New Problems in Oz: Anthrax Kills a Horse in the Hunter Valley

Things were just getting back to normal in the Australian state of New South Wales, where an outbreak of Equine Influenza locked down the horse industry, canceled racing and shows, and delayed breedings since August. Transporting horses even short distances was forbidden.

All this after the Australian horse world had been affected by drought so severe that horse owners were being taught how to feed cardboard shreds as a substitute for forage. A bizarre condition known as "Australian stringhalt" was reported, in which horses passtured on drought-ravaged paddocks exhibit hitchy gait symptoms from eating certain plants.

Now comes the third blow: since Christmas, anthrax has killed 30 cattle and at least one horse near the horsey town of Scone in the lovely Hunter Valley north of Sydney. The area is home to many of Australia's leading horse breeding farms.

The Australian Broadcast Corporation is also reporting tonight that the first horse event to be allowed in the area since the EI outbreak had to be canceled because of the anthrax danger.

Anthrax is a bacterial disease carried by spores that live in the soil; they are usually dormant but drought often brings anthrax to the surface. Anthrax-infected carcasses are a common cause of an outbreak. For that reason, an animal that dies from anthrax must be burned until its bones are ash, according to the reports.

Cattle and one horse have died on nine different properties in the area, according to ABC.

Anthrax is deadly to horses and humans.

I hope this is the last tragic story I have to write this year. We began the year with EHV in Florida and I think I have reported on most of the major infectious equine diseases affecting horses somewhere on the planet. Blog readers by now must know what EHV, EI, EVA, CEM, WNV, PHF, VS, EIA, EEE and AHS stand for, since they popped up in the news reports of this blog in 2007. Strangles, salmonella and anthrax don't have acronyms but I have written about those contagious diseases, too, this year.

That Equine Infectious Diseases (Sellon and Long, 2007, Saunders/Elsevier Publishers) textbook/cd-rom was a good investment, after all.

Update: Read an article published January 9th about the anthrax cases in Australia here.

Waltz with the Spanish Riding School on PBS on New Year's Day

Who: Spanish Riding School and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
What: Annual New Year's Day Concert from Vienna, Austria
When: Tuesday, January 1,2007 from 8-9:30 p.m. EST (Check local listings.)
Where: On your TV! Cable not required, just rabbit ears to pickup your local PBS station

Who doesn't love the Strauss waltzes? PBS will transport us all to Vienna next week, with the telecast of "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration (2008)."

Continuing its holiday tradition, "Great Performances" returns to the stately splendor of Vienna's Musikverein for its 24th annual New Year's Day celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic. Georges Pretre leads the world-renowned orchestra in a selection of Strauss family waltzes.

Also featured are festive ballets danced by the Vienna State Opera Ballet and a special appearance of the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School, who routinely perform to the Strauss waltzes and marches.

Walter Cronkite hosts the broadcast each year.

Waltzing around your living room is permitted. Ballgowns and tails optional.

The audio portion of the concert will probably be broadcast live on your local National Public Radio (NPR) station; it is on our Boston station, WGBH 89.7, at 11 a.m. EST, and you can listen on iTunes.

Turn up the volume!

North Carolina Announces Hay-Aid for Horse and Livestock Owners

Steve Troxler, North Carolina’s Commissioner of Agriculture, announced a new program today to assist horse owners and other livestock owners who are facing shortages of local hay and high prices for out-of-state hay.

On December 4, the Council of State voted unanimously to authorize the state to use up to $3.5 million to purchase and transport hay to North Carolina.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services set up the Ag and Equine Partners hay relief programs to reimburse livestock owners up to $500 for a load of hay moved from out of state. Livestock owners may seek cost-share funds for up to three loads. The higher limits are possible because the Council of State recently approved $250,000 in emergency funds for the cost-share programs. Reimbursements will be made on a first-come, first-served basis as long as funding is available.

