Equids are members of the family Equidae, which includes modern horses, donkeys, and zebras, as well as extinct species. Equids are characterized by their long limbs, single-toed hooves, and herbivorous diet, which is primarily composed of grasses. Horses, specifically, have been domesticated for thousands of years and have played significant roles in agriculture, transportation, and sport. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of equids and horses, including their evolution, physiology, behavior, and interactions with humans. The collected works provide insights into the genetic diversity, adaptive traits, and conservation efforts related to equid species.
Ueki M, Takeshita H, Fujihara J, Ueta G, Nakajima T, Kominato Y, Kishi K, Iida R, Yasuda T.Equine (Equus caballus) deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) was purified from the parotid gland, and its 1295-bp cDNA was cloned. The mature equine DNase I protein consisted of 260 amino acid residues. The enzymatic properties and structural aspects of the equine enzyme were closely similar to those of other mammalian DNases I. Mammalian DNases I are classified into three types--pancreatic, parotid and pancreatic-parotid-based on their tissue distribution; as equine DNase I showed the highest activity in the parotid gland, it was confirmed to be of the parotid-type. Comparison of the susceptibility ...
Cameron EZ, Linklater WL.Adaptive theory predicts that mothers would be advantaged by adjusting the sex ratio of their offspring in relation to their offspring's future reproductive success. Studies investigating sex ratio variation in mammals have produced notoriously inconsistent results, although recent studies suggest more consistency if sex ratio variation is related to maternal condition at conception, potentially mediated by changes in circulating glucose level. Consequently, we hypothesized that change in condition might better predict sex ratio variation than condition per se. Here, we investigate sex ratio v...
Guo HY, Pang K, Zhang XY, Zhao L, Chen SW, Dong ML, Ren FZ.This study investigated the changes in chemical composition, nitrogen fraction distribution, and AA profile of milk samples obtained during lactation from the Jiangyue breed of donkey in Northwest China. Results showed that donkey milk contained 9.53% total solids, 1.57% protein, 1.16% fat, 6.33% lactose, and 0.4% ash on average, which is more similar to mare and human milk than to the milk of other mammals. Throughout the lactation investigated, pH and density were constant, protein and ash content showed an apparent negative trend (an increase in lactose content during 120 d postpartum, foll...
Ross CF, Dharia R, Herring SW, Hylander WL, Liu ZJ, Rafferty KL, Ravosa MJ, Williams SH.Modulation of force during mammalian mastication provides insight into force modulation in rhythmic, cyclic behaviors. This study uses in vivo bone strain data from the mandibular corpus to test two hypotheses regarding bite force modulation during rhythmic mastication in mammals: (1) that bite force is modulated by varying the duration of force production, or (2) that bite force is modulated by varying the rate at which force is produced. The data sample consists of rosette strain data from 40 experiments on 11 species of mammals, including six primate genera and four nonprimate species: goat...
Löhr CV, Juan-Sallés C, Rosas-Rosas A, Parás García A, Garner MM, Teifke JP.Sarcoids were diagnosed in two captive zebras from different facilities. Zebra 1 (Equus burchellii boehmi) was a 4.5-yr-old, captive-born male that presented with a 9- by 7-cm inguinal mass. Seven months after surgical excision of the inguinal mass, the zebra presented with a similar lesion in the right upper eyelid that has relapsed repeatedly and has not responded to treatment including local cisplatin injections and cryosurgery. Zebra 2 (of undetermined taxon) was housed at a private wild animal farm. The zebra presented with a single, raised, 2.5- by 2.0- by 2.0-cm, ulcerated mass on the n...
Aleman M, Borchers A, Kass PH, Puchalski SM.To describe ultrasonographic landmarks for use in collection of CSF from the lumbosacral region in equids. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 37 equids (27 with neurologic disease and 10 with nonneurologic disease). Methods: Standing equids (n = 17) were sedated with detomidine hydrochloride (0.006 to 0.01 mg/kg [0.003 to 0.005 mg/lb], IV) followed by butorphanol tartrate (0.01 mg/kg, IV) and restrained with a nose twitch for collection of CSF. The CSF was collected from 20 laterally recumbent equids (10 sedated and 10 immediately after euthanasia). Anatomic landmarks were identified ultraso...
