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Topic:Equine Science
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.
Psychological factors affecting equine performance. For optimal individual performance within any equestrian discipline horses must be in peak physical condition and have the correct psychological state. This review discusses the psychological factors that affect the performance of the horse and, in turn, identifies areas within the competition horse industry where current behavioral research and established behavioral modification techniques could be applied to further enhance the performance of animals. In particular, the role of affective processes underpinning temperament, mood and emotional reaction in determining discipline-specific perfo...
Assessment of unassisted recovery from repeated general isoflurane anesthesia in horses following post-anesthetic administration of xylazine or acepromazine or a combination of xylazine and ketamine. To compare the effects of sedative doses of acepromazine, xylazine or xylazine/ketamine administered to horses after isoflurane anesthesia on the quality of recovery and anesthesia recovery times. To determine if recovery scores improve after repeated consecutive anesthetic episodes. Methods: Prospective, randomized, crossover study. Methods: Fifteen adult research horses, 6.5±3.4 years old and weighing 499±40 kg. Methods: Horses undergoing three anesthetic episodes with isoflurane for magnetic resonance of the forelimbs were administered acepromazine (0.02 mg kg(-1) i.v.) or xylazine (0.3 m...
Object habituation in horses: the effect of voluntary versus negatively reinforced approach to frightening stimuli. The ability of horses to habituate to novel objects influences safety in the horse-human relationship. However, the effectiveness of different habituation techniques has not been investigated in detail. Objective: 1) To investigate whether horses show increased stress responses when negatively reinforced to approach novel objects, compared with horses allowed to voluntarily explore the objects and 2) whether a negatively reinforced approach facilitates object habituation. Methods: Twenty-two 2-3-year-old Danish Warmblood geldings were included. Half of the horses (NR group) were negatively rei...
Pulpar temperature changes during mechanical reduction of equine cheek teeth: comparison of different motorised dental instruments, duration of treatments and use of water cooling. Although equine motorised dental instruments are widely used, there is limited information on their thermal effect on teeth. The recently described variation in subocclusal secondary dentine depth overlying individual pulp horns may affect heat transmission to the underlying pulps. Objective: This study compared the effect of 3 different equine motorised dental instruments on the pulpar temperature of equine cheek teeth with and without the use of water cooling. It also evaluated the effect of subocclusal secondary dentine thickness on pulpar temperature changes. Methods: A thermocouple probe ...
The association of age at first start with career length in the Australian Thoroughbred racehorse population. Studies of Thoroughbred racing populations have provided evidence of a positive effect on racing careers for horses that commence racing as 2-year-olds. Currently, research investigating the presence of this effect in the Australian Thoroughbred racing population is limited. Objective: To investigate the association between age at first start and career length in the Australian Thoroughbred population and estimate the risk of racing retirement for horses racing in Australia based on age at first start, career earnings, number of starts as a 2-year-old and distance raced. Methods: Data were col...
Equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMDMSCs) from the ilium and sternum: are there differences? The 2 sites of bone marrow harvest for isolation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) in the horse are the sternum and ilium. The technical procedure is based on practitioner preference, but no studies have compared MSC concentrations and growth rates between the sites in horses aged 2-5 years. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare nucleated cell counts and growth rates between the sternum and ilium and between consecutive 5 ml bone marrow aspirates. We hypothesised that there would be a higher concentration of MSCs in the sternum than the ilium, and that the first sequential a...
Magnetic resonance imaging of pulp in normal and diseased equine cheek teeth. A retrospective analysis of 619 upper and lower cheek teeth from 62 horses was performed. Based on clinical findings, as well as radiographic and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings, the teeth were classified into five groups. There were 20 teeth with abnormal MR imaging signals as well as clinical alterations and 599 healthy teeth. Using MR imaging, the appearance of pulp in diseased and disease-free teeth was compared, and the appearance of abnormal pulp was studied. Subsequently, the ability of MR imaging to diagnose pulpitis and pulp necrosis in teeth with normal external appearance w...
The dental cavities of equine cheek teeth: three-dimensional reconstructions based on high resolution micro-computed tomography. Recent studies reported on the very complex morphology of the pulp system in equine cheek teeth. The continuous production of secondary dentine leads to distinct age-related changes of the endodontic cavity. Detailed anatomical knowledge of the dental cavities in all ages is required to explain the aetiopathology of typical equine endodontic diseases. Furthermore, data on mandibular and maxillary pulp systems is in high demand to provide a basis for the development of endodontic therapies. However, until now examination of the pulp cavity has been based on either sectioned teeth or clinical co...
