Safety Video: Evacuating Horses in a Natural Disaster

by Fran Jurga | 27 August 2009 | The Jurga Report



Welcome to the third in a series of safety videos from Texas A&M University on aspects of caring for horses during natural disasters.

I'm taking this one personally, since Tropical Storm Danny is headed toward the coast of New England as I write this. And the coast of New England is about 50 feet from this keyboard.

I don't expect that Danny will be Son of Katrina, but last week we had mile-high waves from Hurricane Bill far out to sea, and who knows what next week will bring.

I think it's time to sit down and go over all your a) "hunkering down" and b)"getting-outta-here-now" plans for you and all your animals. Maybe add category c: if you and your animals are all set, who can you help, and how?

In the back-to-school spirit, you can go out and buy a notebook and start writing down all the details the video suggests you'll need. Get out your important papers and start making copies. Call your vet now for any records you need, and check with your local authorities about emergency plans for your community. You just might be glad you did.

Oh, and keep an eye on Danny...and the next one coming behind him.

Thanks to extension.org for making these safety videos available.

Traveling Equine Clinic Rolls Into Western Performance and Breed Shows

by Fran Jurga | 15 August 2009 | The Jurga Report



"Is there a vet on the grounds?" You know that sound in a horse owner's or groom's voice when they ask that question. They sound a little thin, a little higher octave than usual.

The answer? "Um, yeah, parked over by B Barn. Working out of an SUV. Blue, I think," you say pointing vaguely over your shoulder, wishing them luck.

And sometimes you don't even know, unless the event has started and the vet is on duty at a prescribed spot rather than working in the stabling area.

But that's not the case when the Texas-based practice known simply as Equine Sports Medicine rolls onto the grounds of a big show, usually in the Central time zone. It's not just a team of vets who cover the show; they actually bring an entire vet clinic, housed in a converted stock car trailer, and a staff of technicians.

A hydraulic ramp comes down, revealing climate-controlling doors. Generators power lights and equipment. Inside, the vets work in air-conditioned comfort (or heat, depending on the time of year) and the horses relax while they go through radiography or have a joint injected or are examined for pre-purchase or any ailment.

I remember when Dr. Alan Donnell announced that this clinic-on-wheels was his plan. He's now on the road with two of these mobile clinics, plus an all-star crew of veterinarians and support staff.

This week, they're at the Reichert Celebration and National Snaffle Bit Futurity in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Next week, they'll head down the road to Amarillo, Texas for the AQHA Select Show. Their schedule this year takes them from Arizona in the west to Florida in the east, and as far north as Columbus, Ohio for the Quarter Horse Congress. When they go home--if they ever do--it's to Pilot Point, Texas.

I hope you enjoy this little peek inside the mobile clinic, which was provided by a local television station. Maybe they'll be be rolling into an event you'll be attending some day soon. Don't worry, you won't have a hard time finding them!

Florida Imposes Transport Inspection, Restrictions on Texas Livestock

Anyone planning to transport horses out of the state of Texas should be prepared for health inspections and possible delays. Florida has imposed an official restriction on all hooved livestock from Texas. Here's the official announcement:

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson today announced restrictions on the importation of animals from states affected with vesicular stomatitis following a confirmed case in Texas, the first such case reported in the United States since 2006.

Vesicular Stomatitis is a highly contagious, viral disease that affects horses, cattle, swine and occasionally sheep, goats and deer. The virus can also cause flu-like symptoms in people working with infected animals. Signs of vesicular stomatitis include blister-like lesions in the mouth, on the tongue, lips, nostrils, hooves and teats. While the virus is rarely fatal, it does result in significant weight loss and milk production loss. It is also difficult to distinguish between this virus and foot-and-mouth disease, a devastating livestock disease found outside the United States. States and other countries often impose movement restrictions on animals from vesicular stomatitis-affected areas.

The United States Department of Agriculture, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, have confirmed the finding of a positive horse, with clinical signs on a ranch in Starr County, Texas. (Scroll down the blog to read the official news from earlier this week.)

Florida requires veterinary inspection of susceptible animals coming from states affected with vesicular stomatitis.

Hoofed animals entering Florida from Texas will require prior permission for entry and must be accompanied by an official certificate of veterinary inspection. The certificate of veterinary inspection must state that the animals are free of clinical signs of vesicular stomatitis and have not been exposed nor located within 10 miles of a positive premises, within the previous 30 days. In addition, any hoofed livestock from states that are affected with vesicular stomatitis are required to have documentation to show they have been tested and found negative within 10 days of movement to Florida.

