Latest News – The Horse

For many years there has been a saying among horse owners concerning what to feed equines. It goes something likes this: “Dr. Green is an excellent veterinarian.” What is meant by that statement is that green grass prevents a lot of equine health problems.

For example, horses on good pasture rarely colic, and unless the pasture is located in an extremely dry climate, there is little

One of your main objectives whether you own or work with broodmares should be to produce the maximum number of live, healthy foals from the mares bred during the previous season. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to achieving this aim is the “problem” mare.

A swelling on the limb that might or might not be accompanied by lameness could be the first sign of bursitis or synovitis. These are similar, moderately common inflammatory conditions of the structures that produce synovial (joint) fluid.

“When synovial structures become inflamed, distension (swelling) and pain can follow,” says Joanne Kramer, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, clinical assistant

“Our hypotheses were that horses with suspensory ligament desmitis, treated with bone marrow components from their own body, would hopefully return to soundness more rapidly than horses with conventional treatments, and have a lower rate of recurrence, which is a common problem in suspensory desmitis cases,” says Herthel.

Put aside for the moment your belief that the PMU (pregnant mare urine) industry is right or wrong. The issue at hand is Wyeth pharmaceutical company’s reduction in the number of ranchers under contract to collect pregnant mare urine as the main ingredient for hormone replacement therapy for post-menopausal women. Wyeth has cut ranchers from 409 to 264. This will put 10,000-18,000 horses on

The fertilization of an egg and subsequent growth of one tiny cell into the perfect foal is a very complex process. Understanding the various stages of development can help you understand how pregnancies can be challenged and what’s going on in the event of a problem.

Pregnancy in the mare can be divided into four main events–fertilization, early embryo development, placentation

Because of a reduction in the number of prescriptions being written for hormone replacement therapy in women, and because of recent federal approval of a lower-dose hormone replacement medication, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals met with ranchers who supply the raw product (pregnant mare urine, or PMU) on Oct. 10 and announced that the number of ranches under contract for 2004 would be reduced from 409

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official has predicted that the West Coast will be hit hard with West Nile virus (WNV) next year, particularly California.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Lyle Peterson, MD, acting director of CDC’s division of vector-borne diseases, said in a speech Oct. 1 at the University of California’s Berkeley campus that the area of

A recent study completed by French and Brazilian veterinarians showed that administration of ivermectin/praziquantel paste, a common equine dewormer combination, is safe for pregnant mares and their foals. Dewormers of this type have not yet been labeled for safety in pregnant mares and their foals in the United States.

Patrick Mercier, DVM, of the medical department of Virbac

Cats Don’t Dance, one of two Saddlebreds which survived malicious attacks in late June, is sound and has been started back under saddle, according to his owner, Sally Jackson of Overland Park, Kan. The 6-year-old gelding and four other Saddlebreds at Double D Ranch in Versailles, Ky., were injected with a necrotizing substance in their left forelegs in late June. The unidentified substance

An online diary following the training of two mounted police horse prospects is underway, and since it’s a new undertaking for TheHorse.com, we hope you’ll share your comments and questions as we guide the educational process of these two weanlings.

Nearly 250 veterinarians from across the country attended a continuing education conference sponsored by Purina Mills Oct. 3-5.

Besides researching and developing horse feeds, which on average takes five years for a new feed to go from idea to feed store, Purina conducts research on how feeds affect and react with the physical animal.

Many of the talks discussed the “hot” topic of

New research will help determine where laminitis begins and how it affects internal structures of the foot. Hoof researcher David Hood, DVM, PhD, and his staff at the Hoof Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Clinic at Texas A&M University, joined forces with histologist Sherry Morgan, DVM, PhD, of Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Ill., to create an innovative new hoof tissue biopsy technique

United Kingdom horse owners will have an extra six months to obtain passports for their animals, after regulations detailing the requirements of the horse passport program were brought before Parliament.

The new horse passport regulations will help protect the human food chain by ensuring that all horses, ponies, and donkeys are issued with identification documents, which must contain

Do not let your horse throw a shoe between February 25-28, 2004, as professional farriers from across North America and beyond will be temporarily unavailable.  Gathering at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, NY, leading farriers and veterinarians specializing in hoof care will take part in the 33rd Annual Convention of the American Farrier’s Association (AFA). 

On Nov. 24, Triad Specialty Products announced pending approval of a new feed-through fly control product. Serene Feed-Through Fly Control, which was designed for reducing fly populations in and around equine facilities, is in the final stages of the regulatory process, and should be available to horse owners before the end of the year.

According to the company, the product targets