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.
Kimura Y, Haneda S, Aoki T, Furuoka H, Miki W, Fukumoto N, Matsui M, Nambo Y.The combined thickness of the uterus and placenta (CTUP) and ultrasonographic images of uteroplacental tissues were investigated in 35 pregnant heavy draft horses in Months 7-12 of pregnancy. The mares were divided into three groups: those pathologically diagnosed as placentitis (placentitis group, n=3); those who had abortion, premature birth, or fetal malformation (abnormal group, n=7); and those who had no abnormal findings (normal group, n=25). In the normal group, CTUP increased as pregnancy progressed from Months 7 (median, 7.08 mm; range, 5.68-11.27) to 12 (13.31 mm; 7.44-16.31 mm) (P<0...
Csizmár N, Mihók S, Jávor A, Kusza S.The Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry created in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. The interest in its conservation and characterization has increased over the last few years. The aim of this work is to contribute to the characterization of the endangered Hungarian heavy draft horse populations in order to obtain useful information to implement conservation strategies for these genetic stocks. Methods: To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation program, in the present study a...
Robles M, Peugnet PM, Valentino SA, Dubois C, Dahirel M, Aubrière MC, Reigner F, Serteyn D, Wimel L, Tarrade A, Chavatte-Palmer P.Ponies and sometimes draft horses are often used as experimental models for horses although size and metabolic parameters are known to vary between horse breeds. So far, there is little information about differences of placental structure and no information about differences of placental function between breeds. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in placental size, structure and function at birth in relation to foal size and weight in ponies, Saddlebred and draft horses. Pony, Saddlebred and draft horse pregnancies were obtained by artificial insemination over 2 successive br...
Robles M, Peugnet PM, Valentino SA, Dubois C, Dahirel M, Aubrière MC, Reigner F, Serteyn D, Wimel L, Couturier-Tarrade A, Chavatte-Palmer P.Following embryo transfer (ET), the size and breed of the recipient mare can affect fetal development and subsequent post natal growth rate and insulin sensitivity in foals. Objective: To investigate placental adaptation in pregnancies where increased or restricted fetal growth was induced through ET between Pony, Saddlebred and Draught horses. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Control Pony (P, n = 21) and Saddlebred (S, n = 28) pregnancies were obtained by artificial insemination. Increased pregnancies were obtained by transferring Pony (P-D, n = 6) and Saddlebred (S-D, n = 8) emb...
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 ...
Dunkel B, Buonpane A, Chang YM.Clinical impression suggests that some gastrointestinal lesions are more common in certain horse types. The study tested the hypothesis that relative prevalence of acute gastrointestinal lesions differs between equid types. In a retrospective caseâ€"control study, records (2010â€"2015) were reviewed for equids with acute gastrointestinal disease. Signalment, details of gastrointestinal lesions and diagnoses were recorded. Animals were categorised as miniature type, pony, Arabian, light breed or draft type. Exclusion criteria were no recorded breed/size/diagnosis, age less than one year a...
The Journal of heredityApril 30, 2017
Volume 108, Issue 5 505-514 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esx039
Druml T, Grilz-Seger G, Neuditschko M, Neuhauser B, Brem G.Genetic analyses of coat colors are frequently restricted to subjectively categorized phenotype information. The aim of this study was to develop a method to numerically quantify the variability of leopard complex (LP) spotting phenotypes introducing tools from image analysis. Generalized Procrustes analysis eliminates systematic errors due to imaging process. The binarization of normalized images and the application of principal component analysis (PCA) on the derived pixel matrices, transform pixel information into numerical data space. We applied these methods on 90 images to ascertain the ...
Kimura Y, Aoki T, Chiba A, Nambo Y.Dystocia is often lethal for neonatal foals; however, its clinicopathological features remain largely unknown. We investigated the effect of dystocia on the foal blood profile. Venous blood samples were collected from 35 foals (5 Percheron and 30 crossbreds between Percheron, Belgian, and Breton heavy draft horses) at 0 hr, 1 hr, 12 hr and 1 day after birth. Dystocia was defined as prolonged labor >30 min with strong fetal traction with or without fetal displacement. The dystocia group (n=13) showed lower mean values for pH (P<0.01), bicarbonate (P<0.01), total carbon dioxide (P<0....
