Thomas R. Lenz, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACT, has been installed as the 49th president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the world’s largest association of equine veterinarians.  Lenz took office Dec. 7, 2002, during the AAEP’s recent annual convention in Orlando, Fla.

During his 27-year veterinary career, Lenz has worked in private practice, academia, and

Dayton O. Hyde, founder of a South Dakota wild-horse sanctuary, is the 2002 recipient of the American Association of Equine Practitioners� (AAEP) equine welfare award, the Lavin Cup. Named for AAEP past president A. Gary Lavin, VMD, the award is presented annually to a non-veterinary individual or organization that has demonstrated exceptional compassion or developed and enforced rules and

Over 5,200 veterinary professionals, guests and exhibitors attended the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) 48th Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla., setting a new attendance record for the meeting. The convention, held Dec. 4-8, 2002, featured nearly 100 scientific presentations, a sold-out trade show and an equine health seminar for horse owners.

“Dr. Tom Lenz and th

 “Why should we be concerned about EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis)?” asked William J.A. Saville, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, PhD, of The Ohio State University (OSU) at the 2002 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention. “Because it is still an important equine disease, although we have a low incidence of the disease, and regardless of therapies available to treat EPM,

Be My Royal, winner of the one the biggest races of the National Hunt season to date, faces disqualification in connection with a rash of positive drug tests for traces of morphine in British and Irish races due to contaminated feed.

The situation has brought a call for threshold levels for morphine and other substances that may occur through environmental

Enterocolitis (inflammation of the small intestine and colon) caused by the bacteriums Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens is a common problem for both adult horses and foals.

Equine veterinarians at Colorado State University’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital are currently involved in three research projects to analyze the statistics from 2002’s outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) in two Western states.

One study will assess the long-term status of horses that had the virus. With the help of several second year veterinary students and the

In defining a high-risk mare, Bain said she is one which has had previous foaling problems such as dystocia (difficult delivery), hemorrhage, or a red bag delivery. He said a mare also could be at risk because of medical illness, surgery, colic, laminitis, or because she is an older mare.

“However, there are challenges with standing ocular (eye) surgery–you generally need magnification, and thus the horse must be perfectly still,” he continued. “Many (eye) procedures thus require general anesthesia. But with appropriate tranquilization, ocular nerve blocks, and restraint, many ocular surgeries can be performed adequately in standing horses.”

As post-performance drug testing methods become more sensitive, racehorse and show horse owners, veterinarians, handlers, and trainers have become more aware that positive drug tests could be the result of inadvertent contamination of the horse with chemicals present in the environment. Cynthia Kollias-Baker, DVM, PhD, director of the Racing Laboratory at the University of Florida, recently

The introduction of antimicrobial drugs to veterinary medicine has made a dramatic improvement in the health of our horses, but it’s alarming when infections do not respond to these drugs. “It is not a new phenomenon, but there has been ever-growing concern about antimicrobial resistance,” said Josie Traub-Dargatz, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, of Colorado State University, in her presentation at the

Peripheral Cushing’s syndrome (PCS) is seen in middle-aged horses with obesity-associated laminitis. These horses tend to accumulate fat in the crest of the neck, over the rump, and in the sheath of male horses. Researchers are trying to understand this recently named syndrome. It was first proposed that classic Cushing’s disease–a disorder of the pituitary gland that leads to excessive

The study looked at the effects of a joint supplement (Corta-Flx) on gait asymmetry caused by degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the distal intertarsal and/or tarsometatarsal joints of one or both hocks.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is sponsoring an equine health forum on Fri., Jan. 17, as part of USA Equestrian’s Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky. The forum is free to all USA Equestrian members and guests attending the meeting.

The topics and speakers are: 

“Emerging Equine Diseases” –Dr. Genevieve Fontaine from the

Horse racing has far more stringent medication regulations than most other equine disciplines, and this was reflected in the Racehorse Medications Table Topic discussion at the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention on Friday, Dec. 6. The majority of the discussion revolved around the legality of using various medications and their withdrawal times. Gary Norwood, DVM,