitivity , (a local organization that provides therapeutic horse back riding for kids with disabilities) had a painting day and the Episcopal Lacross team came in mass. As can be expected when you get a bunch of teenage boys together on a Saturday morning with white paint and brushes.....it was interesting. Let me say what a great group of kids they were. They worked hard (actually getting most of the paint on the fences) and there was absolutely NO complaining. It was really refreshing to watch when so much of what you see in the news is just the opposite. Keeping HS&S operating of great personal satisfaction but more importantly it provides an incredible service. When you can take a child that has to spend most of their time at wheel chair level and allow them the feeling of getting up on a horse and being taller than everyone els...

The recent outbreak of the H5N1 flu in Britain has many worried. There is a new twist to the tale. The Government Veterinarian that did the diagnostics on the infected turkeys (160,000 turkeys) has shown signs of respiratory infection. While it is unlikely that he was infected with the H5N1 since he was wearing full protective gear....it is an odd coincidence. If the results of the current testing shows H5N1 then this outbreak it a major leap for the virus. This would mean a significant mutation allowing much greater infectious capabilities. There are 10 significant mutations that must take to match the Flu pandemic of the early 1900's, at least 3 of these have occurred already. They are taking significant steps in Europe now, but it is very hard to control the wild bird population. This one is worth watching. In a separate development, cat owners are being advised to keep their pets inside to protect them against bird flu if they live near wetland areas populated by ducks and wil...

There has been a great deal of talk in the press as of late about Global Warming and as a devote follower of the Scientific method....I'm a skeptic. The Scientific method has 4 parts. 1. Observation-observe a phenomenon or problem 2. Hypothesis- derive a hypothesis to explain the phenomena 3.Prediction- logically predict how the hypothesis will perform using past and present events 4. Experimentation- perform experiments and analyze data to prove or disprove your hypothesis. Most of what I hear today stops with steps 2 . No one has used step 3 to explain warming after prior ice ages or experimentation to show that man is causing each of these global warming periods. So here we are 1. Is the Earth getting warmer? I think the answer is yes. We are now in a warming period coming out of the " little ice age " a cooling period that followed the " Medieval Climate optimum " It's important to note that this occurred prior to the development of the internal combu...

I'm sure everyone knows by now that Barbaro was euthanized today. Oddly enough, it was about 15 minutes after I discussed the issue with Joe Block on the Weekend Block Party on 1010 AM shortly after noon. Joe and I had tried to do this a week or so ago but I couldn't get free. Joe's point has been why go so far with a horse. In almost every case horse's with injuries such as this are euthanized at the track. He feels that the owners are pushing to do everything possible so they can get a financial boon should he make it to the breeding shed. I have been around alot of race horse owners, (some nice,some not very nice,) but I have to say that in my experience, they all cared deeply about the welfare of the horse. Frequently decisions had to be made do to finances, usually requiring the cessation of treatment. In every case nobody walked away thinking about $$$$$. Joe did a great deal of research and was well prepared, however, I think he was playing up the role of the an...

I had the opportunity to go to Phoenix for the National Championship game. I flew out that Monday non-stop to LA then over to Phoenix by 1:30. My friends had rented the biggest limo I have ever seen and it picked me up at the airport. After picking up everybody we went to the game. I have to say the OSU fans were friendly but unbelievably over confident. I heard over and over how the Gators didn't deserve to be there. I just said "they're awfully fast". The place went nuts after the Buckeyes returned the opening kickoff....I said " #$@%". Then we scored on the three next possessions....I said "they're awfully fast". The OSU fans went from the stratospheric heights of jubilation to the absolute pit of dispare. I saw people crying around me as the beating continued. Florida was flawless and none of them saw it coming. It was indeed a great time to be a Gator. I was with my Dad in 1995 when we played Nebraska for the National Title in Phoenix. Th...

