My 5-year-old mare has been suffering from an odd gait problem for a few weeks. She has been diagnosed with a form of tenosynovitis involving the tendon sheath of the digital deep flexor tendon in the area of the Achilles tendon above the hock.
A few dollars vs. thousands of dollars, or total loss? Do you sometimes wonder if horse owners should be made to act more like car owners? For cars, it’s mandated that you must have insurance to protect you, and the people around you. Bad things happen. You aren’t always in control. The same is true for your horses. Except in the case of horses, your insurance often comes from a bottle
Is there a reliable test to check the titer of immunity before we revaccinate each year for flu, rhino, etc.? Why is a tetanus shot good for five or more years in humans and only one year or less in the equine?
Some wild horses and burros rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are now eligible to be sold at public auctions to the highest bidder, including slaughter buyers.
The appropriations bill for 2005 (H.R. 4818) was made public law on Dec. 7. On Nov. 20, 2004, Senator Conrad Burns of Montana attached a rider to it that concerned the wild horse and burro adoption program funding.
Do horses (stallions) respond to women’s reproductive cycles?
Researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) have just completed a retrospective study into the safety of administering the killed West Nile virus (WNV) vaccine to pregnant broodmares, the first study on this topic in equine reproductive research. The study looked at 595 mares from four different farms in Texas and Kentucky. The authors of the study (which was published in the Journal of
I have two horses I have purchased not knowing they were pregnant. How will I know that they are close to delivery? Will they lose their appetite like my dogs do, or will there be other signs I should look for in the last month of pregnancy? via e-mail
In the treatment of horses suffering from West Nile virus (WNV), vets have only a few choices besides supportive care. A novel WNV serum antibody product received conditional approval from the USDA in November 2004. Colorado Serum Company (CSC) announced the product’s availability on Dec. 13, 2004.
Serum antibody products help animals that have been exposed to a disease by increasing the
Equine infectious anemia is characterized by fever, anemia, jaundice, depression, edema, and chronic weight loss.
At least two horses at Northville Downs Standardbred racetrack in Northville, Mich., contracted equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and were euthanatized in December. The first case was found Dec. 14, when a 6-year-old Standardbred gelding began exhibiting classic signs of the neurological form of EHV-1 myeloencephalopathy (EHM). After the horse was taken to the Diagnostic Center for Population
Successful breeding of horses is not always as easy as presenting a receptive mare to a fertile stallion. There are many things that can go awry with the reproductive process. Broodmares that were once fertile and produced many excellent foals might one day face the realities of repetitive foaling injuries, chronic uterine infections, or simply old age. Stallions also can experience a decreas
High incidences of leptospirosis-induced abortions in Central Kentucky mares could be caused by a tandem effect of temperature and precipitation in certain years, said Capt. David Hall of the U.S. Air Force, who defended his master’s thesis at the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington on Dec. 15.
Leptospirosis is one of the most widespread zoonoses
My 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Sterling Story, suffered four months with what my vet and I thought was a hoof abscess. He was retired from the track as a 6-year-old, and I have ridden him in dressage and as a trail horse since. He is that one-in-a-million people-loving horse that has bonded with me as my true friend. I ride him on the average of five days a week to keep him fit and
At its recent meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI, the international governing body of equine sport) Bureau established a six-person task force to reassess policies necessary to eliminate abusive and illegal performance-enhancing drugs and to review the general medication control of horses.
The task force will examine the following:
The United Kingdom is famous for its rich history and deeply rooted traditions, but that doesn’t mean its veterinarians are bound to ancient methods of equine medicine. Quite the contrary, the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) hosts one of the world’s most in-depth, cutting-edge continuing education meetings every year–the BEVA Congress. The 43rd annual Congress, held Sept. 15-18,
The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) was to begin testing for performance-enhancing medications at approximately 300 approved shows in January as a result of a recommendation made by the drug and medications task force.
The task force had met to discuss the increased cost of drug testing and the decreasing number of states voluntarily testing at their shows.
AQHA will spend
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