Sports Medicine

All aspects of caring for performance horses

Laryngeal Paralysis

Partial paralysis of the larynx prevents maximal opening of the equine trachea. Affected horses can move air, but breathing noises occur, especially during exercise. The most common form of laryngeal paralysis is recurrent laryngeal neuropathy

Read More

Recharge Your Horse’s Batteries

For horses engaged in regular conditioning and competition, an important consideration for overall health and fitness is the speed of recovery following hard workouts and competition exercise. A bout of exercise burns body fuel, results in loss

Read More

National Animal Supplement Council Submits Proposal

The supplement manufacturing industry has submitted a proposal to federal regulatory agencies that includes provisions for establishing common industry standards for manufacturing processes, allowing focus toward finished product safety through

Read More

Methods for Diagnosing Lameness

After an exciting day of cross country at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on April 27, horse owners and enthusiasts gathered to hear top equine veterinarians from Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital speak on health issues pertaining to the sport

Read More

Superstar Seattle Slew Dead at 28

Seattle Slew, the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated, died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm near Lexington. On May 7, 1977, exactly 25 years ago, Slew won the Kentucky Derby. Seattle Slew had been the last

Read More

Buddha’s Prognosis?

Kentucky Derby pre-race second choice Buddha was declared out of the race on Friday morning because of a sore left front foot.


Buddha worked on Thursday and cooled out sound. But on Friday morning when he was taken from his stall at 5

Read More

Jump Landings and Tendon Strain

Lameness in show jumpers is often caused by forelimb tendon injury. The superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) is most frequently injured, followed by the interosseus tendon (IT), and the accessory ligament (AL), while the deep digital flexor

Read More

Prolonged Bute Use Detrimental to Joints

Chronic use of phenylbutazone, or Bute, in horses with joint problems could be causing more problems than it’s preventing. A recent study showed that Bute and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS) might be detrimental to

Read More

Supplement Loss?

There are some regulatory rumblings that could change the way all of us feed and take care of our horses every day, whether you are a horse owner or a veterinarian. Many nutritional supplements are sold illegally. “What?” you might say. “How can

Read More

Animal Supplement Crackdown

Many supplements used by horse owners and veterinarians every day are illegal and thus could be taken off the market. State regulators say that after five years of trying to get manufacturers to meet legal requirements, they are cracking down on

Read More

Investigating Poor Performance

For a horse to perform well as an athlete, all body systems must be in good working order. When one or more systems “breaks down,” the horse is no longer able to perform up to his potential, and the owner, rider, and trainer will likely notice a

Read More

Supplemental Work

The threat of a supplement crackdown motivated a group of 25 manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and distributors to join with the National Animal Supplement Counsel (NASC) on April 3-4 to hammer out a proposed Compliance Plus program. This

Read More

Rare White Thoroughbred Born in Kentucky

Patchen Beauty, the rare white Thoroughbred mare who garnered a lot of attention when she competed on the Kentucky circuit in the mid-1990s, produced a white colt on April 5 at Warren Rosenthal’s Patchen Wilkes Farm near Lexington,

Read More

Combat Stiffness

In many cases, you can completely cure the horse of the underlying ailment that causes his stiffness. And even in cases where the horse suffers from a chronic condition such as arthritis, your careful, consistent efforts to battle stiffness can improve his performance and, more important, his quality of life and his pleasure of performing with you.

Read More

More From The Horse

White horse nose detail
Pferd im herbstlichen Wald
Fine art horse nose with black copy space
hives in horses

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!

The Horse
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.