Equine biomechanics involves the study of the mechanical principles that govern the movement and structure of horses. This field examines the anatomical and physiological aspects that contribute to locomotion, including gait patterns, joint function, and muscle dynamics. Researchers utilize advanced technologies such as motion capture and force plate analysis to assess the efficiency and performance of equine movement. Understanding biomechanics aids in optimizing training regimens, improving performance, and preventing injuries. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanics of equine movement, its applications in sports and rehabilitation, and its impact on overall equine health.
Wu H, Han D, Jiang Z, Zhao D, Liu M, Xu X, Liu X, Yang L, Ji X, Wang M, Zhang S.B cell activating factor (BAFF) and its receptors were regarded as elements of the immune system, regulating the fate of B cell. In recent years, these molecules were identified in a number of normal and pathological tissues, expanding their potential functions beyond the immune system. In this study, on the basis of molecular clone and prokaryotic expression of equine BAFF, we reported that equine adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) expressed BAFF and its receptors, which exhibited the increased expression during ASC adipogenic differentiation in vitro. Moreover, with the addition of recombinant ...
Capomaccio S, Vitulo N, Verini-Supplizi A, Barcaccia G, Albiero A, D'Angelo M, Campagna D, Valle G, Felicetti M, Silvestrelli M, Cappelli K.The horse is an optimal model organism for studying the genomic response to exercise-induced stress, due to its natural aptitude for athletic performance and the relative homogeneity of its genetic and environmental backgrounds. Here, we applied RNA-sequencing analysis through the use of SOLiD technology in an experimental framework centered on exercise-induced stress during endurance races in equine athletes. We monitored the transcriptional landscape by comparing gene expression levels between animals at rest and after competition. Overall, we observed a shift from coding to non-coding regio...
Zhang Y, Long R, Warzecha CM, Coverdale JA, Latham EA, Hume ME, Callaway TR, O'Neil MR, Beier RC, Anderson RC, Nisbet DJ.The nitrotoxins 3-nitro-1-propionic acid (NPA) and 3-nitro-1-propanol (NPOH) are produced by a wide variety of leguminous plants, including over 150 different species and varieties of Astragalus potentially grazed by livestock. These toxins are known to be detoxified by at least one ruminal bacterium but detoxification by bacteria from other gut habitats is not known. In the present study, mixed populations of bovine ruminal and equine cecal microbes were enriched for NPA-metabolizing bacteria via consecutive 24-72 h culture in a basal minimal rumen fluid-based medium supplemented with 4.2 mM ...
Hendrickson SL.Life at high altitude results in physiological and metabolic challenges that put strong evolutionary pressure on performance due to oxidative stress, UV radiation and other factors dependent on the natural history of the species. To look for genes involved in altitude adaptation in a large herbivore, this study explored genome differentiation between a feral population of Andean horses introduced by the Spanish in the 1500s to the high Andes and their Iberian breed relatives. Results: Using allelic genetic models and Fst analyses of ~50 K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the horse...
Al-Jaru A, Goodwin W, Skidmore J, Khazanehdari K.Advances in molecular cytogenetics have provided the opportunity to study events during prophase I of meiosis. Immunofluorescent localization of different meiotic protein components were used to characterize the early stages of the first meiotic division in horse spermatocytes. The frequency and distribution of recombination events during prophase I were investigated using the mutL homolog 1 (MLH1) protein that is known to be associated with these events. The frequency and distribution of MLH1 foci were investigated in pachytene nuclei of 6 fertile stallions, and the average relative synaptone...
Péron F, Ward R, Burman O.Knowledge about social recognition and memory in animals can help us to determine appropriate management and husbandry techniques. In this study, we used a habituation-discrimination procedure to investigate the ability of horses (Equus caballus) to distinguish between the body odour samples of unfamiliar conspecifics. To pick up body odour, we rubbed material on the coat of horses and presented these unknown body odours to 16 different conspecifics of the same sex and similar age. The test consisted of two successive two-min presentations of a sample from one individual (e.g. individual 'A') ...
