Latest News – The Horse

Once a mare is diagnosed with placentitis, he said, it is incumbent upon the veterinarian to inform the owner about potential outcomes. The underlying message was that treatment of a premature foal in an intensive care facility can be expensive, with no guarantee of a positive outcome.

The Frank J. Milne Lecture was presented by Peter Rossdale, OBE, MA, PhD, Dr. (h.c.) Berne, Dr. (h.c.) Edinburgh, DESM, FACVSc, FRCVS. The title of his talk was “The Maladjusted Foal: Influences of Intrauterine Growth Retardation and Birth Trauma.”

Rossdale’s primary area of research is equine reproduction, and he has won many awards and honors for his work in this field. He is a past

Equine Malignant Hyperthermia

We’ve all heard of people and animals that are “sensitive” to anesthesia. Monica Aleman, MVZ, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, head of the neuromuscular disease lab at the University of California, Davis, reported on a genetic problem called equine malignant hyperthermia (EMH) that can make simple anesthesia deadly for some horses. Malignant hyperthermia-like

Keegan said most equine practitioners use head movement to determine forelimb lameness and pelvis movement to clarify hind limb lameness. He added that multiple lamenesses can certainly complicate the issue.

We all need protection from the elements. That goes for your horse’s hooves as well. Millennia ago, when humans first vaulted aboard equine backs and guided them over terrain they probably would not otherwise have traversed, the value of providing protection for hooves became clear–as the leather “hipposandals” and early iron shoes unearthed by archaeologists attest.

These days, of

Probably the best-attended session at the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention, the Kester News Hour features brief reports of new research that was too new or brief for inclusion in the scientific program. The information is presented in a fun, rapid-fire format by two of the country’s top equine veterinary specialists–internal medicine guru John Madigan, DVM, MS,

Horseman’s Day, as part of the annual American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, just keeps getting better and better. And attendance is strong no matter where the convention is held. Most recently, the locale was Denver, Colo., on Dec. 8, and nearly 275 horse enthusiasts showed up for the day-long session. In addition to presentations that ranged from dentistry to Cushing’s

Stopping Equine Aggression With An Electronic Collar

“Aggressive behavior in horses is expensive,” said Michelle A. Kennedy, DVM, a private practitioner in Delta, Colo. Veterinary expense, property damage, loss of use of affected horses, and the emotional cost associated with the death of an animal if injured severely during an aggressive act all demand a reliable way to change

Rapid intravenous administration of isotonic saline solution does not relieve airway obstruction in heaves-affected horses, says Daniel Jean, MedVet, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, professor of clinical sciences at the University of Montreal.

“Massive administration of large volumes of saline has been recommended to achieve thinning of secretions and improve expectoration,” says Jean. Horses with

A federal judge in Lexington, Ky., has ordered that the body of American Saddlebred champion Wild Eyed and Wicked be exhumed for additional forensic testing. The exhumation was set to begin on Feb. 2.

Wicked was one of five top Saddlebreds that were injected with an unknown, necrotizing (tissue-killing) substance on June 28-29, 2003, at Double D Ranch in Versailles, Ky. In the following

Numerous horse abuse cases have been reported during the month of January throughout the United States.

• Miami, Fla., humane officials are working with the unnamed owner of five malnourished horses removed from his property on Jan. 4. One of the horses was a 7-month-old foal that died from liver failure after eating a poisonous plant because it was so hungry, said Laine Hills, DVM, th

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) launched its nationwide Horse Identification Program (HIP) and web site this past January. HIP, a voluntary-enrollment service designed to help retrieve stolen horses throughout the United States, draws from the extensive animal recovery experience of the TSCRA and its rangers in Texas and Oklahoma.

Last year, TSCRA rangers

Vaccinating large populations of wild mice against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease could one day help reduce the risk of transmission of the infection to horses.

A recent study, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, demonstrated that the vaccination of wildlife hosts might be a promising, ecologically based strategy to help prevent the spread of

It is well documented that the equine fatality rate for hurdling and steeplechase racing is significantly higher than that of flat racing. The disparity in fatality rates is likely due to the fact that the types of injuries sustained in jump racing differ from those sustained in flat racing. Some catastrophic injuries, such as vertebral fractures, occur more frequently in horses racing over

The USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) will be conducting an Equine 2005 study, which will examine equine events and on-farm health management factors as they relate to the control of equine infectious diseases.

NAHMS conducts national studies on the health and management of America’s domestic livestock populations. In 1998, it took its first in-depth look at the U.S

New Mexico and Colorado have been removed from the Kentucky list of vesicular stomatitis (VS)-embargoed states. Neither state is experiencing active cases of VS and there are no premises currently under quarantine as a result of past infection.

Bans were imposed beginning in May 2004 after a VS outbreak was reported in Texas. Embargoes were placed on animals from New Mexico in June 2004