Going for the gold: Meet the U.S. jumping team vetMarch 1, 2022Veterinarians are integral to the health and safety of the show jumpers competing in the Olympics and other equestrian events around the world.
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Gene-doping test supports health of racehorsesMarch 9, 2021Eliminating the administration of illicit, gene doping therapies in racehorses and other equine athletes is the driving force behind a new development out of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet).
Racehorse safety focus of California billJanuary 9, 2020Following almost 40 deaths of racehorses in California, new legislation has been launched to improve equine veterinary care at racetracks across the state.
UF studies anesthetic with potential for misuse in racehorsesApril 16, 2019A local anesthetic with the potential for misuse in racehorses is being studied by veterinarians at the University of Florida (UF) College of Veterinary Medicine in collaboration with UF Racing Laboratory. The study will observe bupivacaine as there are concerns the extended release form of the drug could be used unethically to mask pain or an injury in a racehorse. "Bupivacaine has been around for a while," says Taralyn McCarrel, DVM, an equine surgeon and the grant's principal investigator. "We don't use it a lot, as most of the time we're doing very short procedures and for those, we tend to use drugs that are shorter-acting. This is true also when we're using them in a lameness examination. We only need the drugs to last a few hours in most cases." "In this new formulation, tiny droplets of bupivacaine are wrapped in a membrane, which is the liposomal component. After injection, the liposomes start to break down, and gradually release these small pockets of drug over a long time." The research team will start by determining the minimal effective dose to block pain in a horse's foot and to assess how long the anesthetic effect lasts. They will then …
