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.
Stratford CH, Lester HE, Pickles KJ, McGorum BC, Matthews JB.Cyathostomins comprise 50 helminth species, considered the most problematic equine endoparasites. Three classes of anthelmintic are currently licensed for their control, namely the benzimidazoles (fenbendazole), tetrahydropyrimidines (pyrantel) and macrocyclic lactones (ivermectin and moxidectin). Anthelmintic resistance in cyathostomins is common. With no new classes expected in the near future, it is essential to determine the efficacy of the available anthelmintics to inform future control programmes. Objective: To determine the efficacy of all 3 anthelmintic classes against strongyles in e...
Denoix JM, Jeffcott LB, McIlwraith CW, van Weeren PR.This manuscript describes a new classification of the various joint-related lesions that can be seen in the young, growing horse based on their anatomical and functional aetiopathogenesis. Juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOCC) is a term that brings together specific disorders according to their location in the joint and their biomechanical origin. When a biomechanical insult affects the process of endochondral ossification different types of osteochondrosis (OC) lesions may occur, including osteochondral fragmentation of the articular surface or of the periarticular margins, or the formatio...
Yarnell K, Hall C, Billett E.Animal management often involves procedures that, while unlikely to cause physical pain, still cause aversive responses. The domestic horse (Equus caballus) regularly has excessive hair clipped off to facilitate its use as a riding/driving animal and this procedure causes adverse behavioral responses in some animals. The aim of this study was to compare behavioral and physiological measures to assess the aversive effect of this procedure. Ten horses were selected on the basis of being either compliant (C: n=5) or non-compliant (NC: n=5) during this procedure. The horses were subjected to a sha...
Moreno SA, Concepción JL, Nava M, Molinari J.In Venezuela, horses are indispensable for extensive cattle raising, and extensive cattle raising prevails in all regions. This determines the numerical relationship between horses and cattle (r = 0.93) to be relatively constant nationwide. At regional level, the average extension of cattle ranches varies greatly. However, in relation to the area covered by pastures, the numbers of horses (r = 0.95) and cattle (r = 0.93) are relatively uniform nationwide. Water buffalo occupy small fractions of the territory; therefore, their numbers are related to the area of pastures less strongl...
Lee CD, Maxwell LK.In most species, large variations in body size necessitate dose adjustments based on an allometric function of body weight. Despite the substantial disparity in body size between miniature horses and light-breed horses, there are no studies investigating appropriate dosing of any veterinary drug in miniature horses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether miniature horses should receive a different dosage of flunixin meglumine than that used typically in light-breed horses. A standard dose of flunixin meglumine was administered intravenously to eight horses of each breed, and three-...
Thorpe CT, Klemt C, Riley GP, Birch HL, Clegg PD, Screen HR.The predominant function of tendons is to position the limb during locomotion. Specific tendons also act as energy stores. Energy-storing (ES) tendons are prone to injury, the incidence of which increases with age. This is likely related to their function; ES tendons are exposed to higher strains and require a greater ability to recoil than positional tendons. The specialized properties of ES tendons are thought to be achieved through structural and compositional differences. However, little is known about structure-function relationships in tendons. This study uses fascicles from the equine s...
Labens R, Redding WR, Desai KK, Vom Orde K, Mansmann RA, Blikslager AT.Assessment of equine foot conformation is often based on linear and angular measurements performed on lateral digital photographs. However, quantification of external foot conformation requires more comprehensive assessments to capture the shape of the entire foot. Volumetric measurements of the hoof capsule represent a summary measure quantifying foot shape. The aim of this study was to develop a method for computation of virtual foot models from digital foot images allowing precise and accurate volumetric measurements. This photogrammetric technique was then assessed for the characterization...