Hiraga A, Sugano S.Although the total number of horses raised in Japan dramatically decreased after World War II, because draft horses were still used for farm work in paddy fields and on farms during the period of the 1950s and 1960s, a performance test for selecting better draft horses was needed. In order to determine the most suitable size of draft horses for Japanese farm conditions, the working power of horses weighing from 185 to 622 kg was evaluated by performing an endurance test, several kinds of working power tests, and maximum pulling power tests. Oxygen consumption during draft exercise was measured...
Miki W, Oniyama H, Takeda N, Kimura Y, Haneda S, Matsui M, Taya K, Nambo Y.We observed structural changes in the follicles and uterus of heavy draft mares during estrus and examined the effect of a single injection of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog buserelin on ovulation and endocrine profiles. Twenty-two heavy draft mares were divided into a buserelin-treated group (n=8) and a control group (n=14). Mares were given an intramuscular injection of 40 µg buserelin when they presented signs of estrus to a teaser stallion, had ≥45 mm diameter follicles, and presented decreased uterine edema compared with the previous examination. The follicles and uterus wer...
Druml T, Grilz-Seger G, Neuditschko M, Brem G.The aim of this study was to determine the allele frequency of the glycogen synthase 1 (GYS1) mutation associated with polysaccharide storage myopathy type 1 in the Austrian Noriker horse. Furthermore, we examined the influence of population substructures on the allele distribution. The study was based upon a comprehensive population sample (208 breeding stallions and 309 mares) and a complete cohort of unselected offspring from the year 2014 (1553 foals). The mean proportion of GYS1 carrier animals in the foal cohort was 33%, ranging from 15% to 50% according to population substructures based...
Sartori C, Guzzo N, Normando S, Bailoni L, Mantovani R.The present work is aimed at evaluating the behaviour of Italian Heavy Draught Horse (IHDH) foals reared in semi-covered stables and fed two isoenergetic total mixed rations with different dietary protein levels (13.2% and 10.6% of CP on dry matter). The study was prompted by the restrictions for nitrate emissions in farms of the European Nitrate Directive. One suggested solution is to reduce dietary protein while maintaining normal performance and welfare, but there is a lack of literature in studies of horses. The behaviours of 20 foals of 437±60 kg of BW, aged 379±37 days and stabled in f...
Niwa H, Hobo S, Kinoshita Y, Muranaka M, Ochi A, Ueno T, Oku K, Hariu K, Katayama Y.Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is a pathogen restricted to horses. Our investigation targeted 4 draft horses (9-10 months old) kept on a Japanese farm that had suffered an outbreak of S. Abortusequi abortion. The 4 horses were suspected to be carriers of the bacterium owing to their high agglutination titers (≥1:2,560) in tube agglutination testing. The owners' on-farm observations confirmed that the horses had no apparent abnormalities, and S. Abortusequi was not isolated from their blood, rectal swabs, or sternal bone marrow fluid at antemortem investigation. Howev...
Aoki T, Kimura Y, Oya A, Chiba A, Ishii M, Nambo Y.Heavy draft mares potentially have a higher risk of suffering from postpartum fever (PF) than light breed mares. The purpose of this study was to compare hematological and biochemical features between clinically healthy mares (n=40) and PF-affected mares (n=16). Mares were classified as having PF when their rectal temperature rose to >38.5°C within 96 hr of foaling. The numbers of leukocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils and the serum magnesium level were significantly lower in PF-affected mares. The serum SAA and NEFA levels were significantly higher in PF-affected mares. Strong inflammation...
Selvaggi M, D'Alessandro AG, Dario C.The aims of this study were to assess the genetic variability in the exon 1 of the κ-casein gene in four Italian horse populations (Italian Saddle horse, Italian Trotter, Italian Heavy Draught horse, and Murgese horse) and in a sample of Martina Franca donkey by estimating genotype, allele and haplotype frequencies, as well as several population genetic indices. Genotyping of the selected polymorphisms was performed using the PCR-RFLP technique with two restriction enzymes: PstI and BseYI aimed to discover the presence of c.-66A>G and c.-36C>A polymorphism, respectively. Both these loci...