Troxler also announced that the first shipment of hay bought by the state for resale to livestock farmers will be delivered to six sites across North Carolina in early January. As livestock owners buy up the hay, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will purchase additional loads, Troxler said.

“Cows and horses in North Carolina are eating between 15 and 40 pounds of hay each day, and we’ve got a fair number of sheep and goats who also need feed,” Troxler said. “The hay we’re bringing in will provide an emergency stockpile that farmers can tap if they find themselves in desperate need.”

The department has placed an initial order for 36 truckloads of hay, which will be distributed evenly among six locations. Delivery dates for each site are still being finalized.

Livestock owners should contact the department’s toll-free Hay Alert hotline at 1-866-506-6222 or visit www.ncagr.com/HayAlert for information. Businesses and organizations interested in contributing to Ag Partners or Equine Partners may contact Chrissy Lucas at (919) 733-7125 or christina.lucas@ncmail.net.

Gentle Death at the Sanctuary: Eclipse Award Recognizes Poignant Portrayal of Euthanasia of a Great Racehorse

This photo of Precisionist with Michael Blowen is posted on the Old Friends web site. I think it deserves an award, too! Barbara Livingston, who took the photo the day before the horse's death, has compiled two volumes of beautiful photos of aged great racehorses called, appropriately, Old Friends.

On September 26, 2006, Thoroughbred racing writer and historian Bill Mooney received a call from Michael Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends, a Thoroughbred retirement facility in Central Kentucky. Blowen told Mooney that the 26-year-old champion Precisionist, who suffered from a form of skin cancer, would have to be euthanized the following day.

Mooney came to Old Friends that evening and returned early the next morning. His column is an emotional narrative of Precisionist’s final hours, from the injections of lethal solutions, to Blowen holding Precisionist in his arms before the horse’s last breath, to the placement of a halter from the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Precisionist during his burial.

In his piece, Mooney commented that the decision to euthanise the legendary Thoroughbred was the correct course of action, rather than to prolong his suffering: “Precisionist’s death had been dignified and painless. It had also been necessary. A series of cancerous tumors had invaded his soft palate and nasal passages. They had effectively merged into a single huge tumor that was inoperable.” The tumors were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive, fast-spreading form of cancer.

“It was the most dignified death of a racehorse that I had ever witnessed,” said Mooney, who related that he had several skin cancer surgeries of his own.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) today announced that Bill Mooney has won the 2007 Media Eclipse Award for Writing in the News/Commentary category for his column “Final Days for a Hall of Famer,” on the passing of Precisionist. The article appeared in the January 2007 edition of Post Time USA.

Mooney said that after he receives his Eclipse Award next month, he will deliver it to Blowen and the Old Friends facility.

PS Highly recommended: read Michael Blowen's tribute to Precisionist on the Old Friends web site.
Old Friends is the only retirement home for Thoroughbreds that will take stallions. Old Friends offers a safe, caring home to former stakes horses that may be in need. The farm is open to visitors, who love seeing their old heroes. The farm is operated by a non-profit foundation; your tax-deductible donation will be most welcome.

Click here to read the award-winning article:
Precisionist%20Post%20Time%20USA%20Bill%20Mooney.pdf

Joy to the Blog!

Wellness in Wellington: Herpes is Gone But Not Forgotten in Hunter/Jumper Mecca

An article in today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel by Stephanie Horvath includes quotes from several veterinary practices in the Wellington, Florida area. In the article, the vets reflect on the fear and grief that ran through the horse community there as, on the eve of the 2007 winter show season, an outbreak of highly-contagious Equine Herpes virus shut down the trails and forced barns into quarantine situations.

So far, so good in Wellington this year, as the horse vans stream southward and the cargo jets unload box-stall crates holding some of Europe's finest jumpers and dressage horses.

Vaccination regulations may have been upgraded on the showgrounds, caretakers may be less complacent about runny noses...but if you are around horses, no matter where you live, you still need to wash your hands and clothes often, keep buckets and tack separate and labeled for each horse, disinfect stalls and talk to vets about how information about possible disease outbreaks will be announced and shared in your community.

