Les Sellnow

Les Sellnow was a prolific freelance writer based near Riverton, Wyoming. He specialized in articles on equine research, and operated a ranch where he raised horses and livestock. He authored several fiction and nonfiction books, including Understanding Equine Lameness and Understanding The Young Horse. He died in 2023.

Articles by: Les Sellnow

Diagnostic Imaging for Lameness

There was a time when diagnosing lameness was basic-watch the horse travel, determine where you think the problem might be, and take a guess at what’s causing it. Then came X rays, ultrasound, CT (computed tomography) scans, scintigraphy (bone

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Gait Analysis for Horses

There has been a long journey over a relatively short span of time in the world of equine gait analysis. The first studies utilized high-speed cameras and a treadmill and took place at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences some 35 years

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Nutrition to Go

A group of veterinarians gathered at the Land O’ Lakes Purina Mills headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., last fall to participate in discussions on subjects that ranged from Cushing’s disease to proper nutrition for horses young and old. Nicholas Frank,

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Immunotherapy for Broodmares

Endometritis has been the bane of many broodmares and their owners through the years. It frequently has been blamed for mares not becoming pregnant and, when they do conceive, for early embryonic death. The result has been serious economic losses

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Breeding Expertise

The annual conference of the Society for Theriogenology (SFT) was held Aug. 22-26 in St. Paul, Minn. Scientists and clinicians specializing in reproduction shared new research and updated views on many topics during the conference. Following are

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Basics of Life

Reproduction in all species borders on the miraculous. In this article on reproductive anatomy, we’ll take a look at the reproductive organs of both the mare and the stallion and discuss just how they function in their effort to produce another “miracle.”

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Book Excerpt: Oxygen Supply

Many people worry that horses coming from near sea level will have trouble acclimating to the mountain altitudes. If they are physically fit, horses have an easier time adjusting than humans, and it’s all due to physiology.

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Anatomy and Physiology Part 11: Of Blood and Breath

There are few similarities between horses and automobiles, but in a manner of speaking, the horse’s circulatory and respiratory systems constitute its engine. The food a horse consumes is its fuel. The fuel is converted into nutritional energy that

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Lessons Learned Hard

We have just passed the five-year anniversary of the most horrific terrorist attack on the United States in the country’s history. It was on Sept. 11, 2001, that two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York, another struck

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The Equine Digestive System: A Food Factory

The equine digestive system is a complicated factory that is designed to process small amounts of food frequently and convert them into nutrients that can be absorbed and produce energy. The same, concerning the end result, could be said of the cow

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Home Sweet Barn

Change has been constant in the equine industry during the past couple of decades, ranging from sophisticated health care and treatment to improved living quarters for horses in our care, custody, and control.

When the horse was the prime

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Temperament and Being Alert (Book Excerpt)

Look for a horse that’s alert to its surroundings and pays special attention to unusual objects. This is where the subtlety comes in. You want the horse to be observant, but you don’t want it to become agitated and frightened when it sees something.

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Tendons and Ligaments: Anatomy and Physiology

Tendon and ligament injuries often go hand in hand with horses involved in vigorous athletic pursuits. However, many tendon and ligament injuries can be avoided through proper conditioning and training regimens and by not pushing a horse beyond its limits in racing or other competitions.

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Canadian Horse Welfare

The horse industry across Canada for the past couple of years has been a bit like a ship in stormy seas. It has been buffeted about, with some of the waves splashing over to its neighbor to the south, but it is now finding itself in calmer

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Wyoming Fire Threatens Horses

A fire that has consumed nearly 12,000 acres of woodland forced hundreds of residents in a mountainous area to evacuate their homes near Casper, Wyo., during the past week. Included among the evacuees were a number of horses that were in the

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