Congenital Flexural Limb Deformities in Foals

A new foal's arrival is an exciting time. After 11 months of gestation and to take care of the mare and looking at her belly expansion, offering a healthy foal is one of the best experiences for a horse owner. Sometimes, however, the foals are born with limb defects in bending (FLD). Many of these foals with this serious condition called FLD contracted foal syndrome (CFS), which in its worst form involves all four limbs, the neck (torticollis), skull (nose ironic), and the spine (scoliosis). One more of these foals will be euthanized.However, other less severely affected foals with only one or two affected members could get involved with surgery, splinting, and therapy.

The availability of the horse genome sequence and further development of genomic tools have facilitated the study of JAF / CSA headed by Teri Lear, Ph.D., associate professor in the group of genetics / genomics at the University Kentucky (UK) Gluck Equine Research Center.Collaborators in the study include Ernie Bailey, Ph.D., professor in the group Genetics / Genomics Center Gluck; Uneeda Bryant, DVM, assistant professor of pathology at the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) Craig Carter, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM, director of the UKVDL, Steve Reed, DVM, Dipl. ACT, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, and Luigi Auletta, a veterinarian visiting Italy Rood & Riddle work.

"We collected DNA samples from foals with a pilot study," said Lear. "All four foals were all involved and most had a scoliosis, crooked nose and a stiff neck.Our preliminary results highlighted three areas on three different chromosomes indicating the condition is complex and may involve several genes. Genomic testing is expensive, and we still need to test the horses much more to focus on candidate genes that could cause FLD / CFS. "

This condition has been reported mainly in the Thoroughbred, but also occurs in Standardbred, Saddlebred American Quarter Horses and other breeds. Males appear more often affected, and several occur more often with only one member affected.To make matters worse, the foals with FLD / CFS can be a serious risk to the mare during birth. Up to 16% of dystocia (difficult birth) cases could be due to the JAF / CFS foals affected. This may require the mare to undergo a Caesarean section or by Caesarean section, which increases their risk of death.

The cause of the FLD / CFS in horses is unknown. Muscle tissue, tendons, ligaments and appear normal when examined microscopically by pathologists. Theories about the cause include the lack of the uterus, exposure to toxins during embryonic development, food issues, and viral infections of the mare during pregnancy.However, recent studies suggest that family status could be inherited. Some mares have produced up to four foals affected, although each foal is generated by a different stallion and the mare was housed in different farms. This excludes a component of disease management. The individual cases suggest the condition may be inherited from a dominant way, but perhaps not always develop according to other genetic factors. This may explain why some foals have the mild form of CFS than others.

Paul Drake: Equine Dental Technologist | Horseman Magazine

Paul Drake: Equine Dental Technologist

“Equine dental technologist” is a rather long term for what Paul Drake does. In essence, he’s a “horse dentist.” Since Paul does not have a doctorate or PhD, he prefers the longer specification because he doesn’t want to mislead anyone. Simply put, Paul specializes in the care and maintenance of the teeth of horses and ponies.

How did he get into this business? Paul had been involved with horses for a number of years, primarily in the racing industry. He very much enjoyed working with and being around the horses, but he worked long hours, six days a week, for low pay and with no benefits. Much of his time was spent mucking stalls, which he didn’t find particularly appealing. He wasn’t afraid of hard work, but he liked the “hands 0n” aspect of the job much better – the direct contact and interaction with the animals, like grooming and caring for them. In the back of his mind, Paul always believed there was a better equine-related career out there somewhere.

In most of the racing facilities where Paul worked, a “horse dentist” made regular rounds to provide dental maintenance for the equines. Paul was fascinated by these caregivers, realizing that the work they did was highly specialized – even most experienced horsemen actually knew little about their horses’ dental health. The seed was planted in Paul’s mind to learn this type of work.

After mucking more stalls, Mr. Drake finally reached a point of frustration with his low level in the horse business. It was then and there that he made the commitment to become an equine dental technologist. He enrolled in a nearby school, the American School of Equine Dentistry, for the required five-week course. Since the school provided board, Paul lived at the school for the duration of the course. The first week was spent attending classes, and the remainder was spent performing “hands on” duties under the instruction and supervision of a veterinarian. He then spent another year in an apprentice program. Paul has been performing as an equine dental technician on his own since 2005.

Paul states that many people are surprised by the brevity of his training when compared to the years a human dentist must invest in school, but he explains that there are few similarities between a horse’s teeth and a human’s: “As horses’ teeth are always lengthening through ‘eruption,’ the majority of corrective work consists simply of filing teeth to remove sharp edges that are uncomfortable, and of reducing the length of long teeth that could be impeding normal chewing patterns.

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