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.
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...
Mykkänen AK, Hyytiäinen HK, McGowan CM.A 2-week-old Estonian Draft foal presented with signs of severe generalised tetanus, recumbency and inability to drink. The suspected source of infection was the umbilicus. Medical treatment was administered, including tetanus antitoxin, antimicrobial therapy and phenobarbital to control tetanic spasms. In addition, an intensive physiotherapy program was carried out during the recovery period. Techniques designed for syndromes involving upper motor neuron spasticity in humans were applied. Exercises aimed at weight-bearing and mobility were executed with the help of a walking-frame. The foal m...
Poore LA, Else RW, Licka TL.Verrucous pastern dermatitis is a progressive inflammatory skin disease commonly involving the palmar or plantar aspects of the pasterns of horses. There are no reports of successful surgical treatment for multifocal circumscribed verrucous masses in the chronic stages of verrucous pastern dermatitis. A combination of sharp dissection and electrocautery was used to resect numerous multifocal circumscribed verrucous masses from the distal hindlimb of an 11-year-old gelding draught horse. There was no evidence of significant regrowth or complications at a 24 month postoperative examination.
Micera E, Moramarco AM, Zarrilli A.As horses may perceive several odour signals of danger at slaughter, application of mentholated ointment to their nostrils may limit their perception of danger. To assess the effect of the application of a mentholated ointment to horse nostrils on the stress response during pre-slaughter handling, plasma levels were evaluated for cortisol, beta-endorphin, epinephrine and norepinephrine prior to and after stunning. Twenty draught-type horses were divided into control (n=10) and treated (n=10) groups and a mentholated ointment applied to the nostrils of the treated horses following blood samplin...
Dupuis MC, Zhang Z, Druet T, Denoix JM, Charlier C, Lekeux P, Georges M.Recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) is a major upper-airway disease of horses that causes abnormal respiratory noise during exercise and can impair performance. Etiopathogenesis remains unclear but genetic factors have been suspected for many decades. The objective of this study was to identify risk loci associated with RLN. To that end we genotyped 234 cases (196 Warmbloods, 20 Trotters, 14 Thoroughbreds, and 4 Draft horses), 228 breed-matched controls, and 69 parents with the Illumina Equine SNP50 BeadChip. Using these data, we quantified population structure and performed single-marker and...
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...
Kander A, Warde P.This article explores the proposition that a reason for high agricultural productivity in the early nineteenth century was relatively high energy availability from draught animals. The article is based on the collection of extensive new data indicating different trends in draught power availability and the efficiency of its use in different countries of Europe. This article shows that the proposition does not hold, and demonstrates that, although towards the end of the nineteenth century England had relatively high numbers of draught animals per agricultural worker, it also had low number of w...
Oue Y, Ishihara R, Edamatsu H, Morita Y, Yoshida M, Yoshima M, Hatama S, Murakami K, Kanno T.A new equine coronavirus was isolated from the feces of adult horses with pyrogenic and enteric disease. The disease outbreak was mainly observed among 2- to 4-year-old horses living in stables of a draft-horse racetrack in Japan. On comparing the isolated virus (isolate Tokachi09) with the equine coronavirus NC99 strain, no significant differences were observed in several biological properties such as hemagglutinating activity, antigenicity (in indirect immunofluorescence and neutralization tests), and one-step growth (in cell culture). The sequences of the nucleocapsid and spike genes of iso...
Mathes RL, Paige Carmichael K, Peroni J, Anthony Moore P.A 5-year-old Draft Horse gelding presented for evaluation of a large, fleshy, ulcerated third eyelid mass OD of 3 weeks duration. Complete ophthalmic examination, ocular ultrasound and skull radiographs revealed a large soft-tissue mass involving the entire third eyelid OD and extending into the ventral right orbit to the level of the globe equator. No other abnormalities were noted on physical or ophthalmic examination. Surgical removal via exenteration was performed 3 months after initial presentation. A lacrimal adenocarcinoma of the third eyelid was diagnosed based on histopathology. Concu...
Stover KK, Williams SH.In mammals, chewing cycle duration (CCD) increases with various measures of size, scaling with body mass(0.13-0.28) and jaw length(0.55). Proposed explanations for these scaling relationships include the allometry of body size, basal metabolic rate and tooth size, on the one hand, and pendular mechanics treating the jaw as a gravity-driven pendulum, on the other. Little is known, however, about the relationship between CCD and size within species. Recent research in dogs demonstrates altogether different scaling exponents and weaker correlations. This research suggests that breed-specific grow...
