Latest News – The Horse

There are several possible explanations as to why a horse might play with his water bucket every night.

Did you ever go to the tack store and try to figure out the exact amounts per serving of each ingredient contained in some of the nutraceutical products? It can be an important issue if your horse’s joint supplement, vitamin supplement, and food product contain duplicate vitamins and minerals, some of which can be harmful if given in excess doses. But when ingredients are labeled as X parts

Producing a foal year in and year out takes its toll on the overall health of a mare, and the wear and tear on the reproductive system often makes it more and more difficult for her to conceive and carry a foal to term. The advances of science have given the breeder more tools with which to combat the aging process, but eventually time will win out and the mare will become barren.

Why do we ask farriers to take knives and nippers (and sometimes a whole lot more) to our horses’ feet every six weeks? For many of us, it has always been just one of those things you knew you had to do if you had horses.

It has taken months of preparation for this moment. You’ve done the roadwork, marched your horse up and down hills, put in miles on the training track, added the speed and agility sessions, plugged in that heart rate monitor, and assessed your horse’s growing fitness by the numbers and by feel. And the hard work and dedication you’ve put into it have paid off–your horse just successfully

There are valuable compounds, nutraceuticals, and supplements out there that are proven, produced by reputable manufacturers, and supported by science and/or make valid claims. Are you a careful enough consumer to make sure you are buying those products and are not being tempted by low prices or outlandish claims?

Top veterinarians and the USDA dispute allegations made in a May 30 article in The Denver Post that the West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine might have caused widespread abortions and deformed foals. Mare owners calling themselves the “Lost Foals Group” claimed the vaccine caused up to 1,200 abortions and nearly 300 deformed or dummy foals.

A news release from the USDA stated: “Some

The research team that made headlines in May after producing the world’s first equine clone–a mule named Idaho Gem–on June 9 has repeated its success with the birth of another mule–Utah Pioneer.

Researchers Gordon Woods, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT, and Dirk Vanderwall, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT, from the University of Idaho (UI); and Ken White, PhD, from Utah State University, said the male

The Horse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care, which is celebrating 20 years as the leader in equine health care news and information, and its companion web site TheHorse.com, were recognized June 21, 2003, at the American Horse Publications’ (AHP) Annual Awards Program in Hunt Valley, Md. The Horse earned two first place awards, one second place award, and two third place awards.

If the job trend for veterinary school graduates continues as it has for the past few years, then the answer might be “no.” Concern was raised at the 2002 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention due to the declining number of students entering equine practice when finishing veterinary school. “There is an acute shortage of new graduates entering equine practice,” noted

The battle over the slaughter of horses in the United States has shifted directly to Texas, where two slaughter plants operate. At the moment, operations at the two plants continue while the issue is being decided in federal court.

The two horse slaughter plants are Beltex in Fort Worth, Texas, and Dallas Crown in nearby Kaufman.

The background that led to the current battle is this

Research has shown that it probably isn’t a virus or bacteria (a biological agent) that links the Eastern tent caterpillar (ETC) to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS). Bill Bernard, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.; and Manu Sebastian, DVM, MS, a pathologist with the University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, conducted the experimen

Adapting to the environment, informed by genetic codes, and endeavoring to meet human demands, the horse’s hoof is like an individual fingerprint on the human hand. Decoding the process the horse uses to arrive at his ideal hoof form filled three days of lectures, discussions, and demonstrations at the May 2-4 Natural Hoofcare Conference at Tufts University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Elliott detailed evidence of a reduction in hind gut (cecal) pH following carbohydrate overload, generally believed to be the leading factor in the onset of laminitis in otherwise healthy horses. Carbohydrate overload has also been associated with an increase in amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen) production in the gut.

Veterinarians are scrambling to keep up with the Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) cases emerging in the southeastern United States. Since the beginning of June, South Carolina has had 17 confirmed equine cases, with about 25 pending confirmation. Florida’s EEE case count is up to 113 this year, and Georgia has 30.

In 2002, South Carolina had five equine cases of EEE, Florida had 25, and

The one sabotaged Saddlebred still under treatment is recovering well, according to two veterinarians who have been treating the horse at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee (HDM) Associates in Lexington, Ky. However, they cannot say the gelding is completely out of the woods yet. Six-year-old Cats Don’t Dance is currently sound and slowly responding to a combination of cutting-edge treatments