equine health
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Equine expo a welcome mid-winter break
Western Canada’s equine community is looking forward to the third annual Saskatchewan Equine Expo at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon from Feb. 14-16, 2014. “We have a full schedule once again this year,” says Brenda Sapergia, livestock manager for Prairieland Park Ag Centre. “Our headline events – the Trainer’s Challenge and the Cowhorse Competition – will of course be returning. New …
January 13th, 2014 Full story »
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WCVM scientists focus on moon blindness
Six years ago, Shelley and Ray Ruiters purchased an Appaloosa mare named Annie from friends who thought she would be a great fit for the couple. It turned out that the Ruiters’ friends were exactly right. “From the first day I met her we just rode off on our own and she never missed a beat,” says Shelley. About a …
December 07th, 2013 Full story »
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Group backs equine health at grassroots level
The Equine Foundation of Canada (EFC) may be small, but in the past four decades, this grassroots group has managed to accomplish great things in support of horse health care in Canada. The volunteer organization has raised nearly $890,000 in donations that have supported a variety of organizations, people and projects in the past 30 years. The list of recipients …
October 30th, 2013 Full story »
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Sable Island ponies “shop” like we do
It turns out that horses and people have a lot in common when it comes to shopping habits, according to Philip McLoughlin, associate professor of biology at the University of Saskatchewan. In a paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology, McLoughlin and his colleagues describe the habits of the famous wild horses at Sable Island National Park Reserve off the …
September 24th, 2013 Full story »
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“SIP project” targets sand colic
I’ve spent a lot of time this summer with my arm up the south end of a lot of northbound horses — all for the sake of finding sand in poop. Nicknamed the “SIP project,” I’m working with Dr. Steve Manning of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) to take repeat fecal samples from a number of horses at equine …
September 20th, 2013 Full story »
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EHRF Research Grants, 2013-14
Is fine needle aspiration an option for diagnosing equine skin disease? Drs. Bruce Wobeser and Hilary Burgess Skin disease, including both skin cancers and inflammatory conditions, is common in horses. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a technique commonly used to diagnose similar conditions in companion animals. It involves inserting a needle into the skin and extracting cells for microscopic observation. …
September 19th, 2013 Full story »
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What is shipping fever?
“Shipping fever” is a common name for pleuropneumonia, a serious infection involving the lungs and pleural cavity (the space between the lungs and the chest wall) that’s often caused by the stress of travel. When fluid is found only in the lungs, and not in the pleural cavity, it’s simply referred to as pneumonia. Symptoms of pleuropneumonia include a foul …
August 30th, 2013 Full story »
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Devereux, a horse with heart
Rick Fraser, along with his daughter Kaylee, made the long road trip from Wetaskiwin, Alta., to Kentucky in the fall of 2012 to purchase new recruits for the family’s award-winning chuckwagon string. They had filled their six-horse trailer and were on their second day of travelling home when they stopped in Saskatoon to rest and check on the horses. That’s …
August 30th, 2013 Full story »
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EHRF Research Grants: 2008-2009
What’s the shelf life of pergolide mesylate? Drs. Trish Dowling and Katherine Ball, WCVM; and Dr. Gordon McKay, U of S College of Pharmacy and Nutrition Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) — or equine Cushing’s disease — is a significant health problem in senior horses, affecting one in 10 horses more than 20 years of age. Affected horses commonly suffer career-limiting and …
June 05th, 2013 Full story »
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Lohmann is students’ choice for award
Dr. Katharina Lohmann likes all aspects of her work, but what the associate professor enjoys most about her job at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) is teaching and being with her students. “I like that the teaching aspect changes all the time – it keeps me on my toes,” says Lohmann, a specialist in large animal medicine. …
May 24th, 2013 Full story »
