Sports Medicine

All aspects of caring for performance horses

Juvenile Bowed Tendons and Racing Prognosis

?Juvenile bowed tendons, or ?baby bows,? are not uncommon in yearlings and weanlings,? said Johanna Reimer, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVC (cardiology), of the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., at the 2002 American Association of

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Joint Disease Research

Scientific researchers have learned that the injuries suffered by human and equine athletes, especially as they relate to joints, often are very similar. Now, they are using that knowledge in their attempts to find ways to prevent injuries to both.

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Stretching Out the Kinks

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

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Intracranial Pressure

Two studies done at the University of California, Davis, have allowed researchers to measure the intracranial pressure (ICP, the pressure that the cerebrospinal fluid exerts on the brain) in the horse for the first time and determine how body

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Exercise and Bone Development

Beneath the smooth surface of articular cartilage, subchondral bone gives structural support to joints. Normally, newborn foals have a lot of water in this layer, which is slowly replaced by calcium and collagen as the foal weights his joints.

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Is His Heart In It?

Do you know why a Thoroughbred can deliver that great burst of speed to eat up a mile in 1 1/2 minutes, or how an endurance horse can maintain the strength and stamina to cover long distances at steady speeds? Of course you do: Conditioning.

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Predicting Muscle Problems

Competitive endurance riders know that horses lose fluids and electrolytes during strenuous rides. Calcium and magnesium are also lost during prolonged aerobic exercise. Low blood calcium (hypocalcemia) allows sodium to enter nerve cells, leadin

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AAEP Preview: State of the Art Lecture

Innovation in equine medicine is the hallmark of the AAEP Convention’s State of the Art Lecture, and this year will be no different. David M. Nunamaker, VMD, Chairman and Jacques Jenny Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery of the New Bolton Center’s

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Preakness Runner-Up Positive for WNV

Magic Weisner, the popular Thoroughbred gelding who finished second at long odds in the Preakness, was diagnosed Sept. 9 with West Nile virus (WNV), said Bob Vallance, DVM, the horse’s local veterinarian in Maryland.

Vallance was in daily

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Feeding Management for Stressful Situations

“Anytime you ask a horse to be a performance horse (taking him out of his natural environment), you put him in a stressful situation,” said Joe Pagan, PhD, owner of Kentucky Equine Research (KER) in Versailles, Ky., during his presentation

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Is Dietary Fat Really Healthy?

Marketing claims regarding the virtues of fat in equine diets are plentiful. Statements such as “Added dietary fat for improved performance,” “Increased stamina,” “Calm energy,” or “Improved coat and hoof condition” abound. Indeed, at times it i

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Legalities of Equine Rescue

Driving home one evening at dusk, you notice a horse standing listlessly in a small, fenced paddock on a farm located a few miles from your home. The horse looks quite thin, almost to the point of emaciation, and there is neither food nor water

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U.S. Olympic Eventing Horses Arrive At Game Site

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Olympic eventing horses arrived at the Sydney International Equestrian Center at Horsley Park on Monday.  All horses arrived safely and appear ready for the opening of the eventing team

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Get Daily Olympic Equestrian Updates

Visit the American Horse Shows Association’s Olympic Web Site for daily updates of the equestrian events of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Australia. To access these pages, go to the AHSA’s web site at

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