Latest News – The Horse

Horses at Rolling Hills Ranch stable in Bridgeville, Allegheny County, Pa., have been quarantined after at least three horses tested positive for the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus-1, or EHV-1, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said today.

“Equine herpesvirus causes upper respiratory infection and can cause severe neurological disease in horses,” said Wolff. “The quarantine was

The Back Country Horsemen of America (BCHA) and the Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR) have formed an alliance.

Back Country Horsemen of America is a national membership organization whose mission is to preserve horseback riding and recreational stock in America’s backcountry and public lands. BCHA work to achieve this through offering time, equipment, and stock on projects with

A program to collect obsolete pesticides is being expanded this year to also provide farmers with safe disposal for unused animal health products and sharps. Taking place this fall, the program is part of an Ontario government-supported Great Lakes Basin water quality initiative that offers farmers a way to recycle these items.

As part of this project, farmers will be able to bring their

Preakness Stakes winner Rachel Alexandra had her final workout July 27 at Saratoga as she continues to prepare for her next start in the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday, Aug. 2.

Over the training track at Saratoga, Rachel put in a four furlong breeze of :49.26, sixth fastest of 23 works this morning. She is scheduled to ship down from Saratoga to Monmouth

A horse’s risk of impaction colic might be elevated by decreased exercise, restricted water intake, administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, and poor dentition, said Amy E. Plummer, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, in a recent Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice review of intestinal impactions.

The investigation into a series of Florida horse poaching incidents expanded again Sunday when another horse was found dead in its pasture, apparently slaughtered for its meat.

A caretaker discovered the horse’s carcass in a pasture near its stable. Flesh was missing from its chest and one of its back legs, a Miami-Dade County Police report noted.

The incident is the latest among 17

Monmouth Park in New Jersey is the sixth racetrack to be accredited by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance.

Monmouth, host of the grade I Haskell Invitational Aug. 2, was reviewed by alliance officials July 9-10. Ronald Jensen, DVM, racing official Richard Lewis, and alliance executive director Mike Ziegler were on the review committee.

“The

A congressional committee recently held a hearing on a bill that proposes severe restrictions on the use of antibiotics in food animals. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 would ban “non-therapeutic” uses of antibiotics that are also used in humans. It is hoped that this would prevent antibiotic resistance and preserve these drugs to treat human infections.

Recent reports of several horses dying from Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) serve as a reminder that horse owners should make sure their horses are vaccinated.

“We’ve always recommended that horse owners in Oklahoma vaccinate for it as a preventive measure,” said Carolynn MacAllister, DVM, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension veterinarian.

EEE is spread by mosquitoes.

An equine advocacy organization is criticizing new wild horse and burro management legislation, saying it fails to make efficient use of public land.

HR 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act, amends the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 to allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to

Veterinary preparations for the 54th running of the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile horse race, have kicked into high gear as the Aug. 1 race day approaches.

Head veterinarian Greg Fellers, DVM, has been working on recruiting and organizing the 17 veterinarians charged with manning the nine equine checkpoints scattered between the starting point near Lake Tahoe and the finish in Auburn, Calif.

A third horse that tested positive for equine piroplasmosis was illegally removed from quarantine in June, stated a report issued to the World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties, or OIE) by John Clifford, DVM, deputy administrator of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Whether it’s a yearling that flipped and landed on his poll or an older horse that tumbled after simply taking a bad step, traumatic injury to the central nervous system is the most common cause of neurologic problems in horses. Yvette S. Nout, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVECC, ACVIM, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, reviewed the pathophysiology and

Equine Veterinarians Australia, which representes more than 1,000 equine practitioners in that country, honored the Chief Veterinarians for New South Wales and Queensland for their efforts in eradicating equine infuenza from their states during the massive outbreak last year.

Dr. Bruce Christie from New South Wales and Dr. Ron Glanville from Queensland received the 2009 Equine