University of Kentucky Names Mats Troedsson Department of Veterinary Science Chair and Gluck Center Director

The University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture has named Mats Troedsson as its new chair of the Department of Veterinary Science, a position which also serves as director for the prestigious Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center.

Dr. Troedsson currently serves as a professor and services chief in theriogenology (reproduction) at the University of Florida.

An internationally-recognized scientist with more than 24 years of research and clinical experience in equine reproduction, Troedsson will begin his new post in June 2008. As chair, he will also head the university’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center and Equine Parentage Testing and Research Laboratory.

Martha Stewart Salutes Her Farrier!

Kudos to stylemaker/domestic diva/media mogul Martha Stewart for a photo feature on her blog today that salutes farrier Linda Friedman, who cares for the hooves of Ms. Stewart's Friesian horses at her new farm outside New York City.

Click here to view the blog story, which shows a step-by-step preparation of a winter shoe for one of the horses.

Linda is a caring professional whose client list includes some very high-profile horses and horseowners. She is a great ambassador for the farrier profession. Like so many farriers, Linda cares deeply about the safety and well-being of the horses in her care. An ice storm in New York this week made winter shoes "a must".

Don't you wonder what the interview process was like to be selected as Martha Stewart's farrier!

And notice the lovely white beadboard paneling (and heating ducts) in the barn aisle! The stable, by the way, has its own kitchen and is big enough to sport a 17-foot long mahogany dining table, which is where Martha Stewart serves Thanksgiving dinner. It looks like you could eat off the aisle pavers!

Click here for a recent article in New York magazine about Martha Stewart, with a little slide show about the stable and her architectural/artisanal fence design.

Dressage: Anky's Top Horses in Truck Crash After London/Olympia Sweep

Something special happened Tuesday night. And something tragic almost happened in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

At the World Cup qualifier at Olympia, The London International Horse Show, Anky Van Grunsven, the Olympic, World and European freestyle Champion, presented her brand new freestyle composed by concert pianist Wibi Soerjadi.

Cavorting to the new "Dance of Devotion", Anky and her IPS Salinero took the class by storm and the qualifier, her first this season, by a 7% margin; the kur earned a score of 83.050%.

“It was a great test – although not necessarily foot perfect – but Anky has definitely brought the sport to a higher level than ever before,” said British Olympic judge Stephen Clarke. “What Torvill and Dean did for skating, Anky has done for dressage”.

A few hours later, tragedy almost ended it for the Dutch dressage rider. Around 2 a.m., Anky's truck, with IPS Salinero and IPS Painted Black inside, collided with a pre-existing accident scene on the highway near Dover, on their way back to Holland.

A smashed car, without lights, was disabled on the highway after a hit-and-run accident; its occupants were on the side of the road in fear that the car would be struck. Little could they know that they would be hit by a huge horse transport carrying two of the world’s most valuable horses.

Dutch van driver Jo van den Oetelaar could not have seen the car on the road before he hit it, according to Anky’s web site.

A local vet clinic took the two Grand Prix horses in, examined them, and kept them until another van could be sent from Holland. Willeke van Uden, Anky’s groom, remained with the horses the entire time. Although the van was damaged in the wreck and could not be driven, the horses apparently are not injured.

Check these Dutch television links for an interview with Anky's composer and to see her ride the new kur. (audio in Dutch)

(top) Louise Klein's photo (courtesy of www.anky.com) of Anky and Salinero performing the new kur shows how close the audience is to the arena at Olympia. (bottom) Anky's backup van arrived home in Holland in time for an ice storm.

