By Dr. Lucas

News from AAEP

AAEP

AAEP On Call Program to Serve Breeders’ Cup Telecast

Two equine veterinarians will be serving the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ On Call program during the NBC Sports telecast of the Nov. 1–2 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Scott Palmer, VMD, Diplomate ABVP, and Alan Ruggles, DVM, Diplomate ACVS, will be at Santa Anita as AAEP On Call spokespersons to provide timely health updates to the media and viewing audience regarding the athletes in each race.

Dr. Tom Juergens Honored by AAEP’s Good Works Campaign for September

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) commends Dr. Tom Juergens, the September honoree of the Good Works for Horses Campaign, who for the past 20 years has traveled annually to Mongolia to introduce modern veterinary medicine to remote veterinarians and herdspeople to improve the health and wellbeing of the country’s horses. Good Works for Horses honors AAEP-member practitioners who perform volunteer service to benefit horses and the equine community. Horse owners and veterinary professionals are encouraged to nominate AAEP members for this monthly recognition.

Four Recent Equine Veterinary Graduates to Receive $4,000 Zoetis/AAEP Foundation Scholarships

The AAEP Foundation is pleased to announce the 2019 recipients of $4,000 Zoetis/AAEP Foundation Scholarships: Jenny Hamilton, DVM, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine Rachel Hilliard, DVM, Cornell University Katie Larson, DVM, Mississippi State University Sheila Spacek, DVM, Colorado State University
By Dr. Lucas

News from TheHorse.com

The Horse

Your Guide to Equine Health Care

Tying Up and Hydration: How to Get a Horse to Drink

A reader’s horse who doesn’t like to drink when traveling recently tied up while running cross-country at an event. Our nutritionist offers advice to get the horse to hydrate in the future.

The post Tying Up and Hydration: How to Get a Horse to Drink appeared first on The Horse.

Control Your Horse’s Weight and Other Ways to Prevent, Treat Laminitis

Dr. Andrew van Eps suggests addressing obesity now to prevent laminitis, shares new insight into supporting limb laminitis, and offers advice about icing feet in acute cases.

The post Control Your Horse’s Weight and Other Ways to Prevent, Treat Laminitis appeared first on The Horse.

Chia or Flax: Which is Better for My Horse?

Discover the differences between these two trendy, omega-3-packed seeds that can be used to supplement equine diets.

The post Chia or Flax: Which is Better for My Horse? appeared first on The Horse.

By Dr. Lucas

The core vaccines: EEE/WEE, Rabies, West Nile Virus, Tetanus

Please read this article from Equus Magazine for important information about protecting your horse.

By Heidi Furseth

A number of dreadful diseases are now very rare among horses — thanks to some of the simplest and cheapest preventive measures we have.

Vaccination easily ranks as one one of the single most important things you do to protect your horse’s health. In fact, vaccines have been so successful that it’s rare to even hear of horses contracting several dreadful diseases that once loomed as a constant threat.

It is worthwhile, though, to remember what those injections are doing—especially the four “core” vaccines the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommends for every horse.[More]

By Dr. Lucas

Fractures: Beyond the Limbs

They might be less common, but skull, rib, pelvis, and withers fractures are no less important. Learn more about fractures in this article from The Horse magazine.

By Joan Norton, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM

A broken bone in a large quadruped is serious stuff. Unlike a kid with a broken arm, you can’t just slap a cast on a horse and send him on his way. Thankfully, fractures aren’t frequent occurrences in horses. When they do happen the most common site is in the distal limb, particularly the cannon bone. But bones can break in a variety of places, and understanding the causes and associated complications will help you become more familiar with these less-common but no-less-important potential fracture sites.[More]

By Dr. Lucas

EHV-1: What Are We Learning?

An informative article from The Horse magazine:

By Heather Smith Thomas

There’s a life-threatening disease horses can harbor in their bodies without showing any signs of illness. But under stress—even inapparent stress—the horse can disperse the virus with every cough or sneeze, exposing nearby equids to the pathogen. All of this can happen undetected until, perhaps, a horse in the same barn turns up with a fever or another begins showing neurologic signs.

This nightmarish scenario can mark the start of an equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) outbreak, which most frequently occurs where horses congregate, such as at horse shows, trail rides, or barns with transient populations.[More]

By Dr. Lucas

Does your feeding program measure up?

Equus Magazine has a good article about feeding routines:

Take a moment to consider whether your feeding routine still provides the right amount of nutrients and calories for your horse.

by Laurie Bonner

Routines can be comforting. When balancing the demands of career, family and barn, it feels good to simply work your way through familiar chores—first the water, then the hay. Then a trip to the feed room, and with a can of this and a scoop of that, you’re done. Your reward, of course, is the sweet sound of munching in every stall. [More]

By Dr. Lucas

What your veterinarian wants you to know about antibiotics

Check out this article published in Equus Magazine.

by Melinda Freckleton, DVM

It’s easy to be casual about antibiotics. We’ve all taken them ourselves, they look like any other medication, and if you’ve had horses for any length of time, you are probably quite familiar with the “crush and dump” routine. But the nature of antibiotics requires a level of understanding and vigilance that goes beyond those required by many other medications that the average horse owner is likely to administer. [More]

By Dr. Lucas

Prevention: Sand Collic

Is your horse ingesting too much sand? Learn more in this article in Equus Magazine.

by Laurie Bonner

Horses who graze on loose, sandy soil are at risk of sand colic, which can occur if they ingest too much dirt with their forage. The consequences can range from very mild, transient digestive upsets, when the particles irritate the gut wall, to impactions or twists (volvulus), which can occur if large amounts of sand settle out of the ingesta and accumulate in the large intestine. [More]