Failure to conceive and early embryonic death both negatively impact the equine breeding industry; however, late-term abortions also occur and should not be ignored, said Michelle M. LeBlanc, DMV, Dipl. ACT, from Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., during the 11th Congress of the World Equine Veterinary Association, which was held Sept. 24-27, 2009, in Guarujá, Sao

Tendons can be an important source of lameness in athletic horses, but issues with the tendon's sheath–the thin connective tissue wrapped around the tendons, containing synovial fluid–shouldn't be overlooked as another potential cause of lameness.

"Diagnosing lameness originating from tendon sheaths is increasing with awareness and increased availability and use o

If you have ever witnessed a horse having a so-called "episodic event," you aren't likely to soon forget it, particularly if the event occurred while the horse was under saddle. Episodic events are defined here as unusual or unexpected, usually brief (spanning seconds to minutes) behavioral events. Between attacks, affected horses and foals appear totally normal.

A

While genetic diseases exist in a number of horse breeds, many researchers have focused expressly on issues occurring in the Quarter Horse breed. Thanks to their efforts, genetic tests for several disorders specific to this breed are now commercially available for breeders and horse owners.

"The size of the Quarter Horse industry, the commitment of the American Quarter Hors

Bacteria such as Salmonella or Clostridium can wreak havoc on a horse's gastrointestinal tract, causing massive losses of water, electrolytes, and proteins. The result? Diarrhea. A smelly, watery, life-threatening mess.

"In more than 60% of diarrhea cases, we never actually discover the inciting cause and testing for all the possibilities can be

Tailored exercise programs involving habitual low-intensity loading during early development could reduce the prevalence of osteochondral injury later in life, said a group of veterinary orthopedic researchers.

According to the researchers, “The positive effect of exercise on bone mineral density has been documented extensively in several species, including the horse.”

The

Horses are cows, said veterinary researcher N. Edward Robinson, BVetMed, PhD, MRCVS, Matilda R. Wilson Chair in Large Animal Clinical Sciences at Michigan State University.

Well, what Robinson actually said was that the “racehorse and modern dairy cow have several things in common.” Both have been genetically selected for performance via a small number of popular sires, performance relie

Diagnosing equine Cushing’s disease (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, or PPID) requires accurate testing, on which there is a seasonal effect.

In contrast to a recently published study on EHV-1, the late George Allen, PhD, a University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center scientist, described a model to study equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and myeloencephalopathy and identified major risk factors critical to experimental reproduction of this syndrome.

In his

What do you get when you “scope” 1,005 horses after 230 races, each within 24 minutes of the race, with the cooperation of 97 trainers over 28 race meets? A great deal of valuable data about the equine throat and the impact disorders of the throat can have on racing.

“Considering that upper respiratory tract abnormalities are widely thought to be a leading cause of poor performance in

Weight gain and obesity in horses should be avoided to prevent insulin resistance, increased insulin and leptin blood levels, and laminitis, and to maintain a healthy metabolic state.

To date, “it is unknown whether obesity is the primary cause of or contributes to metabolic abnormalities or whether these abnormalities are inherent characteristics of the animal,” wrote a group of

Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is the most common cause of blindness in horses and is believed to affect approximately 10% of the equine population. The exact cause of ERU remains unclear, although researchers have shown that recurrent bouts of inflammation involving activated T-cells (cells largely responsible for cell-mediated immunity) lead to destruction of the retina.

In an

Curcumin, an extract of the spice turmeric, is a natural product with potent anti-inflammatory properties that also exerts beneficial effects on cartilage metabolism. Scientists believe curcumin inhibits degradative enzymes such as metalloproteinases and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and reduces cartilage cell apoptosis (programmed cell death).

To study the effect of curcumin on cartilage

Horses with persistent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP), an important performance-limiting abnormality of the upper respiratory tract, have a different anatomic location of the larynx than horses with only intermittent DDSP, report Cornell University researchers.

DDSP affects approximately 10% to 20% of racehorses and is diagnosed by observing the caudal border of the soft

Horses fed a diet of only forage have greater bacterial stability and fewer “bad” fecal bacteria, such as Streptococcus spp, than horses that are also fed concentrates. This finding, reported by a group of Swedish researchers, provides opportunities for the industry to develop more targeted feeding strategies to support equine health and welfare. “Diets rich in readily