Woodford Equine Clinic, Inc

Woodford Equine Clinic, Inc Performance Horse Care, Rehabs and Mare Domicile Services. Soundness Evaluations, Rehab and Layups,
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Potomac Horse FeverWe are also seeing an increase in number of cases and an increase in severity. Please consider vacci...
08/18/2022

Potomac Horse Fever
We are also seeing an increase in number of cases and an increase in severity. Please consider vaccination.

⚠️ We are seeing an increased number of Potomac Horse Fever (PHF) cases. Please consider boosting your horses if they have not been in the past 2 months. The vaccine does not have long lasting activity and may not prevent the disease but can help decrease symptoms.

🪰 PHF is transmitted by fresh water insects, not directly from horse to horse. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, colic, and laminitis. While early treatment can be successful, the disease is frequently fatal.

🐴 Fortunately this cutie responded very well to treatment and is recovering at home!

Understanding the Role of Flexion Tests in a Pre-Purchase Exam - The Plaid Horse Magazine
07/22/2022
Understanding the Role of Flexion Tests in a Pre-Purchase Exam - The Plaid Horse Magazine

Understanding the Role of Flexion Tests in a Pre-Purchase Exam - The Plaid Horse Magazine

By Sabrina Brashares/Jump Media If you are a horse owner, you are probably familiar with flexion tests. Most pre-purchase and lameness exams involve a vet performing flexion tests on the horse. This type of test involves a veterinarian applying stress or pressure to various joints for a brief period...

07/07/2022

Many areas of the United States and beyond currently face a shortage of equine practitioners to provide veterinary care to horses and other equids. This equine welfare issue will further intensify without action to address the diminishing number of equine veterinarians.

The AAEP has formed the Commission on Equine Veterinary Sustainability to develop strategies to retain and recruit more veterinarians to equine practice.

“The equine veterinary profession is in crisis,” said AAEP President Dr. Emma Read. “In order to transform equine practice, we must address the pain points which are driving exceptional horse doctors away. Without change, future veterinary care for our nation’s horses will be greatly jeopardized.”

Read more at https://aaep.org/news/aaep-creates-commission-alleviate-equine-veterinarian-shortage

Cool
05/27/2022

Cool

Want to be a Vet? Here you go!
05/11/2022
Online AVM Program – Adventures in Veterinary Medicine

Want to be a Vet? Here you go!

The Adventures in Veterinary Medicine Online Program is an engaging and fun way for students to spend the week learning more about the veterinary profession. This is your opportunity to dig into veterinary medicine through an exciting program where you'll work virtually with faculty, veterinary stud...

Photos from Progressive Equine Services & Hoof Care Centre's post
04/27/2022

Photos from Progressive Equine Services & Hoof Care Centre's post

04/24/2022

I went for a little walk around the local show park yesterday during the season opener hunter/jumper show. I try not to look down at horse feet unless someone asks for my opinion, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop noticing that most of the horses there, from the low level hunters to the 1.20m jumper class I watched for a while are very obviously NPA and/or showed obvious signs of caudal failure. NPA means “negative palmar angle” on front feet or “negative plantar angle” on hinds. It means that the back of the coffin bone is lower than the front. It is supposed to be the other way around! A normal palmar/plantar angle is 2°-10° yet soooo many horses work on feet with palmar/plantar angles of less than zero. It is so common that by most people it is seen as normal. Caudal failure means structural collapse of the caudal (back) part of the foot.

Horses may not be obviously lame with this condition, however there are often subtle signs. Reluctance to go forward, forging (stepping on or hitting the backs of the front shoes with the hind feet), overreaching, not tracking up, refusing jumps, bucking after jumps (because landing hurts), lack of hindquarter engagement, decreased gait quality all around, behavioural issues under saddle, etc. These symptoms can be easily mistaken for other things or riders and trainers can tend to use punishment to try to change some behaviours that have their root in hoof pain. It is also very hard on the legs and most specifically the DDFT (deep digital flexor tendon) and navicular area of the foot because of the biomechanics of a foot with an improper angle cause increased friction where the DDFT runs under the navicular bone to attach to the back of the coffin bone. This is why low heeled horses are at increased risk of developing navicular syndrome.

