Hot and humid weather can place significant strain on exercising horses, especially during intense work such as racing, endurance riding, or eventing. Because horses generate large amounts of heat during exercise and have relatively limited ability to dissipate it, researchers have increasingly explored whether cooling horses before exercise can help reduce heat stress and improve safety.

It often feels like horses are magnets for mishaps. Their injury-prone tendencies can be chalked up to natural instincts—such as their strong flight response, social dynamics within the herd, or simply their innate curiosity that leads them into trouble.

Horses are highly social animals that form close bonds with other members of their group. Because of this, it is reasonable to expect that the loss of a companion may affect their behaviour and emotional well-being. However, until recently, there has been surprisingly little scientific research into how horses respond to the death of another horse. A study led by Claire Ricci-Bonot and Daniel Mills at the University of Lincoln, with MSc student Emily Wilson, alongside Stefania Uccheddu of the San Marco Veterinary Clinic and Laboratory, Padua, Italy, aimed to address this gap.

Splint bones play an important role in supporting the horse’s lower limbs. But what are these evolutionary remnants of ancient toes, and what does it mean when a horse “pops a splint”?