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.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two styles of classical music, based on different tempos (BPM), on the physiological and blood parameters of horses during social isolation and restriction of movements. First experiment was carried out using nine horses of no defined breed, distributed in Control, Slow-tempo music and Moderate-tempo music .For social isolation and restriction of movement, the animals were housed daily in individual stalls for two hours and exposed to the stimuli for 60 min, and eye temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were assessed. The second exp...
Laffi L, Raimondi T, Ferrante C, Pagliara E, Bertuglia A, Briefer EF, Gamba M, Ravignani A.What makes animal gaits so audibly rhythmic? To answer this question, we recorded the footfall sound of 19 horses and quantified the rhythmic differences in the temporal structure of three natural gaits: walk, trot, and canter. Our analyses show that each gait displays a strikingly specific rhythmic pattern and that all gaits are organized according to small-integer ratios, those found when adjacent temporal intervals are related by a mathematically simple relationship of integer numbers. Walk and trot exhibit an isochronous structure (1:1)-similar to a ticking clock-while canter is characteri...
Mulaw Berihun A, Bizu F, Maru M, Kassaw S.Equines play a significant role in the economy of the country. Besides their importance, equines face several challenges mainly helminth infections. Of these strongyle parasites are the most common, particularly in the study area. Thus, a cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2022 to July 2022 to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors and to identify the genera of equine strongyle parasites in and around Bishoftu. A total of 364 equines were randomly selected from five different areas and subjected to coprological examination using the floatation technique to detect s...
Nykonenko A, Moturnak Y, McLoughlin PD.Understanding social relationships in at-risk species held in captivity is vital for their welfare and potential reintroduction. In social species like the Przewalski's horse (), daily time allocation and space use may be influenced by social structure and, in turn, reflect welfare. Here, we identify social relationships, time budgets, and spatial distribution of a group of nine older (aged 6-21 years) male Przewalski's horses living in a non-breeding (bachelor) group. We conducted our work at the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve, over 65 h of observation in summer, 2015. Horses formed stronger ...
Korsós SA, Kibleur P, Josipovic I, Boone M, Vlaminck L.In orthograde endodontic treatments, different methods are available to debride the pulp canals of endodontically compromised equine cheek teeth, but their efficacy is unknown. Objective: To explore and compare the efficacy and anatomical changes caused by manual versus reciprocating filing techniques in equine cheek teeth, to explore the presence of instrumentation mishaps described in human dentistry and to explore anatomical complexities of the pulp cavity that often remain uninstrumented using microcomputed tomography (μCT). Methods: Ex-vivo randomised experiments. Methods: Twenty-two ext...
Azcona F, Molina A, Demyda-Peyrás S.Analyzing genetic variability and inbreeding trends is essential for effective breed management in animal populations. To this, the characterization of runs of homozygosity (ROH) provides a good genomic approach to study the phenomena. The Polo Argentino (PA) breed, globally recognized as the best adapted to playing polo, is known for its strong influence of Thoroughbreds, intense selective breeding, and extensive use of reproductive biotechnologies. This study investigates the PA's genomic variability, by characterizing the ROH landscape and identifying ROH islands (ROHi) as potential genomic...
Ferreira CMC, Simões BD, Marques EAS, Carbas RJC, da Silva LFM.Despite technological advancements in various industries, the equine sector still relies on old methods like horseshoeing. Although traditional, the industry is dynamic and well-funded. Therefore, there is a need to modernize these methods with more reliable and less invasive solutions for attaching horseshoes to horse hooves. There are currently several commercial adhesive solutions in the market specifically tailored to this application. In this work, the mechanical properties of two acrylic adhesives were characterized under quasi-static conditions. In the characterization process, tensile,...
Clayton HM, Murray R, Williams JM, Walker V, Fisher M, Fisher D, Nixon J, Mackechnie-Guire R.Noseband adjustment should avoid discomfort and allow some jaw movement. Objective: To determine pressure beneath a cavesson noseband at five tightness levels during standing and chewing. It was hypothesised that increased noseband tightness is associated with increases in nasal and mandibular pressures while standing and chewing, accompanied by increases in eye temperature and blink rate. Methods: Experimental. Methods: Eight highly-trained dressage horses wore a snaffle bridle with their own bit. Pressure mats over the nasal bones and beneath the mandibular rami recorded sub-noseband pressur...
