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Topic:Animal Science
Animal Science and horses encompass the study of equine biology, physiology, and management practices aimed at understanding and improving horse health, welfare, and performance. This field integrates various scientific disciplines, including genetics, nutrition, reproduction, and behavior, to address the needs of horses in diverse contexts such as sports, work, and companionship. Research in this area often focuses on optimizing feeding strategies, enhancing breeding programs, and developing effective health management protocols. Additionally, studies explore the genetic factors influencing traits such as athleticism and disease resistance, as well as the impact of environmental and management conditions on horse behavior and welfare. This page gathers peer-reviewed research and scholarly articles that investigate the scientific principles underpinning equine science and their practical applications in horse care and management.
Modulation of mandibular loading and bite force in mammals during mastication. Modulation of force during mammalian mastication provides insight into force modulation in rhythmic, cyclic behaviors. This study uses in vivo bone strain data from the mandibular corpus to test two hypotheses regarding bite force modulation during rhythmic mastication in mammals: (1) that bite force is modulated by varying the duration of force production, or (2) that bite force is modulated by varying the rate at which force is produced. The data sample consists of rosette strain data from 40 experiments on 11 species of mammals, including six primate genera and four nonprimate species: goat...
Canadian veterinarians’ use of analgesics in cattle, pigs, and horses in 2004 and 2005. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many veterinarians may not use analgesics in livestock for routine surgical procedures or painful disease states. To investigate this, we conducted a national mail survey of a random sample of 1431 Canadian veterinarians (response rate, 50.1%). Questions primarily concerned veterinarians' analgesic usage for common surgeries and medical conditions in beef and dairy cattle, pigs, and horses, and attitudes toward pain management. More than 90% of veterinarians used analgesic drugs for equine surgeries, for cesarean section in sows and cows, and for bovine claw am...
Equine learning behaviour. Scientists and equestrians continually seek to achieve a clearer understanding of equine learning behaviour and its implications for training. Behavioural and learning processes in the horse are likely to influence not only equine athletic success but also the usefulness of the horse as a domesticated species. However given the status and commercial importance of the animal, equine learning behaviour has received only limited investigation. Indeed most experimental studies on equine cognitive function to date have addressed behaviour, learning and conceptualization processes at a moderately ba...
Color vision in horses (Equus caballus): deficiencies identified using a pseudoisochromatic plate test. In the past, equine color vision was tested with stimuli composed either of painted cards or photographic slides or through physiological testing using electroretinogram flicker photometry. Some studies produced similar results, but others did not, demonstrating that there was not yet a definitive answer regarding color vision in horses (Equus caballus). In this study, a pseudoisochromatic plate test--which is highly effective in testing color vision both in small children and in adult humans--was used for the first time on a nonhuman animal. Stimuli consisted of different colored dotted circl...
First suckling: a crucial event for mother-young attachment? an experimental study in horses (Equus caballus). This study investigates the consequences of interference during first suckling for subsequent mare-young attachment in horses (Equus caballus). Foals brought to their dams' teats appeared, at later ages (1-3 months), to remain closer to their dams and to play less than control foals that had been allowed to suckle spontaneously. Higher levels of play and distance initiatives from the mother are considered criteria for secure attachment in horses, humans, and other species. As this unique handling was the only event that distinguished experimental from control groups, the authors concluded that...
Vaccine potential of novel surface exposed and secreted proteins of Streptococcus equi. Streptococcus equi, a clonal descendent of an ancestral S. zooepidemicus, causes equine strangles, a highly contagious purulent lymphadenitis of the head and neck. The aim of this study was to evaluate as vaccine components novel surface exposed or secreted S. equi proteins identified in an expression gene library with sera from resistant horses. Six proteins expressed by S. equi CF32 but not by S. zooepidemicus 631 were used to vaccinate one group of eight ponies. A second pony group was immunized with five adhesin and other proteins encoded by genes of Linkage Gr 1. All ponies made strong se...
Differentiating human bone from animal bone: a review of histological methods. This review brings together a complex and extensive literature to address the question of whether it is possible to distinguish human from nonhuman bone using the histological appearance of cortical bone. The mammalian species included are rat, hare, badger, racoon dog, cat, dog, pig, cow, goat, sheep, deer, horse, water buffalo, bear, nonhuman primates, and human and are therefore not exhaustive, but cover those mammals that may contribute to a North American or Eurasian forensic assemblage. The review has demonstrated that differentiation of human from certain nonhuman species is possible, i...
