The USA Equestrian (USAE) Board of Directors approved a rule change on Jan. 19 that should reduce the incidence of corticosteroid abuse in equine athletes. The USAE sets rules for 27 breeds and disciplines competing in the United States, and is the U.S. equestrian national governing body. The corticosteroid rule will go into effect Dec. 1, 2003.

The USAE’s Veterinary and Equine Drugs and

Evidence of West Nile virus (WNV) was found in 35 aborted fetuses in Kentucky since July of 2002, according to Lenn Harrison, VMD, head of the Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington. “We have handled about 400 aborted fetuses and tested them, so this is less than 10%,” he reported on Feb. 4. He emphasized that WNV has not been known to cause abortion in mares; therefore,

Michelle Henry Barton, DVM, PhD, of the University of Georgia, recently completed a project on treating endotoxemia with polymyxin B (PMB), an alternative to endotoxin antibody products. The drug PMB kills many Gram-negative bacteria and also binds endotoxin, preventing interaction of endotoxin with white blood cells (WBC) as do endotoxin antibody products–thus heading off the damaging

The bacterial disease “pigeon fever,” also known as dryland distemper, usually is seen west of the Mississippi–especially in California and southwestern states–but it has been recognized in Kentucky and Florida in increasing numbers in recent years. There was a small outbreak in Kentucky in November 2002 (see article #4040 at www.TheHorse.com). Some

Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s 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

Mares in performance careers are sometimes a frustration to their trainers and riders because during estrus, they can have difficulty concentrating on their work or have “behavioral problems.” Many horse owners resort to hormone therapy to keep mares from coming into heat while training or showing. The most commonly used drug is a synthetic progestin (altrenogest, marketed as Regumate) given

Granulosa-theca cell tumors (GTCTs) are usually tentatively diagnosed by rectal palpation and ultrasound examination after an owner complains of poor performance or aggressive, sexual, stallion-like behaviors. However, the diagnosis can’t be confirmed unless an exploratory laparotomy is performed and the tumor is biopsied (or removed and sectioned for histopathology). These tumors tend to mak

Skin masses in horses have historically been removed by surgical excision (cutting them out). Regardless of the type of mass, the surgeon’s goal is to remove all of the tissue, limit hemorrhage, and prevent infection while achieving the best possible cosmetic outcome. Equine surgeons at Purdue University have been using a carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser in place of a scalpel blade to

There is an uncommon type of shoulder lameness in horses that produces a dropped elbow and flexing of the carpus (knee) and pastern at rest. At work, affected horses are typically severely lame with a significantly decreased forward phase of the stride. Radiographs of the shoulder in these cases usually reveal a combination of biceps tendonitis, bursitis, and inflammation of the bone

Equine muscle injuries are often elusive, leading to frustration for the rider and a challenging diagnosis for the veterinarian. Since muscle injury can accompany and/or mimic skeletal problems, tendon or ligament injury, or neurological disease,