With budgets tight, a number of horse farm managers have reduced costs by using a hay harvest of overmature grass pastures for bedding. On the surface it makes sense to bed stalls with this stemmy hay. But be cautious when using it for pregnant mares in their last trimesters.
State veterinarian Robert C. Stout was honored as the Kentucky Veterinarian of the Year by the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association on Oct. 9 during the Mid-America Veterinary Conference in Louisville. “Dr. Stout’s dedication to veterinary medicine and Kentucky agriculture makes him more than worthy of this award,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. &quo
“With fall moving steadily toward winter, this is the time of the year when weak batteries reveal themselves as the temperature drops,” says Mark Cole, managing member for USRider, the national provider of roadside emergency assistance for equestrians. While USRider and other motor plans are available to assist motorists when their batteries fail, USRider provides some c
When Alison LaCarrubba, DVM, Dipl. ABVP, head of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s equine ambulatory section, learned the Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) would lend financial support to establish a castration clinic at the university, she recognized the program as a way to deliver a valuable veterinary service to cash-strapped horse owners a
Horses are an integral part of Kentucky’s culture. They possess qualities of balance, coordination, speed, reflex, strength, endurance, and stamina. Outside the traditional setting of a racetrack or an open field, though, horses can also be healers.
Following the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has announced that the following teams have qualified to compete in the 2012 London Olympics (Great Britain, as the host country, automatically qualify for all three events):
Dressage: The Netherlands, Germany, and U.S.A. Eventing: Canada, New Z
The quest to breed a better horse has led Thoroughbred breeders to try many unorthodox theories and systems, all with mixed results. To date, the success (or lack thereof) of most of these tools has been anecdotal, with no way to quantify whether a horse’s achievements were due to one or more of these breeding aides. Now, thanks to the rapidly developing advances within DNA co
The names, addresses, and photographs of convicted animal abusers residing in one New York county will soon be displayed online thanks to a new law that establishes the first animal abuse offender database in the nation. Unanimously passed by the Suffolk County Legislature on Tuesday, IR1879 establishes an online animal abuser registry similar to databases containing information a
A recent study found that using rectal swab samples could be an alternative way to test for the Lawsonia intracellularis bacteria that causes equine proliferative enteropathy (EPE) if the foal has decreased or no fecal output. EPE is an emerging intestinal disease found in weanlings. Because th
More than 840 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “Is your horse vaccinated against rabies?”
My vet recommended I soak my mare’s hay for an hour, but I see some indications to just wet it down. Is it just unnecessary to soak or actually harmful in some way?
The Breeders’ Cup announced Oct. 12 the launch of www.Zenyatta2010.com, a Zenyatta-focused website built in advance of the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 5-6 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., where she will attempt to become the first North American Thoroughbred to ever go 20-0. The site, which
Horseback riding is more dangerous than motorcycle racing, according to Heather S. Havlik, MD, director of the sports medicine program at Charlotte Medical Clinic in North Carolina. “Never take for granted the fact that your partner in equestrian sports is much larger and much less predictable than in any other sport out there, and that situation requires constant awareness t
Six of the 10 major vaccines to protect against equine infectious diseases were developed and created at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center. But that’s not the only major research accomplishment the world-renowned Gluck Center has contributed to the equine and veterinary fields.
Fall is a good time to take stock of the quality of horse pastures. The weeds that were most prevalent and uncontrolled during the summer will now be large and producing seeds.
A group of wild horse advocates has asked a federal judge to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from carrying out a scheduled mustang gather in Colorado on grounds that the roundup violates federal regulations. The agency plans to gather an estimated 138 wild horses residing outside of the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area southwest of Meeker, beginning Oct. 11, sai
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