Fercher C, Bartsch J, Kluge S, Schneider F, Liedtke AM, Schleichardt A, Ueberschär O.Inappropriate, excessive, or overly strenuous training of sport horses can result in long-term injury, including the premature cessation of a horse's sporting career. As a countermeasure, this study demonstrates the easy implementation of a biomechanical load monitoring system consisting of five commercial, multi-purpose inertial sensor units non-invasively attached to the horse's distal limbs and trunk. From the data obtained, specific parameters for evaluating gait and limb loads are derived, providing the basis for objective exercise load management and successful injury prevention. Applied...
Mata F, Boyton G, Young T.Anticipatory behaviour is increasingly being recognised as a measure of animal welfare. This behaviour is linked to reward sensitivity, which reflects the balance of positive and negative experiences. This study examined anticipatory behaviour in horses fed either ad libitum or rationed diets, aiming to identify differences in behaviour patterns during the periods of one hour immediately before and after feeding. Behavioural data were collected via video surveillance over five days, focusing on the pre- and post-feeding periods of stabled horses. The data were successfully fit to Poisson model...
Bussiman F, Richter J, Hidalgo J, Silva FFE, Ventura RV, Carvalho RSB, Mattos EC, Ferraz JBS, Eler JP, de Carvalho Balieiro JC.Gait visual scores are widely applied to horse breeding because they are a fast and easy phenotyping strategy, allowing the numeric interpretation of a complex biological process such as gait quality. However, they may suffer from subjectivity or high environmental influence. We aimed to investigate potential causal relationships among six visual gait scores in Campolina horses. The data included 5475 horses with records for at least one of the following traits: Dissociation (Di), Comfort (C), Style (S), Regularity (R), Development (De), and Gait total Scores (GtS). The pedigree comprised thre...
Zhou K, Dong Z, Zhou X, Zhai B, Li B, Zhang J, Cheng F.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and association of EGUS in horses of different ages, breeds and occupations. Gastroscopies were performed on 395 horses, and gastric ulcers were graded on a scoring system from 0 to 4. The relationship between age, breed, and work, along with the prevalence of gastric ulcers and their influences, were evaluated. The prevalence rate of ulcers in this herd was 78%. Older horses were prone to ulcers in both the glandular and squamous mucosal areas. Across the different jobs surveyed, 60% of the horses had a score of 2 or above. For the horses ...
Błaszczak A, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Długosz B, Musiał AD, Olczak K, Ropka-Molik K. The Hucul horse breed formed in the region of the Eastern Carpathians, likely through the natural crossbreeding of oriental horses. After World War II, their population significantly decreased, leading to the breeding being based on only 14 female lines, whose founders often had unknown origins. To preserve the breed's unique characteristics, it is now part of a Genetic Resources Conservation Program, which prioritizes the maintenance of genetic diversity. This study aims to clarify the maternal relatedness of founder mares and assess genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The hy...
Dahm E.Emma Dahm introduces a new society in the world of showing that aims to give horses that have come back from neglect and abuse a platform to show off their talents and resilience.
Watanabe M, Sato F, Innan H.We investigated the changes in inbreeding levels in Japanese Thoroughbred horses over the past 46 years. Our results show a significant increase in inbreeding over the past 30 years, primarily due to the influence of two sires, Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. Northern Dancer's bloodline spread gradually through descendants like Northern Taste, leading to a slower increase in the inbreeding coefficient. In contrast, Sunday Silence was directly imported and became a leading sire, causing a rapid increase in his blood proportion and inbreeding coefficient. Our findings suggest that monitoring...
Matsubara T, Fukatsu R, Yamamoto M, Moriya M, Hano K, Nakamura K, Ohba Y, Takasu M.Including Internet of Things (IoT) technology in horse-rearing management can potentially mitigate problems such as human resource shortages and time limitations in performing daily behavior monitoring. In this study, a small and inexpensive activity meter used to monitor dogs and cats (PLUS CYCLE, JARMeC, Kanagawa, Japan) was used to monitor the daily behavior of horses. A study was performed to examine the suitability of the PLUS CYCLE device for monitoring horses and to determine whether it could estimate horse behavior. The device was equipped with an accelerometer and was used to monitor ...