Kakoi H, Tozaki T, Gawahara H.To assess the genetic diversity of Japanese native horse populations, we examined seven such populations using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite analyses. Four reference populations of Mongolian horses and European breeds were employed as other equids. In the mtDNA analysis, the control region (D-loop) of 411 bp was sequenced, and 12 haplotypes with 33 variable sites were identified in the Japanese native horses. The phylogenetic tree constructed by haplogrouping and using worldwide geographic references indicated that the haplotypes of the Japanese native horses were derived from s...
Luís C, Juras R, Oom MM, Cothran EG.There are three native Portuguese horse breeds: Lusitano, Sorraia and Garrano. This study compares diversity patterns of 17 protein and 12 microsatellite markers in these three as well as 30 other breeds to infer relationships among the breeds and to compare levels of polymorphism of these breeds for use in conservation efforts. The Garrano and the Lusitano showed a high level of genetic diversity, similar to that observed for most of the other analysed breeds, while the Sorraia and Friesian breeds showed low levels of variation for both genetic marker types. The combined protein and microsate...
Zhao CJ, Qin YH, Lee XH, Wu Ch.An alleged male foal of a female mule, whose sire and grandparents were unknown, was identified for its pedigree. Parentage testing was conducted by comparing polymorphism of 12 microsatellite DNA sites and mitochondrial D-loop sequences of the male foal and the female mule. Both the sequence analysis of species-specific DNA fragments and a cytogenetic analysis were performed to identify the species of the foal and its parents. The results showed that the alleged female mule is actually a hinny, and the male foal, which possesses 62 chromosomes, qualifies as an offspring of the female hinny an...
Vega-Pla JL, Calderón J, Rodríguez-Gallardo PP, Martinez AM, Rico C.In the 1980s, a conservation programme involving a feral horse population, the Retuertas horses from the Guadalquivir marshes, was started in the Doñana National Park. The analysis of an extensive genetic survey of this population, which now numbers 100 animals, and 10 additional European and North African breeds using DNA polymorphisms from 22 microsatellites is presented. Highly significant fixation indexes were obtained for all pairwise comparisons between the Retuertas population and other breeds. A population neighbour-joining breed phenogram was built using different distance measures, ...
Hewes CA, Sullins KE.To determine outcome for equids with cutaneous neoplasms treated with cisplatin-containing biodegradable beads, alone or in conjunction with debulking. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: 56 horses, 1 zebra, 1 donkey, and 1 mule. Methods: Medical records were reviewed. Follow-up information was obtained through telephone conversations with owners and trainers of the animals. Results: 22 tumors were sarcoids, 6 were fibrosarcomas, 1 was a fibroma, 2 were peripheral nerve sheath tumors, 11 were squamous cell carcinomas, 14 were melanomas (13 gray horses and 1 bay horse), 1 was a lymphos...
McGahern A, Bower MA, Edwards CJ, Brophy PO, Sulimova G, Zakharov I, Vizuete-Forster M, Levine M, Li S, MacHugh DE, Hill EW.Equine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeny reconstruction reveals a complex pattern of variation unlike that seen in other large domesticates. It is likely that this pattern reflects a process of multiple and repeated, although not necessarily independent, domestication events. Until now, no clear geographic affiliation of clades has been apparent. In this study, amova analyses have revealed a significant non-random distribution of the diversity among equine populations when seven newly sequenced Eurasian populations were examined in the context of previously published sequences. The associati...
Halbert ND, Cohen ND, Slovis NM, Faircloth J, Martens RJ.Rhodococcus equi is an important intracellular pathogen of horses, most commonly causing chronic, suppurative bronchopneumonia in foals. Although most foals likely are exposed to environmental R. equi within the 1st few days of life, only some develop R. equi pneumonia, and the basis of differences in susceptibility among foals currently is unknown. In this study, we investigated solute carrier family 11 member 1 (SLC11A1) gene sequences in the 5' untranslated region, exon 1, and a portion of intron 1 for variations in 3 equid species (horse, donkey, zebra) and compared variants within 3 indep...