Crevier-Denoix N, Falala S, Holden-Douilly L, Camus M, Martino J, Ravary-Plumioen B, Vergari C, Desquilbet L, Denoix JM, Chateau H, Pourcelot P.The relationship between track surface properties and limb kinematics is poorly understood. Hoof orientation within the track surface has never been quantified under training conditions. Previously described kinematic and dynamic differences between leading and trailing forelimbs at the canter poorly correlate with epidemiological data regarding injuries. Objective: To compare joint kinematics and hoof orientation in the leading and trailing forelimbs of horses cantering on turf and on a synthetic surface. Methods: Noninvasive experimental study. Methods: The right forelimb of 5 horses was equ...
Panarace M, Pellegrini RO, Basualdo MO, Belé M, Ursino DA, Cisterna R, Desimone G, Rodríguez E, Medina MJ.Flow cytometry sex-sorting technology was developed in 1989. However, it is only the bovine species in which offspring of the desired sex are obtained at a commercial level. The aim of the present work was to evaluate efficiency parameters when using fresh sexed semen in a large-scale equine commercial embryo transfer program. During the 2009, 2010 and 2011 breeding seasons, 938 synchronized cycles were artificially inseminated. One hundred (10.6%) mares failed to ovulate, and for the remaining 838 useable cycles, 887 doses of sexed semen were used, representing 1.06 doses per cycle. In genera...
Krueger K, Farmer K, Heinze J.Social learning is said to meet the demands of complex environments in which individuals compete over resources and cooperate to share resources. Horses (Equus caballus) were thought to lack social learning skills because they feed on homogenously distributed resources with few reasons for conflict. However, the horse's social environment is complex, which raises the possibility that its capacity for social transfer of feeding behaviour has been underestimated. We conducted a social learning experiment using 30 socially kept horses of different ages. Five horses, one from each group, were chos...
Bellone RR, Holl H, Setaluri V, Devi S, Maddodi N, Archer S, Sandmeyer L, Ludwig A, Foerster D, Pruvost M, Reissmann M, Bortfeldt R, Adelson DL....Leopard complex spotting is a group of white spotting patterns in horses caused by an incompletely dominant gene (LP) where homozygotes (LP/LP) are also affected with congenital stationary night blindness. Previous studies implicated Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel, Subfamily M, Member 1 (TRPM1) as the best candidate gene for both CSNB and LP. RNA-Seq data pinpointed a 1378 bp insertion in intron 1 of TRPM1 as the potential cause. This insertion, a long terminal repeat (LTR) of an endogenous retrovirus, was completely associated with LP, testing 511 horses (χ(2)=1022.00, p<<...
Nauwelaerts S, Aerts P, Clayton H.Spontaneous transitions from anti-phase to in-phase manual coordination are explained in the Haken model that describes the two preferred states as stable regions that work as attractors in a stability landscape. Switching between states coincides with a temporary loss of stability. Coordination variability is believed to be indicative of such a loss of stability. In this study, the hypothesis was tested that an increase in variability in the angle profiles of the joints responsible for the transition will precede the transition. A full gait analysis of four miniature horses transitioning from...
Leśniak K.Current published data on directional asymmetry (DA) in horses refer to racing Thoroughbreds. The aim of this study was to identify whether horses and ponies exhibit directionality of trait asymmetries. Eleven functional (limb) and four non-functional (facial) bilateral traits were measured on left and right sides in a cohort of 100 horses and ponies using callipers. The population was investigated as pooled data and as horse (withers height >148 cm) and pony (withers height ≤ 148 cm) sub-groups. Within the pooled data, functional traits were longer on the right for the third metacarpal (MCI...
Eisersiö M, Roepstorff L, Weishaupt MA, Egenvall A.The aim of this study was to investigate the behavioural response of horses to rein contact and the movement of the riders' hands through analysis of data from horses ridden at two different head and neck positions. It was hypothesised that the riders' hand movements and rein tension would generate behavioural responses from horses and that these responses would be more marked when horses were ridden 'on the bit' than when unrestrained. Data were collected from seven dressage horse/rider combinations at sitting trot on a high speed treadmill. Kinematics were recorded using a 12-camera, infrare...
