Roosa's Horsey Life: May 2020

30.5.20

Equine dentist visit - peripheral caries and EOTRH in horses

On Friday the horses had a dentist day! 🦷 It's been just over 6 months since they were last done, so it was definitely needed. I know some people still think that once a year is enough, but a lot of things can go badly wrong in that time which is why we have been doing bi-annual check ups for the last 7+ years. It might be more expensive but I think having the peace of mind that my horses have healthy teeth is worth it.

After the last disaster of a visit with a different vet, this time I spent a good few hours on the different Facebook local horsey groups and looking through posts to find a really good equine dentist/dental vet. A name which kept popping up with ridiculously good reviews was Pete Ravenhill BVSc, CertEM(StudMed), BAEDT, MRCVS who is an equine dental vet at B&W Equine Vets. The reason why we wanted to get Pete to do our horses is because he has a 100% equine dentistry caseload, split between routine and advanced cases, and he also teaches equine dentistry to vets and EDT’s, both on courses and in daily practice. He is a founder committee member of EVDA (Equine Veterinary Dental Association) and his special interests are periodontal disease, minimally invasive extraction techniques and restorative dentistry. So a proper specialist who knows his stuff!

Vallu, Erik and Melisse all got okayish reviews. Erik and Melisse have both got a chipped tooth (looks like a very old chip in both) but all three had peripheral caries. Dental caries are defined as “decalcification of calcified dental tissues by microbial acids, with resultant microbial destruction of the organic matrix" which in layman’s terms is that they are cavities/areas of tooth decay. Caries is the destruction of dental tissue by bacteria in the mouth, in a similar manner to people. Most horses have peripheral caries, and peripheral caries rarely cause any problems. Commonly you see peripheral caries in horses leading to other dental problems and there could be a link between dental caries and diastema formation (gap between teeth) and associated gum disease, and as I want to prevent this leading to any of them getting a diastema, they are all going on a very low sugar diet as well as using Hexarinse twice weekly to help keep it clean 🧼

How to wash and look after your saddle pads and other products

Although you don’t get any extra marks for the turnout of you and your horse and it makes absolutely no difference to how happy your horses are, but a well presented combination does give others an impression of professionalism and tidiness. I love my matchy and will always buy high quality products for myself and my horses, and having us dressed smartly makes me feel more confident. There are PLENTY of days where I am definitely more mismatchy than matchy, but most days I do try to semi-presentable with my outfits! Recently I've often seen lots of people asking about how to look after and wash your your saddle pads, bandages, boots and other equipment to make sure they stay looking like new, so I thought I'd share my tips and tricks of keeping them looking their best. Let’s find out! 💭

1. Buy quality products:

In general, the price of the product will influence its quality to a certain extent. It's logical that a saddle pad which costs £50 will last longer than one that costs £5 💭 For example, cheaper saddle pads usually wear more quickly than expensive ones and soon become tatty after multiple washes, whereas quality ones can last years and years of consistent use. So the old saying that "you get what you pay for" certainly applies to all equestrian products, but especially saddle pads.

2. Washing different coloured saddle pads separately:

Whether you are washing dark or light coloured saddle pads, use the coldest possible water (I use between 20°C to 40°C depending on how dirty they are!) and wash them separately. I tend to put my matching saddle pad and bandages in the wash together, then after that do another quick wash with my bandage pads, over reach boots and any other products that need washing. I very rarely wash two similarly coloured pads at the same time, and so far nothing that I have owned has ever gotten damaged in the wash 🤞🏻 And whites are always washed totally separately!! I know some people soak their pads before washing them - whilst soaking the pads won’t necessarily get the dirt out, removing the dirt and hair will be helpful. I personally don't have the time for this, but I'm sure it helps.

The new plan for 2020

When this year started, I was very, very excited about the plans that I had made for the year and I can't remember when I’d ever felt better or more prepared for the competition season with my horses. I had weddings in America and Majorca to look forward to as well as my brother competing in the 2020 Olympics and therefore a trip to Japan was also planned! I had so many plans for arena hires, hacking out and competing once I'd had the flu jabs done for all the horses in mid-March. And then Covid-19 hit the UK. Of course, whatever great ideas I’d had were thrown out the window, and after nearly two months of grieving for a year where everything is cancelled or postponed, I feel like I need to make a whole new plan for 2020. And with more change coming soon (I cannot wait to share with you all about this, it's SO exciting) here's the new plan for 2020 👇🏻

The plan for Vallu:

I'd planned on hacking out, going to the gallops as well as doing the E-Riders veteran series competitions with him. Nothing too stressful for me and nothing too strenuous for him and his legs, and to be fair this won't be changing much apart from getting the chance to take him out hacking in the local woods or going to the gallops. Despite the fact that taking your horse out for a lesson/hack is now deemed to be okay, I don't feel comfortable enough yet doing so as we should still be staying at home as much as possible. Luckily, I'm fortunate in the fact that I can ride him around our bigger back field which can temporarily replace our hacking out plans! He just gets slightly more time in his paddock than I'd originally planned.

The plan for Erik:

The new plan for 2020 with Erik is to just focus on putting in the time to make him as strong and adjustable and relaxed as possible and for his injured leg to be able to cope with the advanced level training and competing that I want to do. When we come out on the other side of the pandemic, maybe I’ll have a few lessons with him to see how the leg copes and then if everything is good then look at a few arena hires before even thinking or looking at competing. In the meantime, I'll carry on working hard on the basics, making sure he has the strongest body possible and that he continues to put on all the muscle that he lost due to his time off and over the winter.