Draft horses are a type of horse bred primarily for heavy work, such as plowing and hauling, due to their large size and strength. They are characterized by their muscular build, calm temperament, and considerable pulling power. Common breeds of draft horses include the Belgian, Clydesdale, Percheron, and Shire. These horses have historically been used in agriculture, logging, and transportation before the advent of mechanized vehicles. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the breeding, physiology, and historical roles of draft horses, as well as their modern applications in various industries and recreational activities.
Abu-Seida AM, Elemmawy YM.Desmopathy of the collateral sesamoidean ligament (CSL) is an unusual disorder in draft horses. This study records the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of chronic CSL desmopathy in eight draft horses and confirms these features by histopathology. The recorded chronic CSL desmopathy has usually affected the forelimbs (100%) and commonly bilateral (62.5%). All horses showed positive proximal digital nerve block, positive front digital flexion test, and negative interphalangeal extension test. Radiography revealed no osseous abnormalities in all feet. MRI features of chronic CSL desmopat...
Myćka G, Musiał AD, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Piórkowska K, Ropka-Molik K.The gene encodes peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1, the first enzyme in the fatty acid β-oxidation pathway, which could be significant for organisms exposed to long periods of starvation and harsh living conditions. We hypothesized that variations within , revealed by RNA Sequencing (RNA-Seq), might be based on adaptation to living conditions and had resulted from selection pressure. There were five different horse breeds used in this study, representing various utility types: Arabian, Thoroughbred, Polish Konik, draft horses, and Hucul. The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located i...
Hahn K, Conze TM, Wollanke B, Distl O, Goehring LS, Witte TS.A 5-month-old draft horse filly was presented with incontinence and severe perivulvar dermatitis, which developed during the previous 2Â months. Left-sided ectopic ureter entering in the caudal vaginal lumen, signs of cervix hypoplasia, and urine accumulation in the uterus were found during initial vaginal endoscopy. Therefore, a left ureter-nephrectomy was conducted under general anesthesia. Additionally, a cytogenetic examination was performed, which showed a XO monosomy with a 63,X/64,XX mosaic. This is the first case report presenting a chromosome abnormality in a draft horse filly combine...
Ebel F, Vallejos A, Gajardo G, Ulloa O, Clavel E, RodrÃguez-Gil JE, RamÃrez-Reveco A.The aim of this study was to evaluate seasonal changes in basic parameters of sperm quality and freezability behaviour of ejaculates from 10 fertile heavy draft stallions. A total of 140 ejaculates were collected, processed and evaluated during both the breeding (September-November) and non-breeding seasons (April-June). Fresh semen was evaluated for volume, concentration, total spermatozoa per ejaculate, plasma membrane integrity and total sperm motility. Cryopreserved samples were evaluated for plasma membrane integrity and sperm motility by the CASA system, and for the freezability index (F...
Jaworska J, Tobolski D, Janowski T.The failure of the maternal immune system to recognize fetal antigens and vice versa due to MHC similarity between the foal and its dam might result in the lack of placental separation during parturition in mares. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of MHC similarity between a mare and a foal on the incidence of retained fetal membranes (RFM) in post-partum mares. DNA was sampled from 43 draft mares and their foals. Mares which failed to expel fetal membranes within three hours after foal expulsion were considered the RFM group (n = 14) and mares that expelled fetal membranes...
Aoki T, Chiba A, Itoh M, Nambo Y, Yamagishi N, Shibano KI, Cheong SH.The purpose of this study was to elucidate the colostral and foal serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration values in heavy draft horses in Japan and to examine the effects of peripartum mare condition on colostral immunity. Colostrum was obtained 1 hr after foaling (pre-suckling; n=178). Blood was collected from the jugular vein of the foals (n=147) at 24 to 48 hr after birth. The foaling statuses of 73 mares were recorded. The average colostral IgG concentration was 10,540 ± 3,190 mg/dl (median=10,928; range 1,434-17,514 mg/dl). The average serum IgG concentration obtained from neonatal fo...