Equine Disease Alert: First Case of Vesicular Stomatitis for 2009 in Texas

Because of the serious nature of this disease and its implications, we are publishing this health alert in its entirety, as provided by the Texas Animal Health Commission. While you may be nowhere near this horse or its premises, this case may have an effect on horse transport regulations in and out of Texas and other states, or into Canada. This is important information.

The nation’s first case of vesicular stomatitis (VS) for 2009 has been detected in a horse in Starr County, in far south Texas. VS is a sporadically occurring virus that is endemic to the U.S. Signs of the disease include blisters, lesions and sloughing of the skin on the muzzles, tongue, teats and above the hooves of susceptible livestock, which include horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, deer and some other species of animals.

“The most recent outbreak was in 2006 limited to Wyoming only, where 17 horses and a dozen cattle on 13 premises were confirmed to have the virus,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas’ state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. “To prevent the spread or introduction of infection, many states and countries will place additional entry requirements or restrictions on the movement of animals from affected states, or portions of the state. Call the state or country of destination before moving livestock, to ensure that all entry requirements can be met. Do not risk shipments being turned away, or worse, spreading disease and facing legal action by animal health authorities.”

“Often horses are the signal, or first, animals to be confirmed with vesicular stomatitis when the virus is active. If the blisters and lesions are seen in cattle, sheep, pigs or other cloven-hooved animals, our first concern is a possible introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, the most costly and destructive foreign animal disease. Horses are not susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, but anytime blisters or unusual sores are seen, animals should be examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible.”

“Move sick animals away from the remainder of the herd to protect against disease spread,” urged Dr. Hillman. “Do not move sick animals from the premises, and call your veterinarian or the nearest Texas Animal Health Commission area office, or the Austin headquarters at 800-550-8242. Laboratory testing to confirm infection can be run at no charge to the livestock owner.

“Vesicular stomatitis is painful for affected animals, but usually, the lesions will heal within two weeks to a month. For some severe cases, owners may elect to have an infected animal euthanized, to put an end to the suffering. In dairies, VS infection can lead to a substantial loss of production,” said Dr. Hillman. Treatment of VS-infected animals consists of supportive care, and antibiotics may be needed to prevent secondary infections in the open sores. Animal health officials in nearly all states, including Texas, require VS-infected animals and their herd mates to be quarantined until at least 21 days after all lesions have healed. A follow-up examination of the animals by the state veterinarian’s office is required prior to quarantine release.

VS outbreaks are extremely sporadic, and years may lapse between cases. Sand flies and black flies are thought to play a role in the virus transmission, so controlling insects is important. In 2005, the VS outbreak involved livestock on at least 445 premises in nine states, including Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. In 2004, affected animals were detected in eight counties each in Texas and New Mexico and in 22 Colorado counties. Before the 2004 outbreak, VS had been “silent” since 1998, when Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas had cases.

More information about VS is available on the TAHC web site at: http://www.tahc.state.tx.us.

Double Video: Mustangs Before and After Rescue at Three Strikes Ranch in Nebraska

by Fran Jurga | 12 May 2009 | The Jurga Report

You've heard about it on the news, now you can see it with your own eyes. The Humane Society of the United States has put together two short newsreel videos showing the conditions at the Three Strikes Ranch in Nebraska, where 200 Mustangs were rescued last month. A second video is a bit more upbeat, chronicling the transport of over 100 of them to Cleveland Amory's Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, where they will have a chance to eat and rest and heal.

Warning, as they say: Graphic content!

Texas Among 27 States Testing Horses for Contagious Equine Metritis

(a press release for horse owners from The Texas Animal Health Commission)

Texas is among 27 states tracing and testing horses that may have been exposed to contagious
equine metritis (CEM), a highly contagious disease that can be transmitted during breeding
artificial insemination. CEM can cause temporary infertility of horses. The disease, not known
to affect humans, was first detected in the U.S. in 1978, then again in 1979. In both instances,
the infection was eradicated.

In mid-December 2008, a CEM-infected quarter horse stallion was detected in Kentucky
during routine testing for international semen shipment. The USDA and Kentucky animal health
authorities quickly initiated an epidemiological investigation, leading to the testing of more
horses. To date, seven infected stallions have been detected: four in Kentucky, and three
Indiana. The Indiana stallions had spent part of the 2008 breeding season on the Kentucky
premises where the initial CEM case was detected.

As of January 2, 2009, 78 potentially exposed horses (nine stallions and 69 mares) in 27
have been identified and located, and placed under hold order or quarantine by state animal
health authorities, pending test results.

In Texas, veterinarians from the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state regulatory
agency for livestock health, have contacted the owners of 14 mares and a stallion with
epidemiological links to the infected horses. Testing of the 15 horses in Texas will begin this week. Currently, Texas has no known CEM infection.

