Research Report: Antibiotic Resistance Increases in Hospitalized Horses Even When No Antibiotics Are Administered

by Fran Jurga | 22 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

A team of researchers working at Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital at the University of Liverpool have discovered that Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in a horse's intestine appear to acquire antibiotic resistance while a horse is hospitalized.

E. coli is a bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of animals. Most E. coli strains are harmless and are part of the normal flora of the gut.

The researchers found a significant increase in multiple drug resistance in E. coli samples isolated from horses' feces after a period of hospitalization.

Research team leader Adele Williams (shown in photo) received funding from British equine charity The Horse Trust and presented her research earlier this year at the European College of Equine Internal Medicine Congress.

Williams and fellow researchers collected fecal samples from randomly selected horses over an 18 month period between 2006 and 2008 when the horse was admitted, and again after the horse had been hospitalized for seven days. The selected horses included horses treated and not treated with antibiotics before and during hospitalization.

E. coli bacteria cultured from the samples were tested for their sensitivity to eight antibiotics (neomycin, ampicillin, ceftiofur, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and trimethoprim) using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The antibiotics chloramphenicol and tetracycline are not used at the hospital.

The researchers found a significant increase in resistance during the week's hospitalization for seven of the eight antibiotics; no significant difference was found for neomycin. Antibiotic resistance increased even in horses not treated with antibiotics and to antibiotics that are not used in the hospital.

This increase may be due to the transfer of antibiotic resistant genes as a result of selection pressure for antibiotic resistance in the hospital environment, or it may be because the number of resistant E. coli is greatly increased due to selective pressure so that they are much easier to detect, or that resistant isolates have been acquired from the environment. Further research is needed to understand the source of antibiotic resistance in the environment.

"Pathogenic bacteria are likely to be exposed to the same selection pressures or could receive the same resistant genes, so it is vital we improve hygiene in equine hospitals and reduce the overuse of antibiotics," said Williams. "People who work in equine hospitals need to pay strict attention to hygiene and should reserve antibiotics for essential cases only."

Aussie Horse Hero Who Sheltered Pasturemates from Fire Nominated for Bravery Award

by Fran Jurga | 18 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Retired Australian police drum horse Paddy with his officer/owner.

Maybe you'd better grab a tissue before you read this post.

A retired police horse from Australia named Paddy has been nominated for the RSPCA's Purple Cross award, which is given to animals who exhibit behavior that we humans would interpret as "courage".

I hope you will follow the link to the story and read it in its entirety, but this is it in a nutshell: a retired 19-year-old Clydesdale police horse is out in the paddock as the horrific "Black Saturday" wildfires threaten his owner's property in the state of Victoria.

The owner, a policeman, is busy hosing down his house. Paddy, meanwhile, rounds up the sheep and goats in the paddock (which in Australia is what we'd call a pasture and can be many acres), and shelters them from the fire and heat under his huge frame.

Every once in a while, the owner comes down to the paddock and hoses Paddy down and makes sure he is all right. He said afterwards that Paddy never moved despite the embers falling from the sky and the wind roaring up the valley.

When the small animals try to go astray, Paddy rounds them up and nudges them back under the shelter of his huge body.

And so the fires passed.

In his owner's words: "He stood there and did what I asked him. If you can have that sort of communication, all the big parades and the big accolades we've had as gendarme can't compare to that because that was when the chips were really down. I asked him to do something and he said, righto, I'll do that. And that's what he did."

So Paddy was nominated for the RSPCA's prestigious award.

Sadly, news reports from Australia today tell us that Paddy stumbled and fell on Tuesday while out for a hack and was euthanized.

Please click here to read the moving story about Paddy, which was written before his untimely death.

The Purple Cross originated with the Purple Cross Society, which was formed to support the horses of Australia's famed Light Horse Brigade. If you are interested in horse history, there is no better reading than the exploits of this brave crew of horsemen, particularly during their Middle Eastern campaign during World War I, including the battles at Beersheeba and Gallipoli. Their story is marred by tragic suffering and loss and decorated with gallantry and superior horsemanship.

Also of historic interest: Paddy served as a ceremonial drum horse with the Victoria Police in Melbourne. The use of mounted police in that city dates back to 1836, making it even older than the late, great Boston mounted police in the USA, which was recently shuttered by city budget cuts so that Ted Kennedy's funeral had no horse escorts.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Drama Over for Now; BLM's Wyoming Roundup Ceases

by Fran Jurga | 9 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The drama unfolding in the high plains of Wyoming has been between wild horse activists and Bureau of Land Management policy makers, as horses have been rounded up, including the famed "Cloud Herd". In spite of an inspired effort by activists to block the plans in court, the roundup proceeded over the past week, with stallions, mares and even tiny foals being herded by helicopter from their mountain pastures down into holding pens.

But the real drama may lie ahead. While it is heartwarming to see all the emails, blog posts and Tweets calling people to action to save Cloud, the real crux of the matter comes on September 26, which is national adoption day. The equation doesn't always make sense, but in the BLM way of doing the math, the adoptability of these horses is critical to the program.

Did all the publicity over the roundup help or hurt the chances of these horses finding homes?

Certainly the Pryor Mountain horses are one of the most beloved of wild horse bands in the United States, in large part thanks to publicity from Cloud's story and their status as descendants of Spanish colonial stock. Just as certainly, no one outside the BLM will ever know what role public pressure played in stopping the roundup at this particular point, since it was winding down anyway, so activists can't quite claim a victory.

This afternoon, horses are galloping back toward their hills, although many mares were apparently treated with PZP as a pregnancy deterrent. Certain horses stayed behind at the holding station and are slated for adoption.

The Cloud Foundation has done an exemplary job of keeping the public informed of their efforts to stop the roundup and, once it started, to observe it and report on the condition of the horses. The contrast between their detailed blog posts and heart-wrenching photos and videos--often updated several times per day--and the BLM's carefully worded official documents is classic.

This complex issue will be off the message boards and Tweetstreams in a few days but it is far from over.

If you really care, click a little deeper:

Click here for the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center web site.

Click here for the Cloud Foundation's blog with updates, photos and video, including information about specific bands and stallions and which ones have been split up.

Click here for the BLM's information page on the Pryor Mountain roundup.

And, what are you doing September 26? It's National Wild Horse Adoption Day. That's the day to make noise about wild horses, whether you are in favor of adoption or against it. If you feel that these horses truly belong in the wild, you'll have to find a way to keep them in the news.

Steppe-by-Steppe: Mongol Derby Riders Cross the Finish Line in World's Longest Horse Race

by Fran Jurga | 8 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

A traditional Mongol saddle, as seen in the popular horse trekking/hippotherapy manifesto book and film set largely in Mongolia, The Horse Boy.

It's official: the last horse has crossed the finish line in the world's longest horse race, the Mongol Derby. Set up as a fundraiser for 23 riders representing charities from all over the world, the race drew awe and ire from as many corners of the globe as it drew riders.

The premise was simple: ride across 1000 km of one of the world's last great open spaces--and certainly the largest open space on the globe. Urtuus, or horse camps, were set up at 40 km intervals so that riders had to switch their gear to fresh horses.

The ultimate win was actually a tie between a South African and a native Mongolian. Winning was not just about crossing the finish line first; riders were also scored for their care and welfare concerns of their mounts.

Although the race ended almost a week ago, the first reports and photos are just hitting the Internet now and the riders and international veterinary panel have not been interviewed for their opinions.

I just thought everyone should know that all the riders survived and, as far as I know, there were no catastrophic injuries to humans or horses. There were a few withdrawals, including celebrity British jockey Richard Dunwoody, and some falls that caused withdrawals.

Here's a link you've never followed before!
Click here to read a report on the race in the UB Post, national newspaper of Mongolia.


Click here to read a report based on quotes from one of the New Zealand riders who must have phoned home over the weekend.

I became interested in Mongolia a long time ago, and whetted my curiosity as an advocate for the 2009 hit book and film, The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson. The documentary film made of the book's characters real-life, real-time horse trek across Mongolia premieres nationally this month.



Between the publicity for the book, film and now this controversial horse race, this has been the year of Mongolian horses in the press. My guess is that Mongolia will become the next go-to place on the horse world map. It is, after all, where horse culture was born and has never waned. Where eco-tourism is an oxymoron. And where you can still get very, very lost.

And I hope it stays that way. So let's not all go at once. And read Rupert's book, whether you plan to trek across Mongolia on horseback...or from your armchair. It's an adventure you won't forget.

Video: Charity Shows That Rescuing a Horse from Cruelty is Only the Beginning

by Fran Jurga | 6 September 2009 | The Jurga Report




The mainstream news media bombard us with dramatic stories of horses and ponies and donkeys rescued from abusive or neglectful owners. We hear about horses being taken into custody and all breathe a sigh of relief. But then what?

What many people don't realize is that a horse that has been abused or neglected is likely to be cautious or suspicious of human handling and may react with behavior that is dangerous to the very people who have removed it from harm. This is always a right of passage for good-hearted volunteers: a starved horse may well bite the hand that feeds it, out of fear.

Some neglected horses may not have felt the touch of a human hand in years, if ever. You may remember our video from this summer showing the roundup of a semi-feral herd of horses living and breeding in a field in Scotland, in clear sight from the highway. Generations of horses lived together in the mud until World Horse Welfare intervened.

