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.
Cranley JJ.A survey of 1141 horses and ponies, for the presence of hydatid infection, was carried out at an export meat plant near Bristol. Lesions were attributed carefully by morphological, histological and immunological examinations and assessed by flame cell activity. All available detail concerning the animals was recorded. The surveys in the literature were assessed for the criteria on which their figures were based and were compared with the findings of this present survey. Attention was drawn to the apparent discord between the results of some surveys and others.
Zinkl JG, Brown PD.Horse polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) isolated from horse blood by sedimentation and isotonic lysis and having about 25% accompanying lymphocytes were as effective at chemotaxis as nearly pure PMN isolated by density gradient techniques. N-Formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (FMLP), used as a representative of the formylmethionyl peptides (produced by prokaryocytic organisms), was effective as a chemoattractant only at the high concentration of 10(-4) M. When serum was preincubated with FMLP at concentrations as low as 10(-8) M, the serum attracted horse PMN. This activity was not g...
Wagner AE, McIlwraith CW, Martin GS.Orgotein was injected into the right intercarpal joint of each of 8 horses; the corresponding left joint was left alone (not injected) or was given an injection of normal saline solution. Injection with orgotein caused a transient, marked inflammatory response, evidenced by clinical signs and by increased leukocytes and total protein in the synovia (synovial fluid). Leukocyte numbers and total protein concentration were increased (P less than 0.010) in the orgotein-injected joints within 24 hours. However, saline solution alone also elicited a marked inflammatory response, manifested by increa...
Zatzman ML, Clarke L, Ray WJ, Garner HE, Traver D.Simultaneous renal clearances of inulin (CIN), p-aminohippurate (CPAH), and creatinine (CCR) were measured in hydrated mares (6 ponies and 2 horses). The CIN and CPAH were determined during steady-state infusion at 3 different infusion rates. A 6-fold change in plasma IN concentration did not produce alteration in CIN, nor was there a difference between the ponies and horses (P greater than 0.2). The overall average (mean +/- SEM) was 190.6 +/- 5.89 ml . min-1 . 100 kg of body weight-1. There was no difference noted between simultaneous CIN and CPAH. Clearance of PAH remained essentially const...
Yamagishi H, Nagamine T, Shimoda K, Ide S, Igarashi Y, Yoshioka I, Matumoto M.Single radial hemolysis (SRH), neutralization (NT), and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests were carried out on sera from horses immunized against the Prague and Miami strains of equine influenza virus. The HI and NT tests demonstrated good sensitivity; the sensitivity of the SRH test was somewhat lower. The NT titers of individual sera were correlated very closely with the HI titers, although the NT titers were higher. SRH zone diameters of individual sera also showed significant correlation with the NT and NI titers. The SRH test appears to be suitable for large-scale serological surveys ...
Hood DM, Stephens KA, Bowen MJ.Phenoxybenzamine, an alpha adrenergic antagonist, was administered IV to 6 clinically normal horses, 5 horses with experimentally induced diarrhea, and 7 horses with naturally-occurring diarrhea. It was established that a total of 2 mg of phenoxybenzamine/kg of body weight given in divided doses resulted in alpha adrenergic blockage of approximately 72 hours' duration, tranquilization, and mild constipation in the normal horse. The 5 experimental cases of diarrhea were involved in a laminitis research protocol in which laminitis was induced by oral carbohydrate overload. In all 5 of those case...
Slone DE, Humburg JM, Jagar JE, Powers RD.Rectal tears were detected in three horses treated for colic. Based on historical, clinical, and postmortem findings, the tears could not be attributed to the attending veterinarian and were therefore not iatrogenic (physician induced). One tear was attributable to an infarction that presumably resulted from thromboembolism; 1 tear occurred without any evidence of external cause and resulted in such severe peritonitis that the cause and resulted in such severe peritonitis that the cause could not be determined, and 1 tear occurred during rectal palpation by the owner, before he called the vete...
