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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.
The effect of aging on immune responses. Although vaccine manufacturers make no specific recommendations regarding the vaccination of older horses and ponies, the similarities in age-induced immunologic changes between human beings and equids suggests that similar vaccination recommendations should be followed. The need for vaccination of the older horse depends, of course, on the relative risk of exposure for the individual horse. Particular care should be taken when using attenuated vaccine products because these live agents may pose a unique risk to the older individual. Immunization with inactivated agent vaccines is likely to be...
Effects of dead spermatozoa on motion characteristics and membrane integrity of live spermatozoa in fresh and cooled-stored equine semen. The aim of this study was to determine if dead spermatozoa reduced motility or membrane integrity of live spermatozoa in fresh and cooled-stored equine semen. Three ejaculates from each of three stallions were centrifuged and virtually all seminal plasma was removed. Spermatozoa were resuspended to 25 x 10(6) spermatozoa/ml with EZ-Mixin CST extender and 10% autologous seminal plasma, then divided into aliquots to which 0 (control), 10, 25, 50, or 75% (v/v) dead spermatozoa were added. Dead spermatozoa preparations contained 25 x 10(6) spermatozoa/ml and 10% seminal plasma from pooled ejaculat...
Effect of ovary storage and oocyte transport method on maturation rate of horse oocytes. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of storage on equine ovaries or isolated oocytes. Ovaries were collected at an abattoir and were maintained at room temperature during collection and transport (3-9h total). After arrival at the laboratory, ovaries were divided into three groups: immediate oocyte collection (control), storage at room temperature overnight (15-18 h) before oocyte collection, or storage at 4 degrees C overnight before oocyte collection. Collected oocytes were cultured in maturation medium for 24h. There was a significant increase in the proportion of oocyte...
Dental care in the older horse. Dental care in any horse need not be looked at as the difficult challenge it used to be before the days of sedation and tungsten carbide and diamond cutting wheels. Horses are living longer and more comfortable lives thanks, in part, to the advancements of dental care and special dietary rations. With the evolution of the horse's place in family circles today, people want the best care possible for their animals. Dentistry has become an important part of that care.
Meiotic competence of equine oocytes and pronucleus formation after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as related to granulosa cell apoptosis. Follicle atresia and granulosa cell apoptosis may be related to oocyte meiotic and developmental competence. We analyzed the relationships among granulosa cell apoptosis, initial cumulus morphology, oocyte nuclear maturation in vitro, and pronucleus formation after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the horse. For each follicle, the size was measured and granulosa cells were used for DNA laddering analysis. Oocytes were evaluated for cumulus morphology, cultured for in vitro maturation, and submitted to ICSI. Apoptosis was categorized as absent, intermediate, or advanced according to t...
The effect of strenuous exercise on mRNA concentrations of interleukin-12, interferon-gamma and interleukin-4 in equine pulmonary and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The effect of strenuous exercise on the mRNA concentrations of interleukin-12p35 subunit (IL-12p35), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in equine pulmonary and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was investigated. We hypothesized that strenuous exercise would suppress the expression of IL-12p35, IFN-gamma and augment the expression of IL-4. Eleven horses were randomly divided into two groups, a stall-confined control group (n=5) and an exercise-conditioned treatment group (n=6). Bronchoalveolar and PBMCs were obtained from horses in the treatment group prior to the co...
Muscarinic receptors in equine airways. The distribution of muscarinic receptors in equine airways was investigated using autoradiography. Frozen sections of tissue from six different levels in the bronchial tree, from the trachea to the distal bronchioles, were incubated in vitro with 1.5 nmol/L of the muscarinic receptor antagonist 1-[N-methyl-3H]scopolamine methyl chloride (3H-NMS). In addition, the subtype pattern of muscarinic receptors was investigated in equine tracheal smooth muscle using radioligand binding with methoctramine, tripinamidc, 4-DAMP-methiodide and pirenzipine as competitors against the binding of 1.3 nmol/L 3H...
