Equine Medicine encompasses the study and application of medical practices specifically related to the health and well-being of horses. This field involves the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases and disorders affecting equine species. It covers a wide range of topics, including internal medicine, surgery, reproduction, and pharmacology. Research in equine medicine often focuses on understanding the physiological and pathological processes unique to horses, as well as developing effective therapeutic interventions. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of equine medicine, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in the care and management of horse health.
Banks WC.The research article discusses a study on the correlation between delaying the training of thoroughbred horses until the epiphyseal closure of the tuber calcis (heel bone) is complete and the […]
Baird JD, Arroyo LG, Lumsden JH.The objective of this study was to determine the effect of either oral supplementation of sodium selenite and alpha-tocopherol or intramuscular administration of a commercial preparation of selenium (Se) and vitamin E to Standardbred broodmares with low (21.0 ± 18.1 IU/g Hb) whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. Ten mares received 3 weekly intramuscular (IM) doses, whereas 9 mares were orally supplemented daily for 10 wk. Blood samples were collected jugular venipuncture and the whole blood GPx activity was measured at each sampling time for the 32-week period. Both oral and int...
Milczek-Haduch D, Żmigrodzka M, Kiełbik P, Świderska B, Olędzki J, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O.Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising biomarkers and mediators of intercellular communication, but their isolation from equine biofluids remains challenging. This study compared two isolation workflows-size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and differential ultracentrifugation followed by SEC (UC + SEC)-to evaluate their efficiency, reproducibility, and the proteomic composition of EVs derived from equine serum and plasma. Blood from six healthy horses was processed to obtain platelet-free plasma and serum. EVs were isolated using SEC or UC + SEC and characterized by transmission ele...
Jardat P, Destrez A, Damon F, Tanguy-Guillo N, Lainé AL, Parias C, Reigner F, Ferreira VHB, Calandreau L, Lansade L.Olfaction is the most widespread sensory modality animals use to communicate, yet much remains to be discovered about its role. While most studies focused on intraspecific interactions and reproduction, new evidence suggests chemosignals may influence interspecific interactions and emotional communication. This study explores this possibility, investigating the potential role of olfactory signals in human-horse interactions. Cotton pads carrying human odours from fear and joy contexts, or unused pads (control odour) were applied to 43 horses' nostrils during fear tests (suddenness and novelty ...
Franzan BC, da Silva Coelho I, Ramos EM, de Souza ARP, de Almeida FQ, Silva VP.This study aimed to investigate the gradual adaptation of the fecal bacterial community and in vitro fermentative capacity of horses fed a complete extruded diet (CED). Twelve geldings weighing 370 kg were removed from a native pasture and fed coastcross hay (Cynodon spp) for 7 days. In the second week, horses were assigned to two groups: one group was fed exclusively with coastcross hay (HAY) for 28 days and the other group fed with weekly increases of CED (30%, 60%, and 100%) to replace HAY. Fecal samples were collected on Days 7, 14, 21, and 28 for microbiota and in vitro fermentati...
Epizootic lymphangitis (EEL), caused by Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (HCF), is a neglected equine fungal disease lacking effective vaccines. The newly developed inactivated '8ZH' vaccine requires safety validation in the target species. Objective: To evaluate the biochemical, haematological and clinical safety of the inactivated HCF '8ZH' vaccine in foals. Methods: A controlled, single-blinded study was conducted on 30 clinically healthy foals (4-6 months), randomized into vaccinated (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Vaccinated animals received a 5 mL intramuscular dose (...
Desta TT.Despite their use in rural and urban transport systems, horses are often abandoned when they are aged and/or face health problems. Abandoned horses typically experience a miserable life, which is ethically unacceptable. This piece of work reports on the suffering of an abandoned cart horse and proposes strategies to improve the welfare of such horses. A type of pension program or provident fund and sanctuary should be established for working animals to lessen their suffering after abandonment. Comprehensive studies should be conducted to gather more data on the suffering of abandoned horses an...
Țăpuc IM, Mureșan AN, Mircean M, Papuc I.Urinalysis is a valuable, non-invasive method for evaluating renal function, yet data on donkey urinary parameters remain scarce. This study characterised urinary sediment in fifty-four healthy adult jennies, established urine specific gravity (USG) reference intervals, and proposed a preliminary semi-quantitative sediment grading scale. Urine samples were collected via catheterisation and analysed using refractometry, dipstick testing, and microscopy. The median USG was 1.048 (IQR: 1.040-1.055) with a pH of 7.6 (IQR: 7.2-8.0). Leukocytes and glucose were absent; erythrocytes were found in one...
