Latest News – The Horse

A community campaign might convince poachers that horse owners in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are on the alert to stop them, hopes Judy Paul, mayor of Davie, Fla.

At least 17 horses have been stolen and apparently butchered for their meat in Miami-Dade County since January. An additional two horses were found slain in their pasture in nearby Broward County in May.

The

West Nile virus cases are popping up across the country, with Washington state reporting the highest number of equine cases.

As of Aug. 19, Washington animal health authorities had reported 12 equine cases. Other states reporting cases included Montana (4), California (3), Kentucky (2), and Louisiana (2). Mississippi, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia each reported one infected horse.

Public health officials in Texas are alerting anyone who may have come in contact with a certain horse at the Scurry County Rodeo, held in mid-July in Snyder, that they might have been exposed to rabies.

More than 250 contestants from Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas participated in the rodeo.

The horse was at the rodeo July 16-18. It became ill July 28,

Test samples taken from a horse at a Cawarral horse nursery property have come back positive, showing the horse was exposed to Hendra virus. The virus neutralization test utilized is considered the definitive test to determine whether an animal has had the virus in its system.

Biosecurity Queensland acting Chief Veterinary Officer Rick Symons, BVSc, MBA, PhD, said national

Although there are differences of opinion on what should be done next in the area of medication reform, everyone seems to agree there is a continuing problem and something should be done.

The perceptions and realities of drugs used in the training of Thoroughbreds was the overriding theme at the annual Jockey Club Round Table, held Aug. 23 at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs,

Trainer Chip Woolley sent Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird back to the main track at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 21 following a clean endoscopic examination performed by James Hunt, DVM.

“In Doc’s words, he was perfect,” Woolley said. “You couldn’t tell (he had anything done) and there’s not even any inflammation around the epiglottis, everything looks just smooth, laid out flat,

Pirfenidone, a unique experimental drug with anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory properties, afforded no apparent therapeutic benefit in horses with experimentally-induced endotoxemia, leaving Cal Davis researchers rather disappointed.

“Previous studies led us to believe that pirfenidone would minimize the effects o

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Agriculture’s Animal Health and Industry Division announced last week that a 4-year-old Quarter Horse gelding euthanized in the town of Troy (Waldo County) tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).

Eastern equine encephalitis is a virus tha

Windfields Farm, the historic Canadian nursery that had a major impact on North American breeding, has announced it will close following the dispersal of its remaining bloodstock at this year’s Keeneland November sale.

Founded in Ontario by the late E.P. Taylor in 1936, Windfields has produced 48 champions and 361 stakes winners. The farm is credited as breeder of the winners of more

New York Racing Association-operated Saratoga has been fully accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance, officials announced Aug. 21.

Saratoga, host of the grade I Travers Stakes Aug. 29, was inspected by alliance officials Aug. 5-7 during live racing programs. It is the eighth racetrack to receive full alliance

The semen of some stallions tolerates freezing well, while the semen of others does not. Researchers are trying to discover the reasons for this in order to develop freezing protocols that decrease the variability of sperm, thereby increasing the number of sperm able to withstand freezing.

“In our lab we are trying to understand why some stallions are good freezers (their sperm survives

A former lab technician is suing the Florida company that produced a vitamin and mineral compound blamed for killing 21 polo horses in April on grounds that she lost her job after cooperating with authorities investigating the deaths.

The horses died after receiving a selenium, vitamin B, and potassium compound prepared by Franck’s Lab, Inc. State animal health authorities determined the

A televised re-enactment of wild horse shootings in Alberta has prompted tips from the public on the crimes, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

“We’re following up on some tips we’ve received,” said Cpl. Tina Millard of the Sundre RCMP.

Crime Stoppers produced the film in response to the shooting of three more horses, including a pregnant mare, whose bodies were

Horse owners and ranchers can take precautions to reduce the risk and spread of wildfire and protect their animals from injury or death by fire.