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.
HETRICK FM, YANCEY FS, HANSEN PA, BYRNE RJ. Four horses inoculated with EEE virus remained asymptomatic following injection but did develop measurable HI and neutralizing antibodies as a result of infection. HI antibodies were detectable earlier than neutralizing antibodies but the levels tended to drop more rapidly. 2. Of 14 horses and ponies having significant levels of neutralizing antibody, 5 to 9 had measurable HI antibody depending on number of units of antigen employed in the test. 3. Sera from 3 clinical cases of EEE were positive on the HI test while only one of these animals had a significant neutralizing antibody level.
BRAYE ET, HINSMAN EJ, RILEY WF.No horse receiving combined streptokinase, streptodornase, and human plasminogen alone in either 125,000-unit or 375,000-unit doses manifested any clinical reaction. Untoward reactions occurred in 2 horses receiving both the combined streptokinase, streptodornase, and human plasminogen (125,000 units), and chlortetracycline. The reaction was transitory and subsided without treatment.
Chiara M, Mariaelena C, Alessandro C, Davide B, Lavinia C, Paola MM, Barbara L, Chiara DP, Flagiello F, Pia PM.The advanced-PRF+ (A-PRF+) is a platelet concentrate, showing a higher concentration of growth factors, an increased number of cells and looser structure of the fibrin clot than leukocyte-PRF. A high variability in the size of PRF associated with patients, haematological features and centrifugation protocols was reported. The aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of A-PRF+ production in the field and the correlation between haematological parameters, macroscopic and microscopic features in equine A-PRF+. Samples from twenty Standardbred horses (3-7 years) were harvested with gla...
Wolschrijn CF, Smit IH, Schouten J, Moller Te NCR.Facial expressions are important in pain recognition in horses, but current observation-based pain scales remain subjective. A promising technique to quantitatively measure subtle changes in expression patterns, including changes invisible to the human eye, is surface electromyography (sEMG). To achieve high-quality and reliable sEMG signals, unilateral placement of bipolar electrodes is required in relation to the motor endplates (MEP). We aimed to localize the nerve entry points (NEPs; where the nerve branch first pierced the muscle belly) and the direction of the terminal nerve endings to e...
Charnock LN, McMullen RJ.To describe a combined treatment approach for heterochromic iridocyclitis and secondary keratitis (HIK) in horses. Methods: A total of 15 horses (16 eyes). Methods: Sixteen eyes from 15 horses (mean age 14.1 years, range 6-26 years) received low-dose (4 mg) intravitreal preservative-free gentamicin injection (IVGI) and modified Gundersen grafts with standing sedation and local anesthesia following a clinical diagnosis of HIK. Additional therapies of suprachoroidal triamcinolone (8 mg) injection, episcleral bromfenac implants, and suprachoroidal cyclosporine implants were performed in i...
Nowak M, Martin-Cirera A, Jenner F, Auer U.Pain assessment in horses presents a significant challenge due to their nonverbal nature and their tendency to conceal signs of discomfort in the presence of potential threats, including humans. Therefore, this study aimed to identify pain-associated behaviors amenable to automated AI-based detection in video recordings. Additionally, it sought to determine correlations between pain intensity and behavioral and postural parameters by analyzing factors such as time budgets, weight shifting, and unstable resting. The ultimate goal is to facilitate the development of AI-based quantitative tools f...
Ripollés-Lobo M, Molina A, Novales M, Ziadi C, Hernández E, Valera M.Osteochondrosis (OC) is a developmental orthopaedic disease of significant concern in numerous sport horse breeds, with significant international relevance. Using digital radiographs, we assessed the occurrence of hock (tarsocrural joint) OC in 3 048 Pura Raza Española (PRE) horses which took part in a morpho-functional test, in three specific locations in the tarsus limbs: the Distal Intermediate Ridge of the Tibia (DIRT), the lateral trochlear ridges of the talus (LTT), and the medial trochlear ridges of the talus (MTT). An incidence rate of 13.3% was found for hock OC in the analysed samp...
Delvescovo B, McOnie R, Pearson G, Pugliese B, Hackett ES.Persistent hemorrhage of testicular vessels is a potentially life-threatening complication of equine castration. Frequently, general anesthesia is required to retrieve and ligate the bleeding vasculature when standing wound packing and retrieval of the spermatic cord are unsuccessful. We propose standing laparoscopic ligation of the testicular arteries via the paralumbar fossa as a rapid, effective means of halting hemorrhage while avoiding castration site trauma as well as the cardiovascular and recovery risks of general anesthesia. Methods: Two geldings, 6 and 9 months old, presented for eme...
