Equine Science encompasses the study of horses and their management, health, and performance. This field integrates various scientific disciplines such as biology, genetics, nutrition, physiology, and veterinary medicine to understand and improve the well-being and capabilities of horses. Areas of focus include equine anatomy, reproduction, behavior, and disease prevention. Research in equine science aims to enhance horse care, optimize training and performance, and address health challenges. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse aspects of equine science, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in the field.
Turcotte GK, O'Sullivan TL, Spence KL, Winder CB, Greer AL.Horses may travel for a variety of reasons, leading to potential exposure to pathogens. Typically, these movements are bidirectional with horses returning to their home facility, therefore also risking pathogen exposure to resident horses at home facilities. The Canadian National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity Standard for the Equine Sector was designed to outline best practices for managing biosecurity at equestrian facilities, however, there is a gap between the implementation of these recommendations and the day-to-day operations of equestrian facilities. This study aimed to explore th...
Janczarek I, Gazda I, Barłowska J, Kurnik J, Łuszczyński J.It is assumed that horses have a strong herd instinct that cannot be suppressed by any form of social support from humans. The aim of this study was to assess the behaviour and heart rate parameters of horses that received various forms of human support during short-term social isolation. The research material consisted of 12 clinically healthy recreational warmblood mares and geldings. The test was carried out four times. The research test consisted of two parts, which began in the presence of accompanying horses and under conditions of social isolation, with and without support provided by a...
Dai F, Toson M, Bertotto D, Dalla Costa A, Heinzl EUL, Lega F, Minero M, Padalino B, Stefani AL, Trestini S, Maietti F, Zonta G, Di Martino G.The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of self-loading training on the overall stress response during pre-slaughter transportation in slaughter horses. Thirty-two slaughter horses were divided into two groups: the control group (CG) and the Trained Group (TG). For six weeks, the TG horses were trained to self-load using a method based on target training and shaping. Animals from both groups were transported to the same slaughterhouse in small groups on different days using the same truck along the same route. The baseline and post-transportation values of the eye temperature and fecal...
Horan K, Pfau T.Racehorses and jockeys can incur injuries, not only during gallops, but also during routine trotting exercise to access gallop tracks or warm-up. Understanding how jockey position affects racehorse movement may influence safety, and this may vary across different surface conditions. This study used inertial sensing technology (XSens MTw sensors) and linear mixed models to quantify and determine the significance (p ≤ 0.05) of jockey riding position ('rising' versus 'two-point seat') and surface type (artificial, grass and tarmac) on: 1) time offsets between stance and flight phases; 2) ho...
Rigby C, Prutton A.Recruitment and retention of equine veterinarians presents an ongoing challenge for employers. Recent research has highlighted factors that contribute to attrition across the profession, but further understanding of the specific challenges faced in the equine sector is needed. This study builds on existing research by exploring the relative impact of different factors on veterinarians' decisions to leave equine clinical practice. Methods: Veterinarians who had left equine clinical practice in the UK within the previous 10 years were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey. The par...
Patricio CR, Winter GHZ, Garbade P.Spinal articular dysfunction disrupts normal neural function and may lead to stiffness, pain or poor performance. Back pain is common in equine athletes, and it is a common complaint by horse owners requesting chiropractic evaluations. Objective: To describe the prevalence of spinal articular dysfunction in showjumping horses. Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical records. Methods: Records from 3 years of examinations in horses, from beginners to high-performance levels. Each horse had 30 spinal segments evaluated for the presence of dysfunctional articulations. Exams were performed by...
de Fátima Coccia V, Rodacki ALF, Pavão SL.Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting sensorimotor systems, potentially disturbing postural control and stability. Considering the treatment options for these children, hippotherapy (HPOT) is based on horse movements to provide sensory stimuli and motor challenges, potentially contributing to improvements in postural control. Objective: To investigate the immediate effects of a 30-min HPOT session on the center of pressure (CoP) displacement of children with ASD (ASDG) and children with typical development (TDG). Methods: 120 children (60 ASDG; 60 TD...