Goh G, Raudsepp T, Durkin K, Wagner ML, Schäffer AA, Agarwala R, Tozaki T, Mickelson JR, Chowdhary BP.High-resolution physically ordered gene maps for equine homologs of human chromosome 5 (HSA5), viz., horse chromosomes 14 and 21 (ECA14 and ECA21), were generated by adding 179 new loci (131 gene-specific and 48 microsatellites) to the existing maps of the two chromosomes. The loci were mapped primarily by genotyping on a 5000-rad horse x hamster radiation hybrid panel, of which 28 were mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The approximately fivefold increase in the number of mapped markers on the two chromosomes improves the average resolution of the map to 1 marker/0.9 Mb. The improv...
The Journal of nutritionJune 15, 2006
Volume 136, Issue 7 Suppl 2094S-2098S doi: 10.1093/jn/136.7.2094S
Treiber KH, Kronfeld DS, Geor RJ.Insulin is a major regulatory hormone in glucose and fat metabolism, vascular function, inflammation, tissue remodeling, and the somatotropic axis of growth. Insulin resistance alters insulin signaling by decreasing insulin action in certain resistant pathways while increasing insulin signaling in other unaffected pathways via compensatory hyperinsulinemia. In humans, altered insulin signaling is implicated in reduced glucose availability to insulin-sensitive cells, vasoconstriction and endothelial damage, and inflammatory response. Although no direct evidence exists for insulin's role in thes...
Moodley Y, Baumgarten I, Harley EH.We investigated the applicability of microsatellite primers, designed in horses, for use in plains and mountain zebras. Fifteen of the 20 tested horse-isolated primer pairs reliably amplified polymorphic loci in two wild equid species. We used this information to assess whether levels of genetic variation and repeat size differed in species from which microsatellites were isolated and in closely related target species. Target equid species exhibited similar levels of genetic variation to the horse, the species from which primers were originally isolated. We show that ascertainment bias results...
Schmitt D, Cartmill M, Griffin TM, Hanna JB, Lemelin P.At speeds between the walk and the gallop, most mammals trot. Primates almost never trot, and it has been claimed that they transition directly from a walk to a gallop without any distinctive mid-speed running gait. If true, this would be another characteristic difference between the locomotion of primates and that of most other quadrupedal mammals. Presently, however, few data exist concerning the actual presence or absence of intermediate-speed gaits (i.e. gaits that are used between a walk and a gallop) in primates. Video records of running in twelve primate species reveal that, unlike most...
Tsujimura K, Bannai H, Kambayashi Y, Nemoto M, Ohta M.Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EqAHV1; Orthoherpesviridae, Varicellovirus equidalpha1) spreads by viremia to susceptible organs. Because EqAHV1 circulates in the bloodstream in a cell-associated manner, serum samples are not considered valuable for detecting EqAHV1 and have therefore not been tested by highly sensitive detection methods such as real-time PCR (rtPCR). We investigated whether EqAHV1 could be detected by this method in equine serum samples. We performed rtPCR on archived sera and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from 3 horses experimentally inoculated with EqAHV1. ...
Aoun R, Ogunmola Z, Musso A, Taguchi T, Takawira C, Lopez MJ.The shift in vertical forces on the equine hoof surface by heart-bar, egg-bar, and wooden clog shoes can significantly impact gait kinetics. Hypotheses tested in this study were that vertical, braking, and propulsion peak force (PF) and impulse (IMP) are different while shod with heart-bar, egg-bar, open-heel, and wooden clog shoes, or while unshod, and the resultant ground reaction force vector (GRF YZ ) has the longest duration of cranial angulation with open-heel shoes followed by unshod, then egg-bar and heart-bar shoes, and the shortest with wooden clog shoes. Forelimb GRFs were recorded ...
