How many people and pieces of equipment does it take to extricate a 1,400-pound Trakehner mare from a 4-foot-deep ditch? On Aug. 11 New Jersey residents discovered it could take three different fire departments, plus shovels, a backhoe, straps, airbags, and lots of manpower. On that day Mare Olsen, owner of Gooseberry Farm in Harding, N.J., looked out her window toward the back pa

You know what it means to apply light contact with the bit, but have you ever wondered if your interpretation is the same as other riders’? And how strong is “strong contact,” exactly? What kinds of effects do these different hand movements have on your horse–particularly his stride? These questions are what a couple of England-based equitation science researchers

The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) continues its efforts to educate the industry about the issues relating to unwanted horses and owning responsibly. The UHC has prepared and distributed a variety of materials that will educate horse owners on various topics. The materials describe the efforts of the coalition, offer alternatives for horse owners to consider for their horses when they can no

Ford Motor Company will provide courtesy vehicles to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, as an Official Automobile of the Games. The 2010 Games will feature eight world championships in equestrian sport and are being held for the first time in the United States from Sept. 25-Oct. 10 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

Ford will be providing 12-passenge

The YMCA of Central Kentucky joins the World Games 2010 Foundation in welcoming guests from around the world during the 16 days of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, by providing facilities to athletes and guests who want to stay active during their visit. Any person attending or participating in the Games will be allowed free guest access to the Y’s facility branche

“Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, have to go around it.” No, your horse isn’t on a bear hunt; he’s on a bucket hunt, trying to reach his food around an experimental barrier. Italian equitation science researchers set up this obstacle game to see how horses respond to the next question: “Around it, yeah, but which way?” Whether horses go right

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance will host the first NTRA Professional Education Seminar–Presented by Pfizer Animal Health and Keeneland Oct. 19 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Attendance at the seminar will help satisfy continuing education requirements for racetracks as mandated by the alliance code of standards.

The seminar will feature speakers f

With many of the summer horse shows wrapping up this month at the Kentucky Horse Park, build-out crews for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games have been ramping up their progress. Temporary seating Stand A at the Outdoor Stadium has been built, and workers are now assembling railing and seat backs before they begin Stand B, the largest stand that will be located across fro

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission hopes to expedite regulations for out-of-competition testing and have them in place in time for this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs. Breeders’ Cup has employed out-of-competition testing in New Jersey and California the past three years. Such protocol has involved the testing of horses in other jurisdict

Summertime temperatures are running wild across the United States this week, with Oklahoma hitting approximately 105 degrees F, which is leading a number of equine owners to study their horse’s heat tolerance with more than a little caution. Other than a general lack of enthusiasm and desire to move to shade, a normal well-acclimated horse should be able to handle Oklahoma

United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) officials have named the following horse-and-rider combinations in ranked order to the U.S. Show Jumping Team Short List for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, held Sept. 25-Oct. 10 in Lexington, Ky.:

Horses with a chemically induced inflammation of the knee (carpitis) mimicking osteoarthritis (OA) benefit from the intramuscular administration of a polysulfated glycosaminoglycan product, reported a group of Argentinean researchers. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of lameness in horses with no known cure. “Management includes both therapeutic and non

More than 590 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “Does your veterinarian recommend fecal egg count exams?”

Graded stakes winner Odysseus, a hot contender on this year’s Triple Crown trail, was euthanized Aug. 9 at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute near Lexington because of complications from laminitis while receiving treatment for colitis. The son of Malibu Moon hadn’t run since finishing unplaced in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes April 10 at Keeneland for Satish and Anne Sanan’s Padua S

Tattersalls will introduce a testing program for corticosteroids in yearlings during its sales this fall, according to the Racing Post.

The publication reported that the England-based auction firm has contacted sellers of all yearlings to inform them their horses “will be subject” to testing for the man-made drugs, which closely resemble cortisol (a hormone produc

In an eye-opening event, Mississippi State University researchers discovered that Quarter Horses diagnosed with the disease called hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) not only have skin defects but also important eye abnormalities. HERDA is a recessive genetic disease of horses that results in fragile skin that tears easily and heals poorly. “Recent