TOM

Tom is about 27 years old, a chunky little cob of 15hh. Tom, again, was destined for the meat market.

Tom has ‘Cushing’s’ a disorder of the pituitary gland. It was once believed that ‘Cushing’s’ was a tumour of the pituitary gland, but of course this can only ever be confirmed with a post mortem, any malfunction would give the same symptoms. It causes an over production of the bodies own steroids, this shows up as clinical signs of long hairy coats that don’t shed in the summer, or laminitis that becomes chronic and difficult to control, the body has difficulty regulating temperature and the horse will drink and urinate more as diabetes can be a complication.

Tom’s condition is controlled by a human drug called ‘Pergolide’ (given for ‘Parkinson’) – he will be on these for the rest of his life.