Stephanie Ruff

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.

Articles by: Stephanie Ruff

The Young Horse Upper Airway

It has become commonplace for an upper respiratory tract (URT) endoscopy to be performed at pre- and post-sale examinations of young horses–especially at Thoroughbred sales. To address what is normal and what is abnormal, Rolf M. Embertson, DVM

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Uterine Tubal Patency Examination

Breeding is big business. Those who doubt need only look at the results of the 1998 Keeneland November breeding stock sale for verification. Prices for broodmares and weanlings soared–top price for a broodmare, $7 million; for a weanling, $1.5

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Managing Barren Mares

Not every mare that is mated during a breeding season becomes pregnant, nor does every mare that conceives carry a foal to term. Failure of conception, early embryonic losses, and abortions are a fact of life in equine reproduction, and problem

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Scrape That Won’t Heal

My 2-year-old Percheron gelding has a scrape just above his right hock (on the outside in the groove). He has had it since birth, but it was more irritated this summer. In winter, it gets dry, scabby, and hairless. What can I use to heal it,

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Front Foot Flick

My Tennessee Walking Horse often “flicks” his left front foot when putting it forward. What could cause this?

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Business or Pleasure?

If you think that you need help preparing federal income tax returns for your horse activity, then you should seek the assistance of a qualified accountant or tax attorney. If, on the other hand, you think that you can manage the task without

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Feeding for Performance

Feeding high-performance horses is a challenge. If nutritional requirements are met appropriately, performance can be improved over those horses which are fed imbalanced diets in irregular amounts. When working with a veterinarian or nutritionis

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Sorting out GI-Support Supplements

The ABCs of Vitamin Nutrition

Although horses only need relatively small quantities of vitamins, the lack of those tiny amounts can be devastating to your horse’s health.

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Working for the Betterment of Horses

Moyer and Johnson are excited about the future of equine research, not only at Texas A&M, but around the world. And that excitement was made possible in large part to a woman who wanted to better the world in which horses live.

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Monitoring Sand Colic With Radiographs

Ingestion of sand is an unfortunate consequence of vigorous grazing on sandy soil. The equine digestive tract can handle a certain amount of sand without difficulty, but too much sand can lead to impaction and colic. Medical treatments, includin

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The Role of Bovine Papillomavirus in Equine Sarcoids

Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) has long been suspected of playing a role in the development of sarcoid tumors in horses. Different subtypes of the virus, BPV-1 and BPV-2, have been identified in individual sarcoid biopsies. It is not clear, however

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Can You Influence Hoof Growth?

We ask an awful lot of an animal who walks on his middle toenails. Humans have recognized for centuries that the foundation of a horse’s soundness lies in his hooves–“No foot, no horse” is about as basic a principle as there is. It all comes

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