Özkan H, Olğaç KT, Keçeli HH, Yazlık MO, Kaya U, Tırpan MB, Akçay E.This study aims to investigate the expression patterns of miR-34b, miR-122, let-7a in seminal plasma of stallions in relation to progressive motility and conception success, and to evaluate their potential as biomarkers. Fifteen adult stallions were enrolled in study. One ml of seminal plasma was kept at -80 °C, 2 ml of fresh semen was sampled from each stallion for sperm analysis, and the rest were used for artificial insemination only for one mare. Two groups were formed as high progressive motility (HPM; n:8) and low progressive motility (LPM; n:7), based on progressive motility. Besides...
Loftus L, Newman A, Leach M, Asher L.There is increasing focus on how to induce and measure positive affective states in animals and the development of social license to operate has brought this to the forefront within equestrianism. This study aimed to utilise a range of methods to induce and measure positive affect in horses in real-world settings. Twenty healthy horses were scored for personality, exposed to four induction methods (wither scratching, high value food provision, positive reinforcement training and the addition of an affiliative conspecific), and data collected on their behaviour (QBA and ethograms) and physiolog...
Euppayo T, Siengdee P, Limlenglert P, Nganvongpanit K, Watanabe G, Kasashima Y, Arai K.The self-renewal capacity of chondrocytes in osteoarthritis (OA) joints is limited, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are crucial in disease treatment. This study established an OA model from equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (eBMSCs). The eBMSCs were cultured and differentiated into chondrocytes to generate cartilage pellets, which were induced for 7 d with inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) to mimic OA conditions. Treated culture medium was collected to estimate enzyme activity (MMP-2, MMP-3, and MMP-9) using zymograph...
Sayler B, Manship AJ, Davis J, Taylor J, Gilliam L.Chloramphenicol is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used in equine practice. It is known to produce adverse effects of hyporexia/anorexia after oral administration. Administration per rectum (PR) could mitigate the appetite suppression seen with oral administration and allow its use in horses unable to receive oral medications. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the relative bioavailability of chloramphenicol administered PR or via nasogastric tube (NGT) and determine relevant pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters and metabolic ratios. Ten healthy, adult horses were administered chl...
Wen X, Ren H, He Q, Yi M, Ulaangerel T, Bou G.Horses and donkeys, as integral members of the equine family, exhibit distinct reproductive capabilities and characteristics. Seminal plasma, the fluid component of semen, contains a variety of proteins that play critical roles in sperm function and fertility. This study aimed to systematically compare the protein profiles in the seminal plasma of horses and donkeys, thereby elucidating the molecular differences between these two species. The study utilized 4D-DIA proteomics technology to analyze seminal plasma from horses and donkeys and further validated key proteins through Western blot. Ou...
El-Ghaly W, El Kamli T, Gongbe AMA, Zaari Lambarki L, El Hamdani M, Lahkak FE, Al Idrissi N, Benmoussa A, Balouch L, Bakkali F, Saffaj T, Jhilal F.The quantification of banned substances in equine antidoping control, especially in racehorse urine, necessitates robust analytical methods with high detection levels due to the extremely low concentrations of the target substances and the significant impact of minor variations on doping test results. Reliable quantification is important for substances near regulatory thresholds, which, if exceeded, are prohibited. This study presents the development and validation of a bioanalytical UHPLC-HRMS method for quantifying doping substances in equine urine, including diazepam and acepromazine with a...
Rodrigues APDC, Pozzobon R, De Bastiani G, De La Côrte FD, Azevedo MDS.Lameness, which arises from functional or structural changes in the limbs or axial skeleton, causes asymmetry in the movement of the equine head and/or pelvis. This study aimed to investigate the lameness patterns of horses that underwent lameness examination or monitoring during the years 2016 to 2020. This retrospective study used data from the lameness examination, evaluated using an objective assessment with body-mounted wireless inertial sensors. The lameness examination comprised clinical history, static inspection, palpation, gait evaluation (for which the animals were equipped with a w...