Winfield LS, Dechant JE.The purpose of this retrospective case-control study was to identify factors associated with primary gastric rupture and to investigate if there were differences between etiologies of primary gastric rupture. Compared to the general colic population, Quarter horses were under-represented and Friesians and draft breeds were over-represented in 47 cases of primary gastric ruptures. Horses with primary gastric rupture typically presented with severe clinical and clinicopathological derangements. There were 24 idiopathic gastric ruptures, 20 gastric impaction associated ruptures, and 3 perforating...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Raś A, Całka J, Janowski TE.Fetal membrane retention can be a life-threatening condition and its incidence exceeds 50% in heavy draught mares. Although fetal membrane retention is commonly treated with repeated injections of oxytocin, based on the suggestion that it is caused mainly by secondary atony of the uterus, this treatment sometimes fails. This led us to ask if expression of oxytocin receptors differs in mares that retain fetal membranes due to secondary uterine atony. Objective: To determine whether expression of oxytocin receptors in equine placental tissues differs when heavy draught mares expel fetal membrane...
Cappelli K, Brachelente C, Passamonti F, Flati A, Silvestrelli M, Capomaccio S.Epitheliogenesis imperfecta in horses was first recognized at the beginning of the 20th century when it was proposed that the disease could have a genetic cause and an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. Electron microscopy studies confirmed that the lesions were characterized by a defect in the lamina propria and the disease was therefore reclassified as epidermolysis bullosa. Molecular studies targeted two mutations affecting genes involved in dermal-epidermal junction: an insertion in LAMC2 in Belgians and other draft breeds and one large deletion in LAMA3 in American Saddlebred. Metho...
Stefaniuk M, Kaczor U, Augustyn R, Gurgul A, Kulisa M, Podstawski Z.Myostatin (GDF-8) encoded by the MSTN gene is a negative regulator of muscle growth and development and belongs to the TGF-β superfamily of secreted growth and differentiation factors. In Thoroughbred horses, an MSTN sequence polymorphism (g.66493737C>T) is associated with optimum race distance. In the present study, a genetic polymorphism of a predicted promoter of the MSTN gene was investigated in 451 horses belonging to five different breeds: Arabian, Thoroughbred, Polish Konik, Hucul and Polish Heavy Draft. Two SNPs located at g.66495826T>C and g.66495696T>C (chr;18 EquCab 2.0) s...
De Keyser K, Berth M, Christensen N, Willaert S, Janssens S, Ducatelle R, Goddeeris BM, De Cock HE, Buys N.Diagnosis of chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) in draught horses, including the Belgian Draught Horse, is mainly based on clinical evaluation of typical lower limb lesions. A deficient perilymphatic elastic support, caused by a pathological elastin degradation in skin and subcutis, has been suggested as a contributing factor for CPL. Elastin degradation products induce the generation of anti-elastin Ab (AEAb), detectable in horse serum by ELISA. For a clinically healthy group of draught horses, a significantly lower average AEAb-level than 3 clinically affected groups (mild, moderate and s...
Mantovani R, Guzzo N, Sartori C, Bailoni L.This study aimed at evaluating in vivo performance, growth parameters, intakes, dressing percentage, and blood parameters in Italian Heavy Draft Horse (IHDH) weanlings fed 2 CP levels up to the 2 typical ages of slaughter. Forty-one weanlings were grouped in 8 pens according to sex, age, and BW. After a transition period, animals were randomly assigned to 2 isoenergetic diets containing different CP levels: 10.6 and 11.2% CP in DM for low protein (LP) and 13.2 and 14.7% CP in DM for high protein (HP) diets in the first and second phase, respectively. About half of the animals (n = 22) were sla...
Ghosh S, Qu Z, Das PJ, Fang E, Juras R, Cothran EG, McDonell S, Kenney DG, Lear TL, Adelson DL, Chowdhary BP, Raudsepp T.We constructed a 400K WG tiling oligoarray for the horse and applied it for the discovery of copy number variations (CNVs) in 38 normal horses of 16 diverse breeds, and the Przewalski horse. Probes on the array represented 18,763 autosomal and X-linked genes, and intergenic, sub-telomeric and chrY sequences. We identified 258 CNV regions (CNVRs) across all autosomes, chrX and chrUn, but not in chrY. CNVs comprised 1.3% of the horse genome with chr12 being most enriched. American Miniature horses had the highest and American Quarter Horses the lowest number of CNVs in relation to Thoroughbred r...
