Diseases

Even with advances in veterinary medicine, many diseases threaten equine health. We tell you how to protect your horse from viral diseases such as equine influenza, equine herpesvirus and rabies; bacterial diseases such as strangles and botulism; parasitic infections such as equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM); and other disorders including pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID).

Diagnosis

The Equine Discomfort Ethogram is designed to help veterinarians and horse owners manage horses in pain.

A grey horse with a read bandage on his knee eating hay.

Neurological issues, soreness or lameness may be behind a horse’s frequent stumbles, trips and minor mishaps.

Did you know that 90% of performances horses (from jumpers to equines working cows, etc.) have gastric issues due to man-made conditions such as stress, intermittent feeding, restricted access to pasture, etc.? What do we mean by “man-made”? That’s taking a horse out of his natural habitat, putting him in a stall and feeding him once or twice a day. Sound familiar?

California researchers found that "sidewinder" syndrome is associated with a variety of equine conditions and injuries.

If both of your horse’s hind fetlocks become puffy in the dead of winter, chances are the cause is a relatively harmless condition known as “stocking up.”

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Medications and Drugs

Pills, pastes and liquids are adversely affected by fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

Here's a crib sheet for which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work best for specific types of discomfort in horses.

How a disagreement with my husband led to an EQUUS story about how equine research a decade ago helped pave the way for today's new mRNA CoVID-19 vaccine.

If an injury or circumstances put a horse at risk for tetanus and his vaccination status is unknown, his treatment regimen may include tetanus antitoxin.