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.
Høie S, Fossum K.An agar diffusion method using microtiter plates was used to detect antibodies to the DNases produced by Staphylococcus aureus, S. intermedius, and S. hyicus. Antibodies to DNase from S. aureus were demonstrated in most of the sera from the species investigated, except dogs, only 11% of whose sera were positive. Positive titers to S. intermedius DNase were found in 84% of deg sera, 61% of Icelandic pony sera, 41% of pig sera, 21% of human sera, and 20% of cow sera but in only 2 and 4% of goat and sheep sera, respectively. Although antibodies to DNase from S. hyicus were not found in sera from ...
Clark ES, Moore JN.Lateral cecal arterial blood flow, carotid arterial pressure, heart rate, and mechanical activity in the duodenum, right ventral colon, cecal body, and cecal apex were measured in 6 conscious healthy horses for 60 minutes during and for 120 minutes after IV infusion of 0.9% NaCl solution (control) or fenoldopam. There were no significant changes in these measurements during or after infusion of 0.9% NaCl (saline) solution. Fenoldopam, a selective dopamine-1 receptor agonist, was administered in saline solution at dosages of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 micrograms/kg/min. Intravenous infusion of fenoldo...
Sutherland RJ, Cambridge H, Bolton JR.A four-year-old Standardbred gelding presented with a 3.5 year history of intermittent epistaxis and spontaneous submucosal petechiae and ecchymoses in the nares and the mouth. Routine haematological and biochemical examinations were unremarkable. A thrombocytopathy was suspected when activated partial thromboplastin time, one stage prothrombin time, plasma fibrinogen and the platelet count were all normal. The patient's platelets failed to aggregate with serotonin, adenosine diphosphate, collagen (at 20 micrograms/ml) or the endoperoxide analogue U46619. Very high levels of collagen (100 micr...
Löfman CO, Brännström M, Holmes PV, Janson PO.Surface cell changes at the apices of preovulatory follicles and ovulations were documented in isolated perfused ovaries from immature rats treated with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (20 IU) and 48 h later with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) (10 IU). A video camera coupled to an inverted microscope and a video recorder captured the preovulatory and ovulatory events at a cellular level. At around 8 h post-hCG, the follicular apex changed from a smooth and optically homogeneous appearance into a rough surface with bleb formation and extrusions of single cells through minute perforations (...
Bello TR.A controlled test was performed to titrate the anthelmintic dosage of dienbendazole in 24 mixed-breed ponies naturally infected with Strongylus vulgaris, S edentatus, and small strongyle species, as determined by parasitic egg and larval counts in feces. Comparison of results of treatment was made among 3 dienbendazole dosages--2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg of body weight--and a gum (excipient) mixture given by nasogastric intubation. All ponies were euthanatized and necropsied at 7 or 8 days after treatment. Trichostrongylus axei, Habronema muscae, S vulgaris, S edentatus, small strongyles, and Oxyuri...
Rijkenhuizen AB, Németh F, Dik KJ, Goedegebuure SA.A macroscopic, arteriographic and histological study of the development and the arterial anatomy of the navicular bone of 33 foetuses and 55 young horses is described. After 125 days of gestation the blood supply consists of two routes: one situated in the superficial layer of the fibrocartilage and the other similar to the blood supply of the navicular bone of the normal mature horse. After 270 days gestation, the blood vessels in the fibrocartilage gradually regressed and retracted until they have disappeared at six months after birth. At two months after birth the first macroscopic thinning...
Eysker M, Boersema JH, Kooyman FN.The effect of three albendazole treatments at 5-week intervals, beginning at turnout in April, on cyathostome infections in Shetland ponies was compared with the effect of sequential treatments with albendazole, oxfendazole and oxibendazole. The results showed a substantial reduction in faecal egg output after the first albendazole treatment. Since faecal egg counts remained very low, no estimation of the effect of the second treatment was possible. The third treatment with albendazole and oxibendazole was followed by an increase in faecal egg counts to values of greater than 100 eggs g-1 with...