Nemoto M, Oue Y, Morita Y, Kanno T, Kinoshita Y, Niwa H, Ueno T, Katayama Y, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T.Recently, outbreaks associated with equine coronavirus (ECoV) have occurred in Japan and the United States. While ECoV is likely to be pathogenic to horses, it has not been shown that experimental inoculation of horses with ECoV produces clinical signs of disease. In this study, we inoculated three Japanese draft horses with an ECoV-positive diarrheic fecal sample to confirm infection after inoculation and to investigate the clinical course and virus shedding patterns of ECoV. Virus neutralization tests showed that all three horses became infected with ECoV. Two of the three horses developed c...
Kędzierski W.Leptin is a tissue-derivative adipokine that regulates appetite, food intake and energy expenditure. It is still not clear how exercise affects plasma leptin concentration in horses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of exercise intensity and duration on plasma leptin levels in working horses. A total of 38 horses were prospectively included in the study and grouped according to the type of exercise they performed: dressage (six stallions, group D), jumping (12 stallions, group J), race (12 Thoroughbred horses, six stallions and six mares, group R) and harness (10 light draft...
Tadich TA, Stuardo Escobar LH.In the past, the use of animals for transport and traction has been of economic importance all over the world, and this is still the case in certain areas of the world today, especially in rural and peri-urban areas of developing and transition countries. In Chile, for example, thousands of families rely on draught animal power as a fundamental source of income. This provides an opportunity to generate scientific information to increase understanding of the relationship between human well-being and that of domestic animals. Minimising the risks associated with poor draught animal welfare shoul...
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€...
De Palo P, Tateo A, Maggiolino A, Centoducati P.The present work describes the effect of nutritive level on horse carcass traits and on meat quality. Eighteen male Italian Heavy Draught Horse (IHDH) breed foals were employed in the study. Soon after foaling they were randomly subdivided into three groups according to three nutritive level classes: 150%, 180% and 200% of maintenance requirements. Live weight, hot carcass weight and dressing percentage of each animal were recorded. After slaughtering, meat samples were collected from Longissimus dorsi muscle. The right half carcass of each animal was then divided into cuts. Each one was subdi...
de Keyser K, Janssens S, Buys N.The objective of this review was to summarise and evaluate the current state of knowledge about chronic progressive lymphoedema in draught horses. Clinical signs of this multifactorial disorder are mainly restricted to the lower limbs, comprising progressively deteriorating skin, swelling and deformation. Although typical lesions were first reported at the beginning of the 20th century, chronic progressive lymphoedema was recognised as a specific syndrome only in 2003, and since then research has driven forward. Despite the high prevalence in some breeds and the serious economic impact, the pa...
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...
Wittwer C, Hamann H, Rosenberger E, Distl O.This study aimed to quantify the factors associated with the prevalence of the radiological signs of osteochondrosis (OC) and osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) in South German Coldblood (SGC) horses. The prevalence of OC and OCD in fetlock and hock joints was analysed in 167 young coldblood horses with a mean age of 14 months. The presence of at least one osteochondrotic lesion (OC) in fetlock or hock joints was documented for 61.7% of the horses and 26.9% of the horses had osseus fragments. Osteochondrotic findings at the dorsal aspect of the sagittal ridge of the third metacarpal/metatarsal bo...
O'Donovan KA, Aarnes TK, Hubbell JA, Parker EM, Mollenkopf D, Lerche P, Ricco Pereira CH, Bini G, Bednarski RM.To report anesthetic-related complications and determine risks associated with anesthesia in draft horses. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: A total of 401 anesthetic records for draft horse breeds that underwent general anesthesia from January 2010 through December 2020 were reviewed; horses euthanized during general anesthesia were excluded. Methods: Demographics, perioperative drugs used, procedure type and duration, time to extubation, number of attempts to stand, use of sling in recovery and perioperative morbidity and mortality were investigated. Morbidity and mortality statistical ...
