Equine Traditions

During America’s early days, from the first settlers to around 1900, horses were the power that transported us, tilled our fields, and pulled the wagons that brought us goods. Knowledge about horse care was handed down through families. Many of the traditions and remedies have survived. Some are solid. Some are silly.

The first that comes to mind is how everyone, worldwide, is taught to approach and mount horses from their left side. Coming at them from the right would have worked equally well, but the left side is what horses are used to. Because they are creatures of habit, even more than us, this is a tradition that makes sense. A horse approached from the right is apt to shy. Imagine having to approach your dog only from one side. Dogs are more like, “whatever, let’s just play!”

There was a Standardbred racetrack in Lewiston, Maine, until the late 1980’s. It was there that I was first exposed to some of the old horse superstitions. I remember Charlie’s barn in which there was a big bulb of whole garlic nailed to the wall in each horse stall. I asked him about it. The old horseman replied that it kept shipping fever away. I asked how he knew that. “My father always did it, and it’s always worked for me.” When I suggested vaccinating his horses for flu, to keep his horses healthy, Charlie scoffed. End of discussion.

At that same track I learned another thing not taught in vet school. In the racing community there is a prejudice about horses with white feet. The saying I used to hear in Standardbred circles was:

One white foot try ‘em.

Two white feet deny ‘em.

Three white feet, feed ‘em to the crows.

There are a number of variations on that ditty to be found online. It is interesting that in some breeds like the American Saddlebred and the Clydesdale, white legs and feet are desirable because they make those horses flashy. True confession: in my years of practice, it really did seem like a white foot on a horse was more subject to the bacterial condition of feet called gravel. Just sayin’… I have no numbers to back that up.

Over 40 years ago I visited a classmate who was a Thoroughbred race track vet in New York. His daily calls included working the backside at Belmont Park. One day I accompanied him on his rounds at that famous track. I was surprised at some of the old traditions that are deeply set in the Thoroughbred industry. For example, when Standardbreds are to be groomed and harnessed, they are always taken out of their stalls. On Thoroughbred tracks all horse preparation is done in the stalls. The horses are secured by a light chain that runs from their halter to an eye bolt screwed into the back wall. Administering medications, grooming, and any fussing with them is never, ever done on the barn floor. When I asked a trainer why they didn’t take them out and cross tie them in the barn alley way like trainers and grooms of other breeds, he was amazed.

“Why, that would break their spirit!” If I asked the same question today I’ll bet today any horseman on that track would say the same thing. Old ideas die hard.

There are a variety of liniments available for horses’ legs. They fill the tack trunks of every race stable in the country. Most of the liniments have secret formulas, but almost all contain some iodine. It makes the liniments dark and pungent. The idea behind liniments is to increase the circulation to the legs. I often saw owners rub liniment on a newly injured leg. I never understood why anyone would put something warming on an already hot leg. It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire. The thing to do for any acute leg injury in horses and people is lots of ice or cold water for a few days to cool things down. Then the liniments can do their job.

I remember some of the old timers on the track putting a slab of raw steak on a swollen leg and securing it with a leg wrap for 24 hours. It always seemed like a waste of good meat to me. I was never convinced that it did much except attract flies.

Curious horses are apt to get porcupine quills right on the sensitive end of their noses. Owners often called me to ask if they should snip the quills to let the air out so they pull easier. That’s an old wives tale which doesn’t help. Quills are hard to pull out because the pointed ends of quills have hundreds of tiny barbs just like those on a fishhook. The quills are hollow, but snipping them doesn’t make it easier to remove them. If there were just a few quills, I’d tell owners to use needle nose pliers to try and pull them. It hurts, and most horses will only put up with so much of that. A nose full of quills usually means a vet visit and some heavy sedation.

Four leaf clovers and horse shoes have been thought to be lucky for hundreds of years. It is a tradition to nail a shoe over entrances. They are commonly seen in horse barns over stall doors. There is some debate as to whether the opening of the shoe should be up or down. Some say up so the luck doesn’t spill out. Others say down so good luck pours out. When a new client was trucking a horse to my place, I always gave our road name and then would say, “turn right when you see the horseshoe on the telephone poll.” I never considered myself superstitious, but I was aware that I nailed that shoe a certain way, and never for a minute considered doing it the other way. That would have been unlucky! You’ll welcome to visit anytime to see which way it’s nailed on.

There has always been interesting lore surrounding horses. Some of the traditions go back centuries. It’s one of the things that made being an equine practitioner such a rich and interesting experience.

Farm Animals and Pandemics

The following is a chapter from Dr J's forthcoming book, hoping to be released sometime at the end of 2021 or early 2022.

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Joanie has an active show horse barn in Richmond, Maine. She called me one day, excited about her new purchase. She had just bought a yearling filly online and sight unseen. That’s two uh-ohs. The seller is in Georgia. I told Joanie to be sure the youngster was vaccinated for the common equine respiratory diseases at least two weeks before trucking. Too late. She had already been loaded with 6 others coming from 3 different farms in the Deep South. The truck was on its way to New England. I said, “Joanie, even if she gets off the truck looking healthy, be sure to isolate her from the herd for 2 weeks.”