Hisaeda K, Ono T, Shimokawa-Miyama T, Hata A, Iwata E, Hiasa Y, Ohzawa E, Tozaki T, Murase H, Takasu M, Nishii N, Kitagawa H.We examined the differences in serum iron (Fe) concentrations and related variables between summer and winter in Noma horses. Blood samples were collected from 37 clinically normal horses seven consecutive times: September 2018, February 2019, October 2019, February 2020, September 2020, February 2021, and February 2022. Serum Fe concentrations ranged from 74 μg/dl to 316 μg/dl with a median of 176 μg/dl. The concentrations were lower in stallions compared with mares and geldings, tended to be low at 10-14 years of age, and then increased with age. Serum Fe concentrations were repeatedly lo...
Slavik K, Bender S, Sharkey L, Nolen-Walston R.Renal lipidosis is a well-documented histologic finding in humans and small animals with renal and metabolic disorders, but it is not well described in equids. Objective: To describe the signalment, clinicopathologic indices, and postmortem findings of equids with a histologic diagnosis of both hepatic and renal lipidosis (HL + RL) and compare them to cases with hepatic lipidosis only (HL). Methods: Equids with necropsy findings of renal or hepatic lipidosis (state diagnostic lab) between 2008 and 2022. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Signalment, history, necropsy diagnosis, and...
Martins AS, Romanowski TNA, Campos JS, Vieira RC, Silva TA, Borsanelli AC.Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by bacteria of Brucella genus, which affects domestic and wild animals and humans. In horses, the infection can be caused by Brucella canis, Brucella suis or Brucella abortus, through the ingestion of contaminated food, contact of bacteria with skin wounds or through the respiratory tract, manifesting with signs such as fistulous withers and reduced performance. The present study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Brucella abortus infection in equids in the state of Goiás. Sampling was carried out on 299 farms across 132 municipalities, with a total of 89...
Fouché N, Doras C, Schüpbach-Regula G, Scherer A, Freudenschuss B, Gerber V.There remains a scarcity of data concerning the relationship between the clinical signs associated with PPID and plasma ACTH concentrations. Objective: Report the frequency of clinical signs in the study cohort and identify individual clinical signs or combinations of clinical signs associated with high ACTH concentrations. Methods: Two hundred eighty equids were examined by private veterinarians. Methods: A cross-sectional study of animals with clinical suspicion of PPID was conducted between August and November. Private practitioners completed an online questionnaire reporting detailed infor...
Bukhari SSUH, Urooj S.In winter anestrous, prolonged melatonin secretion inhibits gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). However, synthetic GnRH analogues such as buserelin can stimulate follicular development. We aimed to investigate clinical relationship between retinol, cholecalciferol, and buserelin for inducing estrous in anestrous mares (Equus caballus). We used a total of twenty-one anestrous mares, randomly divided into three groups of seven animals. Group A received retinol, cholecalciferol, and buserelin; group B received buserelin; and group C was control. Groups A, B, and C had 71.42% (n = 5; 95% CI...
Gugole PM, Zannoni A, Forni M, Iacono E, Zambelli F, Merlo B.This study investigates the effects of overnight holding and naloxone (Nx) supplementation on the vitrification outcomes of equine immature oocytes. Oocytes were divided into six experimental groups based on treatment combinations: fresh (F) and held (H) control oocytes, oocytes vitrified with or without Nx (10 M) (VIT and VIT-Nx), oocytes vitrified after overnight holding with or without Nx (10 M) (H-VIT and H-VIT-Nx). They were assessed for survival, meiotic competence, intracellular oxidative stress, mitochondrial activity and distribution, apoptosis, and apoptotic gene expression. At sur...
Roccaro M, Rinnovati R, Stucchi L, La Rocca F, Cascio G, Peli A.Doping in racehorses is a threat to horse welfare and the integrity of the sport. Despite its relevance, the literature on the prevalence of anti-doping violations worldwide is limited. Objective: To analyse anti-doping violations in racehorses in Italy. Methods: Retrospective observational study. Methods: Data on horse races, anti-doping testing, and confirmed violations between 2014 and 2022 were collected and analysed. Positivity rates, most common drug classes and parent drugs, and differences between trotting and galloping horses were investigated. Results: During the considered 9-year ti...