We need to retrain our eyes to know what is normal. We also need to realize that asking horses to work hard when their feet are a mess is not fair and causes sometimes irreparable damage, both to their feet and to their opinions about working.

How do we fix it? First we need to acknowledge that NPA is a systemic issue in farriery and we need to change the way we trim and shoe. Owners need to recognize NPA and find a farrier who recognizes NPA and knows how to fix it. Farriers need to stop trimming off the back of the foot and add frog support to our shoeing packages. Frog support needs to be normalized. More than one client has remarked to me that if we put frog pads on the horse, potential buyers will think there is something wrong with the horse. This is because what is normalized currently in farriery are open heeled regular metal shoes, which are a huge part of what causes NPA. When we lift up the foot off the ground and provide no structural support to the frog, the center of the foot collapses. This is a very simple concept, yet we are still doing things the same way we have always done and expecting a different result. This is the definition of insanity and it is killing our horses slowly. If I help to change only one thing in my time as a farrier, I hope for it to be this.

For reference, normal/ideal angles are generally as follows:
Hairline: about 20°
Dorsal wall (toe): about 50-55°, steeper on some breeds
Heel: equal to toe angle or perhaps 5° less than dorsal wall

This horse’s toe is close to 50° however the heel is 23° lower than the toe and I could not even measure the heel at the back because the bulb is sitting on the shoe! I had to measure it where I could see the angle of the tubules on the wall. The hairline is far too low. This foot is not helping this horse at all and this horse is one of many. I might get some angry messages for this, but we need to acknowledge that most of our performance horses are NPA and/or have some degree of caudal failure and then then we need to do something about it.

——-

Addendum: This post has pi**ed off some people. Fair enough. It’s also been shared all over the world, which has been great and also quite the experience. Wayne over at Progressive Equine has been writing about caudal failure and NPA for a few years now, as have others. This topic is not new. For whatever reason, this post in particular has caught peoples’ attention.

What I ask of those who are angry about it, or indignant that I dared to challenge the status quo is this: if you think I’m wrong, ok. Go prove it. If I’m wrong, why are you angry? If I am wrong, then this post is irrelevant to you and irrelevant to your work and there is nothing to be angry about. I did not (and will not) name any particular farrier. Who did the job is not even relevant, because this problem is not about one person. I am not trash talking anyone. I am saying that there is a systemic issue in how farriers are taught to trim and shoe and that it is on us, as a group, to correct it by continuing to learn and grow. That is my perspective. If you think I’m wrong then disregard it. And yes, some horses manage in regular shoes and to the owners and farriers of those horses I am glad for you. For everyone else, maybe what I wrote here will help you. That is all I am trying to do.

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoroughbreddailynews.com%2Fthe-missing-link-to-end-fatal-musculoskele...
04/19/2022
The Missing Link to End Fatal Musculoskeletal Injuries?

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoroughbreddailynews.com%2Fthe-missing-link-to-end-fatal-musculoskeletal-injuries%2F&h=AT2sBK761Z2STz9QQXHR7mmMGObDVeENndH2bYkGBuZ6JIy-N0FOCyG-Q3eShAfVih8oQ1xLB-FyNpgIqQmugzP1TcaG2lvoADHLuBgBvk3fxLVVbZPELAhi58Po5bZhbA

By the beginning of April, there had been two fatal musculoskeletal injuries during the current Santa Anita meet. Wind the clock back to an identical window in 2019, there had been 22. During Aqueduct's benighted 2011-2012 Winter meet, 21 horses died, 18 of which were fractures sustained during raci...

Schockemöhle’s Lewitz Stud Mobilizes To Help Ukrainian Refugees
03/12/2022
Schockemöhle’s Lewitz Stud Mobilizes To Help Ukrainian Refugees

Schockemöhle’s Lewitz Stud Mobilizes To Help Ukrainian Refugees

Paul Schockemöhle’s Lewitz Stud in Northern Germany is probably best known for being the biggest warmblood breeding stable in the world. But in the past few weeks, the Lewitz Stud team has taken on a new mission: helping Ukrainians flee the war. ...

03/11/2022

While many residents fleeing Ukraine are trying to take their pets and animals with them, thousands of displaced horses, donkeys, burros and other animals remain behind and, like the people of Ukraine, need your help.