A comparison of Freund’s Complete and Freund’s Modified Adjuvants used with a contraceptive vaccine in wild horses (Equus caballus). Fifteen captive wild mares (Equus caballus) were treated with porcine zona pellucida contraceptive vaccine and either Freund's Complete Adjuvant (n = 7) or Freund's Modified Adjuvant (n = 8). All mares received a booster inoculation of porcine zona pellucida plus Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant a month later. Anti-porcine zona pellucida antibodies were measured over 10 mo following the initial inoculation. There were no significant differences in antibody titers at any point during the 10 mo, and seven of the eight mares in the Freund's Modified Adjuvant group were above the 60% level at the end ...
Whole-genome linkage disequilibrium screening for complex traits in horses. The identification of candidate genes for significant traits is crucial. In this study, we developed and tested effective and systematic methods based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) for the identification of candidate regions for genes with Mendelian inheritance and those associated with complex traits. Our approach entailed the combination of primary screening using pooled DNA samples based on DeltaTAC, secondary screening using an individual typing method and tertiary screening using a permutation test based on the differences in the haplotype frequency between two neighbouring microsatellit...
Instrumented anterior lumbar interbody fusion with equine bone protein extract. Randomized and self-controlled study with anterior lumbar interbody fusion in a porcine model. Objective: To determine the osteoinductive potential of an equine bone protein extract in anterior interbody spinal fusion. Background: Interbody spinal fusion with bone graft transplantation is a common spine procedure. Complications related to bone graft harvesting are still a major concern. Equine demineralized bone matrix has been reported to be osteoinductive. However, the application of equine bone protein extract in spine fusion has not been documented. In this experiment, we evaluated equine ...
Identifying the future needs for long-term USDA efforts in agricultural animal genomics. Agricultural animal research has been immensely successful over the past century in developing technology and methodologies that have dramatically enhanced production efficiency of the beef, dairy, swine, poultry, sheep, and aquaculture industries. In the past two decades, molecular biology has changed the face of agricultural animal research, primarily in the arena of genomics and the relatively new offshoot areas of functional genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and metagenomics. Publication of genetic and physical genome maps in the past 15 years has given rise to the possib...
Comparative anatomy of the meniscofemoral ligament in humans and some domestic mammals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence, position and relative sizes of the meniscofemoral ligaments (MFL) in three quadrupeds and humans and relate these to the caudal slope of the lateral tibial plateau. Canine, ovine and equine stifles and human knees were dissected to identify the presence of MFLs, their obliquity in relation to the caudal cruciate ligaments (CCL), the relative size and shape of the MFLs compared with the CCL, the points of femoral attachment of the MFLs and CCL, and the distance between the MFLs and CCL at their midpoints. The lateral tibial condyle was ...
Isolation and characterization of a haemolysin from Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Haemolytic activities of Trichophyton (T.) mentagrophytes were detected and characterized by qualitative and quantitative assays. On Columbia agar supplemented with blood from horses, cattle or sheep, T. mentagrophytes expressed a strong zone of complete haemolysis. No haemolytic activities could be detected in the closely related T. verrucosum var. ochraceum. The same results were obtained after cultivation of the fungi on sterile cellulose acetate filters placed on the surface on Columbia blood agar. After removal of the filter, complete haemolysis was detected below the colony of T. mentagr...
Molecular analysis using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites to infer the formation process of Japanese native horse populations. To assess the genetic diversity of Japanese native horse populations, we examined seven such populations using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite analyses. Four reference populations of Mongolian horses and European breeds were employed as other equids. In the mtDNA analysis, the control region (D-loop) of 411 bp was sequenced, and 12 haplotypes with 33 variable sites were identified in the Japanese native horses. The phylogenetic tree constructed by haplogrouping and using worldwide geographic references indicated that the haplotypes of the Japanese native horses were derived from s...
Two SNPs in the SILV gene are associated with silver coat colour in ponies. In horses, a pigment dilution acting only on black eumelanin is the so-called silver coat colour, which is characterized by a chocolate-to-reddish body with a white mane and tail. Using information from other species, we focused our study on SILV as a possible candidate gene for the equine silver phenotype. A 1559-bp genomic fragment was sequenced in 24 horses, and five SNPs were detected. Two of the five SNPs (DQ665301:g.697A>T and DQ665301:g.1457C>T) were genotyped in 112 horses representing eight colour phenotypes. Both mutations were completely associated with the silver phenotype: all eum...
Genetic diversity and relationships of Portuguese and other horse breeds based on protein and microsatellite loci variation. There are three native Portuguese horse breeds: Lusitano, Sorraia and Garrano. This study compares diversity patterns of 17 protein and 12 microsatellite markers in these three as well as 30 other breeds to infer relationships among the breeds and to compare levels of polymorphism of these breeds for use in conservation efforts. The Garrano and the Lusitano showed a high level of genetic diversity, similar to that observed for most of the other analysed breeds, while the Sorraia and Friesian breeds showed low levels of variation for both genetic marker types. The combined protein and microsate...