Wang C, Wang J, Ma B, Liu T, Yuan X, Meng J, Zeng Y.: This study investigated the effects of dietary bamboo leaf extract (BLE) on milk parameters and intestinal microbiota in lactating mares. : Twenty-four mares of similar age (10 ± 2 years), weight (360.62 ± 15.23 kg) and body condition were selected for this study and randomly divided into four groups of six mares each: an untreated control group (CG) and three experimental groups (EG1, EG2, EG3) were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 10, 20, or 30 g/day of BLE, respectively, for 60 days. Then, horse milk composition, antioxidant activity, and immunoglobulin levels along with the rela...
Girisgin O, Gülegen E, Girisgin AO, Cirak VY.Anoplocephalid species are responsible for causing tapeworm infection in horses. The disease may cause serious health issues, including discomfort, colic, and even intestinal perforation and death. A study was carried out to compare the detection rates of tapeworm eggs in naturally infected horses using two different examination solutions. For this purpose, faecal samples of 241 horses were examined with a combined sedimentation + centrifugation + flotation technique using saturated sugar solution (specific gravity (SG) = 1.30) as the basis and potassium carbonate (KCO) solution (S...
Pourmahdi Borujeni M, Ghobadian Diali H, Mashhadi AG, Aliabad MJ.The recent identification of novel viruses associated with hepatitis in horses has prompted equine veterinarians to investigate the viral factors contributing to equine hepatitis. Hepacivirus equi (EqHV), a member of the Flaviviridae family within the Hepacivirus genus, has been detected in horses affected by hepatitis. Globally, EqHV is highly conserved, existing as a single genotype with three distinct subtypes (Subtypes 1-3). Numerous studies have detected the virus by PCR and identified EqHV-specific antibodies through serological tests in different regions worldwide. However, to the best ...
Hoerdemann M, Sahoo DK, Allbaugh RA, Kubai MA.To assess if an inexpensive, commercially available ultraviolet C (UV-C) light device with a peak emission of 275 nm can inhibit equine keratomycosis-associated pathogens located at different corneal depths in an ex vivo model. Methods: A controlled, randomized experimental design. Aspergillus fumigatus and Fusarium solani isolates were inoculated in fresh bovine corneoscleral transplants, superficially or at 450 μm of stromal depth for the ulcerative keratomycosis or stromal abscess model, respectively. After a minimum of 18 h of incubation, treatment groups received 15 s of UV-C li...
Ozger ZB, Cihan P, Ozaydin I.Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most transformative tools for developing clinical decision-support systems in veterinary medicine. Despite its growing use, its full potential remains underutilized in equine medicine, an area of both high economic and clinical importance. Accurate survival prediction in horses with colic is crucial for timely intervention and improved clinical outcomes. Methods: This study aimed to predict survival outcomes in horse colic cases by developing models that combine traditional machine-learning algorithms (XGBoost, Light Gradient Boosting Mach...
Barber C, McGlennon A, Whitlock F, Grewar J, Spalding S, Newton R, Dewé T.Charlotte Barber, Abigail McGlennon, Fleur Whitlock, John Grewar, Sophie Spalding, Richard Newton and Tamsin Dewé introduce a new government-funded initiative to strengthen the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the equine sector.
Jula CA, Davis JL, McKenzie HC, Council-Troche M.To describe the pharmacokinetics of a single dose of pimobendan (Vetmedin) in healthy adult horses and provide preliminary evidence of the absorption of 2 compounded pimobendan formulations. Unassigned: From August 2022 through November 2022, 6 healthy adult horses were administered a single dose of 0.5 mg/kg pimobendan orally. A subset of 2 horses was also administered pimobendan, compounded as an oil-based suspension and a capsule formulation. Plasma was collected at times 0, 15, 30, and 45 minutes and 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours after administration. The plasma concentrations of pimobendan...
Journal of biomechanicsNovember 16, 2025
Volume 194 113078 doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2025.113078
Opolz MD, Sipes GC, Moshage SG, McCoy AM, Kersh ME.Equine models are useful in biomechanics research due to their similarity in musculoskeletal tissue to humans, their athletic nature, and rapid skeletal development which permits ontogenetic studies. However, a continuing challenge in musculoskeletal models for large animal biomechanics is measuring the ground reaction force (GRF) during locomotion and therefore few reports of biomechanical measures such as joint torques. Here we evaluate two statistical approaches for estimating forelimb ground reaction forces in foals (n = 3). Longitudinal motion capture, GRF, and subject mass data during ...