But how do you roundup and trailer horses that fear humans or don't even know how to lead?

This little video from World Horse Welfare helps explain some of the "after-the-drama" work that a rescue farm with a properly trained staff will undertake. Panda the Pony was rescued because of neglect and a badly infected eye; she was taken to a rescue farm and her eye was surgically removed. But her eye needed ongoing medication and attention and she did not like the idea of humans getting too close.

Trained groom Sara-Louise Jerman explains how Panda has been handled and desensitized to human touch. You can see that Panda still is reactive about Sara's movement around her body and touches.

I hope Panda finds a good home. Thanks to World Horse Welfare for stressing this important but often overlooked aspect of dramatic horse rescues: the long path to recovery and trust of humans again, or perhaps for the first time in a horse's life.

Greenheads at the Farmers Market: Horse Flies Among Us

by Fran Jurga | 1 September 2009 | The Jurga Report

Greenhead flies can make life miserable for horses and humans around here. (Painting of greenheads attacking a kayaker by Sam Holdsworth from Boston Globe)

Around here, we hate mosquitoes as much as anyone else, but we hold a place in our guts for greenhead flies. These evil insects rise up from the salt marshes for a month each summer. They scare away the tourists. Or eat them alive.

These flies don't bite or sting, they chomp. And it hurts enough to cause a reflex in horse and human and, believe me, no fly spray will keep them away. Around this time of year I start seeing riders with broken wrists and collarbones because they tried to ride anyway. You can't blame the horses: it hurts when a greenhead bites!

I suppose the only good thing about greenheads is that you can always blame one for why you fell off or why your horse is behaving very badly. If there's a picture of you riding in a frame that would have had you expelled from pony club, you can just delete it and say, "Oh, I remember that day! The greenheads were absolutely swarming..." (Surely they were swarming somewhere?)

Even when not ridden, horses show the ill-effects of greenheads: they stamp their shoes right off their feet; most people simply have to keep their horses in or else turned out in fly sheets and leg wraps at night but even that really isn't enough. They look like ghost horses in the moonlight as you drive by paddocks in August.

If you live near the marshes, farriers don't want to come and re-tighten shoes or replace a lost one. They know how dangerous it is to work on a horse when biting flies are around, even though they carry jet-speed fans to keep regular flies away.

And this year, they say, is the most benign crop of greenheads in years. A light year.

One local artist has dedicated his entire creative life to depicting the greenheads as some sort of ghastly ghoul, reminiscent of the death-breathers in Harry Potter stories. There's a film about them now too. It's a local obsession.

I'm lucky to live on a peninsula that is technically an island and the greenhead flies are pretty much on the other side of the estuary from us. They can't quite fly across the river (yet) so things are a little less desperate over here.

But something happened the other day at the farmers market that really made me stop and think. As the farms were setting up, they unloaded crates of fruit and vegetables from big panel trucks.

Then my jaw dropped. I watched in horror as the back on one truck opened and out flew a swarm of hungry greenhead flies, hitchhikers from a farm on the other side of the bridge...and now set loose into the pristine fly-free zone on my side of the bridge.

Soon everyone at the farmers market was flinching and slapping and swatting. And swearing. There aren't supposed to be greenheads here, and they were not pleased.

Will these escapees set up a colony? Is the island doomed? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I definitely thought about how insect-borne diseases could easily move around the country in horse vans or hay trucks or even a nice organic orchard's apple truck.

I had just witnessed a perfect illustration of how disease can spread, even in the presence of a city block of organic produce. It was a sobering illustration of what I write about all the time in this blog: the spread of the midges carrying African horse sickness into northern Europe, the cloak of West Nile virus all over the USA, the connect-the-dot epidemiology of disease outbreaks like foot and mouth disease and EVA.

I think I'll make an appointment for a flu shot.

Domestic Diva Transformed to Ghoulish Edwardian Equestrienne on US Newsstands; Friesian Doesn't Spook

by Fran Jurga | 31 August 2009 | The Jurga Report

Move over, Rachel Alexandra. Your day as the hot horse on the newsstand is over.

Say hello to Rutger, one of five Friesian horses owned by domestic diva Martha Stewart, who re-wins my affection every year for her all-out gleeful celebration of Halloween. This year her magazine has a special cover on its Halloween tribute issue--it's Martha herself, wearing crazy contact lenses, red eye shadow and sporting a three-inch scar on her cheek. But she's upstaged (in my opinion) by Rutger, the well-groomed, clear-eyed, unblinking horse at her side.

Inside the magazine, there's a double-page spread of Martha astride Rutger; she's wearing a spooky cape over black breeches with tall boots. It's strangely reminiscent of the Rachel Alexandra pose last month in Vogue--when was the last time two major magazines had double-page fashion-style spreads of a full side view of a horse in back-to-back months--or at all?

Interesting gossipy thing to note: look closely at the cover photo. Do you notice anything? Look again. One more time? I know some of you will spot it right away: Rutger is sporting what is known these days as a bitless bridle, or a shanked hackamore if you're old-school. Rutger's is pretty upscale old-school, with a padded cavesson.

Rutger's mane is done in a basketwave.

The Friesian association staff must be dancing in the street tonight--what a great endorsement for the breed!

There's lots more about Martha and all her horses on her blog or click here to read my introduction to her lame horse rehab cast of equine professionals or click here to meet Linda Friedman, her farrier, who has also been on Martha's television show since I wrote that article. And click here to see a segment of Martha's show about horse slaughter and adoption.

The photo above was one that Martha took the other day and posted on her blog; that's her stable in the spooky morning mist.

It's not hard to figure out where the inspiration for Martha's Halloween outfit originated. Right down the road from her home in Bedford, New York is the famous village of Sleepy Hollow, the fictional home of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane who was chased off this earth by a headless horseman who is believed to still gallop these roads late at night...or is it just Martha and Rutger?

Have fun and get in the mood for Halloween. The magazine featuring Rutger really is a hoot...and a howl...and a scream!

Horses and Humans Get Fit Together at British Charity's Rehabilitation Farm

At World Horse Welfare's Snetterton Recovery and Rehabilitation Centre in Norfolk, England, members of the office staff volunteer at lunch hour to exercise the smallest ponies who are in the weight reduction program but too small to be ridden. The ponies go for a brisk walk around the property along with the office dogs and help keep the office staff fit as well. The farm houses 100 horses at a time; most are being rehabilitated by the organization as part of their preparation for finding new homes.

Examination of Horse Teeth Surfaces Can Identify Root Disease in Many Cases

by Fran Jurga | 5 August 2009 | The Jurga Report

One of the most interesting and rapidly growing sectors of veterinary medicine is the study of oral medicine and surgery. Equine dentistry is especially fascinating both because of the size and variety of the dental system of the horse and the massive jaw.

The fact that the teeth are always growing often confounds horse owners and is a basic reason why routine dental inspections and care are so important to horses: The mouth your horse had last year is simply not the same mouth he has today.

The new interest in all things dental has meant that universities are interested in doing research and that funding and senior researchers are now available, and academic journals are open to publishing scientific and practical information on the horse's mouth.

While veterinarians may be excited about their new power tools for doing dentistry work on your horses' mouth, they won't be using it on most horses unless there is a problem. The most important part of dental care is regular and thorough examination of the teeth.

A problem in horses is pulpitis, an inflammation in the tooth's root that can lead to serious tooth decay at the root. This is different from periodontitis, which is inflammation in the tissue surround the tooth. British research Miriam Casey conducted a study of teeth affected by pulpitits that has been accepted for publication. Her work provides veterinarian with another good reason to have a look inside your horse's mouth.

She found that it may be possible to intervene when a horse has pulpitis in the early stages, rather than to allow it to progress to the point of damaging the tooth to the point of needing extraction or causing the horse a lot of pain, even though the root of the tooth is not visible to the naked eye.

By examining the chewing surface of the extracted teeth diagnosed with pulpitis, Casey observed lesions in the dentine that a veterinarian would be able to see when examining the mouth with a light and mirror. The lesions were visible in 57 percent of both the lower and upper jaw teeth; no lesions were visible in the chewing surface of any control (normal) teeth.

Currently, radiography of the jaw is the only way to diagnose pulpitis if an infected tooth is suspected. This visual analysis guideline may be helpful for veterinarians. Casey is not prepared to speculate on the relationship between the defects in the dentine at the chewing surface and the inflammation within the tooth.

Click here to read more about Miriam Casey and her research project. The research was conducted at Bristol University and her funding is provided by The Horse Trust. The photo shown is courtesy of The Horse Trust.

I think we will be seeing lots more interesting research about horse teeth and oral health coming to the forefront in the next few years, and no doubt, eventually, a wave of new commercial products to improve oral hygiene in horses. If you think about it, the horse is perhaps the only animal that uses its mouth in its work and the loriner's art is surely the next to surge forward with the aid of technology and modern materials. But the horse needs a healthy mouth to begin, and the interesting research about how the horse uses its mouth and head for balance and breathing/eating/senses is still an area where new discoveries are being made. The horse's mouth may be one of its last frontiers!

