By Phillip Kitts

With most of America fighting off the winter blues and setting their sights on the warmth of spring, the rodeo world is already heating up. It is often common chatter about how the rodeo world really does not have an off season. In October when the regular season wraps up, it is not even a week before rodeo athletes start running to fall rodeos so they can start building up money toward the next year’s finals. It is true that fall rodeos do not have big payouts, but many athletes take the every dollar counts approach and throw several of them on the calendar.

November and December may be the slowest months of the rodeo year, but believe it or not, there are still plenty of places rodeo athletes can go and earn a small check. Traditionally the number of rodeos in the winter months is lower, but the few events that do happen tend to have big payouts. Pretty much every rodeo fan knows all about places like Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Rapid City. These are all big scale events with huge payouts.

To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.

By Dr. Garrett Metcalf

The digital flexor tendons are one of the most important anatomic structures to a horse. The flexor tendons support the weight of the horse by suspending the lower limb in an upright proper position.

All tendons connect to muscle and the flexor tendons are used to flex the lower limb as well as support great loads when working or landing off of a jump. Disruption or injury to any one of the flexor tendons can result in abnormal locomotion, lameness and pain. This article will discuss the options of repair for lacerated flexor tendons and long term outcomes.

Lacerations are a common injury for horses especially in the lower extremities. These lacerations will often require an emergency visit from veterinarian to assess the severity of the injuries. The exams will often involve examining the proximity of the lacerations to joints, tendons or tendon sheath structures. Lacerations that occur on the back part of the limb are always a great risk to involve lacerations to the flexor tendons.

To read more, pick up a copy of the March issue of NTFR Magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.

By Dr. Garrett Metcalf, DVM

It is no secret that horses like to hurt themselves, just ask any horse owner and they will be happy to share some horse injury stories. Oftentimes these injuries can involve the tissue around or near the eyes. This final installment in this series will focus on trauma related to ocular tissue and surrounding structures of the eye and discuss other abnormalities that focus on the tissue around the eyes.

Soft Tissue Injuries

Eyelids are commonly injured in horses from lacerations on feed buckets, stalls or various other structures. The eyelids for any species are essential for the health of the cornea. The eyelids spread the tears across the surface of the cornea to keep the cornea from drying out and secrete a specific layer of the tear film to keep the tears from evaporating so quickly. It is very important to repair any eyelid laceration as quickly and as accurately as possible versus removing the damaged eyelid tissue. Some eyelid lacerations will be severely damaged to the point that owners or veterinarians will think that it is impossible for the tissue to survive, but the rule is always try and save the eyelids even if it looks hopeless. Most of the time eyelid lacerations can be repaired standing with local anesthesia and sedation, but occasionally some repairs are needed under general anesthesia to do the best possible repair.

To read more pick up a copy of NTFR magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.