Ebarrelracing Top News

We have just received the following information for horses moving to Canada from Texas for the Calgary Stampede.  More stringent regulations are in place for Texas horses, due to vesicular stomatitis (VS).   If you plan to haul your horse, PLEASE ensure that you can meet ALL the requirements.  Carla Everett, Texas Animal Health Commission, Public Info

The horses must be accompanied by a USDA Official Zoosanitary Export Certificate (VS 17-140 or 17-145), issued by a USDA accredited veterinarian, and endorsed by a USDA Veterinarian.

Form VS 17-140 or 17-145 must contain the following statements:

1.  The horse(s) being presented for importation have been either resident in the United States since birth, or for at least sixty (60) days immediately prior to the date of exportation and have met all of the import requirements of the United States.

2.  The horses were inspected by a USDA accredited veterinarian within ten (10) days preceding the date of importation, and found to be free from any communicable diseases.

3.  To the best of the knowledge and belief of the USDA accredited veterinarian, the horses were not exposed to any communicable disease within sixty (60) days preceding the date of inspection.

4.  The horses were tested negative for equine infectious anemia using the agar gel immunodiffusion test (Coggins) or ELISA test within six (6) months immediately preceding the date of exportation.

5.  The horse(s) have not been on a premises where Taylorella equigenitalis has been isolated during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation to Canada, or on a premises currently under quarantine or investigation for contagious equine metritis (CEM).  Any mares in the shipment have not been bred naturally to a stallion resident on a premises affected with CEM or under quarantine or investigation for CEM.  Any mares in the shipment have not been inseminated with semen from a stallion positive for CEM or a stallion resident on a CEM-positive premises or under quarantine or investigation for CEM.

6.  The horse(s) showed no clinical signs of CEM on the day of inspection.

7.  During the previous twenty-one (21) days, the horse(s) in this shipment has/have not been in the State of Missouri.

8.  Regarding vesicular stomatitis:

1. The animal is free from clinical signs of vesicular stomatitis.
2. The animal has not been on a premises in a county affected with vesicular stomatitis or travelled through an infected county within 21 days prior to export.
3. The premises of origin is located at least 25 kilometers (15 miles) from any premises currently under quarantine for vesicular stomatitis.

(Delete as appropriate)
d.   The animal tested negative to a c-ELISA test taken within 10 days prior to export.

OR

The animal was positive to a c-Elisa test but tested negative on re-test with a complement fixation (CF) test conducted on the same sample within 10 days prior to export.

9.  The horse(s) are fit for transport.  On the day of inspection, no horse has an infirmity, illness, injury or any other condition that could be aggravated when the animal is being transported, causing the animal to suffer.  The exporter has been advised that any deterioration in condition before departure may render the animal ineligible for transport.  The shipment may be refused entry to Canada if the animal or manner of shipping is found to be in contravention of transport regulations under the Health of Animals Regulations at the time of presentation for import to Canada.

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Filed under: Disease Outbrake, Government, Industry, Veterinary Medicine, Watching

America’s Horse, June 30, 2009 – All American Quarter Horses, American Paint Horses and Appaloosas conceived by mares and stallions living in Texas during 2009 are eligible to be nominated to the new Texas Equine Incentive Fund. House Bill 1881, which was signed by Gov. Rick Perry on June 19, becomes law September 1.

The bill creates a voluntary monetary incentive program to keep Quarter, Paint and Appaloosa horses breeding, showing or racing in Texas.

The bill was introduced into the Texas House by Rep. Sid Miller (R) of Erath in February and garnered broad support as a nonpartisan bill that did not assess taxes on Texas residents.

Miller was the 2006 and 2007 amateur tie-down roping world champion and the 2007 reserve world champion in amateur breakaway roping at the AQHA World Championship Show, and the reserve world champion in breakaway roping at AQHA’s 2008 Bayer Select World Championship Show.

The Texas Equine Incentive Fund will provide rural jobs in the state of Texas by providing incentives to raise and show horses in Texas, rather than other states. The funds for the program are raised within the horse industry and will be administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture. The rules and guidelines for the program will be determined by a panel representing each of the stock-horse breeds.

The equine industry was worth more than $11 billion in 1998, according to studies at Texas A&M University.

Texas is home to about 900,000 horses. More than 450,000 people are employed by or involved in the industry. More than 101,000 service-providers’ jobs are affected, including veterinarians, veterinary support staff, real estate agents, trainers, farriers, horse trailer dealerships, truck dealerships, fertilizer dealers, feed stores, saddle and tack makers, western apparel stores, hay growers, hotels and restaurants.

For more information, contact the Texas-Bred Horse Association at (214) 223-4188. Watch upcoming issues of The American Quarter Horse Journal for more information on this program.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America’s Horse, visit www.aqha.com/magazines.

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Filed under: AQHA, Industry

America’s Horse, July, 1, 2009 – You can view the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum like never before through an online virtual tour. Visit www.aqhhalloffame.com to see 360-degree views inside and outside the Hall of Fame.

