>>>> That's interesting - in human hyperthyroid cases, low t3/t4 often gives excess hair growth.... and tiredness....
Yes, but you have to be very careful in assigning cause and effect. (Didn't I just say that maybe yesterday?) There's some link (sort of vague) between thyroid levels and IR. That's why so many vets looked to treat horses (like my Holly) with ThyroL when they founder. (Ok...literally, Holly didn't "founder" since her rotation was ultimately less than 1 degree, but there's no such verb for laminitis that I know of in this sense. I can't say that Holly "laminitisated".) Now, they think that Holly probably didn't have a thyroid problem, but that the ThyroL acted as a "diet pill" to control her weight. Now, looking back, it's not necessarily a good idea to tamper with the thyroid function to control weight, but in Holly's case it worked well. She's been comfortably founder-free after those two attacks over 10 years ago. Holly was never particularly lethargic, before or after her Thyroid treatment. Well, finally after she reached 20, but heck, I'm pretty lethargic compared to what I was like in my 20's when I was a bundle of energy. A lot (the majority) of Cushing's horses have long coats, and they are lethargic. Other breeds of ponies are known for their long coats, especially in winter, but are not necessarily considered "lethargic." My Icelandic foals are born with really long coats, and get them every fall - they aren't lethargic. The best I can tell, some hair coat growth patterns are genetic. Some changes in hair-growth patterns may indicate problems. We need to know the difference. I'm sure you can find Icelandic horses with odd thyroid levels. You can certainly find other breed horses with odd thyroid levels. One other thing: many Cushing's horses have long coats, and also have IR. Did you ever think that IR/Cushing's attacks are actually pretty common in the fall? Sundance's weight loss and "founder" came in September or October. We didn't check his thyroid that I remember. (Maybe we did? If so, it wasn't terribly off, if at all.) We DID check him for Cushing's and he was positive. Anyway, I just threw out a lot of symptoms. Of, these, tell me which is cause, and which is effect? Judging from the ongoing research I read about Cushings/IR/Metabolic Syndrome, I don't think the researchers who live and breathe this subject have all of this clear in their minds. They see some connections, but aren't precisely sure what the connections are. Why do I care? Because every darned time we write something off as "just an Icey thing", like it's just harmless, like our horses are SOOO different, we take a chance on missing a BIG problem, one that may be treatable. That's NOT doing our horses any favors. We know that IR, Cushing's and other Metabolic Syndrome conditions happen within our breed. On the other hand, we may miss the obvious way to handle the long coats in most of our climates: clip the horses as needed. If we clip the horses and the lethargy goes away (as it has with all of mine), then problem is solved. If we clip the horses and the lethargy is still notable, maybe it's time to call the vet. Two separate issues - neither of which are unique to Icelandic's. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.6/1150 - Release Date: 11/24/2007 5:58 PM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "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 [] 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 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/
