Horseback riding is more dangerous than motorcycle racing, according to Heather S. Havlik, MD, director of the sports medicine program at Charlotte Medical Clinic in North Carolina. “Never take for granted the fact that your partner in equestrian sports is much larger and much less predictable than in any other sport out there, and that situation requires constant awareness t

Veterinarians from the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center saved a 14-year-old Warmblood gelding with right dorsal colitis by combining two surgical techniques to remove the diseased part of his bowel.

What makes a winner? Just about every breeder and owner has asked and debated this question. Certainly genetics must play a role, or why else breed a winning stallion or mare? But is there a gene for speed? This was the question asked of the researchers and veterinarians who contributed to an article on hereditary problems and genetic testing that will appear in the upcoming December issue

Each year there are about 100,000 unwanted horses in the United States, too many for the registered equine rescue and sanctuary groups to handle, according to a recent survey by researchers at the University of California, Davis. They found that the 236 registered rescue and sanctuary organizations could only help about 13,400 horses a year. “Nonprofit equine rescue and sanctuary

A 79-year-old man who managed an animal sanctuary in England was trampled by his horses. He suffered cuts and bruises but otherwise seemed relatively unscathed. A week later, however, he was taken to the hospital because he was confused, feverish, and had a headache. The head wound he received from the incident appeared infected, and he was admitted to the hospital for meningitis (an infla

Horses shipped from overseas normally travel in jet stalls, specially made containers that house three adult horses or five foals. David Hasenauer, president and CEO of Jet Pets, Inc. in Los Angeles, a privately owned and operated quarantine facility under contract with USDA, offers this piece of advice before shipping a horse to the United States: “If you’re going to spe

Researchers measured the way muscle genes are switched on and off when a Thoroughbred exercises and found that these genes work together to adapt to exercise training. “As any trainer knows, different muscles respond and adapt to training in different ways,” said Beatrice A. McGivney, PhD, of the University of Dublin in Ireland. “A person who is a long distance runn

Exercise intolerance often is first sign that a performance horse has an abnormal heart rhythm, said Kelsey A. Hart, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, internal medicine clinician and graduate fellow in the department of large animal medicine at the University of Georgia, at the American Veterinary Medical Association meeting in Atlanta. “It can be acute exercise intolerance where the ho

There are more options today for treating systemic fungal infections in foals and horses, but owners should be prepared for a long haul–treatment takes a long time, it’s expensive, and the infection can reoccur.

With the economy the way it is, many neonatal foals are being managed on the farm rather than being sent to a clinic, according to Kelsey A. Hart, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, at the recent American Veterinary Medical Association meeting in Atlanta. While a veterinarian should evaluate every newborn foal, it is important that

The prognosis for horses with equine motor neuron disease (EMND) caused by prolonged vitamin E deficiency is usually poor, but veterinarians from the University of Minnesota showed that early diagnosis and treatment can help these animals. Equine motor neuron disease is usually diagnosed too late for the veterinarian to help the animal, said Holly E. Bedford, DVM, MS, who presente

A person who practices defensive horsemanship is less likely to be hurt while handling a horse, Robert M. Miller, DVM, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., said at the recent American Veterinary Medical Association meeting July 31-Aug. 3 in Atlanta, Ga. “[Because they are a prey animal,] horses are always afraid,” he warned, and said people must act in a reassuring manner to avoid

Knowing whether a horse favors his left or right leg can help owners and trainers develop better training programs for him, according to Amanda Warren-Smith, PhD, of the Millthorpe Equine Research Centre in New South Wales, Australia. An easy way to determine his laterality is with a pedometer designed for people. Laterality is the preference an animal shows for one side of its bo

Giving procaine penicillin before and after castration reduces the levels of inflammatory markers on a horse’s blood test, which suggest that this approach might reduce bacteria in the surgical wounds, according to a Danish study. The researchers gave a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and three days of procaine penicillin, which is a combination of penicillin and

Racehorses and other performance horses occasionally succumb to cardiac death during or after exertion, and in most cases equine researchers are at a loss as to why.

Foals have a better chance of surviving dystocia if the mare is taken to an equine hospital as soon as the prolonged delivery is recognized, said Katherine Cole MacGillivray, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM, of Haygard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky., at the ACVIM Forum 2010 veterinary meeting held in Anaheim, Calif. Dystocia is usually defined as stage-2 labor (delivery of the foal)