Equine

Many owners and trainers have never been taught how to properly cool a hot exercising horse. How hard can it be? Just hose it down with water, right?

A horse's skin and coat can be contaminated via air and soil by various fungal organisms. Though also found on normal horses, some of these fungal organisms can produce significant fungal infection under the proper conditions. From the commonly recognized ringworm to the more insidious pythiosis, horses can be infected by these potentially nasty fungal infections, which are not only irritating, but also in the case of pythiosis, can be life-threatening.

The AAEP recognized the unique issues of horses working in an urban environment, i.e. mounted patrols, tourist carriages and taxi/limousine services. Horses engaged in these activities require special work and living conditions and precautions for their safety and well-being. Urban environments present health and welfare hazards that may preclude their use, such as pollution, concussion, climactic extremes and load factors.

Slightly hypertonic water will stimulate the thirst center, impelling a horse to drink more overall water.

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - 7/10/06 -The plate and many of the screws that had been inserted into Barbaro's injured hind leg were replaced Saturday by Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery, University of Pennsylvania.

Fecal egg counts (FEC) in horses are incredibly consistent for an individual horse, as shown recently from a three-year study in Denmark.

Wrmblood horses have proliferated dramatically in the last several years in North America. Increases in importation and breeding numbers have led to this surge in popularity. These Hanoverians, Holsteiners, Trakehners, Oldenbergs, Selle Francais, Dutch Warmbloods, Swedish Warmbloods, Irish crossbreeds and others are being used with increasing regularity in the dressage and jumper rings where their size, power and agility is sought and admired.

Not all horses are affected the same, probably 20 percent of horses shed 80 percent of the eggs.

From the time his experienced jockey, Edgar Prado, gently pulled him up and kept him quiet while veterinary assistance arrived until this very day, Barbaro's new battle has been one of a convergence of fate, veterinary excellence and most of all, teamwork.

PHILADELPHIA - 06/12/06 - For the first time, public money was used to improve the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Though many experts believe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is underused in equine veterinary medicine, greater availability of the technology and access to interpretation experts are facilitating greater adoption, especially when diagnosing lameness.

Stifle injuries should be treated like tendon or ligament injuries in other areas of the horse.

Blacksburg, Va. - John Robertson, VMD, MS, PhD, director of the University of Virginia-Maryland Center for Comparative Oncology, is experimenting with frankincense oil as a possible treatment for malignant melanoma in horses.

Louisville, Ky. - The Thoroughbred racing Mecca was amid heightened biosecurity following recent outbreaks of equine herpesvirus and a mysterious illness that claimed the life of Kentucky Derby contender With a City.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results from the effect of magnetic properties of atoms found in biologic tissues. The magnetic moment of the nuclei within these atoms interacts with the external magnetic field, the most common of which is hydrogen. Hydrogen is abundant in all tissues and has a relatively large magnetic moment, making it the optimal choice for magnetic resonance imaging.

Victoria, British Columbia - The Supreme Court of British Columbia issued a broad injunction that prohibits non-veterinarians from performing any dental procedures or using a title, such as equine dentist, that might lead people to believe they are registered under the territory's Veterinarians Act.

Austin, Texas - A partnership between ViaGen Inc. and Encore Genetics produced the first commercially cloned mare in the United States. Royal Blue Boon Too is the genetic replica of a champion cutter owned by Elaine Hall.

Neoplasia is generally an uncommon occurrence in horses. "As a species, horses appear to have less of a predisposition to cancer," says John Robertson, VMD, PhD, director of the Center for Comparative Oncology at The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. "The overall incidence of neoplasms in horses is lower than in other long-lived species, i.e., humans, cats and dogs."

Private equine practice is largely a matter of lameness, reproductive issues, trauma care and preventive medicine. There are occasions, however, when behavior problems directly affect medical care, and veterinarians must be able to address these issues to deliver appropriate treatment.

Washington ? Horse slaughter facilities were granted a reprieve Feb. 7 as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved their petition to pay for their own inspections.

Dysphagia in the neonatal foal manifests itself as the presence of milk in the foal's nares after nursing. Milk reflux in a foal should not be ignored. Aspiration pneumonia is the usual secondary consequence.

Much of the focus and effort put forth on breeding farms this spring will center on mares and the various reproductive problems that they experience. Stallions are often given minimal attention other than bacterial cultures and examination of early season ejaculates unless there are unusually high numbers of return "open" mares or evidence of serious problems.

There are a variety of hormonal therapies available to the equine practitioner to help bring mares into estrus and hasten ovulation. They include human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), various progestin/estradiol combinations, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs, and dopamine antagonists. These hormonal therapies push Mother Nature along to help make the breeding process more efficient, reduce excessive handling of mares and stallions, and help ensure successful breeding and conception, whether a maiden, a previously barren or a cyclic mare.

College Station, Texas - 1/4/06- Texas A&M University officials say a Center for Equine Business Studies is slated to open in June.

Horses regularly get into dangerous situations in the most unusual and mundane places.

Seattle — The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) is planning to study the viability of regional continuing education.

SEATTLE - 12/06/05 - The Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR) and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) are launching a public-education initiative called HORSE FACTS.

Albany, N.Y. — Wedgewood Pharmacy says initial tests vindicate the compounder of allegations that it made its chloramphenicol palmitate product inconsistent with its label.