Ginther OJ.The estrous cycles of heifers and mares are used for illustrating pitfalls at the animal level in research in reproductive biology. Infrequent monitoring for characterizing the change in hormone concentrations or for detecting a reproductive event can be a pitfall when the interval for obtaining data exceeds the interval between events. For example, hourly collection of blood samples has shown that the luteolytic period (decreasing progesterone) encompasses 24 hours in heifers and mares. Collection of samples every 6-24 hours results in the illusion that luteolysis requires 2-3 days, owing to ...
Uluisik D, Keskin E, Ozaydın T.Hematological and biochemical profiles commonly are required in equine medicine. We studied hematological parameters including red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (PCV), differential leukocyte counts, mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) in thoroughbred foals at different ages and for both sexes. Sixty healthy thoroughbred foals, 1 day, 3 days and 1 year old were used. Each age group consisted of 10 male and 10 female animals. We found significant differences related to age in RBC...
McMullen RJ, Davidson MG, Gilger BC.To determine the effects of tropicamide 1% on the refractive state of the adult equine globe and identify the most appropriate time period (in relation to mydriasis) to perform streak retinoscopy. Methods: Eight university-owned mares of various ages and breeds. Methods: Topical tropicamide 1% was applied to one randomly selected eye from each of the horses to induce mydriasis and cycloplegia. The contralateral eyes served as controls. Streak retinoscopy and pupillometry were performed prior to, and every 5 min after tropicamide 1% installation for 90 min. Results: All values are expressed as ...
Bohar Topolovec M, Kruljc P, Prošek M, Jazbec Križman P, Smidovnik A, Nemec Svete A.Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential cofactor in the mitochondrial electron transport pathway, and is also the only known endogenously synthesized lipid-soluble antioxidant. The aim of the present study was to determine, for the first time, endogenous plasma CoQ10 concentration and its correlation with plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and serum total cholesterol (TC) in a population of healthy untrained horses. Thirty-one horses were included in the study. Plasma CoQ10 concentration ranged from 0.380 to 2.090 mg/L, which is in general agreement with plasma CoQ10 concentration in humans....
La Gerche A, Daffy JR, Mooney DJ, Forbes G, Davie AJ.It has been observed that microbubbles may pass through the pulmonary circulation of dogs and humans during exercise. In humans, this phenomenon has been associated with lower pulmonary artery pressures, enhanced right ventricular function and greater exercise capacity. In the exercising Thoroughbred horse, extraordinarily high cardiac outputs exert significant pulmonary vascular stresses. The aim of this study was to determine, using contrast echocardiography, whether Thoroughbred horses performing strenuous exercise developed pulmonary transit of agitated contrast microbubbles (PTAC). At res...
Hayami A, Darwish WS, Ikenaka Y, Nakayama SM, Ishizuka M.There is little information about drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics in horses. Therefore, it is necessary to characterize the profiles of drug metabolites for the safe use of drugs. In this study, we focused on cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs), which represent an important enzyme group to determine pharmacological effects of drugs. We chose diazepam as the drug of choice for this study. The aim of this study was to elucidate the metabolic pathway of diazepam in horses in comparison with rats, and to clarify CYP subfamilies responsible for diazepam metabolism in horses. Our results showed tema...
Kisiday JD, Goodrich LR, McIlwraith CW, Frisbie DD.To compare the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) yield and chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation from 5- and 50-mL bone marrow aspirates from horses. Methods: Six 2- to 5-year-old mixed-breed horses. Procedures-2 sequential 5-mL aspirates were drawn from 1 ilium or sternebra. A single 50-mL aspirate was drawn from the contralateral ilium, and 2 sequential 50-mL aspirates were drawn from a second sternebra. The MSC yield was determined through the culture expansion process. Chondrogenesis and osteogenesis were evaluated by means of conventional laboratory methods. Results: The second of the 2 s...