Pozharskiy A, Beishova I, Nametov A, Shamshidin A, Ulyanova T, Kovalchuk A, Ulyanov V, Shamekova M, Bekova G, Gritsenko D.Horses are animals traditionally playing prominent role as both food source and working animals for Kazakh people. Zhabe horses are traditional type of indigenous Kazakh horses characterized by versatility and adaptation to conditions of Central Asia. The present work focuses on examination of genetic structure of Zhabe horses using SNP genotyping with addition of previously published data. Total 1038 individuals including 403 new samples of Zhabe horses and 42 sample of white horses 'Zhetysu Asyly' have been considered. DNA was extracted from hair roots using commercial DNA isolation kit and ...
Takahashi K, Mukai K, Takahashi Y, Ebisuda Y, Hatta H, Kitaoka Y.The purpose of this study was to elucidate the skeletal muscle transcriptomic response unique to rest duration during high-intensity interval exercise. Thoroughbred horses performed three 1-min bouts of exercise at their maximal oxygen uptake (10.7-12.5 m/s), separated by 15 min (long) or 2 min (short) walking at 1.7 m/s. Gluteus medius muscle was collected before and at 4 h after the exercise and used for RNA sequencing. We identified 1,756 and 1,421 differentially expressed genes in response to the long and short protocols, respectively using DEseq2 analysis [false discovery rate (FDR) cutof...
Robertson T, Thomas E, Starbuck G, Yarnell K.As a free-ranging, social species, the housing of horses () may limit their opportunity to display natural behaviour, compromising well-being. This review records and presents studies that have investigated horse housing design, evaluates the location and number of studies carried out to date, and reports the methods used to assess impact on equine well-being. A Boolean search was conducted in two databases: Web of Science and Scopus, filtered according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, resulting in 60 peer-reviewed papers for evaluation. ...
An T, Dugarjaviin M, Han H.The Mongolian horse, one of the oldest and most genetically diverse breeds, exhibits a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, including both wild-type and unique features. A notable characteristic of dun Mongolian horses is the presence of Bider markings-symmetrical, black-mottled patterns observed on the shoulder blades. These markings are also seen in Przewalski's horses. The dun coat color, a common wild-type phenotype in domestic horses, is characterized by pigment dilution with distinct dark areas and is regulated by mutations in the gene. This study aimed to investigate the role of ...
Boozarjomehri Amnieh S, Hassanpour A, Moghaddam S, Sakhaee F, Ropka-Molik K.The gene is vital for fatty acid metabolism and is linked to environmental stress and physical exertion adaptation. The p.Asp237Ser variant (rs782885985) in is associated with increased enzyme activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. This study examined the polymorphism across six horse breeds in Iran: Arabian, Thoroughbred, KWPN, Caspian, Kurdish, and Turkmen. The goal was to identify differences in genotype distribution, potentially serving as genetic markers under selection pressure related to breed-specific traits. In a sample of 324 horses, genomic DNA was analyzed using PCR...
Scott I, Lawrence KE, Gee EK.Shortened egg reappearance periods (ERP) have been seen as an early warning of anthelmintic resistance development in cyathostomins in horses. The hypothesis has been that in these instances, efficacy against egg laying adult cyathostomins remains high, but a decline in activity against later larval stages leads to the earlier resumption of egg shedding after treatment. In this study using a single herd of horses we investigated the ERP of a number of commonly used equine anthelmintics and examined whether ERP might show seasonal variation between winter and summer. Four main Faecal egg count ...
Liu Y, Zhou F, Zheng W, Bai T, Chen X, Guo L.The sleeping and eating behaviors of horses are important indicators of their health. With the development of the modern equine industry, timely monitoring and analysis of these behaviors can provide valuable data for assessing the physiological state of horses. To recognize horse behaviors in stalls, this study builds on the SlowFast algorithm, introducing a novel loss function to address data imbalance and integrating an SE attention module in the SlowFast algorithm's slow pathway to enhance behavior recognition accuracy. Additionally, YOLOX is employed to replace the original target detecti...
