Latest News – The Horse
Fatal Genetic Quarter Horse Disease Identified
Glycogen branching enzyme deficiency in Quarter Horses might cause unexplained stillbirths/deaths of foals.
NC State Names New Dean for College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Warwick A. Arden, professor and head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine at the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named the new dean of North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary
Vesicular Stomatitis Confirmed in New Mexico
On June 4, 2004, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, IA, confirmed the finding of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in horses at one premises in New Mexico.
VS is a viral disease that primarily affects horses, cattle,
New Colic Drug Available
Veterinarians in the United States have a new tool to use in their diagnosis and treatment of colic, which gives them an early, 30-minute window in which to decide whether or not the colic might require more intensive medical therapy or surgery.
Agricultural Guidelines for Horse Operations Published
Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Rutgers Equine Science Center have published the eagerly awaited Agricultural Management Practices for Commercial Equine Operations.
Considered to be the first comprehensive set of guidelines in th”P>Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Rutgers Equine Science Center have published the eagerly awaited Agricultural Management Practices f”>Rutgers Cooperative Extension and
New Topical Osteoarthritis Treatment Available
The FDA recently approved a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that can be applied to the skin over a horse’s joint to relieve pain of osteoarthritis. The approval represents the first topical equine pharmaceutical formulation
Blind and Restless
My 19-year-old horse is 95% blind, and when he’s not eating or sleeping he walks in circles. What can I do to stop or minimize this behavior?
Get a Vet!
When I ride my 24-year-old Arabian mare Western, she tends to want to pick up the pace and wants to look around. How can I get her to slow down and stay focused? She gets stiff and starts to limp on her left hind leg when I am riding her. Another thing she does is pee constantly when I am riding her, but it isn’t pee that comes out, it’s blood. Can you tell me why she does this and if there i
Don’t Leave Me Alone!
Why do some horses not like having their buddies taken out of their pen when they have to stay in?
Why Horses Stumble
There are many reasons a horse might stumble. Work with your veterinarian and farrier to determine the cause, since the onset of stumbling might indicate a shoeing/trimming problem, or could be a warning of serious health problems.
Out of Work; Out of Money
The world of insurance as it pertains to equines can be a bit complicated for the average horse owner. Nowhere is this more true than with “loss of use” insurance. At the outset, it doesn’t seem all that complicated. If your horse can no longer perform in the discipline stated in the policy, you receive a sum of money that has been established in advance. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that
Beasts of Burden
Any horse owner who tours the medieval gallery at a museum must stop at the displays of suits of armor and marvel. Imagine the sheer weight of such an outfit–then imagine trying to maneuver oneself into the saddle wearing it! Visions of metal-sheathed knights being lowered by crude cranes and slings onto their groaning draft horses might in fact be hyperbole since historians say knights
Mud Management
Flanders and Swann, a singing comedy team from the United Kingdom, once penned a song that went like this:
“Mud, mud, glorious mud,
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.
So follow me, follow,
Down to the hollow,
And there let us wallow
In glorious mud!”
Of course the song was written from the perspective of a hippo.
For that animal’s distant
Processed Horse Feed 101
Perhaps you've never thought about why your horse's grain looks the way it does, whether it's a molasses-bathed mix of cracked corn and crimped oats, alfalfa-enriched pellets, or chunky nuggets. If you're like most modern humans, you're accustomed to buying prepared and processed foods for yourself–from fast food meals on the fly to the pre-made soups and sauces on you
Parasite Primer: Examining the Evidence
How do you really know if your worm control program is working? If your horses are looking good, are they doing as well as they could be? If they are not doing as well as you would like despite frequent deworming, is the problem due to worms?
Trilostane for Cushing’s Disease
Equine Cushing’s syndrome (ECS), or hyperadrenocorticism, is caused by an excess of cortisol. This syndrome produces signs including excessive hair growth (hirsutism), lethargy, fat redistribution under the skin, chronic/relapsing laminitis, and increased drinking and urination (polydypsia/polyuria). The drug pergolide is commonly recommended as treatment for ECS. However, data on its