Mirck MH, van Meurs GK.Seven foals naturally infected with Strongyloides westeri were injected intramuscularly with ivermectin at a dosage rate of 200 mcg per kg body weight. No adverse effects to treatment were observed. Weekly faecal egg counts showed a greater than 99 per cent reduction of S. westeri egg output compared with 7 untreated foals during the 21 days following treatment.
Nimmo MA, Snow DH.To ascertain the effects of sprint and endurance exercise on the time course of skeletal muscle mitochondrial changes, an ultrastructural study was conducted on four Thoroughbred horses. Skeletal muscle biopsies were taken at various intervals during and after the exercise. Transient mitochondrial alterations of varying degrees were observed following both types of exercise and were considered to be related to the development of fatigue. The degree of distortion of mitochondrial structure is considered not to represent the in vivo condition but the state of responsiveness to the fixation mediu...
Alexander F.Phenylbutazone administered in therapeutic doses to ponies decreased urinary sodium and chloride excretion. The volume and osmolality of the urine was unaffected as was potassium excretion. Faecal excretion of chloride decreased and that of potassium increased, while faecal sodium excretion was unaffected. Plasma pH, bicarbonate and total carbon dioxide decreased after phenylbutazone administration. Packed cell volume, plasma sodium, potassium, carbon dioxide tension and chloride were unchanged.
Riviere JE, Traver DS, Coppoc GL.Three clinical cases of toxic nephropathy in young horses were ascribed to gentamicin toxicity. Criteria for defining gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicosis were a serum urea nitrogen value greater than the pretreatment value or cylindruria, hematuria, and proteinuria in the absence of pyuria and bacteriuria. Recommended doses of gentamicin had been given in all cases. The nephropathy was reversible in 1 case in which the toxicosis was detected early and was treated by volume diuresis and drug withdrawal.
Dik KJ.Several clinical and radiological studies of the proximal sesamoid bones were done in eleven horses from the age of one month to three years. The X-ray findings were found to be inconstant. The number of nutrient canals visualized increased or decreased, and the bone structure gradually became more irregular. Bone deposits along the borders of the sesamoid bones usually did not become apparent until the second or third year of life. Particularly this growth of new bone was found to be a significant clinical feature. On the other hand, nutrient canals and irregular bone structures were also obs...
Bowman KF, Tate LP, Evans LH, Donawick WJ.Seven foals, 2 horses, and 2 calves were presented to the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at New Bolton Center and the Large Animal Clinic at Auburn University for surgical repair of cleft palate. All animals had preexisting pneumonia. Initial repair of cleft palate in 6 foals, 2 horses, and 2 calves was performed via mandibular symphysiotomy. Primary repair of cleft soft palate in a foal was attempted through a pharyngotomy incision after fracture of the basal hyoid bone; however, exposure was inadequate and mandibular symphysiotomy had to be done. Dehiscence of a portion of the ...
Tennant B, Bettleheim P, Kaneko JJ.Chronic renal failure associated with hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia was diagnosed in 6 horses. The renal lesions in 5 of the horses were classified as chronic glomerulonephritis and in the sixth, as chronic interstitial nephritis/pyelonephritis. There was no evidence of primary hyperparathyroidism or pseudohyperparathyroidism, thus suggesting that hypercalcemia associated with advanced renal failure in horses is related to a unique role of the equine kidney in calcium homeostasis.
Skrabalak DS, Maylin GA.Dexamethasone and a metabolite, 9-fluoro-16α-methyl-6β, 11β, 16β-trihydroxy-1, 4-androstadiene-3, 17-dione, were detected in the urine of horses injected parenterally with the parent drug. The structure of the metabolite was elucidated by thin-layer chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Gibbs PG, Potter GD, Blake RW, McMullan WC.Milk production was measured in fourteen Quarter Horse mares at seven stages of a 150-d lactation period. Mares were divided into two groups of seven and fed diets containing either soybean meal or soybean meal and urea as nitrogen supplements. Rations were isocaloric, contained approximately 12.5% crude protein and were fortified with vitamins and minerals. Daily milk yield was estimated by the weigh-suckle-weigh method and milk composition was determined from samples taken by hand milking. Average daily milk yield ranged from 11.8 kg in early lactation to 9.8 kg in late lactation. Difference...
