Latest News – The Horse

Since then, more advanced drugs including new inhalant anesthetics have been developed to reduce stress on horses being put under anesthesia, and during recovery. Since the 1980s, research into the importance of monitoring blood pressure, respiration, and blood gases during anesthesia has also been documented.

Tablet computers, Metron PX, Hi-8, true digital, megapixels, lithium vs. NiMH batteries, inverters, iGo Juice, Photoshop–what do all these things have to do with the equine veterinarian? The message of the Emerging Technologies Table Topic was they can do quite a lot to help.

“You get into a lot of these things out of necessity, not fun and games,” said moderator Dick Galley, DVM, a

“Death or euthanasia of a valuable mare results in loss of her genetic potential,” she said. “However, when a mare dies, her ovaries still contain potentially viable oocytes that can be harvested to produce additional offspring. Some mares seem to have a lot of viable oocytes, while others have very few.”

Managing a mare’s estrous cycle is an integral part of breeding management, and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is one hormone option for doing just that. Patrick McCue, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, associate professor of equine science at Colorado State University, discussed the use of hCG to manage ovulation.

“Most of us have used hCG throughout our practice lifetimes,” he began. “It’s used to

While a large part of microscopic semen evaluation centers around motility (directional sperm movement) and morphology (sperm structure), some reproductive specialists think there’s more to the story. In an attempt to better understand stallion fertility, Steven P. Brinsko, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT, associate professor of theriogenology at Texas A&M University, presented the results of

“We had heard several anecdotal reports of intra-articular administration of liquid silicone being used as a lubricant in equine joints (to treat osteoarthritis),” began Daniel Burba, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, professor of equine surgery at Louisiana State University, at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004. “It sounded kind of

The hock, or tarsus, is a complex collection of joints in the horse. Identifying lameness in one or more of those joints, and treating the problem, can be challenging. However, Alberto Serena, DMV, MRCVS, of Auburn University, and colleagues have found that injecting medication into one joint can treat an adjacent joint as well.

“I used to think I knew how to evaluate a horse’s movement for lameness, until I started to look more carefully. Two different highly experienced practitioners can evaluate a lame horse, and come up with different [lame] legs,” said Kevin Keegan, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of veterinary medicine and surgery at the University of Missouri, in his presentation on lameness

While it might seem like any method of treating a horse would be termed a therapeutic option, equine veterinarians use this term to describe treatments that are generally considered alternative options to more heavily studied Western modalities. As such, the Therapeutic Options forum held during the Denver American Association of Equine Practitioners convention on Dec. 4-8, 2004, focused

James Kenney, DVM, of New Jersey, and Mary Bell, VMD, of Canada, chaired an open session to discuss therapeutic options to a room packed with 60-70 practitioners at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004. Through a show of hands, the majority of folks in the room used therapeutic options themselves or were

K.W. Hinchcliff, BVSc, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia, at the 50th annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Denver, Colo., Dec. 4-8, 2004 discussed the effect of EIPH on race times when furosemide was not administered. The study involved examinations of horses competing in competitions where furosemide is not