Pemberton AD, Slater JS, Milne EM.A method for flunixin detection in equine serum extracts involving thin layer chromatography, spraying the chromatogram with alkaline sodium hypochlorite solution and heating with a detection limit of 50 ng ml-1 is described.
Bayly WM, Hodgson DR, Schulz DA, Dempsey JA, Gollnick PD.The effects of exercise intensity and duration on blood gases in thoroughbred horses were studied to characterize the apparent exercise-induced failure in pulmonary gas exchange that occurs in these animals. In response to 2 min of exercise, arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2) decreased in mild and moderate exercise, returned to normocapnic levels in moderate to heavy exercise, and rose 5-10 Torr above resting values during very heavy exercise when CO2 production (VCO2) exceeded 20 times the resting value, and mixed venous CO2 tension approximated 140 Torr. Exercise-induced hypoxemia occurred at the ...
Collatos C, Reef VB, Richardson DW.An abscess of the external umbilical remnant and umbilical vein remnant was diagnosed in a 16-month-old colt, using ultrasonography. Because of the colt's size, primary closure of the surgical incision after umbilical cord resection was not complete. Vertical mattress stainless steel sutures and stents were used, and healing was by second intention. Intervening gas-filled viscera made it impossible to visualize ultrasonographically the bladder of umbilical artery remnants in a colt of this age.
Goetz TE, Holland CJ, Dawson JE, Ristic M, Skibbe K, Keegan KG, Johnson PJ, Schaeffer DJ, Baker GJ.The seroprevalence and seasonal trend of antibody titers against equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (Potomac horse fever) were determined in apparently healthy horses in selected areas of Illinois in 1986. Sera from 1,367 horses (6 months to 29 years old) were evaluated for the presence of antibodies against Ehrlichia risticii with indirect immunofluorescence. The majority (88%) of the horses were Thoroughbred or Standardbred racehorses. The number of horses with antibodies against E risticii was 229/1,367 (16.75%). The titers in these horses ranged from 1:10 to 1:640. As the year progressed, the n...
Gibson KT, McIlwraith CW, Park RD, Norrdin RW.Medial patellar desmotomy was performed on one (treated) hindlimb, and a sham operation on the other (control) hindlimb, of 12 normal horses. The horses were examined for lameness before medial patellar desmotomy and at months 1, 2, and 3. The femoropatellar joints were examined radiographically and arthroscopically at month 3. All horses were lame on the treated limb at months 1, 2, or 3. Radiographic changes, including fragment formation at the distal aspect of the patella and bone production at the attachment of the middle patellar ligament on the patella, were present in 11 horses at month...
Sosnicki AA, Lutz GJ, Rome LC, Goble DO.Until now, there has been no reliable method for histochemical determination of fiber types of single skinned muscle fibers. The major problem arises from the fact that most histochemical techniques use cross-sections of a large group of fibers and compare a given fiber with those surrounding it. This is not possible with a single skinned fiber which has been separated from a bundle to be used for mechanical analysis. A further problem is that the skinning procedure itself may alter the staining pattern. We have developed a procedure by which multiple cross-sections of single skinned fibers ca...
Ott EA, Asquith RL.Forty-six Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse yearlings were used in two experiments to evaluate the effect of mineral supplementation on growth and skeletal development. In the first experiment, concentrate and bermuda-grass hay diets providing 2.82 Mcal DE/kg (estimated), 13.0% CP, .62% Ca and .43% P on a DM basis were supplemented with trace minerals (TM) by adding 0, .5 or 1.0% TM premix to the concentrate. The TM content of the three diets (concentrate and hay) in mg/kg DM were: Fe 150, 162 and 176; Mn 56, 60 and 64; Zn 36, 53 and 69; and Cu 7, 8 and 11 for the low, medium and high TM levels, ...
