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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.
Feed additives and contaminants as a cause of equine disease. The equine practitioner often encounters serious diagnostic and therapeutic challenges regarding the specific origin of a disease. Such challenges may occur when horses become unaccountably ill after consuming what was thought to be acceptable feed but which in fact was contaminated or contained additives intended for other species. Examples of such additives and contaminants are monensin, lasalocid, salinomycin, blister beetles, and such antimicrobics as lincomycin and clindamycin.
A conceptual approach to optimal nutrition of brood mares. Cumulative nutritional demands on good brood mares are unrivalled among domestic livestock, but little attention has been given to the influence of nutrition on their reproductive performance and efficiency. We suggest that part of the decline in racing performance of progeny of mares over 10 years of age may be caused by suboptimal nutrition. This article contrasts the concepts of minimal and optimal nutrient requirements, revives Hammond's concept of nutrient partitioning to the conceptus and mammary gland, and discusses energy and nutrient requirements during gestation and lactation. Furthe...
Histochemical profile of articularis humeri muscle in the horse. In this study the histochemical fiber type analysis of the articularis humeri muscle of the horse was performed. This muscle is composed of type I and type IIA fibers. A large number of spindles has been observed and the presence of these receptors could help to understand the role played by this muscle.
Taste aversion learning in horses. The ability of ponies to learn to avoid a relatively novel food associated with illness was tested in three situations: when illness occurred immediately after consuming a feed; when illness occurred 30 min after consuming a feed; and when illness was contingent upon eating one of three feeds offered simultaneously. Apomorphine was used to produce illness. The feeds associated with illness were corn, alfalfa pellets, sweet feed and a complete pelleted feed. The ponies learned to avoid all the fees except the complete feed when apomorphine injection immediately followed consumption of the feed....
Ultrastructural morphology of hypomelanosis in equine cutaneous papilloma. The morphology of hypomelanosis occurring in experimentally induced equine papillomas was investigated. Histologically, dopa-positive functioning melanocytes were decreased in number from the basal layer in the epidermis. Electron-microscopically, melanogenic organelles in the melanocytes were degenerate and melanosomes were decreased in number and size. In addition, the melanocytes had some abnormal melanosomes including melanosome complexes and giant melanosomes. Some abnormal melanosomes were also present in the keratinocytes. The hypomelanosis seemed to be related to a disturbance in melan...
Determination of the relationship between sperm morphologic classifications and fertility in stallions: 66 cases (1987-1988). The analysis of breeding records and sperm morphologic classifications from ejaculated semen during 99 stallion seasons, over a 2-year period, revealed a significant correlation (r = 0.34, P less than 0.01) between the percentage of morphologically normal sperm in ejaculates and the per cycle fertility estimate of the stallions studied. In addition, the percentage of sperm classified as having major defects (abnormal heads, proximal droplets, and abnormal midpieces) was significantly inversely correlated (r = -0.36, P less than 0.01) with the same fertility estimates. Multiple variable regress...
Ingestive behavior. In summary, horses spend 60% or more of their time eating when grazing or when feed is available free choice. Grasses are their preferred food, but they supplement the grass with herbs and woody plants. Sweetened mixtures of oats and corn are the most preferred concentrate. Horses can increase or decrease the time spent eating and amount eaten to maintain caloric intake. Their intake is stimulated by drugs such as diazepam and by the presence of other horses. Horses stop eating when gastric osmolality increases; increases in plasma osmolality, protein, and glucose accompany digestion. Foals ea...
Absence of cadmium in the blood of horses fed oats grown on municipal sludge-amended soil. Effluents from a number of industries which are typically treated in municipal sewage plants result in cadmium-containing sludge. Disposal of such sewage sludge by application to agricultural land can result in uptake of cadmium by crops. In this study, oats were grown on soils which had been amended with sewage sludge from Syracuse, New York. The cadmium concentration in the sludge-grown oats was 1.79 ppm dry weight. Horses were fed the sludge-grown oats for 6 weeks during which time blood samples were taken for the determination of cadmium. No significant differences (p greater than 0.05) we...
The inheritance of the leopard complex of spotting patterns in horses. The leopard complex of white spotting patterns in horses consists of the leopard, few-spot leopard, blanket, blanket with spots, varnish roan (or marble), snowflake, frosted, speckled, and mottled patterns. Horses with any of these patterns can produce the other patterns when mated to nonpatterned horses. Twenty-two horses of the Welsh Pony, Noriker, Appaloosa, and Pony of the Americas breeds produced 270 foals in a distribution consistent with a single dominant allele being responsible for the patterns. The symbol for this dominant allele, Lp, is retained from previous work on the leopard pat...
Equine synovial tendon sheaths and bursae: an histological and scanning electron microscopical study. The structure of equine synovial tendon sheaths and bursae has been examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. Tissue samples were obtained from horses of various types and ages with no clinical evidence of sheath or bursal disorders. The interior of both structures was lined by a cellular layer superimposed on a vascular zone supported by a fibrous layer. The pattern of cell distribution of the lining varied from site to site within the same structure depending on the nature of the underlying tissue and on the amount of movement to which the structure was subjected. The cellular laye...
