This issue of UK-Vet Equine covers a range of relevant topics as summer starts to show itself – not including the recent storms! For me, ‘April showers’ has, so far, included driving hail, gale-force winds and gorgeous sunshine in a 20-minute span. I hadn't clipped my part-Thoroughbred over the winter – he's now started shedding his winter coat so deciding whether or not to rug him through the last couple of weeks has required far more thought than it normally would!
May 6–12, 2024, is Strangles Awareness Week. This is a global initiative which aims to provide owners and vets with the tools to prevent outbreaks, and to manage them when they do occur. Redwings and The British Horse Society have come together to highlight BEST practice regarding strangles (p130). Strangles is a common equine infectious disease worldwide (Morris et al, 2021), and its highly contagious nature demands respect – this Strangles Awareness Week also highlights how the strangles vaccine is hugely beneficial in protecting horses and containing outbreaks.
Tim Mair provides a comprehensive round up of the most recent guidelines around worming (p106) from the British Equine Veterinary Association and Controlling ANTiparasitic resistance in Equines Responsibly, more commonly known as CANTER. Adjusting worming practices away from blanket worming and towards individual worming based on a specific horse's worm burden will go a long way to avoiding further anthelmintic resistance developing. Anthelmintic resistance is a known issue in the equine world (Rendle et al, 2023), and it is vital that currently available wormers are not overused.
As we come into summer, owners of horses who are easy keepers and may be prone to laminitis will be making adjustments to their horse's management to maintain their weight when the lush spring grass comes through. Philip Johnson discusses equine metabolic syndrome (p121) and how the nutritional aspect of this condition must be taken into consideration. Horses with equine metabolic syndrome may also experience insulin dysregulation (Weckman et al, 2024), which can in turn make them more prone to developing endocrinopathic laminitis, which can be devastating. This article also covers various methods of testing for insulin dysregulation – prevention is better than the cure, so the earlier this condition is caught, the better.
This issue of Equine is full to the brim with useful information and will be a great read for the last few weeks of spring. Personally, I am very much looking forward to summer – or at least, for the weather to settle down!