The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council set in motion major changes in the state’s medication and drug-testing policies when it voted Feb. 4 to recommend adoption of the model rules devised by the national Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

The drug council voted 7-1 in favor of the model rules. The lone dissenter was Susan Bunning, president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s

Veterinarians swapped ideas on hot topics in the realm of equine infectious disease in the Infectious Disease Forum at the 2004 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 3-8 in Denver, Colo. Steve Conboy, DVM, a private practitioner in Lexington, Ky., and Maureen Long, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, assistant professor of large animal veterinary medicine at the University of

The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act has been reintroduced to Congress as bill H.R. 503. Congressman John Sweeney of New York is the lead sponsor of H.R. 503 and introduced the bill on Feb. 1 as “A bill to amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for

The much anticipated court-ordered exhumation of the body of champion Saddlebred Wild Eyed and Wicked began this morning under gray skies and amidst chilling temperatures at Double D Ranch near Versailles, Ky. Wicked was one of five top American Saddlebreds that were injected with an unknown necrotizing (tissue-killing) substance the weekend of June 28-29, 2003. Wicked and one of the other

“Unwanted horses” within the domestic equine population have been determined by someone to be no longer needed or useful, or their owners are no longer interested in or capable of providing care for them physically or financially. Many unwanted horses will be sent to slaughter, euthanatized, or simply abandoned and left to die. Fortunate ones find new homes or jobs when their physical

What can you tell me about Tyzzer’s disease? I’ve heard of only two cases in the last 20 years.

My 5-year-old mare has been suffering from an odd gait problem for a few weeks. She has been diagnosed with a form of tenosynovitis involving the tendon sheath of the digital deep flexor tendon in the area of the Achilles tendon above the hock.

Is there a reliable test to check the titer of immunity before we revaccinate each year for flu, rhino, etc.? Why is a tetanus shot good for five or more years in humans and only one year or less in the equine?

Do horses (stallions) respond to women’s reproductive cycles?

I have two horses I have purchased not knowing they were pregnant. How will I know that they are close to delivery? Will they lose their appetite like my dogs do, or will there be other signs I should look for in the last month of pregnancy?                    via e-mail

Successful breeding of horses is not always as easy as presenting a receptive mare to a fertile stallion. There are many things that can go awry with the reproductive process. Broodmares that were once fertile and produced many excellent foals might one day face the realities of repetitive foaling injuries, chronic uterine infections, or simply old age. Stallions also can experience a decreas

My 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Sterling Story, suffered four months with what my vet and I thought was a hoof abscess. He was retired from the track as a 6-year-old, and I have ridden him in dressage and as a trail horse since. He is that one-in-a-million people-loving horse that has bonded with me as my true friend. I ride him on the average of five days a week to keep him fit and

The United Kingdom is famous for its rich history and deeply rooted traditions, but that doesn’t mean its veterinarians are bound to ancient methods of equine medicine. Quite the contrary, the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) hosts one of the world’s most in-depth, cutting-edge continuing education meetings every year–the BEVA Congress. The 43rd annual Congress, held Sept. 15-18,