What Brand Is Your Hay? Designer Forage Wants to See Their Logo in Your Horse’s Manger

You can tell Mountain Horse from Blundstone paddock boots from across the arena. Half your clothes have a Ralph Lauren, Joules, or Ariat logo sewn into them and you see nothing wrong with that Exiss logo emblazoned on your trailer, the Cottage Craft tag on your saddle pad, and you think it’s cool for Range Rover to have those self-promoting spare tire covers. At shows, your stable area is littered with bright blue Cosequin buckets and you can spot a Charles Owen helmet in any photo in the show news.


So can it come as a surprise that people want to put their brand on your horse’s formerly-anonymous hay bales?

Everyone is talking about hay this year—that is, when they aren’t arguing about footing. Drought scarcity and transport costs are said to be driving hay costs upward, along with concerns about quality, depending on where in the USA you live.

Haybarn.com is a website set up to connect horse owners with available supplies of hay in their area.

The drive toward branded forage began about ten years ago, when Dengie products, with US headquarters at Lucerne Farms in northern Maine, launched its branded alfalfa-based products. (Lucerne is another name for alfalfa.)Their bagged, chopped mixes offer consistent quality for horses with different dietary needs.

Now, meet Aden Brook Farms of Pine Bush, New York. Aden Brook has launched a branded line of hay so that horse owners have access to what they believe to be high-quality horse hay of consistent quality at a reasonable cost.

Aden Brook's new product line that was created for the show horse circuit. Changes in hay while traveling to shows and the picky attitude of some horses about hay can lead to colic and other digestive or stress problems, and many owners are frustrated by the difficulty of moving more than a few bales with them at a time.

Aden Brook Farms sources hay from farms in the U.S. and Canada where weather conditions are favorable for growing and drying “#1” quality hay.

Isn’t that what all hay dealers do? No: most would bale the hay on site and either ship to a storage site or directly to a distribution point for customers or race tracks and showgrounds in a given area.

Aden Brook Farms says they bring their hay from all points to a central facility and put it through a quality inspection process. The hay that passes is compressed into 70-pound bales and strapped with tape bearing their logo. Aden Brook believes that their hay will stay consistent year-round, which is a tall order in the horse hay business.

What happens next? The branded hay is distributed by full semi-load direct to farms, stables and show grounds or to Select-Cut™ dealers for horse owners who like to purchase less than a full semi load at a time. One of the primary benefits of Select-Cut™ hay is that the customer can combine different types of hay and shavings on a single load at a reasonable cost.

Customers who are on the road can have their hay shipped to them by Aden Brook or order from a dealer near their shows. Select-Cut™ hay is available from four distribution points—New York, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ireland—and they will ship to your horses anywhere in the world.

As of October of 2007, Aden had shipped over 390,000 bales. That’s a lot of hay! Repeat customers include prestigious accounts such as the show stables of Leslie Howard, Blue Chip Farms, Mark Ford Stable and the USDA APHIS Quarantine Centers.

The next time you cut the strapping off a bale, take a look. You might be flaking a designer bale.

Photo courtesy of Michael Wildenstein FWCF, Cornell University; the ultimate designer hay is homegrown and harvested by your own horses!

Shelley Duke pledges $10 million estate gift to support Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Cente

(News story from Virginia Tech news service)

BLACKSBURG, Va., December 18, 2007 -- Shelley Duke, owner and manager of Rallywood Farm in Middleburg, Virginia, has pledged a gift of more than $10 million through her estate to Virginia Tech's Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg.

This estate gift, the largest in the hospital's history, is expected to eventually establish a major emergency and critical care program.

"We are extremely grateful for Shelley's generosity and vision," said Dr. Nat White, Jean Ellen Shehan Professor and Director of the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center. "Her gift is extraordinary in terms of the impact that it will have on horses treated at the equine medical center and on veterinary medicine around the world."

Duke said she made this pledge for the future advancement of the equine medical center in large part due to the strong relationships that she has developed with the center's faculty and staff as a leader, client, and volunteer.

"I wanted to ensure that there will always be a place for horses within the Mid-Atlantic Region to be treated when they are critically ill or injured," said Duke. "In terms of equine surgery and internal medicine, I just don't know where you can find better care and knowledge at work."