Lunardi M, de Alcântara BK, Otonel RA, Rodrigues WB, Alfieri AF, Alfieri AA.Equine sarcoids are locally aggressive fibroblastic neoplasms considered to be the most common skin tumors of horses worldwide. Bovine papillomavirus types 1 and 2 have typically been associated with sarcoids in equids. Investigations aiming to identify papillomavirus strains, aside from bovine papillomaviruses 1 and 2, which might be associated with sarcoid lesions, have been lacking. The aim of this article is to report the identification of a third bovine papillomavirus type, bovine papillomavirus 13, associated with equine sarcoids. Six sarcoid lesions were collected from diverse anatomica...
Lorenzo JM, Pateiro M.The effect of fat content on physico-chemical properties and lipid and protein stability of foal liver pâté was studied. For this purpose, two batches (10 units per batch) of foal liver pâté with different pork back fat content [30% (30F) and 40% (40F)] were manufactured. 30F foal liver pâté was darker (lower L* value, P>0.05), redder (higher a*, P<0.001) and harder (higher hardness value; P<0.001) compared to those with 40F. Fat level was closely related to the calorific value of foal liver pâté, being more calorific in those with higher fat contents (352 kcal/100 g; P<0.001). Regardi...
Albanese V, Munsterman AS, DeGraves FJ, Hanson RR.To measure intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) in horses that crib and compare it with IAP in horses that do not have this vice. Methods: Cohort study. Methods: Healthy cribbing horses (cribbing cohort, n = 8) and 8 healthy noncribbing horses (noncribbing cohort). Methods: A microsensor catheter was introduced into the peritoneal cavity through the right paralumbar fossa, using local anesthesia, for measurement of IAP. These pressures were recorded in 1-minute intervals for 2 hours, while the horses were standing tied in a stall. IAPs of cribbing horses were compared to the noncribbing cohort...
Pirault P, Danvy S, Verrier E, Leroy G.Since horse breeds constitute populations submitted to variable and multiple outcrossing events, we analyzed the genetic structure and gene flows considering horses raised in France. We used genealogical data, with a reference population of 547,620 horses born in France between 2002 and 2011, grouped according to 55 breed origins. On average, individuals had 6.3 equivalent generations known. Considering different population levels, fixation index decreased from an overall species FIT of 1.37%, to an average [Formula: see text] of -0.07% when considering the 55 origins, showing that most horse ...
Steiner CC, Ryder OA.Prdm9 (Meisetz) is the first speciation gene discovered in vertebrates conferring reproductive isolation. This locus encodes a meiosis-specific histone H3 methyltransferase that specifies meiotic recombination hotspots during gametogenesis. Allelic differences in Prdm9, characterized for a variable number of zinc finger (ZF) domains, have been associated with hybrid sterility in male house mice via spermatogenic failure at the pachytene stage. The mule, a classic example of hybrid sterility in mammals also exhibits a similar spermatogenesis breakdown, making Prdm9 an interesting candidate to e...
Ida KK, Fantoni DT, Souto MT, Otsuki DA, Zoppa AL, Silva LC, Ambrósio AM.To determine if pressure support ventilation (PSV) weaning from general anesthesia affects ventilation or oxygenation in horses. Methods: Prospective randomized clinical study. Methods: Twenty client-owned healthy horses aged 5 ± 2 years, weighing 456 ± 90 kg. Methods: In the control group (CG; n = 10) weaning was performed by a gradual decrease in respiratory rate (fR ) and in the PSV group (PSVG; n = 10) by a gradual decrease in fR with PSV. The effect of weaning was considered suboptimal if PaCO2 > 50 mmHg, arterial pH < 7.35 plus PaCO2 > 50 mmHg or PaO2 < 60 mmHg were observed at any tim...
Starke SD, Raistrick KJ, May SA, Pfau T.Equine lameness is a significant and challenging part of a veterinarian's workload, with subtle lameness inherently difficult to assess. This study investigated the influence of trotting speed on perceived and measured changes in movement asymmetry. Ten sound to mildly lame horses were trotted at a 'slow', 'preferred' and 'fast' speed on a hard surface, both on a straight line and in a circle on left and right reins. Video recordings of the horses were visually assessed by six experienced equine clinicians. Vertical movement of head, withers and pelvis was derived from inertial sensor data and...
