News and veterinarian-approved articles on
equine health care from The Horse magazine.

• Horses and the Law

  Scuppy, Part 2
  The "first bite rule" took a serious hit in Connecticut when the state Court of Appeals ruled that the proper question in a personal injury lawsuit was not whether an individual horse had a known history of biting, but whether horses as a species had dangerous propensities.

• Old Horses: Better With Age

  Managing a Missing Tooth
  During my time caring for a herd of mainly senior horses, we encountered dental problems on a regular basis. One mare in particular had a single missing tooth that caused a surprisingly large amount of problems.

• Smart Horse Keeping

  Sacrifice Areas for Your Horses
  A sacrifice area is a small enclosure that serves as your horse's outdoor living quarters, protecting pastures from overuse.

• At Home with Horses

  Fill Out the Equine Industry Survey by May 15
  Who and what influences your horse-care decisions? The horse industry wants to know!

• Horse 911: What's Your Emergency?

  Ensuring Horse Trailer Floors Don't Fail
  Taking the time to check your horse trailer flooring can save you a lot of heartache.

• Weird Horse News

  Celebrating The Horse in Turkmenistan
  Kentucky isn't the only place where horses are celebrated for their speed. Turkmenistan celebrated the Turkmen Racing Horse Festival last weekend.

• Across the Fence

  Ideally Speaking--Owning a Horse
  Knowing more about your horses can help make your veterinarian's job a little easier.

Q:I have a 24-month-old Azteca colt that has dropped only one testicle so far. He had two normal-appearing testicles at birth, and both of them withdrew above the inguinal ring before he was a year old. This past winter, when he was about 20 months old, his left testicle dropped and appears normal, although rather large for his age. I would eventually like to use this colt as a breeding stallion. Is cryptorchidism hereditary?

A:Testicular descent is a very complex process, and causes for abnormal descent can be varied and are often difficult to document. According to the literature, and in my experience, testicular descent into the scrotum is generally complete at birth or within the first few days following birth. It is extremely uncommon for retained testes to descend into a scrotal position after a few months of age, but reports exist for testicular descent at 1 to 2 years old in rare instances. ... Read more...

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