Texas A&M Research Finds that Alfalfa Can Prevent Gastric Ulcers in Performance-Prospect Horses

New research from Texas A&M University shows that feeding alfalfa to confined young Quarter horses with performance potential either prevented or was therapeutic in treating stomach ulcers.

Feeding grain, confinement, exercise and overall environmental stress factors are thought to cause ulcers, said Dr. Pete Gibbs, Extension horse specialist. Other studies have shown that horses will heal if provided less acidic diets.

The recent research project in the Department of Animal Science’s equine science program was part of Travis Lybbert’s master’s degree thesis in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine. Gibbs served on Lybbert’s academic research committee.

In the research, 24 Quarter horses from 12 to 16 months old were separated into two treatment groups. One group was fed Bermuda grass hay and the other fed alfalfa hay to meet the daily roughage needs. The yearlings received forced exercise during the study.

The horses were examined internally with an endoscope at the beginning and end of two 28-day trials.

It’s commonly thought that horses turned out on pastures are better off than those that are confined. However, if grass hay is the only hay they are fed, horses can still get gastric ulcers, Gibbs said.

In this study, ulcer scores increased when alfalfa was removed from the horses’ diets, and they were turned out on pasture. Under the ulcer-scoring system, 0 signified no ulcers, with severity increasing to level 4.

Horse owners — especially those with performance horses — have one of two options, Gibbs said: 1) They can give their horses a pharmaceutical product that will decrease acid production, he said. Or, 2) they can manage horses’ diets.

The second option does not stop acid production but offers buffering capabilities, Gibbs said. Further work is needed to look at horses with varying degrees of ulceration in order to better determine the full extent to which alfalfa or alfalfa-based products might help from a feeding management standpoint.

“Based on what we know right now — for horses that are kept in confinement, eating feed and getting forced exercise — it makes sense to consider some alfalfa as part of their diet,” he said.

Until further research is done, he recommends, horses weighing between 1,000-1,300 pounds should be fed about 1 pound of alfalfa after a grain meal.

This isn’t the first research conducted on gastric ulcers in horses, but it lays the groundwork for further research at Texas A&M, Gibbs said. The next study will investigate what it is about alfalfa and alfalfa products that lessens the occurrence and severity of horses’ ulcers.

Veterinarian Leads Double Life; Named Groom of the Year

At the US Eventing Association Annual Convention in Colorado last week, the Christine E. Stafford Eventing Groom of the Year Award went to Jeff Beshear, who gallantly grooms for his wife, Emily Mastervich Beshear of Brickland Farm of Somerset, Virginia.

Jeff, who is a native of Lexington, Kentucky, probably does a lot more than groom the horses. If his name rings a bell, it is because he is a partner in the Old Dominion Equine Associates in Keswick, near Charlottesville, Virginia. He completed his veterinary studies in 2000 at the Ohio State University; his specialized interests include sport horse lameness with an emphasis on diagnostic imaging, and also equine reproduction. He is an avid foxhunter and shares his wife's passion for eventing.

Also, at the USEA convention, Horse of the Year honors went to Theodore O'Connor, the twelve-year-old, 14.2-hand Thoroughbred/Arab/Shetland gelding (Witty Boy—Chelsea's Melody) owned by The Theodore O'Connor Syndicate, LLC. With three-time Olympian Karen O'Connor in the irons, the talented pony tallied several wins this year, including individual and team gold medal at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janiero. They also won The Fork CIC3* in April and were third at the Rolex Kentucky CCI4*.

Equine Flu Forces Australians to Make Tough Decision for Olympics

2004 German Olympic event team rider Bettina Hoy (left) is married to Australian event Olympian Andrew Hoy (right), but they live in England. Here they are shown at 2007 Equitana in Essen, Germany. Australia may soon send more of its potential Olympians to Europe to circumvent biosecurity issues at home that might jeopardize their Olympic chances on health issues.