Jardat P, Yamamoto S, Ringhofer M, Tanguy-Guillo N, Parias C, Reigner F, Calandreau L, Lansade L.Emotional contagion, the emotional state-matching of two individuals, has been documented in various species. Recent findings suggest emotional contagion could also take place between humans and domestic mammals. However, the range of targeted animal species and human emotions that have been studied is still limited, and the methodology to investigate emotional contagion in this context is not fully established. This study examined emotional contagion of fear and joy from humans to horses by measuring physiological (heart rate, infrared thermography) and behavioral responses (posture, laterali...
da Fé VCS, Dos Santos VMO, de Lima ACB, Hernandes MSP, Caldara FR, Gomes MNB.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of auditory stimuli on mares and geldings during social isolation and movement restriction, and their ability to promote the reduction of stress responses. The research was conducted with eight Pantaneiro horses, divided into Experiment I (4 mares) and Experiment II (4 geldings), both experiments were executed equally using a 4x4 Latin square design with experimental (classical, country and new age) and control (no music) treatments. Physiological parameters (heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, ocular temperature by infrared thermograph...
Stuart RB, Miles-Farrier F, Bard AM, Rees G.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasingly serious threat to human and animal health. Antimicrobial use (AMU) in horses is gathering research interest, although there remain significant evidence gaps. Currently, there is scant qualitative research into equine owners' use of antimicrobials, specifically antibiotics, hindering the design of evidence-based stewardship interventions and policies. Objective: To understand Welsh equine owners' views and behaviours relating to antimicrobial usage. Methods: Cross sectional survey and qualitative data collection and analysis. Methods: An online ...
Wells A, Hiney K, Brady CM, Anderson KA.The welfare of horses depends on the ability of their caretakers to accurately recognize and interpret their affective states. This study evaluates the effectiveness of RAiSE (Recognizing Affective States in Equine), an online educational course designed to enhance horse industry participants' skills in identifying equine emotions. The course content was developed using the Theory of Planned Behavior. The study involved 45 participants who completed pre- and post-surveys assessing their ability to interpret affective states from 20 video clips of horses. Results of the study showed that partic...
Ding W, Gong W, Bou T, Shi L, Lin Y, Shi X, Li Z, Wu H, Dugarjaviin M, Bai D, Zhao Y.Speed and endurance are the primary goals in racehorse breeding. The Grassland-Thoroughbred is a newly developed breed in northern China that combines speed, endurance, and environmental adaptability. However, current research on the genetic background of this breed and the genes associated with athletic performance remains limited. We conducted whole-genome resequencing on Mongolian (MG), Thoroughbred (TB), Xilingol (XL), and Grassland-Thoroughbred (CY) horses, generating 3813.74 Gb of clean data after quality control. The number of transitions was significantly higher than that of transversi...
Mendes RP, Lima AE, da Cunha R, Bittar MJ, Vasconcelos CC, Piñeros DDV, Corrêa RR.Radiographic examination of the skull is a well-established and indispensable procedure for the diagnostic evaluation of dental and paranasal sinus disorders in horses. Complementary projections make significant contributions to radiographic diagnosis in nasal conchae disorders. This article describes a complementary radiographic projection designed for the evaluation of the conchal sinuses and bullae in horses. Six equine cadaveric heads were used. Specimens were dissected, and openings were created in the ventral and dorsal nasal conchae for the introduction of radiopaque material. The new r...
Rhodin M, Serra Bragança FM, Persson-Sjodin E, Björnsdóttir S, Gunnarsdottir H, Gunnarsson V, Hernlund E, Smit IH.Icelandic horses are valued for their additional gaits, but assessing lameness in this breed can be challenging. Pelvic (P) vertical movement asymmetries, differences (D) in minimum (min)/maximum (max) position, are used to quantify impact (PDmin) and push-off (PDmax) hindlimb lameness during the trot, but no established parameters exist for detecting hindlimb lameness in other gaits. Objective: To evaluate temporal stride parameters and upper-body movement asymmetry after transient hindlimb lameness induction in walk, trot and tölt. Methods: In vivo experiment. Methods: Eleven Icelandic hors...
