Horse owners and veterinarians worldwide soon will have access to online video Horse Courses presenting the latest developments in horse health topics from some of the foremost individuals in equine research. TheHorse.com, companion Web site to The Horse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care magazine, will be offering monthly University of Kentucky (UK) Diagnostic-Research online Horse Courses. The first in the series of 10 Horse Courses sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health will launch March 13. Horse owners and veterinarians can sign up now for any or all of the free Horse Courses by visiting www.TheHorse.com/HorseCourses.

Each hourlong seminar features cutting-edge information from two to four speakers on different aspects of a pertinent horse health topic. While some speakers are from UK, others are practicing veterinarians with valuable hands-on experience and researchers from other states. Until now the seminars, which have been extremely popular among veterinarians and horse professionals in Central Kentucky since their inception in 2006, have only reached a local audience that could attend the seminars in person. Now veterinarians and horse owners anywhere in the world can sign up on TheHorse.com for the online presentations of these seminars.

Dr. David Horohov, William Robert Mills Chair in Equine Immunology and faculty member at the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, said, "Unlike a typical research seminar that deals with an overly focused aspect of the problem, or a clinical presentation that emphasizes diagnosis and treatment, we combine each aspect into a singular presentation that in one hour's time highlights the most important aspects of the particular topic."

Horohov, along with Dr. Craig Carter, director of the university's Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, created the original seminar series and selects the speakers for each seminar.

"It is crucial that horse owners and practicing veterinarians have immediate access to cutting-edge clinical, diagnostic, and research information relating to health care and wellness," said Carter.

"Research findings are often unavailable for up to two years in the medical and lay literature. The Webcasts of the University of Kentucky Equine Diagnostic-Research Seminar series being offered by TheHorse.com are just the ticket. Now, anyone in the world with Web access will be able to digest and use the content of these extremely high-quality seminars presented by some of the greatest minds in equine medicine and surgery."

Fort Dodge has signed on as the Gluck Horse Course series 2008 sponsor. Rocky Bigbie, director of veterinary relations for Fort Dodge Animal Health, said, "Fort Dodge has had a long-standing partnership with scientists at the Gluck Center, and we wanted to further solidify our relationship with them along with helping the veterinary and horse-owning community. We're happy to again work with The Horse on a project that brings important horse health information to horse owners and veterinarians."

Carter added, "Fort Dodge's sponsorship of the University of Kentucky Equine Diagnostic-Research Seminar series for 2008 is a superb testimonial to their immense dedication to the horse industries. They understand the importance of clinical information dissemination and the positive impact on veterinarians, horse owners, and, ultimately, the horses."

The first online Horse Course is on dewormer resistance. Presenters are Dr. Gene Lyons of the Gluck Center and Dr. Craig Reinemeyer of East Tennessee Clinical Research. These equine parasitologists will offer useful, up-to-the-minute information on tackling the growing problem of parasite resistance to the dewormers we use today. Future courses will cover equine nutrition, foal disease, encephalitic diseases such as West Nile virus, metabolic disorders, pituitary dysfunction, angular limb deformities, melanoma, skin disease, and vaccination strategies.

For more information visit www.TheHorse.com/HorseCourses.