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.
Todd EW.Antiproteinase sera were prepared by immunizing horses with filtrates from a selected strain of group A streptococcus. This strain, which produced high titred proteinase but no erythrogenic toxin, was selected from forty-two strains of group A streptococci which produced varying amounts of proteinase. A few strains belonging to groups B, C, and G were also tested; they were all proteinase-negative. Methods are described for titrating streptococcal proteinase in crude culture filtrates and for measuring the antiproteinase activity of serum. The antiproteinase titres of sera from immunized horse...
Šarkūnas M, Schwahn A, Suleimanova K.The aim of present study was to examine the potency of moxidectin solution (Cydectin 1 %; Zoetis) and commercially available oral moxidectin gel (Equest®; Zoetis) to suppress the excretion of strongyle eggs in horses over a 6-week period. The horses naturally infected with strongyle nematodes (>500 eggs/g of feces) were divided into two comparable groups according age, sex and weight. On day 0 of the study, horses in Group OT (oral treatment; N=5) were dewormed with moxidectin gel (Equest®; Zoetis; 0.4 mg/kg of b.w.) according to the manufacturer's instructions, and horses in Group IT (intra...
Velarde PS, Cummings KJ, LaPointe C, Perkins GA.To assess the use of systemic antimicrobial agents in equine patients and identify areas where their use could be reduced. Unassigned: A retrospective study evaluating the electronic medical records for all equine visits in which systemic antimicrobials were given at a veterinary teaching hospital for 1 year (2021). Negative binomial regression analysis was used to evaluate factors associated with antimicrobial prescription rate. Unassigned: Systemic antimicrobials were prescribed for 33.5% (543 of 1,622) of equine visits. For most visits (89.1%), ≤ 3 antimicrobials were given. The antimicro...
Barrachina L, Ivanovska A, Eslami Arshaghi T, O'Brien A, Cequier A, Murphy M, Hollinshead F, Rodellar C, Barry F.Regenerative therapies are quickly expanding to application in equine patients because of their importance as sporting and companion animals. Furthermore, aligning with a One Health concept, veterinary medicine offers a unique platform for preclinical studies. While mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) therapies are already used in treating horses, strategies involving induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are poorly developed. iPSCs present great potential for therapy and disease modelling, but their consistent generation in horses requires further investigation into the source of somatic c...
Thane K, Voth R, Klee R, Warnken T, Chukwu V, Frank N.Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are promising treatments to manage hyperinsulinemia in horses with insulin dysregulation (ID). Objective: The SGLT2i velagliflozin decreases insulin concentration in horses with ID. Methods: Privately-owned adult horses (n = 37) with laboratory-confirmed ID (low-dose oral sugar test insulin concentration > 75 μIU/mL). Methods: Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. Horses received placebo (n = 19) or velagliflozin 0.3 mg/kg PO q24h (n = 18) for 20 weeks (Study Period 1, SP1) immediately followed by a 20-week ope...
Minamijima Y, Kuroda T, Okano A, Wakuno A, Yuasa R, Ishikawa Y, Nomura M, Kinoshita K, Yamada M.We examined the pharmacokinetics of intravenous pridinol in six thoroughbred horses. Each horse received a single 20 mg dose of pridinol mesylate via the jugular vein, and plasma and urine samples were collected over 72 h. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to quantify pridinol concentrations in plasma and urine, allowing for the calculation of pharmacokinetic parameters. A three-compartment model best fit the plasma elimination data. Using the Toutain model, irrelevant plasma and urine concentrations were estimated to be 0.00284 and 0.000612 ng/mL, respec...
Kingsley NB, Sandmeyer L, Dwyer A, Langefeld CD, McMullen RJ, McCue M, Lassaline M, Bellone RR.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), an inflammatory eye disease, is the leading cause of blindness among horses. Insidious uveitis, a form of ERU, is especially pervasive within the Appaloosa breed and is highly heritable (h = 0.68-1.0). To date only one risk locus, leopard complex (LP), has been identified, and it explained 0.16-0.33 of the heritability estimate, suggesting that insidious uveitis is a complex genetic disease within the Appaloosa horse breed with multiple unknown predisposing loci. Results: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) using relatedness, LP genotype, sex, and age as ...
