Latest News – The Horse

While you probably wouldn’t think of treating a foundered horse as a situation in which tough ethical decisions could crop up, the Second International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot held Nov. 10-11 featured a morning on just that topic.

The American Horse Council will hold a meeting of the Equine ID Task Force during the U.S. Equestrian Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 14-18.

The Task Force will be discussing the concept and implications of a national identification program for horses as a continuation of the National Institute of Animal

Septic arthritis in a Thoroughbred foal significantly reduces the likelihood the animal will race, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and veterinarians with Rossdale and Partners in England. The scientists evaluated the medical records of 69 foals treated for septic arthritis and compared each foal’s racing record to at least one of its

Veterinary care doesn’t come cheap. While conscientious horse owners realize that disease prevention is ultimately cheaper than disease treatment, when you have five, or 15, or 50 horses to care for and limits on your budget, you need to look closely and think carefully about where to best spend your hard-earned dollars in order to obtain maximum protection for minimal cost. Here’s how severa

What does international equestrian sport do to ensure healthy, fair, and clean competition? As a sport where the horse is used for its athletic abilities and man is at the helm, it is crucial that the horse be properly safeguarded.

Ethics and Horse Welfare–The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) considers the welfare of the horse its most important priority. An Ethics

I start young Thoroughbreds for racing, and occasionally I work with a horse that gets really “girthy.” Can you tell me why this happens, what it is called, and what I can do to prevent it?

Our foal was born with something that our veterinarian called a “jutted jaw.” Can you provide any information on this condition and what, if anything, needs to be done about it?

It can be as simple as that first outing in the fall, with leaves crunching underfoot and cool breezes blowing life into us and our horses. It can be as exciting as a once-in-a-lifetime trip to herd cattle in Wyoming, a vacation in Germany to learn dressage under the tutelage of a master, or riding on the beach with waves crashing and the smell of freedom blown in the salty air.

Deslorelin acetate implants (Ovuplant from Fort Dodge Animal Health) have proven highly successful at inducing ovulation in mares. Implanted mares typically ovulate within 48 hours. Unfortunately, despite administration of prostaglandin during diestrus, a percentage of mares with implants, perhaps as many as 1 in 4, experience a prolonged interval to the next ovulation. Researchers from

Congestive heart failure is a term describing a group of clinical signs that develop as a result of other cardiac diseases. As the name implies, equine congestive heart failure is generally an endpoint of disease, and it is considered rare in horses. There is little information available about congestive heart failure, but a study from North Carolina State University re-examined cases of

Unfortunately, clinical signs of West Nile virus (WNV) aren’t unique, making it difficult for practitioners to suspect WNV above other neurologic diseases. For this reason, researchers from the University of Florida set out to closely scrutinize the clinical signs of WNV to see if any are particularly unusual. Records of 46 horses admitted to the hospital in 2001 with confirmed cases of WNV

We’re all getting a little bit older, but as with fine wine and good horses, that often means things are getting better. The Horse magazine is celebrating its 21st year in 2004 since its inception as Modern Horse Breeding. And you’ll notice a few things different this year. For one, we are sharing our love of our horses in a new column called Horse Fever. We also are

On Nov. 19 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Navigator for treating equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). This drug has been under development for more than six years.

IDEXX Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine, received approval for the 32% nitazoxanide antiprotozoal oral paste designed to kill the single-celled protozoan parasite Sarcocystis neurona, which

A new West Nile virus (WNV) equine recombinant canarypox vaccine awaits USDA approval, and once available, could pave the way for a new generation of equine vaccines in the United States. Merial developed this Recombitek equine WNV technology, and assembled a group of researchers, clinicians, and private practitioners in New Orleans, La., on Nov. 19, 2003, to review WNV and the research behin

By the 2003 West Nile virus (WNV) season, a majority of state laboratories had obtained (or were establishing) the capacity to run the IgM Capture ELISA, the most common quick test for the disease. The test measures a class of antibody produced early after infection, can be performed on serum samples drawn from suspect cases, and takes two to three days to process. Other tests take four days