Lancioni H, Cardinali I, Giontella A, Antognoni MT, Miglio A.In the last decades, Italy as well as other developed countries have registered a decrease in the population size of many local horse breeds. The continuous crossbreeding has determined the dilution of genetic heritage of several native breeds. The Italian Heavy Draught Horse (IHD) is the only autochthonous Italian coldblooded horse among these breeds; therefore, it represents a resource to be preserved. In 1927, the first generation of this breed was officially created by crossing different Heavy Draught horses with local mares and recorded in a Studbook. Methods: To provide the first compreh...
Samy A, Elmetwally M, El-Khodery SA.The aim of the present study was to establish appropriate doses for both lidocaine hydrochloride (Hcl) and mepivacaine in intravenous regional analgesia (IVRA) and to assess their intraoperative and postoperative analgesic effects in horses with distal limb surgeries. A total of 55 draft horses were included in the present study. Six clinically healthy horses were selected randomly for establishing the doses of lidocaine Hcl and mepivacaine in IVRA in horse limbs. After selection, 32 horses suffered from various distal limb surgical affections were randomly allocated into three groups: thiopen...
Tartor YH, Hamad MH, Abouzeid NZ, El-Belkemy FA.Equine pythiosis is an emerging, devastating disease that is hard to treat. The tumour-like nodular skin masses grow rapidly and the outcome is generally fatal, and thus early diagnosis and intervention are important. Objective: (i) To highlight the clinical, histological and haematological findings in pythiosis, and (ii) to evaluate the efficacy of direct sample multiplex-PCR targeting the single nucleotide polymorphisms within the ribosomal DNA region for detection and genotyping of Pythium insidiosum. Methods: Two hundred and twenty horses including 204 Arabian and 16 draft horses were surv...
Ronaldson HL, Monticelli P, Smith R, Adami C.A 13-year-old Shire horse was anesthetized for an elective orthopedic procedure. During recovery from anesthesia, the occurrence of severe acute dyspnea required a second anesthetic to allow endoscopy-guided nasotracheal intubation. Endoscopic findings were decreased mobility and swelling of the arytenoids with narrowing of the laryngeal aditus. Owing to a dislodgement of the nasotracheal tube during recovery, a third anesthetic was carried out to perform emergency tracheostomy. Recovery from the third anesthetic was long and the horse developed a post-anesthetic myopathy. The clinical conditi...
Lopez-Rodriguez MF, Cymbaluk NF, Epp T, Laarveld B, Thrasher M, Card CE.Iodine, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) are required for normal fetal growth, maturation, and neonatal survival. There is a lack of robust information on iodine levels found in colostrum, milk, and serum of mares and foals after a healthy pregnancy. Our objective was to characterize colostrum, milk, and serum iodine levels in healthy postpartum mares and foals (n = 10) and explore relationships with thyroid hormone concentrations. Colostrum, milk, and jugular blood samples from draft breed mares and foals with an estimated average iodine daily intake of 39 mg per mare during pregnan...
Gurgul A, Jasielczuk I, Semik-Gurgul E, Pawlina-Tyszko K, Szmatoła T, Polak G, Bugno-Poniewierska M.The current role of the horse as a companion animal resulted in a decrease of interest in breeding and usage of draft horses. This meant that the population of cold-blooded horses in Poland has been dramatically reduced during the last decades. To avoid impoverishment of the gene pool of the local horse population, a conservation program was established which involves draft horses and other local horse breeds. The draft horses bred in Poland can be subdivided in a few horse types of which the most widespread and consolidated are Sztumski and Sokólski horses. These two subpopulations are pheno...
