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Setting our Sights on Equine Glaucoma

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma in the most general sense refers to a group of eye conditions that can result in blindness. Medically speaking, it results from intraocular inflammation due to equine recurrent uveitis (eye inflammation). What happens is that the aqueous humor inside the eye becomes obstructed causing pressure within the eye to increase. The increased pressure leads to reduced blood flow from the retina to the optic nerve. Ultimately, the reduction in blood flow leads to cell death, compression of the optic nerve, and complete blindness.

Horses eye
The Horse's Eye

How do I know if my horse has glaucoma?

Common symptoms of glaucoma include painful, red, or cloudy eyes. Horses commonly squint the eye closed (blepharospasm) or produce excess tears (epiphora). However, there is only so much that the eye itself can do to alert veterinarians about what is happening. Some horses don’t display any symptoms at all. This is why testing the intraocular pressure (IOP) is so critical to accurate diagnosis. Veterinarians use a special tool called an applanation tonometer which is a handheld device that measures IOP. If you’re curious if you can measure IOP yourself, the answer is probably not. In order to utilize the tonometer, the eye needs to first be anesthetized. This is probably for the best considering your horse is not likely to take well to you touching its eyeball.

What can be done to treat glaucoma?

Fortunately, glaucoma is a treatable disease, especially in its early stages. One such treatment includes using a drug called timolol. Timolol can lower IOP and delay eye deterioration for as long as three years. A more aggressive approach is laser surgery. Laser ciliary body ablation decreases the fluid produced by the eyes. This treatment requires sedation or anesthesia but can manage eye health for two to three years. While there are a variety of treatment options, none can prevent the inevitable, blindness. As glaucoma is a progressive disease it can only be managed, not treated. 

Horse corneal ulcer
A corneal ulcer stained green with florescence stain

Given the brevity of this post, there is still more to learn about glaucoma. Check out the websites below to get a more detailed analysis of the issue at hand

Works Cited

  1. “Glaucoma.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 14 Nov. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/glaucoma/symptoms-causes/syc-2037....
  2. “Timolol Eye Drops 0.5%.” Timolol Eye Drops 0.5% - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (Emc), 24 Dec. 2015, www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/4053/smpc.
  3. Tolar, Erica L, and Amber L Labelle. “American Association of Equine Practitioners.” How to Session: Ophthalmology , 2013, aaep.org/sites/default/files/issues/OphthalTolar.pdf.

This blog post was written by Caroline Treadwell, a senior in Animal Science and Biology.

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ANS 216 Equine Science

Why a Clover Leaf Pattern?

Where did the famous barrel racing of the modern day today come from and why has it become so popular? For how long I’ve know about barrel racing I never really knew the history behind how it all started. I wanted to dig into the rich history of rodeo and the infamous clover pattern. It all started in the 1930’s when Faye Blackstone from Parrish, Florida as she was in her trick riding career, but it seemed to become replaced she started her horsemanship to the barrels. She began the barrel racing event with a couple other cowgirls in 1950 in Florida.

Faye Blackstone
Faye Blackstone, the 1st of many

Dixie Mosley began her rodeo career when she was 5 ½ years old. As she grew through her rodeo family she was able to see the sport of barrel racing take off through the Girl’s Rodeo Association (GRA) when it started in 1948 as it progressed evolving to the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) in 1948. Wanda Bush won her first Barrel Racing Championship in 1952 and continued to accel through the WPRA winning multiple world championships.

Barrel Racing did technically start in 1931 in Stamford Texas, but was only a figure eight pattern and wasn’t changed to the clover pattern until 1935. Although as it seemed to start in 1935, it wasn’t strictly starting to judge it until 1949. Even as the cloverleaf pattern has continued to be a favor with most women in the rodeo industry there still aren’t any specific measurements to rule by but only certain ranges between each barrel.

The largest barrel racing pattern takes place at the Pendleton Roundup as it has grass in the infield making it more difficult for horses to get sturdy footing as they increase speed between each barrel. With the safety of the horses in mind they kept the barrels on the racetrack around the grass infield in 1999.

Barrel racing
Barrel Racing

Now coming away from the history this even is made for the horse and rider to work together as a team to maintain balance and speed throughout the event.  When it comes down to the horses they have to have the agility and speed to perform the best in this event. When thinking about the pattern many have to be able to have a good seat through the sharp turns around each barrel to keep the horse in balance. When you run at your best performance you are able to achieve the best of the best. The current record holder for the best time is Carlee Pierce with a time of 13.46 seconds on her twelve year old buckskin gelding, Dillon. She broke a twenty-seven year record within seconds as she is competing in her first finals.

Barrel racing has come a long way through the years as it has purses equal to other rodeo events within the last 60 years of the sport. Do you think you could get down and dirty along with all the other barrel racers of the WPRA. Would you ever consider trying to barrel race to see how fast and efficient you and your horse can work together?

The report is a project for ANS 216 Equine Science.

Source

  1. “The History of Barrel Racing” https://wranglernetwork.com/news/the-history-of-barrel-racing/
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