Brooks SA, Makvandi-Nejad S, Chu E, Allen JJ, Streeter C, Gu E, McCleery B, Murphy BA, Bellone R, Sutter NB.Horses, like many domesticated species, have been selected for broad variation in skeletal size. This variation is not only an interesting model of rapid evolutionary change during domestication, but is also directly applicable to the horse industry. Breeders select for complex traits like body size and skeletal conformation to improve marketability, function, soundness and performance in the show ring. Using a well-defined set of 35 measurements, we have identified and quantified skeletal variation in the horse species. We collected measurements from 1215 horses representing 65 breeds of dive...
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,...
Magata F, Ishii M, Oikawa E, Furuoka H, Yamada K, Sasaki N, Shimizu S, Inokuma H.A 42-day-old heavy draft horse fell into sudden astasia. Significant swelling and heat sensation of the left femoral region were observed. Because of a friction sound in the left hip, we supposed that the hip joint was dislocated or the hip bone was fractured. Computed Tomography (CT) examination showed that the left hip joint was dislocated and the left femoral head was disjunct. We carried out a pathological autopsy, and made a diagnosis of the foal as fracture of the hip bone and femoral head with suppurative umbilical arteritis. Pathologic changes in the umbilical artery and hind leg were ...
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...
Matsuda K, Tabata S, Kawamura Y, Kurosawa T, Yoshie N, Taniyama H.Ectopic bone formation in the left atrioventricular valves and cardiac fibroskeleton, with systemic circulatory disturbance, is reported in a 4-year-old crossbred heavy horse. Microscopically, there was fibrosis, chondral metaplasia and mature bone, with bone marrow within the left atrioventricular cusps and in the annuli of the aortic and right atrioventricular valves.
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).
Cramp P, Derksen FJ, Stick JA, Nickels FA, Brown KE, Robinson P, Robinson NE.Little is known about the efficacy of bilateral ventriculectomy (VE) or bilateral ventriculocordectomy (VCE) in draught horses. Objective: To compare the effect of VE and VCE on upper airway noise in draught horses with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) by use of quantitative sound analysis techniques. Objective: In competitive draught horses with grade 4 RLN, VE and VCE reduce upper airway noise during exercise, but VCE is more effective. Methods: Thirty competitive hitch or pulling draught horses with grade 4 RLN were evaluated for upper airway sound during exercise. Respiratory rate (RR)...
Mittmann EH, Mömke S, Distl O.Chronic pastern dermatitis (CPD), also known as chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL), is a skin disease that affects draft horses. This disease causes painful lower-leg swelling, nodule formation, and skin ulceration, interfering with movement. The aim of this whole-genome scan was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for CPD in German draft horses. We recorded clinical data for CPD in 917 German draft horses and collected blood samples from these horses. Of these 917 horses, 31 paternal half-sib families comprising 378 horses from the breeds Rhenish German, Schleswig, Saxon-Thuringian, a...
The Journal of heredityNovember 25, 2009
Volume 101, Issue 2 246-250 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esp091
Mittmann EH, Lampe V, Mömke S, Zeitz A, Distl O.The availability of a high-quality draft sequence of the horse makes known the physical location of microsatellites. The aim of the present study was to establish a highly polymorphic minimal screening set of microsatellite markers for horses (MSSH) annotated on the horse genome assembly EquCab2.0. We have used the previously reported linkage and radiation hybrid maps and have extended these marker sets by filling in gaps as noted from annotation on the horse sequence. This MSSH covers all autosomes and the X chromosome with 322 evenly spaced microsatellites whose positions were determined on ...
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...
Sasaki N, Morita Y, Moriyama T, Yamada H.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the canine cranial cruciate ligament repair system on laryngeal hemiplegia in heavy draft horses. Twenty-four heavy draft horses diagnosed with grade 4 laryngeal hemiplegia were allocated to either the prosthetic laryngoplasty (PL) group (n=14) or a canine cranial cruciate ligament repair system (CCCLRS) group (n=10). Right to left angle quotients (RLQs) of abductions of the arytenoid cartilages were endoscopically evaluated before and after surgery. Post-operative RLQs in the CCCLRS group were significantly lower than those of the PL gro...
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...
Schumacher J, Livesey L, DeGraves F, Blagburn B, Ziska S, Caldwell M, Brock K.This study was undertaken to determine whether resistance to moxidectin had developed in a large herd of draught horses, maintained on a small acreage, which had been routinely treated with moxidectin for five years. Faeces were collected for egg counts immediately before moxidectin gel was administered orally, and seven, 30, 60 and 90 days later. The faecal egg counts were significantly reduced at seven and 30 days after treatment, but were not significantly different from pretreatment counts at 60 and 90 days after treatment. There was no evidence of resistance having developed.
