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.
Funkquist B, Obel N.Three horses with a chronic wound on the distal part of a leg were treated successfully by grafting. Small split skin grafts were fixed onto pieces of adhesive tape. The tape pieces were spread over and fixed to the granulation surface with stainless steel staples. A tight pressure bandage including strongly compressed cellular rubber was then applied over the wound. The combination of staple fixation and strong pressure proved effective in immobilising the skin graft. It was stressed that a firm covering of granulation tissue was a prerequisite for success and therefore the technique should n...
Franks PW.A technique was developed using radioactive isotopes as a source of radiation for the treatment of injuries to the superficial and deep flexor tendons and the associated ligaments in the horse. The treatment area was sub-divided so that different dosages could be applied over the limb as necessary. A plaster of Paris impression was taken of the whole area to be treated. In the isotope laboratory a plaster negative was made and loaded with the dose of radioactive isotope. The loaded cast was then strapped to the horse's limb for the calculated time, usually about three days. A total of 42 horse...
Ray AC, Tamulinas SH, Reagor JC.Experimental animals (rabbit, rat, goat, sheep, and pony) were given cantharidin or dried preparations of blister beetles (Epicauta lemniscata) to stimulate naturally occurring toxicosis in which beetles were ingested with alfalfa hay. A sensitive high-pressure liquid chromatographic method, involving derivatization of cantharidin with p-nitrobenzyloxyamine, was developed to detect the toxin extracts of ingesta, fluids, and tissues from these severely poisoned animals. Urine and ingesta from the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract, containing from 1 to 20 ppm of cantharidin, were the m...
Cox JE, Edwards GB, Neal PA.The authors analyse data collected over 23 years from 500 cryptorchid horses. They show that left- and right-sided abdominal cases occur with approximately equal frequency in ponies. Approximately half the right-sided unilateral abdominal cases have the epididymal tail descended while only 20 per cent of the left-sided cases do. These findings are briefly discussed. From their analysis of inguinal cryptorchidism the authors conclude that it is a relatively more complex phenomenon with incidence changing with age as well as breed. Right-sided retention predominates in young ponies, probably bei...
Sharp DC, Garcia MC, Ginther OJ.Luteinizing hormone (LH) was quantified in pony mares during artificially induced sexual maturation. Ovarian follicular development was also assessed by rectal palpation of the ovaries. With the exception of large periovulatory LH concentrations in two mares that ovulated, LH concentrations were not significantly different in mares undergoing sexual maturation and thus having marked follicular development when compared with mares that were not undergoing sexual maturation and thus did not have marked follicular development. These results indicate a dissociation in time between the onset of fol...
Roberts MC.Two young ponies had the prescrotal portion of their penises accidentally amputated during castration. They both developed ascending urinary tract infections over the next 4 weeks. One pony had a necrotising cystitis and pyelonephritis, the other improved markedly after a urethrostomy had been performed but was destroyed several months later.
Drudge JH, Lyons ET, Tolliver SC.Critical tests were conducted on eight horses naturally infected with several species of large and small strongyles from population B. Tested were six benzimidazoles, including thiabendazole (2 lots) (44 mg/kg of body weight); mebendazole (8.8 mg/kg); cambendazole (two formulations) (20 mg/kg); fenbendazole (10 mg/kg); oxibendazole (10 mg/kg); and oxfendazole (10 mg/kg). All compounds were administered by stomach tube except one of the two cambendazole formulations which was an intraoral paste. Removal of large strongyles (when present), Strongylus vulgaris and Strongylus edentatus, was 100% b...
Hall LW.Catheters were implanted through the left atrium into large veins drawing blood from regions of the diaphragmatic lobes in five ponies. Measurement of oxygen and carbon dioxide tensions in blood samples drawn through these catheters showed that in laterally recumbent conscious and anaesthetised animals the function of the lowermost lung is progressively impaired while in the supine position the function of both lungs is adversely affected.
Gunson DE.Despite being a very widespread protein, collagen is an unusual molecule possessing a great tensile strength conferred by a rope-like structure and intermolecular crosslinks. Our current knowledge of the biosynthesis of collagen is providing some insights into certain diseases of connective tissue and is also helping us to understand the healing processes of wounds and diseased tissues.
Amerault TE, Frerichs WM, Stiller D.An agglutinating antigen and a rapid card test (CT) for equine piroplasmosis was developed. The antigen for the CT was prepared from lyophilized Babesia caballi complement-fixation (CF) antigen. Serum and plasma samples for testing were obtained from known B caballi-infected horses and clinically normal horses maintained at the laboratory. Serum samples also were obtained from horses outside the continental United States, in areas where piroplasmosis is endemic. Comparative CT and CF tests were done on all samples. The CT correctly identified 85% of 192 plasma samples from known infected and n...