Doping control analysis of TB-500, a synthetic version of an active region of thymosin β₄, in equine urine and plasma by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A veterinary preparation known as TB-500 and containing a synthetic version of the naturally occurring peptide LKKTETQ has emerged. The peptide segment (17)LKKTETQ(23) is the active site within the protein thymosin β(4) responsible for actin binding, cell migration and wound healing. The key ingredient of TB-500 is the peptide LKKTETQ with artificial acetylation of the N-terminus. TB-500 is claimed to promote endothelial cell differentiation, angiogenesis in dermal tissues, keratinocyte migration, collagen deposition and decrease inflammation. In order to control the misuse of TB-500 in equin...
The feral horse foot. Part A: observational study of the effect of environment on the morphometrics of the feet of 100 Australian feral horses. To better understand the morphology of, and the effect of different travel patterns and varying substrate environments on, the feral horse foot to better manage the feet of domestic horses. Methods: The left forefeet of 20 adult feral horses from each of five geographically separated populations in Australia (n = 100) were investigated. Populations were selected on the basis of substrate hardness under foot and the amount of travel typical for the population. Feet were radiographed and photographed and 40 morphometric measurements of each foot were obtained. Results: Of the 40 parameters, 37 d...
The basics of farriery as a prelude to therapeutic farriery. Domesticated horses need hoof care, because it is rare for wear and growth of the hooves to be in perfect equilibrium. During the shoeing interval, the hoof grows downwards and forward in the direction of the horn tubules, losing some degree of angle. Few horses have perfect limb conformation. The shape of a hoof of a limb with conformation defects adapts in a predictable way. If, for therapeutic or performance reasons, the hoof-shoe combination is modified, there is a not a lot of leeway in the trim of a particular foot, whereas the applied shoe type, placement, and adjustments provide endles...
Therapeutic farriery: one veterinarian’s perspective. Therapeutic shoeing is best directed at a specific diagnosis, but in the absence of a specific diagnosis, it is frequently directed at a symptom. There are only so many ways to modify the function of the foot with trimming and shoeing. The design of a horse shoe may often be modified to improve one aspect of foot function. Modifying a horse shoe to improve one aspect of foot function almost invariably impacts another aspect of foot function. The application of horse shoes may be based on a specific diagnosis or directed at a symptom. The application of shoeing principles is best approached usi...
Farriery for the hoof with a high heel or club foot. A club foot or flexural deformity may affect a horse at any stage of life from neonate through adulthood. The emphasis of this article is on defining and recommending the appropriate farriery for flexural deformities involving the deep digital flexor tendon and the distal interphalangeal joint. Clinical management of the flexural deformity is influenced by the severity, duration, and etiology of the club foot as well as the degree and source of lameness. Also discussed is the management of mismatched hoof angles, which remains a controversial subject for both farrier and veterinarian.
The importance of therapeutic farriery in equine practice. For an equine practice to offer therapeutic farriery as a professional service, that service must be founded in individual competence and cooperation between veterinarian and farrier. Inadequate farriery education and experience may result in substandard or even contraindicated therapeutic farriery prescriptions and farrier care. Within continuing education for equine practitioners, excellent opportunities to advance one's understanding of and clinical competence in therapeutic farriery are increasingly available. It is the obligation of the veterinarian to acquire and maintain a working under...
Genetic (co)variance components across age for Show Jumping performance as an estimation of phenotypic plasticity ability in Spanish horses. The purpose of this study was to study phenotypic plasticity ability for Show Jumping performance in horses according to age differences. For this study, 11 352 participations, belonging to 1085 horses grouped by age (4-, 5- or 6-year olds), were analysed. repeatability animal models (RAM) and multiple trait animal models (MTAM) were compared. RAM assumed the same covariance components for all age groups, whereas MTAM considered the results of every animal at every age group as different (but correlated) traits. The age, sex, starting order and training level were included as fixed effects. T...
Structures of bovine, equine and leporine serum albumin. Serum albumin first appeared in early vertebrates and is present in the plasma of all mammals. Its canonical structure supported by a conserved set of disulfide bridges is maintained in all mammalian serum albumins and any changes in sequence are highly correlated with evolution of the species. Previous structural investigations of mammalian serum albumins have only concentrated on human serum albumin (HSA), most likely as a consequence of crystallization and diffraction difficulties. Here, the crystal structures of serum albumins isolated from bovine, equine and leporine blood plasma are repo...
Whole transcriptome analyses of six thoroughbred horses before and after exercise using RNA-Seq. Thoroughbred horses are the most expensive domestic animals, and their running ability and knowledge about their muscle-related diseases are important in animal genetics. While the horse reference genome is available, there has been no large-scale functional annotation of the genome using expressed genes derived from transcriptomes. Results: We present a large-scale analysis of whole transcriptome data. We sequenced the whole mRNA from the blood and muscle tissues of six thoroughbred horses before and after exercise. By comparing current genome annotations, we identified 32,361 unigene cluster...
