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Topic:Equine Health
Equine health encompasses the study and management of diseases, disorders, and overall well-being of horses. It involves understanding various physiological systems, preventive care, and treatment strategies to maintain optimal health in equine populations. Common areas of focus include nutrition, infectious diseases, orthopedic conditions, and reproductive health. Research in equine health aims to advance knowledge on diagnostic methods, therapeutic interventions, and management practices that improve horse welfare and performance. This page collects peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine health, offering insights into current findings and advancements in the field.
Duration of antigen-induced hyperresponsiveness in horses with allergic respiratory disease and possible links with early airway obstruction. Antigen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness in allergic horses has previously been demonstrated when clinical signs of acute airway obstruction were apparent, as a consequence of exposure of animals to hay and straw for variable periods of time, and repeat measurements of hyperresponsiveness have been made no earlier than 1 week after challenge. In the present study airway responsiveness to methacholine has been measured in normal horses and allergic horses in clinical remission before and 24, 48 and 72 h after a hay and straw challenge of fixed, short, duration (7 h). Correlations between earl...
Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE): a description of the 1989 outbreak, recent epidemiologic trends, and the association of rainfall with EEE occurrence. An Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) outbreak in 1989 led to nine human and 196 equine cases, chiefly in coastal Atlantic and Gulf Coast counties. In the past two decades, EEE age-specific incidence and mortality rates have declined compared with earlier years. Analysis of rainfall patterns in areas where human EEE cases occurred between 1983 and 1989 revealed an association between occurrence of human cases and excess rainfall. The association was stronger with data from local weather stations than from statewide rainfall averages and the predictive models were best when applied to northern s...
[HYPP–hyperkalemic periodic paralysis in horses]. A literature review of the clinical syndrome HYPP (Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis) affecting Quarter Horses is given. HYPP is characterized by sporadic attacks of muscle tremors, weakness and/or collapse, lasting for variable periods of time. Diagnosis is based on physical findings in association with hyperkalemia. In horses with HYPP, the regulation of ion transport through the sodium channels in the muscle cells occasionally fails, causing uncontrollable muscle twitching. Further investigations into molecular genetics reveals a mutation in the gene responsible for sodium and potassium regul...
Furosemide, bumetanide, and ethacrynic acid. Furosemide and, less commonly, bumetanide and ethacrynic acid are potent diuretics administered to horses for a variety of reasons, including prophylaxis of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. These drugs affect urine volume and composition, and furosemide has marked effects on plasma volume and composition and on systemic hemodynamics at rest and during exercise.
Effect of furosemide on physiologic variables in exercising horses. Twelve horses (6 Standardbreds and 6 Thoroughbreds) received IM injections of furosemide (250 mg) or physiologic saline solution and performed standard exercise tests, to assess the effects of furosemide and breed on blood gas values, PCV, plasma lactate concentration, and heart rate during exercise. After furosemide administration, arterial and venous blood pH values were significantly (P < 0.05) increased. Partial pressures of O2 and CO2 in arterial blood and of CO2 in venous blood (PaO2, PaCO2, and PVCO2, respectively) were unaffected by furosemide treatment, whereas venous partial press...
Anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids have been employed extensively in equine practice over the past 25 years. Their usefulness is largely dependent on subjective opinions, as only minimal studies have been carried out in horses. Therefore, their use will vary markedly between practitioners depending on their personal experiences and pressures by trainers to use them. They form part of rational therapy in a variety of conditions. In addition to use for increasing muscle mass, they are used to a varying extent in the raising of yearlings and in the training and racing of horses with the view of improving performa...
Fluids, electrolytes, and bicarbonate. In an attempt to enhance performance, primarily by delaying the onset of fatigue, a variety of formulations of fluids, electrolytes, and sodium bicarbonate are administered to performance horses. Some current practices of fluid and electrolyte supplementation are well justified; others have no basis to support their use. In addition, occasional combined administration of certain agents (i.e., furosemide and sodium bicarbonate) can have detrimental effects on performance.
Survey of selected design and ventilation characteristics of racehorse stables in the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Vereeniging area of South Africa. Stables housing more than 20 horses in training were surveyed in the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Vereeniging area of South Africa. Most racehorses were kept in loose boxes, bedded on straw or sawdust and remained indoors while the stables were cleaned. The average floor area was 13 m2 and airspace was 55 m3 per animal. The average predicted minimum air change rate by natural convection in calm winds was 7.0 air changes per hour, which was reduced to 2.2 when the doors and shutters were closed. The survey showed that many of the stables had been built without due consideration to factors that migh...
