Winters Classic Horse Abortions

[mgtman]

Both of the mares we purchase at the Breeders Winter Classic Sale have aborted. One 5 days after the sale and the other last night, Feb. 9th. Also one of two mares purchased by another buyer aborted this Thursday, Feb 7th. I took my mares to the vet on Friday Feb 1st. He said they had the worst infection of Trichomonas he had seen. He said it had to have been present at the time of the sale. Began treatment for the infection but it did not prevent the second abortion. The mares came from two different farms so there is cause to believe the infections were a result of contact at the sale. The infection can be spread by sharing water buckets or eating manure. The other buyer took her mare to the same vet and now he suspects Rhino in addition to the Trichomonas. My wife is devastated by the loss of both foals. Need to warn other buyers to have their mares checked and keep them away from the rest of their herd until they are sure there are no health problems. All three of the mares that aborted were off their feed. Bob

 

[Becky]

Oh no, Bob!!! I know of two other farms that have terribly sick horses since coming back from Ft Worth. That has to be a nightmare!

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Add me to the sick horses. Elvis started coughing about three days later, and now Rad and Jodie are coughing. Fortunately the boys are in a separate barn away from everyone and we haven't turned them out for a week now. They can't touch anyone even if they are out, but we aren't taking chances. The mares are directly across the drive from them. Plus we feed them last.

Clear snotty noses, we've been giving antibiotics but I don't think it's helping. Poor guys.

Lucy

 

[BLACKWATER FARMS]

Your vet should be able to confirm it with virus isolation testing (a couple of diff methods work)

Outbreaks of this disease are frequently associated with stress (shipping , weaning, crowding etc)

be careful, even recovered the mares can shed virus for about two weeks. Also huge source is the aborted fetus and tissues. your mares that aborted should have a repro exam to make sure that no retained fetal tissues or trauma.but are able to be bred about a month following the abortion (most mares recover readily and are fertile). Best of Luck, and my deepest sympathies to you and your wife.

Dr. Linda K. Fung

Blackwater Farms, USA & Prairie de la Sommerau, FRANCE

PS--

Equistim (Immunostimulant that increases cell mediated immunity--the type needed for herpes virus infections) has been used successfully to aid in a speedier recovery along with antibiotics (SMZ) and banamine if they have a fever.

Linda

 

[Riverdance]

I am so sorry to hear about this. One is so excited about the mares you by and most of all their up coming foals. What a shame!!

 

[MBhorses]

i am so sorry to hear about your losses.

We will be praying for you and your mares

 

[Charlotte]

We and other farms are living a nightmare due to an infection from a horse at that facility. A client show mare was brought in here from that show. She arrived with a bit of snotty nose and despite quarantine type handling and disinfection 15 of the 20 horses on our farm have it....in less than 7 days! Most of my pregnant mares have whatever this is. I am in a panic. Are we going to lose all of our foals? Are we going to lose some of our precious mares due to late term abortions?

We are treating with SMZ and some with Tucoprim (same type of drug, different forms) and banamine for fevers.

Please pray for the little horses.

Charlotte

 

[Scoopiedoo]

Wow! This is awful, I am so sorry for all that you all are going through. Just wanted to say that you'll all be in my thoughts and prayers.

Jodi

 

[mgtman]

These mares also have the snotty noses and we are treating for those as well. Bob

We and other farms are living a nightmare due to an infection from a horse at that facility. A client show mare was brought in here from that show. She arrived with a bit of snotty nose and despite quarantine type handling and disinfection 15 of the 20 horses on our farm have it....in less than 7 days! Most of my pregnant mares have whatever this is. I am in a panic. Are we going to lose all of our foals? Are we going to lose some of our precious mares due to late term abortions?

We are treating with SMZ and some with Tucoprim (same type of drug, different forms) and banamine for fevers.

Please pray for the little horses.

Charlotte

 

[Sarah's Little Blessings]

Hey! Well, my Elvis has been snotting up, and now it looks as though its going through the WHOLE herd!!! I have vaccenated everyone with Rhino,and the 5 or 6 in 1, but it doesn't look as if its helping, most had the vaccine in their system WAY WAY WAY before Elvis(the one I bought from the breeders winter classic) got here, and are still catching it! I am just praying these antibiotics work, it appears as though it isn't. I hope we don't lose anyone from it. I too have 1 mare in foal, and another who MAY be. I am so nervous!!!

Prayers go out for everyone! This is awful!