Taylor WTT.Many of the most important equine health problems - and their solutions - relate to the role of horses as a domestic animal, especially in riding and other kinds of transport. Recently, new discoveries from the archaeological sciences have rewritten our understanding of early horse domestication, suggesting that the first ancestors of domestic horses emerged in the Black Sea Steppes of western Eurasia at the turn of the second millennium BCE. This new chronology places horse domestication within a wider trajectory of early animal transport, including cattle and donkey, across western Asia and ...
Maurer T, de Preux M, Precht C, Vidondo B, Koch C.To assess the accuracy of computer-assisted surgery (CAS) of equine cervical vertebrae using a purpose-built cervical frame (CF) for neck stabilization. Methods: Experimental cadaveric study. Methods: Six whole fresh equine cadavers. Methods: Cadavers were positioned in dorsal recumbency with the neck extended within the CF. A cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based surgical navigation system with optical tracking was used. A ventral approach exposed cervical vertebrae C3-C5. In each cadaver, 12 drill corridors were prepared with the patient tracker on the CF (position CF), followed by 12 c...
Phelipon R, Bertrand L, Jardat P, Reigner F, Lewis K, Micheletta J, Lansade L.The welfare of an animal is closely linked to their emotional experiences, making it essential to identify reliable indicators of these emotions. This study aimed to identify behaviours and facial movements in horses experiencing contrasting emotional valence, triggered by the anticipation of a positive condition (going to pasture) or a negative condition (going alone to a novel environment). Twenty horses were daily trained to wait in a starting box before being exposed to these two conditions. After one week of positive training or negative training, we analysed horses' behaviours, cortisol ...
Szczepek Reed B, Lundesjö Kvart S.In many types of embodied skills instruction, the learnables-that is, the local and jointly negotiated foci of instruction-emerge from a combination between a pre-existing lesson plan and the spontaneous interaction between teacher and student. Through the analytical lens of Conversation Analysis, this paper investigates the interspecies instruction setting of horse-riding lessons and shows how here, it is not only the human teachers and learners that determine the emergence of new learnables but also the horses. Horses' actions can initiate new courses of action in a lesson, and horses can th...
Barsi B, Oláh J, Posta J.The Hungarian Coldblood horse was developed in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draft horses imported from Belgium and France, and was approved as an official horse breed in 1954. The aim of the study was to analyze the quality of the pedigree, generation interval, gene origin, and inbreeding. The pedigree information was received from the Hungarian Coldblood Horse Breeding Association. The studbook data of the registered animals up to 2023 were evaluated. Two reference populations were chosen: horses having offspring in 1989 and 2023. The final database contained 21,699 horses. Pedigree...
Muir WW, Yiew XT, Bateman SW, Hahn RG.Fluid therapy in horses is primarily empirical. Evidence-based quantification of the disposition of intravenous (IV) crystalloids used in clinical practice could enhance the effectiveness of fluid therapy. Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics (i.e., volume kinetics: VK) and associated haemodynamic effects of IV lactated Ringer's solution (LRS) in adult euvolemic horses. Methods: Unmasked multiple subjects, single baseline design. Methods: Thirteen healthy, euvolemic adult female horses were administered an IV bolus of LRS and monitored over 4 h. Haemoglobin, albumin and haematocrit c...
Yuen BP, Wong KS, So YM, Kwok WH, Cheung HW, Wan TSM, Ho EN, Wong WT.The development of gene therapy techniques introduces a potential risk of gene doping, which threatens the integrity of sport. In response to this challenge, we have developed a novel analytical method that employs a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in conjunction with liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) for the simultaneous identification of multiple transgenes in equine plasma within a single reaction. The method targets three potential doping transgenes: equine growth hormone 1 (eGH1), equine growth hormone-releasing hormone (eGHRH), and equi...