Singh AK, McArdle C, Gordon B, Ashraf M, Granley K.A high performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the simultaneous determination of furosemide and bumetanide in horse plasma. The C8 (3 microns) reversed phase column (4.8 x 150 mm) provided clear separation of furosemide and bumetanide with other components present in the horse plasma. The detection limit for both the drugs was 10 ng/mL. Both drugs were stable in plasma (at natural or acidic pH) for up to 24 h. The method is sufficiently sensitive to detect furosemide levels in plasma obtained from horses receiving a therapeutic dose of furosemide.
Ma Z, Mizukoshi T, Khatlani TS, Okuda M, Onishi T.The serum amyloid A (SAA) protein is a characteristic and sensitive acute phase reactant in all vertebrates investigated. We molecularly cloned the equine cDNA encoding SAA from the liver of a healthy horse by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The cloned cDNA is 480 bases in length, and contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 387 nucleotides encoding a precursor SAA protein of 128 amino acids. The precursor of horse SAA seems to have an 18-residue signal peptide and differs from the reported amino acid sequences of the horse SAA by substitution of valine at residue 81. It shows high homology wi...
Muñoz L, Sepúlveda-Calderón P, Villaguala-Pacheco C, Aqueveque CL.The aim of this research was to assess the copro-prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in owned Chilean breed horses (Equus caballus) residing in the province of Concepción, Chile. The study was carried out throughout October 2017. Samples were taken from all (100%) Chilean breed horse (124 specimens; 45 females and 79 males, aged between 7 months and 24 years old) from the Concepción province. A rectal stool sample was obtained from each animal. This was analyzed using the Army Medical School method (AMS III) technique to detect F. hepatica eggs. Information about the horse's age, sex, previous f...
Michio Clark J, Connor TA, Post A, Blaine Hoshizaki T, Ní Annaidh A, Gilchrist MD.The performance of equestrian helmets to protect against brain injuries caused by fall impacts against compliant surfaces such as turf has not been studied widely. We characterize the kinematic response of simulated fall impacts to turf through field tests on horse racetracks and laboratory experiments. The kinematic response characteristics and ground stiffness at different going ratings (GRs) (standard measurement of racetrack condition) were obtained from 1 m and 2 m drop tests of an instrumented hemispherical impactor onto a turf racetrack. The "Hard" rating resulted in higher peak lin...
Garcia F, Sanromán F, Llorens MP.A total of 44 experimental endodontic treatments were performed in incisors of eight horses of different ages. Four different endodontic pastes were used: Cloropercha, AH26 De Trey, Eugenol-Endometasone, and Universal N2. Gutta-percha points were also included in the last two treatments. Access to the pulp cavity of incisors was gained through their vestibular and occlusal faces. Holes drilled in vestibular faces were sealed with composite and those drilled in occlusal faces were sealed with Amalgama. Animals were observed during eighteen months at least after endodontics. Radiographic control...
López-Rivero JL, Diz AM, Monterde JG, Agüera E.The results from a recent study by Bruce and Schurg (1990) indicate that the gluteus medius (Gm) of the horse is a complex muscle subdivided by an internal tendinous sheet into two regions (dorsal and ventral) which may subserve different functions. In the present study, both regions were found to contain a similar proportion of histochemically-determined muscle fibre types. Fibre type composition did not generally vary over the length of the muscle at the same relative depth. In contrast, there was a significant tendency for the percentage of type I fibres to increase gradually in accordance ...
Smith LA, Thompson DL, French DD, Leise BS.The primary purpose of this experiment was to assess the possible beneficial effects of recombinant equine somatotropin (reST) administration on wound healing in adult geldings. The effects of the 21-d reST treatment on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and on endogenous ST characteristics were monitored as well. Single, full-thickness skin incisions (7.62 x 7.62 cm) were made in the pectoral region of all geldings on d 0. Treated geldings received reST at 20 microg/kg BW i.m., and control geldings received vehicle (10 mM sodium borate) at equivalent volumes daily from d 0 (immediately after s...