Estrada R, Gutiérrez JM, Alvarado J, Robles A, Avila C, González N.The development of antibody response against phospholipase A2 activity of Bothrops asper venom was studied in a group of adult and healthy horses used in the production of the polyvalent antivenom at the Instituto Clodomiro Picado. Simultaneously, the general condition of the animals during the immunization schedule was also studied. There was a great individual variability in the immune response, although most of the horses studied reached the highest neutralizing titer after injection of doses of venom of 30 mg and 50 mg. On the other hand, in horses that had been previously immunized and we...
Rijkenhuizen AB, Németh F, Dik KJ, Goedegebuure SA.A macroscopical, arteriographical and histological study was made of the arterial supply of the navicular bones of horses with clinical and/or radiographic signs of navicular disease. Based on the clinical and radiological findings the navicular bones of 40 Warmblood horses are divided into four different groups. In the pattern of the arteriogram obvious changes are noticed: an imbalance and a distal to proximal shift between the distal and proximal arterial supply occur, indicating a reduction of the distal blood supply with a compensatory reaction of the proximal, medial and lateral supply. ...
Ducharme NG, Pascoe PJ, Lumsden JH, Ducharme GR.In order to determine which variables are useful in identifying horses with abdominal pain requiring surgery, data were analysed from 219 horses presented at one veterinary teaching hospital. Using multiple stepwise discriminant analysis with a recursive partitioning algorithm, we obtained a decision tree that identifies surgical and non-surgical patients. The prevalence of surgical patients was 79 per cent in this population. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of this decision tree were 99 per cent, 55 per cent, 90 per cent and 99 per cent respectively. ...
Lundin C, Sullins KE, White NA, Clem MF, Debowes RM, Pfeiffer CA.Twenty-two foals were divided into groups of intestinal distension and intestinal ischaemia as methods to induce peritoneal adhesions. In the first group, the lumen of a segment of distal small intestine was occluded without extramural vascular compromise and distended with lactated Ringer's solution to a constant pressure of 25 cm H2O for 2 h within the abdomen. The ischaemic group underwent 70 mins total vascular occlusion of identical segments of bowel. Serosal biopsies were obtained before and after each experimental procedure and following 60 mins of reperfusion. Similar biopsies were har...
Baxter GM, Broome TE, Moore JN.One hundred thirteen of 172 horses (66%) undergoing exploratory celiotomy for a small intestinal lesion survived 4 or more days after surgery. Intra-abdominal adhesions causing clinical problems requiring additional surgery or euthanasia were documented in 25 horses (22.1%). Problems developed in significantly more males than females. The most common initial small bowel lesion was ileal impaction (12 horses); 21 horses underwent small intestinal resection or bypass. However, there was no significant difference in the incidence of intra-abdominal adhesions between horses that underwent intestin...
Sweeney CR, Sweeney RW, Benson CE.Results of bacteriologic culture of specimens obtained from 14 horses with pneumonia and from 15 horses that were clinically healthy (nonpneumonia group) were compared. Specimens were obtained by use of an endoscopic guarded tracheal swabbing method and percutaneous tracheal aspiration. The percentage of agreement between the 2 tracheal specimens for the horses of the pneumonia group was 79% for aerobic isolates and 100% for anaerobic isolates. The percentage of agreement between results of the 2 tracheal specimens for horses of the nonpneumonia group was 80% for aerobic organisms and 93% for ...
Sangiah S, MacAllister CC, Amouzadeh HR.The basal gastric pH and free acid contents from five young adult healthy horses were determined at one hour intervals for eight hours. The basal gastric pH and free acid contents varied from 1.63 +/- 0.06 to 1.97 +/- 0.11 and 26.42 +/- 4.14 to 17.92 +/- 5.28 mmol litre-1, respectively. Misoprostol, a methylester analogue of prostaglandin (5 micrograms kg-1, orally) produced a time-dependent increase in the basal gastric pH to above 3.5 (P less than 0.05) at three, four and five hours after administration with a concomitant reduction of 80 to 90 per cent in the basal gastric free acid contents...