Folk KM, White RR, Gleason CB.Cryotherapy is often used to reduce inflammation in acute equine laminitis cases. Certain hoof temperatures have been suggested as effective in minimizing the inflammatory process; however, there is limited evidence on which methods are best at achieving these temperatures. Our objective was to determine how different methods of cryotherapy influence the rate and extent of cooling for the equine hoof wall. Four horses received three hoof cooling treatments and a control (CON; no treatment application) in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Treatments included (1) ice surrounding the hoof in a 5 L fl...
DeBoer M, Rieck T, Johnson L, Redenius H, Martinson K.Horses have become more intensively managed, including the use of hay nets to increase intake time and reduce hay waste, but their impact on health is not well known. The objectives were to compare changes in subluxations, range of motion, and the pain-pressure threshold in the axial skeleton of horses fed hay with (NET) or without (CON) hay nets. In September 2021, 13 adult horses were blocked by bodyweight (BW) and randomly assigned to the NET or CON treatments for one year. After one year, horses switched treatments and the trial concluded in September 2023. Horses were housed in dry lots w...
Ahlawat S, Sharma U, Niranjan SK, Chhabra P, Arora R, Sharma R, Singh KV, Vijh RK, Mehta SC.This study explored the maternal genetic diversity of six indigenous Indian horse and pony breeds (Bhutia, Kathiawari, Manipuri, Marwari, Spiti, and Zanskari) using comprehensive mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) analysis. Blood samples from 53 horses across diverse agro-climatic zones of India were analyzed, revealing 36 distinct haplotypes, with a haplotype diversity of 0.889 and nucleotide diversity of 0.00347. These indices suggest significant maternal genetic diversity in Indian equines. A median-joining (MJ) network, based on the hypervariable region of the D-loop along with sequences of...
Terlinden A, Jacquet S, Manivong S, Cullier A, Cassé F, Legendre F, Garcia AA, Roullin G, Moldovan F, Sirois P, Banquy X, Galéra P, Audigié F....Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of pain and retirement in athletic horses. Hydro-expansive functionalized nanogels, acting as Drug Delivery Systems, constitute one of the current therapeutic prospects. These nanogels have the potential to combine mechanical benefits through polymers with the biological effect of prolonged release of bioactive molecules. The purpose of this double-blinded randomized tolerance study versus negative control was to evaluate the response of healthy joints to a single injection of the expected efficient dose (further referred to as the trial dose) and overdose of ...
Navas de Solis C, Solomon C, Durando M, Stefanovski D.Exercising arrhythmias can be clinically irrelevant or associated with poor performance, collapse and sudden cardiac death. Objective: To test if readable exercising ECGs can be recorded by grooms or riders and to describe arrhythmias in ECGs from different types of exercise in Eventing horses and investigate associations with type of workout, the presence of previous cardiac signs and intensity of exercise. Methods: Cohort study. Methods: Single lead exercising ECGs were obtained by riders or grooms during training and competition from a convenience sample of horses in training for Eventing c...
Itoh K, Kikumura N, Maeda T, Hirata S, Ringhofer M.Despite the long history of the horse-human bond, our understanding of the brain and mind of horses remains limited due to the lack of methods to investigate their brain functions. This study introduces a novel methodology for completely non-invasive, multi-channel recording of electroencephalography (EEG) and evoked potentials in awake horses to examine equine auditory cortical processing. The new approach utilizes specially designed brush-shaped active electrodes that facilitate stable signal acquisition through the hair coat by penetrating electrode pins and integrated pre-amplifiers. A 12-...
Lambertini C, Boanini E, Casalini I, Spaccini F, Rinnovati R, Romagnoli N.The aim of this retrospective clinical study was to compare the combinations of ketamine/diazepam (KD group) and tiletamine/zolazepam (TZ group) for the induction of general anaesthesia in horses undergoing elective surgery. The data from the clinical and the anaesthetic records of 138 horses from 2021 to 2023 were evaluated, and the horses were divided in two groups: KD ( = 60) and TZ ( = 72). The horses were premedicated with romifidine and methadone IV; anaesthesia was induced with ketamine/diazepam for the KD group and tiletamine/zolazepam for the TZ group and was maintained with isofluran...