Jiang Z, Uboh CE, Chen J, Soma LR.Gene expression studies in equine research involve the use of whole blood samples as a vital source of RNA. To determine the optimal method for RNA isolation from equine whole blood, we compared three RNA isolation strategies using different commercially available kits to evaluate the yield and quality of equine RNA. All 3 methods produced RNA with high quality. Though it did not produce the highest yield, combining the quality, yield and the need for the downstream application in our project, LeukoLOCK™ total RNA isolation system was the best RNA extraction method.
Tully LJ, Murphy AM, Smith RK, Hulin-Curtis SL, Verheyen KL, Price JS.To explore whether genetic susceptibility is a potential risk factor for superficial digital flexor (SDF) tendinopathy in Thoroughbred (TB) racehorses. Objective: To identify informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that capture genetic diversity across a range of candidate genes and to investigate, in a case-control study, their association with SDF tendinopathy in UK National Hunt TB racehorses in training. Methods: Case-control candidate gene association study. Methods: This study used in silico gene assembly and DNA sequencing to screen candidate genes for SNPs. Seven candidate g...
Wilson G, Hawken MB, Poole I, Sparks A, Bennett S, Drust B, Morton J, Close GL.Despite the performance concerns of dehydration in other sports, there are currently no data on the effects of rapid weight-loss on the physical and cognitive performance of jockeys in a sport-specific context. In a randomised crossover design, eight Great Britain (GB) male licensed jockeys were assessed for chest strength, leg strength, simulated riding performance (assessed by maximum pushing frequency on a mechanical riding simulator during the final two furlongs of a simulated 2 mile race) and simple reaction time after performing 45 min of exercise, during which euhydration was maintained...
Slater J.Josh Slater looks back at the past 125 years of developments in equine infectious disease, including landmark discoveries in microbiology and genomics, and considers what the future may hold.
Symons JE, Garcia TC, Stover SM.The effect of racetrack surface (dirt or synthetic) on distal hindlimb kinematics of racehorses running at competition speeds is not known. Objective: To compare distal hindlimb and hoof kinematics during stance of breezing (unrestrained gallop) racehorses between dirt and synthetic surfaces. Methods: Two-dimensional kinematic video analysis of 5 Thoroughbred racehorses galloping at high speeds (12-17 m/s) on a dirt racetrack and a synthetic racetrack. Methods: The positions of kinematic markers applied to the left hindlimb were recorded at 500 Hz. Position, velocity and acceleration of jo...
Bowser JE, Elder SH, Pasquali M, Grady JG, Rashmir-Raven AM, Wills R, Swiderski CE.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) is an autosomal recessive disorder of Quarter Horses characterised by skin fragility. Horses with HERDA have a missense mutation in peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase B (PPIB), which encodes cyclophilin B and alters folding and post translational modifications of fibrillar collagen. Objective: The study aimed to test the hypothesis that tendons, ligaments and great vessels, which, like skin, are rich in fibrillar collagen, will also have abnormal biomechanical properties in horses with HERDA. Methods: Ex vivo biomechanical study comparing...
Munsters CC, van den Broek J, van Weeren R, Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.The aim of this study was to monitor the fitness level of young Friesian horses and to assess whether fitness data are predictive for final performance score and whether familial aggregation of response to training could be detected. Sixty-six young Friesian horses, the offspring of six different stallions (A, B, C, D, E and F), underwent a 7-week performance test. The horses were given a performance score for their ability for dressage (in weeks 5 and 7; 0-110 points) and were evaluated for fitness using standardised exercise tests (SETs) at the beginning (week 2, SET-I) and the end (week 6, ...
Yi R, Zhao S, Lam G, Sandhu J, Loganathan D, Morrissey B.Cathinone is the principal psychostimulant present in the leaves of khat shrub, which are widely used in East Africa and the Arab peninsula as an amphetamine-like stimulant. Cathinone readily undergoes metabolism in vivo to form less potent cathine and norephedrine as the metabolites. However, the presence of cathine and norephedrine in biological fluids cannot be used as an indicator of cathinone administration. The metabolism of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, commonly used in cold and allergy medications, also produces cathine and norephedrine, respectively, as the metabolites. Besides, cath...