Dintinger T, Gaillard JL, Moslemi S, Zwain I, Silberzahn P.The ability of equine and human placental microsomes to aromatize testosterone and 19-nortestosterone was studied. When 3 microM [1 beta,2 beta-3H]testosterone was used as substrate, the specific activity of equine placental microsomal aromatase was 2.5 times higher than that of the human microsomal enzyme. Although 19-nortestosterone was aromatized 67 times more rapidly by equine than by human aromatase, we found that equine aromatase exhibited a markedly weaker affinity for this substrate than did the human enzyme. Competitive inhibition of testosterone aromatization by 19-nortestosterone oc...
Smith JE, Erickson HH, Debowes RM, Clark M.Five horses were exercised at 10m/sec at a 3 degree incline for 2 mins. Packed cell volume, erythrocyte count, haemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular volume, plasma protein, total white cell count and lymphocytes increased significantly in blood samples taken after exercise, compared with those taken before exercise; but mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration decreased. Erythrocytes were more resistant to osmotic stress after exercise, but their shape and degree of deformity were unaffected by exercise.
Moriarty KM, Brown MF, Sutton RH.Auto-immune, haemolytic anacmias (AHA) of man (Dacie, Citation1963) and domestiicated animals (Schalm, Citation1965; Farrelly et al., Citation1966; Lapras and Oudar, Citation1971) are classified either as idiopathic or secondary to an underlying disease process (Pirofsky, Citation1969). In both categories antibodies active against the indivual's own erythrocytes are formed. These auto-antibodies are of two types being either warm or cold-acting. Warm-acting antibodies are most effective at 37°C, belong to the IgG class of immunoglobulins, and are incomplete in that, generally, they do not cau...
Zantingh AJ, Gaughan EM, Bain FT.A 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding was evaluated after a 10-week history of occasional straining during urination and dark red urine production after exercise. Physical examination findings were within normal limits. After 2 weeks of clinical signs, ultrasonography had found no abnormalities in the kidneys or bladder. A freely voided urine sample revealed an elevated protein concentration (500 mg/dL; reference range: <100 mg/dL) and few red blood cells. Vitamin C supplementation was suggested to acidify the urine, as was provision of a salt block to encourage water intake.
Rossdale PD.Diagnosis in veterinary medicine is based upon observations of the manner in which the behavioural patterns differ from those exhibited by normal subjects. The newborn foal adapts to an advanced level of activity within a period which is short relative to many other species, and the behavioural patterns which it exhibits during the period of adaptation are comparatively stereotyped. Because the status of any newborn mammal is affected by its previous experience of foetal development and birth, the behavioural patterns of the mother form an important anamnesis in the life of each individual neo...
Moorthy AR, Spradbrow PB.
Summary:
During a survey in Queensland in 1974—77 four strains of rickettsia-like organisms were isolated from the respiratory tract of horses, of which two, NS7 and NS68 were isolated from nasal swabs of clinically normal horses and two, KSDH 91 and NSDH 100, from lung samples of slaughtered horses showing gross pathological lesions in the form of acute bronchiolitis and subacute interstitial pneumonia, respectively. The isolates are characterised as rickettsia-like organisms on the basis of their morphology, tinctorial property, growth in chicken embryos, inability to grow on bacteria...
Beadle RE, Short CR, Corstvet RE, Pawlusiow J, Nobles DD, McClure JR, Guthrie AJ, Clarke CR.A soft-tissue infection model was created in eight horses by infecting subcutaneous tissue chambers with Streptococcus zooepidemicus organisms. Responses of the horses to the infections were determined by monitoring changes in the complete blood count and body temperature and by following changes in the cytology and protein content of the tissue chambers. Systemic reactions to the infections included a mild neutrophilia, mild pyrexia and mild anemia. There was a marked influx of neutrophils and protein into the chambers after they were seeded with bacteria and chamber neutrophil viability decr...
