The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, Davis, offers DNA testing for several inherited equine diseases. Before breeding a horse, it’s advisable to have it tested for the possibility that it can pass on an inherited disease....
When I started riding at age 11, (I'm 52 now), I did not wear a helmet. I stopped riding to go to college. After 20 years, I started training a horse for a friend and never gave helmets a...
Q. What are the potential effects of raising a young horse in a stall versus letting him grow up on acreage?A. As a precocious animal, a young horse is ready to run within hours of birth. Continual movement and...
When a horse won’t tolerate having his foot picked up, it’s not some quirky behavioral issue that you should learn to live with. For the horse’s own safety and his general well being, and the sanity of your farrier,...
One of the most common diseases in foals six months and younger is pneumonia. Although many different organisms can cause foal pneumonia, Rhodococcus equiis is considered the most common culprit in a severe case. According to a statement released...
Many horse owners enjoy grooming just as much--if not more so--than riding. It’s not just vain indulgence, either--grooming has real benefits for your horse’s health and well being. This hands-on time you spend with your horse gives you an...
While grooming your horse you discover a gray, wart-like growth on your horse’s skin. It doesn’t seem to be causing your horse any pain, but it’s not attractive and, after monitoring it for a few weeks, you determine that’s...
Goats are one of the most common four-legged barn buddies for horses, but veterinarians continue to caution that some goat feeds contain an ingredient that can be lethal to horses. Rumensin (monensin sodium) is often included in commercial feeds...
With spring here and temperatures on the rise throughout the country, growing mosquito populations increase the risk for deadly mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile virus and equine encephalomyelitis (Sleeping Sickness). To protect their horses from these diseases, owners are...
Download a printable version of this pageIf you grew up riding hunters 20 years ago, chances are you mastered the art of braiding a hunter’s mane. It was simply part of a show horse’s turnout. But with unrated divisions...
