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| Anhidrosis (Non- sweater) Anhidrosis is a condition in which the horse stops sweating. There are many degrees of this condition. Some horses may initially simply develop abnormal sweating patterns while other cease sweating entirely. Clinical signs may include : Abnormal or absent sweat patterns/patches. Dry skin, poor hair coat, scaly skin, hair loss especially on neck,face and between hind legs. Decreased ability to recover from exercise, exercise intolerance. Labored breathing, flared nostrils, fever when in the barn or standing in the shade. Blowing unusually hard after a normal workout. Excessive thirst or playing in the water buckets,hovering over water buckets. Treatment Many of these hoses are treated successfully with acupuncture and herbal therapy.In addition, it is recommended that these horses are kept in the coolest environment possible such as in a stall with fans during the day. Frequent hosing to reduce overheating, place sprinklers or misters in the shade in the pasture . Avoid riding or causing the horses body temperature to rise until the horse has begun sweating or the temperature changes. Additionally, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid supplement may help with a dry brittle hair coat. Supplement with ONE AC, and dark beer .Try to resolve any possible inciting causes. Cause Largely undetermined. Stress has been anecdotally reported to bring the condition on, whether it is the stress from a trailer ride/ anticipated event, stress of sickness or just overwork. Any horse may be affected. This condition is most common in hot humid climates like Florida and less likely to occur in climates like New York. |
| Back Soreness A very common condition in horses found in pleasure and trail riding horses to all types of performance horses. Clinical signs may include: When getting groomed or tacked the horse may: tail swish, grind teeth, bite, fidget, pin ears or kick; flinching or muscle spasms or pinning ears when palpating muscles along the spine, brushing that area or placing the saddle on the horses back. Under tack you may experience a reluctance to really remove forward, tail swishing,teeth grinding. Depending on the horses' job, you may encounter cross cantering, switching leads back and forth, stiff choppy stride, tense back, reluctance to engage hindquarters,reluctance to go onto the bit and soften, difficulty balancing in corners or turns, rushing fences, adding strides before fences, anxiety at the in gate, increased spookiness and shying. These are sometimes signs that a horse is trying to get away from the discomfort. Common Causes Back soreness can be a primary problem or secondary to something else. Some of the more common causes include hock problems/arthritis, incorrect saddle fit, training methods and muscle soreness. Treatment Acupuncture and herbal therapy are very useful and successful for treating back pain. They can be used alone or as an adjunct to hock injections and muscle relaxants, depending on the inciting cause. Proper saddle fit is critical. Acupuncture often can help to extend to time between joint injections. Massage will also help the healing process. |
