Latest News – The Horse

Lunn presented studies that he and six other scientists completed comparing immune responses between commonly used, commercially available vaccines.

A Pike County, Ohio, resident reported in mid-December 2003 what she thought was abuse in a herd of approximately 52 horses to Kristen Rohde, DVM. Rohde asked local law enforcement officials to have the horses examined by a veterinarian. By Jan. 9, the horses in question had been examined by three veterinarians (each of whom reported that some of the horses were in need of care), were

New legislation to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the state of Illinois was introduced Feb. 6, 2004, in the Illinois House of Representatives in the form of HB 6570. On Feb. 18, 2004, the bill was referred to the House Executive Committee. The legislation would also make it illegal to transport horses into or out of the state for slaughter.

The wording of the

The shipment of PMU (pregnant mare urine) mares from farms in the United States and Canada has been put on hold until after the foaling season, unless the shipping distance is very short.

The reason, says Nat Messer IV, DVM, University of Missouri, and a member of an advisory board created by Wyeth Industries in Brandon, Manitoba, is because the mares are in late-term pregnancy and

Pat Parelli’s all new “Love – Language – Leadership” seminar launched Feb. 7-8 in Kissimmee, Fla. The tour includes approximately 24 stops in 2004. Each seminar includes two jam-packed days of natural horsemanship, savvy secrets, and practical training tips that hold the keys to a more powerful and rewarding partnership with horses than you ever thought possible. Pat and Linda Parelli and the

With researchers worldwide working on solutions to various horse health problems, there is a veritable mountain of information being published continuously. Much of this information is included in AAEP convention presentations, but some of this valuable research was either too new or brief to be included in the program. Thus, the Kester News Hour has new studies and information discussed by

Each year, we report more information on the AAEP 2003 Convention than can be covered in the pages of the AAEP Convention Wrap-Up, which mails with the March issue of The Horse. Click here to see the full versions of articles that were excerpted in the

With chronic laminitis, O’Grady explained that toe-downward rotation of P3 (the coffin bone) often occurs, which results in more pressure placed on the solar corium (the highly vascular tissue from which the sole grows) under the apex of P3. This pressure can disrupt blood flow, altering the rate and even the direction of sole growth.

Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is an inherited disease that causes skin lesions over pressure points of the body in newborn Belgian foals and results in large areas of skin loss. The disease is a lethal condition and affected foals typically are euthanized shortly after birth.

“For athletic horses, energy is the most important nutritional consideration,” said Geor. “Energy is not a nutrient per se, but rather a measure of a feed’s potential to fuel body functions.”

Very little scientific research has been done in the way of comparing the effectiveness of equine vaccines. However, several researchers have been hard at work over the past few years trying to determine if any particular U.S.-registered equine vaccines had advantages over others. It turns out that the serologic responses to–and protection given by–these vaccines varies significantly. Hugh

There’s been a lot of speculation about the analgesic effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and radial shock wave therapy (RSWT)–no one has identified the duration or mechanism of analgesia.

Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is widespread in the northeastern United States, with nearly 50% of adult horses in some areas infected or with a history of infection. Thomas Divers, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVECC, and others at Cornell University recently completed research that confirmed the consistency and predictability of how

One of the most common and effective treatments for sarcoids is chemotherapy using the drug cisplatin, which is noted for its ease of use, low cost, and high efficacy (up to 90% for sarcoids and 70-90% for carcinomas).