The chairman of the Kentucky Racing Commission has advocated a Salix-only policy on race day in the state, and said he would schedule meetings around the state to get feedback. Currently, five medications are permitted on race day in Kentucky.

Frank Shoop, during the commission’s Oct. 2 meeting near Lexington, said he wants Kentucky to fall in line with recommendations by the national

College students who are pursuing a career in equine publishing are eligible to compete for American Horse Publications 2004 Student Award. If you will be a junior or senior at the start of the 2004-2005 undergraduate college year, with at least one semester before graduation, you have a chance to win a cash award of $500 plus an all-expense paid trip to AHP’s annual meeting and seminar. The

On the list of injuries a horse might acquire, “popping a splint” is considered, at most, an inconvenience that requires laying the affected horse off his normal routine. However, when it keeps happening, that little inconvenience can become a major nuisance and perhaps a surgical problem.

I think we have seen over and over again that it is beneficial to stress the bones of a horse when they are most adaptive. This optimal adaptive period would seem to be when the horse is still in an active growth stage. We have all seen many cases where a certain type of injury (e.g., apical sesamoid fractures in foals, coffin bone fractures in foals, etc.) can be tolerated at an early

I just read your excellent article “The Latest on Laminitis by Karen Briggs. Is laminitis an inheritable disease? What about founder?

My yearling Standardbred colt has been diagnosed with a dentigerous cyst by the veterinarian. Can you possibly give me some information on this type of cyst?

I purchased my horse a year ago knowing he had some aggression problems. He is great around people, just not around other horses. Unfortunately, when he attacks, he goes for the throat just behind the jaw line.

When feeding horses at pasture or in large paddocks, it can often be a challenge to make sure each horse gets his share of the feed, while reducing waste and feed contamination. Management is the key to successfully feeding horses in a group setting, minimizing social stress and nutritional problems.

Now is the time to make improvements to your pastures in order to have the best and most nutritious grazing for your horses next spring. A well-maintained pasture also offers a practical and economic break for you, as well. Through pasturing, your feed and supplement costs are likely to be reduced, particularly if you have a mature, idle horse, or a mare in the early stages of gestation. Plus

Because of the demands of competition and sales, following the natural reproductive cycle dictated by Mother Nature often doesn’t fit into man’s breeding program. While Mother Nature’s time frame stipulates that the mare should be receptive to the stallion in late spring/early summer to produce a foal when the grass is green and the weather is warm, man, as steward of the horse, often has

There are limited options for effective treatment of horses with lameness due to chronic laminitis. A common practice involves therapeutic shoeing, which is intended to reduce pain, aid in healing, and help return the horse to activity. Recently, researchers from Texas A&M University examined four types of therapeutic shoes to determine their effectiveness at rapidly reducing pain and

Busy training schedules and fears about injury often limit pasture access for performance horses. Prolonged stall confinement, however, can be detrimental to a horse’s attitude. Boredom can lead to destructive behaviors, including weaving, pawing, and ingestion of bedding. Recently, researchers from Southampton and Leicestershire in the United Kingdom, collaborated on a study to examine the

During intensive training, young racehorses experience a thickening in the layers of bone under the cartilage of joints. These layers, called subchondral (located nearer the surface) and cancellous, become harder and better able to handle the rigors of training. Unfortunately, the process is painful, especially in the carpus (knee). Therefore, it is fairly common to inject corticosteroids int

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article gives horse owners a glimpse into the methods used by one experienced veterinarian to monitor the feet of his clients’ horses. Your veterinarian might have developed his/her own special way to follow the normal/abnormal foot, or you might be looking for a place to start a program to track your horse’s foot health.

It has been said that more than