(Updated 3/07/03) Ohio and Pennsylvania have confirmed or reported cases of the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus type 1. But the worst problems reported thus far have occurred in Ohio, where 12 horses died in an outbreak at the University of Findlay (see article #4127) and three other Ohio horses died from exposure t

Lady’s Secret, 1986 Horse of the Year and the richest female at one time, died March 4 from complications from foaling a General Meeting colt at Jack Liebau and Tom Capehart’s Valley Creek Farm near Valley Center, Calif. The Thoroughbred mare’s colt is fine and healthy, according to John Glenney, who owned the 21-year-old Secretariat mare with his wife, Kim.

Oklahoma-bred Lady’s Secre

Reported equine abortions in Central Kentucky are down for the third week in a row and overall abortions for 2003 are drawing even with the 2002 numbers. According to figures from the University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center on Tuesday, 20 fetuses were brought to the lab in week nine of this year. Last year, during the same week, 33 fetuses were turned in for research. Las

The first presentation on the agenda of the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, held January 16-18 in Louisville, Ky., was a discussion of the club foot–a problem seen in all places and breeds. While probably all of those present had seen and worked on affected horses before, they were all interested in improving their understanding and treatment success with this problem. Ric Redden,

“One of the most frequent sites of lameness is the hock joint,” said Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU), in her presentation “A New Look at the Hock Joint” at the 2003 Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, Ky. “Various shoeing modifications are used with the objective of modifying hock motion

New research is leading veterinarians one step closer to being able to detect the first stages of cartilage damage in joints, which could lead to crippling osteoarthritis. Researchers eventually want to analyze joint fluid or blood samples and assess the concentration of specific biochemical markers thought to be involved in the degradation process of cartilage to predict actual damage i

A bill to ban the slaughter of horses in the United States as well as the transportation of horses to slaughter has been re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, only this time there is a new player in the game. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has gone on record as being in full support of the bill.

Officially, the bill is The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

The racing Thoroughbred is trapped between a rock and a hard place. The rock is speed, which evolved slowly by natural selection for 50 million years, then rapidly by human hand the last 500. The hard place is where we find our ward today, beset by vulnerable feet, a grain-bothered gut, hot behavior, bleeding lungs, a sloping vulva, gastric ulcers, tying-up, crooked legs, and developmental

Two additional positive tests for equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) virus Feb. 26 were reported at Penn National Race Course. That prompted Philadelphia Park Racetrack to extend its ban on shipping into and out of the Grantville, Penn., track to March 19. Racetracks in neighboring West Virginia have also decided to implement the shipping restriction as a precaution.

The total

Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine, McPhail Equine Performance Center, discussed recent lower limb research during the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium. Some of the studies she described were performed in collaboration with researchers at California State Polytechnic

Many equine skin problems have not been fully elucidated (analyzed and explained) yet, but experienced veterinarians often will recognize a problem and confirm a tentative diagnosis, if possible, with an appropriate test. Owners need to realize that many disorders of the equine skin have not been subjected to close clinical or scientific scrutiny, and although the clinical features are known

We used to call it the “creeping crud”–a colorful, youthful label applicable to any gross-out skin disease the horse happened to have (and not to be confused with the cold-and-flu-like symptoms in humans that earned the same appellation). Besides the crud, there were also those weird little bumps that could show up now and then on the horse–not quite as disgusting, but unpleasant

Pain. The Merriam-Webster electronic dictionary defines pain as 1: punishment; 2: usually localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (as a disease or an injury); also, a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort (as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leading to

The following responses to questions are from Rob Keene, DVM, a field technical consulting equine veterinarian with Fort Dodge Animal Health (FDAH), manufacturers of the West Nile virus vaccine.

 The West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine is probably one of the best-known vaccines on the market right now. How did you get it ready so quickly after WNV was found in the United States?

I read in a magazine that you can have braces put on a horse to correct an overbite. How can I learn about this? I have a super nice filly that is show quality except for the overbite. If I can get this corrected on my filly, I will show her.