Gobbo E, Maccario C, Zupan Šemrov M, Bovo M, Atallah E, Minero M, Dalla Costa E.Methods to assess the positive behavior of horses in relation to their environment can be used to provide information to enhance animal welfare. One of the most important experiences that can be observed in mammals is sleep, a universal behavior relevant for the welfare of all species. To achieve paradoxical sleep, horses must lie down in lateral recumbency for a sufficient time, but they only do so when feeling safe and comfortable. Recently, technological tools like accelerometers have opened the possibility of non-invasive continuous monitoring of lying behavior, thus implementing the way w...
The potential of effective microorganisms in composting animal manure might be significant. This work aimed at isolating promising microbial strains for composting cattle and horse manure. A total of forty-five isolates have been isolated from soils of Northern Kazakhstan as well as cattle and horse manure. These microorganisms were extensively studied for their cellulose-degrading capacity, non-pathogenicity, protease, nitrogenase and catalase activities, as well as their growth stimulation, antagonistic ability, and growth rate. As a result, 21 potent strains were selected and genotyped for ...
Evangelista MC, Monteiro BP, Steagall PV.Facial expressions of pain have been identified in several animal species. The aim of this systematic review was to provide evidence on the measurement properties of grimace scales for pain assessment. The protocol was registered (SyRF#21-November-2019), and the study is reported according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting the development, validation, and the assessment of measurement properties of grimace scales were included. Data extraction and assessment were performed by 2 investigators, following the COnsensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement INstruments ...
Basile M, Boivin S, Boutin A, Blois-Heulin C, Hausberger M, Lemasson A.Laterality is now known to be an ubiquitous phenomenon among the vertebrates. Particularly, laterality of auditory processing has been demonstrated in a variety of species, especially songbirds and primates. Such a hemispheric specialization has been shown to depend on factors such as sound structure, species specificity and types of stimuli. Much less is known on the possible influence of social familiarity although a few studies suggest such an influence. Here we tested the influence of the degree of familiarity on the laterality of the auditory response in the domestic horse. This species i...
Science (New York, N.Y.)February 12, 2017
Volume 355, Issue 6325 627-630 doi: 10.1126/science.aag1772
Cantalapiedra JL, Prado JL, Hernández Fernández M, Alberdi MT.Evolutionary theory has long proposed a connection between trait evolution and diversification rates. In this work, we used phylogenetic methods to evaluate the relationship of lineage-specific speciation rates and the mode of evolution of body size and tooth morphology in the Neogene and Quaternary radiation of horses (7 living and 131 extinct species). We show that diversification pulses are a recurrent feature of equid evolution but that these pulses are not correlated with rapid bursts in phenotypic evolution. Instead, rapid cladogenesis seems repeatedly associated with extrinsic factors t...
Gallo N, Natali ML, Sannino A, Salvatore L.Type I collagen has always aroused great interest in the field of life-science and bioengineering, thanks to its favorable structural properties and bioactivity. For this reason, in the last five decades it has been widely studied and employed as biomaterial for the manufacture of implantable medical devices. Commonly used sources of collagen are represented by bovine and swine but their applications are limited because of the zoonosis transmission risks, the immune response and the religious constrains. Thus, type-I collagen isolated from horse tendon has recently gained increasing interest a...
Bulmer LS, Murray JA, Burns NM, Garber A, Wemelsfelder F, McEwan NR, Hastie PM.Gut microbiota have been associated with health, disease and behaviour in several species and are an important link in gut-brain axis communication. Diet plays a key role in affecting the composition of gut microbiota. In horses, high-starch diets alter the hindgut microbiota. High-starch diets are also associated with increased behavioural reactivity in horses. These changes in microbiota and behaviour may be associated. This study compares the faecal microbiota and behaviour of 10 naïve ponies. A cross-over design was used with experimental groups fed high-starch (HS) or high-fibre (HF) die...
Hausberger M, Gautier E, Biquand V, Lunel C, Jégo P.Stress at work, as shown by a number of human studies, may lead to a variety of negative and durable effects, such as impaired psychological functioning (anxiety, depression...). Horses share with humans this characteristic of working on a daily basis and are submitted then to work stressors related to physical constraints and/or more "psychological" conflicts, such as potential controversial orders from the riders or the requirement to suppress emotions. On another hand, horses may perform abnormal repetitive behaviour ("stereotypies") in response to adverse life conditions. In the present st...
