The third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit ended June 29 in Lexington with a commitment to create a national rider injury database, something that Keeneland president and CEO Nick Nicholson said was his No. 1 priority going into the meeting. “I think we need it, and I was going to be very disappointed if we didn’t get (an agreement to pursue) it,” said Nich

Nutritionists normally recommend horses consume some “long-stem” forage each day. Long-stem forage is best defined as hay or pasture. This recommendation respects the natural desire of horses to graze, as horses are hardwired to spend more than half of their day eating. Forage products that include extremely short pieces of fiber such as cubes, pellets, or chaff are often fed in li

Two-time Olympian Marco Kutscher might not have known his horse Cornet Obolensky received injections of a prohibited substance during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, but the German equestrian was still named the “primary person responsible” and, thus, negligent, according to the decision of the Tribunal of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).

Saddle Up SAFELY, a program began by University of Kentucky HealthCare and UK College of Agriculture Equine Initiative and now including more than 30 medical and equine-related organizations, is giving away prizes in exchange for horse riding safety tips. Such prizes include four tickets to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September as well as many other horse-related items, and every per

On Tuesday June 22, the American Horse Council (AHC) held its first Recreation Forum in Washington, DC to highlight issues of importance to recreational riders. The forum was attended by representatives from national equestrian organizations and state horse councils from around the country, as well as individual recreational riders.

The forum began with a presentation by Step

For the first time in history, the United States will host a 16-day sporting extravaganza that will approach the U.S. Open (which drew 700,000-plus spectators in 2009)–the World Equestrian Games, starting Sept. 25, 2010. The Games include championships for the horse-and-human disciplines of eventing, jumping, dressage, para dressage, driving, endurance, reining, and vaulting.

A new, potentially fatal syndrome in horses called equine fescue edema has been reported by Australian scientists in the Australian Veterinary Journal. The researchers noted that all affected horses in the study were grazing pastures sown with Mediterranean (winter active) varieties of tall fescue containing endophytes, and have suggested that a combination of fescue variety and endophyte strain

A study performed by Equibase at the request of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) indicates the percentage of “career-ending did-not-finish” (CEDNF) incidents was about twice as high on dirt than synthetic surfaces in 2009. The study is based on a review of official racing charts. The “CEDNF” statistics, as they are called, are for horses

Two novel discoveries about how different types of tendons age and “refresh” themselves made by researchers from University College London in the United Kingdom help explain why aging horses are atrisk for tendon injury. Tendons play key roles in locomotion as they are the link between muscles and bones. Ten

According to a recent report, one out of every 10 work-eligible Kentuckians is unemployed. In response to the significant increase in jobless horse owners, the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) has modified eligibility requirements for their Equine Safety Net program. Started in April 2007, Equine Safety Net provides feed for horses owned by individuals who have recently lost a job or

Florida horse owners are being urged by Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson to get their animals vaccinated following an upsurge in the number of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) cases.

According to the USDA, in 2009 Florida led

Hurricane Alex poses no immediate threat to the safety of horses residing Gulf Coast communities, according to owners in the region.

The first storm of the 2010 season, Hurricane Alex began pelting Brownsville, South Padre Island, and Los Fresnos, Texas with heavy rains and strong winds on Wednesday, June 30. The Category 1 storm is expected to continue produce similar severe weat

Dana Zimmel, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ABVP, a clinical associate professor at University of Florida’s (UF) College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named interim chief of staff of UF’s Veterinary Hospitals. Zimmel has served as associate chief of staff for the UF Large Animal Hospital since Jan. 26. Due to recent administrative restructuring, both the large and the small animal h

A Maryland horse rescue is seeking volunteers and materials to assist in the care of 26 allegedly malnourished horses removed from a Garrett County farm on June 17.

Animal welfare authorities removed the horses along with other livestock after receiving a tip about their condition, said Denise Clatterbuck Lohr, animal control officer for the Garrett County Humane Society. The horses are curre

The biggest takeaway message from a panel on transitioning Thoroughbred racehorses to second careers during the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at Keeneland June 28 was how trainers need to protect their horses while they’re on the track in order to give them more fulfilling opportunities down the road.

More than 520 readers of TheHorse.com responded to a poll asking, “What do you use when your horse is sore from training, competing, traveling, etc.?”