Five Health Issues Found in Draft Horses
Draft horses are beautiful creatures. Nowadays, they become more popular and their distribution is increasing. What some new owners of draft horses may not know is that both pure breeds and crossbreeds of draft horses, such as the sports horse, are subject to horse arthritis and other particular health problems that are not so typical of bland breeds. Being aware of these health problems helps prevent diseases and short period lifetime of this horse. Here are the five health issues found in draft horses.
Horse Arthritis
Like humans, horses also suffer from joint pains as they are getting older. It can be seen in some medical signs of stiffness in their joints. It results in their failure to perform tasks that they used to do in the past. These conditions may be caused by chronic inflammation, which results in permanent degradation of the horse’s joints. To deal with this health issue, you can use NSAID drugs and perform several physical exercises to strengthen their joints, muscles, and tendons, as well as slow down their joints’ wear.
Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa
In this condition, the horse does not have laminin-5 skin, a fatal disease that causes the foals to deteriorate at birth within a week. The layers of skin cannot adhere to each other, and the spots on the skin and hair begin to rub together at the stress points and disperse into larger and larger spots. The moment you know you have JEB, a foal should be put to sleep because …