Barvelink M, Brok B, Djajadiningrat-Laanen SC, Vernooij JCM, Broens EM, Slenter IJM.To assess the antibacterial activity of manuka honey against bacterial isolates commonly associated with infected corneal ulcerations in horses, and to investigate possible combined effects of manuka honey and commonly prescribed topical antibiotics. Methods: Four Staphylococcus aureus, including three methicillin-resistant (MRSA), two methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (S. sciuri and S. haemolyticus), and two Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus isolates from horses with stromal ulcerative keratitis were selected. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimu...
Mojsym W, Kowalik S, Chałabis-Mazurek A, Janczarek I, Kędzierski W.Some correlations between serum Cu, Zn and Se and cytokines have been reported in humans. Especially, the Cu:Zn ratio corresponded with inflammation. To date, relationships between microelements and proinflammatory proteins are poorly understood in horses. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether Cu, Zn and Se may influence turnover of IL-6, IL-8 and tissue factor (TF) in breeding and working horses. Blood samples obtained from 66 horses were analysed. There were 37 pregnant broodmares of different breeds, 13 barren broodmares and 16 race Thoroughbred horses. Serum Cu, Zn and Se concentrat...
Parker JL, Berghaus LJ, Gordon J, Mathews L, Akinde MA, Hall DB, Peroni JF.Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) support wound healing through immunomodulation and by promoting tissue organization. Cell tracking studies demonstrate that MSCs must 'home' to injuries in order to participate in reparative processes. It has been reported that in vivo cell tracking labels, including superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIOs), can alter MSC homing. Homing is thought to occur in coordinated steps including tethering, activation, arrest, diapedesis, and migration, guided by chemotactic stimuli. Equine distal limb injuries, which are commonly treated with MSCs, possess a disti...
Woods T, Dixon J, Melvaine C, Fraser B.To determine the ideal location of a medial tenoscopic portal in the equine carpal flexor tendon sheath (CFTS) using contrast computed tomography (CT). Methods: Experimental cadaver study. Methods: A total of 20 entire forelimbs from adult Standardbred horses. Methods: Contrast media diluted in saline was injected into the CFTS from a lateral approach before manually flexing and extending the limb 20 times to disperse the contrast solution. The limbs were placed in lateral recumbency and a capped 21-gauge 1.5 inch needle was placed approximately 5 mm proximal and 32 mm caudal to the palpab...
Gamage C, Graves A, Li G, Thieulent CJ, Balasuriya UBR, Morrow J, Vissani A, Parreño V, Matthijnssens J, Carossino M.Equine rotavirus B (ERVB) has caused foal diarrhea in central Kentucky since 2021. Coding-complete genome sequences from 14 strains circulating in 2024 revealed >99% nucleotide identity to the 2021 prototype ERVB strain RVB/Horse-wt/USA/KY1518/2021, with a conserved genomic constellation (G3-P[3]-I3-R3-C3-M3-A4-N3-T3-E3-H3).
Klopfenstein Bregger MD, de Preux M, Brünisholz HP, Van der Vekens E, Schweizer D, Koch C.This retrospective case series reports on the use of computer-assisted surgery (CAS) to perform cheek tooth repulsion in 16 equids. Thirteen of the 16 subjects in this case series had a mandibular cheek tooth repulsed, and 3 had a maxillary cheek tooth removed. Surgery was performed on all subjects under general anesthesia, and all but one were placed in lateral recumbency. All cheek teeth were successfully removed by navigated repulsion, except in one case where additional intraoral sectioning was performed. In one horse, a surgical approach through the contralateral nasal conchae was made to...
El-Ghaly W, El Kamli T, Zaari Lambarki L, El Hamdani M, Lahkak FE, Benmoussa A, Balouch L, Bakkali F, Saffaj T, Jhilal F.The quality of quantitative results in bioanalysis requires not only a validated analytical method but also a rigorous estimation of measurement uncertainty. This study examines the challenges associated with the implementation of two distinct approaches in equine anti-doping control for the assessment of uncertainty associated with an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry quantitative method for caffeine and lidocaine in horse urine. The bottom-up approach, based on the ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (ISO GUM), was compared t...