Peters LW, Smiet E, de Sain-van der Velden MG, van der Kolk JH.In particular branched-chain amino acids might limit muscle protein loss in pathological conditions. Little is known on basic amino acid utilization of muscle in horses. Objective: To assess amino acid utilization by the hindlimb of horses at rest and following low intensity exercise. ANIMALS & METHODS: Amino acid uptake by the hindlimb was investigated using the arteriovenous difference technique. Blood from six warmblood mares (mean age 12 ± 3 (SD) years and weighing 538 ± 39 kg) was collected simultaneously from the (transverse) facial artery and from the caudal vena cava. Food was wi...
Morató R, Soares JM, Orero G, Mogas T, Miró J.The effect of combining double layer density gradient centrifugation (DL-DGC) with different capacitation treatments on the fertilising capacity of frozen-thawed stallion sperm was examined via a heterologous assay involving in vitro-matured, zona pellucida-free bovine oocytes. In a first experiment, aliquots of frozen-thawed stallion sperm were subjected to one of five capacitation treatments without DL-DGC - ionomycin at 1.0μM, 0.1μM, 0.05μM or 0.01μM, or caffeine at 200μg/mL. The fertilising capacity of the semen was then assessed at 18h by staining the above oocytes with 4,6-diamidino...
Oguma K, Ishida M, Maeda K, Sentsui H.Equine cells are required for isolation of viruses that infect the horse. However, only a few equine cell lines and cell cultures are available so far. Fetal horse kidney (FHK)-Tcl3.1 cell is a novel cell line established by introducing simian virus 40 (SV40) large T antigen. In the present study, the ability to propagate equine viruses was compared between FHK-Tcl3.1 cells and other equine cells. FHK-Tcl3.1 cells efficiently increased many viruses derived from or having pathogenicity to horses and produced high infective titers in culture fluids. These results indicate that FHK-Tcl3.1 cells w...
Bhardwaj A, Tandon G, Pal Y, Sharma NK, Nayan V, Soni S, Iquebal MA, Jaiswal S, Legha RA, Talluri TR, Bhattacharya TK, Kumar D, Rai A, Tripathi BN.The horse, one of the most domesticated animals, has been used for several purposes, like transportation, hunting, in sport, or for agriculture-related works. Kathiawari, Marwari, Manipuri, Zanskari, Bhutia, Spiti, and Thoroughbred are the main breeds of horses, particularly due to their agroclimatic adaptation and role in any kind of strong physical activity, and these characteristics are majorly governed by genetic factors. The genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship of these Indian equine breeds using microsatellite markers have been reported, but further studies exploring the SNP d...
Wilkens MR, Marholt L, Eigendorf N, Muscher-Banse AS, Feige K, Schröder B, Breves G, Cehak A.Intestinal calcium absorption plays a key role in the maintenance of calcium homeostasis and may either occur by paracellular or transcellular mechanisms. The horse has some unique peculiarities in calcium homeostasis compared to other species including a high absorptive capacity for calcium in the intestine, high plasma calcium concentrations, high renal excretion, and low plasma concentrations of vitamin D metabolites. So far, knowledge about the underlying mechanisms and the regulation of intestinal calcium absorption is still limited concerning this species. Several studies have documented...
Freitas NPP, Silva BDP, Bezerra MRL, Pescini LYG, Olinda RG, Salgueiro CCM, Nunes JF, Martins JAM, Neto SG, Martins LT.This study investigated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and adipose stem cell-conditioned medium (ASC-CM) use as a strategy to accelerate tissue healing. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were quantified in fresh and freeze-dried PRP and ASC-CM, and a stability test was performed in the freeze-dried samples (90 and 180 days of storage). A cell proliferation test was performed using equine mesenchymal stem cell culture in reconstituted PRP gel mesh after freeze-drying. In vivo PRP, ASC-CM applications, or their association were performed in induced w...
