Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
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.
A surgical approach to treatment of suprascapular nerve injury in the horse. Suprascapular nerve decompression has proven to be a useful treatment for refractory neuropraxia in horses. The surgical procedure used to effect that decompression is described. The surgery can be undertaken when conservative treatment has failed, but the sooner the surgery is done, the more likely the muscle mass is to be cosmetically satisfactory.
Repair of a delayed-union stress fracture of the dorsal cortex of a metacarpal bone in a horse. A delayed union metacarpal stress fracture was repaired in a horse, using lag-screw fixation in conjunction with dc electrical stimulation. Twelve weeks after surgery, radiographic and scintigraphic evaluations revealed that the fracture line was not discernible and that there was a decrease in radiopharmaceutic uptake, as compared with that in previous bone imaging studies. In this horse, DC stimulation of a delayed union stress fracture in a bone resulted in a healing pattern similar to that in human beings with delayed union fractures when treated with electrical stimulation.
Work intolerance in a horse with thyroid carcinoma. A thyroid carcinoma was diagnosed in a 14-year-old competitive trail horse with a 3-month history of work intolerance. Abnormal findings included low base-line triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) values, a large thyroid gland and decreased work tolerance. Nuclear medicine scanning revealed displacement of the right thyroid gland by a mass. Needle biopsy of the mass revealed neoplastic changes compatible with thyroid carcinoma. After removing the tumor surgically, T3 and T4 values returned to normal. Subsequently, the horse was able to compete successfully. Horses with work intolerance com...
Scapular notch resection for suprascapular nerve decompression in 12 horses. Supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscle paralysis with atrophy was treated by partial osteotomy of the scapula, deep to the suprascapular nerve. The horses had various gait abnormalities, which were corrected by the surgery, but regeneration of the muscles varied from partial to complete, depending on the duration of the condition and the degree of atrophy before surgery.
Effects of flunixin meglumine on cardiopulmonary responses to endotoxin in ponies. The effects of endotoxemia on cardiopulmonary parameters, before and after cyclooxygenase blockade, were determined in anesthetized ponies spontaneously breathing a mixture of halothane and 100% O2. Escherichia coli endotoxin was infused intravenously at 20 micrograms/kg for 1 h followed by 10 micrograms X kg-1 X h-1 the subsequent 4 h. By 15 min endotoxin increased mean pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and alveolar dead space ventilation (VDA/VT), and these were followed by a return to base-line values by 30 min. A second increase in PVR occurred by 5 h ...
Effects of multiple intramuscular injections and doses of dexamethasone on plasma cortisol concentrations and adrenal responses to ACTH in horses. Adrenocortical function was assessed in horses given multiple IM doses of dexamethasone to determine the duration of adrenocortical suppression and insufficiency caused by 2 commonly used dosages of dexamethasone (0.044 and 0.088 mg/kg of body weight). Dexamethasone was administered at 5-day intervals for a total of 6 injections. Daily blood samples were collected. The plasma was frozen and later assayed for cortisol. An ACTH response test was determined 2 days before the first injection of dexamethasone and again 8 days after the last dexamethasone injection. Maximum suppression of plasma cor...
Dietary exposure to cadmium and health effects: impact of environmental changes. Cadmium exposure, metabolism, and effects are described especially in relation to dietary intakes. Data on dietary intakes in several countries have been complied from studies using the duplicate diet method or fecal analysis. These two methods seem to give more accurate data than estimates based on cadmium concentrations in food classes and food consumption (composite method). The present data on absorption and retention of ingested cadmium indicate that normally less than 5% is ingested, but absorption may increase in women who have iron deficiency. Earlier estimates of the critical concentr...
Erythrogram and red cell distribution width of Equidae with experimentally induced anemia. The erythrogram (erythrocyte histogram) and red cell distribution width (RDW) were evaluated in 5 purebred horses and 1 pony of mixed breeding with experimentally induced anemia. Four horses were studied for 6 weeks after 20% of their estimated blood volume was removed on each of 2 consecutive days (40% total blood loss; acute blood-loss group). Two horses were given acetylphenyl hydrazine IV daily, until acute Heinz body hemolytic anemia was induced; the 2 horses were then evaluated for 6 weeks. One horse and the pony had 20% of their estimated blood volume removed via phlebotomy once each we...
Experimental demonstration of an antigenic relationship between Leptospira and equine cornea. Horses inoculated with either equine cornea or killed Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona, tarassovi, icterohaemorrhagiae, wolffi and hardjo, developed corneal opacity and produced antibodies which made it possible to demonstrate partial antigenic identity between equine cornea and four of those serovars employed. These antibodies were isolated by means of immunoadsorptions, purified by ion-exchange chromatography (DEAE-Sephadex A-50) and run by immuno-electrophoresis in agar gel. Both antibodies, anti-equine cornea and anti-leptospira, showed that they corresponded to the IgGb subclass. Th...