Greve L, Dyson SJ.Saddle slip is usually blamed on saddle fit, crooked riders or horse shape, but may reflect hindlimb lameness. There are no studies of the frequency of occurrence of saddle slip and risk factors within a tested sample population of the general sports horse population. Objective: To quantify the frequency of saddle slip and to describe the association with lameness, thoracolumbar shape/symmetry, crooked riders and ill-fitting saddles. Methods: Nonrandom, cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling. Methods: Five hundred and six sports horses in normal work were assessed prospectively. Tho...
Lindenberg F, Krych L, Kot W, Fielden J, Frøkiær H, van Galen G, Nielsen DS, Hansen AK.Shortly after birth the mammalian gut is colonized, by a transient microbiota, highly susceptible to environment and diet, that eventually stabilizes and becomes the resident gut microbiota. In a window of opportunity during the colonization, oral tolerance is established towards resident bacteria. In this study, the development of the equine gut microbiota was investigated in ten foals from parturition until post weaning. We found great differences in the core species of the gut microbiota composition between time-matched samples on Day 7 and 20 post-partum. Between day 20 and Day 50 post-par...
Farmer K, Krueger K, Byrne RW.Most horses have a side on which they are easier to handle and a direction they favour when working on a circle, and recent studies have suggested a correlation between emotion and visual laterality when horses observe inanimate objects. As such lateralisation could provide important clues regarding the horse's cognitive processes, we investigated whether horses also show laterality in association with people. We gave horses the choice of entering a chute to left or right, with and without the passive, non-interactive presence of a person unknown to them. The left eye was preferred for scannin...
McDonald RE, Fleming RI, Beeley JG, Bovell DL, Lu JR, Zhao X, Cooper A, Kennedy MW.Horses are unusual in producing protein-rich sweat for thermoregulation, a major component of which is latherin, a highly surface-active, non-glycosylated protein. The amino acid sequence of latherin, determined from cDNA analysis, is highly conserved across four geographically dispersed equid species (horse, zebra, onager, ass), and is similar to a family of proteins only found previously in the oral cavity and associated tissues of mammals. Latherin produces a significant reduction in water surface tension at low concentrations (< or = 1 mg ml(-1)), and therefore probably acts as a wettin...
Ablondi M, Viklund Å, Lindgren G, Eriksson S, Mikko S.A growing demand for improved physical skills and mental attitude in modern sport horses has led to strong selection for performance in many warmblood studbooks. The aim of this study was to detect genomic regions with low diversity, and therefore potentially under selection, in Swedish Warmblood horses (SWB) by analysing high-density SNP data. To investigate if such signatures could be the result of selection for equestrian sport performance, we compared our SWB SNP data with those from Exmoor ponies, a horse breed not selected for sport performance traits. Results: The genomic scan for homoz...
Journal of motor behaviorNovember 11, 2005
Volume 37, Issue 6 418-424 doi: 10.3200/JMBR.37.6.418-424
Lagarde J, Kelso JA, Peham C, Licka T.The authors studied the interaction between rider and horse by measuring their ensemble motions in a trot sequence, comparing 1 expert and 1 novice rider. Whereas the novice's movements displayed transient departures from phase synchrony, the expert's motions were continuously phase-matched with those of the horse. The tight ensemble synchrony between the expert and the horse was accompanied by an increase in the temporal regularity of the oscillations of the trunk of the horse. Observed differences between expert and novice riders indicated that phase synchronization is by no means perfect bu...
Torcivia C, McDonnell S.In recent years, there has been a growing interest in and need for a comprehensive ethogram of discomfort behavior of horses, particularly for use in recognizing physical discomfort in domestically managed horses. A clear understanding of the physical discomfort behavior of horses among caretakers, trainers, and professional health care personnel is important to animal welfare and caretaker safety. This is particularly relevant to pain management for hospitalized equine patients. Various pain scale rubrics have been published, typically incorporating only a few classically cited pain behaviors...