Joanie called when the filly arrived 3 days later. She said the horse was the picture of health so thought she’d be OK, and she turned her out with her herd. That was the third and biggest uh-oh. Her excitement was overriding her good sense. Love is a funny thing. 24 hours later the filly stopped eating, ran a fever, and a thick nasal discharge began. All of Joanie’s other horses were exposed. Over the next week most of her horses, also unvaccinated, got sick with what turned out to be Strangles. Strangles is an upper respiratory disease of horses that is extremely contagious and although only rarely fatal, it does make horses very sick. It can take weeks for complete healing, and then the animal can still be infective for months beyond. Sounds a little like Covid, doesn’t it? Strangles is a reportable disease, so I was obligated to tell the state veterinarian. The Maine Department of Agriculture put the barn under quarantine until the last sick horse had totally recovered. The barn was shut down for a total of 12 weeks. No horses in. No horses out. No visitors. Total cost to Joanie: several thousand dollars in vet bills and the loss of the year’s show season.

Influenza is another respiratory disease in horses that will spread through barns with unvaccinated animals. Vaccines are also recommended against the mosquito borne encephalitis diseases.

The Covid pandemic of 2020 has lessons to teach us about disease prevention and transmission. Veterinarians are well trained in both. My veterinary career started with dairy cattle. Traditionally cows are housed close to each other. That is true for sheep as well. This causes problems when a contagious disease hits a farm. Social distancing is impossible so health problems spread rapidly. When a bug hits a barn, visitors should be barred and vets who travel from farm to farm have to be extra vigilant to avoid taking it to the next place.

Typical uniform for farm vets is a set of coveralls over regular clothes and rubber boots that come up at least ½ way to the knees. We typically carry a stainless steel pail, a squirt bottle of disinfectant that is effective against bacteria and viruses, and a long handled scrub brush. You learn the dance of scrubbing your boots without taking them off: toes, sides and heels. The sole surfaces are cleaned by balancing on one foot while cleaning the bottom of the other. Any object that carries disease is called a fomite. That includes our clothing, hands, and even our vehicles. No one wants to be a fomite. A vet with a reputation of being casual in moving from farm to farm would be soon out of business. Farm vets typically carry extra sets of clothing and coveralls in their truck and may change a few times in a day. Whenever possible we try to make the call to an affected farm the last one of the day.

When horses are being trucked long distance, I try to persuade owners to have a vet at the farm of origin check them out before they leave and vaccinate them weeks before they depart. Face masks don’t work on animals, so we depend on social distancing. New arrivals should unload in an isolated paddock at least 25 feet from other horses. For a period of 2 weeks disposable gloves should be worn when those animals are fed and handled. Hand washing and boot disinfecting is critical for personnel before returning to the main barn. No visitors are permitted for two weeks, no matter how much an owner wants to show off the new acquisition. Here are are some principals that veterinarians have learned both in school and on the job:

1. Vaccines that have been properly tested and found effective are amazingly protective. For example, in the large animal world, rabies, tetanus and encephalitis vaccines are close to 100% effective. In people vaccines have virtually eliminated small pox and polio.

2. There are disinfectants that are 100% effective in sanitizing surfaces against viruses and bacteria. When applied routinely they also slow disease spread.

3. Almost everything we learned from the Covid pandemic including vaccines and social distancing can be applied to livestock.

Horse Friends

I wonder if you have ever begun a “stranger with horses” friendship like I have a number of times. For me, typically it goes like this. I am traveling by air and find myself next to a stranger, and we will be sitting very close for the next 3 hours. Perhaps a bit awkwardly at first, I begin a conversation.

“Is your destination Chicago, or are you going on from there?”

I probe a little deeper, looking for a common interest. After some small talk I ask what my seat mate does for a hobby. It turns out that there is a horse in the family. Bingo! At that moment the conversation becomes relaxed and fun as we share horse stories. It’s the start of a horse friendship. Before the flight is over, we are sharing contact information. It doesn’t matter that one of us is a liberal Democrat and the other a conservative Republican. We might not agree on evolution or global warming, but we do share a love of horses, and that trumps everything else. I work for some clients whose views on child rearing, spirituality, and life in general are totally different from mine. It doesn’t matter, because when I am on their farm we are talking about the health of their animals, and with that as our base we are “horse friends.”

That stranger with horses that you meet on a plane or at a party is a casual friendship that may or may not blossom in time. In my career as an equine vet I often see how very deep the long established horse friendships can be. A recent example is an emergency call that I went on last month. Sue had been dealing with her colicky gelding, Max, through the afternoon, and was seeing no progress despite Gas X, Banamine, and hours of walking. About 8 PM she realized that it had been several hours since Max had made manure, and even longer since she had heard gut sounds. She called the emergency number. An hour later I was at her farm.

