“Take an organized approach to elucidate causes of fever of unknown origin in the foal,” said Robert Franklin, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, of Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Victoria, Australia, during the Western Veterinary Conference held February 15-19 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Normal foal body temperature is up to 102°F, he said, and it can be elevated by infectious and non-infectious factors.

Using ultrasound to diagnose problems in the horse is not a new concept, but it is not as often used in foals as it is in mares. Rob Franklin, DVM, Diplomate ACVIM, of the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Victoria, Australia, discussed ultrasonography of the neonatal foal at the Western Veterinary Conference, held February 15-19 in Las Vegas, Nev.

“You can do quite a bit more with

Laminitis in the contralateral (same end–fore or hind–opposite leg) limb is a well-recognized and potentially devastating sequela (result) in horses with complete fractures, sepsis involving a synovial structure, catastrophic breakdown injuries, and other conditions that cause unilateral non-weight-bearing lameness.

“Laminitis in the contralateral (opposite fore or hind) limb is a well-recognized and potentially devastating sequela (result) in conditions that cause unilateral non-weight-bearing lameness,” said Ric Redden, DVM, founder of the International Equine Podiatry Center in Versailles, Ky., in his presentation on the topic.

“The mechanism of contralateral limb (also called supporting limb)

“The foot is involved, either directly or indirectly, in the large majority of lameness cases,” said Ric Redden, DVM, founder of the International Equine Podiatry Center in Versailles, Ky.

Bowker, one of the foremost researchers on the structure of the horse’s foot, discussed several characteristics that differ between “good” feet and “bad” feet in great detail. First, however, he defined what most consider a good, strong foot.

Glaucoma (increased fluid pressure within the eye to a level incompatible with eye health) in horses is not well recognized, but look for it in cases of cloudy cornea, corneal edema, or severe unrelenting ocular inflammation.

With chronic laminitis, O’Grady explained that toe-downward rotation of P3 (the coffin bone) often occurs, which results in more pressure placed on the solar corium (the highly vascular tissue from which the sole grows) under the apex of P3. This pressure can disrupt blood flow, altering the rate and even the direction of sole growth.

“Indications to evaluate this area include respiratory noise and a persistent cough, often along with poor performance,” he said. “When the cough is observed while the horse is eating or when bitting up, this is pathognomonic (is indicative of a specific problem; in this case, subepiglottic ulceration).

The structural appearance of the foot is continually being modified by the interactions of the foot with the environment and the environment’s influences on the foot and hoof wall. The term environmental influences includes just about everything that the horse has come into contact with since birth, including the extent of movement, ground surfaces, trimming and shoeing procedures or the lack of

When a newborn foal, for whatever reason, fails to obtain the antibodies he needs from his mother in his first hours of life, this often results in a very sick or even dead foal from septicemia. Quick identification of the problem (failure of passive transfer, or FPT) is key to his survival, but the “gold standard” test for the problem takes 18-24 hours to yield results and is best handled in a la

Thankfully not a large part of a racetrack veterinarian’s job, severe injury of a racehorse nevertheless is one of the most visible and critical situations these practitioners must handle. Two experienced racetrack veterinarians, Mary Scollay, DVM, senior association veterinarian for Gulfstream Park and Calder Racecourses; and Celeste Kunz, VMD, chief examining veterinarian of the New York