Horse Snit! Boston Herald's Headline Summarizes Police Horse Welfare Rumors

For the past few months, this blog and most everyone at Equisearch.com has turned a sympathetic ear to our four-legged friends at a beautiful old stable in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Tucked behind a hospital on the grounds of an old estate, a group of hard-working half-draft horses load up each day to patrol the city streets. Some days they catch a Red Sox game or a Boston Pops concert on the Charles River, and in the old days, they risked life and hoof at student protests and anti-busing riots. They always stood their ground.

The city of Boston has a heck of a way of thanking them for their 140 years of service.

This year's city budget drew a thick red line through the horses' hay and grain and other expenses, not to mention the officers' and barn staff's salaries. The oldest mounted police unit in the country will be shut down unless something is done in the next few days.

The city has been stunned by this news. The horses are icons that we are all used to seeing at events. The happiest and most solemn public moments in Boston history, we have shared with these horses. Patriot and Rex Sox and Celtic and Bruin games, playoffs and championship celebrations require horse patrols. So do state funerals, the Boston Marathon, the Pope's Mass on the Common, and the Fourth of July fireworks.

So great efforts have been made to hold hearings, start a non-profit support group, raise some money, and petition the police commissioner and mayor to re-consider. Find the money somewhere else.

But in the meantime, the horses have been officially or unofficially been for sale everywhere but on eBay, and I shouldn't say that because I haven't checked and they may well be there.

These fine, highly trained horses would be an asset to any city. So today, there I was in the long Saturday morning line in the grocery store and my eye fell on the front page of the newspaper.

Click here to read about the latest spat between Boston and New York. NYPD would like to buy some of the horses, though it appears some New Yawker made a comment that some of the Boston horses were undernourished. (If you could see these horses, you'd know that's a joke.)

The comment did not sit well and it made Front Page News here in Boston.

How dare they insult our horses at a time like this?

Boston is still not sure it wants to sell the horses or end the tradition. A last ditch City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at 2pm at City Hall City Council Chambers on the 5th floor.

And do you want to know the very worst part of this whole story? If those horses go to New York, they'll be working the Yankees games. Will Red Sox Nation let its horses go the way of Johnny Damon and Roger Clemens and (I dare not say his name) The Bambino Who Cursed Us (for 86 years, anyway)?

Stay tuned...and let's hope not. If you can help, email me and I will forward your email or go to the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54704243322, which now has over 3000 members!

Read more from The Jurga Report's coverage on the Boston Police Horse crisis:

March 19 report

March 20 report

April 9 report

More for the Record: Informal Letter from Arabian Horse Association Secretary Jan Decker

Provided by Fran Jurga | 13 June 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The Arabian Horse Association has provided a personal letter from AHA secretary Jan Decker outlining her own sentiments in explaining why she believes the AHA was moved to support the re-establishment of horse slaughter in the United States. This letter was provided by Glenn T. Petty,executive vice president of the AHA, and is published on The Jurga Report with Ms. Decker's permission.

Here is the unedited text of Ms. Decker's letter:

"I will not attempt to speak for all of the Board members, but I want to share my thoughts with you related to this issue. I have had a passion for horses all of my life (and I mean all my life) and I share your concerns especially for the welfare of, not just Arabians, but all horses in the United States.

"Unfortunately, time has proved that the discontinuation of equine slaughter houses in the United States was a government action that was meant to be good thing, but turned out to be bad thing for the welfare of a lot of horses, in my opinion, from what I have observed since the inception of slaughter house closings.

"I am still struggling with the concept of a horse breed organization going to the American Horse Council trustees meeting this summer in the position of condoning horse euthanize aka slaughter.

"However, the facts of starving horses standing in squalid conditions because owners can not or will not provide feed due to current economic conditions is horrible. Trucks hauling loads of debilitated horses thousands of miles to get across the U.S. Borders south to Mexico or north to Canada is not a pleasant thought.

"I have been told herds of 'wild' horses out west in open range are growing greatly in numbers as owners haul their horses out to open range and open the trailer doors and abandon their animals. There are countless tales of horrible events all across the USA related to equines that I can not go into here of horses just "dumped" on rural roads and other stories of horror.

"The state forest/parks here in Indiana now have adopted the position of counting the horses in a trailer when they come into a park to be sure the people do not leave horses behind in the park turned loose to fend for themselves. Local fairgrounds with horse stalls are patrolling them to insure no one has broken into the locked fairground stalls and left behind horses in those facility's stalls.

“One suggestion I heard of recently that has come up is a 'Euthanasia Clinic' and I have been solicited to donate money to such a 'Clinic'. I can not visualize that picture of a lot of old, crippled, starved, or just plain unwanted horses hauled into one location to be 'put to sleep' at a cost of $200 - $500 per animal. Would they be buried on site? Would a winch truck be there to pull all the bodies up into a big 'dead wagon' truck? I just can't envision this happening with a lot of dead horses lying around after such an event.

"It is never easy to euthanize a horse anytime, but when the suffering does not validate continued life it is necessary. I had the veteriarian euthanized a horse on this farm last Saturday and then buried it with a back hoe. This old mare had some age on her, a thyroid condition and had grass foundered and her system was shutting down, we had doctored her for a month and she was not getting any better.

"Many counties/states do not allow horses/livestock to be buried and cremation costs about $1500.00 so I am told, thank goodness, we still have space to bury them on our farm and can do it legally in our county.

"Animal slaughter is necessary to obtain meat for consumption by humans and if the cattle, hog, chicken, sheep, goat meat slaughter houses can be regulated and maintained using humane methods to kill these animals, there is no reason humane standards of treatment and euthanasia can not be met for horses even though not for meat to be consumed by humans.

"Yes, there are rescue facilities around the country and here in Indiana. I had a college student/boarder here at my stable that was unable to maintain paying her pasture board here at my location so she "donated" her two fat healthy horses to a "rescue" place in southern Indiana. These were a palomino quarter type horse and an Arabian gelding (without papers) trained to ride, sound, and good looking horses. She had to pay some amount of money to the rescue location to take these horses off her hands and she still owes me $1700.00 in back board. The "Rescue" site would not take her horses until I agreed to let her make payments on what she owed to me. And this is just one story of thousands.

"In conclusion, am I in favor of regulated horse slaughter, yes, if the alternative is mistreatment of horses. Regulated being the key word here.

"Am I in favor of starving, mistreated, abandoned horses of any breed absolutely not, but people must face reality even though it can be ugly at times. Life is just not fair. Do not judge any of us to harshly, I believe we really do have the best interest of the horses in our hearts. It was not an easy position to take."

Jan Decker, owner of horses for 64 years

(Jan Decker is currently the secretary of the Arabian Horse Association.)

Please refer to today's earlier post for the official statement of the AHA board in support of horse slaughter and humane treatment of horses.

Video: World Horse Welfare Rescues Semi-Feral Horse Herd from Scotland

by Fran Jurga | 9 June 2009 | The Jurga Report

Is 2009 the year of the Neglected Horse-Herd Bust? Here in the United States, there have been some high profile cases, and the burden of helping care for confiscated horses falls on the shoulders of the already cash-strapped non-profits who have the expertise and facilities to help--but not always the funds or the acreage.

For years, we've heard about cat hoarders and dog hoarders, and it's hard to say what horse hoarding is, by legal definition, but we may be seeing some cases brought to the harsh light of publicity that will help the judicial system gain a frame of reference.

Today I received an email from World Horse Welfare (formerly the International League for hte Protection of Horses). I often receive video of their efforts in South Africa or Eastern Europe or Mexico, but today's video is right in the backyard of their Belwades Farm in Scotland.

WHW Field Officer Doug Howie was sent to investigate a report of thin horses in a field in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and found several bands of semi-feral horses trying to live in a marshy field with little grass. Mares, stallions and young horses were pastured together. He found a stillborn foal in the field. These were all bad enough.

But Doug smelled something, and it smelled like death. It was coming from a barn on the property. “I went to investigate and found the rotting corpses of a large number of horses," Doug said. "The smell was overpowering and it was difficult to tell how many bodies were there. I kept the discovery to myself for the time being so as not to jeopardize the safe removal of those horses that were still alive. I wanted to do all I could to prevent them from suffering the same fate.”


The horses had formed bands around several stallions and formed territories in the big field. It was hard to say how long they had been there. As it would turn out, many had never had contact with humans. It was a challenge, but this video shows how they tried to keep stallion and mare bands together as they had been in the field.

As soon as the living horses were safe, the health authorities were notified about the public health risk in the barn.

I hope you will watch the video and notice that World Horse Welfare puts forward this story in a quiet, factual way and does not exploit either their role or the horrors they found. It has not been sensationalized, since the scene speaks for itself. It doesn't even mention the owners.

It will take level heads and competent, trained horse welfare professionals to manage situations like these in the future. It will also take lots of money.

How can you help? Here are some suggestions:

1. Discourage horse breeding. Encourage adoption or buying of made, trained horses for recreational riders.
2. Encourage the castration of colts.
3. Lobby veterinary organizations and non-profit groups to support community low-cost castration, euthanasia, and carcass disposal grants or subsidies. Do you know how many stallions are in your town this year? The number might shock you.
4. Go to horse auctions or rescue farms and see the huge inventory of surplus horses with your own eyes. Take a friend. Don't just read about it. Do you really need to breed your mare?
5. Volunteer. Donate. Talk to others quietly, in a non-confrontational way, and know what the laws are in your community and state and how to report what you think might be horse neglect or cruelty. Realize that you might be mistaken, in some cases, and that the judgment must ultimately be left to law officials.
6. Encourage breed organizations and shows to offer more classes for older horses and to put less emphasis (and prize money) on classes for young horses.
7. No matter what you do, do it quietly and carefully and intentionally. Don't shout, don't lecture, don't shake fingers, and don't judge: use the WHW approach and let the facts speak louder than your own voice.

