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.
Evans DL, Rose RJ.Cardiovascular and respiratory responses to submaximal exercise training were investigated in 6 thoroughbred racehorses. Oxygen uptake, heart rate (HR) and arteriovenous oxygen content difference were measured during incremental treadmill exercise tests, before and after 7 weeks of treadmill training. Cardiac output during exercise was calculated by the direct Fick technique. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was increased by 23% after training, from 129.7 ml/kg/min to 160.0 ml/kg/min. The treadmill speed at which VO2max was attained increased by 19%. The increased aerobic power after training wa...
Harrison IW.The average age of 122 horses with ascending colon volvulus was 6.6 +/- 0.4 years. Gastric reflux was a presenting sign in 35% of the cases. Peritoneal fluid protein levels had a mean of 2.54 +/- 0.14 g/dl and 20 horses had grossly normal peritoneal fluid at the time of presentation. Ascending colon volvulus was most commonly found at the level of the cecocolic fold with the initial ventral colon movement in a dorsomedial direction about the ascending mesocolic axis. The overall survival rate was 34.7% with a recurrence rate of only 4.9%.
Tulleners EP, Harrison IW, Raker CW.By use of endoscopy, 75 horses with respiratory noise and/or exercise intolerance were determined to have structural arytenoid cartilage abnormalities (60 primary, 11 after previous laryngeal surgery), or failed left laryngoplasty (4 horses) for laryngeal hemiplegia in which the arytenoid cartilage still appeared normal. Eighty-eight percent of the horses were either Thoroughbred (54 horses; 72%) or Standardbred (12 horses; 16%) racehorses; only 9 horses (12%) had occupations not related to racing. Seventy-six percent of the racehorses were 2 to 4 years old; all non-racehorses were greater tha...
Brown SA, Barsanti JA.A quantitative buffy coat (QBC) analysis was evaluated for 175 canine, 125 feline, and 125 equine blood samples. The method used centrifuged whole blood and yielded rapid results expressed as respective band lengths for RBC, granulocytes, nongranulocytes, and platelets. Simple regression analysis of band lengths and reference laboratory methods yielded correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.72 to 0.99. The PCV, granulocyte count, and total WBC count, as determined by the 2 methods, correlated well (r greater than or equal to 0.93 in all cases). Platelet and nongranulocyte counts were less...
Gill JJ, Kempski HM, Hallows BJ, Warren AM.IT is well known that chromosomal abnormalities are
frequently associated with infertility in the mare (Table 1). The
most commonly reported abnormality is 6 3 x 0 which can
occur in a mosaic or non-mosaic form. Various other
aneuploidies of the sex chromosomes have been reported but
the 6SXXX genotype appears to be rare. Chandley et a1 (1975)
and Chandley (1984) have reported two 65XXX animals and
Walker (1979) a 64XW6SXXW6SXXY one.
This paper reports a mosaic 64XXh5XXX animal and
emphasises the need for more cytogenetic analysis in the
horse.
Ross MW, Ford TS, Orsini PG.Seven horses, 2 to 4 years of age, were examined because of moderate-to-severe forelimb lameness, mild effusion of the middle carpal joint (3 horses), and pain on palpation of the origin of the suspensory ligament (4 horses). The lameness was abolished by anesthetic infiltration of the middle carpal joint in six horses. In four of them, a high palmar nerve block also abolished the lameness. A linear radiolucency in the proximal end of the third metacarpal bone (McIII) was interpreted as an incomplete longitudinal fracture. In one horse, distinct intramedullary sclerosis limited to the palmar c...
Brown CM, Kaneene JB, Taylor RF.An analysis was made of the causes of death in horses and ponies over one year of age which died suddenly (Group 1) or were found dead but were considered normal when last seen (Group 2). There were 49 animals in Group 1. Thoroughbreds were overrepresented, but there were no ponies in this group. No cause of death was found in 30.6 per cent of cases and 16.3 per cent died from each of the following causes: haemorrhage in the respiratory system, central nervous system, and adverse drug reactions. Cardiovascular lesions were the cause of death in 14.4 per cent and the remaining 3.1 per cent had ...
