Ontario Veterinary College

a horse under anesthesia

Rate of Penicillin Administration Affects Arterial Blood Pressure

Veterinarians often give penicillin to horses during surgery to prevent infection, but the speed of injection may influence how the horse’s cardiovascular system reacts. In a study of 29 horses under general anesthesia, researchers compared two methods of giving penicillin: a fast injection over one minute and a slower one over ten minutes. Both methods caused…

Ontario Veterinary College Students participate in Large Animal Emergency Rescue Training

OVC Veterinary Students Train for Large Animal Emergency Rescue

The final offering of Equine Guelph’s Large Animal Emergency Rescue (LAER) training for 2024 was a specialized workshop for veterinary students held at the University of Guelph campus.  On November 23, 2024 this course was presented by Equine Guelph & the Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.  This course was exclusive…

Chair of the University of Guelph Board Governors, Nancy Brown Andison, Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph & Ontario Veterinary College Dean Jeff Wichtel

Gayle Ecker acknowledged for Equine Guelph leadership, inspiring a $7 million bequest

On Tuesday, October 22 at the Arboretum Centre, Director Gayle Ecker was honoured for her more than 20 years of leadership at Equine Guelph. She was also recognized for inspiring a transformative bequest of approximately  $7 million from the Estate of Donna Moore designated for the Centre’s operations and equine research.   Hosted by Byron Beeler, the inaugural Chair…

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…