Hanzawa K, Kai M, Hiraga A, Watanabe S.We examined the relationship in horses between osmotic fragility of erythrocytes (OFE) measured as the red cell haemolysis rates (HLR) in 0.56% NaCl and certain physiological characters. Animals were exercised on a treadmill: warmed up at 30% VO2max for 5 min or at 105% VO2max for 1 min, given an exercise test at 80 or 105% VO2max until fatigued, and then cooled down. The pH and temperature of the blood had a significant correlation for the HLR: r = 0.93 and 0.92 (P < 0.01) on arterial and mixed venous blood, respectively. In multiple regression analysis, heart rate and packed cell volume s...
Clayton HM, Sha DH, Stick JA, Robinson P.The objective was to measure 3D rotations of the distal (DIP) and proximal (PIP) interphalangeal joints at walk and trot. 3D trajectories of markers fixed to the proximal phalanx, middle phalanx and the hoof wall of the right forelimb of four sound horses were recorded at 120 Hz. Joint kinematics were calculated in terms of anatomically-based joint coordinate systems between the bone segments. Ranges of motion were similar at walk and trot. Values for the DIP joint were: flexion/extension: 46 +/- 3 degrees at walk, 47 +/- 4 degrees at trot; internal/external rotation: 5 +/- 1 degrees at walk, ...
Hintze S, Schanz L.Identifying and validating behavioral indicators of mood are important for the assessment of animal welfare. Here, we investigated whether horses' eye wrinkle expression in a presumably neutral situation is a measure of mood as assessed in a cognitive judgment bias task (JBT). To this end, we scored pictures of the left and right eyes of 16 stallions for different aspects of eye wrinkle expression and tested the same individuals on a spatial JBT with active trial initiation. Eye wrinkle expressions were assessed by a qualitative assessment, i.e., the overall assessment of how "worried" horses ...
Byrne KM, Vierck J, Dodson MV.Equine satellite cells are responsible for muscle healing and regeneration in the mature horse. We describe the in vitro cell culture conditions required for clonal populations of equine satellite cells to undergo both proliferation and differentiation. Our hypothesis is that these in vitro conditions model regeneration of muscle and can be used to evaluate potential therapeutics. In this study, 2 areas of satellite cell response were tested: proliferation of clones induced by growth factors, and fusion induced by culture conditions. Equine satellite cell clones showed differences in their res...
Rose MT.The objective of this study was to determine the effect of platelet derived growth factor BB (PDGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1), insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) on the proliferation and migration of equine oral mucosa and leg skin fibroblast cell lines, using an in vitro scratch assay. Fibroblasts from the two sites were firstly grown to confluence and then an area of cells removed (cell void area). Cell migration alone (with the addition of the mitosis inhibitor mitomycin-C to the culture media) and prolif...
Cotugno R, Gallotta D, d'Avenia M, Corteggio A, Altamura G, Roperto F, Belisario MA, Borzacchiello G.In human cancer cells, BAG3 protein is known to sustain cell survival. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the expression of BAG3 protein both in equine sarcoids in vivo and in EqS04b cells, a sarcoid-derived fully transformed cell line harbouring bovine papilloma virus (BPV)-1 genome. Evidence of a possible involvement of BAG3 in equine sarcoid carcinogenesis was obtained by immunohistochemistry analysis of tumour samples. We found that most tumour samples stained positive for BAG3, even though to a different grade, while normal dermal fibroblasts from healthy horses displayed very weak ...