McKay AG, Milne FJ.A project to determine if intraarticular corticosteroid therapy was deleterious to the racing Thoroughbred was carried out in the 1971, 1972, and 1973 racing seasons. Of 22 horses available for follow-up examination, 6 had radiographic evidence of deterioration; 1 of these was destroyed because of probable corticosteroid-induced arthropathy. The remaining 16 horses did not have any evidence of deterioration. One of the 16, a stakes winner, had been given 12 injections into the left front fetlock during the 3-year period. It was concluded that if proper and careful aftercare is adhered to, intr...
Smith LH, Adams L, Derré M, Townsend WM.To describe the successful use of endoscopy to visualize and place a soft canine ureteral stent to relieve a chronic nasolacrimal duct (NLD) obstruction in a horse. Methods: A 7-year-old, Quarter horse gelding. Methods: Under general anesthesia, retrograde nasolacrimal endoscopy was performed using an 8.5 Fr Storz Flex XC ureteroscope through the nasal punctum (NP). An obstructive web of fibrous tissue was visualized approximately 20 cm proximal to the NP. A 0.035″/150 cm hydrophilic guidewire was passed normograde from the ventral lacrimal punctum and used to puncture the stenotic tissu...
Nyack B, Padmore CL, Dunn D, Kufuor-Mensan E, Mobini S.A 10-year-old Tennessee Walker gelding, with a history of progressive weight loss, intermittent colic and lethargy, had a slight fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, pallor, ascites and marked ventral edema. Blood analyses revealed anemia, leukocytosis, neutrophilia with a left shift, lymphopenia, monocytosis, hypoproteinemia and a slightly increased SDH level. Abdominocentesis produced red-orange fluid with many RBC and an increased fibrinogen content. Rectal palpation revealed a large mass in the left caudal abdominal quadrant. The animal died shortly after resection of the mass. The histopatholog...
Schubert B.Some chromatographic procedures, which can be used to detect and determine certain corticosteroids in samples from race horses, are described. These procedures include thin-layer, gas and high pressure liquid chromatography.
Losinger WC, Traub-Dargatz JL, Sampath RK, Morley PS.Of 7320 equine foals reported born alive during 1997 on 1043 operations that had equids on 1 January 1997, and that participated in the United States National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) Equine 1998 Study, 120 foals were reported to have died (by either euthanasia or natural causes) within the first 2 days of a live birth. The weighted estimate was 1.7% mortality (standard error=0.5) within the first 2 days of live birth for all foals born on operations in the 28 states included in the study.A multivariable logistic-regression model revealed that foals born in the southern region w...
Dumasia MC, Houghton E.The in vivo biotransformation of (1,2(n)-3H)1-dehydrotestosterone was studied in three equine male castrates and a number of neutral metabolites were identified in the urinary unconjugated and glucuronic acid conjugate fractions by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The metabolites were extracted from aliquots of the 0-24 h urine samples by Amberlite XAD-2 and separated into combined unconjugated plus glucuronic acid conjugated and sulphoconjugated fractions by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the glucuronides, the crude neutral unconjugated steroids plus ...
Gilger BC, Histed J, Pate DO, Clode AB, McMullen RJ.This case report describes the clinical, diagnostic, computed tomography findings, and surgical treatment of a 2-year-old Morgan filly with bilateral, proximal, and distal anomalous nasolacrimal duct openings.
Drews B, Milojevic V, Robles M, Wimel L, Dubois C, Rudolf Vegas A, Giller K, Chavatte-Palmer P, Daniel H, Giesbertz P, Bruckmaier RM, Ulbrich SE.Female mammalian reproductive functions are closely linked to body condition and metabolic status. Energy homeostasis is regulated by endocrine hormones such as insulin, IGF-I, leptin, and adiponectin via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. These metabolic hormones and their receptors are also expressed in reproductive tissues and the embryo. We investigated the relationship between circulating leptin and the fatty acid (FA) and amino acid (AA) composition of the equine uterine fluid (UF) and peripheral blood plasma (BP) by using a mass spectrometry-based approach. UF and BP were collecte...
