There is bucolic tranquility in the sight of two horses dozing in the sun, side by side, nose to tail, with their tails rhythmically swishing as they leisurely work at keeping flies off their bodies. That is the basic purpose of the equine tail
It is widely believed that exercise and limb-loading in foals help joint cartilage functionally adapt to the rigors of athletic activity. In 2005, Dutch researchers set out to find out if they could verify the concept of functional adaptation of
Gain an understanding of how the horse is constructed and what this means in the realm of form to function.
Management of severe skeletal pain in the horse can be a challenging task in practice, and is complicated by the fact that many drugs used for this purpose are controlled substances.
Acute and chronic disease (especially osteoarthritis) of the sacroiliac joint(s) is not uncommon in competition horses and racehorses, affecting up to 8% of Standardbreds in training and 15% of competition horses (particularly hunters, jumpers,
While the term sports medicine is of modern extraction, exercise physiology in humans and horses has been around for more than 100 years. During the decline of the use of work horses in the early to mid-20th Century, not much research was done.
There’s nothing like a good stretch–when you wake up in the morning, during breaks at work, or before and after your workout. In human physiology, we know about stretching and its benefits for the athlete. Many practitioners and physical
There are many causes for back pain in horses, and they can range from the dramatic to the benign.
My training is in equine myotherapy and sometimes I get asked about a thumper. Can you tell me more about this tool?
Skeletal injuries–those involving bones and joints–are a major concern for all athletic horses. The usual outcome of these injuries is a lameness problem that hampers a horse’s training and competition program or, in some cases, is so severe
It should come as no surprise that horses suffer from tendon and ligament injuries. When one considers these vital parts of the equine anatomy and the stresses placed upon them, it’s a tribute to the horse’s physical make-up that there aren’t
The mechanical engineering involved in the structuring of equine joints is both complex and masterful. Not only do healthy joints allow the horse to move freely, but they also help to effectively absorb concussion, especially when the horse is
The basic anatomy and physiology of tendons and ligaments is complex. Nathalie Crevier, DVM, of the Clinique Equine-Laboratorie D’Anatomie in France, revealed what has been learned of the microanatomy of tendons and ligaments.
This month we shall begin a discussion of the rear leg: conformation, function, problems. There is at least one good reason to start with the rear rather than the foreleg. It seems to be the case that as man selects certain animals to breed to
Chiropractors have been treating human patients on a professional basis in this country since before the turn of the century, but it has only been in recent years that this alternative form of therapy has been applied to a substantial number of horse
I just bought a filly who had recurrent bouts of ‘tying-up.’ What can you tell me about this disease?
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