You might think, “Well, I’m not a breeder, and I’m not in Florida, so why should I care about mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS)?” Because it’s a great example of how an illness can pop up anywhere and take the residents by surprise. But,
Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is a nutritious cool-season perennial grass that grows on more than 35 million acres in the United States. Introduced from Europe more than 100 years ago, it didn’t become popular until the mid-1940s afte
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Understanding Equine Preventive Medicine by Bradford G. Bentz, VMD. This book is available from
The mare from which you have always wanted to raise a foal has just been pronounced pregnant by your veterinarian. Now you just have to wait about 11 months and see what she produces, right? Not so fast! There is much more involved than just
I would like to put my mare back on cimetidine to control her melanomas. Will cimetidine cross the placenta?
For a mare, the birth of her foal is an explosive process, in the best of circumstances requiring less than a half-hour from the time her water breaks to the time the foal has been delivered through the birth canal. In a wilder existence, a
The equine breeding industry has evolved dramatically with the introduction of artificial insemination programs and advanced assisted reproductive techniques. While live cover breeding pro-grams are still a mainstay for specific breeds, many
Preparations for breeding and the act of getting a mare bred involve dedicated time and commitment by a horse owner. Then it seems as if all that needs to be done is to sit back and wait for the foaling date. But this is not quite so; it is
Is an endometrial swab the best screening tool for endometritis, or inflammation of the uterine lining (endometrium)? Not according to a recently published study from Denmark in Theriogenology that compared endometrial swabs with biopsies to
Protecting tender immune systems against disease is the surest way to ensure the young horse doesn’t fall victim to either temporarily uncomfortable or life-ending infections.
Even though foals receive some immunity by drinking colostru
Vaccination of broodmares is just one part of a complete disease prevention program, but its importance should not be underestimated. Immunization is one of the least expensive, and most effective, strategies horse breeders can use to protect
One day, Marla Gilvin heard whinnying uncharacteristic from her 5-year-old Kentucky Mountain mare Cocoa Rain. ?I went out to see what she was doing and called her to the barn,? Gilvin recalls. ?She didn?t move. Her 4-month-old foal was running
What could be causing fertility problems in an otherwise healthy mare?
A long umbilical cord increases the risks for abortions and stillbirths in horses. Complications include strangulation of the foal and excessive cord twisting, writes Karin Bosh in a recent edition of Equine Disease Quarterly, a newsletter
While the socialization process of transforming fillies and mares from racetrack careers into broodmares might be easier than it is for stallions, biologically it is significantly more complex for distaffers to begin their reproductive
A new invention by Buck Wheeler called the Udderly EZ mare milker is helping breeding farms manage colostrum collection and the sometimes difficult task of milking a mare.
The device is a hand-held, trigger-operated pump that fits on a
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