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.
Nanda BS, Getty R.The arteria intercarotica caudalis was observed to be present in the dog, horse and cat but was reticulated in the case of cattle, sheep, goat, and pig. The latter structure was a homologue of the former and represented an important intercarotid communication present in most of vertebrate.
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...
Rodero E, González-MartÃnez 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...
Krcal C, Licka T.Besides oral temperature, meteorological parameters are expected to be relevant for mouthpiece temperature, potentially influenced by the material, surface area and weight of the bit. This study measured the temperature of the mouthpieces at the corner of the mouth while they were in use on 58 carriage horses during the four 2024 seasons. Stainless steel, copper, and copper-steel bits were tested in three shapes: Butterfly Liverpool, Liverpool, and Loose Ring Snaffle with four rings. Additionally, surface temperatures of inner thighs, the ground, and buildings were measured using infrared ther...
Larriva-González F, Erráez-Guaicha JE, Torres-Ordóñez KE, Duma M, Larriva-Salazar S, Galarza DA.This study evaluated the cryoresistance of stallion sperm frozen by ultra-rapid (UR) methods using microspheres and straws or by the conventionally-slow (CS) method. Sixteen ejaculates from four stallions were each divided into three aliquots according to the freezing method: UR freezing in 30-μL spheres (UR-Spheres) by direct immersion in liquid nitrogen (LN); UR freezing in 0.25-mL straws (UR-Straws) by direct horizontal submersion in LN; and CS freezing in LN vapors. Ultra-rapid freezing medium included 100 mM trehalose +1 % BSA, and the CS freezing medium contained 5 % dimethylformamid...
Couto GR, Vigano DWA, Santos GDC, Allen WRT, Wilsher S.Vitrified embryos ≤300 μm give better pregnancy rates following warming and transfer than larger ones. Embryo recovery undertaken close to when the embryo enters the uterus (Day 6-6.5) helps in the recovery of embryos ≤300 μm. However, flushing early can mean missing an embryo not yet in the uterus, whereas later can result in embryos >300 μm. Objective: To evaluate if repeated embryo flushing on consecutive days from Day 6.5 would increase the number of embryos ≤300μm recovered. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Four hundred and ninety-six inseminations with cooled ...
Payette F, Kulp JC, Graves A, Janes J, Morrow J, Orr K, Reed S, Ruby R, Stefanovski D, Johnson AL.To measure and compare CSF cytokine concentrations among horses with equine neuroaxonal dystrophy (eNAD)/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), horses with cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CVSM), and control horses and to evaluate for associations with clinical parameters. Unassigned: Banked equine CSF samples from horses with neurologic disease that underwent a complete neurologic examination and postmortem diagnosis confirmation of CVSM or eNAD/EDM or from control horses were included. Cytokines were measured with an equine-specific cytokine/chemokine magnetic bead multiplex p...
Wottlin LR, Anderson RC, Bhatta R, Leatherwood J, Olson EG, Callaway TR, Ricke SC.Environmental impacts of animal agriculture are under intense scrutiny, thus strategies to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and volatile nitrogen waste are valuable. As dietary inclusion of tannins has been shown to decrease methanogenesis and improve nitrogen retention in ruminants, this study was designed to determine the effects of graded levels of hydrolysable tannin (chestnut) and condensed tannin (mimosa) on equine in vitro cecal fermentation. Methods: Two in vitro experiments were conducted, each with three replications per treatment. Treatments were 0.2Â g alfalfa without or with 5, 1...
Birckhead EM, Raidal SL, Das S, Raidal SR.Sepsis is a main cause of death in neonatal foals. While the syndrome is not completely understood, sepsis is a dysregulated inflammatory response of the host to infection. It can be difficult to diagnose because of varying and non-specific clinical signs and imperfect diagnostic tests. Increased circulating nucleosome levels have been detected in humans and animals with sepsis, but this has not been documented in foals. Nucleosomes are released extracellularly during neutrophil extracellular trap formation, as well as from damaged and dead cells. We analysed plasma samples from clinically hea...
