>>> like i was worried about moving a horse from low-se country to the swamp we call new england in the summer.
>>> Kentucky? >>>>>no, colorado. different horse. Since we have some new people on the list, maybe we should review the risks for SE, or Summer Eczema. It shouldn't really matter where you move the horse FROM as the last home, so much as where the horse was born. Summer Eczema is a condition seen in MANY imported Icelandic's, It's no more common in domestic bred Icelandics than it is in any other domestic-bred breed. It's caused when horses are born in an environment with no gnats (cullicoides) and not many other bugs. Since the foals don't get bitten as babies, they don't develop immunity, so when they come here, their immune systems are stressed. Some horses with SE suffer miserably, and I've heard of a couple whose owners were on the verge of putting them down - not sure how those cases were resolved. Other people have felt compelled to sell their horses to dry climates, and some have even given them away to find them some relief. There are some treatments to help the suffering, but they take a LOT of the owner's time, and they aren't cheap. There was some hope that a certain flyspray had just the right combination to keep the cullicoides away, but it's not proving to be the magic bullet either, although it may indeed be helpful. There are some stabling management practices that seem to help, but they are not easy to implement for a lot of otherwise good horse owners. If you don't have a classic barn, how might you install an overhead flyspray misting system? A misting system is an expense, but if you don't have the right kind of barn to begin with - now THERE'S an expense! And if you board your horse at a boarding barn, you may not be able to control the times that the horse is stalled and put out to pasture. I think SE usually will show up within the first couple of years of import, but it's also been known to show up as much as 10 years later - after five years seems fairly common. Our Loftur has been in the USA for about seven years I think, and he just started showing signs late last summer. I HOPE his won't be a bad case. (I pray that it wasn't really SE, but I suspect I'm just in denial.) Despite what some sellers may tell the buyer AFTER the sale, Summer Eczema is NOT the owner's fault! It's an immune disorder, and there's simply no way to blame the owner when the horse develops the condition. But, after the sale, it does become the owner's responsibility - and expense. Most of North America east of the Mississippi River is humid enough to have the offending cullicoides. There are also areas west that are known SE-zones. I've heard of a humid area in NM where some horses have SE, and there are others too. Unfortunately, we don't have an exact map of these areas. It does seem that there are enough similar bugs all over North America that foals born in Canada and California seem to develop immunity, and don't get SE any more often than other breeds. Karen Thomas, NC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.12/655 - Release Date: 1/28/2007 1:12 PM "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] The video every Icelandic Horse owner should have: http://IceHorses.net/video.html [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses [] IceHorses ToolBar http://iceryder.ourtoolbar.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