While the rest of the equestrian world prepares for a holiday break, the Australians are gearing up for a major decision that belongs under the heading of “**** if you do, **** if you don’t.”

On December 19, the Equestrian Federation of Australia (EFA) High Performance Program will announce the difficult decision whether to send prospective team members overseas for the six months prior to the Olympic Games to finalize Olympic preparation and qualification or whether to keep them in Australia.

The answer will depend mainly on whether already overdue biosecurity protocols will enable the movement of horses and the holding of events in Australia during the first half of next year. The Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales have been shut down since October by an outbreak of highly-contagious equine flu that has curtailed all movement of horses and forced cancellation of clinics and competitions.

A decision to move overseas would put further pressure on Australia-based riders, whose businesses and families have already been hard hit by the EI crisis since August. Sadly, it would also reduce the pool of horses and riders from which a team can be selected.

The High Performance Program has been supporting local riders to stay in Australia as long as possible to prepare and qualify for the Olympic Games. This is now looking less likely due to the uncertainty and the expected severity of the restrictions that may be imposed on riders and event organizers by government authorities.

The Program has been in limbo since the outbreak of EI, which forced the cancellation of all International and National Equestrian events in Australia at least until early 2008. The outbreak has severely restricted training and qualification opportunities for many of the leading contenders for the Olympic Games.

The 2007 Bates Sydney International Three-Day Event will now be held from 17-20 April 2008 at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park, but it's still unclear if it will be possible to hold that event. Uncertainty in Australia makes four-star events like Badminton, held in May in England, and Rolex Kentucky, held in April in the USA, critical qualifiers for more than just the home teams.

Several of Australia’s perennial eventing champions, including Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks and Andrew Hoy, ride for their country but are based in England. Another veteran Aussie Olympian, Philip Dutton, recently decided to try to qualify for the US eventing team and is currently at the top of the USEA's leaderboard. Last week he was named USEA Rider of the Year...for the eighth year in a row.

Australia won three successive team gold medals in eventing from 1992 to 2000.

New Equine Hospital Will Be Named for Champion Ruffian

A new orthopedics surgery hospital at New York's Belmont Park will be named for the champion filly Ruffian.

The new equine hospital currently under construction at New York’s Belmont Park will be named the “Ruffian Equine Medical Center at Belmont Park.” The facility will be located only yards from the spot where the legendary filly broke down in her ill-fated match race against champion colt Foolish Pleasure in Elmont, New York.

The Ruffian Equine Medical Center at Belmont Park is expected to open in early 2008. IEAH Corporation has secured the services of top equine practitioners Dr. James Hunt and Dr. Patricia Hogan, a specialist surgeon.

Ruffian is remembered as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. She was victorious in the first 10 starts of her career, winning by a combined margin of 83 lengths, before her career was tragically cut short. She equaled two track records, owned or tied eight stakes records, and won Eclipse Awards as champion filly at ages 2 and 3 (1974-75).

“We are honored to able to carry out the legacy of Ruffian on the very grounds on which she so bravely fought her toughest battle,” said Michael Iavarone, co-president of IEAH, in a press release. “We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to the Janney family for allowing us the opportunity to share in her memory. We have made and will continue to make every effort to ensure the facility will be the finest available.”

IEAH is owner and developer of the new hospital, which was recently expanded in size from 11,000 to 20,000 square feet. The latest design calls for multiple surgical suites, MRI, nuclear scintigraphy, and treadmill endoscopy.

Emergency Rescue Training Seminar Announced in Kentucky

To provide the U.S. horse industry the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills required to become proficient in the rescue of large animals, the Fire and Safety Engineering Technology Program at Eastern Kentucky University will host the fourth annual Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue Training next spring.

A training seminar, open to the public, will run from April 22 to 24, 2008.