Tan H, Wilson AM.Manoeuverability is a key requirement for successful terrestrial locomotion, especially on variable terrain, and is a deciding factor in predator-prey interaction. Compared with straight-line running, bend running requires additional leg force to generate centripetal acceleration. In humans, this results in a reduction in maximum speed during bend running and a published model assuming maximum limb force as a constraint accurately predicts how much a sprinter must slow down on a bend given his maximum straight-line speed. In contrast, greyhounds do not slow down or change stride parameters dur...
Boerboom D, Pilon N, Behdjani R, Silversides DW, Sirois J.Steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1, NR5A1a) is a member of the NR5A nuclear receptor subfamily and has been implicated as a key transcriptional regulator of all ovarian steroidogenic genes in vitro. To establish links between the expression of SF-1 and that of the steroidogenic genes in vivo, the objectives of this study were to clone equine SF-1 and examine the regulation of its messenger RNA (mRNA) in follicular cells during human CG (hCG)-induced ovulation. The equine SF-1 primary transcript was cloned by a combination of RT-PCR techniques. Results showed that the transcript was composed of a 5'-...
Wang W, Wang S, Hou C, Xing Y, Cao J, Wu K, Liu C, Zhang D, Zhang L, Zhang Y, Zhou H.Recent studies have found that copy number variations (CNVs) are widespread in human and animal genomes. CNVs are a significant source of genetic variation, and have been shown to be associated with phenotypic diversity. However, the effect of CNVs on genetic variation in horses is not well understood. In the present study, CNVs in 6 different breeds of mare horses, Mongolia horse, Abaga horse, Hequ horse and Kazakh horse (all plateau breeds) and Debao pony and Thoroughbred, were determined using aCGH. In total, seven hundred CNVs were identified ranging in size from 6.1 Kb to 0.57 Mb across a...
Galli C, Crotti G, Notari C, Turini P, Duchi R, Lazzari G.Embryo production by in vitro techniques has increased steadily over the years. For cattle where this technology is more advanced and is applied more, the number of in vitro produced embryos transferred to final recipients was over 30,000 in 1998. An increasing proportion of in vitro produced embryos are coming from oocytes collected from live donors by ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration (ovum pick up, OPU). This procedure allows the repeated production of embryos from live donors of particular value and is a serious alternative to superovulation. Ovum pick up is a very flexible technique...
Kunz IGZ, Reed KJ, Metcalf JL, Hassel DM, Coleman RJ, Hess TM, Coleman SJ.The gastrointestinal microbiota (GIM) plays an essential role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis with disruptions having profound effects on the wellbeing of the host animal. Parasitic infection is a long-standing issue for the equine industry, and the use of anthelmintic drugs for parasite control has long been standard practice. The impact of anthelmintic treatment on the GIM in healthy horses is not well known. This study evaluated the hypothesis that anthelmintic administration will alter the equine fecal microbiota in horses without an observed helminth infection. Ten horses were treat...
Douglas J, Owers R, Campbell MLH.The concept of 'social licence to operate' (SLO) is relevant to all animal-use activities. An SLO is an intangible, implicit agreement between the public and an industry/group. Its existence allows that industry/group to pursue its activities with minimal formalised restrictions because such activities have widespread societal approval. In contrast, the imposition of legal restrictions-or even an outright ban-reflect qualified or lack of public support for an activity. This review discusses current threats to equestrianism's SLO and suggests actions that those across the equine sector need to ...
Zerbe H, Schuberth HJ, Engelke F, Frank J, Klug E, Leibold W.In order to investigate pathogenic mechanisms of acute endometritis in cows and mares, we established an in vivo model in both species. Based on the results of an in vitro transmigration system, human recombinant interleukin-8 (rhIL-8; 1.25 microg per mare and 5 microg per cow in 50 ml phosphate-buffered saline) was used to attract polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocytes (PMNs) into the uteri. Peak numbers of uterine neutrophils were attracted after 6h, in both cows and mares. On average, mares responded more sensitively than cows, with 15 times higher numbers of rhIL-8-attracted uterine neu...