The Foundation for the Horse, the AAEP's charitable arm, will be donating all disaster gifts received in March 2022 to trusted veterinary and equine organizations it identifies in Europe providing emergency relief to horses and animals in impacted areas with the capabilities to provide care on the ground.

Visit The Foundation’s Disaster Relief page to donate and learn more about how we are connecting with veterinary groups and animal charities that are supporting those in need: https://www.foundationforthehorse.org/impact/disaster-relief/

03/10/2022

Two of the world’s top showjumping stallions, Cornet Obolensky and Comme Il Faut, have safely crossed the Ukrainian border at Korczowa-Krakowiec into Poland, according to reports.

The pair had been standing at Zhashkov Stud Farm in Zhashkov, Ukraine, about 140km away from the war-torn capital Kyiv...

Read more: http://www.equestrianlife.com.au/articles/Top-showjumping-stallions-flee-Ukraine

Nursemare Available
02/11/2022

Nursemare Available

✴️✴️✴️‼️‼️‼️PSA‼️‼️‼️✴️✴️✴️
PLEASE SHARE

ColdSpring Nurse Mares has 1 lovely, seasoned nursemare available traveling north from Florida on 2/10/22.
🛻 Can deliver anywhere on east coast 🛻

~We deliver the mare to your orphan foal and we handle the pairing process to ensure safety and success!
~We are an ethical nursemare program, which means you can feel good about using one of our nursemares, our mares are not bred and do not produce “throw away foals!”

Contact us ASAP if you are in need!
Bronwyn Watts
540. 588. 3453

Timeline photos
01/21/2022

Timeline photos

Check it out!
01/11/2022

Check it out!

David Folk of Nescopeck, Luzerne County found a passion for raising butterflies 15 years ago and has turned what he loves into a successful business: Folk’s Butterfly Farm. It all started with his daughter’s FFA project of raising butterflies. The project was a big hit and went all the way to Nationals in agri-business. They decided to take it a step further and run an exhibit at the Bloomsburg Fair. Although a great opportunity, this ended up posing a huge challenge as David and his family only had 30 days to put their exhibit together. However, that didn’t stop them! “We pulled it off in less than 30 days,” said David. “That’s where we started, and we’ve grown from there ever since.”

Folk’s Butterfly Farm currently has a pavilion with a 2-acre garden, two green houses, and are open to the public for weddings, birthday parties, nature events, and more.

David has been exhibiting at the Farm Show for nearly a decade. There’s a ton of preparation that goes into opening up an exhibit here. He said that he prepares by creating a checklist of what needs to be done and using that to stay organized. “Preparation really starts about 2.5-4 months prior. We raise all the butterflies and grow the plants needed to feed the Monarchs.” David raises about seven different breeds of butterflies in his farm.

Although showing off months of hard work at the Farm Show is rewarding, David’s favorite thing about being here every year is meeting new people. He says, “I love connecting with all the different people. We get a lot of kids and families so it’s really nice to see families going in and enjoying the butterflies together.” David has even put together a stroller storage system to encourage more families to stop in and experience what he has to offer.

“Our whole business is raising plants and butterflies. Agriculture is our life,” David confidently exclaimed.

Photos from The Equine Documentalist's post
12/11/2021

Photos from The Equine Documentalist's post

Bramlage: Racing And Training 2-Year-Olds Reduces Their Risk Of Injury – Here's Why - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report
12/10/2021
Bramlage: Racing And Training 2-Year-Olds Reduces Their Risk Of Injury – Here's Why - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

Bramlage: Racing And Training 2-Year-Olds Reduces Their Risk Of Injury – Here's Why - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

Before most horse racing jurisdictions shut down across the country and threw the economic balance of the sport into question, the industry's biggest problem was its need to reduce racing and training fatalities. Veterinarians and scientists are still learning about the causes of catastrophic injuri...

https://www.facebook.com/113944125332031/posts/4648018611924537/
12/09/2021
Trainers Frederic, Cedric Rossi Among Group Arrested On Horse Doping Charges In France - Horse Racing News | Paulick Report

https://www.facebook.com/113944125332031/posts/4648018611924537/

Four members of the prominent Rossi racing family were taken into police custody in France this Tuesday on charges of horse doping and forgery, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. Trainers Cedric Rossi, Frederic Rossi, and Charley Rossi were among those arrested, as well as Charley's wife, jockey J...