Barrón-Ortiz CI, Rodrigues AT, Theodor JM, Kooyman BP, Yang DY, Speller CF.Horses were a dominant component of North American Pleistocene land mammal communities and their remains are well represented in the fossil record. Despite the abundant material available for study, there is still considerable disagreement over the number of species of Equus that inhabited the different regions of the continent and on their taxonomic nomenclature. In this study, we investigated cheek tooth morphology and ancient mtDNA of late Pleistocene Equus specimens from the Western Interior of North America, with the objective of clarifying the species that lived in this region prior to t...
Hemmann KE, Koho NM, Vainio OM, Raekallio MR.The reason why some horses begin an oral stereotypy such as crib-biting is not known. The aim of this study was to measure ghrelin and leptin concentrations in plasma concentrations to determine whether there is a link to crib-biting in horses. Plasma samples (n=3) were collected for plasma leptin and ghrelin assay before and during the morning first feeding in the usual environments of 15 horses with stereotypic crib-biting and 15 matched controls. The crib-biting intensity was scored in three 5-min phases, and a subgroup of verified crib-biters (n=8) was defined as horses that were seen to c...
Ripolles M, Sánchez-Guerrero MJ, Perdomo-González DI, Azor P, Valera M.Ewe Neck is a relatively common morphological defect in Pura Raza Español (PRE) horses and other Baroque type horse breeds, which adversely affects the breeding industry; (1) objectives: to establish the within-breed prevalence, possible associated factors, and heritability of Ewe Neck in PRE horses; (2) methods: the database included evaluations of 35,267 PRE horses. The Ewe Neck defect, 16 morphological traits, and 4 body indices were recorded. A Bayesian genetic animal model included the following systematic effects: sex, age, coat color, geographical area of the stud, and birth stud size ...
Bragulla H.Fetal development of the unique papillary body and its localized peculiarities in the equine hoof are described based on the study of 51 fetuses, nine newborn foals, and five adult horses. The shape and dimensions of the dermal papillae and lamellae have a formative influence on the structure and physical quality of the corneous hoof capsule with its horn tubules and lamellae. The size and arrangement of these horn structures determine the mechanical quality of hoof horn. Proper horn quality is a prerequisite for the various functions of the hoof capsule, such as protecting the living dermis s...
Blach EL, Amann RP, Bowen RA, Frantz D.Better procedures for freezing and thawing equine sperm are needed since variable fertility is obtained when cryopreserved sperm are used. To evaluate current methods of freezing equine sperm, we examined spermatozoal quality by means of two new techniques. These measured the integrity of plasma-acrosomal membranes by immunofluorescent analyses of binding of an antibody specific to the acrosome and evaluated eight parameters of spermatozoal motion using a fully automated computerized system. Five ejaculates from each of eight stallions were processed for freezing in egg yolk-lactose extender w...
Seybert DW, Moffat K, Gibson QH.The reactions of horse globin reconstituted with proto-, deutero-, and mesoheme have been examined by equilibrium and kinetic methods. In virtually all reactions studied, mesohemoglobin displays the more extreme functional behavior, whereas deuterohemoglobin exhibits behavior which is either very similar to native hemoglobin or intermediate between the two. Our kinetic and equilibrium results indicate that the primary effect of heme modification on the functional properties of hemoglobin is to alter the intrinsic reactivities of the deoxy and liganded conformations. Heme modification does not,...
Rottensteiner U, Palm F, Kofler J.The purpose of this study was to map the coxofemoral region in foals to obtain ultrasonographic reference values for the interpretation of potentially pathological findings in hip joints. Using a 7.5 MHz linear transducer, 38 examinations were carried out: 10 (20 joints) on cadavers and 28 (55 joints) on live healthy foals up to 8 weeks of age. The chosen plane of examination was caudolateral-craniomedial oblique on an imaginary line connecting the greater trochanter and the cranial edge of the tuber sacrale. The relatively thin muscular layer covering the coxofemoral joint allowed good image ...
