How to care for the basic health needs of horses
Injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendon account for as much as 30% of all Thoroughbred racing injuries, and of those that do heal there is a high incidence of reoccurrence, according to Linda Dahlgren, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, of
Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), or bleeding in the lungs after exercise, costs the United States horse racing industry a great deal–estimated at up to $260 million per year by Kenneth W. Hinchcliff, BVSc, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of
A racehorse running at top speed breathes about 120 times per minute, moving about 12-15 liters of air per breath or 1,400-1,800 liters per minute. With this amount of airflow, it’s not hard to imagine that any amount of airway inflammation can
When your horse’s behavior changes, you wonder what caused the change–did he start kicking his stall because he is in pain, or just because he hates his new stablemate? Behavior changes can stem from physical problems, psychological ones, or a
“Until recently, horses have been estimated to have average intelligence at best,” said Evelyn B. Hanggi, MS, PhD, president and, along with Jerry Ingersoll, co-founder of the Equine Research Foundation (ERF) in Aptos, Calif., during her review
Four equine vaccines have been developed and approved for West Nile virus (WNV) in the past five years, one of which was the first DNA vaccine for any mammal. The pace of this progress is unheard of in industries that make vaccines for other
While horse owners worldwide want a simple answer to the question of whether foal imprinting works or not, it’s hard to give a simple answer to what really isn’t a simple question. This was the message of an imprinting research review presented
Inconsistencies in racetrack surfaces account for a large number of lamenesses in racehorses, said Jeff Blea, DVM, of the Southern California Equine Foundation in Arcadia, Calif., during the Lameness in Racehorses Forum held at the 51st Annual
A stallion handler must be able to focus the stallion’s mind on him, as well as the mare, and make him wait for instructions. This cannot be achieved through fear or abusiveness, but through training basic cues and maneuvers to the stallion before he
(Edited press release)
Five equine organizations joined together this week to provide 6,500 bales of hay to nearly 800 horses in Vermilion Parish, La., that were affected by Hurricane Rita. The United States Equestrian Federatio
Scientists recently showed that the Fort Dodge Animal Health West Nile virus (WNV) DNA vaccine, which is licensed but not yet commercially available, should protect foals from the virus regardless of residual antibodies received at birth from
We often punish horses for exhibiting undesirable stereotypic behaviors, but most of these behaviors are responses to suboptimal environments. Thus, punishing the horse for the behavior only increases the already heightened stress that caused
The first sight of blood can prompt a frantic call to the veterinarian, but a second examination of the wound with a cool head might prove it to be less of an emergency. To help horse owners distinguish between emergencies and a wound that
Steve O’Grady, BVSc, MRCVS, of Northern Virginia Equine, said a sheared heel is a “created situation” and a “poorly understood phenomenon.” He said the condition was first described by Bill Moyer, DVM, in 1975. “The diagnosis and treatment is th
Possibly one of the most talked-about presentations at the 2005 AAEP Convention, held Dec. 3-7 in Seattle, Wash., discussed the proper usage of the power-drill-mounted Henderson castration instrument in horses. Mark Reilly, DVM, of the South
What causes laminitis? Is it the same as founder? Should I remove shoes from a horse with acute laminitis? Should I soak his feet? Does laminitis always have devastating consequences?
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