12/02/2021

Today we had the honour of hosting some students from the Ontario Veterinary College (University of Guelph). Along with them was Dr. Derek Haley who is a professor and researcher of animal welfare and animal behaviour science. Dr. Lena Levison who is also a veterinarian and animal welfare expert was here as the program coordinator. She manages and delivers the dairy welfare program to dairy vets, dairy farmers and 4th year vet students at the OVC. It is one of only two such programs in the entire world!

The students asked me about my welfare and management protocols - everything from calf care to euthanasia. The also assessed my cattle for lameness, hock and neck injuries, body condition, cleanliness etc. This training will be a huge asset for these students as they embark on their careers in large animal medicine.

All dairy farmers in Canada have routine mandatory welfare assessments done to assure the public that we are doing all we can to produce the highest quality milk from well cared for animals. The future of Canadian dairy is in good hands ❤️🇨🇦🥛

Ontario Veterinary College
Ontario Agricultural College,
University of Guelph

SOLD4 horse aluminum Head to head w/dressing room, dual ramps and 2 box stall option.Make me an easy deal, it's going to...
11/20/2021

SOLD
4 horse aluminum Head to head w/dressing room, dual ramps and 2 box stall option.
Make me an easy deal, it's going to the dealer after next week- 2000 Collin Arndt {Shetron}. Meticulously kept with new LED LIGHTING and fresh bearings. New tires, grease and brakes, new mats. New adjustable gooseneck coupler for excellent clearance. Great trailer we love it, but we are downsizing. Located in Kennett Square PA. PM with your best offer!
19K obo
Thanks!

Check it out-Nov. 17, 2021 Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association release:Following the Nov. 4 Mid-Atlantic Regulatory Mee...
11/18/2021
StrideSAFE Presentation 2021

Check it out-
Nov. 17, 2021 Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association release:

Following the Nov. 4 Mid-Atlantic Regulatory Meeting, we had several requests for a recording of the StrideSAFE presentation. Dr. Scott Palmer was able to obtain approval from the StrideSAFE team to circulate the recording. Please feel free to share this presentation with your Boards and colleagues, the response from the stakeholders has been unanimous in its praise.

Below is a link to the video on YouTube. https://youtu.be/X9WEuJAC-ck

😁
10/12/2021

😁

Relatable

Some good points here..... 🎃 👻 🏥
10/03/2021

Some good points here..... 🎃 👻 🏥

https://www.facebook.com/1153950791431655/posts/1897474183745975/
09/09/2021

https://www.facebook.com/1153950791431655/posts/1897474183745975/

Why we should ride young horses forward and down...

It is a commonly accepted training principle that we should encourage young horses to have a low head carriage. But why is this?

The muscles of the horses back are still immature at 3,4 and even at 5 years old. This is a combination of being developmentally (age related), and physically immature, in the sense that they lack the muscle condition which comes from years of training-induced exercise. Of course the maturity of their muscles will come naturally with time, and as we work them through groundwork and under saddle. But how can we get to this point, while protecting these fundamentally weak muscles and avoiding musculoskeletal injuries further down the line?

By utilising the passive ligament mechanism, we can allow the horse to support the back and carry the weight of the rider with very little muscular effort. This allows the epaxial muscles of the back to be free to perform their primary functions in movement, rather than acting as weight lifters.

The passive ligament system of the back is primarily composed of, well ligaments, the nuchal and supraspinous ligament to be exact.

The nuchal ligament is a strong, collagenous structure, originating at the extensor process of the occiput (the back of the skull), forming attachments to the cervical vertebrae, before inserting on the spinous process of the fourth thoracic vertebrae. Here the nuchal ligament broadens in the region of the withers, before continuing as the supraspinous ligament running along the top of the spinous processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and terminating in the sacral region of the spine.

This creates an inverse relationship between the position of the head and neck and the balance between flexion and extension of the spine.

Generally speaking, lowering the head induces flexion in the thoracic region (the back is lifted) and conversely, raising the head creates extension in the thoracic region (the back hollows/drops). This is because the elongation of the strong and elastic nuchal ligament created when the head is lowered, creates a forward traction on the high spinous processes of the withers, and travels through the supraspinous ligament to lift the thoracic region of the spine. Comparatively, shortening of the ligament raises the head.