Marjamäki PH, Contasti AL, Coulson TN, McLoughlin PD.Movement away from an area or social group in response to increasing density (density-dependent dispersal) is known for most species; why it evolves is fundamental to our understanding of ecology and evolution. However, we have yet to fully appreciate how individuals of varying conditions (e.g., age and sex) might differently consider effects of density (quorum) when deciding to disperse or not, and scale dependence in their sense of quorum. We tracked movements of all individuals of a naturalized population of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus; Sable Island National Park Reserve, Nova Scotia...
Walker VA, Dyson SJ, Murray RC.Development of core muscle strength is important for training and during rehabilitation following injury. A Pessoa training aid (PTA) is a system of ropes and pulleys which is commonly used during equine training and rehabilitation, but there is limited information on its effectiveness. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of the PTA on the temporal, linear and angular kinematics of the working trot. Influence of testing order on effect of a PTA was assessed in four horses. Twelve riding horses were lunged at working trot on a 16 m diameter circle without (WO) and with a PTA ...
Lange-Consiglio A, Rossi D, Tassan S, Perego R, Cremonesi F, Parolini O.We have recently demonstrated that heterologous transplantation of horse amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal cells (AMCs) can be useful for cell therapy applications in tendon diseases, and hypothesized that these cells may promote tendon repair via paracrine-acting molecules targeting inflammatory processes. To test this hypothesis, here we examined the immunomodulatory characteristics of AMCs and of their conditioned medium (AMC-CM) in vitro, and studied the potential therapeutic effect of AMC-CM in thirteen different spontaneous horse tendon and ligament injuries in vivo. Our results demo...
Watts AE, Ackerman-Yost JC, Nixon AJ.To compare in vitro three-dimensional (3D) culture systems that model chondrogenesis of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Methods: MSCs from five horses 2-3 years of age were consolidated in fibrin 0.3% alginate, 1.2% alginate, 2.5×10(5) cell pellets, 5×10(5) cell pellets, and 2% agarose, and maintained in chondrogenic medium with supplemental TGF-β1 for 4 weeks. Pellets and media were tested at days 1, 14, and 28 for gene expression of markers of chondrogenic maturation and hypertrophy (ACAN, COL2B, COL10, SOX9, 18S), and evaluated by histology (hematoxylin and eosin, Tolu...
Miranda MC, Queiroz-Neto A, Silva-Júnior JR, Pereira MC, Soares OA, Borghi RT, Ferraz GC.To compare five different protocols for estimating the lactate minimum speed (LMS) with that for estimating the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) in Arabian horses, in order to obtain a more rapid method for monitoring aerobic capacity and prescribing training schedules. Methods: Eight purebred Arabian horses were conditioned to exercise on a treadmill for 12 days then submitted to three to five exercise sessions to determine the MLSS. Blood samples were collected from a jugular catheter at specific intervals for measurement of lactate concentrations. The MLSS was the velocity maintained dur...
Hortensius RA, Harley BA.The design of biomaterials for regenerative medicine can require biomolecular cues such as growth factors to induce a desired cell activity. Signal molecules are often incorporated into the biomaterial in either freely-diffusible or covalently-bound forms. However, biomolecular environments in vivo are often complex and dynamic. Notably, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), linear polysaccharides found in the extracellular matrix, are involved in transient sequestration of growth factors via charge interactions. Biomaterials mimicking this phenomenon may offer the potential to amplify local biomolecular...
Canisso IF, Ball BA, Troedsson MH, Silva ES, Davolli GM.The objectives of this study were to determine pH of the mammary gland secretions and the corresponding electrolyte concentrations in prefoaling mares. Pregnant mares (seven primiparous and seven multiparous) were monitored daily from 310-320 days of gestation until parturition. Prefoaling mammary gland secretions were collected, and pH was immediately determined with a pH meter and pH strip test. An aliquot of prefoaling mammary secretions was frozen and stored until further analyses. After parturition, samples from day -4 to 0 (day of foaling) were thawed and electrolyte concentrations (ie, ...