Effects of single intravenously administered doses of omeprazole and ranitidine on intragastric pH and plasma gastrin concentration in nonfed ponies. We investigated the effects of a range of IV administered doses of omeprazole (0.125 to 2.0 mg/kg of body weight) on gastric pH (monitored by indwelling electrode) and plasma gastrin concentration, compared with those of IV administered ranitidine (1.0 mg/kg) in 4 Welsh mountain-type ponies. Pharmacokinetic variables of IV administered omeprazole also were examined. Episodes of high gastric pH in the basal state obscured the effect of acid suppression on intragastric pH; however, omeprazole induced dose-dependent increase in mean gastric pH (P < 0.01) during the 11 hours after its administr...
The intramuscular bioavailability of a phenylbutazone preparation in the horse. The plasma concentrations of phenylbutazone (PBZ) and its major metabolites, oxyphenbutazone (OPBZ) and gamma-OH-phenylbutazone (OHPBZ) were determined for up to 72 h in six horses, following intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) administration of 4 g phenylbutazone, 20 ml Phenylarthrite Ventoquinol (Vetoquinol Spécialités Pharmaceutiques Vétérinaires, Magny-Vernois, 70200 Lure, France). After i.v. dosing the plasma disposition was best described by a two-compartment open model. The hydroxylated metabolites OPBZ and OHPBZ were present in detectable concentrations for 72 h and 48 h, r...
Short echo time magnetic resonance imaging of tendon. Current clinical magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies provide almost no useful signal from normal tendon and have no clear advantage over other imaging modalities in the evaluation of tendon injuries. The authors believe that tendon MR signal may be T2-limited, and, if so, could be enhanced by short echo time (TE) pulse sequences. The relationship of tendon signal intensity and tendon infrastructure conspicuity to TE was assessed at three different field strengths. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging studies were performed on samples of normal equine tendon at 3 different field strengths wi...
Pharmacokinetic values of drugs frequently used in performance horses. Tables of values of pharmacokinetic variables (volume of distribution, total body clearance, and plasma elimination half-life) of drugs frequently administered to performance horses are accompanied by explanatory notes. Drugs described include the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, anabolic steroids, central nervous system-modifying drugs, respiratory system drugs, diuretics, local anesthetics, and antibacterial drugs.
Molecular cloning and expression of equine interleukin 2. We have cloned equine IL-2 cDNA in vitro using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and primers based on the human IL-2 sequence. The cloned product appears to contain the entire coding region for equine IL-2 based on homology with other known sequences. When expressed in COS cells, the recombinant product augmented the proliferative response of equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells to concanavalin A, however, it failed to support the continued proliferation of murine CTLL-2 cells. Specific substitutions in those regions associated with p55 and p75 binding appear to account for this species...
Determination of alclofenac in equine plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography. A high-performance liquid chromatographic method to measure plasma and urinary alclofenac levels in equine biofluids is described. Isolation of the drug from plasma is achieved using liquid-liquid extraction with diethyl ether. Reversed-phase C18 solid phase extraction is used for the extraction of free and conjugated alclofenac from urine. The reproducibility and accuracy of the method were well within acceptable limits over the concentration ranges 0-10 and 0-20 micrograms/ml, respectively, for plasma and urine. Starting with 2 ml of plasma, a concentration of 0.1 microgram/ml could easily b...
The Horserace Betting Levy Board’s code of practice for equine viral arteritis for the 1994 breeding season. The Horserace Betting Levy Board formulates codes of practice for the control of contagious equine metritis and other equine bacterial venereal diseases, and equine viral arteritis and equid herpesvirus 1. This year's codes have just been published and the code of practice for EVA, reproduced below, has been substantially amended following the recent outbreak in the UK. The code is intended for use by veterinary surgeons and breeders of thoroughbred and non-thoroughbred horses. The HBLB states that its recommendations represent the minimum measures necessary to monitor for the presence of equi...
The outbreak of equine influenza (H3N8) in the United Kingdom in 1989: diagnostic use of an antigen capture ELISA. In July 1989 influenza A/equine-2 (H3N8) was isolated from a nasopharyngeal swab taken from a non-thoroughbred horse exhibiting acute clinical respiratory disease. This was the first isolation of equine influenza virus in the United Kingdom since 1981. Subsequent investigations of acute respiratory disease in horses indicated that the infection was dispersed throughout the UK. However, unlike the previous epidemic of 1979, the first horses from which the virus was isolated had been vaccinated. This outbreak of influenza provided an opportunity to evaluate an antigen capture ELISA, directed aga...