Isolation and staging of horse seminiferous tubules by transillumination. Stages of the spermatogenic cycle in the horse were determined by trans-illumination of enzymically isolated, seminiferous tubules and were verified by whole-mounted tubules observed by Nomarski optics and by conventional histology. Isolated tubules were obtained from young (less than 2 years) and adult (4-10 years) horses by enzymic digestion. Dispersed tubules were separated into three different groups based on the presence, size, and intensity of a dark region in the centre of the tubules: (1) pale--homogeneously light, (2) spotty--light on the periphery with a wide spotty region in the cen...
Effects of exercise and adrenaline on equine erythrocyte ATP content. To investigate the claim that equine erythrocytes released from the spleen are older cells than those found at rest in the circulation, the 2,3, diphosphoglycerate (2,3 DPG), adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine concentration of erythrocytes before and following splenic emptying were examined. Normal values for thoroughbreds (43) and ponies (10) at rest were established. Following either exercise or intravenous injection of adrenaline in six thoroughbreds, there was an increase in erythrocyte creatine content and a decrease in ATP concentration. Exercise produced a slight increase in 2,3 ...
Carbonic anhydrase III in equine tissues and sera determined by a highly sensitive enzyme-immunoassay. A sensitive sandwich enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for measuring equine carbonic anhydrase III (CA-III) was established using a microplate as a solid-phase and peroxidase as a labelling enzyme. The assay can detect concentrations as low as 5 ng/ml using 20 microliters of sample sera. Within-run coefficients of variation obtained using standard equine CA-III were less than 5 per cent. CA-III levels in equine serum ranged from 5 to 50 ng/ml (n = 370), and apparently abnormal levels of CA-III from 100 to 1900 ng/ml (n = 27) were observed. The concentrations of immunoreactive CA-III in the extracts of ...
Uterine contractile activity in mares during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy. Transrectal ultrasonography was used to quantitate uterine contractile activity during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy in pony mares (nonbred, n = 9; pregnant, n = 16). Continuous 1-min scans of longitudinal sections of the uterine body were videotaped, and uterine activity scores (1=minimal activity, 5=maximal activity) were assigned to each tape segment. There was a tendency (P<0.06) for a main effect of reproductive status (nonbred versus pregnant), a main effect of day (P<0.0001), and a reproductive status by day interaction (P<0.006). Uterine activity scores were higher (P&...
Multifactorial inheritance of common white markings in the Arabian horse. The results of a previous study were compatible with the hypothesis that common white facial markings in the Arabian horse have a multifactorial mode of inheritance. I expanded that study to (1) include the legs and therefore obtain insight into the heritability of common white markings in all peripheral regions (face and legs) of the Arabian horse and (2) investigate the influence of sex and the genotypes that produce the bay and chestnut phenotypes on the variation in common white markings. Both studies were based on computerized data obtained from the Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc....
A survey of whole blood selenium concentrations of horses in Maryland. We surveyed the whole blood selenium status of a randomly sampled population of horses from 4 contiguous counties in northern Maryland. Two hundred and two horses from 74 farms were sampled. Whole blood selenium levels greater than or equal to 0.100 parts per million (ppm) were considered adequate; blood levels less than 0.100 ppm were considered marginal or deficient. The average blood selenium concentration of the horses sampled was 0.137 ppm, with a standard deviation of 0.041 ppm. Blood selenium concentrations ranged from 0.050-0.266 ppm. Thirty-eight of 202 horses (18.8%) had a selenium l...
High-resolution study of the three-dimensional structure of horse heart metmyoglobin. The three-dimensional structure of horse heart metmyoglobin has been refined to a final R-factor of 15.5% for all observed data in the 6.0 to 1.9 A resolution range. The final model consists of 1242 non-hydrogen protein atoms, 154 water molecules and one sulfate ion. This structure has nearly ideal bonding and bond angle geometry. A Luzzati plot of the variation in R-factor with resolution yields an estimated mean co-ordinate error of 0.18 A. An extensive analysis of the pattern of hydrogen bonds formed in horse heart metmyoglobin has been completed. Over 80% of the polypeptide chain is involv...
Further cases of equine sex chromosome abnormalities. Sex chromosome abnormalities have been detected in a further five mares with clinical histories of small ovaries and absent or irregular oestrous cycles. Three mares had 63,XO karyotypes (X monosomy) and two were sex chromosome mosaics with karyotypes of 63,XO/64,XY and 63,XO/64,XX/64,XY respectively. A sex chromosome abnormality (X monosomy) has also been found in a filly where it was suspected because of her short stature.
The relationship between peak expiratory sound intensity and peak expiratory flow rate in the thoroughbred horse during exercise. Peak expiratory sound intensity (dB SPL), obtained by means of a radiostethoscope, and peak expiratory flow rate, obtained using a mask incorporating a thermistor flow sensor, were measured in six Thoroughbreds over a range of stride rates from 100 to 140 strides per min. The results show linear relationships between peak dB SPL and stride rate, peak expiratory flow rate and stride rate and also between peak expiratory flow rate and peak dB SPL. Peak expiratory dB SPL can therefore indicate peak expiratory flow rate.
