This happens through body language and subtle signals through your body that there is something to worry about as you approach a scary or challenging object. If your horse feels your fear, this tells him that it’s a big deal, and he may react or spook, which causes you to react even more. You may be unconsciously causing a pattern of learned behavior.

“Many programs even allow the surgeon to perform ‘virtual surgery’, cutting, moving and opposing the various bone fragments. The potential it has in terms of improving preoperative planning and surgical precision is really quite incredible. It can even be used for the production of customized surgical implants such as bone plates and interbody spacers.”

Ride to Win allows users to create a unique profile for each horse and store information such as registration numbers, copies of health papers and Coggins, and store health information and reminders all at the push of a button.

Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center offers free lectures to the public on equine topics on the first Tuesday of selected months. The following is the schedule for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Every horseperson has seen and felt the white grit that remains on a horse’s coat long after he’s dried from sweating. But do you know what that is?

African horse sickness (AHS), is caused by a virus transmitted by Culicoides biting midges. It is one of the deadliest viruses to affect horses; causing up to 90% mortality in susceptible animal populations and huge economic losses for the equine industry, as well as for owners of working horses. It is prevalent (or endemic) in central and sub-Saharan Africa, but major outbreaks have also been reported in the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Horses can lose water volume up to 4 gallons per hour, and as much as 4 ounces of salt per hour. The Sodium in salt, which is Sodium Chloride, is absolutely essential for the horse’s body to retain normal, healthy levels of water. Regardless of how much water the horse drinks, it will not be able to retain a normal amount of water in the body without adequate Sodium, or salt.

The 2005 Economic Impact Study documented the economic effects of the racing, showing, recreation and other segments of the horse industry. It established that the horse industry in all its segments, including racing, showing, and recreation, had a $39 billion effect on the US economy, involved more than 4 million Americans and 9.2 million horses, and supported 1.4 million full-time jobs. The study also provided invaluable demographic data and insights into professions and other industries that are impacted by the equine ownership.

“Interventional ultrasound can be used to perform minimally invasive procedures in horses from the removal of foreign bodies and fracture fragments to surgical procedures such as patellar ligament splitting,” Dr Whitcomb said.

I’ve witnessed cases where surgery under general anaesthesia is both dangerous and unnecessary, for example, in the surgical treatment of splint bone fractures. The other key area where surgery is associated with complications during recovery from anaesthetic is fracture repair. These sort of complications can now be avoided thanks to our ability to perform surgery in the standing sedated horse,” he said.