Persistence of an immunoreactive MUC1 protein at the feto-maternal interface throughout pregnancy in the mare. A polyclonal human mucin-1 (MUC1) antibody was used to stain immunohistochemically for the presence of MUC1 on the endometrium and fetal membranes in mares between 20 and 309 days of gestation. Western blot analysis demonstrated the presence of a protein equivalent in size to a human MUC1 isoform, MUC1/Y, in equine endometrium, allantochorion and amnion. At all stages of gestation examined immunoreactivity to the MUC1 antibody was detected on the apical surface of the lumenal epithelium of the endometrium and the epithelium lining the mouths and apical regions of the endometrial glands. Furthe...
Towards a postural indicator of back pain in horses (Equus caballus). Postures have long been used and proved useful to describe animals' behaviours and emotional states, but remains difficult to assess objectively in field conditions. A recent study performed on horses using geometric morphometrics revealed important postural differences between 2 horse populations differing in management conditions (leisure horses living in social groups used for occasional "relaxed" riding/riding school horses living in individual boxes used in daily riding lessons with more constraining techniques). It was suggested that these postural differences may reflect chronic effects...
Biosynthesis of oestrogen by the early equine embryo proper. The embryo proper in early equine pregnancy has recently been shown to have a remarkable capacity for metabolism of oestrogens. High concentrations of oestrogens in yolk-sac fluid could provide substrate for local metabolism in tissues of the embryo proper and this activity could have significance for early development. Due to the high level of oestrogen metabolism in the embryo proper we examined the possibility that it could also biosynthesise oestrogens. Conceptuses were collected in the fourth week of pregnancy (n=23) and the embryo was separated from extraembryonic tissues for incubation ...
Content validity of the Rodeo-SCAT. The purpose of this study was to establish the content validity of the Rodeo SCAT for the sport of rodeo and bull riding. The study design was comprised of expert consensus and content validation. A modified Ebel procedure was employed to content validate the rodeo SCAT. Content validation using this method includes experts agreeing on the importance of each item that comprises the rodeo SCAT. This 3-stage process involved: 1) face validation by a local committee: 2) initial expert consensus measurement via distance; and 3) a face-to-face discussion for items that did not originally achieve 80...
Comparative analysis of serotonin in equine plasma with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serotonin is regularly measured in equine platelet-poor plasma in research settings. However, reported reference values vary between studies, partially because plasma serotonin concentrations are very low and a reliable and affordable detection method is lacking. A simple, rapid, and sensitive method for serotonin determination in equine platelet-poor plasma using liquid chromatography--tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated. Results of a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were compared to the LC-MS/MS results, in order to validate a test ...
Assessing fitness in endurance horses. A field test and a standardized treadmill test were used to assess fitness in endurance horses. These tests discriminated horses of different race levels: horses participating in races of 120 km and more showed higher values of VLA4 (velocity at which blood lactate reached 4 mmol/L) and V200 (velocity at which heart rates reached 200 beats per min) than horses of lower race levels. Un test sur le terrain et un test sur tapis roulant ont été utilisés pour évaluer la condition physique des chevaux d’endurance. Ces tests ont séparé les chevaux de différents niveaux de course : les cheva...
Prevalence study in horses infected by Gasterophilus sp. in an eastern region of Poland. A survey to determine current prevalence of Gasterophilus spp. (bot flies) in equids (n=400) at necropsy in slaughtered horses was conducted at the abattoir in Rawicz. The evaluation was performed according to sex, age, larval stages, severity of infestation and localization, respectively. Only Gasterophilus intestinalis and Gasterophilus nasalis were detected. The prevalence determined in the eastern part of Poland was of 47%. The high prevalence of this parasite infection in the Polish horse population confirms that Gasterophilosis spp. has to be taken into serious consideration and prophyla...
A preliminary study into the correlation of stiffness of the laminar junction of the equine hoof with the length density of its secondary lamellae. The relationship between mechanical behaviour and microscopic structure of the laminar junction of equine hooves under testing conditions requires elucidation. Objective: To determine mechanical parameters and 2D length density of profiles of secondary lamellae of the laminar junction in the dermal region and to assess possible correlations. Methods: Specimens (25 samples in total) of the laminar junction were taken from front, quarter and heel parts from 3 equine hooves and exposed to a uniaxial tensile test until rupture to obtain Young's moduli of elasticity, ultimate stress and strain. Nei...
Time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) of the normal equine head. Noncontrast magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is widely used in human and small animal medicine. However, this technique has not yet been described in the horse, and compared to other angiographic techniques MRA could be more cost efficient and potentially safer. Objective: The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive anatomical reference of the normal equine head vasculature using a noncontrast MRA technique, on both low- and high-field MRI. Methods: Five healthy adult horses were examined, 4 with a low-field magnet (0.23T) and the remaining one with a high-field magnet (1.5T). The...
