THOROUGHBRED HAD 52 POUNDS OF GRAVEL REMOVED AT VETERINARY TEACHING HOSPITAL

BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 3 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:

Horses are not supposed to eat rocks.

But Jasper did - 52 pounds of them.



"I've seen two severe gravel impactions causing complete obstructions, requiring surgery to resolve in the last six years," said Carla Enriquez, clinical assistant professor of large animal emergency and critical care medicine at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. "It's not an everyday thing." 

Jasper had been on pasture rest for a knee injury - he couldn't be in a stall because the turning aggravated it. His owners had been feeding him carefully from a bucket. But Jasper had a habit of knocking his feed over, and...