Deficit of inhibitory glycine receptors in spinal cord from Peruvian Pasos: evidence for an equine form of inherited myoclonus. Inherited myoclonus in Poll Hereford calves and spasticity in the spastic mouse (spa/spa) are characterized by myoclonic jerks of the skeletal musculature which occur spontaneously and in response to sensory stimuli, symptoms resembling those in subconvulsive strychnine poisoning. The primary, biochemical defect in these myoclonic animals is a deficit of inhibitory glycine receptors in the central nervous system. We now report the occurrence of similar stimulus-induced myoclonus in individual, pure-bred Peruvian Paso horses and an associated, specific deficiency in the density of [3H]strychnin...
An improved method for the scintigraphic detection of acute bone damage to the equine pelvis by probe point counting. A fracture of the pelvis in a horse can be detected scintigraphically by probe point counting. However, the pelvis is covered by a large and variable muscle mass, and is close to the urinary bladder, both of which can introduce errors. This paper describes an improved technique which uses a larger set of sampling points and analyses the data with a small computer to construct a three dimensional graph of the gamma-ray output across the pelvis, thus helping to improve the interpretation of the data. The scintigraphic plot from a normal horse, three cases of fracture (confirmed by radiography, u...
Partially folded states of equine lysozyme. Structural characterization and significance for protein folding. Despite their homologous structure, c-type lysozymes and alpha-lactalbumins have been found to differ profoundly in their unfolding behavior, in that the alpha-lactalbumins readily enter a partially unfolded collapsed state (the "molten globule"), whereas lysozymes unfold cooperatively to a highly unfolded state. The calcium-binding property of lysozyme from equine milk provides an evolutionary link between the two families of proteins. We demonstrate here that equine lysozyme undergoes a two-stage unfolding transition upon heating or in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride that is highly d...
Automated morphometric analysis of stallion spermatozoa. Tissue variation in microscope slides made for spermatozoon analysis and variation introduced by the subjective techniques used to analyze these slides reduce the statistical power of studies that seek to use spermatozoon morphology to predict fertility. A simple specimen preparation method was developed to standardize stallion spermatozoon morphologic smears, and a new, automated spermatozoa morphometry instrument was used to objectively analyze the efficacy of the specimen preparation technique. The method achieved a standard spermatozoon concentration and reduced field-to-field variation in...
[Pulsed Doppler echocardiography measurement in healthy warmblood horses]. Twenty adult warm blooded horses (body weight 585 +/- 59 kg) were evaluated with pulsed doppler echocardiography. Locations for the transducer and the sample volume were determined to get typical blood flow tracings of the equine heart. Angle of doppler beam was between 37 degrees and 40 degrees in right heart atrioventricular flow tract and between 44 degrees and 47 degrees in left heart atrioventricular flow tract. Peak blood flow velocity (angle corrected) was 0.71 +/- 0.17 m/s in tricuspid valve and 0.92 +/- 0.22 in mitral valve. In right and left atrioventricular flow tracts in all sample...
[Equestrian accidents in children]. In a retrospective study we reviewed 262 horse riding related injuries in children younger than 16 which were treated between 1975 and 1989 at the Section of Traumatology in the Department of Surgery, University Hospital Homburg/Saar. In 155 of these accidents, detailed information was gained via a questionnaire. The typical patient profile was that of young female equestrians with little experience and little weekly riding practice, without practicing falling-exercises and warming up often using different horses. At the time of the accident only 59% were wearing a head protection. Most accide...
Yield and composition of milk from lactating mares: effect of body condition at foaling. The yield and composition of milk from nursing mares were studied during the first 2 months of lactation in two groups of six and five saddle mares respectively made thin or fat before foaling, then fed ad lib. post partum. Milk yield did not significantly vary with body condition (16.5 and 15.4 kg/d for fat and thin mares respectively). Milk from fat mares had a higher fat content than milk from thin mares; the reverse was found for protein. The composition of milk fat was modified: milk of fat mares was poorer in short- and medium-chain fatty acids (C8-C14). Milk fat output was affected by b...
Pancytopenia secondary to lymphoid leukemia in three horses. Pancytopenia was observed in two 3-year-old geldings and one 11-year-old mare. All horses had a brief history (2 days to 4 weeks) of fever, anorexia, and depression. One of the three horses had blast cells present on a peripheral blood smear. Examination of the bone marrow showed substantial infiltration with neoplastic lymphoid cells. At necropsy, neoplastic cells were restricted to the bone marrow in one horse, present in bone marrow, liver, and spleen in the second horse, and reported in multiple tissues in the third horse, including bone marrow, kidneys, lung, myocardium and lymph nodes. T...
