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.

A report recently published in Canadian Veterinary Journal tells the story of how a team of veterinarians at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) linked cases of an uncommon cardiac disease in horses with a caterpillar infestation in Saskatchewan.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus that affects humans and other animals, of which horses represent 96.9 percent of reported non-human cases. Introduced to the United States in 1999, WNV is now found in all of the contiguous 48 states.

Quality routine FECR testing is recommended in horses - A valuable reminder of the danger of importing anthelmintic resistance is given in a recent report. A case of macrocyclic lactone (ML) resistance in a group of Thoroughbred yearlings imported from Ireland to the United States is described by Martin K Nielsen, who is the Schlaikjer Professor of Equine Infectious Disease at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, and colleagues.