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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.
Causes and consequences of an unusually male-biased adult sex ratio in an unmanaged feral horse population. The adult sex ratio (ASR) is important within ecology due to its predicted effects on behaviour, demography and evolution, but research examining the causes and consequences of ASR bias have lagged behind the studies of sex ratios at earlier life stages. Although ungulate ASR is relatively well-studied, exceptions to the usual female-biased ASR challenge our understanding of the underlying drivers of biased ASR and provide an opportunity to better understand its consequences. Some feral ungulate populations, including multiple horse populations, exhibit unusually male-biased ASR. For example, ...
Fertilizing capacity of vitrified stallion sperm assessed utilizing heterologous IVF after different semen warming procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertilizing capacity of frozen or vitrified stallion sperm after assessing different warming procedures. In Experiment 1, different warming procedures were compared after sperm vitrification: immersion in extender at 43 °C (C), or in a water bath at 37 °C/30 s (W37), 43 °C/10 s (W43) or 60 °C/5 s (W60). With the W60 treatment, there were greater values (P < 0.05) for VCL (83.93 ± 3.6 μm/s) and ALH (3.00 ± 0.2 μm) than freezing and with the C group, and greater values (P < 0.001) for PM (35.33 ± 2.5 %) than with the W43 treatment. In Experiment...
Adjunct Extraction Techniques in Equine Dentistry. Adjunct extraction techniques are used when the shape or integrity of the tooth, the shape or size of the patient's oral cavity, the location of the tooth, or the location of the proximal teeth prevents or complicates standard oral extraction. Techniques described and discussed include partial coronectomy, tooth sectioning, minimally invasive buccotomy, transbuccal screw extraction, and commissurotomy.
Variability analyses of the maternal lineage of horses and donkeys. Equid breeds originating from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa are believed to have genetically contributed to the formation of breeds and ecotypes from Brazil. The country has numerous breeds and ecotypes of horses and donkeys but there are no extensive studies on maternal genetic diversity and their origins. This study reports the results of the first genetic analysis of all horse and donkey breeds/ecotypes from Brazil based on sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region (D-loop) whose main objective was to characterize the genetic variation in these animals. These analyses will ...
Identification of a New Equid Herpesvirus 1 DNA Polymerase (ORF30) Genotype with the Isolation of a C2254/H752 Strain in French Horses Showing no Major Impact on the Strain Behaviour. Equid herpesvirus 1 is one of the most common viral pathogens in the horse population and is associated with respiratory disease, abortion and still-birth, neonatal death and neurological disease. A single point mutation in the DNA polymerase gene (ORF30: A2254G, N752D) has been widely associated with neuropathogenicity of strains, although this association has not been exclusive. This study describes the fortuitous isolation of a strain carrying a new genotype C (H) from an outbreak in France that lasted several weeks in 2018 and involved 82 horses, two of which showed neurological signs of d...
Horse welfare at slaughter: A novel approach to analyse bruised carcasses based on severity, damage patterns and their association with pre-slaughter risk factors. The study presents a novel veterinary forensic approach to analyse the bruising of horse carcasses, based on the nature of the bruises and how they are grouped in certain anatomical areas. Data on pre-slaughter logistics was obtained for 113 journeys with horses that travelled from Mexico and the USA to a Mexican abattoir. We found that carcass bruising was a highly prevalent problem (79% of carcasses had bruising) and was especially problematic in journeys lasting longer than 12 h, independently of the animal's country of origin, sex, age, lairage time or vehicle type. Multivariable logistic...
Evaluating Stress in Riding Horses: Part One-Behavior Assessment and Serum Cortisol. Stress can impact the health and well-being of animals negatively. Behavioral and physiological changes, particularly serum cortisol, offer objective and easy-to-use methods of evaluating stress in horses. However, limited studies support a positive relationship between changes in stress-related serum cortisol concentrations and stress-related behaviors in horses. This study assessed differences in stress-related behaviors and serum cortisol concentrations in horses used in a therapeutic riding program (TRH) or university riding program (UNI). Riders were grouped by disability type (TRH) or by...