This system has provided an evolutionary advantage to the horse, as while they are grazing, the weight of the thorax and abdomen is supported passively by the ligament with very little muscular effort over long periods of time (up to the 16-19 hours per day they can spend grazing in the wild). Equally, because of the stored elastic potential energy in the liagement when it is stretched for the head to be at ground level, the horse can quickly raise its head to gallop away at the first sign of a predator.

Furthermore, lowering of the head and neck, stretching downwards and forwards, straightens out the natural S curve of the horse's spine. This lifts the bottom of the S curve, the cervico-thoracic junction and the ribcage, which creates lightness in the forequarters when the horse is moving. Further back, flexion in the thoracic region, increases the spacing between the dorsal spinous processes as the most dorsal aspect of the spine is stretched out. This posture is particularly therapeutic for horses with kissing spines.

In fact, the degree of flexion of the back is most marked between the 5th and 9th thoracic vertebrae, but is also significant between the 9th and 14th. Consequently, the arching and lifting of the back takes place directly under the saddle and therefore works to support the rider.

This is particularly useful in young horses; it allows the young horse, whose muscles are not mature enough to carry the rider, the chance to support its back and lift the weight of the rider by moving the head-neck axis rather than using active muscle contraction.

This means that the horse can use its muscles solely for movement; creating a loose, swinging back, free of tension, and suppleness in the gait.

Here we have the opportunity for us to slowly develop and condition the epaxial musculature of the young horse. Which will create a foundation of strength and suppleness of the back and the core to support more advanced movements later in their career.

Comparatively, if this system is not used, and the young horse is pulled into a shortened outline, it is the Longissimus Dorsi muscle which takes up the role of supporting the weight of the rider. But theLongissimus Dorsi is not designed for weight carrying, it is primarily a movement muscle.

Muscles act in the direction through which their fibres flow; the Longissimus Dorsi works in the horizontal plane, originating in the sacral and lumbar region of the spine and inserting through the lumbar, thoracic and ending in the cervical region. The Longissimus Dorsi primarily acts to extend and stabilise the entire spine, while also acting unilaterally to induce lateral flexion of the back. You can see the Longissimus Dorsi in action when watching a horse moving from above; the large muscle contracts alternately on each side of the back in the rhythm of the gait to stabilise the movement.

Once the Longissimus Dorsi is required to lift the weight of the rider, the muscle becomes blocked and stiff. Muscles are designed to work through a process of contraction and relaxation; held too long in contraction (to carry the weight of a rider, or support a shortened outline) and the Longissimus Dorsi will fatigue. This will lead to muscle spasm and pain within the muscle. Not only will the horse lose the strength to carry the rider, but they will also lose the natural elasticity of the back which will reduce the fluidity of their gaits.

Over time with greater overuse and fatigue, the Longissimus Dorsi muscle will atrophy, requiring the recruitment of other muscles, such as the Iliocostalis, to take up the role of stabilising the back and supporting the weight of the rider. Other muscles which are equally not designed for weight lifting. And so the cycle continues and the performance of the horse suffers.

With this knowledge in mind, we can understand why it is so essential to make use of the passive ligament system, by striving for that forward and down head carriage. Furthermore, that we also allow our young horses regular breaks, working on a loose rein to allow our horse to come out of the outline, stretch out, and reduce the risk of fatigue.

I always marvel at the intricately designed systems of energy conservation to create efficiency in the horse's way of going. It is our role as a rider to have an awareness of and make use of these systems; to allow our horses to go in the most efficient and beneficial way for them possible, upholding their standard of welfare.

Image credit: Tug of War, Gerd Heuschmann

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Tapeworm Road, Kennett Square
Kennett Square, PA
19348

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(610) 268-2050

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Bargain Price for your own barn space with Indoor! 4 stalls in a private, fully enclosed barn, with 2 private turnouts and an indoor ring available in the heart of Unionville PA at Foxbrook Farm. $3200 per month for the package, includes basic full board- bedding with straw in fully matted stalls, 2 water buckets, high quality feed and beautiful alfalfa/mix twice a day. Heated wash stall. PM for more info.

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