Rosse NDS, Tavares RA, Nunes MC, de Freitas BW, Reis ECC.Early detection of renal deficient function is imperative for the success of treatments and determining prognosis. In horses, a renal ultrasound can be performed through the abdominal wall (TA) or transrectally (TR), being an important tool for the evaluation of the kidneys. Besides renal morphology, resistivity (RI) and pulsatility indexes (PI) may be early tools to detect renal injury as they reflect arterial compliance. Twenty-nine healthy adult horses were sonographically evaluated by TA and TR approaches, measuring RI and PI on both kidneys. The mean values from the TA for RI and PI in th...
Steklis NG, Peñaherrera-Aguirre M, Steklis HD.This paper challenges the prevalent characterization of domesticated horses as prey species that inherently view humans as predators. Drawing on evolutionary, ethological, and cognitive evidence, we propose the "mutualistic coevolution hypothesis", which posits that horses and humans have evolved a partnership marked by cooperation rather than fear. We critically assess the "prey hypothesis", emphasizing a predator-prey model, which dominates equine training and the literature, and we argue that it inadequately explains horses' morphology, behaviors, and cognitive capacities. Comparative studi...
Naydani CJ, Coombs T.Obesity and its comorbidities (e.g. laminitis) are identified as major welfare issues among domestic equids in the United Kingdom (UK) and abroad. Weight-management typically focuses on restricting consumption (e.g. limiting pasture grazing), often facilitated through stabling. This leads to social isolation, prompting other welfare issues. Increased exercise may be a preferable solution for equine obesity, if viable. The aims of this study were to explore horse (Equus caballus) owner perceptions regarding the importance of exercise, and to investigate how exercise provision related to welfare...
Toy S, Black SR, Pastor AR, Whiteside DP.Acute phase proteins (APPs) are commonly used in domestic equine practice, where they rise rapidly in response to inflammation and decrease soon after resolution. This response provides useful information to identify, monitor, and prognosticate a variety of inflammatory conditions. Asian wild horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) are an endangered relative of the domestic horse, and APP reference intervals (RI) and clinical utility in this species are not well documented. This study used serum samples from clinically healthy Asian wild horses under managed care to establish RI for serum amyloid A (...
Nolen-Walston RD, Kulp JC, Stefanovski D, van Eps AW.Hyperinsulinemia is an important and treatable risk factor for laminitis in horses. Objective: Evaluate the Tosoh AIA-360 automated fluorescence enzyme immunoassay for the measurement of serum insulin concentrations in horses, and compare it to five other immunoassays for insulin quantification. Methods: One hundred serum samples from 83 horses were submitted for insulin measurement. Methods: The Tosoh AIA-360 was assessed against a reference assay (radioactive immunoassay; RIA). Using the same samples, TOS-FEIA, ELISA, and three chemiluminescent immunoassays (CLIA) were assessed for correlati...
Holbrook T, Hernandez J, McCarrel T, Lester G, Sleeper M, Domenig O, Adin D.The impact of exercise on the classical and alternative renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) pathways has not been studied in horses. Objective: We hypothesized that exercise would activate both RAAS pathways and that endurance exercise would cause more activation of the classical pathway compared to short-duration, high-intensity exercise in horses. Methods: Twenty-five horses (21 client-owned and 4 research) were included in 4 exercise groups (10 Arabians, 50-mile ride [A-E]; 4 thoroughbreds, 1-mile treadmill exercise [TB-TM]; 5 thoroughbreds, 1-1/16th-mile race [TB-R]; and 6 quarter ...
Vaughn SA, Lemons MB, Hart KA.Endocrine function in ponies differs from horses, with seasonally increased concentrations of plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and an increased risk of insulin dysregulation. Objective: (1) Season and breed differences exist in concentrations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and metabolic hormones; and (2) systemic oxidative status is significantly different between ponies and horses and correlates with endocrine hormones. Methods: Thirty-four healthy Welsh ponies and 14 healthy Quarter horses. Methods: Blood was collected from Welsh ponies and Quarter horses in the same region ...
