Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director

Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director, grew up riding and caring for her family’s horses in Central Virginia and received a B.A. in journalism and equestrian studies from Averett University. She joined The Horse in 1999 and has led the editorial team since 2010. A 4-H and Pony Club graduate, she enjoys dressage, eventing, and trail riding. Her heart horse, It Happened Again (“Happy,” pictured), a former graded-stakes-winning Thoroughbred gelding, was her longtime partner in the saddle and remains a lasting inspiration. Stephanie is based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Articles by: Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director

Hurricane Update: Healing Storm Scars

The ghastly, distressing images on network television and in newspapers aren’t there to haunt our daily lives, but post-Katrina destruction remains a bitter reality for many horse owners in the Gulf Coast region. For some, the wounds of Katrina

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Derby Winner Barbaro Injured

Barbaro’s breakdown after the start of the May 20 Preakness Stakes captured the concern of horse owners and enthusiasts watching on network television and at the Baltimore, Md., track. Equine veterinary medicine was catapulted into the spotlight,

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Landmark DNA Sequencing to Begin

The same government agency that completed the human genome in 2003 has identified the horse as a probable target for future DNA sequencing research. While a final decision will be announced in the near future, the Broad Institute, a member of the

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MRLS and Vesiviruses?

Oregon State University (OSU) researchers announced on June 23 that they linked vesiviruses to abortions seen during Central Kentucky’s bout with mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) in 2001 and concluded that vesivirus-specific reagents shoul

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Vesiviruses and MRLS?

Oregon State University researchers have reported a link between vesiviruses, which can affect a wide variety of mammals, and mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS). University of Kentucky researchers studying MRLS are concerned the results of

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Equine Internists Help Beau Beat Botulism

Beau’s bright, interested eyes and shiny coat do not give any indication that he was at death’s door just a few months ago. On June 1, the chocolate-colored Rocky Mountain Horse gelding was a guest for the American College of Veterinary Internal

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Equine Infectious Anemia Confirmed in Ireland

Agriculture authorities have confirmed Ireland’s first recorded cases of equine infectious anemia (EIA). Ireland’s Department of Agriculture and Food announced Thursday (June 15) that the disease was detected in a “small number of horses” in the

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Rabies Vaccine Recall Shouldn’t Affect Horses

Vaccine manufacturer Fort Dodge Animal Health recalled about 330,000 doses of rabies vaccine recently after a vaccinated dog became ill with rabies. Horses are not likely affected by the recall.


“It’s a product that’s labeled for equine

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Riding Ranks Tenth in List of Sports with Most Injuries

Loyola University Health System reported this week that basketball tops the list of sports associated with the most injuries, with more than 512,000 basketball-related injuries landing individuals in U.S. emergency rooms in 2005. Horseback ridin

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Florida Horse Rescued from Creek

It took more than 35 people to extract a 1,600-pound Hanoverian from a creek yesterday morning (June 6) near Orlando, Fla. The 17.1-hand gelding had been trapped in the 25-foot-wide miry creek with slippery banks for at least three hours when he

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Mule Clones Win First Heat; Lose in Finals

The world’s first cloned mule, Idaho Gem, and his cloned brother, Idaho Star, won their qualifying heats in races on Saturday. The next day, they ran third and seventh, respectively. The races, which were held in Winnemucca, Nev., were the first

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HSUS Makes Statement on Cloning

On March 30, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) reacted to the announcement of two successful commercial cloning ventures and additional clones that were expected to be born this spring. (See

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Detecting Animal Diseases that Could Affect Humans

An upcoming Ohio conference is aimed at helping public health officials earlier detect and recognize emerging diseases in animal populations that could affect humans. The June 16 meeting, “Public Health Surveillance Using a One-Medicine

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Barbaro in Recovery: Active, Inquisitive, Agile

“He’s pretty agile,” said Dean W. Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, chief of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, referring to his well known patient, Barbaro, whose fractured leg he repaired on Sunday afternoon. “He’s done

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