Latest News – The Horse
West Nile Virus Education is Key
“Whether or not West Nile virus (WNV) is going to become a serious concern in your state, the media is going to make it one,” stated Bill Saville, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of The Ohio State University’s (OSU) Department of Veterinary Preventive
Researchers Produce First Foal With Deceased Mare’s Shipped Oocytes
The first foal produced with oocytes harvested from the ovaries of a mare and shipped across the country for transfer into a surrogate mare was born recently at Colorado State University (CSU).
�The ability to successfully obtain viable
Equine Identification: Are you Prepared for an Emergency?
If all of the horses in your area had to be evacuated due to a natural disaster, and were put into one huge corral, would you be able to pick out your horse?
“Of course!” you might say, because like most horse owners you are extremely familiar with your animal’s markings, build, and temperament, and would know the horse anywhere. But the reality is that a situation like this can have
Bringing Up Baby
Your young horse is growing up. From birth to age two, a horse will achieve 90% or more of his full adult height. But growing up too fast can cause problems, including an increased risk of developmental orthopedic disease (DOD), which includes which includes several skeletal problems in growing foals.
Tying-Up in Horses
Tying-up is the most common muscle problem in horses.
Forging in Young Horses
Q: My trainer says that my 1 1/2-year-old Thoroughbred colt is forging, but only at the trot. What can I do?
Hermaphroditic Teaser “Mare”
How can you tell if a mare is a hermaphrodite (what does she look like, and what is her behavior like)?
Sheath Cleaning Frequency
Gray is a 22-year-old Quarter Horse gelding. My question is how/whether to clean his penis. When he lengthens it to urinate, I try to pick off the black crusty stuff, but it is somewhat unpleasant to do this.
It’s In the Attitude
Man has been linked to the horse for centuries, but often in the past, it was more of an adversary relationship than a partnership. In recent years, that has changed for many horse owners. Thanks to the efforts of equine behaviorists at the
Cribbing and Wood Chewing: Just Gotta Gnaw
Cribbing and wood chewing by horses can create problems for horse and owner alike. Wood chewing is often considered by many owners to be a rather benign vice, while cribbing more frequently is considered to be a direct threat to the horse’s
Think Tough to Increase Profits
For many, enjoying horses is a way of life, and we are willing to work hard in other areas to support this hobby. There are those, however, who have decided to make their involvement in the horse industry a paying supplement to their earnings. I
Breathe Easier!
When Anne Thomas called me to her ranch house early one spring morning, she said it was urgent. Her 5-year-old horse, Charlie, was having trouble breathing. When I arrived at the barn, I could see the bay gelding standing in the middle of his
New Focus on the Foot
The twenty-first century is going to be exciting for the horse world. We will see technology continually improve our ability to study, diagnose, correct, and hopefully prevent more of the hoof problems that have plagued horses for centuries.
Fatigue in Racehorses
While visibly obvious, fatigue is hard to quantify. Electromyography (EMG) measures conduction along nerves in a particular muscle group–as muscle fibers fatigue, EMG signals shift from high to low. Taking EMG readings during galloping is
Controlling Cribbing
There is a new 3-year-old gelding in my barn. He cribs and wears a collar; the collar seems awfully tight to me. A respected friend says that the other horses might pick up this habit from this horse. Is that true? And how can I work with
Screening for Joint Disease
Veterinarians are quite capable of identifying a painful joint in a lame horse, but determining what is occurring within the joint and how far it has progressed is not yet possible without removing synovial fluid or exploring the joint with
