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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.
Aspects of Breeding Stallion Management with Specific Focus on Animal Welfare. Risk prevention is often counterproductive to stallions' living conditions when assessed under welfare aspects. In the wild, stallions live in social groups, but under domestic conditions, the majority of breeding stallions live in individual boxes with limited social contact. This stimulates aggressiveness and the incidence of stereotypic behavior. While racehorse stallions start their breeding career after having finished their performance career, riding horse stallions are often simultaneously used for breeding and performance. Training, performance, and the associated stress are unlikely t...
Equine diet during protohistoric times in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula: Stable isotope data (C, N) from bone collagen. The analysis of stable isotopes in bone collagen allows us to infer the diet of the animals studied. This dataset consists of isotopic signatures (δC and δN) obtained by isotope ratio mass spectrometry from the skeletal remains of 42 equines (horse, ass and their hybrids) from the Can Roqueta site (Sabadell, Northeast Iberian Peninsula). Their chronology spans from Late Bronze Age to Late Roman Period, with particular emphasis on the Early Iron Age. These animals were found in storage silos and graves and were probably sacrificed as ritual offerings. The isotopic values are accompanied by da...
Genome collinearity analysis illuminates the evolution of donkey chromosome 1 and horse chromosome 5 in perissodactyls: A comparative study. It is important to resolve the evolutionary history of species genomes as it has affected both genome organization and chromosomal architecture. The rapid innovation in sequencing technologies and the improvement in assembly algorithms have enabled the creation of highly contiguous genomes. DNA Zoo, a global organization dedicated to animal conservation, offers more than 150 chromosome-length genome assemblies. This database has great potential in the comparative genomics field. Results: Using the donkey (Equus asinus asinus, EAS) genome provided by DNA Zoo as an example, the scaffold N50 leng...
Behavioural and Physiological Changes in a Herd of Arabian Mares after the Separation of Individuals Differently Ranked within the Dominance Hierarchy. Horses in a herd develop and maintain a dominance hierarchy between all individuals. There are many situations in riding facilities and studs in which horses have to be separated out of a group. The aim of the study was to determine the rate of behaviours, level of locomotor activity and cardiac activity variables in a herd of horses during a short social separation of individuals differently ranked in the dominance hierarchy. Twelve adult Arabian mares were involved. A behavioural test had been performed before the main experiment to determine the rank order of the mares in this social herd. ...
A stallion spermatozoon’s journey through the mare’s genital tract: In vivo and in vitro aspects of sperm capacitation. Conventional in vitro fertilization is not efficacious when working with equine gametes. Although stallion spermatozoa bind to the zona pellucida in vitro, these gametes fail to initiate the acrosome reaction in the vicinity of the oocyte and cannot, therefore, penetrate into the perivitelline space. Failure of sperm penetration most likely relates to the absence of optimized in vitro fertilization media containing molecules essential to support stallion sperm capacitation. In vivo, the female reproductive tract, especially the oviductal lumen, provides an environmental milieu that appropriate...
The Use of Draught Animals in Rural Labour. This study discusses scientific findings on the use of draught animals such as equids (i.e., horses, mules, and donkeys) and bovids (i.e., cattle and water buffaloes) in rural labours. Relevant peer-reviewed literature published between 1980 and 2021 was retrieved from CAB Abstracts, PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus databases. Although animals were used to produce draught power since their domestication and are still being used for this purpose, mechanisation has markedly reduced animal labour demand in agriculture. However, the process was uneven across continents according to economi...
Design and Evaluation of a Novel Haptic Interface for Horse-Drawn Carriage Simulation. Animal welfare has become an increasingly important concern in the sports field. Learning horse-drawn carriage driving requires much time and effort for both the drivers and the horses because the associated gestures to avoid harming the horses are difficult to acquire. This raises the need to develop realistic simulation environments for future drivers. To this end, two haptic interface prototypes were designed, coupled with dedicated simulation software. The first was developed based on a SPIDAR haptic device and implemented simple behaviors of the carriage. A user study demonstrated interes...
The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Eimeria leuckarti (Eimeriidae, Coccidia, Apicomplexa) infecting domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus). The complete mitochondrial genome of (Eimeriidae, Coccidia, Apicomplexa) was obtained. This morphologically distinctive coccidium is considered to be the only valid species of equids and it infects a range of both domestic and wild horses and their relatives. Despite the distinctive appearance of the oocysts of , the mitochondrial genome organization and gene contents were comparable to other spp. and related eimeriid coccidia infecting a range of mammals and birds. The greatly reduced 6242 bp genome is circular-mapping and contains three protein-coding genes (COI, COIII, CytB), 18 fragme...
