Rocking S Ranch

03/17/2026

Happy Thursday!

02/16/2025

02/16/2025

An equine nutritionist offers advice for determining Miniature Horses' forage requirements.

01/02/2025

Happy new year everyone!! Let’s see if the grass is greener in 2025!!!

11/23/2024

10/19/2024

Your horse's recovery from surgery should start long before heading to the OR.

09/07/2024

Home for the weekend let’s rodeo

09/04/2024

Barrel horses can be susceptible to injury due to it being a highly athletic sport, particularly to soft tissue injuries. We spoke with veterinarian Amy Armentrout to learn how to spot and handle a soft tissue injury in your horse.

Read more here >> https://tinyurl.com/soft-tissue-injury
📸: Abigail Boatwright

08/20/2024

Most equine owners know that a negative Coggins test is a document required to be able to transport their animal across state lines, enter them in a competitive event, or board at someone's barn. But what does the phrase "negative Coggins test" actually mean?

A "Coggins" is a blood test that can only be performed by USDA-approved laboratories and checks for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) antibodies in the blood. EIA is a potentially fatal blood-borne infectious viral disease that is primarily transmitted by biting flies, particularly horseflies—which means that your animals are at risk even if they never travel or live in a closed herd.

The clinical signs of disease can vary dramatically from an acute infection to an inapparent form, but what is important to know is that it produces a persistent infection. Once an animal tests positive for EIA it becomes a lifelong source of disease transmission, so the owner can only choose between quarantine for life or humane euthanasia to ensure that large outbreaks of the disease don’t occur. There is no vaccine and no treatment for EIA.

Take-home message: While a Coggins test is a necessary travel document, don’t forget that it's also first and foremost a way to identify and remove EIA carriers to keep the disease under control.

To learn more about EIA, visit our website at: https://aaep.org/guidelines-resources/resource-library/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEwR-1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZp1fQwBC7LYpAzA3W2a5XUaYAd6gDO2mEtuHOjAAGJ_f4rvTxFRfg2_Lg_aem_Hacd9FBStUOI0FJdJHLmXA&_search=EIA