Equine

A system that will provide the Thoroughbred racing industry with its first national database of racetrack injuries is off and running.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) says it had little alternative but to ban compounded-drug displays at its convention in San Diego this December.

The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, formed in May to seek ways to improve the health and safety of racehorses, issued four new recommendations at the club's annual Round Table.

As Tennessee Walking Horse owners and trainers prepared for their biggest show of the year, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) called for the elimination of the "culture of abuse" of soring the animals.

A $17 million, state-of-the-art equine referral hospital near Belmont Park that will serve the New York metropolitan area was to open in early September, according to its owners, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings (IEAH), the group that owns 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Bradenton, Fla. -- A sixth horse tested positive for equine piroplasmosis (EP), this one on a second Manatee County property, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DOACS) reported.

Missouri - A number of Potomac Horse Fever (PHF) cases, normally not seen in Missouri, have been reported along the Mississippi River.

Bradenton, Fla. -- State officials quarantined a Manatee County property where five cases of equine piroplasmosis (EP), a disease not reported in the United States since 1988, were confirmed.

Lexington, Ky. -- As Tennessee Walking Horse owners and trainers prepare for their biggest show of the year, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is calling for the elimination of the "culture of abuse" of soring the animals.

Veterinarians talk about the Beijing Olympic Games in DVM Newsmagazine interview.

Ocala, Fla. -- Injured horses have a new place to rest their hooves in the sunshine state.

Ithaca, N.Y. --C ornell's College of Veterinary Medicine has sights on strengthening its equine education and research programs following a the receipt of a $25,000 unrestricted gift from Plainfield Asset Management of Greenwich, Conn.

Hong Kong -- A team of veterinarians hunkered down alongside equestrians and 280 horses Wednesday morning to wait out a typhoon that blew into Hong Kong, site of the upcoming Olympic equestrian events.

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, formed in May to seek ways to improve the health and safety of racehorses, will announce its latest recommendations Aug. 17 at the club's annual Round Table at Gideon Putnam Resort.

National Report - The Thoroughbred racing industry, now effectively on notice to bring about serious reforms or look for Congress to do so, appears to be taking strides in that direction.

Although floodwaters receded along the banks of the Mississippi, the aftermath will continue to be felt for months and even years.

Veterinarians often are called upon to help their clients sort out all of the commercial choices available when equine products are being purchased. Equine nutritional products (primarily feeds), vitamin, mineral and other performance supplements and joint-protection products tend to be the three areas where client confusion abounds and veterinary clarification is sought.

When the equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are held Aug. 9-20, the world will see if China has met the numerous challenges facing the successful staging of those events. Concern was raised, even from the beginning of China's Olympic bid, in three main areas:

Devastating floods in several Midwest states left most farm animals unscathed, but food shortages and disease still loom as major concerns for farmers and veterinarians in coming months and years.

Lexington, Ky. - It is the most common fatal injury of the racing Thoroughbred - catastrophic injury to the fetlock, involving the distal cannon bone and/or the proximal sesamoid bones of the metacarpo/metatarsophalangeal joint, with a rupture of suspensory apparatus.

With too many horses and not enough homes for them, Dr. Erica Lacher-like most equine practitioners-sees slaughter as necessary.

Washington - A team of reproductive experts performed what is believed to be the first reverse vasectomy on an equid at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

Equine doctors and the AVMA oppose the U.S. ban on horse slaughter. But small animal veterinarians are divided.

West Odessa, Texas - Horse owners in West Odessa, Texas, are being warned of a telephone scam in which callers contact horse owners to report a strangles outbreak.

San Diego - Stephen M. Reed, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, an expert in equine neurology, will deliver the prestigious Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecture Dec. 8, during the American Association of Equine Practitioners 54th annual convention in San Diego.

Elmont, N.Y. - A $17 million, state-of-the-art equine referral hospital near Belmont Park that will serve the New York metropolitan area will open in early September, according to its owners, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings (IEAH), the group that owns 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Washington - Meaningful reform of the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry is on its way - and probably much sooner than many would have believed as little as six months ago.

These high-profile Thoroughbred racehorse injuries and deaths, seen nationally on live television, prompted the Jockey Club and the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) to form welfare and safety committees to look into racetrack safety issues, and led to a hearing last month before the U.S.