Wilkins CA, Bergh N.An examination of the sera of 329 horses for L. pneumophila antibodies revealed a much lower exposure rate than that reported in the United States of America. Further serological investigations of persons closely associated with a sero-positive horse indicated that the horse could not be considered to be a source of infection but that both humans and animals were probably exposed to a common source of infection. The results showed that 192/329 (58.4%) of the sera tested negative, 114/329 (34.7%) had end-point titres of 1/2, 22/329 (6.7%) end-points of 1/16 and one an end point of 1/256 (0.3%)....
Harris P, Snow DH.To study the effect of short term high intensity exercise on plasma lactate, potassium, sodium and chloride concentrations, five Thoroughbred horses were galloped on a treadmill at a 5 degree incline. Following a standardised warm-up period, they were galloped at 8, 10, or 12 metres/sec for 2 mins. One horse also galloped at 14 metres/sec for 1.5 mins. Sequential arterial and/or venous blood samples were collected during exercise and recovery. At 12 metres/sec, the effect of different recovery modes, ie, standing, walking or trotting, on the electrolytes was also examined. There was a progress...
The Journal of heredityMarch 1, 1988
Volume 79, Issue 2 100-106 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110461
Woolf CM, Swafford JR.The ultrastructural imaging of melanocytes coupled with analyses to detect sulfur-containing melanosomes by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to test the hypothesis that the yellowish-red and black pigments found in Arabian horses result from pheomelanogenesis and eumelanogenesis, respectively. These procedures detected pheomelanosomes in follicles at the base of hairs in chestnut horses and eumelanosomes in follicles at the base of hairs in black horses. By analyzing tissue obtained by skin biopsy, these procedures also demonstrated that skin melanocytes in a chestnut horse produ...
O'Rourke K, Perryman LE, McGuire TC.Equine infectious anaemia virus is related by genome sequence homology to human immunodeficiency virus, caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus and visna virus. Failure of the host to mount a strong neutralizing response detectable in vitro or to eliminate persistent infection in vivo characterizes lentivirus infections in the natural host. In this study the specificities and neutralizing activity of antibodies induced during experimental infection with equine infectious anaemia virus were investigated using antiviral ELISA, radioimmunoprecipitation and neutralization assays. ELISA antibody titre...
Sweeney RW, Beech J, Simmons RD, Soma LR.The pharmacokinetics of ticarcillin and clavulanic acid following administration by the intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) routes were investigated in six normal adult horses. Following i.v. administration, the ticarcillin disposition data conformed to a two-compartment model with an elimination half-life of 1.0 h. The disposition of clavulanic acid was described by a one-compartment model with an elimination half-life of 0.40 h. Following i.m. administration, the half-lives of both drugs were prolonged (ticarcillin 1.8 h, clavulanic acid 1.2 h). The bioavailability of ticarcillin was...
Stadler P, van den Berg SS, Tustin RC.A Hansen type I cervical intervertebral disc prolapse was diagnosed in a 16-year-old American Saddler showing clinical signs of paresis and ataxia. An ante-mortem diagnosis was made by means of plain radiographs and a myelogram. The horse was euthanased and the diagnosis confirmed on a post-mortem examination.
Godovac-Zimmermann J, Conti A, James L, Napolitano L.The complete primary structure of donkey beta-lactoglobulin I was determined by pulsed-liquid phase microsequencing of tryptic peptides. The protein has been isolated in monomeric form and it corresponds to monomeric beta-lactoglobulin of type I. With the inclusion of donkey beta-lactoglobulin I there are 13% common residues amongst the members of the beta-lactoglobulin family. Donkey beta-lactoglobulin I is homologous to the retinol-binding protein, bilin-binding protein and five other proteins belonging to the new superfamily of hydrophobic molecule transporters. A rapid method for peptide i...
Magnarelli LA, Anderson JF, Shaw E, Post JE, Palka FC.During 1982 and 1985, blood samples from 705 equids were examined for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi. By indirect immunofluorescence staining, IgM and total immunoglobulin (IgM and IgG) antibodies were detected in 37 (5.3%) and 90 (12.8%) serum specimens, respectively. The geometric mean titer for IgM antibody (140.4) was highest during July, whereas total immunoglobulin ranged from 94.1 in October to 338 in May. Eighty-six equids with total immunoglobulin to B burgdorferi lived in areas of Connecticut where the primary tick vector, Ixodes dammini, was present. Of the 86 equids, 9 from Lym...
