Latest News – The Horse
Soaking Hay Can Lower Dust Concentrations
For horses that are sensitive to inhaled irritants, eating hay can be a problem. Even the cleanest, highest-quality hay is likely to contain a moderate amount of fine material.
What’s In Your Horse’s DNA?
Geneticists have created tools and tests that help horse breeders select for healthy foals. Furthermore, access to the equine genome means scientists can examine common diseases and conditions and find ways to prevent (and one day treat) them.
Eye Color and Blindness
I have a 5-year-old horse that has one blue eye and one brown eye. I have been that told he is going blind in the blue eye and will proceed to go blind in the other within the next couple years. Is it common for a horse with blue eyes to lose sight?
Monitoring Fetal Heart Rate in Horses
Is it possible to hear a fetal horse’s heart rate with a high-quality stethoscope? If so, at about what stage of gestation, and what is the optimal position of the drum?
Can Horses Get Grave’s Disease/Bilateral Goiter?
Have you ever heard of a bilateral goiter in a horse? My gelding has had a goiter all his life that has not caused any problems. I’ve noticed a second lump, and possible goiter, on his neck. Can horses get Grave’s disease?
Building a Horse Breeding Shed
When planning a horse breeding operation, consider how many mares and stallions you can handle, if you will offer live cover, artificial insemination, or both, and then determine your equipment and building needs from there (seeking expert advice).
Panicky Horse? Vitamin B Might Help
My gelding panics and becomes terrified when something changes in the environment. My veterinarian suggested vitamin B and sacking him out (systemic desensitization). Is there any evidence that vitamin B supplements help the abnormally panicky horse?
Feeding the Estrous Cycle: Tailoring the Mare’s Diet
Mares must have a well-balanced diet and healthy body condition to cycle properly and conceive and carry a foal. If adequate nutrients are not accessible to the mare as stored body fat or available in the feed, she will not cycle.
Horse Reproduction Trends And Tools
Whether reproduction occurs through natural breeding or artificial insemination, techniques and tools exist to help mare and stallion owners achieve their final goal: a complication-free conception, a problem-free pregnancy, and a healthy foal. When fertility problems occur, a veterinarian with a specialty in equine reproduction can help provide the tools to ensure breeding success.
Healthy Barns and Stalls
What hidden dangers lurk in your barn? Learn how to maximize air quality and improve safety in the stable.
Breeding Horse Nutrition
Regardless of general feeding guidelines for breeding horses, body condition score (BCS) is the most objective assessment of a horse’s fat covering and also the best predictor of reproductive performance or efficiency. Breeding horses should be maintained at a BCS of 5-6 (on a 1-10 scale), where ribs are invisible but readily palpable.
Eventing Radio Episode 107 – Inspirational People Series: James Wofford
James Wofford is our guest this week as part of the Inspirational People Series. Listen in here… Eventing Radio Episode 107 – Show Notes and
Horse Tip Daily 342 – Karen from Oregon on MP3 Players and Lessons
We are thrilled to have another listener join us with tips. Karen from Oregon is a Dressage rider who started as an adult and is
A Tale of Two Rescues
A reader recently shared the story of two horse rescues with similar names, one doing good work, the other not so good. Someone posting on
Agrosecurity, You, and Your Horses
Discussion of threats to U.S. agrosecurity (security of agriculture industries) and ways we can protect ourselves and our horses from intentional and unintentional threats.
Measuring for Clotting Disorders Might Help Predict Outcome for Colicky Horses
A simple blood test to measure plasma D-Dimer concentration in horses with colic might help veterinarians predict severity of cases, as concentrations are higher in horses with severe gastrointestinal (GI) disease, according to a group of University of Barcelona researchers.