Brys M, Claerebout E, Saey V, Chiers K.A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of chorioptic mange affecting the distal legs of horses in Belgium, focusing on the association between mange and chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL) in Belgian draft horses. Clinical examinations and skin scrapings were performed on the distal legs of 156 Belgian draft horses and 142 Belgian warmblood horses. In the Belgian draft horse breed, 144 (92.31%) horses were infested with Chorioptes bovis mites, and 126 (80.77%) displayed clinical signs of CPL. CPL prevalence in draft horses aged < 1 year was 17.86%, while mites we...
Finno CJ.Nutrigenomics defines the interaction between the nutrients in our food and the genes in our body. Examples from human medicine of diseases and associated genes include lactose intolerance (genetic variants in LCT lactase), hypercholesteremia (low density lipoprotein receptor, LDLR) and caffeine sensitivity (adenosine A2A receptor, ADORA2A). In horses, examples include Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP), where clinical signs of disease are managed through maintaining a diet low in potassium and Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy Type 1 (PSSM1), where low starch and high fat diets are recommen...
Kawanishi N, Kinoshita Y, Reedy SE, Garvey M, Kambayashi Y, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Cullinane A, Chambers TM, Nemoto M.Equine influenza virus (EIV) is one of the most important pathogens causing respiratory signs in equids. Rapid antigen detection (RAD) kits are useful for point-of-care testing because they are user-friendly and provide fast results. Although sensitive and broad-reactive RAD kits are needed for controlling horse movement, no RAD kits specified for EIV are available. Objective: This study evaluated the usefulness of seven RAD kits originally developed for human influenza and available in Japan during 2023-2024 for EIV antigen detection. Methods: Experimental assay comparison. Methods: The detec...
Torres Borda L, Auer U, Jenner F.Horses confined to enclosures with limited opportunities for spatial avoidance and escape experience heightened social stress and conflict. While forced proximity can pose welfare risks, voluntary social proximity is considered a positive indicator of well-being. To investigate the effects of space availability on spatiotemporal dynamics, social network structure and agonistic interactions, this study used ultra-wideband sensors to continuously (1 Hz) measure interindividual distances in 34 horses across three groups under paddock and field conditions. Interindividual distances increased in l...
Bihon A, Amognehegn D, Derbew G, Yirsa T.Working equines play a crucial role in human livelihoods globally, yet their management is often inadequate. Objective: To assess the welfare and management practices of working equines. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2022 to April 2023 in and around Debre Markos, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: Physical examination and structured interviews were used as data collection tools. A total of 384 equines (186 donkeys, 144 horses, and 54 mules) and their owners were selected through a purposive sampling method. Results: The results showed that 60.4% of the equines were use...
Uprety T, Swan M, Kennedy L, Bryant U, Cassone L, Loynachan A, Janes J, Evely MM, Calvaruso FC, Quick M, Morgan J, Abdelrazek S, Lahmers K, Carter C....Clostridium piliforme is an obligate intracellular filamentous bacterium that causes Tyzzer disease (TD) in many animals. The disease manifests as severe, multifocal necrotizing hepatitis, with a high fatality rate in foals. Through retrospective investigation, we detected C. piliforme in 43 equine necropsy cases from 2012 to 2024. Positive cases were diagnosed from February to July, peaking in May. The age of affected foals ranged from 4 days to 2 months. Histologically, all cases had necrotizing hepatitis with multifocal, coalescing pinpoint, tan or reddish foci. Since only a partial 16S rRN...
Matinpour M, Zettner N, Neumann K, Bäumer L, Burkovski A.Horses have close interactions with humans and are important as working animals and livestock. In contrast to smaller companion animals like cats and dogs, there is only little information available about their skin microbiome. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the culturable cutaneous microbiome of healthy horses. Samples were taken from 14 horses from Southern Germany which were randomly enrolled in this study. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used as a method to detect the culturable microorganisms of ...
