The old adage “No Hoof, No Horse” has never been truer than in this day and age. Balancing your horse’s feet has become more of a factor in promoting good performance and long-term soundness. The optimum balance comes as the horse’s weight is distributed equally over his foot.

Rusty Ford, Equine Programs Manager for the Kentucky Office of the State Veterinarian, was named the 2010 Equine Health Steward by the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) at an awards banquet on Jan. 14. Ford has been safeguarding the health of Kentucky’s horses for more than 20 years. His contributions to the planning and implementation of the import of foreign horses for the 2010 Alltech FEI World

I own a 28-year-old thin mare that I have been treating for folliculitis (inflammation of the hair follicles) with Betadine surgical scrub baths, and she has many bald spots on her rump. What can I use to help grow the hair back quickly?

A Table Topic at the 2010 American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Meeting, held Dec. 4-8 in Baltimore, Md., addressed medical pain management. Attendees agreed that the mainstay of pain management in the horse remains the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as phenylbutazone, flunixen meglumine, and a newer entry, firocoxib. Participants reported relatively few instances

Horse feed manufacturer Manna Pro Products LLC has voluntarily recalled one of its horse feed products distributed in California, Nevada, and Oregon because it might contain potentially harmful levels of monensin sodium (trade name Rumensin). According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, monensin sodium is a medication approved for use in some livestock and poultry species, but can be

A Montana man accused to maltreating a herd of horses has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The herd of 450 horses, owned by James H. Leachman, was residing on 9,400 acres of deeded land and 30,000 acres of leased Crow Tribal land southeast of Billings, Mont., with scant forage and no water source.

Jill Johnson, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, ABVP, a long-time professor of veterinary medicine, retired from Louisiana State University (LSU) on Jan, 2. She joined the faculty on April 1, 1977, and played a role in training every LSU School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) graduate since the first class graduated in May 1977.

While a mare with twins by her side is rare and sometimes celebrated, twinning in horses is actually dangerous for the mare, especially during delivery. More often than not, one of the twins, generally the smaller and weaker of the two, will die before birth. In fact, the chances of a mare carrying twins to term and delivering them successfully are about one in 10,000. The manual reduction of one

The Equitarian Initiative Table Topic session at the 2010 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Annual Meeting, held Dec. 4-8 in Baltimore, Md., was characterized by great enthusiasm and a spirit of collaboration among the participants and like-minded organizations. Jay Merriam, DVM, of the Massachusetts Equine Clinic in Uxbridge, started off the session with a summary of the Vera

National Equine Resource Network (NERN), in partnership with Red Bucket Equine Rescue (RBER), is launching its Gelding Program by hosting a low cost clinic on Feb. 26 at Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center in Huntington Beach, Calif. This collaboration between NERN, RBER, Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, and local veterinarians Jenn Winnick, DVM, and Silvia Colladay, DVM, aims to

The Table Topic forum on Infectious Neurologic Diseases at the 2010 American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Meeting, held Dec. 4-8 in Baltimore, Md., was well-attended with 20-30 practitioners in and out during discussions. A list of common neurologic infectious diseases found in North America was presented to the attendees. Practitioners were asked to choose the most pertinent disease

When pain is localized to the foot but no abnormalties can be seen on radiographs (often called X rays), problems in soft tissues within the foot are often the culprit. However, imaging soft tissues in the foot to arrive at a diagnosis can be challenging, especially when magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not available or financially feasible. At the 2010 American Association of Equine