Latest News – The Horse
Evaluating Semen Quality
Stallion owners must determine if their stallions have what it takes physically to make a good breeding prospect, including good semen quality, before the start of the breeding season. In his presentation at the sixth annual Equine School at the Alltech Symposium, Peter Sheerin, DVM, Dipl. ACT, a theriogenologist at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., asked the audience: “What
Improving Breeding Programs
In today’s competitive equine market, developing strategies to succeed and grow can mean the difference for an equine business. Michael White, an equine advisor for Teagasc in Tipperary, Ireland, spoke about promoting growth of the Irish equine industry in the global market at the sixth annual Equine School at the Alltech Symposium in Lexington, Ky. The suggestions he gave the audience can be
Laser Surgery in Horses
The term “laser” conjures up images varying from action movies to removal of skin wrinkles to hands-free toilet flushing. What these things have in common is that a beam of light with a particular wavelength produces a particular desired effect. A surgical laser simply delivers coherent (meaning the beam stays together indefinitely), monochromatic (single wavelength as opposed to the visible
What’s Right for Your Horse?
Joint trauma can severely limit performance and seriously affect the quality of your horse’s daily life. Owners want and need to know how best to manage equine joint disease. The most important factor in successful treatment is early detection and diagnosis.
Any of the components of joints–the joint capsule, synovial membrane, synovial fluid, cartilage, bone, and ligaments–can b
What Makes a Horse Yawn?
What makes a horse yawn? Does this help the horse get lots of air in his lungs like with people? Is it a sign of anything in particular?
Wrapping a Bowed Tendon for Exercise
We have a 4-year-old Thoroughbred with a bowed tendon. He has been laid up for about a year and is now in training and doing well. When we race him, should we wrap his leg to support the bow or leave it open?
Colt Fertility
My husband and I have a mare in heat. I had suggested that we use a 2 1/2 year old stud that we own. He said that the stud is too young. Can you help?
Gentling Abused Colts
I run a rescue ranch in Tucson for abused horses and dogs. I recently got in two young horses about six to eight months old, weighing in at about 500 pounds each. They have been badly branded, and they appear to be beaten up pretty badly. Their cuts are healing, and they seem to have that “baby resilience.” One of them has a bad limp in the right front leg; I suspect from being hobbled or
Keeping Disease at Bay
Preventing communicable diseases from striking horses should be the goal of every horse owner. Despite our best efforts, however, there are going to be occasions when a communicable malady afflicts one or more horses at a private farm or public stable. When that occurs, efforts must be made to treat the afflicted animals and to prevent the disease from spreading to others on the premises or i
The Magnificent Seven
Ever wonder why some minerals (such as copper, zinc, iron, and selenium) are referred to as “trace minerals” while other minerals (such as calcium and phosphorus) are not?
What Boys Are Made Of
An appreciation of normal reproductive anatomy is essential to the competent physical examination of the stallion’s reproductive tract. If you are involved in breeding, then you should be familiar with what is considered normal so you know when something is wrong. This information will also help mare owners make informed decisions about a particular stallion which might have physical problems
Stop Problems Before They Start
Thought you knew the latest in keeping your horse healthy from head to toe? Think again! Richard Mansmann, VMD, PhD, from Central Carolina Equine Practice in Chapel Hill, N.C., is using a preventive foot care program that’s designed to detect early and/or prevent foot problems that could limit performance in horses. This program involves at least an annual visit by the veterinarian and
Arthritis Under Control
Although not usually life-threatening, arthritis causes your horse pain and can be career-ending. In fact, a research report from Michigan State University’s McPhail Equine Performance Center calls degenerative joint disease the single most common cause of early retirement for sport horses.
Scientists are working hard on several studies that might eventually present realistic solutions
Advice and Advisors
Who among us hasn’t had a problem that frustrated us because we didn’t know where to turn for answers? Maybe it’s something complicated or technical and there isn’t anyone in our area who is an expert. Perhaps the question deals with something controversial, and we’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or making that person feel that we are looking beyond him or her for answers. Or maybe we
44 Florida EEE Cases
The number of confirmed Eastern equine encephalitis cases (EEE) in horses has risen to 44 as of May 6 in north central Florida, according to Bill Jeter, DVM, diagnostic veterinary manager for Florida’s Division of Animal Industry. This confirmed earlier speculations that 2003 will have higher-than-normal numbers of EEE cases this year. The virus has been confirmed in 18 counties, and 24 of th
First WNV Case of 2003 Detected In Florida
One equine case of West Nile virus (WNV) in Florida had been confirmed by serological testing as of May 1, according to Leroy Coffman, DVM, Florida’s state veterinarian and director of the Division of Animal Industry. This was the first reported equine case of WNV in the state this year, and possibly the first in the United States this year.
The WNV case was confirmed in an unvaccinated
