Obesity remains one of the biggest threats to equine welfare — but vets and charities say real progress is now visible in many yards, clinics and competition arenas. Stephanie Bateman finds out what is changing, what still isn’t, and why this is no time to take the pressure off the fight against fat horses

BUYER’S GUIDE

When the new year is welcomed in, we hope for good fortune in the months that lie ahead. But 25 years ago, right across the British countryside, good fortune was nowhere to be seen. Instead, 2001 was

Horse welfare is as critical as ever as we enjoy Christmas jollity. Howard Newitt MRCVS explains how racehorses are cared for during the festive racing period

DR CHRISTIAN GIVES HIS TAKE ON THE HOT HEALTH TOPIC OF THE WEEK

A new project is hoping to save the threatened British swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon britannicus) by rearing the insects from frozen eggs – a process known as cryopreservation, where biologic