Haase B, Brooks SA, Tozaki T, Burger D, Poncet PA, Rieder S, Hasegawa T, Penedo C, Leeb T.White coat colour in horses is inherited as a monogenic autosomal dominant trait showing a variable expression of coat depigmentation. Mutations in the KIT gene have previously been shown to cause white coat colour phenotypes in pigs, mice and humans. We recently also demonstrated that four independent mutations in the equine KIT gene are responsible for the dominant white coat colour phenotype in various horse breeds. We have now analysed additional horse families segregating for white coat colour phenotypes and report seven new KIT mutations in independent Thoroughbred, Icelandic Horse, Germ...
Ishii M, Kobayashi S, Acosta TJ, Miki W, Matsui M, Yamanoi T, Miyake Y, Miyamoto A.The aim of this study was to establish the effectiveness of administration of oxytocin (OT) on placental expulsion after foaling. Four foaling mares with the placentas retained for up 1 hr after foaling received OT (50 IU) administration at 1 hr intervals before expulsion of the placenta. The changes in the plasma concentrations of OT and the PGF2alpha metabolite (PGFM) were investigated, and the influence of OT administration was considered. The results were as follows. The placenta was expelled after one to three OT administrations in all four mares that received OT. In two mares, which expe...
McKenzie EC, Firshman AM.Chronic exertional rhabdomyolysis represents a syndrome of recurrent exercise-associated muscle damage in horses that arises from a variety of etiologies. Major advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease, and causative genetic defects have been recently identified for two conditions-polysaccharide storage myopathy of quarter horses, paints, warm bloods, and draft breeds. Dietary management in combination with a regular exercise regimen comprises the most effective means for control of clinical signs.
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...
Tsogtgerel M, Tagami M, Watanabe K, Murase H, Hirosawa Y, Kobayashi Y, Nambo Y.Granulosa cell tumor (GCT) is a benign tumor which affects the mare's ovaries. In this report, a case of unilateral GCT in an ovary, which weighed 17.04 kg, of a 9-year-old Breton draft mare is described. A transrectal ultrasonography exam revealed a unilateral multi-cystic enlarged ovary. Laparoscopic ovariectomy was difficult due to enlargement of blood vessels in the ovarian broad ligament. The mare was necropsied, and the pathological changes in the GCT-affected ovary and unaffected ovary were evaluated. The ovarian mass in the GCT-affected ovary had a cribriform pattern and was positive f...
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...
Riva MG, Sobrero L, Menchetti L, Minero M, Padalino B, Dalla Costa E.Horses with a low level of tameness are at higher risk for transport-related disease and injury; hence, European regulations for the protection of animals during transport (EC 1/2005) are stricter for unhandled (unbroken) horses. However, the regulation does not provide adequate tools for unhandled horse identification. The Broken/Unbroken Test (BUT) was developed and validated to easily identify whether a horse is broken (handled) or not. As a further validation step, the aim of this study was to assess whether there is any correspondence between the BUT classification and the behavioral resp...
Hansen M, Knorr C, Hall AJ, Broad TE, Brenig B.The solute carrier family 26, member 2 (SLC26A2) gene belongs to a family of multifunctional anion exchangers. Mutations in the human SLC26A2 gene are associated with autosomal recessively inherited chondrodysplasias. Hence, we postulate that the equine SLC26A2 could be a candidate gene for conformational traits in horses. An equine BAC clone harboring the SLC26A2 gene was isolated. The complete 142,625 bp insert sequence of this clone was determined by transposon sequencing. Together with the SLC26A2 gene the BAC clone contains four genes, i.e. the macrophage colony stimulating factor 1 recep...
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...
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 ...
Greco-Otto P, Massie S, Shields E, Roy MF, Pajor E, Léguillette R.The Heavy Horse Pull is a competition where teams of two horses pull an increasingly heavy sled for a short distance. Similar to human wrestlers, some horses may undergo rapid weight change in order to enter a lower weight category. The objectives were to study the physiological effects of this practice as well as of the pulling competition in draft horses. Results: Fifty horses were divided into light-, middle- and heavyweight categories based on their arrival weights and competed 1-3 days after. Body weight was measured upon arrival and pre-competition. Blood was sampled for chemistry and h...
Herszberg B, McCue ME, Larcher T, Mata X, Vaiman A, Chaffaux S, Chérel Y, Valberg SJ, Mickelson JR, Guérin G.Glycogen storage diseases or glycogenoses are inherited diseases caused by abnormalities of enzymes that regulate the synthesis or degradation of glycogen. Deleterious mutations in many genes of the glyco(geno)lytic or the glycogenesis pathways can potentially cause a glycogenosis, and currently mutations in fourteen different genes are known to cause animal or human glycogenoses, resulting in myopathies and/or hepatic disorders. The genetic bases of two forms of glycogenosis are currently known in horses. A fatal neonatal polysystemic type IV glycogenosis, inherited recessively in affected Qu...