Smith AV, Proops L, Grounds K, Wathan J, Scott SK, McComb K.The ability to discriminate between emotion in vocal signals is highly adaptive in social species. It may also be adaptive for domestic species to distinguish such signals in humans. Here we present a playback study investigating whether horses spontaneously respond in a functionally relevant way towards positive and negative emotion in human nonverbal vocalisations. We presented horses with positively- and negatively-valenced human vocalisations (laughter and growling, respectively) in the absence of all other emotional cues. Horses were found to adopt a freeze posture for significantly longe...
Sterba JA, Rogers BT, France AP, Vokes DA.The effects of recreational horseback riding therapy (HBRT) on gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP: spastic diplegia, spastic quadriplegia, and spastic hemiplegia) were determined in a blinded study using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM). Seventeen participants (nine females, eight males; mean age 9 years 10 months, SE 10 months) served as their own control. Their mean Gross Motor Function Classification System score was 2.7 (SD 0.4; range 1 to 5). HBRT was 1 hour per week for three riding sessions of 6 weeks per session (18 weeks). GMFM was determined every 6 weeks...
Doan R, Cohen ND, Sawyer J, Ghaffari N, Johnson CD, Dindot SV.The catalog of genetic variants in the horse genome originates from a few select animals, the majority originating from the Thoroughbred mare used for the equine genome sequencing project. The purpose of this study was to identify genetic variants, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertion/deletion polymorphisms (INDELs), and copy number variants (CNVs) in the genome of an individual Quarter Horse mare sequenced by next-generation sequencing. Results: Using massively parallel paired-end sequencing, we generated 59.6 Gb of DNA sequence from a Quarter Horse mare resulting in an...
Shurtleff TL, Standeven JW, Engsberg JR.To determine if hippotherapy (therapy using a horse) improves head/trunk stability and upper extremity (UE) reaching/targeting in children with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (SDCP). Methods: Pre-postoperative follow-up with a 12-week intervention and 12-week washout period after intervention. Methods: A human performance laboratory with 6 camera video motion capture systems for testing. Methods: Eleven children (age 5-13y, average 8y) with SDCP, 8 children (age 5-13y, average 8y) without disabilities. Methods: Hippotherapy intervention performed at 3 therapeutic horseback riding centers. Met...
Renaud G, Petersen B, Seguin-Orlando A, Bertelsen MF, Waller A, Newton R, Paillot R, Bryant N, Vaudin M, Librado P, Orlando L.Donkeys and horses share a common ancestor dating back to about 4 million years ago. Although a high-quality genome assembly at the chromosomal level is available for the horse, current assemblies available for the donkey are limited to moderately sized scaffolds. The absence of a better-quality assembly for the donkey has hampered studies involving the characterization of patterns of genetic variation at the genome-wide scale. These range from the application of genomic tools to selective breeding and conservation to the more fundamental characterization of the genomic loci underlying speciat...
Stewart AA, Byron CR, Pondenis H, Stewart MC.To determine whether fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) treatment of equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) during monolayer expansion enhances subsequent chondrogenesis in a 3-dimensional culture system. Methods: 6 healthy horses, 6 months to 5 years of age. Methods: Bone marrow-derived MSCs were obtained from 6 horses. First-passage MSCs were seeded as monolayers at 10,000 cells/cm(2) and in medium containing 0, 1, 10, or 100 ng of FGF-2/mL. After 6 days, MSCs were transferred to pellet cultures (200,000 cells/pellet) and maintained in chondrogenic medium. Pellets were collected after 15 days....
Tryon RC, White SD, Bannasch DL.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA), a degenerative skin disease that affects the Quarter Horse breed, was localized to ECA1 by homozygosity mapping. Comparative genomics allowed the development of equine gene-specific markers which were used with a set of affected horses to detect a homozygous, identical-by-descent block spanning approximately 2.5 Mb, suggesting a recent origin for the HERDA mutation. We report a mutation in cyclophilin B (PPIB) as a novel, causal candidate gene for HERDA. A c.115G>A missense mutation in PPIB alters a glycine residue that has been conserved acr...
