An equine rescue is a business and should be run like one, or it risks putting its horses in more jeopardy.

Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (CKRH), a NARHA therapeutic riding program, is looking for horses to add to its equine team. The program has recently expanded into a new facility and a new year-round schedule. CKRH has many requests to provide services, but is currently limited in its ability to expand due to a shortage of appropriate horses. The type of horse CKRH is looking for

“Steal a little and they throw you in jail,” Bob Dylan wrote a few years ago, “steal a lot and they make you king.” In today’s economy that means you receive a huge government bailout if you accumulate billions in debt and are “too big to fail,” but for everyone else, you’re on your own. Bankruptcy might be the only viable alternative for many individuals and businesses, horse owners among them.

Who should get the credit–or blame–for the closings of Texas horse slaughter plants? Start with the horse industry itself, and its heroic, romantic image of the horse. We do revel in that image, like a mare rolling in a thick patch of clover. (There. I just did it myself.) We sell horses with it. And supplements, tack, blankets, lessons, fly masks, feed, you name it.

Moving your horse into a boarding barn is a lot like sending your child to school for the first time. Just as you would in choosing a school for your kids, you want to do your research, asking all pertinent questions.

When dealing with a starved horse, how should you feed him? How much, how often, and what type of feed will bring the horse back to good health without causing more problems? The starved horse is in a most delicate health predicament, and returning him to health requires using proper “refeeding” protocols.

What do you look for behavior-wise in terms of predicting whether a horse would work out well as a companion horse? Any tips on a good source of such animals and how to select appropriate candidates?

The U.S. Trotting Association (USTA) introduced its Support Our Standardbreds program earlier this month, and the organization is hard at work doing just that. USTA has already helped two horses in the three weeks since the program was introduced and has at least three more horses lined up for financial assistance, according to Ellen Harvey, executive director of harness racing communications.

With reining being a part of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games this fall in Lexington, Ky., the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) will give equestrians the opportunity to “Ride a Reiner.” “Ride a Reiner” will be held throughout the games, Sept. 25-Oct. 10, in the John Deere Reining Arena. In an area just inside the main entry, NRHA will offer “

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 May 13.

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

Horses with a more severe exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) show increased amounts of certain immunoregulatory proteins, called cytokines, when they race at sea level rather than higher altitudes, researchers on a South African study concluded. Although the reason for the increase is not known, the study may help researchers understand the molecular relationship between

The 2010 Annual Horse Owner Seminar at the University of Georgia is scheduled for Aug. 14 at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine in Athens, Ga. It provides a full day of programs for horse owners to learn from clinicians and residents at the school. The UGA student chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (scAAEP) is presenting the day.

“It will be a gre

Breyer Animal Creations has released two Pink Ribbon model horses to launch its 2010 Canter against Cancer program. Breyer has melded the horse with the pink ribbon, the universal symbol of breast cancer, into a decorative model horse to symbolize the fight against this disease. Breyer will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every model to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and t

When trainer Doug O’Neill’s charges head to the racetrack during training hours at Hollywood Park, a familiar dark bay gelding often accompanies them. Lava Man, who won three Hollywood Gold Cups during a long racing career in which he earned $5,268,706, has settled into his new job as a stable pony.

“Sabas Rivera, one of my foremen, spent probably two or three hours a

Graded stakes victories by First Dude, who finished second in the Preakness Stakes and is scheduled to make his next start in the $1 million Belmont Stakes June 5, will create support for equine research, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation President Edward L. Bowen announced May 26. Donald Dizney, breeder and owner of First Dude, has pledged 1% of earnings from graded stakes

A new, simple muscular microbiopsy technique can reveal important information about a horse’s athletic potential as well as possible pathologies that can affect performance, according to a new study by Belgian researchers.

By analyzing mitochondrial respiration via high resolution respirometry (HRR), researchers can attribute values to the functional capacity of muscle cells t