MacKay RJ, Urquhart KA.Eight mature horses which had been affected with a moist cough for six weeks were found to have large numbers of eosinophils in tracheal mucus samples taken by transtracheal washing. These horses were kept on irrigated pasture and fed a hay-free diet. A companion yearling donkey was found to be passing Dictyocaulus arnfieldi larvae in its faeces. Two oral treatments with a dose of thiabendazole (440 mg/kg) resulted in the resolution of the clinical signs and the disappearance of eosinophils from transtracheal washings. The eosinophilic bronchitis seen in these horses was presumed to be a manif...
Taylor CE, Rosenthal RO, Taylor-Robinson D.The presence of allugtinins to the causative organism of contagious equine metritis (C.E.M.) in human serum has been confirmed. Agglutinins were found in the serum of 84 (37.6%) of 223 patients with non-gonococcal urethritis (N.G.U.), and in 12.5% of these patients there was a four-fold or greater rise in titre during the course of their illness. There was no evidence that these agglutinins were the result of infection by chlamydiae or ureaplasmas. Certain patients with these agglutinins seemed to respond better to therapy with antibiotics to which the C.E.M. bacterium is susceptible in vitro ...
Fernie DS, Cayzer I, Chalmers SR.A passive haemagglutination test (PHT) which has been developed for the detection of antibodies to the contagious equine metritis organism (CEMO) in serum is described. Samples from each of 30 mares with metritis were positive with titres in the range 256 to 4096. Samples from each of 239 clinically normal mares and 30 colts and fillies believed not to have been exposed to CEMO were negative with titres of less than 256, the majority of samples (97 per cent) showing a titre of 32 or less.
Allen WE, Newcombe JR.The three groups of bacteria that cause endometritis in the mare are reviewed. The different methods of swabbing are assessed and the criteria which should be observed when developing a swabbing technique listed. The choice of speculum and swabs available are described.
Eriksson H, Augustinsson KB.A plausible mechanism of action of horse serum butyrylcholinesterase is proposed. It includes substrate activation at the level of deacylation. The rate constant for the acylation of the enzyme appears to be much greater than the rate constant for the deacylation, at low substate concentrations. At higher substrate concentrations the rate constants become more similar. No interaction between the four subunits in binding of inhibitors or in the catalysis was observed. There is one esteratic and one anionic site per subunit apparent from labelling studies with [32P]diisopropylfluorophosphate and...
Bertrand ML, Harris DC.To test whether the reactivity of ferritin iron is affected by the heat treatment used in ferritin isolation, we prepared ferritin from the same horse spleen with or without heating. Both samples exhibited similar reactivity upon reduction or chelation of iron.
Blue MG.Four cases of enterolith obstruction in horses aged from six to 14 years are reported. All four cases had symptoms of persistent low grade abdominal pain and anorexia with an absence of defaecation. Examination revealed reduced gut motility and accumulation of gas, but heart and respiratory rates, rectal temperatures and complete blood counts were all within normal limits. Enteroliths of varying sizes were removed from the region of the transverse colon in all four horses.
Zhu ZY, Lin YZ, Wang YH, Zhao LP, Zhu YM, Zhou JH.To disclose the potential roles of humoral immune response in the EIAV vaccine-induced protective immunity. In this study, major parameters of humoral immunity be compared between horses inoculated with the EIAV vaccine strain and the pathogenic virulent strain. Methods: Experimental horses were randomly assigned into the group inoculated with the vaccine strain EIAV(DLV); (the vaccinated group) and the group inoculated with sub-morbigenous dose of virulent strain EIAV(Liao); (the inapparent infection group). Humoral immunity parameters, including binding endpoint titer and avidity index of an...
Clément F, Vincent P, Mahla R, Meriaux JC, Palmer E.The aim of the present study was to determine which artificial insemination results in fertilization when mares are inseminated several times before ovulation. Mares in oestrus were inseminated over 62 cycles with fresh semen at 48 h intervals from when a follicle > or =30 mm in diameter was detected until ovulation. The number of inseminations was limited to three. Three fertile stallions were used and a different stallion was used for each artificial insemination. The order of the three stallions was changed for each cycle. Embryos were collected between day 10 and day 12 after ovulation and...
Masuda T, Takakura A, Kobayashi S.Flight and avoidance reactions from human were examined using 168 postweaning Thoroughbred foals in 22 breeding farms. Further 114 yearlings of 168 foals were tested in the following summer. The foal handlings by the stabler were asked in questionnaire. The relationship between the behavioural reactions and the foal handling frequencies was analyzed. The flight reaction was estimated as the distance from the animal to a stranger when the animal began to flight away from his approach. The avoidance scores were set up from (1) (not resistant) to (5) (touch rejection) from human touching. In the ...
