Latest News – The Horse

HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein (JOR) was re-elected Nov. 5 in a landslide victory as Federation Equestre Internationale president at the Federation’s General Assembly in Taipei. Princess Haya, who was seeking a second and final four-year term as president, won in the first round of voting with 90 votes of a total 124 valid ballots.

Two Nevada men will each serve six months in federal prison and one year of probation in connection with the November 2009 shooting deaths of five Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mustangs. The shootings occurred at the Buckhorn Horse Management Area of Northern Washoe County, Nev.

We know these problem hooves by a variety of names: low heels, crushed heels, collapsed heels, underrun heels, long-toe/low-heeled feet. Regardless of what they’re called, we’ve probably all known a horse that had them, the less-than-fluid gait and/or lameness that often accompanies them, and the farrier/vet bills that come with trying to fix them.

Veterinarians representing the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ On Call program will assist ESPN and ABC Sports with horse health information during the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Nov. 5-6. Equine surgeons Larry Bramlage, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, and Wayne McIlwraith, BVSc, PhD, DSc, FRCVS, Dipl. ACVS, will be on hand to provide health reports to the viewing aduience.

Animal welfare authorities in Utah are seeking those responsible for killing a horse, then apparently butchering it for its meat. Sgt. Zach Todd of Salt Lake County Animal Services said the 6-year-old registered American Saddlebred gelding was discovered dead in its pasture on Nov. 3. The horse had sustained a single small-caliber gunshot wound to its face and had been mutilated and dismembered.

Therapeutic programs, equine rescue organizations, youth clubs, educational and research programs are among the 18 organizations receiving $17,693 in grants from the Maryland Horse Industry Board. The grants help to strengthen the industry by building awareness of and involvement in the horse industry through research, education and promotional activities.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Army and wild horse advocates will meet in Nevada to discuss ways to manage 104 mustangs residing south of Walker Lake on the Hawthorne Army Depot.

Laminitis begins well before clinical signs occur, at the cellular or even the molecular level, and addressing platelets might be a key to prevention or early treatment. Jamie Textor, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, an equine surgeon and PhD candidate at the University of California, Davis, spoke about the role of platelets in laminitis during the Sept. 17-18 Laminitis West Conference, in Monterey, Calif.

Pennsylvania State University’s student-sponsored Equine Speaker Series will return later this month to continue providing horse owners and enthusiasts with access to industry professionals and the information they have to offer. November’s speaker will be Carey A. Williams, PhD, Rutgers University equine extension specialist. Williams will deliver her presentation Nov. 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

After raising $47,000 in pledges from the 2009 Breeders’ Cup, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program is well on its way to doing the same–if not more–this year. Owners and trainers of Breeders’ Cup starters have been asked to pledge a percentage of their earnings to support New Vocations’ mission to rehabilitate, retrain, and re-home retired racehorses.

With only two workouts by Breeders’ Cup World Championship entrants, the scene on the backside of Churchill Downs the morning of Nov. 3 was all about Zenyatta. There was a huge throng outside Barn 41 as the 6-year-old mare, who is the morning line favorite at 8-5 for the Breeders’ Cup Classic to be held Saturday.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) announced Tuesday that it has launched a mobile phone application which gives those involved in horse sport quick and easy access to crucial information on prohibited substances. The Clean Sport app allows immediate access to the FEI equine prohibited substances online database, which was developed early in 2010.

The veterinarians of the University of California, Davis,’ William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital want to help clients protect their horses from influenza, tetanus, dental problems, and other health risks, despite the economy, so they’ve developed a a discounted “package” of preventive care services.