Latest News – The Horse
Gastric Ulcer Research
Gastric ulcer disease is a serious health problem in horses resulting in colic, poor performance, and pain. The term equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) describes erosions and ulcerations occurring in the lower portion of the esophagus,
Autumn Pests
Someone told me cows attract bot flies. Is this true?
Am I Buying a Problem? (Laminitis)
I’ve been leasing a pony who foundered the past two years on spring grass. Is foundering chronic once started?
Humane Concerns
What to do with unwanted horses? Unwanted by their owners for many reasons. Good, bad, old, lame, unmanageable, etc., all need new homes. Most find new owners with good, caring families, but some are taken to sales and are bought for under $300 by
Rearing and Flipping
We have a Quarter Horse mare whose mother was a bad flipper in the starting gate. She has two half-brothers that were also bad in the gate. All of these offspring were trained by different individuals. This spring, she had a filly that tried to fli
Bone Chips: When the Chips Are Down
In the case of bone chips, sometimes bigger is better. In a study performed in 2006, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center theorized that bone chip characteristics in a horse’s knees were an indicator of the severity of
Bumps and Bangs of Life
It looked bad. My daughter Barbara and a college friend purchased a 2-year-old registered Quarter Horse filly (Casey) last year that had 30 or so days of training on her. They wanted to give the filly some additional training in order to sell her
Internal Insights
Veterinary internal medicine is a growing specialty that boasts nearly 400 large animal internal medicine specialists, many of them focusing on horses. In a time when humans seek out experts in varying medical fields, it’s only logical that we seek
The Equine Digestive System: A Food Factory
The equine digestive system is a complicated factory that is designed to process small amounts of food frequently and convert them into nutrients that can be absorbed and produce energy. The same, concerning the end result, could be said of the cow
Clues to Blue Eyes
Now that the foal has safely made its way into the world, the breeder starts inventorying exactly what she has in front of her: a colt. Strong Quarter Horse body. Three small white socks and a broad blaze down the center of his face. One blue eye.
Bad to the Bone
While bone infections don’t automatically end with euthanasia, they can be difficult to treat.
Corticosteroids: Short- and Long-Term Effects
Of the medications available in the arsenal of anti-inflammatory therapies, there is one type that has caused
The Straight Dope
Is post-event drug testing becoming too sensitive, netting too many innocent violators? Are drug withdrawal guidelines for therapeutic medications too unreliable to be useful? Or are policies and tests being fine-tuned in a sensible manner in order
Where Are All the Vets?
The caller is in the midst of a terrible dilemma. It is 8:30 on a rainy, November night. The weatherman is calling for the roads to freeze up. This poor woman’s horse is colicking, and her “regular” veterinarian won’t even return her phone calls.
Home Sweet Barn
Change has been constant in the equine industry during the past couple of decades, ranging from sophisticated health care and treatment to improved living quarters for horses in our care, custody, and control.
When the horse was the prime
Officials Break Ground for Minnesota Equine Center
A pair of bay Percherons turned the soil at a construction site in St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 9 and ushered in a new era of equine diagnostics and treatment at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). University official