What would you add to this list? Click on the comments button and add your thoughts.

Badminton Gallops Into Its 60th Year

"Feet fail me not", originally uploaded by Jibbo.

Today was cross-county at the 60th Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials at the Duke of Beaufort's estate in Gloucestershire, west of London. And it didn't rain.

This wonderful photo of the World and European champion team of Zara Phillips and her Toytown by Jibbo really struck me. It's a great composition and captures them both well enough that we can see a lot of details, right down to the Flair-type nostril patch and that Zara has adopted the new super high-tech (and almost weightless) irons.

Yes, they look the part, but sadly had to retire shortly after this great photo was snapped. Thanks to Jibbo for sharing this photo, and let's hope Toytown and Zara have better luck next time.

The live webcast of Badminton today on the event's web site was excellent, and the best streaming I have seen. It even worked on my Mac! The showjumping starts Sunday morning (USA time) and we'll find out if Oli Townend holds onto his micro-lead over Lucy Wiegersma, William Fox-Pitt comes from behind or if the Dark Horse Italian first-timer Roberto Rotatori steals the show! Will they all make it through the vet check? Tune in at http://www.badminton-horse.co.uk for streaming scores, at least.

Maybe someone is Twittering from Badminton...(if so, let me know).

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Statement on Polo Horse Deaths

This is the statement I have been waiting for, from the State of Florida, which confirms that the deaths of the polo ponies in Wellington, Florida on Sunday afternoon were not related to a disease outbreak or public health concern.

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has launched an investigation into the deaths of 21 horses that collapsed after arriving in Wellington, Florida, for a polo match. Initially, 14 horses died by Sunday evening and an additional seven died overnight.

Because of the very rapid onset of sickness and death, state officials suspect these deaths were a result of an adverse drug reaction or toxicity. At this time there is no evidence that these horses were affected with an infectious or contagious disease as there are no other horses affected at this time.

The department's Division of Animal Industry, headed up by the State Veterinarian, is involved in the investigation. The department's Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement is also participating and working with local law enforcement.

The horses have been transported to a Department of Agriculture laboratory in Kissimmee and to the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine for necropsies and toxicology testing. It could take several days before any test results are in or a cause of death is known.

"Obviously, this is a tragic situation and we are working hard to determine what happened," Bronson said. "But it would be irresponsible to speculate on what may have killed the horses. We will wait until the facts are in before making any specific comments on the case."

The horses were part of a team from Caracas, Venezuela, scheduled to play Sunday in match at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Palm Beach County. The Lechuza Caracas team had been kept at the team's complex near the polo stadium. The horses were reportedly not showing any signs of illness as of Sunday morning. When the horses were offloaded at the event, some of the animals were dead and the remaining animals were showing severe symptoms of depression, respiratory problems, poor coordination, and recumbency. Despite treatment by veterinarians on site, these animals also died within a brief period of time.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services officials will wait until test results are available before determining the next step in the investigation.

(end of statement)

So, the new question is: What happened to these horses? The answer: we may never know who did what to those horses and whether it was intentional or accidental. We all surely want to believe that it was an accident.

Yesterday was a dark, dark day for animal welfare and the credibility of horse sports. There's a lot of explaining to do but unless criminal charges are filed and an arrest is made, I wonder if we will ever find out what really happened.

Please read more posts on the Jurga Report about this news story.

Rest in Roses: Kentucky Derby Champion Alysheba Was Euthanized Last Night

by Fran Jurga   |  28 March 2009  |  The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

As the horse racing world gears up for an exciting afternoon of racing with the the 2009 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, a pall of sadness drifts across the landscape. It's source? An empty stall at the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington.

"Alysheba" is the name on the stall plate.

The Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year was humanely euthanized at 11:13 pm Friday at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, a short trot across Iron Works Parkway from the Horse Park. The 25-year-old stallion was buried this morning at the Hall of Champions, across from the grave of the legendary John Henry.

Alysheba fell in his stall on Friday afternoon and was not able to get up. Hagyard's Dr. Nathan Slovis was immediately called to the Kentucky Horse Park, and an equine ambulance transported Alysheba up the long driveway and across the road. Dr. Slovis and his team treated Alysheba and evaluated his condition. By evening, it was clear that he had sustained an insurmountable injury.

“Due to a chronic degenerative spinal condition that led to ataxia and instability, Alysheba fell in his stall yesterday injuring his right hind femur,” said Kathy Hopkins, Kentucky Horse Park Director of Equine Operations. “Complicated by his advanced age, this trauma resulted in severe pain that did not respond to analgesic therapy. The resulting pain and suffering, and the inability to stand unaided, led to a joint decision for euthanasia. This very difficult decision was made by the veterinary staff of Hagyard Medical, the veterinary staff of His Majesty King Abdullah, and those who loved and cared for him at the Kentucky Horse Park.”

From  John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park: “Discussions with Dr. Slovis and King Abdullah’s team, however, led us to conclude that this was the right thing to do for Alysheba, and Hagyard’s staff performed admirably in such a difficult situation. I am grateful to His Majesty for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this special horse and share him again with his many fans, and I am happy that his last days were spent here on his native soil.”

Frank McGovern, General Manager of King Abdullah’s stables in Saudi Arabia, participated in the decision and thanked the park staff for trying to save Alysheba. He stated “his injury is one of those incidents that is not uncommon in older horses, and, unfortunately, nothing can ever be done. I am glad that he was back home and enjoying the first shoots of Spring before this happened.” He added his thanks to the Kentucky Horse Park team “for their work in making Alysheba a star again.”

Before coming to the Kentucky Horse Park, Alysheba spent the previous eight years of his life in the royal stables of His Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, after standing his first years at stud at William S. Farish's Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. Known on the track as “America’s horse,” he was sent to the Kentucky Horse Park as a gift to the American people in October 2008.

Bred by Preston Madden at Hamburg Place in Lexington, Alysheba (Alydar-Bel Sheba, by Lt. Stevens) was sold as a yearling to Dorothy and Pam Scharbauer for $500,000. They campaigned him under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer, Jack Van Berg, who said, “He stuck out like a diamond in a rock pile.” Later, Van Berg observed, “He was so smart he knew what he was doing all the time.”

Alysheba won the 1987 Kentucky Derby (G1), Preakness Stakes (G1), Super Derby (G1), and an Eclipse Award as Champion 3-year-old colt. As a 4-year-old, he was even better, winning six Grade 1 stakes: the Strub Stakes, Santa Anita Handicap, Iselin Handicap, Woodward Stakes, Meadowlands Cup and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was ridden in 17 consecutive starts by Hall of Fame Jockey, Chris McCarron. Alysheba is listed at #42 on The Blood-Horse magazine’s list of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, one notch above another Kentucky Derby-winner, Northern Dancer.

His career highlights also included Horse of the Year honors and track records for 1 1/4 miles at Belmont and The Meadowlands. Along the way, he defeated Risen Star, Forty Niner, Bet Twice, Seeking the Gold, and another Kentucky Derby-winner, the ill-fated Ferdinand. Until two-time Horse of the Year Cigar came along, Alysheba was the world’s richest Thoroughbred, with earnings of $6,679,242.

A memorial service for Alysheba will be planned at a later date.

Who could ever forget Alysheba and Ferdinand, two great Kentucky Derby winners, racing neck and neck down the middle of the track? Thanks for the memories, Alysheba.

Thanks to the Kentucky Horse Park for assistance with this post. ESPN will broadcast the Florida Derby at 5 p.m. today and may have more information and possibly a look back at Alysheba, although I don't know what their plans are.

Amazing Photo: A Lucky Day for One Off-Road Equine

by Fran Jurga | 24 March 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Hello in there? Rescuers on Interstate 70 near Vail, Colorado spoke to a horse trapped inside this upended trailer. The accident was a result of a tire blowout that separated the trailer from the truck hauling it. Rescuers cut a flap in the trailer's roof and the horse walked out into the snow. Click here to read the full story in the Vail Daily.

No-Clone Zone: AQHA Postpones Cloning Decision (Again)

by Fran Jurga | 9 March 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Clones are knocking on the door of the American Quarter Horse Association, seeking legitimate places in the largest breed registry in the world. "Go away! Come back next year!" came the cry from within at yesterday's AQHA committee meeting. (Fran Jurga/Puppet Tool software image)

Yesterday was billed as the Day of Decision at the annual convention of the American Quarter Horse Association in San Antonio, Texas. The issue: the AQHA's Stud Book and Registration Committee was scheduled to vote on the inclusion of clones (genetic replicas via engineered reproduction and DNA replacement) in the definition of an American Quarter Horse, opening the door for clones to be eligible for registration.

First reports from the San Antonio meeting indicate that a motion to postpone the decision for another year was passed by the committee. However, I believe the committee's recommendation needs the official stamp of the larger organization, as well as the appointment of a task force to further study the implications of registering clones, leading up to another airing at the 2010 AQHA Convention.