Bark C, Reilly P, Weller R, Pfau T.Hoof care providers are pivotal for implementing biomechanical optimizations of the musculoskeletal system in the horse. Regular visits allow for the collection of longitudinal, quantitative information ("normal ranges"). Changes in movement symmetry, e.g., after shoeing, are indicative of alterations in weight-bearing and push-off force production. Ten Warmblood show jumping horses (7-13 years; 7 geldings, 3 mares) underwent forelimb re-shoeing with rolled rocker shoes, one limb at a time ("limb-by-limb"). Movement symmetry was measured with inertial sensors attached to the head, withers, and...
The diagnosis of mild-moderate equine asthma (MEA) can be confirmed by airway endoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALf) cytology, and lung function evaluation by indirect pleural pressure measurement. Oscillometry is a promising pulmonary function test method, but its ability to detect subclinical airway obstruction has been questioned. Objective: To evaluate the differences in lung function measured by oscillometry between healthy and MEA-affected horses. Methods: Prospective case-control clinical study. Methods: Thirty-seven horses were divided into healthy and MEA groups, based on hist...
Fanelli D, Moroni R, Sala G, Melanie P, Tarabella I, Telleschi N, Maltinti S, Giorgi M, Barsotti G, Passamonti F, Marmorini P, Rota A, Camillo F....Two studies were conducted to evaluate the use of medical ozone (O) in commercial extenders for equine semen cryopreservation. In the first study (Study 1), 0, 5, and 15 µg/mL of O were added to diluents of refrigerated or frozen semen. Samples were evaluated for sperm kinematics at different time points for the chilled samples and after a thermoresistence test for the frozen/thawed samples. In the second study (Study 2), 0, 5, and 10 µg/mL of O were added to an antibiotic-free diluent for refrigerated semen for comparison with the control group in which semen was diluted in the same diluent...
de Souza AF, Pereira CAM, Fürst A, Kümmerle JM, De Zoppa ALDV.The implantation of unicortical cortex screws in the proximal hole of locking compression plates (LCP) has been recommended for proximal interphalangeal (PIP) arthrodesis in horses to prevent fractures resulting from stress risers in the proximal phalanx (P1). However, this cortex screw fixation technique may limit efficient dorsal compression of the PIP joint by the plate, potentially affecting the stability of the construct. In this study, we aimed to measure stress and strain in P1 and the plate using an ex vivo model of PIP arthrodesis in horses. We employed various implantation methods an...
Dupont J, Mignini B, Salciccia A, Serteyn D, Sandersen C.To compare the efficacy of inhaled salbutamol with salmeterol for the treatment of arterial hypoxaemia in anaesthetized horses. Methods: Prospective, randomized, clinical study. Methods: A total of 108 client-owned horses (American Society of Anesthesiologists status I-V) anaesthetized for elective and emergency procedures. Methods: Horses were premedicated with acepromazine [intramuscularly 0.1 mg kg or intravenously (IV) 0.05 mg kg] and xylazine (0.6 mg kg IV). Midazolam (0.06 mg kg IV) and ketamine (2.2 mg kg IV) were combined to induce anaesthesia, and isoflurane in oxygen/air mixture (ins...
Wagner LH, Aurich J, Claaßen S, Melchert M, Kaps M, Aurich C.Transrectal and transabdominal ultrasonography is an established method to monitor pregnancy, fetal growth and wellbeing in different species. Growth charts with multiple bio-morphometric parameters to estimate days of gestation and days before parturition exist in small companion animals, sheep and goats, riding type horses and large ponies but not in small horse breeds like Shetland ponies. The aim of this study was to apply fetal biometric assessment and detailed description of physiologic fetal development to mid and late term pregnancies in Shetland mares and to generate reference data fo...
Manning H, Sampson S.Antimicrobial prophylaxis for elective orthopaedic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in equids is a topic of debate among practitioners and can have negative detrimental effects on patients if used unnecessarily. Objective: To describe the complications with elective orthopaedic MRI of horses, mules, and donkeys under general anaesthesia without the use of peri-anaesthetic antimicrobial prophylaxis at a single large tertiary referral centre. We hypothesised that horses, mules, and donkeys undergoing general anaesthesia for elective orthopaedic MRI, without antimicrobial prophylaxis, will not be...