Hernández-Avilés C, Ramírez-Agámez L, Love CC, Friedrich M, Pearson M, Kelley DE, Beckham AMN, Teague SR, LaCaze KA, Brinsko SP, Varner DD.Under in vitro conditions, stallion sperm might preferentially use energy substrates that primarily undergo mitochondrial metabolism. The present study sought to determine the effects of glucose, pyruvate, lactate, or their combinations on the quality of stallion sperm subjected to cooled storage at different temperatures, when using a skim milk-based semen extender. In Experiment 1, no substrate (Control), glucose (40 mM; Glu-40), pyruvate (2 mM, 19.8 mM; Pyr-2, Pyr-19), lactate (2 mM, 19.8 mM; Lac-2, Lac-19, respectively), or their combinations (G/P/L-2 or G/P/L-19, respectively) were ...
An J, Tseveen K, Oyungerel B, Kong HS.Mongolian horses are one of the oldest horse breeds, and are very important livestock in Mongolia as they are used in various fields such as transportation, food (milk, meat), and horse racing. In addition, research and preservation on pure Mongolian breeds are being promoted under the implementation of the new Genetics of Livestock Resources' act in Mongolia. However, despite the implementation of this act, genetic research on Mongolian horses using microsatellites (MS) has not progressed enough. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the genetic polymorphism of five breeds (Gobi shan...
Houpt KA, Parsons MS, Hintz HF.The maze learning ability of six pony foals that had been weaned at birth was compared to that of six foals reared normally. The foals' learning ability was also compared to their mothers' learning ability at the same task; the correct turn in a single choice point maze. The maze learning test was conducted when the foals were 6 to 8 mo old and after the mothered foals had been weaned. There was no significant difference between the ability of orphaned (weaned at birth) and mothered foals in their ability to learn to turn left (6 +/- .7 and 5.1 +/- .1 trials, respectively) or to learn the reve...
Summerley HL, Thomason JJ, Bignell WW.A rider modifies the weight distribution and dynamic balance of the horse. But what effect does a rider have on the mechanical behaviour of the hoof during each stance phase? Does riding style have any effect on this behaviour? We attempted to answer these questions using strains recorded from 5 rosette strain gauges glued to the surface of the front hooves of 4 Warmblood horses. Comparisons were made between strains with and without a rider, and when the rider was sitting, rising at a trot, or in a forward seated position. The change in strains from trot to lead or nonlead at a canter, and th...
Ekfalck A, Appelgren LE, Funkquist B, Jones B, Obel N.The distribution of 35-S-labelled cysteine and methionine in the epidermis of the equine hoof following 2 hours of intra-arterial injection was studied by microautoradiography. Material for autoradiography was obtained by biopsy about 1 hour after termination of the intra-arterial injection and also 10 and 40 days later. In the specimens obtained one hour after the injection of labelled cysteine and methionine, the amount of radioactivity in the matrix and in the most proximal part of the laminar layer was very high. There was a clear difference between the distribution of the two labelled ami...
Aberle K, Wrede J, Distl O.Gene contributions of foreign populations as well as coefficients of inbreeding and relationship were evaluated in 699 Black Forest Draught horses of Baden-Württemberg actually registered in the year 2002. Based on nearly complete 5-generation-pedigrees and after taking into account the remaining incompleteness, the mean coefficient of inbreeding for the total population was 6.5%. The recently by incrossing with different breeds newly established lines of stallions showed significantly lower mean coefficients of inbreeding. High rates of inbreeding of about 1.6% in the last five generations c...
Guillaume D, Duchamp G, Nagy P, Palmer E.Classical photostimulation of winter anoestrous mares consists of a light treatment with 14.5-16.0 h white light (100 lux), starting near the time of the winter solstice and ending around the time of the summer solstice. Cyclicity is obtained typically after about 70 days of treatment. The aim of the present study was to establish the minimum number of days of treatment, the lowest light intensity and the duration of light required per day to advance the onset of ovarian activity in winter anoestrous mares. In Expt 1 it was demonstrated that a 35 day exposure to a photoperiod (14.5 h light: 9....
Cherry RL, Adair HS, Chen T, Hendrix DVH, Ward DA.Spontaneous eyeblink rate (SEBR) is inversely proportional to the level of attentional focus in humans. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of attentional focus on SEBR in horses. Methods: Twenty client-owned horses (2.5-23 years of age, five mares, 15 geldings) were evaluated. A GoPro HERO5 Session™ video recorder was attached to the halter and directed toward the eyes. Horses were acclimated for two hours before study commencement. Horses were filmed in five scenarios requiring different levels of attention: alone in a stall ("stall"), stall with an observer ("person")...