This story is not dead. Just like the late great Quarter horses who have been cloned, the story keeps having new life breathed into it. Over the past 10 years, the AQHA has progressed (or regressed, according to your political view) to allow frozen and fresh artificial insemination...then survived a lawsuit that opened the door to allow embryo transfer...and finally winds up with genetic clones on the doorstep of the registry office.

Clones may be the ultimate and most expensive "unwanted horses" in the universe, at least temporarily, when it comes to registration-paper legitimacy. That will surely change, even as multiple clones of champion cutting horse Smart Little Lena grow up in their "equus non grata" state of limbo. Other clones are replicas of favorite horses engineered for a fee for individual owners.

Clones are technically allowed to compete in cutting and reining, but the whole point of cloning Smart Little Lena or the mare Royal Blue Boon is not to compete, but to breed. And breed. And breed, thus infusing the breed with the bloodlines of champions who would otherwise have limited offspring. The number of foals sired by Smart Little Lena could be infinite in the future....as could be the number of exact genetic replicas of Smart Little Lena himself standing at stud all over the world!

Cloning is wonderful technology and yesterday's decision gives one hope that when the AQHA allows clones to join the registry--which surely seems inevitable--it will do it with a plan that is responsible and fair.

The much bigger story here is that once the AQHA allows cloning, other breed registries will surely follow suit. The framework and perhaps welfare of our entire horse world depends on the AQHA to lead the way, if it decides to, in a way that will encourage other breeds to be responsible in their policies and ensure the safety and welfare of horses and the viability of breeds and breeding.

You know what the critics are asking: Are we ready for offshore breeding laboratories, unauthorized DNA capture, and lawsuits over the implications of mitochondrial DNA? Are we entering the age of Dr. Frankenhorse or a new era of genetic analysis and engineering that may be able to better all breeds?

Something I've been wondering: Couldn't the cloned AQHA halter horses be manipulated so they have feet of proportionate size to their bodies?

If I was to give advice to the AQHA, I'd suggest that for every dollar a clone costs, an equal amount be put into research to predict, analyze and remove threats of genetic disorders from the breed. The same energy that figured out how to select a coat color for a clone could certainly go a long way on the health front. HYPP and HERDA may be only the tip of an iceberg, and those who want to register and breed clones should be responsible for any headaches and heartaches their engineered horses introduce to the bloodlines of the horses the rest of us just want to own and ride.

Stay tuned for more news!

Update: After this post was published, a press release from AQHA confirmed that the vote had been postponed to the 2010 convention and that a task force had been formed to continue to investigate how cloning might impact the breed, and vice versa. Click here to read the official announcement from the AQHA.

AAEP Vets Inspect Mexican Horse Slaughter Plants, Give Thumbs Up for Horse Welfare Conditions

by Fran Jurga | 19 February 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

A report in the March 1 edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) chronicles the work of a group of representatives of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). The group inspected two Mexican horse slaughter plants and judged the welfare conditions experienced by American horses shipped there to be processed into meat.

The article, which is now available online, documents the process of the horses' arrival from the border in sealed trailers, through the captive bolt slaughter process, and describes the plant, the staff, and how the horses were treated during the inspection.

A key quote from Dr. Tom Lenz: "If you look at it from the hard perspective of the meat industry, they're in the business to produce meat. They don't want an injured or down or stressed horse any more than they have to, because it affects the meat quality."

Click here to read an article about the report.

As stated in the article, both the AVMA and AAEP are working actively in Washington to derail or defeat passage of HR 503, the Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on January 14, 2009. HR 503 would prohibit the transport of horses to slaughter. Slaughter itself has been effectively banned within the United States, so horse must be trucked to Canada or Mexico for slaughter. The meat is largely consumed in Japan and Europe.

If it sounds counter-intuitive for the two main veterinary groups in the country to be opposing a bill with the words "prevention of equine cruelty" in it, it is because so many words in our world have twisted meanings when it comes to politics. "Humane", for instance, has become a very subjective word and is highly charged with potential votes and influence when used in the political context.

But for some people, the word "humane" has become another word for "animal rights", and it's all wrapped up in a perception of PETA's plot to take over the world. And, they believe, if PETA succeeds with horse slaughter, cattle and hogs and chickens will be next.

For others, humane means reforming the conditions that horses endure during shipment to slaughter, or not allowing any slaughter at all, under any circumstances.

The US vets did not travel in the trucks with the horses, but did mention that the severely injured horses were humanely euthanized when the trucks were opened in central Mexico, and they were there to witness that.

This battle is far from over.

Video: Christmas Message from the World Horse Welfare Organization

World Horse Welfare (WHW) Chief Executive Roly Owers wraps up the year in this comprehensive look back at the charity's efforts to help horses around the world. WHW is the world's leading horses-only charity operating on both a national level in Great Britain and on the global stage representing ongoing interests in horse health and care.

Back home in Britain, WHW (formerly the International League for the Protection of Horses) operates as a leading resource for education of horse owners and has lead the way in campaigning for awareness of the ill effects of obesity in horses. WHW staffers are dedicated, highly educated in the specialty fields of horse welfare and health, and moving forward.

Directly or indirectly, we all benefit from organizations like WHW. The people there, and the people who donate to WHW programs, are at the top of my Christmas wishes list. While the stories I report on that involve WHW are not always easy or pleasant to write, I know that whenever I see their name involved, it is likely that the best and most knowledgeable minds in the horse world are working on this problem.

It's hard to ask for anything more, and we must never expect groups like WHW to just be there for us and our horses. We make them possible. And they, in turn, make us possible.

Merry Christmas to every horse and human who has benefited from or who is helping this wonderful organization. Go to www.worldhorsewelfare.org to donate whatever you can and be part of this important effort to help horses.

Good-bye, New York! Beloved Kentucky Derby Winner Funny Cide Will Retire to Kentucky Horse Park

by Fran Jurga | 26 November 2008 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Funny Cide at Belmont Park, originally uploaded by wRock and Racehorses.

Horse lovers in New York will be in mourning this Thanksgiving. The Kentucky Horse Park announced today that beloved Funny Cide, winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) will become the newest resident of the Kentucky Horse Park when he packs his bags and moves south on December 5.

Since his retirement as a race horse in 2007, the eight-year-old gelding has been used as Barclay Tagg’s stable pony on the track in New York and Florida. According to Barclay, “The rigors of racing and training for several years have started to cause him mild discomfort recently as he continued working on a regular basis as my stable pony.”

Funny Cide was an overachieving New York-bred racehorse who captured the imagination of New York racegoers and the nation. No one ever told him that New York breds were not supposed to win the Kentucky Derby, but win he did...and the Preakness...and other graded stakes. His popularity with New York horse lovers and betters grew as he aged, and some people turned out at Saratoga just to see if they could catch a glimpse of him in his retirement, being ridden by trainer Barclay Tagg in the early morning light.

Funny Cide Facts: Funny Cide (Distorted Humor – Belle’s Good Cide, by Slewacide) was bred by William Casner and Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm in a collaborative venture with McMahon Thoroughbreds of Saratoga Springs, New York where he was foaled, raised and then sold as a yearling for $22,000 at the August 2001 Fasig-Tipton NY Bred Preferred Yearlings Sale. He was later purchased privately as a two-year old by Sackatoga Stable for $75,000. For them he went on to earn $3,529,412 and an Eclipse Award as Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, becoming the highest-earning New York-bred in history for trainer Barclay Tagg, under Jose Santos. His nine stakes wins also included the prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

Funny Cide has his own website, FunnyCide.com, and a fan club.

The public is invited to the Kentucky Horse Park for Funny Cide’s Welcome Reception on Friday, December 5 at 2 p.m. Funny Cide will join another Kentucky Derby winner, Alysheba, who came to the park in October.

I hope they don't make fun of his New Yawk accent! And I hope he never loses it!

Thanks to Sarah Andrews (Rock and Racehorses) for her great photo of Funny Cide at Belmont Park with assistant trainer Robin Smullen up.

Au Contraire: On Parisian Billboards, Artistic Thoroughbreds Face Off Against Horse Steak

If you were driving through Paris earlier this month, you'd have seen some of the most spectacular billboard banners in the world. They promoted the Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, one of the world's greatest and richest horse races, which was run on the turf at Longchamps...and won by the Aga Khan's spectacular filly Zarkava.

And if you know Paris, you recognize the sculpture details superimposed on the horse as part of the race's namesake, the famous arch and symbol of Paris (detail below).

Who is that horse? It's not Zarkava. London's BBC decided to find out, or perhaps they were tipped off that that was no French horse's head, but rather a British one. Click here to read the BBC web site's story about the model, a gray filly from Berkshire, England.

But what about the other horses of Paris, the ones in the butcher shops? A group called Je Ne Mange Pas De Cheval ("I don't eat horse") also has a horsey billboard in Paris.

If you never thought you'd need your high school French, try to decode the billboard anyway. Rough translation: "How do you like your horse? Free running or plastic-wrapped?"

