Latest News – The Horse

Black Tie Affair, the 1991 Horse of the Year, was euthanized July 1 at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, Ky., due to the effects of laminitis. He was 24. According to a statement from the farm, a memorial to honor Black Tie Affair will be held later in July. “It was an honor to be associated with such an amazing athlete,” said Old Fri

Louisiana officials have confirmed that a horse was euthanized after coming into the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medice in Baton Rouge with clinical signs of rabies on June 28. The 6-year-old Thoroughbred mare was exhibiting abnormal facial twitching symptoms when she was brought in from Jefferson Davis Parish. The neurologic symptoms worsened and the horse was

A new program called VITALS, introduced by the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC), will assist horse owners in communicating basic health indicators to their veterinarians when illness, injury or disease is suspected. The KHC Health and Welfare Committee, whose members include veterinarians and professionals in the animal health and welfare field, developed VITALS under the direction of

With no logical dirt race to choose from, trainer D. Wayne Lukas has decided on the $175,000 Firecracker Handicap, a one-mile turf contest July 4 at Churchill Downs, as the starting point for Mine That Bird—or at least he is seriously thinking about it.

The 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands winner, Mine That Bird would make his first career start on turf in his 4-

Some pack horses smugglers use to carry thousands of pounds of marijuana from Mexico into Arizona are unrecognized victims of the illegal drug trade, according to equine welfare advocates. Each horse carries anywhere from 300 to 400 pounds of marijuana over 70-80 miles of rough terrain between Mexico and the Tucson sector on the Arizona side of the U. S. border, explained Omar Can

The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) met in Washington, D.C., during the American Horse Council’s Annual Meeting on June 21, 2010, to discuss the next steps, strategies and goals of the organization. “After four successful years of educating the industry about owning responsibly, the issue of unwanted horses and possible solutions to the problem, the UHC feels it is time to

For the first time in history, the United States will host a 16-day sporting extravaganza that will approach the U.S. Open (which drew 700,000-plus spectators in 2009)–the World Equestrian Games, starting Sept. 25, 2010. The Games include championships for the horse-and-human disciplines of eventing, jumping, dressage, para dressage, driving, endurance, reining, and vaulting.

On Tuesday June 22, the American Horse Council (AHC) held its first Recreation Forum in Washington, DC to highlight issues of importance to recreational riders. The forum was attended by representatives from national equestrian organizations and state horse councils from around the country, as well as individual recreational riders.

The forum began with a presentation by Step

Saddle Up SAFELY, a program began by University of Kentucky HealthCare and UK College of Agriculture Equine Initiative and now including more than 30 medical and equine-related organizations, is giving away prizes in exchange for horse riding safety tips. Such prizes include four tickets to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September as well as many other horse-related items, and every per

Two-time Olympian Marco Kutscher might not have known his horse Cornet Obolensky received injections of a prohibited substance during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but the German equestrian was still named the “primary person responsible” and, thus, negligent, according to the decision of the Tribunal of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).

Nutritionists normally recommend horses consume some “long-stem” forage each day. Long-stem forage is best defined as hay or pasture. This recommendation respects the natural desire of horses to graze, as horses are hardwired to spend more than half of their day eating. Forage products that include extremely short pieces of fiber such as cubes, pellets, or chaff are often fed in li

The third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit ended June 29 in Lexington with a commitment to create a national rider injury database, something that Keeneland president and CEO Nick Nicholson said was his No. 1 priority going into the meeting. “I think we need it, and I was going to be very disappointed if we didn’t get (an agreement to pursue) it,” said Nich

Awareness of what your horse is eating can help you determine if his dietary needs are being met and, if not, what can be added to meet those needs. With respect to the nutritional needs of a horse, it is important to know the meaning of the chemical analysis on the feed and supplement labels and the chemical analysis results.