Winder NC, von Fellenberg R.The peroxidase anti-peroxidase technique was used to demonstrate free and intracellular immunoglobulin (Ig) within the lungs of 23 horses with chronic small airway disease. Histologically, all the horses had chronic bronchiolitis; however, the lesions varied in degree from mild in eight horses, to moderate in nine horses and severe in six horses. Lungs from three horses which had no gross or histopathological lesions were used as controls. In comparison with control horses, horses with mild chronic bronchiolitis had increased numbers of Ig A-containing and non-immunoglobulin staining cells aro...
Johnson PJ, Allhands RV, Baker GJ, Boero MJ, Foreman JH, Hyyppa T, Huhn JC.Incomplete linear tibial fractures were identified in two horses with the aid of scintigraphy. Both horses were treated successfully by strict stall confinement, and both returned to normal athletic activity. Scintigraphy can be used to facilitate the generally difficult diagnosis of incomplete tibial fractures.
Fessler JF.Nine horses with heterotopic polyodontia, examined at Purdue University since 1969, were treated surgically and had a favorable outcome. Six of the horses had received prior medical or surgical treatment, but without success. An understanding of the congenital nature of the problem contributed to an accurate diagnosis in each case. General anesthesia, aseptic technique, removal of all aberrant tissue, and wound suture for primary healing appeared to be essential for preserving ear function and obtaining an effective treatment.
Hondalus MK, Lofstedt J.A 16-year-old pony with signs of intermittent abdominal pain was treated with phenylbutazone in excess of the recommended dosage. Endoscopy revealed ulceration of the esophagus, stomach, and proximal portion of small intestine. The pony developed diarrhea. Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from the blood and feces. Treatment included fluids, trimethoprim-sulfadiazine, sucralfate, and ranitidine hydrochloride. The diarrhea resolved, as did the gastrointestinal ulceration. This case was unusual because septicemia with salmonellosis is an uncommon finding in adult equids. Also, complications co...
Blanchard TL, Varner DD, Hurtgen JP, Love CC, Cummings MR, Strezmienski PJ, Benson C, Kenney RM.A Thoroughbred stallion suspected of having venereal disease was found to have an infection of the accessory sex glands. Purulent debris, blood, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were recovered from all ejaculates. Treatment with gentamicin sulfate, tobramycin, and amikacin sulfate was unsuccessful in eliminating the infection. The stallion's seminal plasma, collected during treatment with gentamicin sulfate, did not contain any appreciable antibacterial activity. Apparently, negligible amounts of gentamicin diffused across the mucosal cell borders of the accessory sex glands into the seminal plasma....
Hannant D, Mumford JA, Jessett DM.The duration of immunity as measured by virological, serological and clinical responses following infection with influenza A/equine/Newmarket/79 (H3N8) was assessed in repeated challenge experiments in which ponies were infected by exposure to aerosols of infectious virus. Previous infection stimulated complete clinical protection which persisted for at least 32 weeks as demonstrated by the absence of febrile responses and coughing in two groups of ponies infected 16 weeks or 32 weeks after the first infection. Partial clinical protection persisted for over a year as demonstrated by the absenc...
Marquardt SA, Wilcox CV, Burns EN, Peterson JA, Finno CJ.Equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (eNAD/EDM) is a neurologic disease that has been reported in young horses from a wide range of breeds. The disease is inherited and associated with vitamin E deficiency during the first two years of life, resulting in bilateral symmetric ataxia. A missense mutation (chr3:71,917,591 C > T) within adhesion G protein-coupled receptor L3 (ADGRL3) was recently associated with risk for EDM in the Caspian breed. In order to confirm these findings, genotyping of this missense mutation, along with the three other associated single nuc...
Lillich JD.Both retrospective data and clinical experience indicate that complications of dental surgery are occasionally encountered and, to some extent, are inevitable. Many of the reported complications related to dental surgery such as incomplete removal of diseased teeth or removal of the wrong tooth can be avoided with sound preoperative planning and intraoperative technique. Diseased teeth should be properly identified prior to and during surgery. In addition, complete removal of the diseased tooth must be performed. Use of intraoperative radiographic examination to confirm the location of the dis...
