Researchers performed diagnostic imaging on Standardbreds’ limbs to pick up early signs of damage to bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. They noted more serious lesions—and more lesions in general—in horses trained only on a firm surface.
Trainers should be aware that joint injections can have many benefits, but veterinarians need to be careful about selecting cases to receive this treatment, one researcher said.
Once the biomarkers identified in this study are confirmed through more tests and larger samples, scientists might be able to develop treatments to prevent chronic pain, researchers said.
From reducing PPID-associated muscle wasting to managing IR and obesity, here’s what to consider for your old horse.
An average mature horse at rest or performing light exercise requires 3.5 milligrams of iodine per day. This increases in late gestation, lactating broodmares, and horses in heavy work.
Funtional electrical stimulation, or FES, might help reduce back pain in horses with asymmetric multifidi muscles, researchers found.
Researchers found that many horses not diagnosed with neck pain had bony changes in the cervical spine.
Lameness and neurologic disorders can impact equine postural stability—how a horse holds himself up in a standing position—and measuring it can help veterinarians diagnose certain disorders.
Horses with myositis experience rapid, widespread gluteal and epaxial muscle atrophy. Here’s what veterinarians know about about this immune-mediated condition.
Equine Injury Database statistics revealed a modest increase in 2017 (1.61 per 1,000 starts) compared to 2016 (1.54 per 1,000 starts).
Do horses with PPID, EMS, and/or IR have a greater laminitis risk after receiving joint injections? Drs. Vern Dryden and Amanda Adams respond.
The more data vets have on the injuries Western horses experience, the more they can do to try to rehabilitate or prevent them, one practitioner says.
The prognosis for performance soundness in nonracing horses diagnosed with sagittal groove injury and concurrent osteoarthritis is poor, researchers found.
Researchers are examining the rate of injury and illness in North American 2-year-old Thoroughbreds in training.
This is the second article in a series looking at how researchers test and maintain equine competition surfaces worldwide.
Researchers hope that, one day, they’ll be able to identify at-risk horses and intervene before a catastrophic breakdown occurs.
Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with