Perkins JD, Salz RO, Schumacher J, Livesey L, Piercy RJ, Barakzai SZ.The extent to which variability affects endoscopic grading of arytenoid cartilage movement is uncertain. Objective: To determine the observer and within horse variability of grading arytenoid cartilage movement in horses during resting endoscopic examination, using a 7-grade system. Methods: Endoscopic recordings of the upper respiratory tract made at rest in 270 draught horses were reviewed independently by 2 veterinarians to assess interobserver variability when scoring horses' laryngeal function with a 7-grade system. Grading was repeated by both examiners in 80 randomly selected recordings...
Wittwer C, Hamann H, Rosenberger E, Distl O.Heritabilities were estimated for osteochondrosis (OC) in fetlock and hock joints and palmar/plantar osseous fragments in fetlock joints of South German Coldblood (SGC) horses using Residual Maximum Likelihood (REML) under a linear animal model. The analyses were based on the results of a standardized radiographic examination of 167 SGC horses with a mean age of 14 months. The heritabilities linearly estimated and transformed onto the liability scale were for OC in fetlock joints 0.16 and for OC in hock joints 0.04. Considering fetlock and hock OC together, results in a heritability of 0.17. P...
van Brantegem L, de Cock HE, Affolter VK, Duchateau L, Hoogewijs MK, Govaere J, Ferraro GL, Ducatelle R.Chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) is a recently recognised disease of the lymphatic system characterised by lesions in the skin of the lower legs in several draught horse breeds, including the Belgian Draught hourse. Clinical signs slowly progress and result in severe disfigurement of the limbs. Ideally, supportive treatment should be started early in the disease process. However early diagnosis and monitoring progression of CPL is still a challenge. Objective: Elastin changes, characterised by morphological alterations as well as increased desmosine levels, in the skin of the distal limbs...
Young AE, Bower LP, Affolter VK, De Cock HE, Ferraro GL, Bannasch DL.Chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL) is a debilitating condition identified in Clydesdales, Shires and Belgian draft horses and results in progressive swelling of the lower legs associated with the development of thick skin folds, ulcerations, fibrosis and marked hyperkeratosis. The result is severe discomfort and recurrent secondary infection, often requiring euthanasia. Due to the delayed onset, many horses are bred prior to diagnosis. CPL has only been documented in three related draft horse breeds, suggesting a genetic cause. Determining the molecular basis would enable owners to test hors...
Baird JD, Valberg SJ, Anderson SM, McCue ME, Mickelson JR.The purpose of this study was to determine which continental European draught horse breeds harbour a mutation in the glycogen synthase 1 gene (GYS1) that is known to be responsible for type 1 polysaccharide storage myopathy in quarter horses and North American draught horses. Of a non-random selection of continental European draught horses belonging to 13 breeds, 62 per cent (250 of 403) tested were found to carry the mutant allele. The horses were located in Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. The mutation was identified in animals from each of the breeds examined. In...
Olds AM, Stewart AA, Freeman DE, Schaeffer DJ.To determine the rate of development of septic arthritis after elective arthroscopy and evaluate associations between various factors and development of this complication in horses. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 682 horses that underwent arthroscopic procedures at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital from 1994 to 2003. Methods: Information pertaining to signalment, joints treated, whether antimicrobials were administered, and development of postoperative septic arthritis was collected from medical records. Horses with a primary problem of septic arthritis or w...
Csizmár N, Mihók S, Jávor A, Kusza S.The Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry created in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. The interest in its conservation and characterization has increased over the last few years. The aim of this work is to contribute to the characterization of the endangered Hungarian heavy draft horse populations in order to obtain useful information to implement conservation strategies for these genetic stocks. Methods: To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation program, in the present study a...
Mueller PJ, Jones MT, Rawson RE, van Soest PJ, Hintz HF.Oxygen consumption (VO2) and concentration of venous blood metabolites were measured in donkeys trained to run and to pull loads on a treadmill. VO2 in two donkeys running at maximal speed on a 9.8% slope was 110 +/- 2 ml.min-1.kg-1, approximately 22 times preexercise VO2. Average heart rate at maximal VO2 (VO2max) was 223 +/- 2 beats/min, five times the preexercise heart rate. Blood lactate increased 14-fold, and blood glucose did not change (P > 0.05). Animals running up a 4% incline and incremental draft loading of five donkeys walking on the level were also studied. The total energy cost o...
