> i am still curious if a serious study has been done on the subject > (since i've seen so many different figures, and the 20-30% one at least > came from an academic source) but my access to veterinary literature > isn't the greatest :/ i wonder if i can persuade someone at the tufts > library to look it up for me? if i manage that i will post what i find > out here, if folks like. > > thanks again, > --vicka
Vicka: I doubt very much if a serious large scale study has been done. The importation of Icelandic Horses from Iceland is a relatively recent development. Elisabeth Haug came with her herd of 35 Icelandic Horses from Denmark in 1979. Robyn Hood became involved with Icelandic approximately at the same time or slightly earlier (Robyn, is that correct?). Other than the Long Island herd that sort of fizzled, this basically was the beginning of Icelandics on this continent. Importation to Germany began in the fifties, sparked by Ursula Bruns and her novels. There may be a study of SE in Europe. But that's an entire other kettle of fish. It seems that unlike here, in Germany, a genetic disposition has been heritable to some degree. I don't know enough about this to speak with authority. I don't know what the variables are. And frankly, I really see no point in doing such a study. After all it is an expensive proposition. And we basically know where the bugs are found and that's where the horses are at risk to develop SE. And that's not really the question anyway. The real question is: how can we prevent it. That would be a good thing to study. Perhaps one could try desensitization. But who would supply the horses to be studied? How long has Stajrni been here? In my experience, the horses usually show very mild signs in their second year here - so mild you might not notice. A full-blown reaction usually occurs in the third year. You can prevent or mitigate this my keeping the horses indoors at dawn and dusk and applying insect repellent. I have to admit that I was pretty ignorant about this at the time when I imported the first horses. I was of the belief that SE is caused by mosquitoes - but that is incorrect. We don't have many mosquitoes here because we have a large bat population (which we encourage by all means in our power) and we have not trained them yet to get up a little earlier and eat no-see-ums. Anneliese
