WHAT'S NEW - January 2010 - Exciting News!
Dr. Thal has been certified as a Diplomate by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) in Equine Practice
Veterinarians who receive ABVP certification have demonstrated through the certification process that they are capable of providing a superior level of clinical practice. Dr. Thal mastered a rigorous and demanding application process and certification examination in order to obtain Diplomate status. To qualify to sit for the extensive two-day examination, a veterinarian must complete either a residency program or six years of clinical veterinary practice. In addition, two case reports, references, descriptions of practice procedures, and professional educational reports must be submitted and pass review. This year the examination was held in early November in Chicago, Illinois. 

The ABVP was established in 1978 and is accredited by a special committee of the American Veterinary Medical Association to recognize excellence in clinical practice through the certification of species-oriented specialists.  For more information visit  www.abvp.com.

Currently, Dr. Thal is the only Diplomate of the ABVP in Equine Practice in our State. 

September 28, 2009
Rabies Found in Horse in Front Range of Colorado
Rabies was recently isolated from a horse in Black Forest, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. This event is close enough to home to be alarming. While it has been years since there was an equine rabies case confirmed in New Mexico, why wait for a problem? Recently, the American Association of Equine Practitioners added rabies to the list of core equine vaccines. Thal Equine now encourages horse owners to have their horses vaccinated for rabies.

Rabies is an invariably fatal brain disease in horses and humans. Infected horses can infect humans. Horses in our state are most often infected by a bite from an infected skunk or bat.

There is a new rabies vaccine available which only requires one shot initially. It is not a very costly vaccine and is effective. Talk to us about getting your horse vaccinated for rabies.

See an article on the Colorado Springs rabies case at http://www.gazette.com/articles/rabies-62089-horse-health.html

August 2009
Continuing Education for Equine Veterinarians

The continuing education wetlab that Thal Equine hosted was a resounding success. Fifteen equine veterinarians from New Mexico and Colorado attended this event.

Dr. Craig Shoemaker of Boehringer-Ingelheim discussed equine joint disease.

Thal Equine's new board certified surgeon, Dr. Chesen, discussed surgery for upper respiratory disease, focusing mostly on permanent tracheostomy surgery in horses, on which she is an expert.

Dr. Fairfield Bain shared his wealth of expertise regarding the use of ultrasound imaging, and conducted a hands-on wetlab for all in attendance. It was a fun and educational event.


We thank the speakers and all the attending veterinarians for their participation.

Special thanks to Gary Jacques of Boehringer-Ingelheim for sponsoring the event and Universal Ultrasound for the use of additional ultrasound machines.



Recommended Spring Vaccinations March 2009
It is time for all horses to get their spring vaccinations.

1. I believe strongly that every horse should get EWT-WNV (Eastern, Western Encephalitis, Tetanus, and West Nile. Each of these diseases is easily preventable with vaccination. The vaccine is affordable and safe. The diseases are deadly if horses contract them. The diseases are and always will be present in our area.
2. Flu/Rhino vaccines. These vaccines protect against respiratory disease. They are one of our “core” vaccines. We use a brand which we have faith in and which has some research to support its use over some of the other brands. Not every horse must get these vaccines. Vaccinating for respiratory disease is especially important for horses exposed to others. Show and competitive horses should all get these vaccines. Horses kept in boarding stables should get these vaccines. Like human flu vaccine, the vaccines must be of the current strain, and they must be given frequently (every 6 months). Even more so than most vaccines, the flu and rhino vaccines are not completely protective, but will likely either prevent or reduce the severity of disease for horses in an outbreak.
3. Strangles. We recommend vaccination against Streptococcus equi (Strangles)  in some situations. Strangles is a common disease. It is not generally fatal but is a nuisance to treat and is highly contagious. We recommend strangles vaccine for all horses boarded in stables, and performance horses likely to be exposed to the disease. We also recommend it at farms which have had strangles before and in areas that seem prone to strangles. The vaccine is given intranasally and is not the safest vaccine in my experience. The incidence of complications from its use is higher than some of our other vaccines and it is not entirely protective. There is ample evidence, however, that vaccination reduces the severity of disease in an outbreak. We do not dispense this vaccine. It should be given by a vet.
4. Rabies. As of 2008, Rabies is now listed by the American Association of Equine Practitioners as a “core vaccine.” Rabies is very rare in horses in New Mexico. It has been several years since a horse was infected in southern New Mexico. The problem with rabies is that the disease is 100% fatal if a horse does contract it. In addition, horses can infect humans. For this reason, we do recommend the vaccine. The vaccination is safe, effective, and relatively cheap. It is given once annually.
5. Potomac Horse Fever. I do not believe that horses in our area need to be vaccinated for Potomac Horse Fever at this time.
6. Botulism. I do not routinely recommend vaccination of horses for botulism in our area, except in certain circumstances.