Measurement properties of grimace scales for pain assessment in nonhuman mammals: a systematic review. Facial expressions of pain have been identified in several animal species. The aim of this systematic review was to provide evidence on the measurement properties of grimace scales for pain assessment. The protocol was registered (SyRF#21-November-2019), and the study is reported according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting the development, validation, and the assessment of measurement properties of grimace scales were included. Data extraction and assessment were performed by 2 investigators, following the COnsensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement INstruments ...
Impact of the event effect in genetic evaluation for ranking traits in horses. In genetic evaluation of horses, the genetic trend does not correspond into a phenotypic trend when using ranking as a phenotype due to its uniform distribution, and some other effects might be absorbing that trend. From a founder population, a further four discrete generations of 100 individuals were simulated under random mating. Then, ten additional discrete generations were simulated by selecting the best 10% of the animals. Likewise, an underlying variable with heritability 0.1 or 0.2, affected by an event environmental influence, generation and permanent environment, was simulated to est...
Sequence determination of phosphorothioated oligonucleotides using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for controlling gene doping in equestrian sports. In human and equestrian sporting events, one method of gene doping is the illegal use of therapeutic oligonucleotides to alter gene expression. In this study, we aimed to identify therapeutic oligonucleotides via sequencing using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). As a model of therapeutic oligonucleotides, 22 bp-long phosphorothioated oligonucleotides (PSOs) were used. By using a Clarity OTX kit for extracting short-length oligonucleotides, a spectrum of singly charged PSO with a mean intensity of 6.08 × 10 (standard deviation: ...
Relationship between lactational performance and metabolic parameters of Mongolian native grazing mares. Information regarding the lactational performance of mares in relation to metabolic parameters can help practitioners to manipulate animal rearing management for sustainable mare milk production. The aim of this study was to characterize the lactational performance of Mongolian native mares grazing on natural pastureland by revealing the seasonal effects on metabolic parameters. In this study, 8 multiparous mares were used. Milk yield and composition and serum metabolic parameters, such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose (GLU), triacylglycerol, total cholest...
Effects of steam-flaked grains on foals’ growth and faecal microbiota. There is little objective information concerning the effect of steam-flaked grains on foal's growth performance and faecal microbiota. To determine the effects of steam-flaked grains on foal's growth performance and faecal microbiota, faecal samples were collection from 18 foals which had been fed either corn, oat or barley diets over the 60 days of the experiment. Body weight and conformation measurements were collected. Next-generation sequencing of the V3 + V4 region of the 16 S rRNA gene was used to assess the microbial composition of faeces. Alpha diversity, Venn graph, Relative abun...
Challenges in navigating molecular diagnostics for common equine respiratory viruses. Equine respiratory viruses remain a leading cause of equine morbidity and mortality, with the resurgence of certain infections, an increasing population of elderly, more susceptible horses, the growth of international equine commerce, and an expansion in geographic distribution of pathogens. The focus of rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases has also shifted recently, with the appearance and increasing importance of nucleic acid amplification-based techniques, primarily polymerase chain reaction (PCR), at the expense of traditional methods such as clinical microbiology. While PCR is fast, rel...
[Vaccinovigilance: Adverse reaction reports of animal vaccines in 2020]. The aim of the vigilance system in Switzerland is the evaluation and classification of reported suspected adverse reactions of immunological veterinary medicines (IVMP), including suspected lack of expected efficacy. The Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI) is the competent authority for marketing authorizations of immunological veterinary medicinal products in Switzerland and responsible for the vaccinovigilance system. In 2020, 130 adverse reaction reports were received (5% less compared to 2019). The reports mainly concerned dogs (41%) and cats (25%) followed by cattle (18%) and horse...
Cognition and the human-animal relationship: a review of the sociocognitive skills of domestic mammals toward humans. In the past 20 years, research focusing on interspecific sociocognitive abilities of animals toward humans has been growing, allowing a better understanding of the interactions between humans and animals. This review focuses on five sociocognitive abilities of domestic mammals in relation to humans as follows: discriminating and recognizing individual humans; perceiving human emotions; interpreting our attentional states and goals; using referential communication (perceiving human signals or sending signals to humans); and engaging in social learning with humans (e.g., local enhancement, demo...
The First Report of Genetic Polymorphisms of the Equine SPRN Gene in Outbred Horses, Jeju and Halla Horses. Prion disease is a fatal infectious disease caused by the accumulation of pathogenic prion protein (PrP) in several mammals. However, to date, prion disease has not been reported in horses. The Sho protein encoded by the shadow of the prion protein gene (SPRN) plays an essential role in the pathomechanism of prion diseases. To date, the only genetic study of the equine SPRN gene has been reported in the inbred horse, Thoroughbred horse. We first discovered four SPRN single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 141 Jeju and 88 Halla horses by direct DNA sequencing. In addition, we found that the g...