Pudert T, Fries GF, Lotz H, Röcken M, Cruz AM.To assess the use of a newly developed aiming compression device (ACD) for screw insertion in non-fractured navicular bones (NB) in cadavers. Methods: Cadaveric study. Methods: A total of 10 cadaveric front limbs of adult horses. Methods: Placement of a 3.5 mm cortical screw in non-fractured NB under radiographic guidance was performed in 10 cadaver limbs in a standing position. An ACD was used to stabilize the NB and to guide the drilling process. Preparation and surgical time as well as the number of radiographic images were noted. A postoperative scoring system was used to assess screw pl...
Ricard RM, Wobeser B. is a reported cause of infertility and endometritis in sheep, cattle, and pigs; however, the association between uterine disease and is poorly understood in horses. Recently, a high prevalence of in equine aborted chorioallantoises was reported in horses in western Canada. Based on this high prevalence, investigation into the effects of on infertility and endometritis in western Canadian mares is prudent. We examined 98 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded endometrial biopsies from western Canada submitted between 2014 and 2022 using a -specific 16S rRNA PCR test; 40 samples tested positive f...
Fukuda K, Mita H, Kuroda T, Tamura N, Kuwano A, Sato F, Takahashi T.To clarify the anti-inflammatory effect of platelet lysate (PL) on equine persistent synovitis by using a model of synovitis induced by monoiodoacetic acid (MIA). Methods: Nonseptic synovitis was induced by administering MIA into both antebrachiocarpal joints of 6 clinically healthy horses on day 0. On days 23, 30, and 37, carpal circumference measurement and synovial fluid collection for assays (leucocytes, LDH, tumor necrosis factor-α, and TGF-β1) were performed, after which PL was injected into 1 antebrachiocarpal joint and saline into the contralateral joint. Synovium and synovial fluid ...
McGill S, Coleman R, Hayes M.Indoor arenas do not always include mechanical ventilation or stirring fans and occupancy by horses and humans can be sporadic and inconsistent, which creates a challenging space for understanding and predicting variations in temperature, moisture, and airflow. To understand the interior environment within indoor arenas, monitoring was conducted at 15 facilities within 200 kilometres of Lexington, KY. Environmental monitoring of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, dew point temperature, air speeds, and solar radiation took place over 7 days in the winter and summer to examine temporal var...
Johns I.This article discusses the reported paraneoplastic syndromes (PNSs) in horses, including the possible pathogenesis, diagnostic methods, and any treatment options. The more commonly reported PNSs in horses include cancer anorexia and cachexia, fever and increased acute phase protein concentrations, and hypercalcemia and monoclonal gammopathy. As these conditions can often be more commonly diagnosed in non-neoplastic conditions, the diagnosis of a PNS and the accompanying neoplasia can be challenging. As signs of a PNS may precede signs of the underlying neoplasia, it is important that the clini...
Symoens A, Westerfeld R, Vives BM, André V, Moulon L, Collomb M, Richard H, Juette T, Bédard C, Leclère M.Steaming hay significantly reduces respirable particles and provides a palatable alternative to dry hay for horses with asthma, but there are few prospective studies demonstrating the clinical efficacy of steamed hay. Objective: To compare the efficacy of alfalfa pellets and steamed hay in improving lung function and inflammation of horses with severe asthma (SEA). Methods: Controlled crossover study. Methods: Ten horses with SEA were enrolled and nine completed the study. Horses were housed indoors and fed hay. Once in exacerbation, they were fed pellets and steamed hay for 4 weeks, in a cr...
Leishman EM, Sahar M, Cieslar S, Darani P, Ellis JL.To properly formulate diets, the ability to accurately estimate feed intake is critical as the amount of feed consumed will influence the amount of nutrients delivered to the animal. Inaccurate intake estimates may lead to under- or over-feeding of nutrients to the animal. Individual differences in equine forage intake are well-known, but predictive equations based on animal and nutritional factors are not comprehensive. The objective of the present study was to consolidate the current body of knowledge in the published literature on voluntary forage DM intake (VFDMI) in equines and conduct a ...