Garland A, van Doorn DA, van den Boom R, Roelfsema E, Jung L, Boast M, Papadakis K, Margiotta M, Wafelbakker S, Briggs M, McCrae P, Pearson W.Up to 70% of horses in domestic equine populations are overweight. Promotion of weight loss is an important component of limiting the detrimental co-morbidities associated with excess adipose tissue. The use of a body condition score (BCS) can help equine caregivers track their horse's weight-status. However, this single score doesn't reflect changes in individual adipose depots. The purpose of this study was to characterize morphometric changes (including 8 anatomic BCS measurements that make up the whole-BCS) in horses during 3 different weight-loss programs over 10 weeks. Methods: Thirty-tw...
Al Shehab G, Naji R, Alali F, Alali A, Allowaim A, Almohammed A, Aljasim D, Alkhalifah A, Alhammad YMA, Marzok M, Mohamad ZA, Almuhanna AH.The equine larynx can be affected by a variety of diseases that may interfere with upper respiratory tract patency. Laryngeal hemiplegia is a well-known disease in large-sized equine breeds and its occurrence in Arabian horses has not been thoroughly investigated. Unassigned: To endoscopically assess arytenoid movements in pure Arabian horses. Unassigned: A total number of 38 pure Arabian horses were examined. When the horse was unsedated, the laryngeal arytenoid movement was assessed using a laryngoscope, and a grading score was assigned accordingly. Unassigned: Evidence of laryngeal movement...
Jeong S, Bond S, Bayly W, Sole-Guitart A.To quantify the impact of experimentally induced dorsal nasopharyngeal collapse (NPC) on respiratory performance parameters and assess the efficacy of laser fenestration of the dorsal pharyngeal recess as a treatment option for experimentally induced NPC. Methods: Experimental interventional study. Methods: Six adult Standardbreds (one with naturally occurring disease). Methods: After an 8 week conditioning program, baseline parameters (V̇Omax, pharyngeal pressure, peak airflows, upper airway resistance) and dynamic endoscopy videos were collected in a high-speed treadmill test (T1). Dorsal N...
Park T, Hong S, Murray L, Lee J, Shah A, Mesa JC, Lee H, Couetil L, Lee CH.Continuous physiological monitoring is well-established in human healthcare for early disease detection and management. However, translation of these technologies to large animals such as equines remains underdeveloped due to anatomical constraints, dense hair coat coverage, and requirements for unimpeded mobility. Equines, particularly racehorses, are prone to asthma and cardiovascular abnormalities, with nearly 80 % affected by mild to moderate asthma, impacting performance and long-term health. Despite the need for continuous monitoring, existing solutions require shaving hairs, often lack...
Maniego J, Swinburne J, Hincks P, Habershon-Butcher J, Given J, Ryder E.Gene editing and genome manipulation offer great promise for treating diseases in both humans and animals. There is a danger, however, that this technology could be used for other purposes such as performance enhancement. To detect such 'gene doping' events, we evaluated a targeted enrichment panel and next-generation sequencing to assess its reproducibility, sensitivity, and capability of variant detection on a wide variety of samples and biological matrices. The panel was verified against existing data for the myostatin gene, a PCR-based SNP panel, and whole genome sequencing in a subset of ...
Nilsson E, Moazzami AA, Lindberg JE, Jansson A.Feeding a high amount of starch-rich grains is common practice for performance horses even though the horse has evolved to eat a grass based, i.e. low starch diet. To our knowledge, there are no studies using metabolomics to investigate the effects of a high-starch diet in horses. In this study we investigated differences in the plasma metabolic profile of 6 Standardbred horses fed a no-starch, forage-only (F) diet or a high-starch forage-concentrate (FC) diet for 29 days, respectively in a cross-over design. Postprandial plasma samples were collected on the morning of day 25 of each dietary ...
Hobbs KJ, Ludwig EK, Martin EM, Bayless R, Bauck AG, Freeman DE, Gonzalez LM.To determine if blood and peritoneal fluid levels of syndecan-1, heparan sulfate, and hyaluronan are elevated in horses with small intestinal disease compared to healthy counterparts. Unassigned: 61 horses were categorized into control (n = 20), inflammatory (11), and strangulating (30) groups. Paired peritoneal fluid and blood samples were obtained from each group from December 2016 through December 2024 and analyzed via equine-validated ELISAs for syndecan-1, heparan sulfate, and hyaluronan concentrations. Patient survival to discharge was recorded for all groups. Immunofluorescence staining...
Rocha IA, McPeek JL, Hulverson MA, Choi R, Orr K, Sponseller BT, Kennedy T, Ojo KK, Barrett LK, Ruby R, Janes J, Reed SM, Arnold SLM, Van Voorhis WC....To determine the systemic and CNS distribution of bumped-kinase inhibitors (BKIs) in healthy horses, assess potential side effects, and identify a candidate compound for a clinical trial in equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) cases. Unassigned: 9 pharmacokinetic (PK) experiments were conducted from March 2021 through November 2024. Bumped-kinase inhibitors 1708, 1748, and 1841 were screened in Sarcocystis neurona growth assays and IV PKs, followed by investigation of a lead BKI compound by single-dose or multiday oral administration. Serial plasma collections were performed to assess syst...
