Latest News – The Horse

The British Horse Society has welcomed the recent announcement by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) minister, Alun Michael, that U.K. land grazed by horses can now benefit from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Single Payment scheme, in recognition of the important contribution horses make to the rural economy.

According to Defra, the CAP reform “will

According to www.equine-world.co.uk, the U.K. House of Commons on Nov. 18 used the Parliament Act to force through the a bill to ban hunting with hounds. “Following disagreement between the Commons and the Lords, the Parliament Act was invoked for only the fourth (time) since 1949 to force a Bill through,” said the article. The Britis

Billed as the “greatest season auction of all time,” the Dec. 3 auction of stallion seasons to benefit the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) raised more than $2.2 million.

Topped by a season to Storm Cat purchased by Frederick Herterich for $370,000, the live auction of seasons in 37 Thoroughbred stallions and one jack stallion netted $2,234,500. The Storm Cat season was

Researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands have documented a method to evaluate the jumping ability of horses as young as six months of age to see if their athleticism continues with them as they grow older.

While breeding plays an important role in the athletic abilities of a horse, determining the jumping ability of a foal before large amounts of time and money are

Studies have recently found that people taking high-dose vitamin E supplements daily had an increased risk of dying, but equine nutritionists say we shouldn’t extrapolate that to horses.

Study lead author and internist Edgar R. Miller III, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says, “Our study shows that use of high-dose vitamin E

The Dec. 5 open forum discussion of pre-purchase exams at sales covered several topics critical to consignors, buyers, and veterinarians at the 50th anniversary meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners in Denver, Colo. A task force headed by Dr. Criag VanBalen has created a video of endoscopic exams of throats showing what has been agreed upon as grades 1-4 relating to

Horse owners will be able to prevent painful gastric ulcers in their horses with a new omeprazole product that has just been approved for equine use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The product will be available through veterinarians without a prescription, and it has been shown to effectively prevent ulcers in horses when given for 28 days during the time of stressful

Goldfever 3 and Ludger Beerbaum of Germany–2004 Athens Olympic Games
Following a hearing held in Zurich (SUI) on Dec. 2, the FEI Judicial Committee determined that there had been a breach of FEI General Regulations Art. 146.2 at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens relating to the presence of the prohibited substance betamethasone in the horse Goldfever 3.

It had been

A new vaccine to protect horses against West Nile virus (WNV) has been developed and submitted for USDA review. If approved, it would be the first commercially available DNA vaccine for any mammalian or animal species.

Steve Chu, DVM, PhD, senior vice president, Global Research and Development, Fort Dodge Animal Health, explained the conceptual DNA vaccine to The Horse. The vaccine ha

At its recent meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI, the international governing body of equine sport) Bureau decided to establish a task force to reassess the policies necessary for the elimination of abusive and illegal performance enhancing drugs and to review the general medication control of horses.

The Task Force will be composed of the

A new scientific discovery soon could provide an alternative to antibiotics for treating bacterial infections in horses. In the September issue of Nature, microbiologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, reported that bacteriophages–viruses that infect bacteria–can be genetically engineered to seek out and destroy specific types of disease-causing bacteria.

At

If a horse is confined in a barn during winter, he is at risk for respiratory problems.

A new product has been designed to counteract the effects of stress and support the health of the entire equine digestive tract. SUCCEED is a new supplement, introduced by Freedom Health, that the company says has been shown to be safe for all ages and types of horses, including foals and pregnant mares has been released.

Many horses undergo various types of stress on a daily basis,

Today’s equine management practices can be a recipe for disaster. For a horse, stall life and two meals a day might be like living in a prison, and that lifestyle might contribute to delinquencies and health problems in horses.

“These meals often contain a large soluble carbohydrate component and a low fiber component which allow the horse to consume the food rapidly, leaving a long

On Dec. 1, we received additional information from the Hunter Valley Equine Research Centre (HVERC), a research facility adjacent to Scone racetrack in the heart of the Australian breeding area, on a problem that is causing sporadic abortions throughout the area in mid- to late-term pregnancies. This disease has been termed equine amnionitis and fetal loss (EAFL). Some researchers and