Kimura Y, Haneda S, Aoki T, Furuoka H, Miki W, Fukumoto N, Matsui M, Nambo Y.The combined thickness of the uterus and placenta (CTUP) and ultrasonographic images of uteroplacental tissues were investigated in 35 pregnant heavy draft horses in Months 7-12 of pregnancy. The mares were divided into three groups: those pathologically diagnosed as placentitis (placentitis group, n=3); those who had abortion, premature birth, or fetal malformation (abnormal group, n=7); and those who had no abnormal findings (normal group, n=25). In the normal group, CTUP increased as pregnancy progressed from Months 7 (median, 7.08 mm; range, 5.68-11.27) to 12 (13.31 mm; 7.44-16.31 mm) (P<0...
Muylle S, Simoens P, Verbeeck R, Ysebaert MT, Lauwers H.The microhardness of enamel, primary dentine and secondary dentine was determined in the incisor teeth of 39 horses of three different breeds, trotter horses, Belgian draft horses and Arab horses. Using a microhardness tester fitted with a Knoop diamond indenter, the overall Knoop Hardness Number was determined for each tissue, and the influence of breed and age on the hardness were evaluated. Enamel and secondary dentine were significantly harder in Arab horses than in trotters and Belgian draft horses, but there were no significant differences between draft horses and trotter horses in the h...
In the present study, we serosurveyed the exposure of 222 draft horses to different arboviruses in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. Plaque reduction neutralization tests confirmed exposure to Fort Sherman virus (FSV), Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), West Nile virus (WNV), and RÃo Negro virus (RNV). Apparently, Western and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses did not circulate in the population tested. The confirmation of five seroconversions for WNV, FSV, and SLEV and the association between prevalence and age are indicative of recent circulation. These results highlight the importance ...
Firshman AM, Baird JD, Valberg SJ.To determine prevalences of polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) and shivers in Belgian Draft Horses (BDHs) and determine whether there was an association between these 2 conditions. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Methods: 103 BDHs > 1 year old. Methods: Owners were questioned regarding clinical signs of PSSM, shivers, and hindquarter weakness, defined as poor hindquarter muscling and lack of propulsion. Blood samples were collected for determination of serum creatine kinase and aspartate transferase activities and serum selenium and vitamin E concentrations. A biopsy sample from the ...
de Cock HE, Affolter VK, Wisner ER, Larson RF, Ferraro GL.Early diagnosis of chronic progressive lymphoedema (CPL) may result in more effective interventions and provide a basis for further investigation of whether early diagnosis could be used as a means of eliminating potential genetic influences by cessation of breeding from affected individuals. Objective: Lymphoscintigraphy may be useful in draught horses to differentiate early lesions of CPL from other conditions in the pastern region. Methods: Forelimbs of 2 normal and 5 CPL-affected draught horses were evaluated with lymphoscintigraphy. Results: Lymphoscintigraphy showed clearly the presence ...
Ishii M, Kobayashi S, Acosta TJ, Miki W, Yamanoi T, Matsui M, Miyake Y, Miyamoto A.The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between circulating oxytocin (OT) and PGF(2alpha) metabolite (PGFM) in mares at the third stage of labor and placental expulsion time in order to investigate a cause of retained placenta of which the incidence increase in a heavy draft mare. Blood was sampled every 5 min from foaling to expulsion of the placenta in 18 heavy draft mares to evaluate circulating OT and PGFM. The relationships between OT and PGFM concentration and recorded placental expulsion times were investigated. The results were as follows (1) The highest level of OT conce...
Harrison GD, Duncan ID, Clayton MK.The age of onset of equine recurrent laryngeal neuropathy has not been ascertained, although the clinical condition of left laryngeal hemiplegia ("roaring") has been recognized for centuries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the laryngeal muscles of draft horse foals for the presence of fiber-type grouping, indicating denervation and reinnervation, and to determine if histological evidence of recurrent laryngeal neuropathy was present. Abductor and adductor laryngeal muscles from the left and right sides were collected immediately after euthanasia from male draft horse foals, six less...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Raś A, Całka J, Janowski TE.Fetal membrane retention can be a life-threatening condition and its incidence exceeds 50% in heavy draught mares. Although fetal membrane retention is commonly treated with repeated injections of oxytocin, based on the suggestion that it is caused mainly by secondary atony of the uterus, this treatment sometimes fails. This led us to ask if expression of oxytocin receptors differs in mares that retain fetal membranes due to secondary uterine atony. Objective: To determine whether expression of oxytocin receptors in equine placental tissues differs when heavy draught mares expel fetal membrane...