As the epidemiological investigation widens, at least 250 additional horses are being traced in
more than 25 states.

Dr. Ellis, Texas’ assistant state veterinarian, stressed that CEM is spread during breeding, not by casual contact or shared boarding facilities. CEM may be transmitted either during natural service or through artificial insemination.

CEM-infected horses must be quarantined and treated with disinfectants and antibiotics over a period of several weeks. Following a course of successful treatment and re-evaluation, the
animals may be certified CEM-negative and released from quarantine.

Please check back for more information on the CEM in the Unted States as the situation as it develops.

Congratulations to Dr. Eleanor Green: AAEP President Will Be Dean at Texas A&M Vet School in 2009

It's nice to have some good news to report once in a while. No diseases, no crashes, no fractures today: let's celebrate!

Texas A&M University announced today that an exhaustive search for a new dean of the vet school there has been completed and the new dean will be the University of Florida's Dr. Eleanor Green, who is currently professor and chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida.

The timing of the announcement is interesting, since this week is the close of Dr. Green's term as president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. I hope she has time to catch her breath!

Lights on Broadway: Shining Brightly Again

Lights on Broadway at his new home; photo from Donna Keen's blog

This story is a "must share" best-case scenario of what can happen when the stars line up in the sky. Thanks to a chance encounter, a horse's life was saved, and I hope that this story will inspire others to reach out and find ways to help retired racehorses who, regardless of their histories, often find themselves headed to Canada or Mexico...on a one-way trip.

A good place to start this story is to announce that Lights on Broadway--winner of well over half a million dollars, the 2001 Texas Horse of the Year, and an annual favorite at Lone Star Park--has retired from racing at age 11, after running in more than 80 horses. This is his second retirement; his latest comeback at tracks in the Midwest came after being purchased off a truck headed for a Canadian slaughterhouse a few months ago.

Oklahoma-based Quarter Horse trainer Gregg Sanders was talking to the driver of a truck one day this spring. Attached to the truck was a big gooseneck stock trailer with about 40 horses crammed inside. The driver showed Sanders some Jockey Club papers chronicling an impressive race record and said the horse was on board. Sanders was stunned to see the familiar name and asked the driver to pull Lights off the trailer.

The sorrel gelding was thin and lame but Sanders immediately purchased him. The price? $200, for a horse that had won over a half million dollars for his former owners. His new owner brought him to a deeply bedded stall at his own 30-horse racing stable in Henryetta, Oklahoma. Lights on Broadway, who Sanders calls "one of the kindest and gentlest horses I have ever seen", spent most of the next three days stretching out in the comfort of that stall.

The trainer began a feeding regimen to bring Lights' weight back up and immediately had his veterinarian and farrier deal with the injury causing Lights' lameness, which is now completely healed. Sanders started the gelding back into training.

Meanwhile, journalist and anti-slaughter advocate Alex Brown continually tracks high-earning horses that are running for low claiming prices around the country . Alex's ears went up when his Daily Racing Form "Horse Watch" account notified him that Lights had been entered to run on July 13 for a claiming price of $2,500 at the Anthony Downs Fair in Kansas.

Alex and a large group of the gelding's fans began working to find Lights a new home for his retirement. These included Texas fans who spread word throughout the state's racing industry, an anonymous Texas OTTB owner who made a generous donation and Alex's friends at "Fans of Barbaro", a horse welfare group that provided both financial and logistical support.

Alex is happy to report that Lights on Broadway retired August 30 to a farm owned by trainer Dallas Keen and his wife Donna, who will give the gelding plenty of time to rest, then learn a new job. He will become an ambassador for the virtually unlimited potential of the off-the-track Thoroughbred (known in most horse circles as the "OTTB"), the realities of horse slaughter, and the need for the racing industry to develop good alternatives for re-homing former racehorses.

Both Lights on Broadway's breeder and the retirement group LOPE Texas offered Lights a home, but when the Keens made a generous donation of funds and a commitment to work with Lights in his new life, he shipped to them.

"We cannot wait to have him home and give him some well deserved time off," writes Donna Keen on her blog. "He will be turned out with a couple of other geldings in a big paddock with a nice size pond. When he is ready, we will start retraining him for a new life. Whether it be a racetrack pony, a dressage horse or just a plain ol' trail buddy, he will be loved and cherished by all the wonderful people that worked so hard to make this happen."

Donna promises to chronicle Lights on Broadway's new life and has already posted lots of photos of him on her blog. His story is definitely not over yet.

Thanks to Alex Brown and Donna Keen for background used for this post.