You can experience the wonder of the Hall of Fame from your computer and feel like you are actually at the museum in Amarillo through interactive views of the exterior, Grand Hall, Kenneth Banks Theater, Timeline Entry and Timeline Exhibit.

The exterior view features the many bronze sculptures outside the museum as well as the American Quarter Horse Association headquarters. Moving inside, you can see the magnificence of the Grand Hall with the majestic Hall of Fame medallion, massive stone columns, plaques of the Hall of Fame inductees, and even the Dorothy and Clarence Scharbauer Jr. bloodlines chart etched into the floor.

Tour the Kenneth Banks Theater with its collection of original oil paintings by Orren Mixer depicting many American Quarter Horse legends. The Timeline Entry and Exhibit views show how the Hall of Fame members are honored through the timeline and their collections, which include artifacts and biographies.

The virtual tour of the Hall of Fame provides a detailed glimpse into the facility designed to showcase the legends in the American Quarter Horse industry. This new HD virtual tour technology is provided by New Spin 360. The company captured seamless 360-degree high-resolution panoramic images of the Hall of Fame and then made them available though Adobe Flash player as an interactive tour.

Take the tour today at www.aqhhalloffame.com and experience the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum from wherever you are.

Be sure to visit the Hall of Fame & Museum in person to experience all the wonder and enjoyment of the American Quarter Horse. The museum’s hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The museum is closed on Sundays

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America’s Horse, visitwww.aqha.com/magazines.

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Filed under: AQHA, Industry

Schaumburg, IL

— A groundbreaking study to be published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) shows that furosemide does more than enhance performance in Thoroughbred racehorses; it also has beneficial effects on the health and welfare of those horses.

Most countries ban the race-day use of furosemide because it improves performance in racehorses. Only the United States, some South American countries, including Brazil, and some tracks in Canada, allow the use of furosemide on race day.

“The data in the study provides the most reliable information to guide the highly politicized debate over use of furosemide in horses,” says Dr. Kenneth Hinchcliff, professor and dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, and co-author with Professor Paul Morley, Colorado State University, and Professor Alan Guthrie, University of Pretoria in South Africa. “To date, there has been only a limited amount of high-quality evidence – and none matching the quality of this study – to inform the debate. We know that furosemide is associated with improved performance, and that exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) markedly affects race performance. But we didn’t know the answer to the third – and most important – leg of the trifecta: Whether furosemide is effective in treating EIPH. We now know.”

The study, “Efficacy of furosemide for prevention of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage in Thoroughbred racehorses,” which will appear in the July 1, 2009, issue of the JAVMA, is the first of its kind to draw a definitive link between the use of the drug and the prevention of the bleeding condition in Thoroughbreds.

The study included 167 Thoroughbred racehorses that performed under typical racing conditions in South Africa between Nov. 20 and Nov. 28, 2007. Each horse in the study raced twice, once after receiving furosemide before the race and once after receiving a placebo. The results showed that horses were 3 to 11 times as likely to have EIPH after placebo administration as they were after administration of furosemide. In addition, about two-thirds of the horses that had EIPH after administration of the placebo had a reduction in EIPH severity when treated with furosemide.

Hinchcliff, Morley and Guthrie conducted what is considered the “gold standard” of scientific studies, performing a well-designed, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

The study was truly an international collaboration.

“The study could not have been conducted without the strong support of the racing industry, both through the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and Racing Medication and Testing Consortium in the United States, and the racing industry in South Africa,” said Guthrie.

“This study design is similar to those used to test the efficacy of treatment in human medicine,” Morley said. “To date, such studies have been uncommon in veterinary science, and we believe that our study is unique among studies of drug efficacy in racehorses under conditions of racing. The rigorous approach to study design resulted in a very clear result.”

Once the study results are widely circulated, the authors anticipate that some racing jurisdictions may reconsider their ban on the use of furosemide.

“It is likely that racing jurisdictions will reconsider, in one way or another, their position on the use of furosemide,” they said. “However, the decision to allow or disallow the use is based on the balance of a number of factors, and resolution of this complex situation will take some time.”

“The challenge will now be for countries such as England, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa that do not currently permit race-day use of furosemide. The challenge that they will face is balancing the animal-welfare aspect of being able to prevent or reduce the condition against the imperatives for drug-free racing. Additionally, instituting race-day administration of furosemide would be a significant added expense to racing.”

For a copy of the study, contact David Kirkpatrick at 847-285-6782 or dkirkpatrick@avma.org.

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The AVMA and its more than 78,000 member veterinarians are engaged in a wide variety of activities dedicated to advancing the science and art of animal, human and public health.

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Filed under: Industry, Veterinary Medicine, Watching

Horse owners often search for a magic feedstuff that will enable horses to go farther, run faster, be healthier, and move sounder. Often, a variety of oral supplements are added to the diet, with unknown results. Some feed additives can cause more harm than good, or, at the very least, put a large hole…  Read more

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Filed under: Industry, TheHorse