The most common signs of ER include excessive sweating, increased respiratory rate, stiffness, nonspecific lameness, and a reluctance to continue working or moving. | Photo: Courtesy Dr. Stephanie Valberg

The Beatles and British rocker Joe Cocker, among others, said they get by with a little help from their friends, but they’re not the only ones. Equine researchers continuously make great progress in their studies. And as technology advances, so can the depth of their research.

Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, ACVSMR, the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at the Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in East Lansing, reviewed how five major advancements in veterinary technology have helped her and others learn more about and discover new equine muscle disorders at the 2018 Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Conference, held Oct. 29-30 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Tying Up 101

Before she described the advancements that helped her research progress, Valberg took a quick look at the history of equine muscle disease