Mostafavi E, Esmaeilnejad B, Meysam Abtahi Foroushani S.This study was undertaken to assess the effects of T. equi infection on serum concentrations of some important cytokines including interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-1α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12α, IL-12β, IL-18, as well as total, protein and lipid binding sialic acids (TSA, PBSA and LBSA). Furthermore, any probable relation among the parasitemia, cytokines and sialic acids (SAs) were calculated using Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. Almost 300 draft horses (Kurdish-breed) with age of 3-4 years old from north-...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Leonard M, Chmielewska-Krzesińska M, Siemieniuch M, Janowski TE.Despite their importance in mammalian reproduction, substances in the oxytocin-prostaglandins pathways have not been investigated in the horse placenta during most of pregnancy and parturition. Therefore, we quantified placental content of oxytocin (OXT), oxytocin receptor (OXTR), and prostaglandin E2 and F2 alpha during days 90-240 of pregnancy (PREG), physiological parturition (PHYS), and parturition with fetal membrane retention (FMR) in heavy draft horses (PREG = 13, PHYS = 11, FMR = 10). We also quantified OXTR and prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-2 (PTGS2) mRNA expression ...
Jaworska J, Ropka-Molik K, Wocławek-Potocka I, Siemieniuch M.Polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes ensures effective immune responses against a wide array of pathogens. However, artificial selection, as performed in the case of domestic animals, may influence MHC diversity. Here, we investigate and compare the MHC diversity of three populations of horses, for which different breeding policies were applied, to evaluate the impact of artificial selection and the environment on MHC polymorphism. Samples of DNA were taken from 100 Polish draft horses, 38 stabled Konik Polski horses and 32 semiferal Konik Polski horses. MHC alleles and...
Affolter VK, Dalley B, Kass PH, Brown EA, Sonder C, Bannasch DL.Chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) is a disabling condition affecting various draft horse breeds, including Friesian horses. Objective: The high incidence of CPL in Friesian horses suggests a genetic component and a predisposing phenotype. Methods: For the genomic study, 26 affected and 19 control horses were evaluated. Body measurements were taken from 28 affected and nine control Friesian horses. Methods: Axiom® Equine Genotyping Array with a total of 307,474 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) was used for the case/control genome-wide association study (GWAS). Height, weight and leg m...
Miglio A, Morelli C, Maresca C, Felici A, Di Gianbattista A, Antognoni MT.Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) reference intervals (RIs) have been evaluated in different horses, but no specific values are shown for equine breeds as previously described in other species (dogs, cats), and no studies have been performed on SPE in draft horses. Objective: This study aimed to determine RIs for SPE in heavy draft horses (Italian Heavy Draft Horse-IHDH) living in central Italy. A comparison between different physiologic states (pregnancy and no pregnancy) and ages (foals and adults) was executed. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 215 apparently healthy horses (mare...
Sild E, Värv S, Kaart T, Kantanen J, Popov R, Viinalass H.The maternal and paternal genetic variation of horse breeds from the Baltic Sea region, including three local Estonian breeds, was assessed and compared with that of Altai and Yakutian horses. In the mtDNA D-loop region, 72 haplotypes assigned to 20 haplogroups in the nine breeds were detected. In Estonian local breeds, 38 mtDNA haplotypes were found, and five of them were shared by the three breeds. More than 60% of all identified haplotypes were rare. Compared with the Estonian Native and Estonian Heavy Draught breeds, a higher haplotypic diversity was found in the Tori breed (h = 0.969). ...
Siemieniuch MJ, Kozdrowski R, Szóstek-Mioduchowska AZ, Raś A, Nowak M.Endometritis is one of the most important causes of infertility in mares. Mares may suffer from endometritis outside the breeding season; however, pathological condition is often undiagnosed in anestrus. The aim of this study was to examine whether the secretion profiles of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and a metabolite of prostacyclin I2 (6-keto-PGF1α) differ in endometrial tissue cultures of heavy draft mares in anestrus with endometritis compared to those without endometritis. The endometrial biopsies were collected from 51 heavy draft mares. Inclusion criteria for ...
