In a year that saw increased public scrutiny of equine welfare and medication issues both on the track and in the competition field, veterinarians at the 2008 Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) in San Diego, Calif., gathered in a forum to discuss these and other performance horse issues.

Forum leaders Stephen Soule, VMD, of West Palm Beach, Fla.,

A hearing officer has ruled that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission acted properly when it handed a five-year suspension to veterinarian Dr. Rodney Stewart after cobra venom and other prohibited substances were found in a barn and in his truck at Keeneland in June 2007.

Hearing officer Robert Layton, who conducted a two-day hearing in December into Stewart’s appeal of the suspension,

Topics in equine health that are timely and relevant to today’s horse owner will be featured this year as part of the American Association of Equine Practitioner’s “Ask the Vet” online discussion on aaep.org/horseowner. Each month an AAEP-member veterinarian will answer questions submitted by horse owners pertaining to

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Safety and Integrity Alliance has received a contribution of $50,000 from Pfizer Animal Health.

“Pfizer Animal Health is proud to support the work of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance in its efforts towards improved health and wellness for the equine athletes,” said Kristin Ruff, equine senior

Brooks reviewed a variety of treatment and management strategies for corneal ulcers, with a focus on not only resolving the ulcer in each case, but maintaining the horse’s vision.

It is not unusual for horses to get stomach ulcers. But how important are the ulcers? Is it because the horse is stressed that it gets stomach ulcers? And does a horse with stomach ulcers have a greater tendency to crib or have other types of abnormal behavior?

A winter weather warning for Kentucky had been issued, and all the horses were in the barn for the night as a precaution. After all, how often have the weather forecasters been overenthusiastic about “catastrophic” storms?

Overnight the electricity went out; both landline and cell phones were dead. Trees, limbs and telephone poles were down, blocking roads and causing major damage to

Farrier Ian McKinlay, who was in the news last year dealing with Big Brown’s quarter crack prior to the Belmont Stakes, is back on the Triple Crown trail once again, treating a lesser quarter crack suffered by Quality

Wild horse and humane animal advocacy groups from across the nation are joining forces to encourage the American public to consider and act on the adoption of a wild horse or burro. A goal of 1,000 adoptions has been set for the first National Wild Horse Adoption Day to be held Sept. 26, 2009.

More than 65 events will take place across the country in support of national wild horse

The morning after the scratch of pre-race favorite The Pamplemousse from the Santa Anita Derby due to a tendon flare-up, co-owner Alex Solis II said the promising colt is off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Later, Solis said The Pamplemousse would be out of action a minimum of six months.

“He has a small lesion (on the tendon in his left front leg) and we’ll do the best thing by the

Radiographs provide information for making diagnoses, planning treatments, and guiding trimming and shoeing. “The quality of the radiographs and the final product generated are dependent on the preparation of the foot, the position of the foot, and the views required for a particular study,” he noted.

In an effort to help horse owners manage herd populations and breed responsibly, the Kentucky Horse Council, in partnership with Morehead State University (MSU), is offering a low cost gelding clinic April 28 and 30, 2009.

The service, funded by Save Our Horses, a tax deductible fund to support KHC health and welfare programs, will allow Kentucky horse owners to pay for

“Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specific populations and the application of this study to control health problems.”
– J.M. Last: A Dictionary of Epidemiology, ed 2. New York, Oxford University Press, 1988.

While a definition is a good place to start when thinking about the role of epidemiology in equine health,

There were comments from practitioners representing both the Morgan and American Saddlebred Horse breeds, stating that they had heard many positive breed industry comments in support of this white paper. Everyone in the room showed support for maintaining the welfare of all gaited breeds.

Nearly 20% of fatal musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbred atheletes are due to complete humeral (forearm bone) fractures, which often occur early in training or following an prolonged layup.

The late Paul R. Fout, a renowned horse breeder and trainer who passed away in 2005, will be posthumously honored when a new equine barn on the campus of Virginia Tech’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center is dedicated in his name on Fri., April 17.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which will be held on the grounds of the Leesburg medical center from 6:30 to 8 p.m.