The best thing Thal Equine can do for you is talk to you about your goals, and your specific circumstances. We can help you design a common sense, cost-effective vaccination program tailored to your needs. For more info, go to aaep.org/ vaccination.

Parasite control 2009
See our website for our recommended parasite control. We are putting new emphasis on targeted parasite control and avoidance of parasite resistance to worming compounds.

Eklin Digital X-ray
Last year, we purchased the Eklin Mark III digital x-ray system. This system, considered as good as digital x-ray systems get, has really increased the quality of our radiology and our ability to make difficult diagnosis.

TYPICAL EKLIN IMAGES - ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS!

 

Pastern with an OCD fragment in it.	Fractured jaw from a kick	A mule who lost his foot in a cattleguard after 6 months of hoof regrowth.
		An abscess in the throat in a mare with chronic difficult breathing - the crescent shaped structure is gas capped over fluid in the abscess.
Typical quality hock x-ray.

 
RECENT CASE HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PRACTICE
Very Challenging Equine Veterinary Cases, Good Medicine and Surgery, Hard work and Dedication, Right Here in Santa Fe!

Case Report 1
A 14 year old Appendix gelding presented to our clinic for unsteadiness and weakness in the hind limbs. The horse had a successful career in eventing. A careful physical exam and examination in movement narrowed the problem down to a likely lesion of the spinal cord. Digital x-rays of the neck were taken that showed a sharp angulation in the spine and a suspect area of spinal cord compression. This compression was confirmed with a myelogram (an injection of a dye visible on x-ray into the fluid around the spinal cord).  Injection of anti-inflammatories into the joints between the vertebrae helped the horse’s clinical signs, but surgery was the only option to restore the horse’s health and career. 

We contacted Barry Grant, DVM, an internationally respected, board certified equine surgeon from Southern California who pioneered many of the spinal surgical techniques in horses. Dr. Grant came to our practice in August 2008 and performed the procedure on the horse. Thal Equine staff assisted and maintained anesthesia and all post-operative care. A titanium implant (photo above) was placed between the two vertebrae, stabilizing them and allowing them to fuse together, eliminating movement between them and preventing further compression of the spinal cord.  The horse is back to work, and the owner is thrilled.

See Dr. Grant’s website: www.equinewobblers.com

CASE 2
Recently, Dr. Grant came to our practice and performed surgery on a 5 month old Warmblood filly. On presentation, the filly could hardly walk and had an obvious spinal malformation and compression. This was a drastic malformation of the 3^rd neck vertebrae, resulting in severe compression. Surgery was performed. The filly has improved tremendously in 3 months. As of today, she is able to trot normally and we expect her to have a performance career.

CASE 3
Late last fall, we were called out to look at a 10 year old cutting horse gelding that was showing very severe colic signs. The owner had given a shot of flunixin meglumine (banamine) but the horse was still violently painful. When we arrived, it became clear from the diagnostics and the uncontrollable pain that the horse likely had a twisted colon and that surgery was the only option. The horse was rushed to our hospital, only 25 minutes away. He was immediately prepared for surgery and was on the surgical table in 20 minutes from his arrival. When we opened his abdomen, we found that the colon was twisted 720 degrees and was purplish-black. It was untwisted immediately, but all the signs suggested that it was damaged beyond repair. We removed the entire large colon surgically. The horse has done extremely well since.

The large colon is about the size of a large truck tire. Large colon resection is a bold but increasingly used procedure that may be the only option to save a horse with a damaged colon. A positive benefit is that recurrence of the twisted colon cannot recur. A high percentage of these horses do very well, long-term, without their large colon.

We have performed many colic operations in the 18 months since we resumed this service after moving here. We have many happy, healthy horses to show for it. As is always the case with the more challenging emergency colic cases however, some do not survive. See our articles on colic surgery on this site.

ADDITIONAL COST-SAVING TIPS
Is that expensive supplement really doing my horse any good? Not all supplements are created equally or tested rigorously. Some have been shown to be effective, but many have not. If you have any questions, contact Dr. Thal to discuss the value of the supplements you are providing to your horse, and find out what supplements he has found worthy of their cost.

Don't skimp on consistent, high quality hay. Quickly switching hay sources or buying the cheapest hay may cost you dearly in the long run.

Call early with emergencies- don’t wait! Waiting ends up being more costly. The cheapest way to get your horse seen is to bring him or her to the clinic. In March through May, no office call charge if you mention this newsletter. If we do a farm call, try to get neighboring horse owners to split the farm call fee with you. We give discounts for volume work as well.

A few points about our practice
Thal Equine is the 24 hour emergency equine hospital for Santa Fe and northern New Mexico. We are staffed 24 hours, live on site and are experienced in the handling of colic surgery and intensive care cases. We respond to Santa Fe area emergency calls promptly and can be at most area farms within minutes.