Endo H, Nguyen ST, Yoshida M, Kudo K.The three-dimensionally real position and movement of the scapula in the lateral side of the ribcage could not be clarified in the horse, since the body size of the horse is too large to apply the CT scanning and image analysis methods. In this study, therefore, we examined the position and the movability of scapula using a carcass of the Falabella which is one of the smallest breeds of the horse. The whole skeletal system in thoracic part of the Falabella could be three-dimensionally observed by CT scanning method. The three-dimensional images show that the scapula cranially slides and the ve...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Leonard M, Chmielewska-Krzesińska M, Paździor-Czapula K, Janowski T.Major histocompatibility protein class I (MHC-I) is believed to be expressed in the horse allantochorion only in limited areas at limited times. However, its expression has only been investigated in early pregnancy with non-quantitative techniques that cannot reliably detect small amounts of protein. To quantify the relative expression of MHC-I in the allantochorion and endometrium during days 90-240 of pregnancy (PREG), parturition with physiological delivery of fetal membranes (PHYS), and parturition with retention of these membranes (FMR). Also, to visualize protein expression and determine...
Hackett ES, Leise BS.Upper respiratory tract (URT) endoscopy at rest is commonly used to evaluate competition draught horses with URT conditions. Overground endoscopy might be preferred for draught horse URT evaluation as it allows the horses to be driven with harness, overcheck and cart-load under similar conditions to those experienced in the show ring where airway conditions are most prominent. Objective: To describe the exercising URT findings of competition draught horses with abnormal respiratory noise and/or poor performance. Methods: Case series. Methods: Medical records of competition draught horses under...
Dupont J, Serteyn D, Sandersen C.Horses are susceptible to developing large areas of pulmonary atelectasis during recumbency and anesthesia. The subsequent pulmonary shunt is responsible for significant impairment of oxygenation. Since ventilation perfusion mismatch persists into the post-operative period, hypoxemia remains an important concern in the recovery stall. This case report describes the diagnosis and supportive therapy of persistent hypoxemia in a 914 kg draft horse after isoflurane anesthesia. It highlights how challenging it can be to deal with hypoxemia after disconnection from the anesthesia machine and how lif...
Brooks SA, Stick J, Braman A, Palermo K, Robinson NE, Ainsworth DM.Equine recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is a bilateral mononeuropathy with an unknown etiology. In Thoroughbreds (TB), we previously demonstrated that the haplotype association for height (LCORL/NCAPG locus on ECA3, which affects body size) and RLN was coincident. In the present study, we performed a genome-wide association scan (GWAS) for RLN in 458 American Belgian Draft Horses, a breed fixed for the LCORL/NCAPG risk alelle. In this breed, RLN risk is associated with sexually dimorphic differences in height, and we identified a novel locus contributing to height in a sex-specific manner:...
Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Velie BD, Axelsson J, Ang R, Hamilton NA, Andersson L, Meadows JRS, Lindgren G.The Swedish-Norwegian Coldblooded trotter and the heavier North-Swedish draught horse both descend from the North-Swedish horse, but the Coldblooded trotters have been selected for racing performance while the North-Swedish draught horse is mainly used for agricultural and forestry work. By comparing the genomes of Coldblooded trotters, North-Swedish draught horses and Standardbreds for a large number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the aim of the study was to identify genetic regions that may be under selection for racing performance. We hypothesized that the selection for racing p...
Komosa M, Włodarek J, Dzierzęcka M, Nienartowicz-Zdrojewska A, Tołkacz M.The problem of navicular bone lesions is better understood in warmblood horses. The aim of our research was to compare pathologic lesions of navicular bone of different types of horses divided into age groups. An extra goal was to compare radiographs with anatomical status of navicular bone dissected from the hoof capsule. The study group included 161 horses, out of which 100 individuals were warmbloods, and 61 - coldbloods. In total 280 navicular bones were analysed. The flexor surface, distal border fragments, enthesophytes and the process of obliteration of nutrient foramina were analysed. ...