Makowiecki D, Chudziak W, Szczepanik P, Janeczek M, Pasicka E.Knowledge about horses from early medieval (10th-13th c.) Poland has been largely based on historical and archaeological data. Archaeozoological information has only been used to a limited extent. Therefore, this article aims to present the current state of knowledge on this subject, drawing on archaeozoological data from studies of horse bones. Apart from confirming earlier reflections regarding the sacred significance of the horse, additional information was obtained about specific individuals who were the subject of magical treatments. It turned out that sites with horse skeletons and skull...
Desmadril M, Mitraki A, Betton JM, Yon JM.The unfolding-folding transition of phosphoglycerate kinase induced by GuHC1 was studied at equilibrium. Various signals were used to follow the transition: fluorescence emission, difference spectra, circular dichroism and enzymatic activity. The non-coincidence of transition curves obtained from different structural parameters indicate a deviation from a two-state process. The view that structural domains behave as independent "folding units" is critically discussed.
Tortonese DJ, Gregory SJ, Eagle RC, Sneddon CL, Young CL, Townsend J.The intrahypophysial mechanisms involved in the control of gonadotrophin secretion remain unclear. In the horse, a divergent pattern of gonadotrophins is observed at different stages of the reproductive cycle in response to a single secretagogue (gonadotrophin-releasing hormone), and dramatic changes in fertility take place throughout the year in response to photoperiod. This species thus provides a useful model to investigate the regulation of fertility directly at the level of the hypophysis. A series of studies were undertaken to examine the cytological arrangements and heterogeneity of gon...
Patterson SD, Bell K, Manton VJ.A detailed biochemical characterization of four of the five previously described alleles of the plasma protease inhibitor (Pi) system of Equus przewalskii was performed using both one- and two-dimensional electrophoretic techniques. The proteins have been characterized in terms of isoelectric point, relative molecular mass, inhibitory activity to bovine trypsin and chymotrypsin, immunochemical cross-reactivity, terminal sialic acid content and enzyme:inhibitor complex formation and the oxidation sensitivity of this interaction. Using these functional criteria, only three loci (Spi 1, 2 and 3) ...
Al-Jaru A, Goodwin W, Skidmore J, Raudsepp T, Khazanehdari K.Chromosome configurations and chiasma frequency during the metaphase I stage of spermatogenesis in the male horse are characterized in this work. The genome-wide frequency and distribution of chiasmata was detected as 49.45 ± 2.07 for 14 fertile stallions. All X and Y chromosomes shared a single chiasma at their pseudoautosomal region, while 1-4 chiasmata were observed in autosomal chromosomes. The chiasma frequency and distribution were further studied for 8 different bivalents identified by FISH in 5 fertile stallions. Genetic length was calculated from chiasmata data for the whole genome a...
Valenchon M, Deneubourg JL, Nesterova AP, Petit O.In collective movements, specific individuals may emerge as leaders. In this study on the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus), we conducted experiments to establish if an individual is successfully followed due to its social status (including hierarchical rank and centrality). We first informed one horse about a hidden food location and recorded by how many it was followed when going back to this location. In this context, all horses lead their groupmates successfully. In a second step, we tested whether group members would trust some leaders more than others by removing the food before the ...
Crawford WH, Leach DH.A survey of a western Canadian racetrack determined the superelevation and transition curves to be less than the cited design standards. High-speed cinematography was used to film seven Standardbred pacers as they proceeded around one curve of the track at racing speed and for each horse 19 temporal stride parameters were obtained from these films using a film analyzer system. Average velocities were calculated and the mean stride length was found to vary from 5.08 m to 5.77 m. In all frames analyzed the hind foot was observed to contact the track surface prior to the ipsilateral forefoot and ...