The training will educate fire/rescue personnel, first responders, veterinarians and horse enthusiasts about techniques and procedures to assist large animals involved in transportation accidents and other emergencies.

Instruction will cover the use of sedatives and tranquilizers, chemical restraint, rescue ropes and knots, rescue from horse barn fires, mud rescue, helicopter rescue and water rescue. The training, which consists of 30 hours of classroom instruction and hands-on training, qualifies each student to receive EKU’s FSE 489 credit for the class.

Due to the hands-on nature of the training, each large-animal emergency rescue seminar is limited to 30 participants.

A separate session on HAZMAT Decontamination of Large Animals is scheduled for the morning of April 25. This free session will cover the issues related to rescuing large animals that have encountered chemical, biological or radiological contamination.

To date, approximately 100 undergraduate students at EKU have successfully completed the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue Training course.

For additional information or to register for the training, contact Michael Shane LaCount at (859) 622-1009.

Thanks to Mark Cole from USRider Equestrian Motor Plan (www.usrider.org) for information about this program.

Cowboys in Vegas: WNFR Takes Over the Strip

NEWS FLASH: Check Equisearch.com's home page on December 16 for a postcard update from the NFR!

Got Copenhagen? The world’s largest (probably) rodeo opens today in Las Vegas!.

Consider these stats:

• 2007 marks the 23rd anniversary for Las Vegas as the host to the world’s richest and most prestigious rodeo.

• The prize money for the participants this year will be $5.5 million.

• In 2006, the event had a total event attendance of 175,649 over the 10 days of competition.

• In 2006, the Wrangler NFR had a total non-gaming economic impact of $52.8 million on Las Vegas and its environs.

• The Cowboy Christmas Gift Show, the only official gift show of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, features more than 400 vendors and runs from December 6 to 15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The NFR goes on for 10 straight days, with a total of 120 contestants competing every night in seven events. Each December, the top 15 contestants, based on the Jack Daniel’s World Standings, in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing, and bull riding qualify to compete at the Wrangler NFR.

This is probably the only horse-related event in the world where the sponsor list includes Hooters and Krispy-Kreme Doughnuts.

To learn more:
http://www.nfrexperience.com/
www.prorodeo.com

Rodeo is, as always, a controversial sport. Groups like SHARK and PETA's "Buck the Rodeo" campaign continue to rally against what they say is the cruel abuse and exploitation of animals for the benefit of entertainment and sport.

Amidst all the protests, rodeo seems to be growing in popularity as a spectator sport and is often broadcast nationally. It's a paradox that kinder, gentler natural horsemanship should be in vogue at the same time that rodeo goes to new levels with extreme camera angles and cheesecake Vegas glam to get its share of tv ratings and corporate sponsors.

Eleanor Green: First Woman President of the AAEP Takes Office for 2008

Eleanor Green, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, of Gainesville, Florida, was installed as the 54th president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners during the group’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida on December 4, 2007. She will serve through 2008 and becomes the first female veterinarian to lead the association.

With a distinguished career in academia, Dr. Green currently is a professor and chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. She also is the chief of staff of the college’s Large Animal Veterinary Medical Center. Dr. Green previously was a member of the veterinary faculties at Mississippi State University, the University of Missouri and the University of Tennessee and also has experience in private practice.

Return to opening page and most recent news of The Jurga Report.

The Small World of Horse Sport: Hong Kong Olympics...Via Quarantine in Aachen, Germany

The world-class showgrounds at Aachen, Germany will house horses for quarantine before the Hong Kong Olympics.

For more than 300 Olympics-bound horses, the familiar CHIO grounds in Aachen’, Germany will be the quarantine site in the run-up of the Olympic Games 2008 in Hong Kong, China. In addition to the jumping, dressage and eventing horses, the horses of the Paralympics participants will also be accommodated in Aachen, Germany.

