Upper Airway Diseases
Anemia
Equine infectious anemia is a serious disease that threatens the world's horse population. Despite testing and measures to eradicate the disease, approximately 2000 new cases are identified each year in the U.S. There is no cure for Equine infectious anemia (EIA). Although most infected horses show no symptoms, they remain infectious for life, endangering the...
Cast Care
BETTER HEALTH CARE FOR YOUR HORSE Your horse has been fitted with a cast to give it the best possible chance of recovery. A cast provides both protection and support and thereby gives the horse's injury a chance to heal. Because you can't actually see what's happening beneath a cast, caring for a convalescent horse...
Cool Semen Transport
Advancements in Equine Artificial Insemination BREEDING WITH TRANSPORTED SEMEN Today's breeding technology provides horse owners more options than were available in the past. Artificial insemination and semen preservation techniques make it possible to ship stallion semen to mares nearly anywhere in the country. But success with transported semen will depend on the careful reproductive management...
Dental Care
The Importance of Maintaining The Health Of Your Horse's Mouth Routine dental care is essential to your horse's health. Periodic examinations and regular maintenance, such as floating, are especially necessary today for a number of reasons: We have modified the horse's diet and eating patterns through domestication and confinement. We demand more from our performance...
Emergency Care
If you own horses long enough, sooner or later you are likely to confront a medical emergency. There are several behavioral traits that make horses especially accident prone: one is their instinctive flight-or-fight response; another is their dominance hierarchy - the need to establish the pecking order within a herd; and a third is their...
Emergency Preparedness
Emergency Preparedness: Being Prepared During Times of Disaster. Important Tips for Horse Owners By Written by the AAEP First Aid / Emergency Care - Mar 3rd, 04 An AAEP Health Brochure In the event of a disaster, your veterinarian knows how important it is for you as a horse owner to have pre-planned actions and...
Equine infectious anemia
Equine infectious anemia is a serious disease that threatens the world's horse population. Despite testing and measures to eradicate the disease, approximately 2000 new cases are identified each year in the U.S. There is no cure for Equine infectious anemia (EIA). Although most infected horses show no symptoms, they remain infectious for life, endangering the...
Equine Joint Disease
Early recognition is the easiest way to protect your horse. “Trauma to a joint can happen in an instant, when you least expect it. Or it can happen slowly when you don’t even suspect it.” —LINDY BURCH NCHA Riders Hall of Fame 2000 NCHA Open World Championship First woman president of National Cutting Horse Association...
Equine Parasites
Waging War On Equine Parasites Internal parasites are silent killers. They can cause extensive internal damage, and you may not even realize Your animals are heavily infected. At the very least, parasites can lower resistance, rob the horse of valuable nutrients, and cause gastrointestinal irritation and unthriftiness. At their worst, they can lead to colic,...
Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM)
Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a master of disguise. This serious disease can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms often mimic other health problems in the horse and signs can range from mild to severe. As many as 50 percent of all horses in the United States may have been exposed to the organism...
Euthanasia
The Most Difficult Decision Few things in life are as difficult to accept as death. Death becomes even more painful when you must decide whether to end a beloved animal's life. However, there may come a time when, for humane, medical, economic, or safety reasons, you may need to consider euthanasia for your horse. The...
Expectant Mare
We often think of pregnancy as a delicate and fragile condition. When it comes to horses, this perception is perhaps due to the mare's relatively poor reproductive performance in comparison to other domestic animals. However, in a natural setting, the mare does comparatively well reproductively. Therefore, this seemingly poor performance is due as much to...
Fescue in the Horse’s Diet
Tall fescue is a grass which grows on approximately 35 million acres of land in the United States. As many as 700,000 horses may graze fescue pastures or be fed fescue hay each year. What many owners may not realize is that there are some significant health risks associated with horses eating endophyte fungus-infected (El)...
Foal Growth
A healthy foal will grow rapidly, gaining in height, weight and strength almost before your very eyes. From birth to age two, a young horse will achieve 30 percent or more of its full adult size, sometimes putting on as many as 3 pounds per day. Generics and environment play significant roles in determining individual...
Foaling Mare and Newborn
CARING FOR THE FOALING MARE AND NEWBORN If your mare has made it through 11 months of pregnancy, you're almost home free. Labor and delivery, while momentous, are generally uneventful. In most cases, you will simply need to be a quiet observer -- if, that is, you are lucky enough to witness the birth. Mares...
Hay Quality and Horse Nutrition
Horses are herbivores by design and foragers by nature. They have evolved to utilize grasses and other forage plants as their primary source of nutrition. Horses are most content when they can nibble almost constantly. Although it's not always possible to let our domesticated friends graze to their hearts' content, one way to satisfy their...
Horse Insurance
Whether a horse is purchased for personal or business reasons, ownership represents a significant investment of time, money and resources. While no one likes to think about the potential for tragedy, horses seem to be prone to illness, accidents and injury. Should some peril befall your horse, nothing may ease the emotional burden, but wise...
Immunizations
Protect Your Horse Against Contagious Diseases Few things will protect your horse from the ravages of disease as easily and effectively as immunizations. The vaccinations administered by your veterinarian to your horse place a protective barrier between the animal and a whole list of problems: tetanus, encephalomyelitis(sleeping sickness), influenza, rhinopneumonitis,rabies, strangles, and Potomac Horse Fever,...
Lameness Exams
Evaluating The Lame Horse Stress, strain, or injury can take a toll on any horse, even one with no obvious conformation defects. When lameness occurs, you should contact your Veterinarian promptly. A prompt examination can save you time, money, and frustration by diagnosing and treating the problem immediately, possibly preventing further damage. The goal of...
Laminitis
Every day veterinarians across the country see hundreds of cases of laminitis, a painful disease which affects the horse's feet. What's especially alarming is that some cases are preventable. In fact, it may be that we are killing our horses with kindness.Consider that a common cause of laminitis is overfeeding, a management factor that is...
Leg bandages
BANDAGING YOUR HORSE'S LEGSThere may be any number of occasions when you will need or want to bandage your horse's legs. Bandaging can provide both protection and support for the horse while working, traveling, resting or recovering from an injury. For whatever purpose, it is essential that you use proper leg bandaging techniques. Applied incorrectly,...
Purchase Exams
A Sound Economic Investment Owning a horse can be a big investment in time, money and emotion. Unfortunately, horses seldom come with money-back guarantees. That's why it's so important to investigate all aspects of the horse before you buy Many horse professionals may be able to help you evaluate such things as ability, behavior or...
The Older horse
Special Care and Nutrition Due to improvements in nutrition, management and health care,horses are living longer, more useful lives. It’s not uncommon to find horses and ponies living well into their 20’s and even 30’s. While genetics play a determining role in longevity, you too, can have an impact. By providing proper care and nutrition,...
The Overweight Horse
Special Care and Nutrition Feeding is one of the most rewarding chores of horse ownership. But many horses, given the opportunity, will eat far more than they need, tipping the scale into an unhealthy balance. No matter how much your horse enjoys eating, you do it a disservice by overfeeding. Excess pounds put a strain...
Understanding and Controlling Colic
OWNERS, BEWARE. THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF HORSES IS COLIC! But colic is not a disease. Rather it is a combination of signs that alert us to abdominal pain in the horse. Colic can range from mild to severe, but it should never be ignored. That's because many of the conditions that cause colic can...