Płoneczka-Janeczko K, Armstrong E, Siemieniuch-Tartanus M, Magdziarz M.The aim of the study was to explore and characterise healthy foals' eye microbiomes in the first two months of life. Unassigned: Conjunctival swabs were collected three times, not later than 12 h after delivery and again at the end of the first and the second months of life from six clinically healthy foals of the Polish Konik breed. The average interval between the first and second samplings was 33.3 days and between the second and third was 35.6 days. Next-generation sequencing performed on a MiSeq sequencer in paired-end technology was used to analyse the composition of the conjunctival mic...
Zhang W, Guo R, Sulayman A, Sun Y, Liu S.Microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract play a crucial role in nutrient digestion, health and so forth in equines. As the research attention on gut microbes has increased, several studies have investigated the composition of the gastrointestinal microbial flora in equines. This article reviews the effects of breed, age, intestinal site, nutritional management and diseases on the gastrointestinal microbiota of horses and donkeys, thus offering references for improving the gastrointestinal microecological environment in these animals and preventing and controlling disease occurrence in them.
Spadari A, Saragoni G, Meistro F, Ralletti MV, Marzari F, Rinnovati R.This case report documents an unusual cheek tooth (CT) displacement in a 3-year-old Arabian filly. The horse was referred to the clinic for loss of appetite and right-sided facial deformity. At admission, an oral inspection was performed, followed by a dental radiographic examination. The radiographs showed a very oblique vertical angulation (135°) of the CT 106 compared to the other premolars (107 and 108 CTs) (40°). In consideration of the clinical and radiographic findings, surgical extraction of the 106 CT was indicated. Due to the unique positioning of the displaced tooth, traditional e...
Thulin CG, Chen Y, Garrido P.European grasslands and their biodiversity are declining rapidly due to land use changes, which highlight the need to develop effective restoration strategies. This study investigates the impact of reintroducing the Swedish national horse breed (the Gotland Russ) on grassland plant diversity and evenness in abandoned agricultural landscapes in Southeast Sweden. Twelve horses were introduced into three 10-13-hectare enclosure replicates (four horses per enclosure) in a three-year (2014-2016) rewilding experiment. Plant species richness, evenness, and diversity were investigated in both grazed a...
Cameron L, Challinor M, Armstrong S, Kennedy A, Hollister S, Fletcher K.Horses evolved to live in herds, continuously moving and foraging. Domestic horses often have limited social contact and movement, with high calorific intake, contributing to obesity. "Track grazing" is an increasingly popular management system, but evidence of its impact on weight management, behaviour, and welfare is limited. Horses (n = 19) resident at HorseWorld (UK) were observed July to October 2023, monitoring bodyweight (kg), Body Conditions Score (BCS), hoof health, behaviour, and welfare indicators. Horses on track grazing systems lost significantly more bodyweight (kg) (F(1,15) = 8....
Wagner JCP, Edwards M, Trivedi S, Minter LJ, Ange-van Heugten K.Microquantity laboratory procedures (<5 mL) are often used to analyze milk from non-bovid or less common species due to limited available samples and small sample sizes, unlike the large quantities of milk needed for macroquantity (~20 mL) assays standard in the commercial dairy industry. To better understand microquantity milk laboratory analyses, quarter horse () milk from North Carolina State University (females = 4, n = 43) and California Polytechnic State University (females = 4, n = 42) equine centers was compared to investigate differences in macronutrient composition from 4 to 130 d...
Stapley ED, Bertin FR.Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction is diagnosed using immunoreactive ACTH concentrations. Glass reportedly binds ACTH, but the clinical relevance of using glass blood tubes for measuring equine ACTH concentrations is controversial. This study investigates whether the collection of whole blood into glass EDTA tubes and storage for up to 6 hours changes ACTH concentrations compared to plastic EDTA tubes. Unassigned: This was a cohort study. Whole blood was collected into both glass and plastic EDTA tubes from 9 horses > 12 years of age, including 4 with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction a...
