Stop Breeding HYPP Horses
In reference to article on managing HYPP (November 2000), I want to emphasize that HYPP could be stopped in one generation by not breeding any N/H or H/H horse, no matter how beautiful or talented. There are plenty of other, equally beautiful, equally talented horses that are N/N. You can still keep the Impressive lineage because there are plenty of N/N Impressives. I owned an N/N Impressive-bred myself. It’s irresponsible to breed N/H or H/H horses.
-Charese Pelham
Valdosta, GA
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Stock Tank De-Icer Current Leakage
I read the November Ask Horse Journal letter about horses that are wary of drinking from a water tank with an electric de-icer in it. We had the same problem, and my husband, who has a degree in electrical engineering, tested the curent flow in the water of the tank with a volt meter.
Although not detectable to humans, there was in fact a small current flow in the tank from the de-icer. Some horses didn’t care, others did. We solved the problem by un-plugging the de-icer during the day when the horses were in the field, and plugging it in at night when they were in the barn. By morning, the ice was gone again. We had to take the heater out of the tank during the day since our wary horse would not take any chances after he was once “zapped.”
We invested in an outlet with a ground fault detector, which is the same sort of outlet required for kitchens and bathrooms. These sockets contain circuitry that detects small amounts of current leakage and cuts off the electricity when any leakage is detected. They are available as sockets, as units that plug into regular sockets and then receive plugs directly, and attached to extension cords of various lengths. If we had used one of these from the beginning, we may have kept the problem from occurring in the first place. All outdoor sockets should have this circuitry.
-Jo Ellen Hayden
Owings, MD
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Keep Receipts
I caution anyone purchasing a product to keep the receipt in a safe place throughout the warranty life of the product. I purchased a pair of clippers that performed well overall, but the battery pack wouldn’t properly seat itself and kept falling out. The company would not repair the clippers because I had not kept a receipt of when I purchased them.
-Dolores Emerson
Ridgley, MD
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Tucoprim
Depending upon the brand of sulfa pills, some dissolve in water more readily than others (July 2000, November 2000). You can grind the pills with an inexpensive mortar and pestle or, as you suggest, a coffee grinder, but it may be better yet to ask your vet for Tucoprim. It comes powdered, and the dosage is once a day instead of twice. Even my pickiest eater ate it plain with his grain and a dab of water, although the cost is slightly more.
-Melinda Hofmeister
Trinidad, CO
Tucoprim, from Pharmacia and Upjohn Animal Health, is a combination of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine, not just sulfa. Some experts now feel this combination should not be used in treating EPM.
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Price Correction
The price on the Tie-Safe cross-ties (November 2000) should read $16.95/each.
