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Ddam: the female parent of a foal. dam’s sire (broodmare sire): the sire of a broodmare. Used in reference to
the maternal grandsire foal. dark bay or brown: a horse color that ranges from brown with areas of tan
on the shoulders, head and flanks, to a dark brown, with tan areas seen only in the flanks and/or muzzle. The mane, tail and lower portions of the legs are always black unless white markings are present. deep digital flexor tendon: present in all four legs, but injuries most commonly affect the front legs. Located on the back (posterior) of the front leg between the knee and the foot and between the hock and the foot on the rear leg. The function is to flex the digit and fetlock and support the lower limb as part of the suspensory apparatus. In the front limb it also flexes the knee (carpus) and extends the elbow. On the rear leg, it also extends the hock. Functions in tandem with the superficial flexor tendon. degenerative joint disease : any joint problem that has progressive
degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying (subchondral) bone. Also called osteoarthritis, a severe form of arthritis that has a progressive degeneration of joint cartilage. Occurs most frequently in the joints below the radius in the foreleg and the femur in the hind leg. Some of the more common causes include repeated trauma, conformation faults, blood disease, traumatic joint injury, subchondral bone defects (OCD-osteochondritis dessicans-lesions) and repeated intra-articular corticosteroid injections. desmitis: inflammation of a ligament. Involves tearing of ligament
fibrils. The number of torn fibrils determines the severity of the injury. deworming: the use of drugs (anthelmintics) to kill internal parasites, often performed by administration of oral paste or by passing a nasogastric tube into the horse’s stomach. digestible energy: the amount of energy the horse is able to digest from
feedstuff. digit: the part of the limb below the fetlock (ankle) joint. Includes the
long and short pastern bones, the coffin bone and the navicular bone. digital cushion: thick elastic tissue lying under the frog and separating
it from the coffin bone. It serves as a shock absorber. distaff: a female horse.
distal sesamoidean ligaments: attach the bottom of the sesamoid bones to
the long and short pastern bones. distal: away from the center of the body. Usually refers to the limbs. The
injury was distal to (below) the hock . DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide, a topical anti-flammatory.
dorsal displacement of the soft palate: a condition in which the soft
palate, located on the floor of the airway near the larynx, moves up into the airway. A minor displacement causes a gurgling sound during exercise while in more serious cases the palate can block the airway. This is sometimes known as "choking down" or "swallowing the tongue" but the tongue does not actually block the airway. The base of the tongue is connected to the larynx, of which the epiglottis is a part. When the epiglottis is retracted, the soft palate can move up into the airway (dorsal displacement). This condition can sometimes be managed with equipment such a figure eight noseband or a tongue-tie. In more extreme cases, surgery might be required, most commonly a "myectomy" (excision of the muscles that retract the larynx). dorsal: toward the back or spine of the horse (upwards). Also, used to
describe the front surface of the lower limb below the knee (front limb) or hock (rear limb). drench: liquid (usually medication) administered through the mouth.
driving: a horse that is all out to win and under strong urging from its
rider. DVM: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
dysphagia: difficulty swallowing, which can be due to pain, obstruction
(choke) or a problem with the nerves that govern throat muscles. The most common signs of dysphagia are slobbering of food from the mouth and/or drainage of chewed food and saliva from nostrils. Treatment usually is aimed at identifying and resolving the underlying cause and adjusting feeding methods (e.g. feeding by stomach tube) to avoid aspiration pneumonia. |
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American Association of Equine Practitioners |