NOTE: The photo for the horse race banner was taken by my friend, British photographer Tim Flach, whose book EQUUS (no connection to our favorite horse magazine, other than an appreciation for fine horse imagery) is being published this month in the USA. You'll be seeing exclusive sample images from the book in this blog; you can email me for details on how to order a copy of this most extraordinary photography book, which will be the ultimate Christmas gift of 2008! On the cover: Icelandic horses at home in action in their native environment.

Click here to read a post and see a short video on this blog from September 4, 2008 about what Tim Flach saw in a one-eyed rescued horse at a World Horse Welfare farm.

What's Killing England's Fell Ponies? Charity Funding for Research Intends to Find Out

Fell ponies look like miniature Freisian horses, but look again: this is a unique breed with a long and glorious history. With long feathers and arched necks, they make the loveliest children's ponies, and the sight of them wandering their native Cumbrian countryside is the stuff that wild horse legends are made of.

But their numbers have dropped since World War II, and the gene pool has shrunken to a bottlenecked puddle. Can this breed be saved? The Horse Trust, a UK charity, has given a donation of more than US$200,000 to the Animal Health Trust, a research center known for its work on strangles and orthopedic problems in horses, and the University of Liverpool. The charity has charged them with the task of finding out how to stop Fells Pony Syndrome (FPS).

FPS is a severe immune system disorder that results in the death of some of the newborn foals, further shrinking the breeding stock available to help the breed survive. The breed is listed as "at risk" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Foals affected with FPS appear normal at birth but within a few weeks begin to lose condition and suffer diarrhea, coughing and weight loss. Severe anemia and immune dysfunction follows, leading to wasting and finally death. The disease is always fatal.

Studbook analysis and knowledge of affected foals strongly suggests that this is an inherited disease caused by an autosomal recessive genetic mutation. The problem may trace to a single stallion who was a dominant force in the breed. A DNA-based test for this mutation would enable carriers of FPS to be identified and the conception of affected foals prevented.

As well as identifying carriers in the Fell pony population, the project will be used to identify any carriers in other breeds which have been involved in the extensive outbreeding of Fell ponies over the years.

“Breeders are supportive of our attempt to develop a diagnostic test which will help to prevent carrier-carrier matings, one in four of which results in an affected foal,” says project leader Dr June Swinburne, senior post-doctoral equine molecular geneticist at the Animal Health Trust Centre for Preventive Medicine. “Foals affected by the condition inherit an incurable genetic defect which results in severe wasting and a profound anaemia together with multiple infections. Veterinary intervention is in vain and once the condition is diagnosed foals are often euthanized. The gradual but relentless decline in these foals leaves both veterinary surgeons and breeders powerless."

According to the Horse Trust, FPS at the moment is restricted to the Fell pony population but could spread to other breeds at any time. Indeed it may be possible that carriers of the condition already exist in other breeds which have interbred with the Fell pony over many years.

Another rare breed, the Dales pony, and other native British breeds will be randomly tested to detect any further penetration of the defect into the equine population.

To learn more: The Horse Trust has one of the best horse charity web sites anywhere on the web. This remarkably generous and insightful organization funds research and welfare projects that benefit horses all over the world, not just in Britain. The Horse Trust was formerly known as the Home of Rest for Horses and has a long tradition of recognizing the welfare and health needs of horses.

The Fell Pony Society is trying to cope with the devastation of their breeding stock and preserve this lovely breed of pony, which dates all the way to the Roman occupation of Britain.

Photo from the Fell Pony Society.

Retired Racehorses Are Stars of the Show in Britain; Special Awards, Competitions Abound

While there is much talk of the need to find homes for retired racehorses in the United States, many potential owners must ask, "and then what?" Perhaps a look across the pond at the British organization Retraining of Racehorses would open some eyes.

Consider what's going on this weekend. More than 180 of the world's top eventing horses, many of them in contention for national team berths to the Olympics in Hong Kong next month, are competing in the three-star The St. James's Place Barbury International Horse Trials ("Barbury"). You'll find Gina Miles, Amy Tryon, Clark Montgomery and Karen O'Connor on the entry list there, all short-listed USA riders who hope to make The List.

Also on the program at Barbury is today's second running of The Retrained Racehorse Event Championship sponsored by RoR and the National Trainers Federation (NTF). The special event will pay out £5,500 (roughly US$11,000) in prize money (with roughly $3000 to the winner), and has attracted some big-name international entries including horses ridden and trained by international riders Andrew Nicholson, William Fox-Pitt, Kristina Cook and Clayton Fredericks.

The class is run at Open Intermediate Level with the cross country run over the CIC** course and the horses - which can be raced or unraced - must carry a Weatherbys passport. (All British horses are required to have "passports" with identification and health records detailed; Wetherbys is the UK's Thoroughbred breeding registration administrator.) The top 10 horses have been invited to continue with show jumping tomorrow.

A showcase parade of available racehorses that have been identified to have some potential for eventing will follow the Thoroughbred class tonight.

A similar class for ex-racehorses in showjumping was held at the Hickstead Derby, for show horses at the Royal Windsor Show, and also there is a series of awards for ex-racehorses who are now polo ponies, endurance horses, etc.

In addition to rewarding exemplary ex-racehorses and encouraging the public to retrain and rehome ex-flat racers and jump racers, ROR also educates new owners about caring for ex-racehorses and gives seminars.

On the admin side, the new organization has established a registry of ex-racehorses in Great Britain who are eligible for its programs and benefits.

The work done by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) was recently recognized by the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA), which awarded ROR the BEVA Equine Welfare Award for 2008.

The award, sponsored by the British animal charity Blue Cross, will be presented at the BEVA congress in Liverpool in September.

Welcome to Max! Read her blog, too!

Max Corcoran is the woman charged with the extraordinary task of managing the horses of the O'Connor Eventing Team. She's shown here with Karen O'Connor and the late great eventing pony Theodore O'Connor after their gold-medal performance at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Brazil. EquiSearch.com is lucky to have Max blogging her way through the Olympic team trials as Karen competes for a place on the team this weekend in England. (Photo from O'Connor Team web site)

The blog stable here at EquiSearch.com has just added a new wing...and some great opportunities for readers to get the inside story on the top level of eventing in this Olympic summer. Max Corcoran, groom for Karen O'Connor and Team O'Connor Eventing, now has a blog right next to the The Jurga Report on EquiSearch.com!

This week Max is in England at the Barbury*** Horse Trials with Karen O'Connor, Gina Miles, Amy Tryon and Clark Montgomery; Barbury is one of two required outings for the USA short-listed riders for the upcoming Hong Kong equestrian Olympics.

The direct link to Max's blog is
http://special.equisearch.com/blog/maxcorcoran/

The Atom feed address for the blog is
http://special.equisearch.com/blog/maxcorcoran/atom.xml

As with this blog, you can subscribe to the RSS/Atom feed and read Max's blog (and mine) on your favorite aggregator or right on your Google home page if you use the Foxfire browser, as I do.

What am I talking about? If you are using Foxfire as your browser, you will see that sometimes an orange icon (or sometimes a little blue RSS icon) appears on the right side of the address window on the browser. If you click on that orange symbol, a window will open, asking you if you would like to subscribe to the feed for that page or blog.

If you click on the affirmative, headlines and the first few paragraphs of posts from that blog will appear on your Google home page or whatever news reader you use

Yahoo.com has a similar function that will work regardless of the browser (I think). You have to opt for a personalized Yahoo.com index page, (http://cm.my.yahoo.com/) and then click on "add content". Then click on the icon to add rss feeds, and type in the web address of your favorite blog. (It should work.) That's the last time you will ever have to go to the actual web page.

Newsgator and other pages have similar functions but the Foxfire/Google option is so simple that I have stuck with that. I think the Safari browser has a good system as well, and it's fast! The advantage of these feeds is that all the blog headlines will be on one page and you can scan them quickly and efficiently. The only thing you can't see (in my experience) would be videos that are posted on another site, such as YouTube.

The old-fashioned way would be to make Max's blog (and this one!) a "favorite" or a "bookmark" and check back soon and often!

Enjoy the blogs! EquiSearch.com has an outstanding group of bloggers spread out all over the horse world! Bloggers like Max Corcoran don't just report the news--they make it!

Admitting there's a "YOU" in "Fugly": Unwanted Horse Coalition Meets in Washington; Free Download of Summary

Who's Fugly today? Fugly Horse of the Day is a blog that delivers a swift kick to the sensitive parts of the horse world. Anyone who thinks he or she is insulated from charges of cruel or questionable practices should think again; this web site has its camera lens focused on all of us. This video is a montage of photos from the blog. If you don't believe there are horses in need in the USA, just click on the "play" icon. "FHOTD" features a few stunners every day, and the blogger never seems to run out of horses. While her anger is apparent, it is a deadeye aim at humans. Humans make a horse Fugly, just because humans make horses, often for all the wrong reasons. (Images in video are direct from YouTube and attributed without explanation by FHOTD; you would have to go through the blog to read each photo's story.)

Many people in the horse world think that all this "unwanted horse" business does not apply to them. It's someone else's problem.

Make that everyone else's problem.


The way I think of it is: If you know that every horse you have owned in your life ended his or her life in the care of a concerned human (preferably yours), maybe you have a clear conscience. But for many of us who have sold a horse on and don't know how its life ended, there is always that little wisp of a cloud of doubt.

Could one of those horses in one of those videos have been your Misty, your Dusty, your Snowball, your Frosty, your Moose, or even my Skeeter?

