Horse Health

Blanketing Your Horse in Winter

Horses are generally able to tolerate cold weather. But they still need some sort of shelter to retreat to when it’s windy and temperatures drop below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The layers of the horse’s coat act to insulate the body. Digesting forage, mainly hay, also produces body heat. A horse’s winter coat begins to appear […]

Horse Health

First Drug to Treat Cushings Disease in Horses

The FDA announced approval of the drug Prascend to treat the clinical signs in horses with Equine Cushing’s Disease. In horses, Cushing’s Disease is known as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID). According to the findings of a recent study by Australian and United Kingdom researchers, PPID usually affects horses above the age of 15. Older […]

Horse Health

Horses’s Hair

Your horse’s coat can be compared to a book with many stories. The state of your horse’s hair can tell you of existing problems. Hair grows from skin follicles. Each strand is made up of the medula (center), cortex (middle) and cuticle (outer layer). Horses have 3 types of hair on their bodies. The hair […]

Horse Health

FEC Testing for Horses

FEC – Fecal Egg Count – is being recommended to horse owners instead of regular deworming. Testing for fecal egg count can benefit owners as well as their horses. FEC has shown to save owners money. It benefits the horses by avoiding unnecessary deworming. It will also maintain the potency and success of dewormers. Research […]

Horse Health

Potomac Horse Fever

2013 In central Virginia, several cases of Potomac Horse Fever (PHF) were reported. There are also known cases in parts of South America, Europe and India. PHF is found throughout North America and Canada where 3 provinces have had cases of PHF. PHF was formerly known as Equine Monocytic Ehrichiosis or Equine Ehricial Colitis. PHF […]

Horse Health

Sensitivity Of Horses To Insect Bites

Scientists at the Wageningen University in The Netherlands are working on a cure for horse insect bite hypersensitivity. Their research has led them to clone certain proteins in insects in the hope that these easily collected proteins can produce a cure. As a result of current testing, scientists have developed an accurate test to diagnose […]

Horse Health

Deworming Horses Made Easier

A while back, de-worming a horse was a job for the veterinarian. A tube was passed through the horse’s nose into the stomach. A liquid de-wormwer was then pumped through the tube. The latest de-wormers (called anthelmintics) made by drug manufacturers can be administered by horse owners. They require simply squirting a dose of gel […]

Horse Health

New Test for Lyme Disease in Horses

2013 Detecting Lyme disease in horses has been difficult since many horses don’t show symptoms until months after being infected. But in 2012, researchers at Cornell University’s Veterinary School developed a test which can detect antibodies as early as 2-4 weeks after the horse has been infected. The test also indicates the stage of Lyme […]

Horse Health

Equine Botulism Update

Botulism is produced by Clostridum botulinum and is among the most lethal toxins known. There are 7 known strains of botulism (A-G), A and B being the most common in horses. Type C is caused by decaying animals in feed. Some types cause the disease in birds and cattle as well as horses . Some […]