Equine

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.

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.

Baton Rouge, La. - A new book written by a member of the Louisiana State University equine studies team chronicles what is being called the largest equine rescue ever.

Washington - A panel of lawmakers want reform of the horse racing and breeding industries following several high-profile equine breakdowns like Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby.

New York - Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, professor of surgery and director of the Orthopaedic Research Center at Colorado State University, was named a co-recipient of the second annual Elastikon Equine Research Award for his work on a project aimed at enhancing the safety of racetracks for horses.

Indianapolis - Three horses on a south-central Indiana farm recently tested positive for equine infectious leukemia (EIA), prompting the Indiana State Board of Animal Health to issue an alert.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners launched an equine dental awareness campaign in April to run throughout 2008.

Mineola, N.Y. - An appeal of a court decision allowing persons in New York other than veterinarians to float horses' teeth is moving forward, but probably won't be decided until this fall because of the backlog of cases, according to the attorney for the New York State Veterinary Medical Society (NYSVMS).

Lexington, Ky. - This year's eastern tent caterpillar populations are the highest since 2001, one of the worst years in recent memory for Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS) in central Kentucky, according to University of Kentucky entomologists.

Lexington, Ky. - Veterinarians played a key role in handling another high-profile racetrack tragedy - this time at the Kentucky Derby - and they're working with the racing industry in the aftermath to help improve Thoroughbred-racing safety and equine health and safety in general.

A major study of the incidence of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in performance horses could benefit all horses, and such a study might soon be undertaken if a research committee of prominent equine veterinarians determines the study should go forward and outlines its scope.

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College Station, Texas - Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) are finalizing development of an oral contraceptive to help to control wildlife populations and that might one day be modified for companion animals.

The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), based in Norfolk, England, has long dealt primarily with cases of neglected and starved horses, but now there is a newer issue facing this organization.