What’s best for teaching an old pony new tricks: The carrot or the whip? Equine behavior research says carrot.
The research team that demonstrated yearlings perform much better if their training included feed rewards as positive reinforcement is now back to let us know that positive reinforcement gets engrained in young horses’ minds for the long ha
Diagnosing skin diseases is probably one of the greatest challenges to horse handlers and veterinarians alike.
Some of us tend to think we should keep a broodmare’s physical efforts down to a minimum. But new research shows the heart rates of 9-month-old fetuses remained unchanged during and after maternal exercise. Furthermore, plasma cortisol and plasma lactate concentrations were lower for the pregnant mares than for the same mares post-partum for the same exercise tests. These results indicate that the
Getting away with doping in equestrian events is about to become even harder for equestrians practicing in a country recognized worldwide for its horsemanship.
The German Equestrian Sports Federation (FN) has announced new regulations to control doping, both in and out of competition, with reinforced sanctions, intensified monitoring, and a specific list of 70 forbidden substances
The largest outbreak of equine atypical myopathy in Europe has ended with freezing winter temperatures, with a record number of 371 reported cases, according to a group of researchers in Belgium.
Atypical myopathy causes severe generalized weakness and stiffness, often ending in death. Urine becomes coffee-colored, and blood workups show significant increases i
A neighborly neigh is processed in a different way than other whinnies, meaning that horses have brain side preferences for sounds, according to a new study by French researchers.
A fatal gastrointestinal disease once limited to Scotland is being seen more frequently in certain parts of the world due to geographical progression, said British researchers.
A rising trot loads a horse’s back less than a sitting trot, producing less vertical force as measured through new biomechanical techniques, according to Dutch researchers.
Norwegian equestrian Tony Andre Hansen and his 2008 Olympic mount, Camiro, have been definitively disqualified from the Beijing Olympics for a medication offense. The disqualification followed an appeals commission decision handed down Dec. 4.
Hansen’s appeal of the 2008 ruling of the Fédération Equestre International (FEI) was dismissed last Friday by the Court
It’s no circus trick: researchers have shown that horses can count, despite 100 years of belief to the contrary.
By dropping apples one by one into two buckets, researchers determined that horses almost always chose the bucket with more apples, if the numbers were low (less than four). The horses chose randomly between buckets of four and six apples.
Where does an Appaloosa get its spots? What makes one horse more naturally suited for Western pleasure than dressage? Why do some horses get laminitis, and others don’t? The short answer we all know is, “It’s in the genes.” Accurate, but abstract.
Glucocorticoid cream applied at normal doses onto healthy equine skin will be quickly absorbed into the body"s system and can generate adverse systemic effects, said German researchers in a new study report. As a result, it can also cause a horse to test positive in performance drug tests within two days. When used to treat allergic skin reactions, glucocorticoids are
Handlers should monitor their horses’ temperature before and after travel and should not transport horses who show any signs of being ill, as the immune system weakens during transport
Mares that form close social bonds with other mares have improved pregnancy, foal birth, and foal survival rates, said a group of researchers studying wild herds in the North Island of New Zealand. The mares’ enhanced reproductive success appears to be linked primarily to mutual protection from harassment by stallions, they said.
Unlike most other mammal groups, the mares were
Through their whinnies, horses convey specific information about their identities, including sex, height, and weight, according to French researchers. Acoustic analyses of whinnies and the reactions of horses to various recorded whinnies also suggest that the vocal calls play an important social role and appear to be unique to each horse.
This is the first study of its kind in horses,
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