Kovács S, Bodó G, Tóth FZ, Néder L, Bakos Z.Potential arrhythmias recorded by cardiac monitors using the built-in human algorithm are as follows: total number of episodes, ventricular tachycardia, asystole, bradycardia, atrial tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and the percentage of time spent in atrial tachycardia or atrial fibrillation. Long-term use of an insertable cardiac monitor (loop recorder) has been reported in one horse earlier, but its accurate role as a diagnostic tool is still unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the long-term applicability of the Reveal XT cardiac monitor for recording cardiac arrhythmia...
Heidari N, Faragher RGA, Pattison G, Dudhia J, Smith RKW.Tendinopathy is a common age-related disease which causes significant morbidity for both human athletes and performance horses. In the latter, the superficial digital flexor tendon is an excellent model for human tendinopathies because it is a functional homologue of the human Achilles tendon and a primary site of injuries with strong similarities to the human disease. Corticosteroids have been previously used clinically to treat tendinopathic inflammation, but they upregulate the p53-p21 axis with concomitant reductions in cell proliferation and collagen synthesis in human tenocytes. This phe...
Tahir AM, Guo L, Ward RK, Yu X, Rideout A, Hore M, Wang ZJ.Laryngeal hemiplegia (LH) is a major upper respiratory tract (URT) complication in racehorses. Endoscopy imaging of horse throat is a gold standard for URT assessment. However, current manual assessment faces several challenges, stemming from the poor quality of endoscopy videos and subjectivity of manual grading. To overcome such limitations, we propose an explainable machine learning (ML)-based solution for efficient URT assessment. Specifically, a cascaded YOLOv8 architecture is utilized to segment the key semantic regions and landmarks per frame. Several spatiotemporal features are then ex...
Lindinger H, Wehrend A.Various systems are available for birth monitoring in horses, whereby a distinction must be made between methods for more accurate prediction of the date of birth in order to intensify monitoring of the mare in a timely manner as well as methods for detecting individuals that are in labor. Basically, it should be noted that there are almost no studies that compare different methods on the same population of mares. As the time of birth approaches, physiological parameters of mare and fetus change, but their variability is too high to predict the exact parturition time point prospectively. The b...
Damone J, Bass L, Gadomski B, Rao S, Frank C, Moorman VJ.The equine digital cushion (DC) has been a poorly understood structure regarding its mechanical properties and composition. The objective of this study was to develop a sampling technique and to compare the biomechanical and histologic properties of DC between lame and non-lame forelimbs. Both forefeet from horses with induced carpal lameness were radiographed prior to humane euthanasia. Radiographs were used to guide sample collection of two, post-mortem, midline DC samples, palmar and dorsal, via an 8mm biopsy punch. Samples were subjected to compressive testing to determine elastic modulus....
Bogossian PM, Pereira JS, da Silva NF, Hilgert AR, Seidel SRT, Fülber J, Belli CB, Fernandes WR.Exercise intensity is prone to be self-regulated in horses exercising freely. The main drivers include social, feeding and escape behaviors, as well as the operant conditioning. We hypothesized that self-regulated exercise intensity may increase due to the presence of another horse exercising ahead. Seven horses were assigned to a 2x2 crossover trial following treadmill familiarization. Video images of a trotting horse were displayed on the wall in front of the experimental unit (Visual), which was positioned in the treadmill. Physiological and behavioral markers were further compared with a c...
Kikuchi M, Murase H, Urata K, Ishige T, Nagata SI, Tozaki T, Kakoi H, Ishiguro-Oonuma T, Kizaki K.Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are stable in body fluids and can serve as biomarkers for various diseases and physiological states. Although pregnancy-related miRNAs have been identified in various mammals, studies on parturition-related circulating miRNAs in mares are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to identify parturition-related miRNAs and examine their potential applications in the prediction of parturition date. miRNAs were extracted from the plasma of Thoroughbred mares 30 days (295-326 days pregnant) and 5 (323-352 days pregnant) - 0 (328-357 days pregnant) days before parturition,...
Sibthorpe PEM, Fitzgerald DM, Sillence MN, de Laat MA.Equine insulin dysregulation (ID) is a significant metabolic problem because the hyperinsulinaemia that develops increases the animal's risk of developing laminitis, a debilitating foot condition. The role of gastrointestinal factors, such as incretin hormones, in the pathogenesis of ID and hyperinsulinaemia in horses is poorly understood, particularly in comparison to other species. Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) is an intestinotrophic peptide released from L cells in the gastrointestinal tract and is implicated in metabolic dysfunction in other species. The aim of this study in vitro was to...
