A Burgeoning Business - In the past eight years, stand-alone equine rehabilitation and conditioning centres that help horses return to health or greater fitness have been opening their doors in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Depending on the business owners’ interests, skills, and client base each operation provides a unique suite of therapy modalities such as treadmills, pools, exercisers, saltwater baths, and solariums. Additional services and treatments such as bodywork, nebulizers, and product sales are also common.

Atrial fibrillation is the most commonly recognized disturbance of heart rhythm in athletic horses. It is an important cause of poor performance and has implications for safety of horse and rider.

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.