The horses will be quartered in the stables of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V. (ALRV). “The quarantine gives the guarantee that the horses are absolutely healthy prior to their journey”, according to Dr. Johannes Hörmeyer, the official veterinarian for the City of Aachen who is in charge of the project.

Martin Atock is responsible for the horses'’ transportation to China. The General Manager of Peden-Bloodstock”, one of the world’'s most renowned horse shipping agents, is very satisfied with the situation in Aachen: "“The conditions in Aachen are ideal. The grounds are completely fenced, we only have to add a few more fences. Furthermore, the journey to the airport in Amsterdam is very short.” From the Dutch metropolis, the horses will be flown out to China," Atock reported.

During the quarantine, the stables, the training areas, the indoor arenas and the Deutsche Bank Stadium will be used”, explains Frank Kemperman, General Manager of the ALRV. Within a radius of 100 meters of the quarantine area, no other horses will be allowed. Horses from about 40 nations are expected to arrive in Aachen for quanrantine, though it is not confirmed yet which nations exactly.

Aachen also served as the quarantine site in the run-up to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and since then served as the site of the World Equestrian Games in 2006.

The Jurga Report thanks Niels Knippertz of CHIO Aachen for these details.

Oregon State's Vet School Receives Full Acceditaiton

(received via press release)

CORVALLIS, Oregon – The College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University has received full accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council of Education.

An accreditation team spent three days in February touring the state’s only veterinary medicine college as part of a scheduled review, examining the college’s education and research programs, clinical services, physical facilities and equipment, organizational structure and financial management.

The college passed with flying colors, says its dean, Cyril Clarke.

The evaluation team gave the OSU college full accreditation for up to seven years – its highest level of accreditation. The only substantive criticism was for marginal facilities for large animal isolation, which the team noted is being addressed in a current expansion.

A $12 million expansion of the Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital – Large Animal Clinic is scheduled for completion in spring of 2008. It will boast a large animal intensive care unit and expanded isolation area, as well as a covered lameness evaluation arena, an imaging wing that includes facilities for modern computed tomography and a nuclear medicine suite, offices, and laboratory and teaching space for faculty. There will even be a treadmill for the dynamic evaluation of equine patients.

In 2005, the College of Veterinary Medicine opened a new $14 million Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital – Small Animal Clinic and associated teaching and research facilities that allowed OSU to offer a full veterinary medicine education to students for the first time. Previously, OSU veterinary medicine students had to spend more than a year at Washington State University completing the small animal portion of their education.

This past June, OSU graduated the first class of veterinary medicine students trained entirely at Oregon State.

Both the large animal and small animal teaching hospitals are named after the late Lois Bates Acheson, a former Seattle business leader, animal lover and 1937 Oregon State graduate, who left $21 million to the university to benefit the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cushing’s Disease in Horses and Parkinson’s Disease in Humans: Is There a Neurodegeneration Link Between Horses and Humans?

Dianne McFarlane wants to find out.

Cushing’s disease is a common endocrine disease that affects approximately 15 percent of older horses and ponies. It is caused by degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons, similar to what occurs in people with Parkinson’s disease.

An Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences team, lead by assistant professor Dianne McFarlane, DVM, PhD, ACVIM, ABVP, hopes that better understanding of age-related events that contribute to development of equine Cushing’s disease and also baboon age-associated dopaminergic neurodegeneration may provide useful comparisons in unraveling the cause of Parkinson’s disease.

McFarlane recently received a $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund a comparative medicine research project using horses and baboons.

McFarlane’s study “Initiating Factors of Neurodegeneration” seeks to determine the underlying factors that are responsible for causing neurodegeneration. Age is the major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. However, it is unknown what biological changes occur as humans age that cause some but not all individuals to develop degenerative brain diseases.

“We will use a comparative approach, looking at two animal models,” explains McFarlane. “We chose not to induce disease but rather to study natural occurring disease processes to determine what events initiate the degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the central nervous system of humans. These are the neurons that degenerate when someone is suffering from Parkinson’s disease.”