Steroid detective

This week's blog post is taken from my profile in the new issue of Keeneland magazine on Dr. Don Catlin, the world's most famous steroid detective.

To read more, click here.

In the meantime, Equine ER is taking Thanksgiving off. This holiday gives me the opportunity to say thank you to all of you who read the blog and, of course, to those of you who have bought Equine ER. We'll be back next week with more excerpts and more original content.

Bark mitzvah + signed copies of EQER!

Over here at Equine ER, we are working on a Q&A with Marching Orders' surgeon (see previous excerpts below), as well as a surprise development that grew out of that chapter. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we attended our temple's Blessing of the Animals yesterday. Here's part of the blessing; line 4-5 really gets me:

Here our humble prayer ... for our friends, the animals,

especially animals who are suffering;

for animals that are overworked, underfed, and cruelly treated,

and for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;

Make us, ourselves, true friends to animals,

and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

– Albert Schweitzer.

At the request of a reader, we're also now offering SIGNED copies of Equine ER. If you're interested in this option, especially as a gift, click here. (and scroll down to the end of the page.) Thanks for visiting this blog, and we'll be back on Thursday.

Prison Horse: Marching Orders video

On Monday, we concluded our excerpt from the new book Equine ER about Marching Orders, the stoic Thoroughbred with the big heart who transformed an inmate's life. Today we have a video about the chapter. The footage of Chris Huckleby was shot last year by Equine ER author Leslie Guttman right after Huckleby violated his parole upon finding out about Marching Orders' death. (Although the video says Huckleby is incarcerated, he was released in summer 2009.)

To access the video, click right here.

Equine ER just returned from the Kentucky Book Fair! We are so happy to announce we sold lots of books and met many horse lovers. We also recently got a letter from reader Jackie Betts. She wrote of Equine ER: "I found myself swept up in the day-to-day, sometimes minute-to-minute drama of this group of dedicated [vets] ... [the book shows] their private moments of fatigue and doubt and tears; all of this information is accessible and captivating." To order Equine ER, click here.

Part 8 of Marching Orders: The inmate finds out what happened

On Thursday in Part 7 of this excerpt from the new book Equine ER, Marching Orders, the stoic Thoroughbred with the big heart, died on the operating table because of complications from a portion of his small colon being trapped inside a diaphragmatic hernia. Today, we find out what happened when the inmate whose life the horse transformed, and who was intending to adopt him, found out about Marching Orders' sudden death. (Above: the paddock where the horse once grazed.)

To read the next installment, click right here.

Equine ER just returned from the Kentucky Book Fair! We are so happy to announce we sold lots of books and met many horse lovers. We also recently got a letter from reader Jackie Betts. She wrote of Equine ER: "I found myself swept up in the day-to-day, sometimes minute-to-minute drama of this group of dedicated [vets] ... [the book shows] their private moments of fatigue and doubt and tears; all of this information is accessible and captivating." To order Equine ER, click here.

Part 7 of Marching Orders: Find out what happened in the operating room

Equine ER author Leslie Guttman at the Kentucky Book Fair this Saturday, Nov. 7!

On Monday in Part 6 of this excerpt from the new book Equine ER, we returned to the operating room where surgeon Scott Hopper was trying to remove a portion of the small colon trapped in a diaphragmatic hernia of Marching Orders. Today, we find out what happened to the stoic Thoroughbred with the big heart who transformed an inmate's life. (Above: Marching Orders in his prime.)

To read the next installment, click right here.

We recently got a letter from reader Jackie Betts, telling us what she thought about the new book Equine ER (Eclipse Press, 2009). She wrote: "I found myself swept up in the day-to-day, sometimes minute-to-minute drama of this group of dedicated [vets] ... [the book shows] their private moments of fatigue and doubt and tears; all of this information is accessible and captivating." To order Equine ER, click here.

Part 6 of Marching Orders: Struggling

On Thursday in Part 5 of this excerpt from the new book Equine ER, we returned to the operating room where surgeon Scott Hopper was trying to remove a portion of the small colon trapped in a diaphragmatic hernia inside the Thoroughbred Marching Orders. Today, we go back to the operating room.

To read the next installment, click right here.

We recently got a letter from reader Jackie Betts, telling us what she thought about the new book Equine ER (Eclipse Press, 2009). She wrote: "I found myself swept up in the day-to-day, sometimes minute-to-minute drama of this group of dedicated [vets] ... [the book shows] their private moments of fatigue and doubt and tears; all of this information is accessible and captivating." To order Equine ER, click here.

Part 5 of Marching Orders: Trouble in the O.R.

On Monday in Part 4 of this excerpt from the new book Equine ER, we took a deeper look at the prison farm program where an inmate met Marching Orders, the stoic Thoroughbred with the big heart. Today, we go back into the operating room and find out what the surgeon discovered with Marching Orders on the table.

To read the next installment, click right here.

Equine ER was recently the cover story of Ace Weekly in Lexington, Ky. Writer Kim Thomas calls the book a "must-read" for horse lovers. To order Equine ER, click here. Thanks for visiting this blog.