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RE: [RC] Thumps - heidi

Anytime the subject of thumps comes up I am reminded of this story. Julie 
Bullock [DVM] was in TX to head vet a ride in April 2004, and was giving an 
impromptu lecture about "stuff" she has learned. One point she made was that 
for research, she wished we would NOT pull horses for thumps, but treat them 
and allow them to go on, so we can see what will reverse the condition. She 
likened it to some other studies involving cows and e-lyte imbalances [I 
think]. Todd Holbrook [DVM] was listening in the audience and pipes up with 
"That's great Julie but I have never seen thumps in cows!"  Julie says "Well 
then Todd, you are just not riding them fast enough."


<snork>  Yes, I've met Julie--she is a character.  :-)

I tend to agree with her "take" on this--when you see a horse with a
pulse of 44 that is eating, drinking, and doing everything else right
but has a tiny tic in his flank, I think it is silly to pull, but
instead to see what one can do to solve the problem.  I've let some go
on over the years with no ill effects--my protocol has been to hold
them at the check until the thumping resolves, have the rider either
feed them a bit of alfalfa or get an appropriate e-lyte mixture, and
then advise them to go on somewhat conservatively.  Every case that
I've allowed to go on has finished uneventfully without continuing to
thump.  

Like any other problem, I think you have to look at this as a matter of
degree, and look at it in the context of the whole horse.  If a horse
is really prone to thumping, he may be in far less trouble with a mild
tic in his flank than his neighbor is who isn't prone to it but has
been overridden.  I know this is controversial in the veterinary
community, but it just doesn't seem rational to me to go to extremes if
the problem isn't extreme.

Heidi


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