As I walked into the barn I heard Sue shout, “We’re down here, last stall.” Sue was standing in Max’s stall with him and a woman who she introduced as her good friend Terry. Sue had called Terry because Max was crashing, and she wanted support. Terry and I exchanged “hellos”, but not much beyond that as I was already focused on Max. His head was down, and he did not look happy. After a thorough assessment and an internal exam, I told Sue and Terry that Max had a loop of bowel out of place. It was trapped and to save his life meant surgery. I told them that if they could get him to the hospital within 3 hours he had a good chance of making it. Without hesitating, Terry said, “OK, let’s load him up and get there in 2!” After a phone call to New England Equine we loaded Max, and off they went with Sue driving and Terry riding shotgun. I told them that they probably wouldn’t be back until 6 AM if they stayed for the surgery. Terry said, “No problem.” What a blessing to have a friend like Terry!

Through the years and many such calls I have found that when it hits the fan, I see friends like Terry come quickly and stay until things are resolved. That’s one of the things that make being a large animal vet so satisfying. When the rest of the world seems self-centered, there are rare, true friends who are ready to stand by you. Max did have surgery that night and is alive and well today. Sue has since said, “I’m not sure I could have gotten through that night without Terry.” I had a client review this article before I submitted it, and her comment was, “Tell them it should be someone beside your spouse.” I think I’ll not comment on that.

My personal favorite friendship story is how Darcie saved the day for me 20 years ago. Her Dad, Charlie, had a stable of racing standardbreds. He owned a business so wasn’t at the barn very much. He relied on Darcie to take care of things in the barn. She was in her 20’s and a competent trainer. I had been working for the family for a couple of years, and Darcie seemed to appreciate my services.

I had just looked at a Standardbred mare for Darcie at the Cumberland Race Track. When I was done, I jumped into my vehicle and went tearing out of the fairgrounds, already late for my next appointment 15 miles away. I drove at 50, right past the very visible 40 mph speed limit sign, and was crowding 55 when I saw the blue lights in my mirror. I had three immediate thoughts.

1. Where was he hiding?

2. Now I’m really going to be late!

3. This is going to cost me at least $150!

I pulled over, and one of Cumberland’s finest pulled in behind me. I reached toward the glove box for the registration, muttering under my breath. I had just grabbed the paper work when I heard a horn blaring and looked over my shoulder to see Darcie’s truck go roaring past the cop and pull up in front of me, skidding on the dirt shoulder as she hit the brakes. Darcie jumped out with her truck motor still running and driver door left wide open. The cop was walking up to my vehicle from behind me, and Darcie was running back to it. Both arrived at my window at the same time. The officer was confused, but not as confused as I was. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, Darcie shouted,

“Doc, ya gotta get back to the track! That mare you were working on went down, and now she’s acting real crazy like she’s having a fit or something! “

The officer said to me, “Are you a vet?”

“I am. I just left the racetrack, and it looks like I better get back. Can we put off our business a bit until I see what’s going on there? “

“Of course,” he said, “Let’s do a 180. I’ll give you an escort back to the track.” Back we went, him leading the pack with his lights still on, and now his siren wailing. I followed him, matching his 60 mph speed. Darcie followed.

When we got to the entrance to the track, the cop pulled over, and rolled his window down. I stopped next to him and rolled my window down too. He hollered out, “You go ahead and help her out. Forget that I stopped you. I hope the horse makes it. Have a good day!”

Darcie swung around both of our vehicles and headed to the barn. I followed her, wondering what could have made that mare go down. All I had done 10 minutes before was check her legs and declared her fit to race the next day. No medication had been given. We both pulled up to the barn, and Darcie got out with a huge grin plastered on her face.

“OK, Doc, guess you owe me one.”

“You mean your mare is OK, and you just…..”

“Yeah. I left the barn right after you and watched you take off in a dust cloud. As soon as I hit the town road, I saw the cop pull out from the other side of the store with his blues on. I figured you could use some help, so I made up the story about my horse going down to maybe save you a ticket.”

My client Darcie suddenly had become my good friend Darcie. I gave her a big hug, and we laughed about it for years until the family moved down south. Whenever I left the barn she would grin and say, “You be sure and drive slow now.” It’s an incident that comes to mind whenever I think about friendships within our horse community. I’ve wondered since whether the cop came from a horse background.

We all have acquaintances that come from the fact that we hang with horses. Equines have always managed to get in trouble and always will. Value those friends that are willing to stand by you in when it happens. Be ready to stand by your friends when it’s their horse, even when it’s inconvenient for you. It’s one of those things that make our horse world special.

A wonderful way to keep the horse tradition alive in your area is to make friends with the kids near you that have that same burn for horses that you did. I have been working for Dana and Brenda Lary of Bowdoin for about 40 years. I was at their place yesterday and asked Brenda when it was that she knew she wanted a horse. She said, “I was about 6 or 7 and I wanted a horse so bad my teeth ached!” Was that the way you felt? Do you have kids like that in your neighborhood? Invite them in, be a friend, pass on some of your knowledge, and you will always be remembered.