Handling intense, difficult cases is our business and our priority. We have been routinely performing colic surgery since 2001, and were the first practice in the region to do it. We have performed a large number of cases since. We are the only facility routinely performing colic surgery between the Albuquerque area and Littleton, Colorado.

We are both a hospital and mobile practice - we do farm calls too!

As we have in the past, we are offering attended foaling services to take some of the risk out of foaling your valuable mares at home. We use the foalert and video monitors. We can offer this service because Dr. Thal and staff live on site and can attend to an on-site emergency within minutes.

Planning on breeding your mare? We offer AI with cooled and frozen semen, stallion services, and are experienced at dealing with hard to breed mares.

August 2008
NEW! Eklin Digital X-ray System
We recently invested in the state-of-the art digital x-ray machine, the Eklin Mark III. There are many other brands on the market, but we did the research and purchased the best digital x-ray system available. Digital x-ray of this quality brings a whole new level of diagnostic ability to performance horse lameness evaluation and purchase exams!
The Eklin Mark III is a true digital x-ray, not computed radiography (CR). With CR, an image is only produced after the exposed electronic “film” is placed into and interpreted by a separate computer processor. This takes extra steps and lots of extra time. While the very best CR systems produce great images, the basic CR systems produce images that are not comparable to high quality true digital x-ray.
Our true digital system produces fantastic images that appear within two to three seconds of being taken, allowing for real time adjustments in x-ray technique to get the most information possible. This enables us to develop an immediate treatment plan. Quality images of difficult-to-image areas like the shoulder and neck can be taken with our system – even in the field.
You need to see the quality of these images! FOR SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2008 WE ARE OFFERING 10% OFF ON ALL DIGITAL X-RAYS. We also are offering 10% off on all lameness and performance horse evaluations.

Pre-purchase Exam Seminar: Two Veterinarian’s Perspectives
Free seminar Sunday, September 21, 2008 from 9 to 11 a.m.
Dr. Doug Thal and Dr. Dan Marks will present an in-depth seminar on how they approach a pre-purchase exam. Dr. Thal will describe the many aspects of a purchase exam and will relate that to things that the prospective buyer should consider. Dr. Marks is a former United States Equestrian Team veterinarian with many decades of experience in the English performance horse world. He will provide more detailed insights into the pre-purchase exam in the English performance horse.
Attendance is limited so please RSVP at 505-438-6590.

June 2008
Client Education - Summer 2008 Workshop Series
At Thal Equine, we strongly believe that an educated horse owner is a good horse owner. Dr. Thal has written various articles about equine healthcare available on our website www.thalequine.com. This summer we will also host a series of workshops, wherein Dr. Thal and staff will work closely with a small number of clients. Horses for these workshops will be provided unless otherwise stated.

Basic First Aid and Bandaging - Sunday, June 29, 2008 9 to 11 a.m.
Learn some basic equine first aid, including how to examine your horse, safely and properly apply a bandage, stop bleeding, and lots more!.

Developing a Relationship of Trust and Respect with Your Horse - Sunday, August 24, 2008 9 to 11 a.m.
Dr. Thal has a special interest in horsemanship and behavioral issues. Learn Dr. Thal’s approach towards developing a relationship of trust and respect, which forms the basis for all good horsemanship. A limited number of people may bring their horse to our facility so that we can address specific behavioral issues.

Attendance is limited for all workshops so please call the office to reserve your space. All workshops are $25.00, non-refundable fee.

The Pre-Purchase Exam - FREE - Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 9 to 11 a.m.
Dr. Thal will discuss how he conducts a pre-purchase exam, the benefits and limitations of this process, and what questions you should ask when considering the purchase of a new horse.



April 2008
Foaling season at Thal Equine

	Dr. Thal with Raffona's newborn foal

Following surgery, the horse is placed in our padded induction/recovery stall. The recovery device is tied into the tail and a head rope is tied to the halter.  As the horse wakes up and tries to stand, the tail device is used to support the horse's efforts.  It does this by providing gentle yet significant controlled upward force to the horse's hind end. The head rope is used to steady the horse's head, if necessary. 

The current system is an improved version of an idea that Dr. Thal developed 15 years ago while an intern at Littleton Large Animal Clinic. Littleton still uses a similar system, based on a sailboat block and tackle.


In March,  Samuel Smith, a second year veterinary student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, graciously volunteered at the practice during his spring break. 

Sam has been here before and has always been very eager to help and learn. All the staff really enjoy Sam's attitude, willingness to help and eagerness to develop his skills and knowledge.

Sam helped Dr. Thal  and staff with a variety of cases  during his days here, including lameness , dentistry  and hospitalized cases.

Sam will be back to work as a veterinary assistant in the summer. We wish him luck in completing his second year in vet school.

Check this page frequently for added new articles and updates.
drthal@thalequine.com