Smith ID.Progesterone concentration was measured by a protein-binding assay in peripheral plasma samples taken from 8 thoroughbred mares throughout pregnancy and for 2 days after parturition. There were considerable differences between individuals at any one time in gestation but, on average, levels rose during the first 60 days of gestation, fell to a minimum at about 180 days when the accessory corpora lutea regress and finally reached their highest mean value of 11.5 mg/ml±1.2 (S.E.M.) during the period 270 days to term, significantly higher than the mean, 7.6 ng/ml±0.5 (S.E.M) for the whole of ge...
Orlandini CF, Steiner D, Boscarato AG, Gimenes GC, Alberton LR.Defects in the abdominal wall of horses have high relapse rate. This is mainly in lateral eventrations and hernias caused by trauma from kicks of other horses or installation structures. The eventration region normally becomes swollen and there may be complications due to intestinal loop incarceration. The surgical treatment, consisting of reconstruction of the abdominal wall, frequently require biological or synthetic materials for the reinforcement of the suture line and tension support. Therefore, several studies have reported new materials for the repair of the abdominal wall, with the aim...
Gehlen H, Shety T, El-Zahar H, Hofheinz I.Cardiac biomarkers are important tools for monitoring disease progress and can monitor progression of therapy. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been studied for its use as a cardiac biomarker in human and small animal medicine while in horses with cardiac disease it has not been evaluated yet. The objective of the present study was to determine the concentration of plasma ET-1 in healthy horses and compare it with ET-1 concentration in horses with cardiac disease during rest and after exercise. Fifty four horses admitted to the Equine Clinic of Free University of Berlin were used in the present study, ...
Delbeke FT, Teale P, Debackere M, Houghton E.A commercially available generic promazine ELISA kit is available which shows cross-reactivity for the tranquilizer chlorprothixene (CPT). The ELISA test readily detects the presence of CPT or its metabolites in equine urine for up to 24 h after the i.v. and i.m. administration of sub-therapeutic doses (4.5 mg) to three horses. Maximum concentrations (CPT equivalents) are obtained 2 h after i.v. dosing. No distinct concentration peak values are observed after i.m. administration. Following solid-phase extraction, confirmation of CPT and its metabolites by electron impact mass spectrometry afte...
Hassanain MM, al-Afaleq AI, Soliman IM, Abdullah SK.Two 7-year old Arabian racing horses were reported to show typical AHS symptoms in Qatar and died shortly after. The horses had been vaccinated with formol inactivated vaccine approximately 10 days before the onset of the disease. Blood samples from these horses were collected and AHS virus isolated from one sample after intracerebral (i.c.) inoculation into suckling mice. The virus identity was confirmed by complement fixation test (CFT) using the virus antigen and reference type 9 of AHS virus hyperimmune serum. The serotype of the isolated virus was identified by serum neutralization test (...
Tappenbeck K, Schmidt S, Feige K, Naim HY, Huber K.Lidocaine is the most commonly chosen prokinetic for treating postoperative ileus in horses, a motility disorder associated with ischaemia-reperfusion injury of intestinal tissues. Despite the frequent use of lidocaine, the mechanism underlying its prokinetic effects is still unclear. Previous studies suggested that lidocaine altered cell membrane characteristics of smooth muscle cells. Therefore, the present study aimed to elucidate effects of lidocaine administration on characteristics of detergent-resistant membranes in equine jejunal smooth muscle. Lidocaine administration caused significa...
Black B, Cribb NC, Nykamp SG, Thomason JJ, Trout DR.Artefacts caused by regional anaesthesia can influence image interpretation of ultrasonography and nuclear scintigraphy. Perineural and intrasynovial anaesthesia are commonly performed prior to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); and the effects on MR images, if any, are unknown. Objective: To determine if perineural and intrasynovial anaesthesia of structures in the equine foot cause iatrogenic changes detectable with MRI. Methods: A baseline MRI examination of both front feet was performed on 15 horses, 2-6 days prior to mepivacaine injection adjacent to the lateral and medial palmar digital n...
