Latest News – The Horse

Before purchasing a yearling it’s important to review his health records to ensure he is healthy and sound enough for a successful racing career. Jennifer L. Higgins, DVM, gave potential buyers insight into specific lesions that could reduce a horse’s career earnings when she presented a retrospective study on the subject at the 56th Annual Convention of the American Association of

Every horseperson has seen the telltale signs of a thin horse: the disproportionately skinny neck, the protruding spine, the row of ribs, and the jutting hipbones. Thanks in part to advances made in feeding management, veterinary care, parasite control, and dentistry, educated caretakers can fatten horses safely and easily. But when is it time to switch from a “weight-gain” diet to a “maintenance”

The 21st annual Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) Stallion Season Auction raised a gross amount of nearly $1.7 million during a three-day telephone auction and a live auction held Jan. 8 at the Keeneland Entertainment Center.

New regulations to assure that the medicines animal owners purchase for their pets and horses are safe were announced in late December 2010 by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an agency of Great Britain’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

One barn at Beulah Park near Columbus, Ohio, has been released from quarantine, but a possible new case of equine herpesvirus (EHV) is being investigated in another barn, officials said Jan. 8.

If your horse has to be sedated, the effect of that sedative on the fluid pressure within his eyes (intraocular pressure) might be the last thing you’re worried about. Unless, of course, he is being sedated for an eye procedure–then this issue becomes quite important. At the 2010 American Association of Equine Practitioners convention, held Dec. 4-8 in Baltimore, Md., one veterinarian discussed

The capacity of feeds and forages to counteract changes in gastric pH (their buffering capacity) plays an important role in the prevention of gastric ulcers in horses. Alfalfa hay has been shown to be more effective in reducing the severity of ulcers in horses by providing superior buffering capacity compared to grass hay.

The 2011 Pennsylvania Horse World Expo is slated to take place Feb. 24 -27 at the Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, Pa. During the event many equine professionals will be on hand to share their knowledge on a diverse list of topics. Join them for research-based discussions on the many issues that today’s horse owners are facing. There are three arenas and two seminar halls

For many horses, suffering an episode of collapse (when a horse falls suddenly with or without recumbency–the inability to stand–or loss of consciousness) is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, according to a Scottish researcher.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will hold the Secretary’s Advisory Committee’s first meeting on Animal Health Jan. 20 and 21. The meeting will be held in the Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, in rooms 104-A and 107-A.

The Equine Studies Program at the University of Maryland has put together a line-up of 31 industry-leading speakers for their University Seminar Series to be hosted at the Maryland Horse World Expo, Jan. 20-23, 2011. This seminar series provides horse enthusiasts the opportunity to learn up-to-date information about a variety of equine related topics. Professionals from all facets of the equine in