Equine research into movement and breathing may translate into help for other horses and humans

The white horse is an icon for dignity which has had a huge impact on human culture across the world. An international team led by researchers at Uppsala University has now identified the mutation causing this spectacular trait and show that white horses carry an identical mutation that can be traced back to a common ancestor that lived thousands of years ago.

The most frequent injuries that horses suffer are derived from pressure exerted by riders, and knowing which forces are involved when horses move can prove highly informative when considering treatment for such injuries.

IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr.’s Big Brown, on cruise control until asked to go by jockey Kent Desormeaux, exploded away from his 11 rivals at the top of the Pimlico homestretch to notch a dominating victory in the 133rd running of the $1,000,000 Preakness Stakes (G I) Saturday. Thus the results of the Preakness 2008 are already in and the Big Brown is the winner of Preakness horse racing.

Vinery Stables and Tom Ludt’s Lantana Mob had to tie the track record in order to win the $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs Stakes (G III) for 3-year-olds, a $100,000 race that starts a $1 million guaranteed pick four that ends with the Preakness.

Ben McElroy’s Roshani won a stirring stretch duel to take top prize in the $100,000 Gallorette Handicap (G III) for fillies and mares. Roshani carried jockey John Velazquez to his second win on today’s thirteen race card.

Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said Friday that he is nearly as confident that the Boundary colt will win the Preakness on Saturday as he was before his dominating win in the Kentucky Derby.

Chevrolet today donated 365 horses to the Restore the Horse Foundation for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office mounted police unit. The horses are corralled under the hood of a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado HD 3500 "dually" pickup truck, which along with a horse trailer donated by Restore the Horse, will be used to maintain and enhance the local mounted unit – the last of its kind in the state of Michigan.

While most sports fans will be fretting over the Final Four today (bracketeers, bracketologists, or bracket-people as I’ve sometimes heard they prefer to be called), I’ve decided to direct my spectating angst toward a small simulcast wager on the grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby.

Zaina Alsabah, formerly known as Jane Felix-Brown and her husband Omar Osama Bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, are planning a 4800 km horse race that will span across North Africa. Zaina and Omar hope to bring attention to the cause of peace.

Scientists propose developing an environmentally-friendly fungal spray that would specifically target Ragwort, infecting and killing the weed at a critical growth stage. This spray will contain a host-specific, plant pathogenic fungus as the active ingredient and will have no side-effects on non-target organisms and pose no threat to the environment.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Division of Public Health Services announced today that a horse in Kensington has died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).