Srinivasan SM, Cavagnino DT, Bhat AN.Literature on effects of equine therapy in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown in recent times. Equine therapy is an alternative multimodal intervention that involves utilizing a horse to enhance core impairments in ASD. Recent systematic reviews in this area have several limitations including inclusion of populations other than ASD, assessment of a variety of animal-assisted interventions other than equine therapy, and a failure to conduct quantitative analyses to provide accurate effect size estimates. We conducted a focused systematic review to address these limitation...
Allen WR, Stewart F.A tough, elastic glycoprotein capsule envelops the equine blastocyst between Days 6 and 23 after ovulation. It maintains the spherical configuration of, and provides physical support for, the embryo as it traverses the entire uterine lumen during Days 6-17, propelled by myometrial contractions that are stimulated by pulsatile release of prostaglandin F2alpha and prostaglandin E2. The capsule also accumulates constituents of the exocrine secretions of the endometrial glands ('uterine milk') as nutrients for the mobile embryo as it releases its antiluteolytic maternal recognition-of-pregnancy si...
Gallardo Bolaños JM, Miró Morán Á, Balao da Silva CM, Morillo Rodríguez A, Plaza Dávila M, Aparicio IM, Tapia JA, Ortega Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Apoptosis has been recognized as a cause of sperm death during cryopreservation and a cause of infertility in humans, however there is no data on its role in sperm death during conservation in refrigeration; autophagy has not been described to date in mature sperm. We investigated the role of apoptosis and autophagy during cooled storage of stallion spermatozoa. Samples from seven stallions were split; half of the ejaculate was processed by single layer centrifugation, while the other half was extended unprocessed, and stored at 5°C for five days. During the time of storage, sperm motility (C...
Landman MA, de Blaauw JA, van Weeren PR, Hofland LJ.A population of 805 horses (70 per cent dressage, 20 per cent show jumpers and 10 per cent trotters) with orthopaedic problems was examined for signs of lameness and back problems, irrespective of their original complaints. In the horses with a back problem the prevalence of lameness was 74 per cent, and back problems were diagnosed in 32 per cent of the lame horses. These percentages were significantly higher than those recorded in a control population of 399 horses, of which 20 per cent were lame and 12 per cent had back problems. In the group of horses with orthopaedic problems there was a ...
Scase T, Brandt S, Kainzbauer C, Sykora S, Bijmholt S, Hughes K, Sharpe S, Foote A.The aetiology of genital squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in horses remains unknown, but the similarity to the disease in man, for which papillomavirus infection has been shown to be a causal factor, requires to be investigated in horses. Objective: One or more novel papillomaviruses cause equine genital SCC and its associated premalignant lesions. Methods: DNA was extracted from samples of equine genital SCC and performed rolling circle amplification, in order to identify closed circular DNA viral genomes within the samples. The amplified DNA was subcloned and sequenced and the DNA sequence comp...
Tateo A, De Palo P, Ceci E, Centoducati P.To investigate rheological and chemical characteristics of the meat from Italian Heavy Draft horse, 24 foals (12 males and 12 females) were weaned at 6 mo, reared and fed in the same way, and slaughtered at 11 mo of age. The results obtained showed that there were no significant differences between the sexes but that the muscle type is a significant variation source. The rectus femoris muscle was lighter, and the biceps femoris had a lower a* index than longissimus dorsii, rectus femoris, and semimembranosus muscle. The most tender muscle was the semitendinosus, and the toughest even after coo...
Copas VE, Durham AE.Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) is a common endocrinopathy, frequently diagnosed via plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations. Seasonal variation in plasma ACTH concentrations has been described in normal horses prompting caution in diagnosing PPID at certain times of the year. The aims of this study were to determine appropriate reference intervals for equine plasma ACTH throughout the year; and to examine the circannual variation of plasma ACTH concentrations in PPID cases. Objective: Plasma ACTH can be used as a test for PPID throughout the year with the use of ...
Raza A, Qamar AG, Hayat K, Ashraf S, Williams AR.Control of equine nematodes has relied on benzimidazoles (BZs), tetrahydropyrimidines and macrocyclic lactones. The intensive use of anthelmintics has led to the development of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in equine cyathostomins and Parascaris equorum. Field studies indicate that BZ and pyrantel resistance is widespread in cyathostomins and there are also increasing reports of resistance to macrocyclic lactones in cyathostomins and P. equorum. The unavailability of reliable laboratory-based techniques for detecting resistance further augments the problem of nematode control in horses. The onl...
