The crisp, cool temperatures of fall are delightful for human and horse alike. But as nature slips toward a dormant state, hay becomes the forage of choice for most horses. Hay is dead grass. Once fresh grass is cut, dried, and stored as hay, its vitamin content, along with valuable omega 3 fatty acids, dramatically decline, making supplementation necessary to fill in nutritional gaps.

Friesian horses far more susceptible to genetic defect associated with painful eye condition - An interdisciplinary team of scientists and clinicians, led by Dr. Rebecca Bellone at the University of California Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, has identified a genetic variant associated with distichiasis in Friesian horses.

There are two simple words that describe painful, exercise-associated muscle cramping in a horse: tying up. While the traditional tying up usually occurs after a long hard ride, some horses can tie up repeatedly for no immediately obvious reason. Regardless of the underlying cause, the clinical signs are similar. And in most cases, affected horses require immediate veterinary care, says Dr. Fabienne Uehlinger of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

During the summer there are often waves of horses presenting with respiratory disease. Ontario Veterinary College researcher, Janet Beeler-Marfisi, never really ascribed that to being part of air pollution until her recent research revealed that horses, with their far greater lung capacity and athleticism, can also suffer when air pollution levels rise.