De Cock HE, Affolter VK, Farver TB, Van Brantegem L, Scheuch B, Ferraro GL.Chronic progressive lymphedema in Clydesdale and Shire draft horses causes severe disability of the limbs which leads to premature death of these horses. Since appropriate function of lymph vessels is dependent on the presence of viable elastin fibers, the goal of this study was to document differences in skin elastin fibers in affected horse breeds, compared to a nonaffected draft horse breed. Results: Biochemical analysis of cutaneous desmosine, a cross-linking amino acid found only in elastin, was used to measure elastin in the skin from 110 draft horses. This included 7 normal, 38 mildly a...
Brooks SA, Stick J, Braman A, Palermo K, Robinson NE, Ainsworth DM.Equine recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is a bilateral mononeuropathy with an unknown etiology. In Thoroughbreds (TB), we previously demonstrated that the haplotype association for height (LCORL/NCAPG locus on ECA3, which affects body size) and RLN was coincident. In the present study, we performed a genome-wide association scan (GWAS) for RLN in 458 American Belgian Draft Horses, a breed fixed for the LCORL/NCAPG risk alelle. In this breed, RLN risk is associated with sexually dimorphic differences in height, and we identified a novel locus contributing to height in a sex-specific manner:...
Rüfenacht S, Roosje PJ, Sager H, Doherr MG, Straub R, Goldinger-Müller P, Gerber V.Chorioptes bovis infestation is a common cause of pastern dermatitis in the horse, with a predilection in draft horses and other horses with thick hair 'feathers' on the distal limbs. The treatment of this superficial mite is challenging; treatment failure and relapse are common. Furthermore, C. bovis infestation may affect the progression of chronic pastern dermatitis (also known as chronic proliferative pastern dermatitis, chronic progressive lymphoedema and dermatitis verrucosa) in draft horses, manifesting with oedema, lichenification and excessive skin folds that can progress to verruci...
Arriaga-Jordán CM, Pedraza-Fuentes AM, Velázquez-Beltrán LG, Nava-Bernal EG, Chávez-MejÃa MC.The economic contribution of draught animals to smallholder Mazahua campesino systems in two mountain villages of San Felipe del Progreso, in the central highlands of Mexico, was assessed. Campesinos rely on draught animals for cultivation tasks, as pack animals, and as transport for agricultural and domestic activities. The villages were San Pablo Tlalchichilpa (SPT) and La Concepción Mayorazgo (LCM). Twelve households that possessed draught animals were monitored from July 1999 to June 2000, nine in SPT and three in LCM, in terms of animal inventories and income from their draught animals, ...
Schwink K.A retrospective review of 41 cases of equine ocular squamous cell carcinoma with follow up information for 33 horses is presented. An apparent prevalence in heavy horse breeds was identified. Age and sex distribution were similar to those previously reported. High recurrence (42.4 per cent) and low metastasis (6 per cent) rates were seen. Initial tumour location, primary treatment used, or patient case history had no apparent influence on final outcome. The willingness of owners to pursue with continuous treatment correlated with a high degree of success.
Druml T, Baumung R, Sölkner J.The pedigree of the current Austrian Noriker draught horse population comprising 2808 horses was traced back to the animals considered as founders of this breed. In total, the number of founders was 1991, the maximum pedigree length was 31 generations, with an average of 12.3 complete generations. Population structure in this autochthonous Austrian draught horse breed is defined by seven breeding regions (Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg) or through six coat colour groups (Bay, Black, Chestnut, Roan, Leopard, Tobiano). Average inbreeding coefficie...
Peugnet P, Wimel L, Duchamp G, Sandersen C, Camous S, Guillaume D, Dahirel M, Dubois C, Jouneau L, Reigner F, Berthelot V, Chaffaux S, Tarrade A....In equids, placentation is diffuse and nutrient supply to the fetus is determined by uterine size. This correlates with maternal size and affects intra-uterine development and subsequent post-natal growth, as well as insulin sensitivity in the newborn. Long-term effects remain to be described. In this study, fetal growth was enhanced or restricted through ET using pony (P), saddlebred (S) and draft (D) horses. Control P-P (n = 21) and S-S (n = 28) pregnancies were obtained by AI. Enhanced and restricted pregnancies were obtained by transferring P or S embryos into D mares (P-D, n =â€...