Relative Traffic Tolerance of Warm-Season Grasses and Suitability for Grazing by Equine. Warm season wear-tolerant turfgrasses, such as those used on golf courses and athletic fields, may be valuable forages on equine operations because of their potential to remain viable during heavy hoof traffic. Crabgrass may also be suitable as it thrives in conditions where other grasses have limited success. The objective of this study was to assess the relative traffic tolerance and nutritional composition of five warm-season (WS) turfgrass cultivars of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass and one WS forage-type crabgrass. All cultivars were established by seed in replicated monoculture plots. Simu...
Integrin alpha-v/beta3 expression in equine lungs and jejunum. Integrin alpha-v/beta3 (αvβ3) recognizes arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) sequences and has important functions in cell adhesion, signaling, and survival. However, the expression of integrin αvβ3 in the equine lungs and jejunum is not well understood. The objective of this study was to explore the hitherto unknown expression of integrin αvβ3 in the lungs and jejuna of the horse using light and electron immunocytochemistry. Immunohistochemistry showed integrin αvβ3 on the epithelium, the immune cells in Peyer's patches, the smooth muscle, and the endothelium of equine jejuna. In equ...
Comparison of working equid welfare across three regions of Mexico. Factors affecting working equid welfare are wide-ranging and reflect cultural, economic and climatic conditions, the type of work equids are used for, and individual differences in the practices of their handlers. In Mexico working equids are widely used for facilitating agricultural activities, however, welfare issues are common. Objective: To assess working equids across three communities in Mexico, identify predominant welfare problems and document how these problems vary across locations, associated working roles and species type. Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: The study combine...
Adipose-Derived Stromal/Stem Cells from Large Animal Models: from Basic to Applied Science. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) isolated from domestic animals fulfill the qualitative criteria of mesenchymal stem cells, including the capacity to differentiate along multiple lineage pathways and to self-renew, as well as immunomodulatory capacities. Recent findings on human diseases derived from studying large animal models, have provided evidence that administration of autologous or allogenic ASCs can improve the process of healing. In a narrow group of large animals used in bioresearch studies, pigs and horses have been shown to be the best suited models for study of the wound healing ...
Inconsistencies in horse coat color registration: A case study. Grullo is a dun dilution on a black coat that is common in the Campolina horse: an autochthonous Brazilian breed. The aims of this case study were to evaluate inconsistencies in grullo coat color registration and to explain their possible causes. A total of 3,270 grullo Campolina horses were evaluated. To confirm the genetic possibility of having grullo animals, the coat color genotypes of parents were inferred by phenotype and compared with those of progeny. A total of 242 horses that were registered as grullos could not have this coat based on their parents' information. Possible explanation...
Genetic characterization of Kushum horses in Kazakhstan based on haplotypes of mtDNA and Y chromosome, and genes associated with important traits of the horses. The Kushum is a relatively new breed of horses in Kazakhstan that was established in the middle of the 20th century through a cross between mares of Kazakhstan local horses and stallions of Thoroughbred, Trotter, and Russian Don breeds to supply military horses. To reveal the genetic characteristics of this breed, we investigated haplotypes of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the Y chromosome, as well as genotypes of five functional genes associated with coat color, body composition, and locomotion traits. We detected 10 mtDNA haplotypes that fell into 8 of the ...
Genetic parameters of morphometric measurements in Criollo horses. The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for the morphometric measurements of withers height (WH), thoracic circumference (TC) and cannon bone circumference (CBC) of Criollo horses, stratified for maternal and paternal effects. Statistical genetic design of factor crossings was used to evaluate the offspring of full siblings and half-siblings. Fifty stallions were selected (n = 50) who had been crossed with six mares each (n = 6), to provide 300 parental pairings in which two offspring were born per mare (n = 600). WH in females and TC in males were highly influenced ...