Bonfig H.The purpose of this detailed description of the clinical examination of the colic patient is to arrive at a specific diagnosis. However, this is hardly ever possible, but the practitioner should be in the position to establish the suspicion of an intestinal obstruction or to rule out its presence during the course of the development. Single clinical findings should not be interpreted in isolation but in relation to one another, so that a false diagnosis is not made. All clinical findings should be documented, so that when repeated examinations are carried out, findings can be compared with one...
Story MR.Equine cervical pain and dysfunction may be difficult to diagnose and effectively manage. Understanding techniques in integrative medicine often allows the practitioner to observe and palpate areas of pain and dysfunction in the horse being evaluated in ways often not taught or used in conventional medicine. There are many integrative therapies that also may be utilized to more effectively manage these horses, resulting in a more comfortable and functional horse.
Schenk I, Machnik M, Broussou D, Meuly A, Roques BB, Lallemand E, Düe M, Röttgen H, Lagershausen H, Toutain PL, Thevis M.In horses, the benzodiazepine diazepam (DIA) is used as sedative for pre-medication or as an anxiolytic to facilitate horse examinations. As the sedative effects can also be abused for doping purposes, DIA is prohibited in equine sports. DIA is extensively metabolized to several active metabolites such as nordazepam, temazepam and oxazepam (OXA). For veterinarians, taking into account the detection times of DIA and its active metabolites is needed for minimizing the risk of an anti-doping rule violation. Therefore, a pharmacokinetic study on 6 horses was conducted using a single intravenous (...
Knych HK, Arthur RM, Stanley SD, McKemie DS.In order to ensure the welfare of performance horses and riders as well as the integrity of the sport, the use of both therapeutic and illegal agents in horse racing is tightly regulated. While Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is not specifically banned from administration to racehorses in the United States and no screening limit or threshold concentration exists, the metabolic conversion of DHEA to testosterone make its presence in nutritional supplements a regulatory concern. The recommended regulatory threshold for total testosterone in urine is 55 and 20 ng/mL for mares and geldings, respec...
Witte ST, Will LA, Olsen CR, Kinker JA, Miller-Graber P.Chronic selenosis (alkali disease) was diagnosed in horses of western Iowa, a region associated with marginal to adequate soil selenium. Two locally produced alfalfa hays (Medicago sativa L) were identified as the primary source. Difficulty in selecting diagnostic specimens to evaluate potential chronic selenosis cases is complicated by the wide range of tissue concentrations reported in previous cases, conflicting correlation of sample selenium concentrations in the literature, and different recommendations on specimen selection and diagnostic value. These problems arise form the similarity i...
Kolm G, Knapp E, Wagner R, Klein D.Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is a primary cytokine of the skin that has a pivotal role in keratinocyte differentiation, epidermal wound healing and host defense. Pathological increase of cutaneous IL-1beta is associated with edema formation, epidermal hyperproliferation and atopic dermatitis in humans. However, in horses the role of cutaneous IL-1beta in edema formation and allergic skin disease has not been characterised so far. Particularly in Culicoides hypersensitivity (CHS), intradermal injection of Culicoides extract may be associated with enhanced transcription of local IL-1beta. To exa...
Alonso Jde M, Rodrigues KA, Yamada AL, Watanabe MJ, Alves AL, Rodrigues CA, Hussni CA.Heparin is routinely administered in postoperative abdominal surgery aiming to prevent adhesions formation; however, there is no consensus indicating its effectiveness. This study evaluated the effect of heparin on peritoneal reactivity after abdominal surgery, through the association between peritoneal fluid features and ultrasonographic and laparoscopic examination. Ten adult horses were used: control group (CG) and treated group (TG). Both groups underwent laparotomy and small colon enterotomy. TG received subcutaneous heparin at 150 IU/kg every 12 hours for 5 days. The animals underwent ...
Vreman S, Wiemer P, Keesler RI.A 10-year-old KWPN (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands) gelding was euthanized after developing severe neurological symptoms preceded by severe epistaxis during laser treatment for progressive ethmoid haematoma (PEH) in the right nasal cavity. Postmortem examination of the head revealed a large amount of clotted blood between the right ventral and dorsal conchae in the nasal cavity and acute haemorrhage in the right subarachnoid space. Histologically, there was moderate, acute polioencephalomalacia in the neuropil adjacent to the haemorrhage. The haemorrhages were most likely caused b...