Octaviano JI, Alonso MA, Boakari YL, Gomes V, Mori CS, Fleury PDC, Fernandes CB.Monitoring equine parturition effectively is essential for preemptive intervention in periparturient issues and ensuring the overall well-being of both mares and foals. However, its implementation in breeding farms is challenging due to variable gestational lengths and nocturnal births. Predictive techniques have the potential to streamline the monitoring process, reduce labor intensity, and minimize costs. Research on foaling prediction in mares carrying mule or equine clone fetuses is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to comparatively analyze foaling prediction parameters in mares pregnant...
Omyla K, Conley A, Varner D, Dini P.Persistent stallion-like behavior is a common sign of cryptorchidism in supposed geldings. The presence of testicular tissue can be evaluated by analyzing hormones such as testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Here, we used hormonal analysis to investigate relationships between the likely presence of testicular tissue and stallion-like behavior in samples submitted from presumptive geldings (n = 1,202), retrospectively. Most geldings with stallion-like behaviors had serum concentrations of testosterone (851/1,056; 80.6 %) and AMH (682/877; 77.8 %) below the laboratory reference range...
de la Fuente A, Scoggin C, Bradecamp E, Martin-Pelaez S, van Heule M, Troedsson M, Daels P, Meyers S, Dini P.Maturation is a critical step in the development of an oocyte, and it is during this time that the oocyte advances to metaphase II (MII) of the meiotic cycle and acquires developmental competence to be fertilized and become an embryo. However, in vitro maturation (IVM) remains one of the limiting steps in the in vitro production of embryos (IVP), with a variable percentage of oocytes reaching the MII stage and unpredictable levels of developmental competence. Understanding the dynamics of oocyte maturation is essential for the optimization of IVM culture conditions and subsequent IVP outcomes....
Lefèvre RA, Barluet de Beauchesne L, Sabarros F, Briefer Freymond S, Ramseyer A, Keller M, Reby D, Fitch WT, Briefer ÉF.Understanding why the frequencies of some species' vocalizations are far above or below those predicted by body size is key for explaining the remarkable diversity of mammalian vocal behavior. Horses, among the largest terrestrial mammals, provide a clear example of such deviation: their whinnies contain a very high fundamental frequency (>1,000 Hz) in addition to a second, lower one (∼200 Hz). While the lower fundamental frequency of whinnies is readily attributed to vocal fold (laryngeal) vibrations, the biomechanical processes underlying the production of the higher one remain unknown. Us...
Nelson BB, Easley JT.Equine neurosurgery is a challenge for many surgeons, particularly when central nervous system (CNS) disease is not addressed through ventral cervical stabilization, the most performed neurosurgical procedure. Advances in diagnostic imaging, minimally invasive instrumentation, and computer-assisted surgery are expanding therapeutic possibilities beyond cervical vertebral compressive myelopathy, including radiculopathy, vertebral fractures, and intracranial or intraspinal masses. Emerging techniques-such as percutaneous foraminotomy, facet fixation, targeted decompression, novel implant systems...
Mules (Equus mulus), as sterile hybrids between mares and donkeys, present a unique uterine morphology and physiology that remains poorly characterized. This study provides the first histomorphometric evaluation and transcriptional profiling of the endometrium in adult mules. To achieve this, endometrial biopsies were analysed using quantitative stereology, histological classification (Kenney-Doig system), and qPCR of key immune-related and fibrotic genes. Histometric analyses revealed that the stratum spongiosum was the predominant component of the mule endometrium (mean volume density: 84.7â...
Gomes VCL, Strachota JR.This article explores key complications in equine reproduction, focusing on their causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. It emphasizes the risks associated with common procedures, particularly those that are iatrogenic, meaning caused by medical intervention. The discussion highlights how understanding these risks can help in early detection and management, ultimately improving reproductive success and animal welfare. The article also provides insights into best practices to minimize complications, ensuring safer procedures and better outcomes for breeding horses.
