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The Masters of the Golden’s Bridge Hounds (NY) have announced the appointment of Yolanda Knowlton as Joint-Master. Knowlton is a longtime horsewoman who has evented, shown, and foxhunted. She has been a hard working member of Golden’s Bridge Hounds for many years, has run the hunt ball, the annual auction, and has served as Hunt Secretary. “Yolanda lives right in the hunting country and knows all the landowners,” said Golden’s Bridge MFH (and MFHA President) Ed Kelly. “She has earned it and will be a great asset as Joint-Master.” With her appointment, Knowlton joins Golden’s Bridge Joint-Masters Eugene O. Colley, Edward W. Kelly, Peter D. Kamenstein, S. Mackintosh Pulsifer, Kenneth Silverman, and Bruce D. Colley. Posted October 5, 2011

A Missouri woman has been sued by the Missouri Veterinarian Medical Board for floating horses’ teeth. The lawsuit claims that Missouri law defines dentistry and floating as veterinary medicine. The defendant, Brooke Gray, trained at the Academy of Equine Dentistry in Idaho and completed a five-month apprenticeship in Colorado. In the response filed by Gray’s attorney, Gray asserted six Affirmative Defenses rooted in rights protected under the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. The response also cites precedents in other licensed industries where courts have determined that certain trained practitioners in a narrow area of practice cannot be prevented from doing business just because they are not trained and licensed in broader areas in which they do not practice. The response goes on to claim that floaters have been filing horses’ teeth for hundreds of years, the services typically being provided by non-veterinarian lay persons. It claims that such individuals may be better prepared to float teeth than most veterinarians because many receive training at specialized schools where the entire curriculum is devoted to the practice, “while floating is not part of the core curriculum at any veterinary school. Furthermore, most veterinarians who regularly float horses’ teeth learn the practice from an experienced non-veterinarian floater or at one of the specialized equine dentistry schools, not at a veterinary school.” This may be the first test in the U.S. by any state veterinarian board to put non-veterinarian tooth floaters out of business. The outcome should be of interest to all horse dentists, veterinarians, and horsemen. Click for more details. Posted October 4, 2011

A horse that tested positive for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) was admitted to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center and euthanized on Thursday, September 15. Although no new cases have been reported in that state, the Tennessee Valley Hunt has cancelled hunting for Thursday and Saturday, September 22 and 24. The equine hospital is under a self-imposed quarantine for fourteen days beginning on September 16. The highly contagious disease is most commonly transmitted between horses through the air by nasal secretions from cough or sneeze. Symptoms include respiratory illness and fever and neurological changes evidenced by weakness or paralysis of hind limbs. EHV-1 is not transmissible to humans. Click for further details.

William Pinkney Wetherall, Jr., foxhunter, race rider, and racing official died at the Winchester Medical Center in Virginia on Monday, September 12 at the age of seventy-seven. Bill was an excellent horseman and all-around athlete. He set a long-standing record in the hurdles at Episcopal High School, then attended Princeton University and Virginia Tech. Bill was well-known throughout the Virginia point-to-point circuit as a race organizer and racing official. He was Secretary-Treasurer of the Virginia Point-to-Point Association and was awarded the Masters Prize and the Yves Henry Lifetime Achievement Award from that organization. He served as chairman of the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point races for many years. Bill’s mother, Sybilla “Billie” Greenhalgh, was one of the best-loved Field Masters in Blue Ridge’s long history. Bill did the early training on one of her horses that won the Gold Cup and upon which she led the field for many years. One of his proudest memories was being asked by Alexander Mackay-Smith, MFH to be a whipper-in for the Blue Ridge Hunt. Bill was only in his teens at the time. He was awarded his colors, and he whipped-in to the pack for many seasons. A graveside service will be held at Old Chapel near Millwood, Virginia on Friday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Steeplechase Injured Jockey’s Fund and to the Virginia Point-to-Point Association Hurdle Fund, both c/o Don Yovanovich, PO Box 1877, Middleburg, VA 20118. Posted September 15, 2011

The market for even well-bred Thoroughbreds has suffered substantially since the global market crash of 2008. “The old million-dollar horse is now a $500,000 horse,” said Geoffrey Russell, Director of Sales at Keeneland. In the first session of the September Yearling Sales this year, the two highest selling colts went off at $1.4 and $1.2 million. On the second night, a filly went for one million dollars and another for $750,000. After two days of sales, the gross and the median prices for 2011 compared to 2010 were substantially the same, but the third session ended better, showing a twenty percent increase over last year. For more details, click here. Posted September 14, 2011

Horses have tested positive for West Nile Virus across the country, and some state officials are recommending vaccinations even now for horses that have not yet been vaccinated. California, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, and Utah have reported recent cases, and the mosquito season has several weeks to go in many of these areas. Infected horses exhibit neurological symptoms such as stumbling gait, facial paralysis, drooping or disinterested attitude. Although no drugs exist to treat the disease either in horses or humans, there are live-animal tests for WNV in horses. The virus lives in wild birds of many species, and is transmitted to mammals by the bite of a mosquito that has previously bitten an infected bird. Check with your veterinarian for his/her recommendation if your horse has not been vaccinated this year. For more information about West Nile Virus, click here. Posted September 13, 2011

The horse has been a romantic subject for artists for twenty-thousand years. That is when the oldest known cave painting of horses were executed. The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut has mounted an exhibit of horses in art—“Saddle Up! Horsing Around at the Bruce Museum.” From Pierre Jules Mene bronzes to Eadweard Muybridge’s iconic equine locomotion photos, visitors will view the horse rendered by the world’s leading artists in every style and discipline, including foxhunting, racing, polo, farming, and war. For more details, see Steven May’s article and/or go to the museum website. Posted September 2, 2011