Latest News – The Horse

California has taken the first step to ban the backstretch use of snake venom, which officials believe can be used as a nerve- or joint-numbing agent in sore or injured horses.

If approved by California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the action by its medication committee April 1 would add snake and snail venom to the list of prohibited substances banned at any facility under the CHRB’s

Uniformity in medication and drug testing could be years away, a member of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium said April 1 during a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB)Medication Committee meeting.

Dr. Rick Arthur, a vice president and director of the Oak Tree Racing Association and a member of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, said a standardized medication and

“Usually you shoe horses that are against you, right?” asked world-renowned clinician Pat Parelli at the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis symposium Jan. 16-18 in Louisville, Ky. “You’re on opposite teams. And when push comes to shove, the horse wins when it comes to shove.

“I’m kind of ashamed of the horse industry compared to other professional industries,” he went on. “It’s still ful

Veterinarians and researchers trying to pinpoint the cause of mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) have joined together to create an MRLS “think tank,” the progress and goals of which were discussed April 1 at a joint meeting of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club and the Kentucky Association of Equine Practitioners (KAEP) in Lexington.

The veterinarians returned ofte

An outbreak of African horse sickness detected last week in South Africa has killed 300 horses, according to a Pro-Med report. African horse sickness is a lethal virus spread by the Culicoides bolitinos midge, a species of small fly. Although African horse sickness is endemic to all parts of Africa, except the Western Cape, rain in the region has increased the midge population.

Keeneland, which opens for its spring meet April 4, is requiring all horses that enter the grounds to have a health certificate written within 72 hours of arrival.

River Downs in Ohio implemented a similar policy in the wake of the detection of equineherpes virus at Turfway Park in mid-March. The virus was contained through quarantine procedures, and horses in the affected barn are

Advanced reproductive technologies that can be used in horses are expanding every year. Geography is no longer a limiting factor in choosing a mate for your mare, as fresh cooled semen can be shipped across North America with ease. Frozen semen also means stallions from other continents can be used.

Amber is a 30-year-old Arabian mare which was slowly starving to death because her owners had run out of money to care for her. Because of her age and lack of potential and worth, Amber’s owners allowed her to be pushed out of food and veterinary care in their herd of 35 horses. The husband finally decided to give Amber to a nearby therapeutic riding center, which promptly contacted the Hoove

Whether it is the increased stress of daily life or the baby-boomer generation wanting to experience the roots of their pioneer forefathers, more and more people are setting out to see the country from horseback. As a result, equestrian campgrounds have multiplied throughout the country and the design of horse trailers has changed drastically to cater to the comfort of weekend or week-long

University of Florida (UF) research has shown that any exercise above a walk could force acidic gastric juices up into sensitive areas of the equine stomach, which could be why ulcers develop or worsen in horses in training (affecting more than 80% of performance horses in some studies).

Alfred Merritt, DVM, MS; and Mireia Lorenzo-Figueras, DVM, have found that gastric tension changes

The long-awaited reference Diagnosis and Management of Lameness in the Horse was recently released by Elsevier Science. The book was co-authored by Mike W. Ross, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, of the University of Pennsylvania’s school of veterinary medicine; and Sue J. Dyson, FRCVS, of the Center for Equine Studies at the Animal Health Trust in the United Kingdom. Ross and Dyson offer comprehensive

A question has been raised whether the increased number of West Nile virus (WNV) cases in Kentucky in late summer and fall 2002 contributed to a rise in fall abortions. A retrospective study by the University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease and Diagnostic Center (LDDC), from July of 2002 through early 2003, looked at 400 equine abortions for evidence of WNV. Their findings were “surprising,”

A new Horse/Human Age Relationship Chart was recently released that seeks to better explain the relationship between the stages of life for humans and horses. This information reveals that, beginning at birth, horses age 6.5 years for each human year until puberty. Once a horse reaches age four, that rate slows to 2.5 years for each human year.

The Age Relationship Chart, created by

While Ohio veterinarians are busy fighting what seems to be an especially aggressive strain of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1), two horses were euthanized due to illness from the virus at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Penn., in an outbreak that appears to be a more typical, sporadic episode. Additionally, at least two Iowa horses have been euthanized after battling what officials