Myćka G, Klecel W, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Jaworska J, Musiał AD, Ropka-Molik K.The Polish draft horse (PDH) breed is a result of crossing local mares with imported cold-blooded stallions, such as Belgians, Ardennes, Fjords, and others. A part of the broodmare stock investigated in this study was also imported from various countries, such as Denmark. In this study, we investigate the genetic composition of the PDH by analyzing the whole mitochondrial d-loop variability and comparing it to previously demonstrated whole d-loop sequences of other cold-blooded breeds: Ardennais, Belgian, Breton, Clydesdale, Noriker, Norwegian Fjord, Percheron, and Suffolk. Our results show hi...
The Journal of heredityDecember 14, 2011
Volume 103, Issue 1 134-139 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esr121
Bigi D, Perrotta G.Catria is 1 of the 22 native Italian horse breeds that now survive from a larger number. Thirty individuals, representative of the Catria horse, were analyzed for 11 microsatellites and compared with data of 10 breeds reared in Italy. Three different approaches, genetic distances, correspondence analysis, and clustering methods, were considered to study genetic relationships among Catria and the other horse populations. Genetic differentiation among breeds was highly significant (P < 0.01) for all loci. Average F(ST) values indicate that around 10% of the total genetic variation was explain...
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). ...
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...
Niwa H, Hobo S, Kinoshita Y, Muranaka M, Ochi A, Ueno T, Oku K, Hariu K, Katayama Y.Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is a pathogen restricted to horses. Our investigation targeted 4 draft horses (9-10 months old) kept on a Japanese farm that had suffered an outbreak of S. Abortusequi abortion. The 4 horses were suspected to be carriers of the bacterium owing to their high agglutination titers (≥1:2,560) in tube agglutination testing. The owners' on-farm observations confirmed that the horses had no apparent abnormalities, and S. Abortusequi was not isolated from their blood, rectal swabs, or sternal bone marrow fluid at antemortem investigation. Howev...
Muñoz A, Riber C, Trigo P, Castejón FM, Lucas RG, Palacio J.This study investigated the effect of hypertonic dehydration on exercise in horses. Valencian draft horses (n=43) with hypertonic dehydration following water and food deprivation and competing in pulling events (COM), were compared to euhydrated horses (n=11) during a pulling exercise test (PET). Both groups were divided into bodyweight (BW) categories A (≤350 kg), B (351-450 kg), and C (≥451 kg), and pulled 2, 2.25, and 2.5 times BW, respectively. Exercise duration (ED) was 1.3±0.8 min. Heart rate, respiratory rate, rectal temperature and blood samples were taken at rest, after exercise,...
Serrano AL, Rivero JL.Fourteen 4-year old Andalusian mares were used to examine the plasticity of myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition in horse skeletal muscle with heavy draught-exercise training and detraining. Seven horses underwent a training programme based on carriage exercises for 8 months. Afterwards, they were kept in paddocks for 3 months. The remaining seven animals were used as control horses. Three gluteus medius muscle biopsies were removed at depths of 20, 40 and 60 mm from each horse before (month 0), during the training (months 3 and 8) and after detraining (month 11). Myosin heavy chain compositio...
Multigner L, Magistrini M, Ducot B, Spira A.Several reports have suggested that human semen quality has declined throughout the world over the last few decades. Chemicals in the environment acting as endocrine disruptors have been implicated as a possible cause. If this is indeed the case, then similar effects may be observed in animals. We report data on secular trends in semen quality of stallions collected during the last two decades by French National Studs. Methods: We analyzed 1489 ejaculates collected from 390 Breton draught stallions between 1981 and 1996 and 341 ejaculates from 86 anglo-arab thoroughbred stallions from 1985 and...