McGivney BA, Eivers SS, MacHugh DE, MacLeod JN, O'Gorman GM, Park SD, Katz LM, Hill EW.Selection for exercise-adapted phenotypes in the Thoroughbred racehorse has provided a valuable model system to understand molecular responses to exercise in skeletal muscle. Exercise stimulates immediate early molecular responses as well as delayed responses during recovery, resulting in a return to homeostasis and enabling long term adaptation. Global mRNA expression during the immediate-response period has not previously been reported in skeletal muscle following exercise in any species. Also, global gene expression changes in equine skeletal muscle following exercise have not been reported...
Bourzac C, Smith LC, Vincent P, Beauchamp G, Lavoie JP, Laverty S.There is a need to assess and standardise equine bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) isolation protocols in order to permit valid comparisons between therapeutic trials at different sites. Objective: To compare 3 protocols of equine BM MSC isolation: adherence to a plastic culture dish (Classic) and 2 gradient density separation protocols (Percoll and Ficoll). Methods: BM aspirates were harvested from the sternum of 6 mares and MSCs isolated by all 3 protocols. The cell viability after isolation, MSC yield, number of MSCs attained after 14 days of culture and the functional characteri...
Wylie CE, Ireland JL, Collins SN, Verheyen KL, Newton JR.The objectives of this study were to describe the demographic characteristics and management practices undertaken by owners of horses/ponies within GB and assess seasonal and geographical variations in management practices. A cross-sectional study was conducted, surveying a random sample of veterinary-registered owners in GB, using a self-administered postal questionnaire. A total of 797 useable responses were received. Only 4.0% of animals were stabled 24h/day, this proportion being greater in winter compared to other seasons (p<0.001). Shavings (45.7%) and straw (35.3%) were the most freq...
Lee JR, Hong CP, Moon JW, Jung YD, Kim DS, Kim TH, Gim JA, Bae JH, Choi Y, Eo J, Kwon YJ, Song S, Ko J, Yang YM, Lee HK, Park KD, Ahn K, Do KT, Ha HS....DNA methylation is an epigenetic regulatory mechanism that plays an essential role in mediating biological processes and determining phenotypic plasticity in organisms. Although the horse reference genome and whole transcriptome data are publically available the global DNA methylation data are yet to be known. Results: We report the first genome-wide DNA methylation characteristics data from skeletal muscle, heart, lung, and cerebrum tissues of thoroughbred (TH) and Jeju (JH) horses, an indigenous Korea breed, respectively by methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing. The analysis of the DNA m...
Plancade S, Clark A, Philippe C, Helbling JC, Moisan MP, Esquerré D, Le Moyec L, Robert C, Barrey E, Mach N.An integrated analysis of gut microbiota, blood biochemical and metabolome in 52 endurance horses was performed. Clustering by gut microbiota revealed the existence of two communities mainly driven by diet as host properties showed little effect. Community 1 presented lower richness and diversity, but higher dominance and rarity of species, including some pathobionts. Moreover, its microbiota composition was tightly linked to host blood metabolites related to lipid metabolism and glycolysis at basal time. Despite the lower fiber intake, community type 1 appeared more specialized to produce ace...
Byrd SK, McCutcheon LJ, Hodgson DR, Gollnick PD.This study examined the effects of acute high-intensity exercise on the rate and capacity of Ca2+ uptake and Ca2+-stimulated adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the reversibility of these effects. Thoroughbred horses were run at maximal O2 uptake on a high-speed treadmill until fatigued. Muscle temperatures and biopsy samples were collected at rest, immediately after exercise, and 30 and 60 min after exercise. Blood samples were collected at rest and 5 min after exercise. Muscle and blood (lactate concentration) were three- and fivefold greater than pre-...
Brain lateralization is a phenomenon widely reported in the animal kingdom and sensory laterality has been shown to be an indicator of the appraisal of the stimulus valence by an individual. This can prove a useful tool to investigate how animals perceive intra- or hetero-specific signals. The human-animal relationship provides an interesting framework for testing the impact of the valence of interactions on emotional memories. In the present study, we tested whether horses could associate individual human voices with past positive or negative experiences. Both behavioural and electroencephalo...