In vitro mechanical properties of equine tendons in relation to cross-sectional area and collagen content. The mechanical properties of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and the suspensory ligament (SL) of the hindlimb of the horse were studied in vitro. The tendons were observed at several morphologically distinct sites. The loaded tendon is homogeneously strained, in spite of large variations in cross-sectional area. Consequently the modulus of elasticity was inversely proportional to the corresponding cross-sectional area and ranged from 738 MPa (megaPascal, N mm-2) to 1398 MPa within the DDFT, from 1000 MPa to 1282 MPa within the SDFT and from 5...
Humoral, hormonal and behavioral correlates of feeding in ponies: the effects of meal frequency. The effect of meal frequency on body fluid, glucose, triiodothyronine (T3), heart rate and behavior was measured in 10 ponies. A simple reversal design was used in which each pony received one meal/day (1X) for 2 wk and six meals/day (6X) for 2 wk. The total intake/day was held constant. Feeding was followed by a rise in plasma levels of glucose, T3, protein and osmolality. One large meal was followed by significantly greater changes in all of the variables than was a meal one-sixth the size. Plasma T3 rose from 41 +/- 5 (SE) ng/liter before feeding to 43 +/- 5 ng/liter following a small meal,...
BCG treatment of periocular sarcoid. Twenty-six horses and five mules with periocular sarcoids were treated with intralesional injections of a purified bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG) cell walls in oil suspension. All sarcoids were cured and the horses and mules remained free from recurrence of sarcoid during the two-year follow-up period.
Effects of endotoxin on lung water, hemodynamics, and gas exchange in anesthetized ponies. Effects of endotoxemia on lung water, hemodynamics, and gas exchange were determined in ponies breathing a mixture of halothane and 100% O2. Escherichia coli endotoxin was infused IV at 20 micrograms/kg of body weight for 1 hour followed by 10 micrograms/kg/hr the subsequent 4 hours. By 0.25 hour, endotoxin increased mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance; this was followed by a return to base-line values by 0.5 and 1 hour, respectively. A 2nd increase in pulmonary vascular resistance occurred by 5 hours of endotoxemia. During the last 2 hours of endotoxin infusion, c...
A giant cell tumour (osteoclastoma) of the tibia in a horse. GIANT cell tumours of bone (osteoclastomas) are extremely
rare in animals, with most cases being reported in dogs and
cats (Pool 1978). Extraskeletal giant cell tumours have been
reported in the horse (Gordon 1974; Ford, Empson, Plopper
and Brown 1975; Render et a1 1983) but there have been no
well documented case reports of giant cell turnours of bone.
Osteoclastomas are said to occur in the horse (Hickman 1964)
but early reports of such tumours may be the result of
misdiagnoses (Jacobson 1971). A case of lameness in a horse
which, at autopsy, was found to be the result of a giant ce...
Mononuclear phagocytes of transport-stressed horses with viral respiratory tract infection. Twelve horses comprised 3 treatment groups; all horses in 2 of the groups had recently been transported and had clinical and laboratory evidence of respiratory tract infection, with equine influenza type 2 virus being the principal pathogen. Mononuclear phagocytes and other leukocytes from blood, lung, and peritoneal cavity were studied in phagocytosis and erythrocyte-antibody (EA) rosette assays. Total numbers of pulmonary alveolar macrophages were increased over control values in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of group 3 horses after recovery from influenza (P less than 0.02), whereas th...
Bronchoalveolar lavage in ponies with recurrent airway obstruction (heaves). We performed bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in 2 groups of ponies. Principal ponies had a history of heaves, a disease characterized by recurrent airway obstruction and airway hyperreactivity when ponies are housed in a barn and fed hay; control ponies had no history of airway obstruction. Ponies were paired (principal and control), and BAL was performed after 2 months of being pastured when principal ponies were in clinical remission (Period A), after barn housing when principal ponies had acute airway obstruction (Period B), and after a 1- and a 2-wk recovery phase of pasture grazing (Periods ...
Deep freezing of horse embryos. Fourteen horse embryos recovered non-surgically on Days 6-8 after ovulation (Day 0) were cooled slowly to - 35 degrees C (7 embryos) or - 40 degrees C (7 embryos) and stored in liquid nitrogen (- 196 degrees C) for 4-98 days. Surgical transfer of the thawed embryos to unmated recipient mares that had ovulated - 2 to + 1 days with respect to the embryo donors resulted initially in the establishment of 4 conceptuses. However, only one mare maintained her pregnancy to term.
Effects of verapamil on the smooth muscle of the horse urinary tract. The effects of verapamil, a calcium antagonist agent, were studied on smooth muscle preparations of the lower urinary tract of horses. Verapamil (2 X 10(-4) to 2 X 10(-8) M) relaxed the ureter, urethra and urinary bladder preparations contracted by potassium (127 mM), L-noradrenaline (2 X 10(-5) M), histamine (2 X 10(-5) M) and acetylcholine (2 X 10(-5) M). These results allow the conclusion that verapamil has a dose-dependent relaxing effect on smooth muscle of the lower urinary tract.
