As the source of 50 to 90 percent of a normal, healthy horse’s nutritional needs, hay warrants careful consideration. Yet, there is a lot of confusion over what, exactly, defines “good” hay. Nutrient content and cleanliness are distinct traits often presumptively and wrongly lumped together.

 “To be able to use our reproduction expertise in this way, to help preserve an irreplaceable part of our magnificent heavy horse heritage is something we have been working towards for many years,” said Tullis. “The challenges have been great and many but watching the birth of this beautiful, healthy filly foal was a truly magical experience.”

Let the horse drink its fill of cool water. Contrary to popular belief, allowing a hot horse to drink cold water will not cause colic and muscle cramping.

The purpose of the research was to evaluate the effect of SmartStride Ultra pellets on gait mechanics – including stride length and range of motion – as well as on markers of inflammation and cartilage metabolism in mature horses undergoing light to moderate exercise.

“The AQHA Congress is such a spectacular event. Nowhere else in the country can you interact with top-level athletes of varying ages and disciplines like you can here. BEMER is proud to support the AQHA Congress as an Official Sponsor, and we look forward to meeting all of the competitors in attendance and showing them how our BEMER Horse-Set can bring out the best in their equine partners. We are also so excited for the chance to watch our ambassadors, Tom and Cade McCutcheon, compete in person!”

The equine Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner pioneered by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with LONGMILE Veterinary Imaging, is now in heavy use at Santa Anita Park in Southern California. In just over six months since the installation in December 2019, with the financial support from the Stronach Group, more than 100 scans have been performed with the “MILEPET” (Molecular Imaging of Limbs in Equids), the PET scanner specifically designed to acquire images on horses without the need to lay them down.

This new model allows each leader and member to have their own access to the HorseIQ library at an affordable price to the county or chapter. New materials are added to the HorseIQ library throughout the year, giving users hours of videos and modules that were developed and curated by top professionals in the industry.

Horses breathe in and out at the same rate as their gait. As they canter or lope, they inhale in suspension, and exhale when their first foreleg hits the ground. Standardbred trotting horses have an advantage because, if they become oxygen deficient, they can take a big breath over several trot steps. A Thoroughbred racehorse is limited because they can’t compensate with a big breath over a few strides. They have to breathe in and out with their stride. As they become oxygen deficient, they have to breathe more often, which means shortening their stride.

“The potential risk of introducing endemic or transboundary diseases into the country’s equine population cannot be over emphasized, either at the level of the practicing veterinarian or the horse-owning public,” said Peter Timoney, MVB, MS, Ph.D., FRCVS. “Failure to suspect the occurrence of such a disease could have major consequences, especially when dealing with a contagious disease or a vector borne disease like African horse sickness.”

“Since we completed our first survey in May, the state has lifted some of the restrictions on the horse industry, which should provide a boost to equine business across the state,” said Elisabeth Jensen, KEEP’s executive vice president who oversees the daily operations of the organization. “However, we have yet to see the impact of how the pandemic is affecting horse sales and what that means for Kentucky’s equine economy. We hope that this second round of our survey can, when combined with the data from our May survey, paint a clearer picture of the challenges the industry will face.”