Rosanowski SM, Milne H, Pearce P, McDonald N, Zobel G, McFadden A.An essential component of a timely response to a disaster event or disease outbreak is an accurate understanding of the population at risk, its location, and the owners' contact details. In equines, this can be achieved through individual identification, via microchipping, and the registration of these individuals in a centralised database. This review outlines the development by the New Zealand Equine Health Association (NZEHA) of a centralised database for equines in New Zealand, the National Equine Identification and Traceability (NEIT) system, which is built using Companion Animal New Zeal...
Siedler C, Zinkanel YM, Schramel JP, Peham C.The interaction between equine hooves and various ground surfaces is a critical factor for injury prevention and performance in modern equestrian sports. Accurate measurement of surface grip is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of different hoof protection systems. This study introduces the Vienna Grip Tester (VGT), a novel sensor-based device developed to quantify rotational resistance-an important parameter for assessing hoof-surface interaction. The VGT utilizes a torque wrench and spring-loaded mechanism to simulate lateral hoof movements under a standardized vertical load (~700 N...
Luštrek B, Šimon M, Turk K, Bogičević S, Potočnik K.In small, closed populations such as the Lipizzan horse, maintaining genetic diversity while limiting inbreeding is a key challenge in conservation breeding. The Lipizzan is an indigenous Slovenian breed with a small population and restricted gene flow from other subpopulations. Inbreeding is traditionally monitored with pedigree-based coefficients, but these often underestimate realised autozygosity, particularly when pedigree depth is limited. This study compared pedigree-based inbreeding (F_PED) with four genomic estimators (F_HOM, F_ROH, F_HBD, F_GRM) in 329 Slovenian Lipizzan horses genot...
Brauns M, Ali A, Berger J, McLean A.Small stalls and regulated feedings restrict horses' natural foraging and locomotion, increasing risks to welfare. Environmental enrichment may promote more naturalistic behavioral time budgets, yet little is known about how enrichment type or timing affects physiology and behavior. This study examined nine stabled Quarter Horses provided with hay feeders, activity balls, or mirrors across randomized trials. Each trial included 30 min observations, four times per day, with enrichment removed between sessions and 5-day washouts between trials. Nightwatch Smart Halters™ recorded heart and resp...
Corradini I, Jose-Cunilleras E, Nolis P, López-Murcia MM, Mayordomo-Febrer A.This study aims to generate foundational metabolomic data of aqueous humor (AH) in healthy horses and donkeys, and to investigate potential changes or trends in the metabolomic profile associated with age, sex or ocular pathology in horses. The AH metabolomic fingerprint from 5 donkeys and 35 equine eyes (17 controls, 8 with cataracts, 6 with retinal disease and 4 with anterior chamber disease (ACD)) were analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A linear mixed-effects model, with individual horse as a random effect and group as a fixed effect, with multiple testing correct...
Scala E, Durie I, Gommeren K, Saegerman C, van Galen G.(1) Background: Ultrasonography of major vessels helps evaluate fluid status and responsiveness in critical human and canine patients. Aims: transrectal and inguinal ultrasonography of caudal vena cava (CVC), aorta (Ao), and femoral artery (FA) and vein (FV) in horses; calculate CVC collapsibility index (CI CVC) and vein-to-artery ratios; compare B- and M-mode; and evaluate repeatability and reproducibility. (2) Methods: B-mode and M-mode video loops were recorded twice by transrectal (Ao, CVC) and inguinal ultrasonography (FV, FA) by two operators on 17 healthy, sedated adult horses. Diameter...
Vasconcelos AB, França DA, Prado ACD, Yamauchi DH, Silva ACAD, Barros IO, Valença SRFA, Lucheis SB, Bosco SMG.Pythiosis is an underestimated and neglected disease in Brazil, both in horse breeders and in horses. The molecular detection of in horses in the Brazilian Northeast represents a milestone in the epidemiology of equine pythiosis in the country. This study reports novel cases of equine pythiosis, diagnosed by molecular methods, in five states of Northeastern Brazil. Clinical samples were submitted to microbiological culture, DNA extraction, and nested-PCR for molecular detection of . The nested-PCR successfully detected in four out of five equine lesion samples, demonstrating higher sensitivi...