Geburek F, Deegen E, Hewicker-Trautwein M, Ohnesorge B.In the present field study the skin of the feet of 37 heavy draught horses of different breeds showing verrucous pastern dermatitis was examined clinically. Included were the degree of severity of the disease and the prevalence of anatomically normal structures associated with the skin: fetlock tufts of hair ("feathering"), ergots, chestnuts, bulges in the pastern region, cannon circumference. Each horse was examined for Chorioptes sp. skin mites. Information was also collected on the development of the skin alterations and housing conditions and feeding. These individual data were correlated ...
Mömke S, Distl O.Chronic pastern dermatitis predominantly affects draft horses, and this condition is characterized by hyperkeratotic-hyperplastic dermal alterations. Chronic pastern dermatitis resembles the acral-hemorrhagic phenotype of Darier-White disease in humans. The ATP2A2 gene has been shown to be responsible for human Darier-White. Thus, we chose ATP2A2 on equine chromosome 8 (ECA8) as candidate for chronic pastern dermatitis in coldblood horses. A linkage analysis was performed in 10 paternal half-sib families consisting of 85 German coldblood horses using a microsatellite closely linked to ATP2A2, ...
Lange-Consiglio A, Arrighi S, Fiandanese N, Pocar P, Aralla M, Bosi G, Borromeo V, Berrini A, Meucci A, Dell'Aquila ME, Cremonesi F.There is no published information about follicular-fluid leptin concentrations or the presence of leptin and leptin receptor in the equine ovary or oocyte. Three groups of mares - adult draft mares, draft fillies and adult Standardbred mares - were included in the study. Leptin and leptin receptor were detected in all immature oocytes by immunofluorescence with higher intensity in oocytes from draft mares compared with draft fillies and Standardbred mares. After in vitro maturation a higher proportion of oocytes reached metaphase II in draft mares than in draft fillies and Standardbred mares, ...
Perez R, Recabarren SE, Valdes P, Hetz E.A study was undertaken in five draught horses of 648 +/- 33 kg body weight to find the effects of continuously pulling loads on their cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic responses. A cart equipped with an odometer, for measuring distance, and a hydraulic dynamometer, for measuring draught force, was used. Heart and respiration rates and rectal temperatures were recorded. Blood samples for measuring arterial and venous pH and blood gases, haemoglobin, glucose and lactic acid concentrations and the serum activity of the enzymes creatine phosphokinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate ...
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...
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 ...
François I, Lepage OM, Schramme MC, Salciccia A, Detilleux J, Grulke S.To report findings, outcome and determine variables associated with survival in horses with acquired inguinal hernia (AIH). Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: A total of 98 cases in 97 horses. Methods: The medical records (2005-2020) of horses diagnosed with AIH were reviewed. Retrieved data included signalment, history, clinical variables, surgical aspects, postoperative complications, and short- and long-term outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with short-term survival (p < .05). Results: Manual reduction was attempted in a third of the...
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...
Cramp P, Derksen FJ, Stick JA, Nickels FA, Brown KE, Robinson P, Robinson NE.Little is known about the efficacy of bilateral ventriculectomy (VE) or bilateral ventriculocordectomy (VCE) in draught horses. Objective: To compare the effect of VE and VCE on upper airway noise in draught horses with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) by use of quantitative sound analysis techniques. Objective: In competitive draught horses with grade 4 RLN, VE and VCE reduce upper airway noise during exercise, but VCE is more effective. Methods: Thirty competitive hitch or pulling draught horses with grade 4 RLN were evaluated for upper airway sound during exercise. Respiratory rate (RR)...
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...
Youssef MA, El-khodery SA, Ibrahim HM.Excess production of reactive oxygen species is involved in the pathogenesis of airway disorders in horses. Trace element antioxidants have a beneficial role in oxidant/antioxidant balance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a combination of sodium selenite and ascorbic acid on clinical outcome, antioxidant enzymes, and trace elements status in horses with lower airway disease. For this purpose, 40 draft horses with lower airway disease were randomly selected (acute, n = 20; chronic, n = 20). Both acute and chronic cases were randomly allocated into two subgroup...