The study investigates the changes in meat organoleptic characteristics and sarcoplasmic proteins of 3 horse muscles during aging. Longissimus lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles, were removed from 12 Italian Heavy Draft Horse carcasses and aged for 1, 3, 6, 9 and 14Â days. The lowest values of hardness and chewiness were found in LL muscle. During aging, a decrease of hardness was observed in ST muscle reaching the lowest value at 14Â days. 2DE revealed a decrease of 15 sarcoplasmic protein spots in all muscles. Muscle-differences were found at 14Â days. An inc...
Eliashar E, McGuigan MP, Rogers KA, Wilson AM.A variety of horseshoe designs are believed to 'ease' breakover, or the unloading of the foot once the heels leave the ground. In this study, conventional toe-clip shoes, quarter-clip shoes, fitted to the white line at the toe, and Natural Balance horseshoes were fitted to the front feet of 9 sound Irish Draught-cross type horses. Forceplate and video motion analyses were undertaken during trot locomotion to determine the moment arm of the ground reaction force on the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint, the peak DIP joint moment and the peak compressive force on the navicular bone. DIP joint m...
Tartor YH, Hamad MH, Abouzeid NZ, El-Belkemy FA.Equine pythiosis is an emerging, devastating disease that is hard to treat. The tumour-like nodular skin masses grow rapidly and the outcome is generally fatal, and thus early diagnosis and intervention are important. Objective: (i) To highlight the clinical, histological and haematological findings in pythiosis, and (ii) to evaluate the efficacy of direct sample multiplex-PCR targeting the single nucleotide polymorphisms within the ribosomal DNA region for detection and genotyping of Pythium insidiosum. Methods: Two hundred and twenty horses including 204 Arabian and 16 draft horses were surv...
Affolter VK.Chronic progressive lymphedema is a disorder of many draft horse breeds that presents with progressive swelling of the distal portions of the legs. This is associated with scaling, marked dermal fibrosis, and the development of skin folds and nodules. There seems to be a genetic predisposition to altered elastin metabolism and impaired function of the lymphatic system in the distal extremities. Management is palliative and involves keeping the feathers clipped short, treating secondary infections, daily exercise and skin care, hydrotherapy, manual lymph drainage and compression bandaging.
Pearson RA, Vall E.Use of animal power generally enables farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to increase agricultural production and improve the quality of life. Effective use of working animals depends on an understanding of the capabilities of the animals for work, their husbandry requirements and the factors which can influence their performance. These issues are reviewed in this paper in the context of the use of animal power in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. The type of animal used for work determines power available to the farmer. The performance of donkeys, horses and cattle have been compared in work tests...
Haridy FM, Shoukry NM, Hassan AA, Morsy TA.Toxoplasma gondii is one of the important zoonotic parasites of worldwide. In this paper the seroprevalence of T. gondii in draught horses (3-15 years) including 90 males and 10 females in the first half of the year 2009 was studied. The result showed that the overall ELISA-T. gondii antibodies were 25% of the horses in Greater Cairo, 50% (females) and 22.2% (males).
Aoki T, Chiba A, Itoh M, Nambo Y, Yamagishi N, Shibano KI, Cheong SH.The purpose of this study was to elucidate the colostral and foal serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration values in heavy draft horses in Japan and to examine the effects of peripartum mare condition on colostral immunity. Colostrum was obtained 1 hr after foaling (pre-suckling; n=178). Blood was collected from the jugular vein of the foals (n=147) at 24 to 48 hr after birth. The foaling statuses of 73 mares were recorded. The average colostral IgG concentration was 10,540 ± 3,190 mg/dl (median=10,928; range 1,434-17,514 mg/dl). The average serum IgG concentration obtained from neonatal fo...
