Latest News – The Horse

An Oct. 12 ProMED-mail posting reported that Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) has re-emerged in Venezuela after being controlled by health authorities for more than three years. This virus hasn’t been reported in the United States for more than 30 years.

The ProMED posting said that representatives of the National Breeders’ Federation reported that the disease has affected animals

While many farrier services and veterinary clinics will treat severe foot problems, and perhaps even specialize in them, very few can offer a veterinarian/farrier team available on a full-time basis to treat those horses. Although it’s still a month or two away from construction completion, the Nolensville Veterinary Hospital in Nolensville, Tenn., is already taking cases in its new equine

The two colts came down from Lloyd and Melanie Cancade’s ranch in Canada on a nice stock trailer with several other weanlings. I met Lloyd and a fellow who works for him at Asbury College near my home in Kentucky on the evening of Oct. 1 so we could use their barn to sort through the weanlings. Asbury started taking weanlings in 2001 as part of the NPHA program, and they got two more this

In November, the Missouri-based Animal Health Foundation (AHF) will celebrate 20 years of fundraising efforts to help support laminitis research. Established in 1984 by Donald Walsh, DVM, and his wife, Diana, AHF raises funds that go directly to research programs. AHF has no employees, no office, and very few administrative costs, but it does have hundreds of dedicated volunteers who build

Nearly 250 veterinarians from across the country attended a continuing education conference sponsored by Purina Mills. A full day was spent touring the LongView Research Facility where Purina Mills conducts feed research for all types of animals, including horses.

Besides researching and developing horse feeds, which on average takes five years for a new feed to go from idea to feed

Cats Don’t Dance, one of the two Saddlebreds which survived malicious attacks in late June, is sound and has been started back under saddle, according to his owner, Sally Jackson, of Overland Park, Kan., and Nathan Slovis, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, the horse’s treating veterinarian at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee veterinary hospital in Lexington, Ky. The 6-year-old gelding and four other Saddlebreds at

Mineshaft, the leading handicap horse in the country, was retired Friday due to what trainer Neil Howard said was a small chip in his right front ankle.

“This morning Dr. Foster Northrop, Mineshaft’s vet, his owner, Mr. William Farish, and I had a discussion and made the decision to retire Mineshaft due to a minor problem in his ankle that we have been managing,” said Howard. “A

The chairman of the Kentucky Racing Commission has advocated a Salix-only policy on race day in the state, and said he would schedule meetings around the state to get feedback. Currently, five medications are permitted on race day in Kentucky.

Frank Shoop, during the commission’s Oct. 2 meeting near Lexington, said he wants Kentucky to fall in line with recommendations by the national

College students who are pursuing a career in equine publishing are eligible to compete for American Horse Publications 2004 Student Award. If you will be a junior or senior at the start of the 2004-2005 undergraduate college year, with at least one semester before graduation, you have a chance to win a cash award of $500 plus an all-expense paid trip to AHP’s annual meeting and seminar. The

Hurricane Isabel hit the Virginia coast with fury on Sept. 18. At its peak over the Atlantic, Isabel was a Category 5 hurricane (winds greater than 155 mph), sending coastal horse owners scrambling for safe shelter for themselves and their animals. When the storm hit land, it had faded to a Category 2 hurricane (winds from 96-110 mph and storm surges of six to eight feet), then dropped to a

The Blood-Horse magazine reported that 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand died sometime in 2002. He likely met his end in a slaughterhouse in Japan, where his career at stud was unsuccessful.

Ferdinand earned nearly $4 million, retiring as what was then the fifth-leading money winner of all time. He was retired to stud in 1989 at Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky. After a brief,