Black WD, Hartley CA, Ficorilli NP, Studdert MJ.Equine rhinitis B virus (ERBV), genus Erbovirus, is most closely related to the Cardiovirus genus in the family Picornaviridae. The structural proteins (VP1-4) of erboviruses are not well described, but are predicted by sequence to be 35, 29, 26 and 7 kDa. Methods for the purification of cardioviruses (polyethylene glycol, trypsin treatment) were used to characterise the structural proteins of ERBV1. Only one of the virus proteins detected was an expected molecular mass, and this 26 kDa protein was identified as VP3 by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. N-terminal sequencing of the 56 and a 29 ...
Knight PK, Ray SP, Rose RJ.Because the haemoglobin concentration Hb[ during exercise may be at the upper limit of blood viscosity for effective oxygen delivery, we hypothesised that administration of blood would not further enhance oxygen delivery or exercise capacity. Six Thoroughbred geldings were used in 5 incremental treadmill exercise tests over a period of 4 weeks. The first test was performed 6 days prior to phlebotomy, which involved the removal of 20 ml/kg bwt of venous blood. Exercise tests were performed at 1, 8 and 15 days after blood removal. Six days after the 15 day post phlebotomy exercise test, blood fr...
Wawrzeńska M.In this paper, the effect of ascorbic acid on motoric activity of the intestines of rabbits, pigs, cows, sheep and horses has been determined, and a possible participation of the adrenogenic system in this mechanism has been shown. In experiments in vitro the motility of the duodeum, jejunum, caecum and colon in the animals mentioned abowe was recorded by the method of Magnus after administration of ascorbic acid. Diastolic reactions were observed in all animals, which were much greater in small intestines than in large ones. To elucidate the diastolic mechanism under the influence of ascorbic...
East LM, Savage CJ.Neoplasia of the equine gastrointestinal tract and abdominal organs occurs predominantly in geriatric horses, although lymphoma and hepatocellular carcinoma and a few other neoplasms can be found in young horses. This article discusses diagnostics that can be used in weight-loss situations, suspicious of neoplasia, as well as tumors themselves including clinical signs, diagnostic tools, histopathologic appearance, and management.
Vatistas NJ, Snyder JR, Hildebrand SV, Harmon FA, Woliner MJ, Henry P, Enos LR, Magliano D, Brown SA, Drake C.Sixteen horses were allotted at random to 3 groups: vehicle only; low dosage (vehicle and 3 mg of U-74389G/kg of body weight); high dosage (vehicle and 10 mg of U-74389G/kg). These solutions were given prior to reperfusion. The ascending colon was subjected to 2 hours of ischemia followed by 2 hours of reperfusion. Before, during, and after ischemia, full-thickness colonic tissue biopsy specimens were obtained for measurement of malondealdehyde (MDA) concentration and myeloperoxidase activity and for morphologic evaluation. Although increases were not significant, MDA concentration and myelope...
Vitale V, Van Galen G, Laurberg M, Young B, Mciver V, Wereszka M, Gimeno M.Congenital heart disease is relatively uncommon in horses. Only three reports exist that describe a tetralogy of Fallot in adult horses. Whereas in humans the presence of congenital heart disease constitutes a risk factor for developing aortic aneurysms, their association has never been reported in horses. Here, we present a case with a large ascending aortic aneurysm as a complication of a tetralogy of Fallot in an adult mare. The mare was referred with sustained tachycardia and a 5 days history of mild intermittent colic, depression, inappetence and weight loss. Echocardiography was used to...
Jaeschke G, Wintzer HJ.This is a review on Morbus maculosus equorum (purpura haemorrhagica) on the base of literature data and of a case report on 13 own patients. It is shown, that the clinical picture of this disease has not changed within the last 150 years. Clinical main symptoms are haemorrhagic diathesis (petechiae, ecchymosis, suggillations) as well as peripheral edema and fever. The main haematological findings are neutrophilia, mostly going along with shift to the left and lymphopenia. In the last few years thrombocytopenia was also described in some cases. Basic therapeutics are glucocorticoids and penicil...
Wilsher S, Kölling M, Allen WR.A level of synchrony between embryo and uterine environment is essential for the establishment of pregnancy when performing embryo transfer. The ability to extend the acceptable degree of asynchrony would allow more efficient use of recipient mares. Objective: To establish if administration of the prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, meclofenamic acid, to asynchronous recipient mares could widen the acceptable window of asynchrony for embryo transfer. Objective: The prostaglandin synthetase inhibitory action of meclofenamic acid may act to suppress luteolysis and thereby allow for a greater deg...
Hall LW, Young SS, Franklin RJ, Jefferies AK, Corke MJ.Investigations were carried out to determine whether measurements of total respiratory resistance (TRR) made in resting animals could detect changes due to laryngeal hemiplegia. Control values of TRR were obtained in eight ponies and in six of these the measurements were repeated after division of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve in the mid-cervical region; two were retained as controls. A further set of measurements were made before two of the operated animals were subjected to left laryngoventriculectomy (Hobday operation). A laryngoplasty ('tie-back' operation) was performed on another tw...