I’ve witnessed cases where surgery under general anaesthesia is both dangerous and unnecessary, for example, in the surgical treatment of splint bone fractures. The other key area where surgery is associated with complications during recovery from anaesthetic is fracture repair. These sort of complications can now be avoided thanks to our ability to perform surgery in the standing sedated horse,” he said.

When it comes to pre-purchase examinations, the veterinarian’s job is neither to pass nor fail a horse. Rather, it’s to provide the purchaser with information about existing medical problems and explain the possibility of future ones – especially in light of the horse’s intended use.

“The reality is that complications following castrations is quite common and include swelling, hemorrhage and infection. There are, of course, effective ways to manage or treat these complications, but what continually surprises me is the reaction of owners when their horse does have a complication following surgery.”

“It’s normal for horses to show significant postoperative pain following conventional open surgery of the dorsal spinous process. However, with this relatively new technique, postoperative pain is unusual, horses are discharged the following day with oral antibiotics and the recovery time is much faster,” Dr Bladon said.

Horses are at highest risk of contracting West Nile virus during peak mosquito activity, which occurs July through October in the United States.1 However, there’s still an opportunity to help protect horses against this life-threatening disease.

UC Davis veterinarians are warning horse owners to keep their animals away from Pistacia orchards, as the leaves and seeds of this genus can cause hemolytic anemia, and be fatal, if ingested.

Horses carry 60 to 65 percent of their weight on their forehand while moving.2 And the faster a horse moves, the more stress on the joint. To put this in perspective, a 1,000-pound horse is carrying approximately 625 pounds by the front legs.

Grass clippings that stay on the pasture after mowing, where they can dry in small amounts, are generally not a problem. But never gather them into piles to feed them to your horse. Here’s why…

After you have made sure your horse is sound and ready for work, begin with short conditioning sessions at the walk and trot only and mostly in straight lines and soft curves or serpentines for 20 to 30 minutes per day. This will allow your horse to build up his muscles slowly while allowing all of the horse’s muscles, tendons and ligaments to stretch. Asking a horse that is not conditioned properly to perform small, tight turns will put undue stress on under-developed muscles, tendons and ligaments and could cause injury.

“Imagine learning about a rare or complex surgery as if you’re right there at the operating table,” Tayce said. “We could create virtual environments to supplement student learning. We are only scratching the surface of possibilities.”