Alan Ruggles, VMD, Dipl. ACVS

Alan Ruggles, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, is a surgeon and partner at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, in Lexington, Kentucky, where he specializes in orthopedic surgery and lameness. He also serves as an American Association of Equine Practitioners On-Call Spokesman. Previously he taught at the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania and The Ohio State University.

Articles by: Alan Ruggles, VMD, Dipl. ACVS

rmtc; justify, 2018 triple crown

When Should Thoroughbreds Start Racing?

Many Thoroughbreds start racing at 2, but Justify didn’t make his first start until he was 3 and won the Triple Crown. Does this mean we shouldn’t start racing horses until they’re older? An equine surgeon and lameness specialist weighs in.

Read More

More From The Horse

Horses Grazing - iStock 1267385917
older horse and rider
Nose brown horse closeup on a green background
Buckets-of-feed-Getty

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

What’s the biggest challenge you face when bringing your horse back into work after winter?
128 votes · 128 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

The Horse
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.