UNAIR NEWS – Equine Care (EC) Division of Veterinary Medicine Students’ Association (HMKH) UNAIR in Banyuwangi conducted another national webinar with the topic of “Caring for Horses in Term of Performance Supplements, Recovery and Horse Training” in the previous week. The event was one of the priority programs and projects of Bramastra cabinet this year.
The event was attended by two horse-specialist veterinarians, Dr. drh. Yuriadi, M.P. who discussed Principles of Training Horses from Anatomical Perspective and drh. Denny Sapto who brought the topic of Performance Supplement and Recovery of Horse.
At the beginning of the discussion, Dr. drh. Yuriadi, M.P. stated that the increase of equestrian sports communities recently was satisfying. Moreover, during two decades of the development of horse-riding sports in Indonesia, equestrian competitions have been held either nationally or internationally.
Horse-racing at the national level, he continued, is held monthly and annually in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Kupang, Manado, Medan, and Padang. Since 2016, horse-racing has been included in the National Sports Week (PON) branch. Nowadays, horses have become a means of sports that leads to sports science, sports industry, and sports tourism.
“The purpose of this equine medicine training from anatomical perspectives is to grow veterinarians’ motivation regarding horse-health practice in Indonesia. Therefore, methods of health examination on horses can be presented to assist clinical diagnosis in horses,” he explained.
The equine patient to be examined, he continued, is identified first, and anamnesis is carried out and continued with an examination of the status praesens by inspection.
“Special examination on horses includes the mucous membranes: the conjunctiva of the eyes, gingiva, tongue, and cavum oris, and the superficial lymphoglandular system, which are lgl. mandibular, lgl. parotid, lgl. retropharyngeal, lgl. suprascapularis, lgl. scapularis, lgl. prefemoral, lgl. Poplitea,” he explained.
Examination of the circulatory system by inspection can be done by looking at changes in several regions such as the presence of edema in the submandibular, sternal, inguinal, and in some joints/articulatio. The examination, he explained, can be done through auscultation of the heart area, i.e. in the 1/3 lower part area of the lungs between the upper line of the 1/3 lower part of the lungs and the olecranon.
“From the examination of the digestive system, by inspection, we can see that there are changes in the mouth. The horse looks troubled when taking and chewing the feed. Serous saliva (green saliva) comes out from the mouth after the feed is chewed and spilled onto the floor of the stable. Additionally, the skin around the anus and tail is dirty from watery faeces,” explained drh. Yuriadi.
Under abnormal conditions, he said, auscultation of the right-side paralumbar fossa abdominal wall can be in the forms of increased and/or decreased intestinal peristalsis or even unheard. For example, the intestines may undergo paralysis or fatigue.
Other examinations include the nervous system, urogenital system, and locomotor system.
“As an animal that moves actively, horse locomotion in the form of legs has to be considered. By inspection, the horse locomotion can provide us insights on whether there is a change in the means of locomotion by standing, walking, trying to turn right and left,” he said.
Lameness may result from swelling of the locomotor muscles such as tendonitis and swelling of either front or back axillae, causing the horse to walk with the legs abducted.
“Swelling of the supporting muscles of the humeral, radial, femoral, tibial, and fetlock joints of the four legs is a concern for veterinarians in horse-health training from anatomical perspectives,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Muhammad Suryadiningrat
Editor: Nuri Hermawan (YA/AP)