Parmantier S, Kyriazopoulou P, McClendon M, Adams A, Murphy BA.Fifty-two horses aged >15 years, diagnosed with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), and displaying hypertrichosis were recruited via an online survey of PPID horse owners. From mid-December, group T ( = 29) wore Equilume light masks extending photoperiod to 15 h daily, while group C1 ( = 23) remained under natural photoperiod. As 85% (44/52) of recruited study horses received pergolide medication, a second unmedicated PPID research herd (C2; = 17) was recruited and remained under natural photoperiod. Hair coat samples, shedding and body condition scores were collected monthly by own...
Joseph EJ, Love L, Mayakis M, Varner K.Trazodone is administered to hospitalized equine patients to aid in behavioral management, but the effects on the anesthetic recovery period have not been investigated. This study sought to determine if there is an association between trazodone administration and recovery quality, recovery time, need for sedation, or need for reversal agent administration. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in recovery scores, recovery time, additional sedation, or reversal agent administration between horses that received preanesthetic trazodone and horses that did not. Records were reviewed to...
Lewczuk D, Wypchło M, Hecold M, Buczkowska R, Korwin-Kossakowska A.Finding the causative mutations for musculoskeletal system development and health status is of a higher priority for all sport horse breeders' associations. Of the regulating proteins involved in animal ossification, 15 gene polymorphisms were chosen to be identified as connected with the nine fetlock and 14 hock bone structures measurements of 198 horses. All measurements were taken using X-rays of the limbs, which were available at the beginning and end of the horse training. The analysis of variance (GLM, SAS program) was performed taking into account identified training and horse-connected...
Villalba-Díez M, Benavente-Sánchez L, Bustamante R, Santiago-Llorente I, Villalba-Orero M.Several induction quality scoring systems (IQSS) have been described to evaluate drugs and risk factors of this anaesthetic period in horses, but no attempts to compare their reliability have been performed. Objective: To elucidate the reliability of three IQSS: the visual analogue scale (VAS), a simple descriptive scale (SDS), and a composite grading scale (CGS) proposed by the authors. Methods: Reliability study. Methods: Eight randomly selected video-recorded anaesthetic inductions from horses that underwent general anaesthesia were evaluated twice by four blinded evaluators with experience...
Braga C, Prazeres J, Borges J, Ribeiro G.To noninvasively characterize skin thickness and elasticity in healthy horses using B-mode ultrasound and shear wave elastography (SWE) and to verify whether there are differences between the skin of stabled and outdoor horses. Unassigned: 10 clinically healthy horses were enrolled in this study. Five animals were housed exclusively indoors (indoor group), and 5 had temporary or permanent access to an outdoor environment (outdoor group). All horses underwent bilateral ultrasonographic examination of 3 anatomical regions: neck, withers, and girth region caudal to the elbow. Skin thickness was a...
Memarian P, Basso G, Rigo M, Falomo ME, Isola M.Patellar luxation is a rare orthopedic condition in horses, with congenital lateral patellar luxation being the most frequently reported form. A few sporadic reports have described surgical options for addressing equine patellar luxation. This report details the clinical presentation of a 2-month-old Italian Trotter foal diagnosed with bilateral lateral patellar luxation. Staged surgical correction of both stifles was performed, including block recession trochleoplasty combined with the application of polypropylene mesh for reinforcing medial imbrication sutures. Intra- and post-operative eval...
Shaw KA, Brounts SH.To evaluate the effect of heel elevation on measurement of stiffness gradients by means of acoustoelastography in the digital flexor tendons of clinically normal horses. Unassigned: 15 clinically normal horses. Unassigned: For each horse, stiffness gradient index (SGI) for superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFT) and deep digital flexor tendons (DDFT) were evaluated in both forelimbs at 0, 4 and 8 degrees of heel elevation. Acoustoelastography (AEG) was used for data acquisition at three sites, approximately 6, 12, and 18 cm distal to the accessory carpal bone in the metacarpal region. Lif...
Beck C, Hitchens PL, Muir P, Whitton RC.Computed tomography (CT) is increasingly used for metacarpo/tarsophalangeal or fetlock joint (MC/TPJ) evaluation in Thoroughbred racehorses. CT features and lesion prevalence in competing Thoroughbreds are unknown. Objective: To identify standing CT features within the MC/TPJ of elite Thoroughbred staying racehorses. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Computed tomography scans of the MC/TPJ were performed as part of pre-race screening for fracture risk and graded for CT features. Descriptive statistics and univariable logistic regression models were generated to investigate associat...