Overview of horse body composition and muscle architecture: implications for performance. Locomotion requires skeletal muscle to sustain and generate force. A muscle's force potential is proportional to its weight. Since the larger the muscle the larger its potential power output, a better understanding of the proportion of skeletal muscle a horse possesses may lead to a better understanding of horse performance. Several techniques exist to assess body composition, which include dual energy X-ray absorption, underwater (hydrostatic) weighing, derivation from total body water, bio-electric impedance, air displacement, body condition scoring, cadaver dissection and ultrasound. The re...
Embryo technologies in the horse. Recent studies demonstrated that zwitterionic buffers could be used for satisfactory storage of equine embryos at 5 degrees C. The success of freezing embryos is dependent upon size and stage of development. Morulae and blastocysts <300 microm can be slowly cooled or vitrified with acceptable pregnancy rates after transfer. The majority of equine embryos are collected from single ovulating mares, as there is no commercially available product for superovulation in equine. However, pituitary extract, rich in FSH, can be used to increase embryo recovery three- to four-fold. Similar to human me...
Innervation of equine airways. Equine obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or heaves or recurrent airway obstruction, is a common equine pulmonary disease similar to human asthma and/or CODP. Since bronchospasm and inflammation are the key features in heaves, the purpose of this paper is to review the contribution of neural mechanism that may be relevant to this disease. Equine airway receive cholinergic and adrenergic innervation, as well as observed in many species. It was suggested that the autonomic neural control in asthma might be defective with an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory pathways, resulting in ex...
Localization and secretion of inhibins in the equine fetal ovaries. To clarify the source of inhibins in equine female fetuses, concentrations of immunoreactive (ir-) inhibin, inhibin pro-alphaC, and inhibin A in both fetal and maternal circulation and in fetal ovaries were measured. In addition, the localization of inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta(A), and beta(B) subunits and the expression of inhibin alpha(A) and inhibin/activin beta(A) subunit mRNA in fetal ovaries were investigated using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Concentrations of circulating ir-inhibin, inhibin pro-alphaC, and inhibin A were remarkably more elevated in the feta...
The influence of ageing and exercise on tendon growth and degeneration–hypotheses for the initiation and prevention of strain-induced tendinopathies. Strain-induced tendinopathy is a common injury in both human and equine athletes, with increasing incidence associated with greater involvement in sport and an increasingly aged population. This paper reviews our studies on the abundant non-collagenous protein, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), in equine tendons. Its variation between tendon type and site, age and exercise has provided an insight into how age and exercise influence tendon growth and maturation. Tendons can be broadly divided into two types, reflecting their different matrix composition and function: the energy-storin...
Excessive degradation of type II collagen in articular cartilage in equine osteochondrosis. Articular osteochondrosis (OCD) occurs in both man and animals. The etiology remains to be determined. Studies of OCD lesions in animals may provide clues as to its pathogenesis. The aim of our study was to determine whether there was evidence for increased degradation namely proteoglycan (PG) release and type II collagen cleavage in articular cartilage harvested from OCD lesions. We examined ex vivo explants at post-mortem from equine OCD lesions and macroscopically normal site and age matched cartilage. These were cultured over a 10 day period in serum-free medium. Type II collagen cleavage ...
Clenbuterol diminishes aerobic performance in horses. The purpose of this 8-wk study was to examine the effect of therapeutic levels of clenbuterol on aerobic performance and hemodynamics associated with exercise. Methods: Twenty-three unfit Standardbred mares were divided into four experimental groups, clenbuterol (2.4 microg x kg(-1) body weight twice daily) plus exercise (20 min at 50% O2max; CLENEX; N = 6), clenbuterol only (CLEN; N = 6), exercise only (EX; N = 5), and control (CON; N = 6). All horses performed an incremental exercise test (GXT) to measure maximal oxygen consumption (O2max), blood lactate concentration, total plasma protein c...