I was reading one of the MilBlogs on my list of daily readings and found this on " BadgersForward " ( check the site,it's worth the read) combat engineers defusing roadside bombs (over 300 so far). It's a great site and a great letter. I find it helps redirect my perspective after one of those days when you feel beat down, over worked and spent. I hope it works for you. Open Letter to Our Armed Forces and Their Families From Ben Stein Greetings From Rancho Mirage By Ben SteinTuesday, January 23rd Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families: Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with yourselves and proud of whom you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay m...

I wanted to post again this time of year about how important it is to watch your mares during foaling season. The down side is that you have to spend alot of nights without sleep. There is now a website called "MareStare" where people watch your horses via a web cam and you can sleep. You can set up an alarm where they can send you an e-mail when they see her foaling. Since people watch in other time zones , they are awake while we sleep. I think you could even get them to watch your sick horse that needs observation as well. You can check out a wireless camera that works from up to 1000 feet away at this site " Barn Cam ".

Barbaro ( the horse that fractured his leg 7 months ago) has been in the news lately. For those that have not followed this case, he fractured his lower limb (pastern bone) in the Preakness and after surgical repair developed laminitis ( Founder) in his left hind foot. Probably the result of bearing to much weight on one foot and the stresses and physiologic changes taking place with such an injury. It's good to remember that if that were you or I, we would be confined to a hospital bed for awhile and probably not as good a patient. The horse on the other hand(hoof) has to stand shortly after surgery because they don't do well physiologically lying down for extended periods of time. This week Barbaro underwent a casting procedure on the laminitic hoof. This was done to help re-align his rotated coffin bone into a more normal angle. The next day he became more painful and additional separation was noted and more debridement was done. This is a setback to say the least. More ...

It now looks like the current outbreak in So. florida has been very well contained. The thoughts of the FAEP and the State veterinarian is that the Horse Show season will go forth in January. Here is an updated response from the recent meeting. Wellington Equine Herpes Outbreak Update A meeting of all the area veterinarians was held last night chaired by Dr. Mike Short from the State of Florida Dept of Agriculture. Here is a synopsis of the current situation in the State of Florida according to his data: 4 deaths associated with this outbreak 9 cases with neurological symptoms 8 confirmed positive cases 8 premises currently under quarantine Good feedback from all the veterinarians was shared regarding the criteria for dealing with some fevers of unknown origin and proper test sampling techniques. It is recommended that when testing we always sample both the nasal swabs and plasma buffy coat for PCR. Virus isolation is not recommended. We also now have access to testing labs at ...

Here is the current update on the situation in Wellington from the FAEP (Florida Association of Equine Practioners ). The FAEP , Univ of Fla and the State Veterinarians have done an outstanding job. A conference call was held last night between officials from the State of Florida and veterinarians from south, central and north central Florida. Wellington has had no new cases of neurological disease since the last update on 12.16.2006. There is one neurological horse in Jupiter farms which became symptomatic on 12.18.2006, and one neurologic horse in Ocala which is confirmed positive. The confirmed positive cases and neurological cases currently being treated (with lab tests still pending), totals eleven. Of those eleven are included one confirmed positive dead horse and four horses which had only fevers and no neurologic symptoms. Another dead horse which had symptoms consistent with the sev...

For those who have not "herd" through the horseshow telegraph ....there has been an outbreak of neurologic herpes virus in South Florida (Wellington ). I have touched on this topic in the past but felt it was important to put up some current data and dispel some of the rumors. NeurologicEHV-1 virus (Rhinopneumonitis), the one that causes respiratory disease and abortions in mares, is the virus that causes the neurologic form. It is one of the typical vaccines we give ( flu/rhino). The respiratory tract is the natural portal of entry for EHV-1 and EHV-4, and the respiratory mucosal epithelium is the primary target tissue for infection [ 2 , 28,29 ]. Respiratory infection is acquired by close physical contact with another horse that is actively shedding infectious virus into its respiratory secretions. Virus-laden droplets generated by forced, high-velocity expirations through the airways (snorting) can produce infective aerosols capable of traveling over short distances (bet...