Stephanie Ruff has spent her entire career in various facets of the equine industry. She was a freelance writer for many years, was the owner/editor of Arabian Finish Line, managing editor of Arabian Horse Life and content manager of Practical Horseman and Dressage Today before moving to The Horse. She has ridden many different disciplines, but for the last 20 years has focused on dressage.
Stephanie has both a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science from the University of Kentucky and has always had a keen interest in equine health, science, and research.
A native of Pennsylvania, Stephanie enjoys hanging out with her Arabian and Half-Arabian mares, two German Shorthair Pointers, traveling and embracing the Florida lifestyle where she currently lives.
When Bill Saville, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, was asked to form the Ohio West Nile Virus (WNV) Working Group in late 1999, the disease was still a distant concern in New York City where health officials had identified the first North American case of the virus in a dead crow in August 1999. By December 2000, the health problem was literally on Ohio’s doorstep when the virus was detected across th
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 19, 2003
Arkansas state veterinarian Paul Norris, DVM, announced last week that a horse in the Ft. Smith area had been infected with West Nile virus (WNV). Testing on the Sebastian County horse was completed at USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory.
Sharon Williams, DVM, state public health veterinarian with the Department of Health, said, “The identification of West Nile virus in a
According to the Midland Daily News, in Midland county, Mich., the county’s Sheriff’s Office reported that a 17-year-old miniature horse was killed by two pit bulls early this morning.
The pregnant mare was in a pasture in Jerome Township when she was killed by the dogs, which belong to a neighbor. Deputies were called at 3:21 a.m. No other animals were injured.
To keep consumers safe, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture works to make sure that all persons who apply pesticides to someone else’s property are properly licensed.
All commercial pesticide applicators must be licensed through the Department’s Division of Pesticide Regulation under state law. These applicators include turf and lawn care professionals, structural pest control
You can support the health of the horse. With The Horseman’s Credit Card, you can help fund research at the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, one of the premier equine research facilities in the world.
Two dead blue jays from Assumption and Jackson parishes and a dead cardinal from Union Parish have pushed Louisiana’s count of West Nile virus (WNV)-positive dead birds past 30. The total number of dead birds infected with the virus is now 33, with 541 birds tested this year and 3,091 reported. The three parishes these new dead birds came from previously had no birds that tested positive for
The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) is pleased to announce the receipt of a $25,000 grant from The Pfizer Foundation. The grant money will be used to bolster NARHA’s Regional Education Program.
Founded in 1969, NARHA is a membership organization that fosters safe, professional, ethical, and therapeutic equine activities through education,
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 16, 2003
According to several Georgia newspapers, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) has struck nine horses in the southern part of the state. Only three cases were documented in Georgia in 2002.
EEE is caused by a virus found in wild birds, and it is transmitted to horses and humans via the bite of an infected mosquito. Horses do not develop high enough levels of the EEE virus in their blood t
According to an Associated Press story, “Star Trek” star William Shatner’s ex-wife has sued him for breach of contract over breeding privileges of three American saddlebred stallions.
“Marcy Lafferty Shatner claims in her civil lawsuit that her ex-husband broke an agreement in their 1995 divorce settlement that allowed her one breeding privilege per calendar year,” said the
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 15, 2003
There are still no clues as to the identity of the person or persons who left a badly malnourished and injured horse in a riverbed west of the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway last month, according to the Whittier Daily News. However, a reward for information in the case was offered May 7, officials said.
Officials from the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority (SEAACA) foun
Cooperative Extension professionals from 13 land grant institutions in the southern United States have combined their equine knowledge and launched a comprehensive Web site of peer-reviewed horse information. The group put www.Horsequest.info online in early April.
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 15, 2003
According to a Sonoma, Calif., newspaper, reward donations and suspect leads are pouring in following the recent discovery of a mare who was chased to death in her Kenwood pasture several weeks ago.
The investigator in charge of the case said on May 7 that more than one perpetrator may have been responsible.
Sonoma County sheriff’s Detective Jack Neely said to the Sonoma
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 15, 2003
A fire destroyed a barn used by an equine rescue operation on May 5 near Colorado Springs, Colo. No people or animals were hurt in the late evening blaze at Hunting Crest Farms Horse Rescue, said El Paso County Fire Marshal Arnie Lavelett in a RockyMountainNews.com article.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The equine rescue had sheltered 13 of around 50 abused or
Stephanie L. Church, Editorial Director
May 15, 2003
According to a May 8 article in the Times Record of Fort Smith, Ark., a man convicted of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident involving a horse was sentenced to three months in prison despite defense pleas to spare the defendant who has eight prior felony convictions.
“William Randolph Spence, 32, didn’t deny striking a horse as it was ridden from the Old Fort Rode
On March 5, 2003, leading researchers from the United Kingdom gathered at Ascot Racecourse to present practical aspects of their research findings to the British Thoroughbred industry. Arranged by the Veterinary Advisory Committee of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and sponsored by Ascot Racecourse, Transforming Racehorse Health in the 21st Century was the most recent in a series of
Since the middle of March, the United Kingdom’s Animal Health Trust (AHT) has confirmed influenza in 20 racing yards (stables) in Newmarket, located in different areas of the town, and in a single breaking/holding yard just outside Newmarket. Most of these diagnoses have been made on the basis of nucleoprotein ELISA positive swab samples but two have been diagnosed on the basis of
