Latest News – The Horse
Common Skin Problems
We used to call it the “creeping crud”–a colorful, youthful label applicable to any gross-out skin disease the horse happened to have (and not to be confused with the cold-and-flu-like symptoms in humans that earned the same appellation). Besides the crud, there were also those weird little bumps that could show up now and then on the horse–not quite as disgusting, but unpleasant
10 Tips on Getting Horses Ready for Spring
Spring is in the air! Oh, to be sure, we aren’t finished with cold weather in many parts of the country, but it won’t be long before we will be ready to head out trail riding or be off on the spring horse show circuit. Here are some tips to help prepare your horse for the spring riding season.
Ouch! That Hurts!
Pain. The Merriam-Webster electronic dictionary defines pain as 1: punishment; 2: usually localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (as a disease or an injury); also, a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort (as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leading to
West Nile Virus Vaccination
The following responses to questions are from Rob Keene, DVM, a field technical consulting equine veterinarian with Fort Dodge Animal Health (FDAH), manufacturers of the West Nile virus vaccine.
The West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine is probably one of the best-known vaccines on the market right now. How did you get it ready so quickly after WNV was found in the United States?
Braces for Horses?
I read in a magazine that you can have braces put on a horse to correct an overbite. How can I learn about this? I have a super nice filly that is show quality except for the overbite. If I can get this corrected on my filly, I will show her.
Fescue Allergy?
Have you ever heard of a systemic allergy to fescue grass?
Trailer Resistance
I’ve had my yearling filly all of her life. I trained her from week one to trailer load, and she was fine with getting in and out. However, this was with a four-horse slant load trailer that steps up. Now I need to load her into a two-horse trailer with a ramp and a divider. When I tried to load her into the two-horse trailer, she would not load and tried many evasive tactics (rearing,
Vaccinations: Kick-Starting the Immune System
These days, research protocols are a little more sophisticated and complicated, although the basic premise for testing a vaccine is pretty much the same: The researcher vaccinates the animal against the infection or disease using some sort of disease component originally isolated from affected animals and, by one means or another, determines whether the vaccine is safe and effective.
Farm Equipment: Nice or Necessary?
Proper equipment will help you manage your barn efficiently and safely, but there is a big difference when it comes to equipment you need versus equipment that’s just nice to have.
Ohio EHV-1 Outbreak; Strain Might Be Atypical
The worst is over in an equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) outbreak that thus far has caused the death of 12
horses, and scientists are still studying the virus to see if it is somehow different from the normal EHV-1 strain. The outbreak, which began Jan. 12, quarantined the entire equine population of 138 horses at the University of Findlay’s English riding facility in Findlay, Ohio. It
Emerging Disease in Foals
A bacteria that causes weight loss, colic, diarrhea, and hypoproteinemia (abnormally low protein in the blood) in foals is being seen more often in North America and Europe. The affected foals are usually four to eight months old, but can be older. While the causative bacteria Lawsonia intracellularis can cause severe disease, it is very treatable if caught early.
Lawsonia
Medication Rules Revised
The USA Equestrian (USAE) Board of Directors approved a rule change on Jan. 19 that should reduce the incidence of corticosteroid abuse in equine athletes. The USAE sets rules for 27 breeds and disciplines competing in the United States, and is the U.S. equestrian national governing body. The corticosteroid rule will go into effect Dec. 1, 2003.
The USAE’s Veterinary and Equine Drugs and
West Nile Virus Found In Aborted Kentucky Fetuses
Evidence of West Nile virus (WNV) was found in 35 aborted fetuses in Kentucky since July of 2002, according to Lenn Harrison, VMD, head of the Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington. “We have handled about 400 aborted fetuses and tested them, so this is less than 10%,” he reported on Feb. 4. He emphasized that WNV has not been known to cause abortion in mares; therefore,
New Treatment for Endotoxemia
Michelle Henry Barton, DVM, PhD, of the University of Georgia, recently completed a project on treating endotoxemia with polymyxin B (PMB), an alternative to endotoxin antibody products. The drug PMB kills many Gram-negative bacteria and also binds endotoxin, preventing interaction of endotoxin with white blood cells (WBC) as do endotoxin antibody products–thus heading off the damaging
More Pigeon Fever in Kentucky
The bacterial disease “pigeon fever,” also known as dryland distemper, usually is seen west of the Mississippi–especially in California and southwestern states–but it has been recognized in Kentucky and Florida in increasing numbers in recent years. There was a small outbreak in Kentucky in November 2002 (see article #4040 at www.TheHorse.com). Some
Lower Limb Research at the Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium
Probably the foremost biomechanics researcher in the country, Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s McPhail Equine Performance Center, discussed recent lower limb research during the 16th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium. Some of the studies she described were performed in collaboration with researchers at