Gold JJ, Heath IB, Bauchop T.Vegetative and reproductive stages of Caecomyces equi gen. nov., sp. nov. isolated from the horse caecum were examined by light and electron microscopy. This organism, which is similar to isolates known as Sphaeromonas communis, produces uniflagellate, uninucleate zoospores whose perikinetosomal structures, i.e. circumflagellar ring, spur, struts and scoop, are similar in many respects to those described in species of Neocallimastix. Microtubular roots extend basally from the spur and associate with hydrogenosomes and the nucleus. Another group of microtubules radiates laterally in a fan-shape...
Taylor CR.This paper develops three simple ideas about force development during sustained locomotion which provide some insights into the mechanisms that determine why animals change gait, how fast they can run, and how much metabolic energy they consume. The first idea is that the alternate stretch-shorten pattern of activity of the muscles involved in locomotion allows muscle-tendon units to function as springs, affecting the amount of force a given cross-sectional area of muscle develops, and the metabolic requirements of the muscles for force development. Animals select speeds and stride frequencies...
Goto H, Ryder OA, Fisher AR, Schultz B, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Nekrutenko A, Makova KD.The endangered Przewalski's horse is the closest relative of the domestic horse and is the only true wild horse species surviving today. The question of whether Przewalski's horse is the direct progenitor of domestic horse has been hotly debated. Studies of DNA diversity within Przewalski's horses have been sparse but are urgently needed to ensure their successful reintroduction to the wild. In an attempt to resolve the controversy surrounding the phylogenetic position and genetic diversity of Przewalski's horses, we used massively parallel sequencing technology to decipher the complete mitoch...
Bhoora RV, Collins NE, Schnittger L, Troskie C, Marumo R, Labuschagne K, Smith RM, Dalton DL, Mbizeni S.Recently reported substantial genetic diversity within Theileria equi 18S rRNA gene sequences has led to the identification of five genotypes A, B, C, D, and E, complicating molecular and serological diagnosis. In addition, T. haneyi has lately been reported as a species closely related to the T. equi 18S rRNA genotype C (Knowles et al., 2018). Theileria spp. of this group have a monophyletic origin and are therefore referred to as Equus group to distinguish them from the remaining Theileria lineages (Jalovecka et al., 2019). In this study, we report on the development of genotype-specific qua...
Jackson RE, Bormann CL, Hassun PA, Rocha AM, Motta EL, Serafini PC, Smith GD.To determine the effect of semen storage and separation techniques on sperm DNA fragmentation. Methods: Controlled clinical study. Methods: An assisted reproductive technology laboratory. Methods: Thirty normoozospermic semen samples obtained from patients undergoing infertility evaluation. Methods: One aliquot from each sample was immediately prepared (control) for the sperm chromatin dispersion assay (SCD). Aliquots used to assess storage techniques were treated in the following ways: snap frozen by liquid nitrogen immersion, slow frozen with Tris-yolk buffer and glycerol, kept on ice for 24...
Physick-Sheard PW, Marlin DJ, Thornhill R, Schroter RC.The pattern of variation in heart rate on a beat-to-beat basis contains information concerning sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS) contributions to autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation of heart rate (HR). In the present study, heart period (RR interval) time series data were collected at rest and during 3 different treadmill exercise protocols from 6 Thoroughbred horses. Frequency and spectral power were determined in 3 frequency bands: very low (VLF) 0-0.01-0.07-< or = 0.5 cycles/beat. Indicators of sympathetic (SNSI = LO/HI) and parasympathetic (PNSI = HI/TOTAL) activity were...
Firth EC.Horses can gallop within hours of birth, and may begin training for athletic competition while still growing. This review cites studies on the effects of exercise on bone, tendon and articular cartilage, as detected by clinical and research imaging techniques, tissue biochemical analysis and microscopy of various kinds. For bone, alterations in bone mineral content, mineral density and the morphology of the mineralized tissue are the most common end-points. Apparent bone density increases slightly after athletic training in the cortex, but substantially in the major load paths of the epiphyses...