Poore LA, Else RW, Licka TL.Verrucous pastern dermatitis is a progressive inflammatory skin disease commonly involving the palmar or plantar aspects of the pasterns of horses. There are no reports of successful surgical treatment for multifocal circumscribed verrucous masses in the chronic stages of verrucous pastern dermatitis. A combination of sharp dissection and electrocautery was used to resect numerous multifocal circumscribed verrucous masses from the distal hindlimb of an 11-year-old gelding draught horse. There was no evidence of significant regrowth or complications at a 24 month postoperative examination.
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...
Sprayberry KA, Madigan J, LeCouteur RA, Valentine BA.A Thoroughbred-Percheron crossbred gelding developed a fulminant cascade of sequelae following a severe episode of rhabdomyolysis. Complications may occur with rhabdomyolysis of any etiology. In warmblood horses with Percheron bloodlines, rhabdomyolysis may be secondary to polysaccharide storage disease, and aggressive therapy should be undertaken promptly to avoid the complications.
Nadal C, Chanet C, Delaunay C, Pitel PH, Marsot M, Bonnet SI.Equine piroplasmosis, caused by the protozoan parasites Babesia caballi and Theileria equi, is endemic in Europe's Mediterranean basin, creating significant health and economic challenges for the equine sector. With no available vaccine, an eco-epidemiological approach is essential in order to identify and implement effective preventive measures. With this aim in view, we identified risk factors associated with B. caballi and T. equi infections and tick infestation for draught horses in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, known for its high piroplasmosis seroprevalence. During the spri...
Sievers J, Distl O.The Rhenish German draught horse is an endangered German horse breed, originally used as working horse in agriculture. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the breed's genetic diversity using pedigree and genomic data in order to analyze classical and ancestral pedigree-based inbreeding, runs of homozygosity, ROH islands, and consensus ROH. Methods: We studied the genome-wide genotype data of 675 Rhenish German draught horses and collated pedigree-based inbreeding coefficients for these horses. The final dataset contained 64,737 autosomal SNPs. Results: The average number of ...
Burns JJ, MacMillan KM, John E.Respiratory disease is common in the horse population and is often associated with poor performance in equine athletes. Despite their outstanding strength and aerobic capacity, little regard is given to draft horses and the respiratory disorders they may encounter when performing athletic activity. For this reason, the objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the prevalence of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), tracheal mucus (TM) and recurrent laryngeal hemiplegia (RLH) in a population of competitive draft pulling horses, and (2) to determine if there was an association betw...
Matsuda K, Tabata S, Kawamura Y, Kurosawa T, Yoshie N, Taniyama H.Ectopic bone formation in the left atrioventricular valves and cardiac fibroskeleton, with systemic circulatory disturbance, is reported in a 4-year-old crossbred heavy horse. Microscopically, there was fibrosis, chondral metaplasia and mature bone, with bone marrow within the left atrioventricular cusps and in the annuli of the aortic and right atrioventricular valves.
Tuemmers C, Quezada G, Morales R, Serri M.In the Araucanía Region there are no studies on the seroprevalence of leptospirosis in horses. Serological samples from 100 draft horses from Mapuche communities of four communes in the region were analyzed using the microMAT technique. The seroprevalence was 35% for at least one serovar of Leptospira spp. being the most frequent serovars canicola (22%), grippotyphosa (21%), hardjo (13%) and pomona (10%). It was evident that the equine populations studied are exposed to infection by Leptospira spp. and reveal a potential risk of transmission to their owners.
Sheridan CK, Myrna KE, Nunnery CM, Czerwinski SL.To determine the prevalence of ocular disease in draft horses in the United States. Methods: Draft horses of various breeds and ages. Methods: Nondilated ophthalmic examination was performed using slit lamp biomicroscopy and indirect ophthalmoscopy. Intraocular pressures were measured when possible. Results: One hundred sixty-five draft horses were examined. Age range: 10 days to 33 years (mean 10.8 years, median 10 years); 87 geldings (52.7%), 71 mares (43.0%), 7 stallions (4.2%); 64 Percherons (38.8%), 51 Belgians (30.9%), 29 Clydesdales (17.6%), 15 Shires (9%), and 6 other draft bre...
Magata F, Ishii M, Oikawa E, Furuoka H, Yamada K, Sasaki N, Shimizu S, Inokuma H.A 42-day-old heavy draft horse fell into sudden astasia. Significant swelling and heat sensation of the left femoral region were observed. Because of a friction sound in the left hip, we supposed that the hip joint was dislocated or the hip bone was fractured. Computed Tomography (CT) examination showed that the left hip joint was dislocated and the left femoral head was disjunct. We carried out a pathological autopsy, and made a diagnosis of the foal as fracture of the hip bone and femoral head with suppurative umbilical arteritis. Pathologic changes in the umbilical artery and hind leg were ...