We hate to think about it, but we have to. And we have to do a lot more than think about it. We have to do something about it.

This week in Washington DC, the American Horse Council and the US Department of Agriculture presented a full day's forum on the status of unwanted horses in our country. The report is slim, and grim. Full of things we already know, questions we have already asked, but the fact that people at the top of the decision-making and influence-peddling heap are paying attention is a ray of hope in a cloud-filled sky.

What can you or I do? Dr. Tom Lenz, representing the American Association of Equine Practitioners, summed it up for me: “Buy rather then breed. Adopt rather than buy. Find alternative careers. Euthanize rather than discard.”

It's time for the AAEP and the AVMA to put that mantra to work. Every time a vet leaves a barn, a card should be left behind with that advice. Posters need to go up in feed stores and at showgrounds.

I know that veterinarians, feed stores, tack shops and yes, horse magazines and web sites, make a lot of money from horse breeding, whether it's selling foal halters or stallion ads or performing AI and ultrasounds on mares.

I saw a bumper sticker from the dog side of the world. It read something like: "DO NOT BREED....when so many are in need!" We need a lot of those printed up with horses on them instead of dogs.

Most days, I force myself to visit an unpleasant blog called "Fugly Horse of the Day" and recommend it to you too. I think "FHOTD" must be the most popular horse blog on the entire Internet. It is irreverent. It is cruel. It is downright nasty. It makes me cringe. But I keep going back, because it keeps going on.

Each day, the blogger finds and ridicules a horse-for-sale ad found on the Internet. Most feature poorly-conformed products of what has come to be called "backyard breeding". Other days she takes aim at trainers or show practices. Some posts show tiny children playing under the hooves of "unbelievably gentle" stallions that are for sale. Some horses are shown in barbed-wire prisons. Others are deparately thin or deformed. Shrill-sounding owners plea for someone to "rescue" their lame, exhausted bred-to-death older mares who can no longer produce. Grade "stud colts" who should have been gelded years ago strut their pathetic stuff and fall prey to the blogger's ridicule.

She (I assume the blogger is female, but I could be mistaken) coins new words for bad colored horses, such as "hideozygous". She can and will make each and every one of us flinch, sooner or later. For many, the graphic language and in-your-face style are too much. For others, it's refreshing that someone has finally taken off the rose-colored glasses and shown us the reality of the American horse-owning public.

What keeps me coming back to FHOTD is the perpetuity of it. She never runs out of bad horse ads. She never quavers from her mission. Each blog post has hundreds of responses from her readers. This tells me that there is an endless supply out there of these horses.

Around here, land may be too valuable for people to have horses they don't use (or can't use). The cost of keeping a horse may too high for there to be too many field-bred accidents born each year, but I know there are some. And there are people everywhere who ride horses with ill-fitting tack, or do just plain dumb things (sometimes by accident). Horses get hurt because of owner ignorance regardless of zip code or boarding costs per month. And hurt horses in the unwanted pipeline go down quickly, until they end up on a trailer bound for Mexico or Canada, a long, long way from the green pastures that older horses romp through in fairy tales.

We invite you to download this article (see link below) on the unwanted horses meeting and read it. Get informed with these basic facts and then figure out where you're going to start to lend a hand. You can begin today, with a donation of time or cash to responsible horse rescue groups and sanctuaries who are hard at work trying to turn unwanted horses into wanted ones.

I hope your first pony lived out its days under the apple tree with Black Beauty and Ginger. That's the way it's supposed to be, but Fugly reality is haunting me. How about you?

AHC-USDAUnwantedHorsesFile.pdf

Tense Weekend in New Zealand as US Horse Imports (Falsely) Test Positive for Disease in Quarantine

Ever wonder what it would be like to see the international horse world instantly freeze in its own hoofprints? Is there anything that is more of a threat to the upcoming equestrian sports of the Beijing Olympics than the worldwide protests against human rights violations in China and the political situation in Tibet?

The answer is "yes" and it almost happened last weekend.

I held my breath before reporting on this story because it was THAT big news and I didn't want to start any panic or rumors.

Here's what happened: A group of horses traveling to New Zealand from the USA underwent routine disease testing on their arrival in Auckland last week. So far, this is normal.

If you have ever been to that wonderful tiny island nation as a human traveler, you know that they don't exactly welcome you with open arms. No, inspectors come on board your plane as soon as it lands and spray the whole thing down. Including you. Including the overhead bins. Including the plane itself. An island nation that depends on agriculture for its place on the world map can't afford to let a potentially dangerous virus, a fly, a caterpillar or anything else into their country. And you'd better not have any food in your luggage when you go through customs.

Somehow, New Zealand managed to dodge the Equine Influenza (EI) outbreak in eastern Australia last fall--an outbreak that shut down showing, rodeos, breeding and racing and cost the nation an estimated AUS$1 billion. The Kiwis protected themselves by slamming shut their doors and re-dedicating themselves to strict quarantine protocols. Lax quarantine procedures are being blamed for the leak of EI into the general horse population in Australia.

The American horses that landed last week must have sent the ag inspectors into orbit when their tests came back positive for EI. Of course, the horses had tested negative before leaving the USA. Give credit to the Kiwis' Biosecurity New Zealand agency, though, for deciding that a re-test was needed to confirm the results.

And the re-test showed that an error had occured and the samples had been contaminated by human error. The horses were not infected with EI, and their quarantine proceeded as usual.

Under import health standards, horses are required to undergo 21 days of quarantine before departure for New Zealand, including testing and vaccination, and a further 14 days in post-arrival quarantine in New Zealand, where they undergo further testing. Such stringent requirements are in place to ensure that horses entering New Zealand do not carry diseases like equine influenza.

But what if they had tested positive? An outbreak of disease in horses in Europe, the USA, or Australia/New Zealand could have a disastrous domino effect on international horse transport for racing, breeding and showing, and especially for the prospects of the Olympics coming up August.

Consider this: New Zealand is the only racing nation in the world that is free of EI.

Spin the globe and get another viewpoint: African Horse Sickness (AHS) killed more than 130 horses in South Africa this winter and is having a disastrous effect on horse exports there, as it has been for the past few years. Horses from South Africa ran away with two of the big races at the Dubai World Cup a few weeks ago, but breeders and trainers there would have a tough time selling horses anywhere right now.

Keep an eye on this blog. From now until the Olympics I will keep you posted on the world map of contagious horse diseases. It's a map that many health officials in Hong Kong are watching carefully.

Luckily, I live near Harvard University, where the International Society for Infectious Diseases runs its worldwide health monitoring system. I will be using their data reports, sifting through reports on diseases affecting monkeys and water buffalo and swans (not to mention humans) for news on horse disease outbreaks and other health issues that might threaten the Olympics. They provide a terrific service and I will pass on any news "as it happens".

At this point, I think that world politics are a much bigger threat to the Olympics than horse diseases. Please read the papers, listen to NPR, and scour good international news sources on the web (I recommend Reuters' News Agency excellent Olympics-specialty news channel) to take the pulse of world politics and sports politics. Tibet may not have an equestrian team but the plight of that beleagured nation can and will affect the horses that are out there schooling for selection trials to go to Hong Kong.

I am old enough to remember the ill-fated 1980 Olympics. At that time, the old US Equestrian Team's eventing training center was located down the road here on Boston's North Shore. How well I remember the heartbreak when the US team and coach Jack LeGoff were told that they would not be allowed to follow up their success at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, because the USA cancelled plans to participate in the Moscow Olympics for political reasons.

The Olympics are not just about sports. Please read the news with that in mind, and keep healthy horses on your wish list.

Could Your Horse Pass the Mensa Test? Psychology Researcher Proves That Horses Can Count!

It's a red-letter day for intelligent horses everywhere. Dr. Claudia Uller and Jennifer Lewis of the University of Essex are presenting their research into numerical discrimination in horses at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Dublin today.

Human adults, human infants and nonhuman primates are known to have a range of numerical abilities, but research into other species is relatively new.

In two tasks, modeled on those previously used with human infants and nonhuman primates to examine basic counting abilities, the researchers used apples placed in containers to measure whether horses would make a choice based on the number involved. Time, sound and smell cues were all controlled.

When given a choice, the animals chose the containers with the most apples significantly more often. This result suggests that horses too, and not only primates, are able to spontaneously discriminate between two small numbers.

In the first task 13 horses were tested in their stables, with a series of identical fake apples sequentially placed into two opaque containers in front of them – two into the first and three in the second. The containers were then held up to the horses at head level allowing them to make a choice. Eleven of the 13 horses selected the bucket containing three apples instead of two.

In a second experiment, 11 horses were shown two containers of apples that were matched in total amount of volume but differing in number: one contained two identical small apples and the second set consisted of one larger apple with double the surface area. Ten of the 12 horses selected the two apples instead of a single bigger one.
The results show that horses ‘go for more’ just like human infants and nonhuman primates have been shown to do in similar experiments.

Dr Uller said: “This result suggests that horses too, and not only primates, are able to spontaneously discriminate between two small numbers. This may be another piece in the jigsaw (puzzle) explaining the evolutionary origins of our ability to count.”