Mérant C, Messouak A, Cadoré JL, Monier JC.In mammals, the binding of peanut agglutinin (PNA) on the plasma membrane defines subpopulations among lymphocytes from peripheral blood and lymphoid organs. PNA binds Galbeta 1,3GalNAc residues provided that they are not sialylated. Here, we studied the expression of PNA-binding glycans on healthy horse peripheral blood, thymus, lymph node and spleen lymphocytes. We first demonstrated the binding specificity of PNA for galactose residues by competition experiments and the inhibitory role of sialic acids in PNA binding by sialidase digestion. Unlike human and murine lymphocytes, all equine lym...
Powers P.Sagittal plane SVHS video recordings (50 Hz) were made of horses jumping the wall at an international Puissance competition. Video sequences were manually digitized and six kinematic variables at take-off were analyzed. Nine horses started the competition with the fence height at 1.80 m, and two horses attempted the fence in the fifth and final round with the fence height at 2.27 m. For successful performances, fence height was correlated with the following take-off variables: vertical velocity of the centre of mass (r = 0.45, p = 0.03); height of centre of mass (r = 0.44, p = 0.04); distance ...
Logan AA, Snyder AJ, Nielsen BD.The effects of gait and diameter have been studied independently, but rarely together in equine circular exercise studies. This study aimed to determine the impact of diameter (10-m or 15-m) at various gaits (walk, trot, and canter) on stride frequency or forelimb stance duration. Nine mature horses were outfitted with Tekscan™ Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs during circular and straight-line exercise at various gaits on a clay and sand arena surface. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of exercise type, recording, leg, and breed (PROC GLIMMIX, p < 0.05 significa...
Moore EN, Spear JF.We tested the multiple-wavelet hypothesis by studying the initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation in normal mules, horses, cows, calves, and goats. Persistence of atrial fibrillation in animals with a large atrial mass was compared with results in adult goats and calves having a smaller atrial mass. Atrial stimulation in clinically normal cows, mules, calves, and goats was accomplished using an intra-atrial stimulating catheter with rapid atrial pacing (30/s). Once initiated, atrial fibrillation persisted for 95,120,125 min, 3 days, and 8 weeks in five adult cows, respectively. In co...
Thompson K, Clarkson L.The extension of research into public practice is enhanced by communication and behaviour change strategies that are consistent with consumer needs and perspectives. To gain support for equine research (or to appreciate the perspectives contributing to disagreement), it is necessary to determine how aware consumers are of research, what research means to them, how they perceive its benefits (if at all) and how they engage with (or resist) it. Because of a surprising dearth of research evaluating consumer perceptions of research in any sector, our aim was to identify the perceived outputs and b...
Ginther OJ.Examples of research discoveries and first reports on mare reproduction by the O.J. Ginther team are (1) determined daily circulating concentrations of four hormones during the estrous cycle, (2) showed that mares can be induced to ovulate and superovulate by hormone treatment during both ovulatory and anovulatory seasons, (3) demonstrated that prostaglandin F2α was the luteolysin in mares, (4) described the mare's elaborate hormonal and biochemical mechanism for selecting the ovulatory follicle from a pool of like follicles, (5) developed the method for diagnosing fetal sex by Day 60 using l...
Ishige T, Kikuchi M, Kakoi H, Hirota KI, Ohnuma A, Tozaki T, Hirosawa Y, Tanaka S, Nagata SI.We evaluated the utility of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for parentage testing in Breton (BR) and Percheron (PR) horses in Japan using the proposed International Society for Animal Genetics (P-ISAG) 147 SNP panel and 414 autosomal SNPs. Genomic DNA was extracted from 98 horses of two breeds, BR (n = 47) and PR (n = 51), and sequenced using next-generation sequencing. The average minor allele frequencies for the P-ISAG panel for BR and PR were 0.306 and 0.301, respectively. The combined probabilities of exclusion (PEs) given two parents and one offspring: exclude a relat...
Pyles MB, Fowler AL, Bill VT, Crum AD, Hayes SH, Harlow BE, Flythe MD, Lawrence LM.Dietary starch source has been shown to affect fecal bacterial communities of horses fed minimally processed cereal grains. However, processing may increase foregut starch digestibility, reducing effects of starch source on fecal bacterial communities. This study aimed to determine the effect of starch source in pelleted concentrates on fecal Lactobacillus spp., amylolytic bacteria, and cellulolytic bacteria in broodmares mares, during the prepartum and postpartum period. Thoroughbred mares (n = 18) were paired by last breeding date then randomly assigned to either an oat-based or a corn and ...