McGreevy PD.The lengthy association of humans with horses has established traditional equestrian techniques that have served military and transport needs well. Although effective, these techniques have by-passed the research findings of modern psychologists, who developed the fundamentals of learning theory. That said, the pools of equestrian debate are far from stagnant. The latest wave of horse whisperers has offered some refinements and some novel interpretations of the motivation of horses undergoing training. Additionally, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has introduced the concept of t...
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...
Poulet H, Minke J, Pardo MC, Juillard V, Nordgren B, Audonnet JC.The canarypox vaccine vector (ALVAC) technology has been used to develop and license several vaccines for companion animals and horses in the European Union and USA. ALVAC is a ubiquitous vector with high biosafety since it is non-replicative in mammalians, is genetically and physically stable, and able to induce both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against the expressed transgene product. Specific rules apply for the development and registration of recombinant vector vaccines. The biology of the vector as well as the recombinant virus must be thoroughly documented to allow the risk...
Bachi K, Terkel J, Teichman M.This article describes the theoretical-conceptual frame of equine-facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) for adolescents at-risk, the unique components of this intervention, and its implementation in an evaluation study. The study was conducted at a residential treatment facility for adolescents at-risk. We examined the outcomes of EFP on self-image, self-control, trust and general life satisfaction. Fourteen resident adolescents comprised the treatment group, and were compared with a matched group of 15 residents who did not receive EFP (control). The treatment comprised a weekly individual EFP sess...
McPartlin LA, Suarez SS, Czaya CA, Hinrichs K, Bedford-Guaus SJ.Capacitation is a complex and not well-understood process that encompasses all the molecular changes sperm must undergo to successfully fertilize an oocyte. In vitro fertilization has remained elusive in the horse, as evidenced by low in vitro fertilization (IVF) rates (0%-33%); moreover, only two foals have ever been produced using IVF. Incubation of stallion sperm in modified Whittens supplemented with bovine serum albumin and sodium bicarbonate yielded significant rates of time-dependent protein tyrosine phosphorylation and induced acrosomal exocytosis, consistent with capacitation. The obj...
Leemans B, Gadella BM, Stout TA, De Schauwer C, Nelis H, Hoogewijs M, Van Soom A.In contrast to man and many other mammalian species, conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) with horse gametes is not reliably successful. The apparent inability of stallion spermatozoa to penetrate the zona pellucida in vitro is most likely due to incomplete activation of spermatozoa (capacitation) because of inadequate capacitating or fertilizing media. In vivo, the oviduct and its secretions provide a microenvironment that does reliably support and regulate interaction between the gametes. This review focuses on equine sperm-oviduct interaction. Equine sperm-oviduct binding appears to be...
Pomar FJ, Teerds KJ, Kidson A, Colenbrander B, Tharasanit T, Aguilar B, Roelen BA.The occurrence of pregnancies and births after embryo transfer (ET) of in vivo produced embryos is generally more successful compared to that of embryos produced in vitro. This difference in ET success has been observed when embryos of morphological equal (high) quality were used. The incidence of apoptosis has been suggested as an additional criterion to morphological embryo evaluation in order to assess embryo quality and effectively predict embryo viability. In this study, equine, porcine, ovine, caprine and bovine in vivo and in vitro produced morphologically selected high quality (grade-I...
Rudolph J, O'Callaghan DJ, Osterrieder N.The genome of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) strain RacL11, a highly virulent isolate obtained from an aborted foal, and that of the modified live vaccine strain KyA, were cloned as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC) in Eseherichia coli. Mini F plasmid sequences were inserted into the viral genomes by homologous recombination instead of the gene 71 (EUS4) open reading frame after co-transfection of viral DNA and recombinant plasmid pdelta71-pHA2 into RK13 cells. After isolation of recombinant viruses by three rounds of plaque purification, viral DNA was isolated from RK13 cells infected...
