More than 40 allegedly maltreated Quarter Horses–including foals, yearlings, and several pregnant mares–remain under rehabilitative care after being placed in the custody of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) of East Texas.

Champion racehorse War Pass died Dec. 24 at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky. The 5-year-old stallion had just arrived the evening before in good order from standing his second Southern Hemisphere season at Widden Stud in Australia. The morning of his death, War Pass showed no signs of illness or injury. He was turned out in his paddock and died several hours later.

Leading retailers that sell animal health supplements are partnering with National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) to reduce incidences of regulatory action and to provide consumers with guidance on purchasing reputable products for animals.

Researchers recently discovered a new genetic mutation in a Thoroughbred foal that was born with large portions of nonpigmented skin. Whether another horse with the the same rare mutation will be born is unknown, but the discovery has fueled researchers’ pursuit of knowledge about coat color-related genetics and its potential relationship to serious health problems or death.

Flehmen is the term used to describe the behavior in which a horse extends its neck, raises its head, and inhales as it rolls its upper lip back, displaying its front teeth. Sharon Crowell-Davis, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVB explains that horses display the flehmen response to facilitate transfer of inhaled scent molecules (pheromones and possibly some other substances) into the vomeronasal organ (VNO)

The 2011 Charles Heumphreus Memorial Lecture will take place on Jan. 29, 2011, at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. Michael Ross, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, and Patrick Reilly, farrier, both from the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, have been invited as featured speakers to discuss “Hoof Management in Sport Horses.”

The circulatory system (heart and blood vessels) and respiratory system (lungs and airway) work together to provide oxygen throughout the horse’s body, and to transport waste material from the horse’s tissues. During exercise, the circulatory and respiratory systems are the mechanisms that allow the horse’s musculoskeletal system (bones, connective tissue, muscles) to produce motion from energy.

The holiday season is once again upon us! Here at our home office in Lexington, Ky., we are fortunate enough to be celebrating a white Christmas this year. Today, we are spending the day with our families (both two- and four-legged!), and we hope you are doing the same. Our goal all year long is the bring you the latest and most informative horse health care information, and we sincerely appreciat

Researchers suspect tying-up in horses is a heritable condition; however, they have yet to determine the gene–or genes–responsible. But a team of Japanese researchers recently moved the investigation forward with a groundbreaking study of affected Thoroughbred racehorses’ DNA. Muscle disorders such as polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM, recognized mainly in Quarter Horses) and recurrent

Neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD) is a degenerative central nervous system disease of horses, humans, and other animals. Horses affected with NAD usually appear dull or depressed with weakness and mild to severe gait abnormalities (ataxia) that affect all four limbs, although the hind limbs are usually more severely affected. Clinical signs of NAD are usually first observed in young horses under the

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has offered input to help smooth implementation of proposed new federal guidelines on a useful and effective induction agent, propofol. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has proposed making propofol a Schedule IV drug (drugs that have a safe and accepted medical use in the United States, including those certain narcotic and non-narcotic drugs,

On Dec. 22, Paramount Pictures released the remake of the 1969 John Wayne classic, True Grit. Among the star-studded cast of the film are Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and a slew of equine actors that bring the Western movie to life. The “director” of the equine stars for True Grit was Rusty Hendrickson, who has worked with horses on movie sets for more than three decades and has been the head horse

An analysis of statistics compiled by the Equine Injury Database (EID) for a two-year period shows a slight decline in the number of catastrophic injuries to Thoroughbred racehorses during that time, officials said Dec. 15.

Angular limb deformities (ALDs) of the carpus (knee) are a common problem in foals and yearlings, and researchers have narrowed the surgical treatment options down to the two that present the best results. Eric R. Carlson, DVM, an equine surgery resident at the University of Illinois’ Veterinary Teaching Hospital, gave a presentation on these options at the 56th Annual Convention of the American

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and the American Humane Society recently seized 117 horses from a farm in Viola, Ark.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) executive board has elected Barbara A. Schmidt, DVM, of Union, Ky., as the association’s next treasurer. Schmidt, an equine practitioner, will officially begin serving as AVMA treasurer in July. The treasurer is a nonvoting member of the executive board.