Yankee, a 30-year-old bay gelding, is one fortunate survivor of the rampant California wildfires that have plagued the San Diego and San Bernardino areas, and other parts of the state, since late October. Owner Carol Prida’s home in Wildcat Canyon burned and fell on his stall Oct. 26, before he could be evacuated. Everything plastic in Yankee’s stall (including his buckets) melted from the

The raging California wildfires that have killed 20 people, destroyed about 3,400 homes, and blackened approximately 552,713 acres, also had a profound effect on the equine population. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of horses were evacuated from the fire’s path, by owners with their own trailers, volunteers who rushed in from as far away as Los Angeles (to the San Diego area), and commercial

Mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) has been a primary research project for many veterinarians and scientists since it began causing early and late term abortions, sickness in foals, pericarditis (heart problems), and uveitis (eye problems) in horses in the spring of 2001. Manu Sebastian, DVM, MS, a resident in Veterinary Pathology, and a PhD student at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck

Even as the California fires were beginning to rage out of control, Sebastian Heath, VetMB, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVPM, senior staff veterinarian for USDA-APHIS, Emergency Programs, was discussing the consequences of animals in disaster situations to an audience at the University of Kentucky.

Rural hazards range from natural disasters to epidemics (such as the foot and mouth diseas

Sulphadiazine and pyrimethamine are used in combination to treat equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). These drugs interfere with folic acid (folate) metabolism, a vitamin essential for survival of the causative protozoon Sarcocystis neurona. In human patients, these drugs can cause folate deficiency. Signs of deficiency include bone marrow suppression and ulcerations of the tongue

In decades past, colic treatment was actually a misnomer. “Treatment” consisted of waiting out the colic while offering sedative-like drugs to dampen a horse’s misery. Either his body healed of its own accord, or he succumbed to death from overwhelming pain and shock. Veterinarians were reluctant to euthanize a horse with colic because one could never tell if he was going to make it or not. A

No one test can reliably diagnose septicemia (systemic infection) in a foal. The clinician must wait for the results of blood cultures, which can take days. However, preliminary studies of a blood protein called serum amyloid A (SAA) have shown it to rapidly increase in response to inflammatory diseases. Until now, fibrinogen (soluble plasma protein) has been used as an early indicator of

What exactly is breakover? Most would answer that it is the horse’s heel lifting off the ground and rotating over the toe as his foot leaves the ground. Breakover is simple in its definition, but pretty complex in its implications for your horse’s movement and soundness. And there’s not a lot of research out there yet to clearly define the best breakover for any horse.

In the meantime,

Large colon torsion is one of the most severe and life-threatening forms of colic. Although survival of horses with large colon torsion can be as high as 80-90%, the overall survival rate is 30-50% due to delays in transport or performing surgery.

Horses with dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) characteristically make a “choking” noise as they slow down from the resulting partial airway obstruction, hence the term “choking down” to describe them.

The Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., recently was awarded a $25,000 grant from Thoroughbred Charities of America. Grant funds are designated for building research facilities to enable collaborative research efforts to benefit equine health. The Equine Medical Center, located in Leesburg, Virginia, is one of three campuses comprising the Virginia-Maryland Regional

Trust is an important part of any partnership, whether between two people or between an animal and a human. There has been much talk about the revival of natural horsemanship. Honestly, it’s not a revival; it’s a concept new to many people today who didn’t grow up with horses. When we were kids, we enjoyed the same things our horses did (for the most part). We liked running over fields and

A Veterinary Advisory Board made up of equine practitioners in Virginia and Maryland has been created for the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va. Like members of the Equine Medical Center’s Council, Veterinary Advisory Board Members will provide advice and counsel to the Center’s director and staff in order to meet the needs of the equine industry and of the

Construction is under way on a new horse slaughtering facility in DeKalb, Ill. to replace a plant that burned to the ground March 31, 2002. Plans call for construction to be completed some time in December.

The capacity of the new facility will be 100 horses per day, the same as the destroyed plant, says James Tucker, comptroller for Belgian-owned Cavel International (which owns and will