Gibson VA, Stover SM, Martin RB, Gibeling JC, Willits NH, Gustafson MB, Griffin LV.This is the first in a series of experiments to study the fatigue properties of equine cannon (third metacarpal) bone specimens from Thoroughbred racehorses. Monotonic and fatigue tests to failure were performed in four-point bending on diaphyseal specimens in a 37 degrees C saline bath to answer three initial questions. (a) Will a linear variable differential transducer yield the same elastic modulus as strain gauges? (b) Will fatigue results depend on whether the periosteal or endosteal side of the beam is in tension? (c) Are there regional variations in the monotonic and fatigue properties ...
Hank AM, Hoffmann WE, Sanecki RK, Schaeffer DJ, Dorner JL.Automated and semiautomated assays were developed and validated for the determination of equine alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes including intestinal (IALP), bone (BALP), and liver (LALP). The addition of levamisole selectively inhibited more than 97% of LALP while inhibiting only 55% of IALP. Because these percentages were highly reproducible in an automated system, the IALP activity could be calculated in a sample. Bone alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme was selectively precipitated by adding an equal volume of wheat germ agglutinin (5 mg/mL), incubating for 30 minutes at 37 degrees C, and centri...
Smith RK, McGuigan MP, Hyde JT, Daly AS, Pardoe CH, Lock AN, Wilson AM.Metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint extension is primarily resisted by the digital flexor tendons and suspensory ligament. A variety of external support techniques are used to protect these supporting structures from or after injury by resisting MCP joint extension, although not all are effective and/or practical for use in an exercising horse. In this study, 7 forelimbs were loaded in vitro to determine the effect of a simple gamgee bandage, a 3-layered bandage with and without a contoured palmar splint, a neoprene exercise boot, and an innovative carbon fibre composite exercise boot (Dalmar tend...
Vagnoni KE, Ginther OJ, Lunn DP.Chorionic girdle cells are a highly invasive subpopulation of trophoblast cells of the equine conceptus. By Day 35 (Day 0 = day of ovulation), cells of the chorionic girdle adhere to the uterine epithelium and begin to invade the endometrial wall. Invasive cells must attach to extracellular matrix proteins, secrete proteinases capable of degrading matrix, and migrate through the degraded matrix; invasion is largely dependent on the proteinase activity of the cells. The objective, therefore, was to develop an in vitro system to examine the mechanisms of equine chorionic girdle cell invasion thr...
Chopineau M, Stewart F, Allen WR.The coding regions of the horse (Equus caballus) and donkey (E. asinus) luteinizing hormone (LH) beta-subunit transcripts were cloned from pituitary gland RNA, in order to investigate their relationships to the corresponding equine chorionic gonadotropin (CG) beta-subunits and to further understand the unusual receptor-binding properties of equine LH and CG. The horse and donkey LH beta-subunit sequences were very similar (97% identity at the nucleotide (nt) level; 93% at the amino acid (aa) level), confirming their very close evolutionary linkage and also indicating that the C-terminal extens...
Kumar P, Mehta JS, Ravi SK, Dedar RK, Purohit GN, Legha RA, Tripathi BN, Talluri TR.The present study was conducted with the hypothesis that addition of cholesterol to the extender would stabilize the sperm membranes by increasing the cholesterol-to-phospholipid (C:P) ratio and would result in an improved post-thaw semen quality and reduce oxidative stress in the jack (Martina franca) semen. Forty-eight ejaculates from six jacks were collected and analyzed for the present study. The freshly collected semen sample of each jack stallion was divided into five equal fractions after addition of the primary extender without cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin (CLC) (C) and with 1, 1.5,...
Rochais C, Stomp M, Sébilleau M, Houdebine M, Henry S, Hausberger M.Attention is a central process of cognition and influences the execution of daily tasks. In humans, different types of work require different attentional skills and sport performance is associated with the ability to attention shift. Attention towards humans varies in dogs used for different types of work. Whether this variation is due to the recruitment of individuals suitable for specific types of work, or to the characteristics of the work, remains unclear. In the present study, we hypothesized that domestic horses (Equus caballus) trained for different types of work would also demonstrate ...