Al-Haidar A, Moula N, Leroux A, Farnir F, Deleuze S, Sandersen C, Amory H.The aim of this study was to establish echocardiographic reference values for the equine species using allometric regression equations based on body weight (BW) and thoracic circumference (TC). Methods: A total of 239 horses or ponies were studied, including 65 warmbloods, 33 Standardbreds, 41 Thoroughbreds, 32 Arabian horses, 28 draft horses, and 40 ponies aged from 1 day to 30 years, weighing from 18 to 890Â kg, with no evidence of cardiac disease. Methods: For each horse or pony, a two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography was performed. Within each breed, the relationships between BW or ...
McCue ME, Ribeiro WP, Valberg SJ.Controversy exists as to the prevalence of polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) in breeds of horses and its impact on performance. Objective: To determine 1) the prevalence of PSSM in horses that presented with a neuromuscular disorder, as well as breed, sex and age distributions and clinical signs 2) effect of diagnostic criteria on prevalence, breed distribution and age of horses diagnosed with PSSM. Methods: Fresh frozen biopsies (n = 1426) submitted to the Neuromuscular Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota were searched to identify horses diagnosed with PSSM. Horses with ...
Valentine BA, Cooper BJ.Muscle samples were obtained at necropsy from 225 horses and ponies 1 year of age or older. Samples were processed in routine manner and were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and with periodic acid-Schiff for glycogen. Sections were examined for abnormal glycogen content and amylase-resistant complex polysaccharide and for chronic myopathic change (excessive fiber size variation, increase in number of internal nuclei). A total of 101 horses and ponies with lesions of polysaccharide storage myopathy were identified. Age of affected horses ranged from one to 30 years, with a mean of 14.7 years...
Toews AR, Bailey JV, Townsend HG, Barber SM.To examine the amount of heat generated in equine cortical bone by a 6.2-mm drill, using low- and high-speed and controlled feed rate drilling. Methods: 10 metacarpal bones harvested from five 2-year-old draft-type horses. Methods: Drilling on metacarpal bones was done using a machine shop mill with which the feed rate and drill speed could be precisely controlled. Bones were drilled, using 6 combinations of feed rate (1, 2, and 3 mm advance/s) and drill speed (317 and 1,242 revolutions/min [rpm], with maximal temperatures recorded by thermocouples placed 1, 1.5, and 2 mm from the drill. Maxim...
Aberle KS, Hamann H, Drögemüller C, Distl O.We analysed a 610-bp mitochondrial (mt)DNA D-loop fragment in a sample of German draught horse breeds and compared the polymorphic sites with sequences from Arabian, Hanoverian, Exmoor, Icelandic, Sorraia and Przewalski's Horses as well as with Suffolk, Shire and Belgian horses. In a total of 65 horses, 70 polymorphic sites representing 47 haplotypes were observed. The average percentage of polymorphic sites was 11.5% for the mtDNA fragment analysed. In the nine different draught horse breeds including South German, Mecklenburg, Saxon Thuringa coldblood, Rhenisch German, Schleswig Draught Hors...
De Cock HE, Van Brantegem L, Affolter VK, Oosterlinck M, Ferraro GL, Ducatelle R.Chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) in horses, a disease of certain draught breeds, is associated with altered elastin metabolism. The characteristic lesions are seen in the skin of the lower (distal) limbs. This study was based on horses of susceptible breeds, with and without CPL, and on horses of a non-susceptible breed. Skin samples were obtained for examination from the neck (considered a non-affected region) and from the distal limb. The skin lesions were characterized histologically and the dermal elastic fibres were evaluated morphologically and quantitatively. In all horses the mean...
Christie JL, Hewson CJ, Riley CB, Mcniven MA, Dohoo IR, Bate LA.There are no detailed, representative, horse-level data about equine management practices in different parts of Canada. To help address this, the demographics, management, and welfare of 312 nonracing horses in Prince Edward Island were examined in a randomized, horse-level survey during summer 2002. Owners completed a pretested questionnaire, and a veterinarian examined each horse. Owners were experienced caregivers and the horses were generally in good condition. Areas for improvement included parasite control, dental and hoof care, and tail docking. The mean fecal egg count was 428 eggs per...
