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BEFORE: Plan, Plan, Plan. You never can stop planning ahead for an unknown disaster. Have a plan in place before the disaster. The plan can start with a safety inspection of your farm premises. The inspection should include: Electrical systems: * Are the service boxes in a dry, dust-free location and mounted on fire resistant materials? * Are the electrical fixtures free of dust, dirt, cob webs, chaff,...
Cribbing is an acquired habit in which a horse grasps an object with its incisor teeth, arches its neck, pulls backward, and swallows air. "There is a suspicion that it is an addictive behavior and that endogenous endorphins, pain-relieving substances similar to morphine, are released from the brain when a horse cribs," says Dr. Jonathan H. Magid, equine veterinarian at the University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital at Urbana. "It is a...
Epidemics of equine influenza in Japan and Australia during the summer of 2007 have raised questions regarding the failure of quarantine and influenza vaccination to control the spread of disease. Expanding and increasingly mobile equine populations have changed the dynamics of equine infectious disease. For example, an increased number of Thoroughbred stallions are shuttling between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Horses were traditionally shipped by sea, allowing time to...
Horses need physical contact just like we do. The question is which form of physical contact they prefer. Looking at each other is not enough. Sniffing, nuzzling and rubbing are also needed – not least if you are a horse. Research at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (DJF) at the University of Aarhus has revealed that horses have a clear need of physical contact. Now researchers have started studying which form of physical contact horses favour. In the preliminary stages of...
Equine Dentist Bill Lomas looks at whether it is possible to determine the age of a horse from the development of its teeth. Within the first two weeks of birth the foal’s baby teeth (milk teeth) will appear and by the age of two a full set of milk teeth should be present, a total of twenty-four, twelve incisors and twelve cheek teeth. Between the ages of two and five, twenty-four teeth will erupt, with up to sixteen teeth erupting simultaneously. At five years of age,...
In 1985, the Kentucky Racing Commission directed the Equine Pharmacology program at the University of Kentucky to work on improving testing for performance-enhancing drugs. The outcome was the introduction of Enzyme-Linked-ImmunoSorbant Assay (ELISA) testing into racing. ELISA tests are exceptionally sensitive, detecting drug/drug metabolites at low parts per billion (nanograms/ml, equivalent to one second in 32 years) or high parts per trillion (picograms/ml, or one second in 32,000 years)...
In most cases, foaling occurs without any human intervention. In fact, it usually goes most smoothly when people observe from a distance. Occasionally, however, a difficult birth, called dystocia, requires human intervention. Dr. Ted Lock, a veterinarian specializing in reproductive health (theriogenology) at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital, says, "There are many signs that can indicate that a difficult delivery of the foal is at hand. It is important to be...
University of Kentucky Extension Horse Specialist Bob Coleman said horse owners need to make sure to meet all the basic, summer needs of their horses. “Water is the first concern,” he said. “Horses need fresh, clean water available at all times. Routinely checking and cleaning water containers on a regular basis is vital. It ensures your horses will have water available from a container they will actually drink from.” Coleman said horses sweat to cool...
A few weeks ago, a local stable received a shipment of wood shavings to bed its stalls, as is routine for most horse operations. Little did anyone know that within this batch of shavings from a furniture manufacturer was a toxin that mysteriously causes horses to become lame within 24 to 48 hours. The culprit is black walnut. If furniture is made from this type of wood, the shavings will inevitably find their way into horse stalls if the furniture manufacturer contracts for services...
New research by Dr. Lynne Sandmeyer, DVM, DVSc, DACVO has established that Appaloosas with coat patterns indicating they are homozygous for LP, the main gene responsible for Appaloosa spotting, are affected by congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB). CSNB is an inherited disorder that is present from birth and does not progress over time. Affected horses suffer from a complete lack of night vision, yet their day vision is normal. In the late 1970’s W.A. Witzel first published his...
The horse industry has not progressed far from the way our grandparents raised horses. The majority of horse stalls are still mucked out using a wheelbarrow and pitch fork. However, there are other ways of doing things, many of which will lead to healthier horses and more spare time for the handlers. Here are some practical hints on the raising and care of horses. Housing The Canada Plan Service (CPS) is an excellent...
Horse owners who use heated barns to keep water from freezing and to protect horses from cold temperatures during late fall and winter should remember supplemental heat can cause problems if used incorrectly. Ventilation is important when horses are kept inside a barn, said Dave Freeman, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service equine specialist. “Closing up a barn to maintain heat may increase respiratory diseases because of high ammonia content and bacterial growth in...
Sometimes, a small change can make a big difference. Such is the case with the horse herpes virus: A change in just one amino acid can make all the difference between triggering a cold or a life-threatening neurological disorder. Cornell microbiologists have shown that a single amino acid variation in an enzyme that is part of the DNA copying process of equid herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) creates a different type of EHV-1, which causes the neurological disorders in horses. Both types of...
For his thesis, Licentiate in Veterinary Medicine Seppo Hyyppä, from MTT Agrifood Research Finland, investigated post-exercise muscle glycogen repletion in horses. Glycogens are the carbohydrate stores in muscle. They are the most important nutrient during exercise. If glycogen stores are depleted the horse makes use of its own muscle protein stores as raw material for energy. This has a detrimental effect on muscle and on muscle performance. Over a longer period the improvement in fitness of...
Two projects focusing on the equine disease laminitis will be launched soon utilizing funds raised by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) in memory of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. The projects, costing slightly more than $100,000 in total, will be conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia and Louisiana State University. Following the death of Barbaro after he contracted laminitis, the NTRA Charities - Barbaro Memorial Fund was created in his honor. On...
The most common infectious equine viruses are herpesvirus and influenza. So when a viral pathogen of one of them evolves and increases in virulence, and if there are no effective prevention or treatment options available for use against the emergent strain, the potential impact on the horse industry can be great. The emerging problem of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) infection is high morbidity from a potentially fatal neurologic disease. The disease appears most often in settings where...
There's nothing like breaking a few dozen bones and losing half your teeth to convince you that there's got to be a better way. That was the conclusion of longtime horse trainer and former Montrose resident Blaine Prieur after years of training horses "the old way." "The old way was that you got on a horse that had never been ridden and you got bucked off," Prieur said. "You kept getting on and getting bucked off until the job was done." ...
Microchipping is widely accepted as a safe, effective and tamper-proof method of identifying horses. It has been a requirement since 1999 for all Thoroughbred horses which are to be registered with Weatherbys for racing purposes to be microchipped. Site and preparation for microchipping The standard site for implantation is by deep injection into the nuchal ligament 2-3cm below the top of the left mid crest. Microchipping is considered an act of veterinary...
While You Were Sleeping, A Surgeon Goes to Work While most of us are enjoying our sleep at two in the morning, it is anything but quiet in the equine operating room at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital. A young foal from four hours away has just arrived, and is in need of emergency surgery. Within minutes, the 500-pound foal is swiftly sedated and wheeled into surgery by a small army of personnel headed by veterinary surgeon, Dr....
Do horses suffer from jet lag? That was the subject of an investigation carried out at the Maxwell H Gluck Equine Research Center, of the University of Kentucky at Lexington. Jet lag is a phenomenon encountered by long-distance travellers. But it is not just the length of the journey that’s important. The significant factor is the rapid crossing of multiple time zones. So flying from the USA to UK is more likely to cause jet lag than flying from the UK to South Africa. Jet lag is due to...