Leptin in horses: tissue localization and relationship between peripheral concentrations of leptin and body condition. Obesity has been a major concern in the horse industry for many years, and the recent discovery of leptin and leptin receptors in numerous nonequine species has provided a basis for new approaches to study this problem in equine. The objectives were to: 1) clone a partial sequence ofthe equine leptin and leptin receptor genes so as to enable the design of primers for RT-PCR determination of leptin and leptin receptor gene presence and distribution in tissues, 2) develop a radioimmunoassay to quantify peripheral concentrations of leptin in equine, 3) determine if peripheral concentrations of le...
Matua bromegrass hay for mares in gestation and lactation. Matua bromegrass hay (Bromus willdenowii Kunth) is a high quality forage, but its value for mares during gestation and lactation is not well known. Intake, rate of passage, performance, and reproduction by gestating and lactating Quarter Horse mares fed the hay was investigated. In this experiment, 12, 2- to 12-yr-old gravid mares (mean BW = 553 kg, SD = 36) were fed Matua hay (CP = 11.5%) or alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa L.) (CP = 15.4%) for variable days prepartum (mean 59.9 d; SD = 23.5) and for 70 d postpartum. Matua and alfalfa hay were fed as the roughage portion of the diet with a grain ...
Molecular characterization of the equine testis-specific protein 1 (TPX1) and acidic epididymal glycoprotein 2 (AEG2) genes encoding members of the cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP) family. The cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP) family consists of three members called acidic epididymal glycoprotein 1 (AEG1), AEG2, and testis-specific protein 1 (TPX1), which share 16 conserved cysteine residues at their C-termini. The CRISP proteins are primarily expressed in different sections of the male genital tract and are thought to mediate cell-cell interactions of male germ cells with other cells during sperm maturation or during fertilization. Therefore, their genes are of interest as candidate genes for inherited male fertility dysfunctions and as putative quantitative trait loci fo...
The effect of co-culture on the development of in vitro matured equine oocytes after intracytoplastic sperm injection. It is clear that, in the horse, there are many weak links in the process of in vitro embryo production; an optimal culture system for equine oocytes does not exist, and related data are conflicting. Therefore, the ability of 3 different culture systems to support embryonic development of ICSI horse oocytes was examined. Oocytes (n = 261) suitable for culture were collected from 55 ovaries and divided, according to cumulus morphology, into 2 categories: expanded cumulus and compacted cumulus. Oocytes with expanded and compacted cumulus were cultured for in vitro maturation in TCM 199 + 10% FCS ...
Calcium homeostasis and intact plasma parathyroid hormone during exercise and training in young Standardbred horses. Physical exercise is known to affect calcium homeostasis in horses, but there is little information on the hormonal regulation of calcium metabolism during exercise. In order to evaluate the effects of exercise and training on calcium homeostasis and intact plasma parathyroid hormone, 7 untrained Standardbred horses were studied in a 6 week training programme. These horses were accustomed to running on the treadmill 3 weeks before onset of training and were exercised on a high-speed treadmill with an initial incremental standardised exercise test (SET 1: 6 incremental steps of 5 min duration e...
Foraging enrichment for stabled horses: effects on behaviour and selection. The restricted access to pasture experienced by many competition horses has been linked to the exhibition of stereotypic and redirected behaviour patterns. It has been suggested that racehorses provided with more than one source of forage are less likely to perform these patterns; however, the reasons for this are currently unclear. To investigate this in 4 replicated trials, up to 12 horses were introduced into each of 2 identical stables containing a single forage, or 6 forages for 5 min. To detect novelty effects, in the first and third trials the single forage was hay. In the second and fo...
In vitro evaluation of nonrigid support systems for the equine metacarpophalangeal joint. 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...
Pilot epidemiological study of attitudes towards pain in horses. This preliminary study investigated the attitudes, and evaluated the current practice of a sample of the veterinary profession in the UK in relation to the management of pain in horses. In June 2001, a questionnaire was posted to 260 veterinarians in specialised equine practice, and 140 veterinarians in general practice with a significant equine caseload. There was a 25 per cent response rate to the questionnaire, which recorded information about the availability and prescription of analgesic drugs, the factors influencing the selection of analgesics and their administration, and estimates of ...
