Latest News – The Horse

Costas Georgakopoulos, PhD, and his colleagues in Greece are working to create technologies that enable officials to quickly discover whether athletes–animals or people–are using illegal substances or exceeding the allowable levels of legal medications.

“The fight between laboratories and dopers is a continuous war,” he told The Horse. “The trend is to make

As rain continued to pour on a soggy Churchill Downs stable area the morning of May 2, trainer Todd Pletcher was absorbing the previous day’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands victory by Super Saver as the trainers of those who finished behind the WinStar homebred were considering their future plans.

Pletcher said Super Saver would remain at Churchill Downs and likely sh

Horses with life-threatening cecal impactions only have a fair prognosis after surgery, but those that survive to discharge have a good prognosis, reported a group of veterinarians led by Lewis C.R. Smith, BVetMed, CertES(Orth), MRCVS, from Rossdales Equine Hospital in the United Kingdom. Cecal impactions are not particularly common–they represent only 5% of all large intestinal

Is your farm violating state regulations? How can you safely and effectively dispose of manure? Is beet pulp a good feed choice for your horse? Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering a series of Equine Environmental Stewardship short courses and workshops to address these questions as well as other management concerns of horse owners.

The curriculum consists of pasture, weed

I’ve been told that hand-feeding treats to horses promotes biting. What is the “industry” stance on this issue? In my limited experience they seem to enjoy it and almost all horses I’ve hand-fed take it gently with their lips.

Singer-songwriter and Nashville recording artist Templeton Thompson and her musician husband, Sam Gay, have written a song for the new documentary, Sculpting The Wind; Alexa King & The Making of the Barbaro Memorial Statue. The documentary chronicles artist Alexa King’s creation of the statue of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. The statue is now on display at Churchill Downs.<

Australian officials confirmed that the equine influenza virus infecting about 20,000 horses in the country in 2007 also infected dogs that had close contact with the sick horses.

“Dogs that were with or near equine influenza-infected horses were observed with a flu-like illness,” said Peter D. Kirkland, PhD, of the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute in New South

After Thoroughbreds have completed their race careers, they are often ideal candidates for another vocation. To call attention to these horses’ second career possibilities, nationally recognized Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital has created a series of annual awards, the first of which will be presented to the top Thoroughbred sport horses of 2009.

It shouldn’t really surprise us: parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to the drugs we use. Bacteria are now increasingly resistant to antibiotics, malaria parasites are widely resistant to antimalarials, and parasites are no different. We should all learn the lesson from history.

Parasites should be viewed as a natural state, and we should recognize that even frequent treatments will not prevent them completely. Our goal is not to eliminate parasites, as history has shown us this is impossible and only leads to anthelmintic resistance. Instead, our goal should be to reduce parasite contamination levels in the environment and thereby keep parasite burdens under control.

Daily, humans wage chemical warfare against an overwhelming population–bacteria. The arsenal of our chemical warfare relies on a mighty weapon–antimicrobial drugs (AMD). Of these substances, antibiotics have been a formidable weapon for over a century in the war against pathogenic bacteria. But antibiotics alone cannot vanquish bacterial invaders entirely

Scientists have been studying parasites for centuries. Many research hours have been spent developing new treatments, finding out their effects on the host, and even examining the life cycles. Some parasitologists are now approaching the subject of

Hoof boots aren’t just for emergencies or soaking injured feet; these boots are made for walking, running, climbing, and more. Today an increasing variety of boots adorn the other-wise bare feet of trail horses, working horses, dressage horses, and even highly competitive endurance horses. Are boots right for you and your horse? If so, how do you pick out the right boot? Read on to find out.

The immune system is one of the most complex systems in the horse, consisting of an elaborate set of cells and cell mediators that respond to external factors such as stress, exercise, stage of life, and challenges from pathogens. Both humans and horses must consume nutrients to support all body systems, including the immune system. But how do we know which nutrients support the immune system?