Machado RZ, André MR, Pereira JG, Oliveira MDSC, Ribeiro LSDS, Toledo CZP, Gonçalves LR.Equine Piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease caused by the protozoan parasites Babesia caballi, Theileria equi, and Theileria haneyi, characterized by intravascular hemolysis and associated systemic illness. Although T. equi and B. caballi have been widely reported in some regions of Brazil, data from other states are limited. Additionally, despite reports of T. equi genotype C, currently recognized as T. haneyi, has been identified in Brazil, there are no investigations using T. haneyi-specific molecular tools. This study assessed the presence of these three agents in horses from Baixada...
Rodero E, González-Martínez A, Diz A, Rodero J.One of a veterinarian's routine tasks is animal identification, with age being a crucial factor in the identification and evaluation of individuals. Knowledge of the morphological changes in animal dentition used to determine their age is essential in veterinary education. Today's students increasingly prefer innovative learning tools that incorporate 3D anatomical models over traditional 2D resources. As part of a teaching innovation project at the University of Córdoba, Spain, new educational materials were developed to aid students in identifying the age of animals using 3D images of equin...
Kal AKK, Subhahar MB, Philip M, Graiban FM, Karatt TK, Mathew B, George RM, Maruthasalam B.Voxelotor, a therapeutic drug for sickle cell disease, has been reported to elevate serum erythropoietin and hemoglobin levels in healthy individuals. Because of its potential to alter blood parameters, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) classified voxelotor under category M1 of the 2023 Prohibited List. Despite this classification, little is known about its metabolic behavior in either humans or animals. In this study, the metabolism of voxelotor was investigated in Thoroughbred horses after oral administration. Using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), 35 meta...
Newcombe JR, Claes AN, Cuervo-Arango J.Early embryonic loss (EEL), particularly between Days 14 and 42 of pregnancy, remains a key concern in equine reproduction. This study investigates the incidence of spontaneous luteolysis-used here as a marker of maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) failure-in both pregnant Thoroughbred (TB) broodmares and recipient mares carrying either in vivo-derived (IVD) or in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos. Retrospective reproductive data from 2078 pregnancies in TB and 532 pregnancies in recipients were analysed to determine the incidence and characteristics of clinical luteolysis during pregnancy. Ove...
Fain H, Hendrickson DA, Buesing MT, Griffenhagen G.Cryptorchidism is a common congenital disorder in male horses characterized by the failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum. This developmental anomaly has important clinical, surgical, and economic implications, particularly in breeding animals. This retrospective study investigates the prevalence and laterality of cryptorchidism in a large equine population presented to two veterinary referral hospitals-Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (CSU VTH, 1984-2014) and Oakridge Equine Hospital (OEH, 2008-2023). Medical records were reviewed to identify affected ...
Kapusniak A, Lara NM, Hitchens PL, Bailey S, Nath L, Franklin S.Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to enhance electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation in human medicine. In equine athletes, exercise-associated arrhythmias are common and linked to sudden cardiac death at rates higher than in humans. However, ECG interpretation in horses remains time-consuming and subjective, with the clinical relevance of mild rhythm disturbances often unclear. Objective: Evaluate the application of AI to ECG interpretation for arrhythmia detection, with emphasis on current and potential use in athletic species, particularly horses. Methods: About 17 studies we...
Ajeebsanu MM, Koshy SA, Karakka Kal AK, Subhahar MB, Karatt TK, Philip M.Suzetrigine, a recently approved Na1.8 sodium channel blocker, shows strong potential in the treatment of neurological, psychiatric, and pain-related conditions. Its peripheral selectivity enables effective pain management while avoiding central nervous system complications and addiction risks linked to opioid use. Following FDA approval in January 2025, concerns have emerged regarding its possible misuse for performance enhancement in sports, highlighting the need for reliable detection tools in doping control. Methods: An analytical procedure was designed and validated to detect suzetrigine ...
Wood AD, Parker RA.To describe a tenoscopically guided technique for desmotomy of the proximal digital annular ligament (PDAL). Methods: Ex vivo study and clinical case series. Methods: A total of 10 normal cadaver equine hindlimbs and five clinical cases of PDAL desmitis. Methods: The digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) was approached via a lateral basisesamoid portal and a palmar/plantar annular ligament (PAL) desmotomy was performed to improve maneuverability in the DFTS. Additional proximolateral and distal midline instrument portals were created to facilitate transection of the proximolateral attachment, th...
