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Sounds of Spring Have you heard the cicadas this year! In the heat of the sun you can hear their loud cadence and you can hear them as the move around from one area to the loud chatter in another area. You can see their carcasses by the fence posts around the pastures. The flies are also numerous and look like the August variety…big. This past month we had a new addition to our barn, a young Trakehner colt (sold). He is perfectly conformed and looks very much like his Dam, a 17+hand young dark bay Trakehner. He is also growing very quickly and is a beautiful mover like his Dam. He did give us quite a scare though at a week and one-half old. He was found early in the morning in his stall with the mare and he was close to death. Apparently he had developed a septicemia, which is a blood bacterial infection. The vets believe that it had to have been a Clostridium type bacteria for the onset and effects to be so life debilitating. In addition, probably due to mild colic or pain during the night he had banged his heat continuously and developed a superficial corneal ulcer. When we found him, we called the vets and rushed him on a tarp in a jeep to Mid-Atlantic Equine where they got to him just in time and within 4 hours he started to respond to antibiotics. He is now a normal and very big young foal and his eye is slowly healing. Clostridium can be found everywhere. Although the mare had been up to date with all shots including Botulism, this type of infection is difficult to determine how it happened. He could have had a scratch. It does not seem to be from his umbilical cord as that had healed and had been treated with iodine and a shot of penicillin is always given after birth. His own IgG levels were also very good after birth. Apparently corneal ulcers can be cleared with antibiotics. It takes a little time for the blood vessels to penetrate to the ulcer to assist the body defense to clear the ulcer. You can actually see the ulcer with fluorescent dye which can be added by drops into the eye. After the ulcer heals the blood vessels will recede and there will be a very tiny scar, much like a spec of dirt on your glasses. Because the cornea is in a different focal plane from cells which produce vision, the ulcer will not effect the vision. He is expected to heal his eye completely. So if you would like to come visit this young animal back from the otherside, he can be seen during our open house on June 12th and 13th. In addition, we will be having a “horse-whisperer” at 1:00PM both days and a horse auction to follow this on Saturday about 2:30PM. We hope to see you!
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203 Main Street #400 • Flemington, NJ 08822 | ||
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