Ontario Veterinary College

Ontario Veterinary College & University of Toronto Researchers Use Electroarthrography to Predict Cartilage Quality

Researchers from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) and University of Toronto are developing a novel method to measure the quality of cartilage in horses using electroarthrography (EAG). EAG is a non-invasive technique that uses electrodes attached to the skin around a joint to detect electrical signals produced by the cartilage when it is loaded. Dr.…

Ruth Benns drawing of Equine Skeleton

A New Approach for Treating Kissing Spine

Overriding Spinous Process, otherwise known as Kissing Spine can cause back pain and poor performance, especially when two or more vertebrae touch or overlap. Assistant Professor Dr. Nathalie Cote in the department of Large Animal Surgery at Ontario Veterinary College recently presented a new less invasive surgical approach to treat this issue that is showing…

Foal beside mare

Infographic Distills Research Investigating a Parasite that may be Involved in Equine Abortions  

A study has uncovered that exposure to Neospora parasites is widespread among Ontario broodmares and may play a role in Equine Abortions.  Dr. Chenier, MSc student Olivia Johns and epidemiologist Dr. David Pearl at the Ontario Veterinary College have collected samples from Ontario breeding farms to find seroprevalence is close to 30%. Risk factors identified…

Equine Conceptus photo by Dr. Keith Betteridge

So what has research done for the horse breeder lately?

Excerpted from Equine Guelph’s Spring 2010 Research Newsletter Highly fertile in the wild, horses are less so under management conditions that separate the sexes, remove mating choices and often call for foaling early in the year. Humans have been intervening in the breeding of horses for about 5500 years,[1] but research has contributed to the interventions…