Cost-effective horse breeding in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. There is a lack of reliable data in agribusiness regarding the economic efficiency of horse breeding, and this limits its further development. The purpose of this study was to create rational parameters for the development of productive horse breeding as an effective agricultural business, in particular, in relation to farms. Methods: The methods of investigation used were induction and deduction, as well as analytical, statistical, and economic-mathematical analysis. We also used the dynamics of time series, CVP analysis, direct costing, and microeconomic analysis. Data were taken from the Ru...
Survey of Risk Factors and Genetic Characterization of Ewe Neck in a World Population of Pura Raza Español Horses. Ewe Neck is a relatively common morphological defect in Pura Raza Español (PRE) horses and other Baroque type horse breeds, which adversely affects the breeding industry; (1) objectives: to establish the within-breed prevalence, possible associated factors, and heritability of Ewe Neck in PRE horses; (2) methods: the database included evaluations of 35,267 PRE horses. The Ewe Neck defect, 16 morphological traits, and 4 body indices were recorded. A Bayesian genetic animal model included the following systematic effects: sex, age, coat color, geographical area of the stud, and birth stud size ...
Relationship between live body condition score and carcass fat measures in equine. Relationships between live body condition score (BCS) and carcass fat depots have not been well established in equine. Our study was designed to quantify the relationship between BCS and fat depot measurements from equine carcasses. Live horses ( = 429) were evaluated immediately prior to immobilization at a commercial equine processor. Horses were independently assigned a BCS by a panel of three trained evaluators; BCS was evaluated by visual appraisal and manual palpation of the neck, withers, back, ribs, behind the shoulder, and tailhead. Median BCS frequencies were: 3.0 ( = 9), 4.0 ( = 43)...
Genetic Characterization of Mangalarga Marchador Breed Horses Based on Microsatellite Molecular Markers. The Mangalarga Marchador (MM) horse breed has expressive importance in the Brazilian economy. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate diversity in the MM breed. A database with a total of 3,193 genotyped horses was used (MM, n = 2,829; Andalusian - AND, n = 67; Pure Blood Lusitano - LUS, n = 43; English Thoroughbred - THO, n = 54; Arabian - ARA, n = 99; Campolina - CAM, n = 61; and Mangalarga - MAN, n = 40) for 13 microsatellite. Diversity parameters were estimates, such as mean number of alleles (Nm) and the number of rare alleles (AR), expected heterozygosity (He), F statistics...
Morphological variations of the conduction system in the atrioventricular zone and its clinical relationship in different species. Atrioventricular node is responsible for delaying the passage of the electrical impulse to ventricles in order to protect them from fast depolarizations coming from the atria. The importance of this study is to identify the morphological variations of the components of atrioventricular zone that affect the conduction system and its clinical relationship in different species of mammals. We analyzed ten human hearts, nine from horses, eight from pigs, and five from dogs without a clinical history of cardiac pathologies. Histological section thickness of 5 μm were obtained with a microtome and ...
Genetic diversity, evolution and selection in the major histocompatibility complex DRB and DQB loci in the family Equidae. The mammalian Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a genetic region containing highly polymorphic genes with immunological functions. MHC class I and class II genes encode antigen-presenting molecules expressed on the cell surface. The MHC class II sub-region contains genes expressed in antigen presenting cells. The antigen binding site is encoded by the second exon of genes encoding antigen presenting molecules. The exon 2 sequences of these MHC genes have evolved under the selective pressure of pathogens. Interspecific differences can be observed in the class II sub-region. The family E...
Occurrence of Trypanosoma spp. and piroplasm infections of horses at Obollo-Afor southeastern Nigeria and resistance profiles of trypanosomes to isometamidium and diminazene salts. Epidemiological data on trypanosomosis and piroplasmosis of horses are lacking in southeastern Nigeria. The prevalence of trypanosome and piroplasm infections in horses and resistance profile of isolated trypanosomes to diminazene and isometamidium salts were investigated. For the cross-sectional study of horses billed for slaughter, 304 horses were randomly sampled. Approximately 2 ml of blood was collected into anticoagulant-treated bottles for haematocrit (HCT) determination, direct microscopic examinations, and rat inoculation. Gender, body condition scores (BCS), age groups, and body wei...