 

[eagles ring farm]

We have no purchase from the sale

but want to add prayers for everyone going through this

prayers for all the owners and horses

hopefully with your warning someone else can avoid

further problems

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

I am SO sorry for everyone going through this

This is one of my worst fears about shows/sales and I can almost feel your panic through your words. I'm praying for all of you and your horses. Corona came home sick from Area IV show last year and then we found out many horses were sick that were at that show. He had a temp of 106 at one point. It was very scary.

Again, I'm so sorry.

 

[wildoak]

So sorry to hear of everyone's problems, it's incredible how quickly something like this spreads esp as mobile as we and our horses are now. We dodged this bullet but have brought "bugs" home from other shows.

Jan

 

[sedeh]

I'm so sorry for your losses and I'm praying that the horses all recover quickly and no more abortions!!

The thought of it going through your whole herd is so scarey. I always isolate newcomers for a couple of weeks.....but when it's airborn it doesn't always stop it. I also keep my show horses seperated from the main herd during show season. Lily came home from State fair last year with a nasty snot nose.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Mulligans Run]

Add us in the mix. We hauled horses back - they went into a round pen for two hours and it's spread through our entire herd. We have 33 horses here and all but 5 are sick and on antibiotics. I have five mares in the barn under cam because they are close to foaling - and four of them have it.

We are using SMZ's and Tucoprin (same as Charlotte), but we have several that have been put on Ventpulmin. It's a bronchial dilator but is not approved for pregnant mares. It is being used on pregnant mares but is very risky this close to term. Three of my mares that are due NOW are on it.

We had to weigh the choices. Without it the mares are not getting enough oxygen, therefore the foals are not getting enough oxygen and if the mare goes into labor she won't have enough oxygen to push effectively.

Risk - it keeps a mare from going into labor. And to make it all more interesting - Shandy has white milk and is testing 5 squares - and she's on it. We have no idea if she will still go into labor, which is possible, and I'm unclear what the risks are of the foal remaining in the womb longer than it should.

The horses on the meds seem to be responding well, except for Brandi who is near pneumonia. She is having the hardest time. I'm making them warm orange or apple tea with honey in it for their cough. Most of them like it and it seems to help. I haven't found anything else that they will take that's safe for a pregnant mare.

Prayers for everyone affected by this.....it sure wasn't worth hauling horses back....never again from that show.

FYI - one of the workers at the facility told a friend of mine that this is the only show that they don't sterilize the stalls in between horses...they just don't have time....how nice.

 

[MInx]

Shouldn't it be a rule that all horses are only put in sterilized facilities, and kept isoloted ? I.E. in cleaned stalls?

Anyway for them to be examined by the vet there and if so would it have been detected at that time?

What about the groomers? Did they share any clippers etc?

So sad and a loss of money, after all that's part of the purchase was the foals eh?

I'm not at al involved of course but tugs at my heart for you all.

Maxine

 

[Mulligans Run]

Shouldn't it be a rule that all horses are only put in sterilized facilities, and kept isoloted ? I.E. in cleaned stalls?

Anyway for them to be examined by the vet there and if so would it have been detected at that time?

What about the groomers? Did they share any clippers etc?

So sad and a loss of money, after all that's part of the purchase was the foals eh?

I'm not at al involved of course but tugs at my heart for you all.

Maxine

Someone else complained that no one told them the horses they got were sick. You couldn't tell...my vet said it had an incubation period of 2 weeks..and sure enough - it's been two weeks. None of the horses I saw looked or sounded or acted sick. Not one...so they could have easily passed a vet check.

 

[kaykay]

oh my gosh I feel so bad for all of you! Sending prayers for all your horses and foals

 

[MInx]

I sort of figured that..so someone had it, it started somewhere..not that anyone would deliberately sabotage a sale like that, just an oversight I'm sure,,but hey lots of money and heartache there.!

Not being part of these sales and looking from the outside in, I just wonder if it would be important enough to sell a horse to go ahead and bring a sick one to the sale or hold out for the next sale.? Very hard decision? mmm....Maybe that person didn't know the horse was even sick?.

 

[BLACKWATER FARMS]

Can I ask how many of you vaccinated your horses for rhino?

(it is an every 3 mos vaccine!)

I'm taking a bit of a poll

Thanks in advance

Linda

Dr. Linda K. Fung

Blackwater Farms, USA & Prairie de la Sommerau , FRANCE