Blogger's Note: This is a real turn of events! Throughout history, the ability of so-called "trick" or "wonder" horses to count has always been discounted by academics. Horses like Beautiful Jim Key and"Clever Hans" thrilled thousands and were summoned by royalty to perform, but were denounced from the ivory towers by doubting professors as being manipulated by trickster trainers. We'll never know just how smart those horses were.

Arabian Horse Association Forms New Charitable Foundation

(edited from press release)

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) announced the formation of a new Arabian Horse Foundation to meet the growing needs of the Arabian horse community. The foundation will fund previously unsupported areas, such as general education, equine research and disaster relief. Donors will have the option to designate their contributions to a particular category.

“This foundation will provide, for the first time, a way for donors to select how they want their gift to be used,” said Larry Kinneer, President of the Foundation.

Board members decided on the new categories partly based on recent events. “The fires in Southern California in 2007 displaced approximately 4,000 horses. And no one can forget the devastation that Hurricane Katrina caused to both humans and horses. Each of these tragic events left horses without homes, food and water, and in need of medical attention. In the future, when such catastrophic events occur, the Arabian community will have a presence in helping through the Arabian Horse Foundation,” said Kinneer.

When asked about the other categories previously unsupported, Kinneer added, “Research into equine health-related needs has always been important to our breed as well as the entire equine community. We can now focus our financial support, particularly toward genetic problems or ailments that are unique to our breed. And, seeking every opportunity to educate the public about how wonderful Arabians are is always high on our priority list.”

Visit the Arabian Horse Foundation’s website at www.arabianhorsefoundation.org where you can get more information about the foundation or make a contribution.

The foundation’s administrative offices are at the Arabian Horse Association headquarters located at 10805 Bethany Dr., Aurora, CO 80014. Call (303) 696-4500 for more information.

American Horse Council Supports Tightening of Slaughter Horse Regulations

(received via press release today and posted for your information)

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Horse Council (AHC) has told the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it supports the Department’'s proposal to amend the regulations governing the commercial transportation of equines for slaughter. The proposed changes would extend the regulatory protections provided by the Commercial Transport of Equines to Slaughter Act to horses bound for slaughter, but delivered first to an assembly point, feedlot, or stockyard.

The AHC was one of the principal organizations involved in passing the Commercial Transport of Horses to Slaughter Act. The AHC was also involved in working with USDA in drafting the rules adopted under the Act to regulate the transport of equines for slaughter in December, 2001,” said Jay Hickey, AHC President.

The rules presently require that shippers certify the fitness of these horses to travel and provide them with water, food, and rest for 6 hours prior to being loaded for transport. Horses cannot be shipped for more than 28 hours without being off-loaded for 6 hours and given the chance to rest, eat and drink. While in transport, horses must be checked at least every 6 hours to ensure that no horse has fallen or is in distress. Trucks used to transport horses to processing facilities must allow for the segregation of stallions and aggressive horses from others.

The rules prohibited the use of double-deck trailers to commercially transport horses to slaughter after December 7, 2006.

The current rules apply only to the transport of horses directly to the slaughter plant, not to any initial shipment to an assembly point, feedlot or stockyard during the shipping process,” said Hickey. “USDA felt that this was a gap in the protections of the Act and the AHC agrees.”

The proposed change would broaden the protections to include all horses “being transferred to a slaughter facility, including an assembly point, feedlot, or stockyard.” In effect, the proposed changes would move-up the point at which the regulations apply in the process of moving horses from sales, farms, and other points to a slaughter facility. This would provide horses delivered to intermediate points en route to slaughter with the same protections regarding food, water, hour limits, and the prohibition on double-decker trucks as those horses moved directly to plants.

The rules do not –and would not under the proposed changes – apply to the transport of horses for other purposes, such as breeding, racing, show or recreation.

Appleby Horse Fair: Tradition Tinged with Tragedy

Yesterday was the closing day of Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, England. As noted in a blog post last week, this is one of the world's last great gypsy horse fairs. Gypsy and traveller horsemen from all over the British Isles travel by every conveyance (including traditional gypsy horse-drawn wagons) to sell their horses. The most coveted are what we now call in America, the "Gypsy Vanner" type, a small draughty, cresty-necked, loudly-colored pinto with lots of feather and pizzazz.

In spite of the presence of 12 inspectors from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), there was a sad mishap this year. One of the big parts of the "show" is the washing of horses in the river. It's a slippery slope down to the river, and the RSPCA helped out by building a horse-friendly ramp.

But apparently one fellow was showing off and forced a very skittish horse into the river. The horse panicked and drowned right in front of a crowd of onlookers on the riverbank.

Sure, there are pictures on the web if you want to do a Google news search. A bit too sad for me to post, though.

The gypsy vanners who have made it to America and are fluffed and polished by loving owners are the very, very lucky ones of their type.

African Horse Sickness: The Europeans Are On Guard

African Horse Sickness (AHS) was diagnosed in Spain in 1987-90 and in Portugal in 1989 but was eradicated using slaughter policies, movement restrictions, vector eradication and vaccination. Were it to break out in Europe again, under current vector and climate conditions it is inevitable that it will have a much greater opportunity to establish itself.

In August 2006, Dutch, Belgian and German Authorities officially notified the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) of the occurrence of an outbreak of bluetongue in sheep in their countries.

Several research topics related to midge-borne animal disease are already under study by 21 partner organizations in Europe, around the Mediterranean and in South Africa, the country that discovered bluetongue at the start of the 1900s.

Surveillance of disease circulation is a priority. This is followed by surveillance of the vector insects (trapping and identification, since not all the vectors are known, although researchers say there are "suspect" European species).

The next step will be to analyze the genome of the virus, sequence it and build groups of virus families so as to determine their origin. In fact, there are 24 bluetongue virus serotypes, and the disease serves as a model in studies of emerging diseases. "Infection by one serotype does not protect against the other 23," says researcher Guillaume Gerbier of France-based Medreonet research project, "and to date, we have only recorded eight serotypes around the Mediterranean since the bluetongue epidemic of 1999".

The research partners are currently working closely to monitor the emergence of new serotypes around the Mediterranean and draw up bluetongue surveillance protocols. Researchers are concerned that the disease may recur in the spring. The aim in the medium term is also to set up a joint observatory.

A recent outbreak of equine disease that killed 13 horses in South Africa turned out not to be AHS, as was initially suspected. South Africa only recently had a multi-year ban on horse exports lifted from the last outbreak of AHS there. In spite of the high danger in that country, only about 50 percent of the horses are vaccinated.

Information for this post was gathered from multiple sources and especially the excellent web site of the African Horse Sickness Trust of South Africa. Visiting that web site is an education in itself.

EHV-1 Surfaces Again at Racetracks in California

Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), announced yesterday that two barns are under quarantine at Los Alamitos Race Course following the deaths of two horses from the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1). One was a stable pony and the other a racehorse. Lab results are pending on other suspected cases.

Elsewhere in California, a mare at Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco aborted a fetus, which subsequently tested positive for EHV-1, although the mare tested negative according to the CHRB. Biosecurity measures are in place at that track.

Dr. Byars to Assess Wellington Situation at Thursday Meeting

The following is a press release received by The Jurga Report from Stadium Jumping Inc., via USEF. Phelps Sports' contact Ken Kraus reported this afternoon that Stadium Jumping is providing the location for the meeting but is not involved in the meeting.

(begin press release)
Wellington, FL – January 3, 2007 – Stadium Jumping, Inc. the producers of the Winter Equestrian Festival, the nation’s largest and longest running equestrian series, has announced that the Jockey Club will once again be made available for an important public forum to discuss the on-going EHV outbreak. The gathering will take place on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. The club is located alongside the Internationale Arena on the showgrounds located at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida.

This will be the second Thursday in a row that area equestrians have assembled at the Jockey Club to discuss the EHV outbreak in Wellington.

“We feel it’s important to make our facility available for these types of community discussions,” said Eugene R. Mische, the President of Stadium Jumping, Inc. “We’re happy that Dr. Byars has agreed to lend his expert opinion to this on-going situation, and I look forward to hearing his assessment of where we’ve been and where we stand now. I also think it’s important,” Mische added, “that our area horsemen have a chance to voice any concerns they may have as we work our way to the start of the 2007 WEF show season.”

The key meeting was requested by Dr. John Steele and Dr. Ben Schachter, two respected Wellington area veterinarians, with over eighty years of experience between them. The meeting was called to bring concerned area equestrians up to date on the current EHV situation in Wellington, and will feature Dr. Doug Byars, the former head of Internal Medicine at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, Kentucky. The panel will also include Dr. Fred Petersen.

Byars is a recognized expert on the EHV virus, and will bring to the meeting his independent assessment of the EHV outbreak in Wellington following a complete tour of the area ‘hot spots’ on Wednesday.

Everyone in the Wellington community is welcome to attend this forum, beginning at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

(end press release)

Background article for horse owners on Equine Herpes Virus and, in particular, EHV-1, from the American Association of Equine Practitioners

Photo: John Steele DVM, show horse specialist veterinarian from Vernon, NY, and Ben Schacter DVM of Wellington Equine Associates in Lake Worth, Florida, were instrumental in bringing equine disease specialist Doug Byars DVM to Florida to assess the EHV outbreak. Dr. Steele travels to Florida in the winter months to provide services to his clients at their winter shows. Photo kindly provided by Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com