Czernomysy-Furowicz D, Silecka A, Nawrotek P, Jankowiak D, Karakulska J, Furowicz A.The research was conducted on clinically healthy mares (n = 40) and foals (n = 78) during Y. pseudotuberculosis associated enzootics. The animals were divided into groups: I to IV--mares, IA to IVA--their offsprings, IB to IVB--foals which mothers were not treated with any medicaments. The animals in group I, IA and IB were injected with PBS; in group II, IIA and IIB--with Y. pseudotuberculosis strain-based vaccine, in group III, IIIA and IIIB--with P. acnes strain-based immunostimulator; in group IV, IVA and IVB--with P. acnes strain-based immunostimulator and (5 days after the immunostimulat...
Boyd JS.The deformities observed in 2 Clydesdale foals are described. Both had abnormal joint positions in the forelimbs and discrepancies in the symmetry of the vertebral column. The changes were only mild in one case but extreme in the other where it was accompanied by torticollis, scoliosis and vertebral fusion. A comparison is made with deformities described in the contracted foal syndrome and some of the developmental implications discussed.
Eichenberger EM, Dent A, Hayes T, Woc-Colburn L.Streptococcus equi is an opportunistic pathogen in horses that has rarely been transmitted to humans. Here we present a zoonotic S. equi meningitis case in a kidney transplant recipient with exposure to infected horses. We discuss the patient's risk factors, clinical presentation, and management in the context of the limited literature on S. equi meningitis.
Henneke DR, Kreider JL.Quarter Horse mares (n = 30) and their foals were used in a 2-year study. Objectives of the study were (i) to determine the effects of a treatment regimen, which permitted nursing for four 1-hour periods each day, on the postpartum reproductive performance of the dams, and (ii) to assess the effects of this procedure on the growth and development of foals. Mares in the restricted suckling treatment group showed estrus and ovulated sooner (P less than 0.01) after parturition than did control mares during the first year of the study, but not during the second year. Plasma progesterone concentrat...
Shortridge EH.Extract
Recent reviews of brucellosis in horses (Stableforth and Galloway, Citation1959; Mascaro and Hoffman, Citation1963: Ritscher, Citation1963) refer to Brucella abortus associated with fistulous withers, arthritis and debility and emphasize the rarity of abortion caused by this organism. One case of abortion in a mare caused by Br. abortus was reported as having occurred in Iowa, U.S.A. (McNutt and Murray, Citation1924).
Walker L, Martinelli MJ, Rantanen N, Drumond B, Trostle S.Nuclear scintigraphy can be beneficial in the investigation of equine lameness and poor performance. Images obtained through the sole allow for better identification of a region of increased radionuclide uptake in the foot. The presence of shoes or pads may affect these images. To determine the degree of radioactive attenuation different types of shoes and pads of different thickness and materials were evaluated by placing the material directly on the gamma camera detector acquiring flood images from a point source. The study compared five different types of shoes from 3 different shoeing mate...
Häsler S, Dängeli J.Saint Eligius became the saint patron of farriers and veterinarians in the 13th century. This was first mentioned by Jordanus Ruffus, emperor Frederic the 2nd's equerry, who refers to a gregorian hymnal dedicated to Eligius. The legend says that Eliguis amputated a horse's foot, shoed it and placed it back on the horse's leg. This legend might have replaced the Germanic cult described in the incantations of Merseburg. In Switzerland the veneration of Eligius is particularly spread in the canton of Lucerne. Der Heilige Eligius wurde im 13. Jahrhundert Schutzpatron der Hufschmiede und Tierärzte...