It’s a disturbing and distressing sight: You’re backing your horse when one hind leg jerks forward and upward, nearly clipping his abdomen. It’s the same every time you back your horse–this strange movement where his leg snaps up toward his belly. There’s no mistaking it: Your horse has stringhalt.

A neurologic disorder, stringhalt is an involuntary, exaggerated flexion of the hock that

With next month’s magazine, you will receive a special supplement that brings you the latest in horse health news from the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. A record-breaking crowd of horse vets traveled to Orlando, Fla., to listen and learn, and to exchange information about a myriad of topics concerning the health and welfare of horses. One of the

A week following the Dec. 23 release of information about the University of Kentucky’s pasture monitoring related to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), Jimmy Henning, PhD, extension forage specialist at the University of Kentucky (UK) discussed some of the findings. There are some “real positive things” contained in the report, he said; the most important was that “we know a lot mor

Government veterinary officials recently designated West Nile virus (WNV) as an endemic disease in the United States. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) previously had considered WNV a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD), since it had never been detected in the United States prior to 1999. (Read more about WNV at www.TheHorse.com/wnv.) The

Thousands of equine veterinarians visited Orlando, Fla., Dec. 4-8, 2002, with the health and welfare of their equine patients at heart. The annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) served up research presentations and current events appropriate for the equine practitioner seeking valuable continuing education, and also a day for horse owner education. Look

Officials from the USDA’s National Center for Import/Export recently rescinded a contagious equine metritis (CEM) exemption once given to Spanish purebred horses. The exemption allowed these horses to pass through the import center with an abbreviated form of CEM testing, an allowance that was revoked due to repeat violations of U.S. equine import requirements.

Contagious equine metritis

Subconsciously, you’ve been holding your breath for months. From the moment your mare was confirmed in foal, it’s been a tense waiting game. And although she will be foaling soon, you know a healthy foal is still anything but a given. Between breeding and her foaling date lurk a few dozen tragic ways in which she could lose her foal. Whether you call it “slipping a foal” or bluntly label it

The University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture is seeking Eastern tent caterpillar (ETC) egg masses from the Central Kentucky area. Egg masses that are viable will be partly or completely covered with a brownish coating and will not have obvious holes. They are found on twigs (about the diameter of a pencil or smaller) of cherry and other trees on twigs. There are pictures on the

Because of the proposed link of the Eastern tent caterpillar (ETC) and mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), the Grayson/Jockey Club Research Foundation and the University of Kentucky held an informational session earlier today (Jan. 31) on controlling and eradicating caterpillars. The main presenter was Dan A. Potter, a professor in the entomology department at the university.

Potte

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) is working in conjunction with the University of Kentucky, horsemen, and veterinarians to develop a computer program that would help the equine industry detect health problems like mare reproductive loss syndrome more rapidly.

According to KTA executive director David Switzer, the program would be designed to combine the information from all

The abortion rate in Central Kentucky is up from a year ago, but scientists aren’t sure why there has been an increase.

“At this time, there is nothing that is fully consistent with MRLS (mare reproductive loss syndrome),” said Dr. Lenn Harrison, the director of the University of Kentucky’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington, on Jan. 31. “We haven’t identified the same

The worst is over in the unusual equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) outbreak that led to the death of 10 horses and has affected the remaining equine population at the University of Findlay’s English riding facility in Findlay, Ohio, since Jan. 12. Veterinarians have not detected any new cases of the respiratory and neurological illness in the last five days at the facility. Ten horses with

Over the years, horseback riding has become the love of millions and according to a survey conducted independently last fall, nearly 40 percent of Americans admitted that they have had a childhood admiration for horses. In fact, the same survey revealed two out of five adults (41%) would be happy to receive a horse as a gift.

On Valentine’s Day, you can surprise young horse enthusiast

A discussion of work being performed to help eradicate Eastern tent caterpillars will be held at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale pavilion in Lexington, Ky., at 9 a.m. on Jan. 31.

University of Kentucky entomologist Dan Potter and his staff have been seeking improved ways to spray tent caterpillar egg masses and the alternative technique of injecting trees to kill caterpillars before or