Dunne K, Brereton B, Duggan V, Campion D.Veterinary nurses report an intrinsic desire to work with animals. However, this motivation may be eroded by poor working conditions and low pay, resulting in the exit of experienced veterinary nurses from clinical practice. This study sought to quantify the level of animal-handling experience students possessed at the start of their training and to explore the factors motivating them to enter veterinary nurse training in two Irish third-level institutions. The authors had noted a tendency for veterinary nursing students to possess limited animal-handling skills, despite their obvious motivati...
Lehnhard RA, McKeever KH, Kearns CF, Beekley MD.There are limited data on age-related changes in body composition or skeletal muscle in the horse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate any differences in muscle myosin heavy chain (MHC) and body composition associated with aging. Twenty-three young (4-8 years) and eight old (20+ years) unfit Standardbred mares were evaluated. Rump fat thickness was measured using B-mode ultrasound and per cent body fat (% fat) was calculated. Needle muscle biopsies were obtained from right gluteus medius muscle. MHC composition was determined via sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel e...
Waller AP, Lindinger MI.Exercise results in rapid and large extracellular to intracellular fluid shifts, as well as significant sweating losses of water and ions. It is unknown whether ions within oral electrolyte supplements are taken up by muscle (and other soft tissues) and whether oral supplementation can effectively offset sweating losses. Pre-loading with 8 L of a balanced hypotonic electrolyte supplement attenuated extracellular fluid losses, increased exercise duration and increased sweating fluid and ion losses during submaximal exercise. Supplemented electrolytes appear in skeletal muscle within 1 h after...
Decurnex V, Anderson GA, Davies HM.Most lameness in horses relates to foot problems and may be associated with changes in hoof shape, but there is a lack of information on the influence of normal exercise on hoof shape. Objective: To investigate the effect of training on proximal hoof circumference in young Thoroughbred racehorses being prepared for racing. Methods: Thirty-seven young Thoroughbred racehorses were included in this study. Front hoof circumference immediately below the coronary band was measured weekly with a measuring tape in all horses present at the stable. Most horses accomplished a minimum of 2 training perio...
Kjellberg L, Morgan K.Interest in the use of open barns on Swedish horse farms is increasing as an alternative to keeping horses in box stalls and as a 2007 law requires phasing out of tie stalls. To provide adequate forage to satisfy welfare requirements for nutrition, gut health and behavioural needs, the use of automated feeding is also increasing. Studies on forage intake rate report wide variation but provide little information on how to introduce horses to an automatic forage station and on how forage intake rate varies in individual horses fed using an automatic forage station. This study documented the proc...
Kang H, Zsoldos RR, Skinner JE, Gaughan JB, Mellor VA, Sole-Guitart A.The frequent monitoring of a horse’s body temperature post strenuous exercise is critical to prevent or alleviate exertional heat illness (EHI) from occurring. Percutaneous thermal sensing microchip (PTSM) technology has the potential to be used as a means of monitoring a horse’s body temperature during and post-exercise. However, the accuracy of the temperature readings obtained, and their relationship to core body temperature are dependent on where they are implanted. This study aimed to document the relationship between core body temperature, and temperature readings obtained using PTSM...
Mucha V, Hollý J, Varečková E, Kostolanský F.Avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) are able to overcome the interspecies barrier and adapt to the new non-avian host. The process of adaptation requires the adaptive changes of IAV genome resulting in amino acid substitutions. The aim of this work was the description of amino acid substitutions in avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) occurring during their adaptation to equine host. Today, viruses of the equine influenza H3N8 subtype, first isolated in 1963, represent a single genetic lineage of IAV causing a respiratory disease in horses. We compared the amino acid sequences of the conserve...