Equine infectious anaemia in Europe Equine herpesvirus in the UK Summary of surveillance testing, July to September 2012 These are among matters discussed in the quarterly equine disease surveillance report for July to September 2012, prepared by Defra, the Animal Health Trust and the British Equine Veterinary Association.
Miquelis R, Simon C.1. The subcellular particles of horse and rat thyroids were fractionated in a B XIV zonal rotor on a non-linear gradient of Ficoll after labelling with radioactive iodine in vitro (horse) or in vivo (rat). In the horse, the resulting fractions were analysed for radioactive iodine, protein and enzymes representative of certain subcellular particles. In the rat, iodine turnover and thyrotrophin stimulation were studied. 2. The population of iodinated particles could be subdivided into three main classes, characterized by differences in beta-galactosidase and acid phosphatase content and position...
Zaleska M, Anusz K, Winnicka A, Kita J.Twelve horses, all of them 10 years old, were vaccinated intramuscularly on 0 and 28 days of the experiment with inactivated vaccine containing only antigens of A-equi-2/Miami/63. Another three unvaccinated horses, each at the age of 10 years, were the negative control group. One, ten-year-old horse was vaccinated with commercial inactivated vaccine containing both antigens of A-equi-2/Miami/63 as well as A-equi-1/Praha/56 as positive control. Three horses were challenged intranasally with homotypic strain of Miami/63, while six other were challenged with heterotypic strains--three with Suffol...
Whitton RC, McCarthy PH, Rose RJ.To describe in detail the structure of the medial palmar intercarpal ligament (MPICL), the lateral palmar intercarpal ligament (LPICL), and a dorsomedial intercarpal ligament (DMICL) of the equine midcarpal joint. Methods: Dissections of equine midcarpal joints. ANIMALS AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Ten carpal joints from eight thoroughbred horses. Methods: Detailed dissections of the midcarpal joint were performed, with particular attention paid to the MPICL, the LPICL, and the DMICL. The attachments and dimensions of these structures were recorded, as well as their behavior during joint movement. R...
Dunlop CI, Hodgson DS, Chapman PL, Grandy JL, Waldron RD.The purpose of this study was to compare the thermodilution technique for estimation of cardiac output with the indocyanine green dye dilution technique at flows between 10 and 39 L/min in halothane-anesthetized horses. The estimation of area of dye dilution cardiac output curves was made by using the fore-'n-aft (FA) triangle method. This shorthand technique was compared with logarithmic exponential extrapolation and summation (extrapolated area), using 64 cardiac output curves. Then, 256 simultaneous thermodilution measurements were compared with dye dilution measurements calculated by use o...
Evans JW, Stanfield J, Hoffman LS, Slaussen C.Testes were obtained from 70 colts and stallions and were pooled according to age (4 months to 23 years) to determine the relationship of age to LH/hCG receptor kinetics. The receptor concentration (Rt) increased from 0.069 x 10(-11) M/mg crude membrane fraction (CMF) for the 4-14-month pools to 0.464 x 10(-11) M for the 2-3-year-old pools. A 10-fold increase in testicular size also occurred, and so the total number of receptors per testis was significantly increased. A further increase to 1.237 x 10(-11) M/mg CMF was observed for stallions older than 5 years. No differences in binding affinit...
Arantes JA, Borges AS, Zakia LS, Surette MG, Weese JS, Costa MC, Arroyo LG.Iron is an essential element for all living organisms, including bacteria, as several virulence factors and replication components are influenced by iron concentration. The objective of this study was to determine whether the composition and diversity of the fecal microbiota of adult horses are affected by supplemental dietary iron. Ten clinically healthy horses were randomly divided into a control and an iron-supplemented group ( = 5). The treated group was supplemented with oral ferrous sulphate monohydrate (720 ppm of iron), whereas the control group received 320 ppm of iron daily for 15 d....
