Health Management
Vitamin E a must for horse health
March 06th, 2022
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Horses need to eat their greens, too — and if they can’t get the proper nutrients through grazing, it’s important for owners to be aware of how to ensure nutritional needs are met. One important nutrient for horses is vitamin E. This powerful antioxidant keeps equine muscle and nerve cells healthy and helps to support the immune system. Because horses …
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Next phase in the war against worms
Road apples, manure, poop, fecal balls — whatever you call it, horses’ feces have been the mainstay of equine deworming programs for years. “For a long time, parasitology has been really reliant on seeing eggs in poop,” says Dr. Emily Jenkins, a researcher at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). The current method of detecting intestinal parasites in a …
December 05th, 2021 Full story »
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Primed up for a down horse
When the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Medical Centre (VMC) received a call about a down horse last fall, the hospital’s large animal clinical team jumped into action. Hickory, a 12-year-old quarter horse mare, had competed in a rodeo in Regina, Sask., on a warm September day. Unfortunately, after Hickory and her rider completed running a pole pattern, the …
April 15th, 2021 Full story »
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First aid, equine style
Anyone who’s been around horses knows they’re accident prone and susceptible to problems such as colic and choke. If you’re a horse owner, knowing first aid can help you to prepare yourself and your animal for the veterinarian’s arrival. How can horse owners prepare themselves for emergencies? Practise examining your horse so you become familiar with the process and can …
May 30th, 2018 Full story »
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Reining in equine obesity
Imagine you’re a draft horse. The year is 1927 and you spend most of your time hooked up to a plow in the field, burning calories and muscle. You dine primarily on grain. It’s important to keep your energy up because you work hard every day and your family depends on you. When the tractor comes along, your role on …
October 23rd, 2017 Full story »
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Planning key to protecting horse’s health
As a horse owner, you’re always on the lookout for potential risks to your horse’s well being at home and on the road. But what you may not realize is that the greatest threat could be standing right in the next stall. “The most dangerous thing to your horse’s health is another horse,” says Dr. Chris Clark, a large animal …
February 11th, 2017 Full story »
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Location key issue in assessing wounds
Horses can suffer from all types of wounds, and while some wounds look much worse than others, the primary assessment of their severity is the same as that of gauging housing prices: location, location, location. This claim is backed by Dr. Suzanne Mund, a master’s degree student in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. …
January 12th, 2017 Full story »
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New tool homes in on equine lameness
Whether their patient is a high performance equine athlete or a beloved pony, veterinarians at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) have access to a full range of technologies that can help diagnose equine lameness and pinpoint problems. A new addition came in August 2015 when the college’s Veterinary Medical Centre acquired a Lameness Locator®, an advanced diagnostic tool …
October 16th, 2015 Full story »
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Strategic deworming key for parasite control
Fall is here and it’s time to deworm your horse again — or is it? Traditional deworming protocols with a zero tolerance for any parasites may not be the best option for your horse, says Dr. Fernando Marqués, a board-certified specialist in large animal internal medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s (WCVM) Veterinary Medical Centre. There’s no one-size-fits-all protocol …
October 08th, 2015 Full story »
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Health management for performance horses
Much like humans, equine athletes performing at a high level can be at risk for certain conditions that cause poor performance. “Factors that make them athletes also predispose them to disease,” says Dr. Julia Montgomery, a specialist in large animal internal medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). Horses have a very large heart with a low resting …
September 10th, 2015 Full story »