Tozaki T, Hirota K, Hasegawa T, Ishida N, Tobe T.The identification of candidate genes for significant traits is crucial. In this study, we developed and tested effective and systematic methods based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) for the identification of candidate regions for genes with Mendelian inheritance and those associated with complex traits. Our approach entailed the combination of primary screening using pooled DNA samples based on DeltaTAC, secondary screening using an individual typing method and tertiary screening using a permutation test based on the differences in the haplotype frequency between two neighbouring microsatellit...
Back W, Smit LD, Schamhardt HC, Barneveld A.To study the influence of different exercise regimens on the development of locomotion, 40 Warmblood foals aged 1 week were subdivided into 3 groups: box-rest, training and pasture exercise. The box-rest group remained for 24 h a day in a box stall while the training group was housed similarly, but additionally received a 30 min workout with gallop sprints 6 times a week. The pasture group served as a control group and was kept at pasture for 24 h a day. After 5 months, the locomotion pattern at the trot of every foal was recorded overground with a 2-D MacReflex gait analysis system. A randoml...
Warren-Smith AK, McGreevy PD.Recently, training horses within round-pens has increased in popularity. Practitioners often maintain that the responses they elicit from horses are similar to signals used with senior conspecifics. To audit the responses of horses to conspecifics, 6 mare-young-horse dyads, this study introduced them to each other in a round-pen and videoed them for 8 min. These dyads spent significantly more time farther than 10 m apart than they did less than 1 m apart (p < .001). The time they spent less than 1 m apart decreased over the 8-min test period (p = .018). Mares occupied the center of the roun...
Verna M, Turner TA, Anderson KL.Nonfocused extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) treatment protocol is commonly used in veterinary practice. This study investigated the effects of four nonfocused ESWT treatments, given 2 weeks apart, on bone radiopharmaceutical uptake and radiographic and thermographic appearance in the metacarpal and metatarsal regions in six adult untrained horses. There were no measurable treatment effects determined by thermography (daily), scintigraphy (at 2-week intervals), and radiography (before study initiation and at study completion) between treated and control limbs. It was concluded that no g...
López ML, Olea N, Retamal CA.Freeze-fracture replicas of stallion spermatozoa, collected from the proximal caput, corpus and cauda epididymides regions, were analyzed by electron microscopy to explore the distribution and density of intramembrane particles (IMP). Conspicuous differences in density and arrangement of the IMP were observed in the different topographical domains of mature and immature spermatozoa. A reduction of IMP, especially remarkable in the post-acrosomal domain, was observed in mature epididymal spermatozoa when compared with samples collected from ductuli efferentes. Some structural species-specific d...
Padilla AW, Tobback C, Foote RH.A method for preparing stored unfrozen stallion spermatozoa for the zona-free hamster oocyte penetration test (HOPT) and a subsequent comparison of fresh and stored sperm by the HOPT were evaluated. In Experiment 1, sperm from 4 stallion ejaculates, cooled to 4 degrees C and stored for 24 h, were treated with 60, 90 and 120 microM of dilauroylphosphatidyl-choline (PC12) liposomes to initiate the acrosome reaction. The percentage of motile and acrosome-reacted (AR) sperm were recorded after 8, 15 and 30 min of incubation at 39 degrees C, by automated image analysis. Liposome concentration did n...
Siciliano PD, Wood CH.Fourteen 2-yr-old Quarter Horses and Quarter Horse x Thoroughbreds were randomly assigned to either a control (CTRL) diet or a diet supplemented with 6.4% soybean oil (SBO). The amounts of both diets that were fed met current NRC nutrient requirements and were isoenergetic with similar nutrient:energy ratios. Venous blood samples (20 mL) were taken at d 0, 30, 60, and 90 of the experiment and analyzed for serum alpha-tocopherol, serum cholesterol, and serum triglyceride. The sum of serum cholesterol and serum triglyceride values was used as an estimate of serum total lipid. The ratio of serum ...
