Ask Your Veterinarian

Question: What do we know about environmental factors that could make a horse more or less likely to get OCD? Answer: Osteochondrosis (OC) is widely understood to be a disturbance of endochondral ossification (the formation of bone from cartilage) and is arguably one of the most clinically relevant developmental orthopedic diseases in the equine patient. Although […]

The yearling sale season kicks off at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday with the July Sale, a day after the venerable auction company holds its annual Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale. The Paulick Report is pleased to offer its special print publication distributed on the sale grounds and online. This edition of the PR Special […]

QUESTION: Some buyers at the upper end of the auction market are now including heart scans as part of their pre-sale vetting process. What can these scans tell buyers, and what don’t they tell us? ANSWER: Heart scans, also known as echocardiograms, are used to create ultrasonographic images of the heart. Echocardiography allows visualization of the entirety […]

QUESTION: When a horse ships long distances to race, why do some lose so much weight…and how long does it take them to recover fully? DR. PETER MORRESEY: Transportation causes stress in horses. Many things are done to minimize this, but stress cannot be eliminated completely and like people, horses respond individually. Many studies have […]

QUESTION: Why might it be helpful to “blister” a bowed tendon or other soft tissue injury? Are there types of injuries you shouldn’t blister? DR. S. HEATH SOIGNIER: Different types of “blisters” are used for a “bowed” tendon. The most common involves the placement of a chemical irritant over the injured area of a distal […]

QUESTION: It seems Thoroughbred horses are prone to low heel and long toes. Have you found this to be true, and is it good or bad for a racehorse? DR. RAUL BRAS: The low heel-long toes trait is one of the most common hoof abnormalities described in the racehorse. Functionally adapted for speed and efficient […]

QUESTION: “I’ve got a horse in training with shelly feet. How much can I reasonably improve his hoof quality with a change in feed or supplements?” DR. CRAIG LESSER: When approaching a horse with shelly feet it is important to consider a variety of factors including environment, workload, conformation, poor shoeing/shallow nailing and overall health […]

QUESTION: I’ve heard there are cases where tie-back surgeries fail after some time. Why might this happen? ANSWER: A tieback (prosthetic laryngoplasty) is considered the treatment of choice for racehorses that have laryngeal hemiplegia (arytenoid paralysis or “roaring”). The post-operative success rate in improving racing performance in Thoroughbreds is highly variable. Horses with a paralyzed arytenoid […]

Q: Veterinarians have been getting the word out for a while about the importance of rotating deworming products and focusing on high shedders. Can you explain why, and do we know yet whether this strategy is reducing drug resistance? A: For years, veterinarians and horse owners have correlated rotational deworming of horses with any number […]

Q: We’ve heard a lot about how this year’s human flu shot doesn’t seem to be as effective as it has been in years past.  Do equine vaccines also get modified from year to year, and if so, how concerned should managers be that a vaccinated horse could get an infectious disease? A: The short […]