Interest in Humans: Comparisons between Riding School Lesson Equids and Assisted-Intervention Equids. Little is known about the impact of equine-assisted interventions (EAI) on equids' perception of humans. In this study 172 equids, living in 12 riding centres, were submitted to a standardised human-horse relationship test: the motionless person test. Age, sex, type (horse/pony), housing, and feeding conditions of subjects were recorded. Overall, 17 equids worked in EAI, 95 in riding school lessons (RS), and 60 in both (EAI-RS). There were high inter-individual variations in the number of interactive behaviours directed towards the experimenter: negative binomial general linear models showed t...
Extracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Production in Fresh Donkey Sperm Exposed to Reductive Stress, Oxidative Stress and NETosis. Jenny shows a large endometrial reaction after semen influx to the uterus with a large amount of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) migrating into the uterine lumen. PMN act as a sperm selection mechanism through phagocytosis and NETosis (DNA extrudes and, together with proteins, trap spermatozoa). While a reduced percentage of spermatozoa are phagocytosed by PMN, most are found to be attached to neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). This selection process together with sperm metabolism produces a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that influence the reproductive success. The pres...
Vesicular Stomatitis Virus: From Agricultural Pathogen to Vaccine Vector. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which belongs to the Vesiculovirus genus of the family Rhabdoviridae, is a well studied livestock pathogen and prototypic non-segmented, negative-sense RNA virus. Although VSV is responsible for causing economically significant outbreaks of vesicular stomatitis in cattle, horses, and swine, the virus also represents a valuable research tool for molecular biologists and virologists. Indeed, the establishment of a reverse genetics system for the recovery of infectious VSV from cDNA transformed the utility of this virus and paved the way for its use as a vaccine ...
Genetic Background of the Polish Primitive Horse (Konik) Coat Color Variation-New Insight into Dun Dilution Phenotypic Effect. Only the blue dun coat color, produced by the action of the dun allele on the background of a black base coat, is officially permitted in the Polish primitive horse (PPH, Konik) breed, yet the population is not visually homogenous and various coat color shades occur. Herein, the molecular background of PPH coat color was studied based on genotyping of known causative variants in equine coat color-related genes (ASIP, MC1R, TBX3, SLC36A1, SLC45A2, PMEL17, and RALY). Additionally, screening for the new polymorphisms was conducted for the ASIP gene coding sequence and the TBX3 1.6-kb insert (asso...
Effect of Overfeeding Shetland Pony Mares on Embryonic Glucose and Lipid Accumulation, and Expression of Imprinted Genes. Maternal overfeeding is associated with disturbances in early embryonic epigenetic reprogramming, leading to altered expression of imprinted genes and nutrient transporters, which can affect both fetal and placental development and have lasting effects on the health of resulting offspring. To examine how maternal overfeeding affects the equine embryo, Shetland pony mares were fed either a high-energy (HE: 200% of net energy requirements) or maintenance (control) diet. Mares from both groups were inseminated, and day-seven embryos were recovered and transferred to recipients from the same or th...
Genome Sequence of Equid Alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) from a Nasal Swab of a Swiss Horse Associated with a Major EHV-1 Outbreak following a Show Jumping Event in Valencia, Spain. We present the genome sequence of equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) sequenced directly from the nasal swab of a Swiss horse that attended an international equestrian event in Valencia, Spain, the origin of an outbreak of neurological disorders in horses in several European countries in February 2021.
Evaluation of recent changes in genetic variability in Thoroughbred horses based on microsatellite markers parentage panel in Korea. In this study, we aimed to investigate the recent changes such as allele frequencies and total probability of exclusion (PE) in Thoroughbred horses in Korea using short tandem repeat (STR) parentage panels between 2006 and 2016. Methods: The genotype was provided for 5,988 horse samples with 15 microsatellite markers (AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS1, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG10, LEX3 and VHL20). Results: In our study, the observed number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 (HMS1) to 9 (ASB17) in 2006 and 4 (HMS1) to 9 (ASB2) in 2016, with a mean value of 6.28 and 6.40, respe...
Mosquito species associated with horses in Madagascar: a review of their vector status with regard to the epidemiology of West Nile fever. In Madagascar, the high West Nile virus (WNV) antibody prevalence reported in horse populations suggests a high level of vector-horse contact. This study aims to characterize the mosquito species usually involved in WNV transmission in horse stables in Madagascar. Five horse stables were investigated in October and November 2016 in five distinct inland areas. Mosquitoes were collected using double net traps baited with human, poultry or horse as well as light traps. Blood meal identification from engorged females was performed using host-specific PCRs. A total of 2898 adult mosquitoes were col...