Intragastric pH of foals admitted to the intensive care unit. Intragastric pH profiles of neonatal foals admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) remain poorly characterized. Objective: To determine intragastric pH profiles and clinical parameters associated with intragastric pH in foals admitted to the ICU. Methods: Forty-two neonatal foals admitted to the ICU and requiring placement of an indwelling nasogastric tube for nutritional management were included. Methods: Intragastric pH was measured for 24 hours from the time of admission. Mean pH, % time pH 4 were determined for each foal. History, clinical findings, and clinicopathological data recorde...
Exposure of Horses in Israel to West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus. West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are arboviruses transmitted by mosquito vectors. Whereas WNV is endemic in Israel, the Middle East, Europe, and in the Americas, data regarding the prevalence of USUV in the Middle East is limited. While both viruses share similar reservoirs and vectors, exposure of horses in the area to USUV have never been assessed. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence and co-exposure of WNV and USUV in horses in Israel. A total of 327 serum samples from healthy unvaccinated horses in Israel collected in 2018 were tested for neutralizing antibo...
What’s in a Click? The Efficacy of Conditioned Reinforcement in Applied Animal Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. A conditioned reinforcer is a stimulus that acquired its effectiveness to increase and maintain a target behavior on the basis of the individual's history-e.g., pairings with other reinforcers. This systematic review synthesized findings on conditioned reinforcement in the applied animal training field. Thirty-four studies were included in the review and six studies were eligible for a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions that implemented conditioned reinforcement (e.g., clicks, spoken word, or whistles paired with food). The majority of studies investigated condition...
Evaluation of the Accuracy of Horse Body Weight Estimation Methods. Methods of estimating horse body weight using mathematical formulae have better accuracy than methods of reading body weight from measuring tape. The aim of the study was to evaluate established formulae for estimating horse body weight from data gathered using measurement tape. The research was conducted in a group of 299 adult horses and ponies of selected breeds: ponies ( = 58), Polish Noble Half Breed ( = 150), Silesian Breed ( = 23), Wielkopolski Breed ( = 52), and Thoroughbred ( = 16). Body measurements were performed on each horse using a measuring stick and tape. The actual body weight...
Comparison of Muscle MEPs From Transcranial Magnetic and Electrical Stimulation and Appearance of Reflexes in Horses. Transcranial electrical (TES) and magnetic stimulation (TMS) are both used for assessment of the motor function of the spinal cord in horses. Muscular motor evoked potentials (mMEP) were compared intra-individually for both techniques in five healthy horses. mMEPs were measured twice at increasing stimulation intensity steps over the extensor carpi radialis (ECR), tibialis cranialis (TC), and caninus muscles. Significance was set at < 0.05. To support the hypothesis that both techniques induce extracranially elicited mMEPs, literature was also reviewed. Results: Both techniques show the pr...
Differential Production of Cartilage ECM in 3D Agarose Constructs by Equine Articular Cartilage Progenitor Cells and Mesenchymal Stromal Cells. Identification of articular cartilage progenitor cells (ACPCs) has opened up new opportunities for cartilage repair. These cells may be used as alternatives for or in combination with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in cartilage engineering. However, their potential needs to be further investigated, since only a few studies have compared ACPCs and MSCs when cultured in hydrogels. Therefore, in this study, we compared chondrogenic differentiation of equine ACPCs and MSCs in agarose constructs as monocultures and as zonally layered co-cultures under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. ACPCs a...
Functional contexts of adipose and gluteal muscle tissue gene co-expression networks in the domestic horse. A gene's response to an environment is tightly bound to the underlying genetic variation present in an individual's genome and varies greatly depending on the tissue it is being expressed in. Gene co-expression networks provide a mechanism to understand and interpret the collective transcriptional responses of genes. Here, we use the Camoco co-expression network framework to characterize the transcriptional landscape of adipose and gluteal muscle tissue in 83 domestic horses (Equus caballus) representing 5 different breeds. In each tissue, gene expression profiles, capturing transcriptional re...
