Santa Anita’s traditional opening day of Dec. 26 brought out 35,292 to watch a pair of grade I races and to honor Zenyatta and John Henry. The crowd was the largest in the last 10 years of opening days at the “Great Race Place.”

The throng enthusiastically cheered Jerry and Ann Mosses’ undefeated Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) winner Zenyatta who was par

Frequent hand washing is one of the most effective ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness, but it is also frequently ignored–even in hospitals, where studies have shown that physicians are often the worst offenders.

That phenomenon piqued the curiosity of Ontario Veterinary Colle

4-H Ontario and Equine Guelph recently announced a new partnership that will see the creation of a 4-H online horse learning community placed within the successful online learning environment developed by Equine Guelph. The Grand River Agricultural Society has generously provided $10,000 as initial funding.

The 4-H horse curriculum and new horse industry resources will be co

A simple, noninvasive urine test to diagnose cryptorchidism in horses that appear to have been castrated has been developed by a group of researchers from the Racing Laboratory at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Male horses that appear or are presumed to be castrated can in fact have one or even two retained testicles. Retained testes should be removed to help eliminate objectionable b

A variety of sarcoid and skin tumor treatments and management topics were discussed by veterinarians during a Table Topic at the 2009 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention. All veterinarians in the room had treated skin tumors and were willing to discuss their successes and failures.

Since sarcoids are the most common skin tumor in the horse, their treatme

A horse shot in the head and left for dead in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest last year is thriving as a therapy horse at a ranch for young people in need.

U.S. Forest Service officers and local residents rescued the Hero, then known as Trooper, from the forest in October 2008. The horse sustained the gunshot wound in a botched euthanasia attempt. Wrangler Russell Willeford

Because of New York state budget problems, the drug testing laboratory at Cornell University might close and move to another institution, according to an article on cornellsun.com. The laboratory tests horse blood and uring samples for p

Two horses that were abandoned on the side of a mountain in British Columbia last Christmas have found permanent homes.

Just before Christmas last year, snowmobilers discovered the pair of horses trapped in chest-high snow in the mountains near McBride, B.C. For the next week, snowmobilers dug the horses a path to freedom in temperatures that dipped as low as -22 F. (Read:

The Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) Table Topic attracted an audience of about 60 veterinarians at the 2009 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. The audience ranged from practitioners to researchers to USDA personnel who participated in a question and answer session about this foreign animal disease that caused concern at multiple stallion collec

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the deaths of six wild horses.

Earlier this month, agency helicopter pilots discovered the animals’ carcasses in a remote area along the Nevada-California border during a scheduled round-up of animals from the Buckhorn Horse Managemen

The American Paint Horse Foundation enjoyed a successful run at the Fall World Championship Paint Horse Show in Fort Worth recently, raising nearly $21,000 to improve lives through interaction with horses.

With the American Paint Horse Association’s (APHA) Fall World Show spanning Veteran’s Day, the Foundation dedicated commemorative T-shirts, as well as two special silent

The Jockey Club announced Dec. 23 that it has published on the registry’s Web site a list of 40,263 names released from active use to aid owners and breeders make a a valid attempt to name foals of 2008 by the deadline of Feb. 1, 2010, to avoid a $75 late fee.

The number of horses apparently butchered for their meat in Florida rose to 22 this week when the dismembered carcass of bay mare was discovered in Southwest Miami-Dade.

On Dec. 22, Miami-Dade Police discovered the animal’s dismembered carcass in an open field in a rural part of Miami-Dade County. Its head, legs, and other major body parts were missing.

While many veterinarians have long suspected that infected joints from which bacteria can be cultured result in a poorer outcome than horses from which no bacteria could be cultured, this hypothesis was recently substantiated by a group of United Kingdom researchers led by Tim Mair, BVSc, MRCVS, DEIM, DESTS, Dipl. ECEIM, of the Bell Equine Veterinary Clinic.

Infections of synovial

A variety of environmental factors might be related to West Nile virus infections in horses, reported a Florida research team lead by Leslie M.V. Rios, PhD, from the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

From September 25 through October 10, 2010, the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, will host the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). More than 700 equine athletes representing 60 different countries are expected to be imported into Kentucky to compete in one of the eight World Championship competitions.

The Kentucky State Veterinarian’s Office has regulatory res