Jaworska J, Ropka-Molik K, Wocławek-Potocka I, Siemieniuch M.Polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes ensures effective immune responses against a wide array of pathogens. However, artificial selection, as performed in the case of domestic animals, may influence MHC diversity. Here, we investigate and compare the MHC diversity of three populations of horses, for which different breeding policies were applied, to evaluate the impact of artificial selection and the environment on MHC polymorphism. Samples of DNA were taken from 100 Polish draft horses, 38 stabled Konik Polski horses and 32 semiferal Konik Polski horses. MHC alleles and...
Dupont J, Serteyn D, Sandersen C.Horses are susceptible to developing large areas of pulmonary atelectasis during recumbency and anesthesia. The subsequent pulmonary shunt is responsible for significant impairment of oxygenation. Since ventilation perfusion mismatch persists into the post-operative period, hypoxemia remains an important concern in the recovery stall. This case report describes the diagnosis and supportive therapy of persistent hypoxemia in a 914 kg draft horse after isoflurane anesthesia. It highlights how challenging it can be to deal with hypoxemia after disconnection from the anesthesia machine and how lif...
Wallraf A, Hamann H, Deegen E, Ohnesorge B, Distl O.The prevalence of pastern dermatitis was investigated in 917 German Coldblood horses aged 2.5 to 26 years. Pastern dermatitis was prevalent in Black Forest Draught horses with 47.5% and in South German Draught horses with 58.5%. High prevalences were found in Mecklenburg (76.4%), Saxon-Thuringa (84.3%), Schleswig (86.0%), and Rhenisch German Coldblood (96.1%) horses. All four legs or both hind legs were affected most frequently. The most prevalent forms of pastern dermatitis were crusted and hyperkeratotic-hyperplastic. The occurrence of pastern dermatitis was dependent of age. The statistical...
Mostafavi E, Esmaeilnejad B, Meysam Abtahi Foroushani S.This study was undertaken to assess the effects of T. equi infection on serum concentrations of some important cytokines including interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-1α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12α, IL-12β, IL-18, as well as total, protein and lipid binding sialic acids (TSA, PBSA and LBSA). Furthermore, any probable relation among the parasitemia, cytokines and sialic acids (SAs) were calculated using Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. Almost 300 draft horses (Kurdish-breed) with age of 3-4 years old from north-...
Miglio A, Morelli C, Maresca C, Felici A, Di Gianbattista A, Antognoni MT.Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) reference intervals (RIs) have been evaluated in different horses, but no specific values are shown for equine breeds as previously described in other species (dogs, cats), and no studies have been performed on SPE in draft horses. Objective: This study aimed to determine RIs for SPE in heavy draft horses (Italian Heavy Draft Horse-IHDH) living in central Italy. A comparison between different physiologic states (pregnancy and no pregnancy) and ages (foals and adults) was executed. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 215 apparently healthy horses (mare...
Shoemaker R, Bailey J, Janzen E, Wilson DG.Castration is one of the most common routine surgical procedures performed in the horse, from which a number of potential complications can arise. We undertook a prospective evaluation of short-term complications associated with castration of draught colts over a 3-year period (1998-2000). Objective: To compare castration complications in a large number of draught foals with previously published literature. Methods: Five hundred and sixty-eight draught colts, age 4 or 5 months, were castrated in field conditions. Foals were observed for complications for 24 h post operatively. Results: There w...
Ramaswamy NS.In fifty developing countries, which contain half of the total human population of the world, there is a heavy dependence on draught animals as an energy source. These animals are used for agriculture operations in 52% of cultivated areas of the world, as well as for hauling 25 million carts. This situation is likely to continue for at least another fifty years. The work performed annually by these draught animals would require 20 million tons of petroleum, valued at US$6 billion, if it were performed by motorized vehicles. The poor working conditions of these animals often adversely affect th...
