Friday, August 02, 2013

Vet Video: Fractured Pastern Surgically Repaired on Champion St Nicholas Abbey; Details on Work by Irish-American Surgical/Medical Team




A report on the injury, surgery, illness and recovery of Breeders Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey has been provided by Coolmore Stud, ten days after the initial injury, which happened at the training center in Ireland.

Equine Lameness: British Cavalry Horses Suffer Common Minor Hoof and Leg Problems Similar to Recreational Horses

British cavalry horses are large Irish-crossbred types and generally are selected because they have big enough feet, acceptable conformation and good bone. Their lameness problems tend to be less dramatic than you might think, and more in line with recreational horses than sport horses.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Federal Court Rules Against Lawsuit: USDA's Tennessee Walking Horse Anti-Soring Regulations Are Not Unlawful



A U.S. District Court in Texas upheld federal regulations to prevent the practice of “soring,” in which trainers abuse horses to force them to perform an unnatural high-stepping gait for competitions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, which were adopted following a 2010 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), require that USDA-certified horse industry organizations impose uniform mandatory minimum penalties for violations of the Horse Protection Act.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Hallmarq Standing MRI Presents: Navicular Disease Diagnosis, Then and Now






We have never really understood navicular disease, but maybe we're getting closer. Two horses would have identical lameness symptoms but the radiographs were clean on one, and clearly showed a bone lesion in the other. Some horses stayed lame for years and were never ridden again. Others took a year or so off and, to everyone’s surprise, returned to training.

Friday, July 12, 2013

British Laminitis Research: Tracking Normal Horses Who Later Develop Pasture Laminitis Vs Those Who Don't

Typical feet of a pony with pasture laminitis. Could laminitis be prevented by identifying likely-to-founder ponies early in their lives? A British research project aims to track normal ponies who, later in life, do and don't develop pasture-associated laminitis. (Nicola Menzies-Gow photo)

Dr Nicola Menzies-Gow of the Royal Veterinary College has been awarded a grant of £42,000 (approximately $65,000US) by Great Britain's Animal Welfare Foundation to work on a study: "Markers of equine laminitis predisposition: Searching for potential future diagnostic test". The award was announced this week by the college.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Helpful Farrier: Dimpled Laminitis Treatment Stirs Facebook Furor and Charitable Shoeing

This foot was probably the most viewed, shared and commented on hoof in the world in June 2013.  The only problem was that the people doing all the viewing, sharing and commenting didn't bother to read the details of the case posted by farrier RT Goodrich in California, who found the horse with this unusual hoof wall treatment. (RT Goodrich photo)

It appeared on Facebook on June 7 and it went viral: 422 people left comments and 233 shared it all over Facebook. Then others shared it. It took on a life of its own. Who didn't see it?

“It” was a photo posted by California farrier RT Goodrich. "It" was a hoof that had been dimpled all over with holes. It looked for all the world like a hoof made of Swiss cheese.