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.
Hood DM, Wagner IP, Taylor DD, Brumbaugh GW, Chaffin MK.To compare limb-load distribution between horses with and without acute or chronic laminitis. Methods: 10 horses with carbohydrate-induced acute laminitis, 20 horses with naturally occurring chronic laminitis, and 20 horses without foot abnormalities (controls). Methods: Limb-load distribution was determined, using a custom-designed system that allowed simultaneous quantification of the mean percentage of body weight voluntarily placed on each limb (ie, mean limb load) and the SD of the mean load over a 5-minute period (ie, load distribution profile [LDP]). Load distribution profile was used a...
Acker DA, Curran S, Bersu ET, Ginther OJ.To describe the gross and histologic changes that develop in the equine embryo proper (ie, the portion of the embryo that becomes the fetus) from days 17 to 40 after ovulation and to compare the external features of equine embryos with those of porcine, ovine, and human embryos. Methods: 34 embryos collected from mixed-breed pony mares. Methods: External features for each embryo proper, including length, number of branchial arches, growth of appendages, face and head features, and body features, were examined, using a dissecting microscope, for embryos collected on days 17 to 40. Internal feat...
Robert C, Valette JP, Denoix JM.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of speed and slope on the activity of trunk muscles. The electromyographic (EMG) activity of the splenius (Sp), longissimus dorsi (LD) and rectus abdominis (RA) muscles was recorded with surface electrodes during treadmill locomotion at trot for different combinations of speed (3.5 to 6 m/s) and slope (0 to 6%). Raw EMG signals were processed to determine activity duration, onset and end and integrated EMG (IEMG). For the 3 muscles investigated, onset and end of activity were obtained earlier in the stride cycle when speed increased. A long...
Aranguren-Méndez J, Jordana J, Gomez M.Genetic diversity at 13 equine microsatellite loci was compared in five endangered Spanish donkey breeds: Andaluza, Catalana, Mallorquina, Encartaciones and Zamorano-Leonesa. All of the equine microsatellites used in this study were amplified and were polymorphic in the domestic donkey breeds with the exception of HMS1, which was monomorphic, and ASB2, which failed to amplify. Allele number, frequency distributions and mean heterozygosities were very similar among the Spanish donkey breeds. The unbiased expected heterozygosity (H(E)) over all the populations varied between 0.637 and 0.684 in t...
Hawe C, Dixon PM, Mayhew IG.The electrodiagnostic measurement of the thoracolaryngeal reflex (TLR) ('slap test') latency was compared to 5 other diagnostic techniques used for evaluation of laryngeal function, namely laryngeal muscle palpation, resting and immediately postexercise endoscopic examinations, and palpable and endoscopic responses to the TLR. Compared to resting endoscopy, the electrodiagnostic measurement of TLR latency was not found to be an accurate test for the evaluation of recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN), nor was laryngeal muscle palpation or the endoscopic response to the TLR. Twenty-five (71%) of...
Abraham G, Broddet OE, Ungemach FR.In this study, beta-adrenoceptors of intact equine lymphocytes were identified and subclassified by (-)-[125I]-iodocyanopindolol (ICYP) binding. ICYP binding to intact equine lymphocytes was rapid, saturable (maximal number of binding sites 320 +/- 20 ICYP binding sites/cell, n = 12) and of high affinity (KD value for ICYP 14.4 +/- 1.7 pmol/l, n = 12). Binding was stereospecific as shown by the 10 times greater potency of (-)-propranolol to inhibit binding than its (+)-isomer. Beta-adrenoceptor agonists inhibited ICYP binding with an order of potency: (-)-isoprenaline >(-)-adrenaline >(-...
Tremoleda JL, Schoevers EJ, Stout TA, Colenbrander B, Bevers MM.Meiotic maturation of mammalian oocytes is a complex process during which microfilaments and microtubules provide the framework for chromosomal reorganisation and cell division. The aim of this study was to use fluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy to examine changes in the distribution of these important cytoskeletal elements and their relationship to chromatin configuration during the maturation of horse oocytes in vitro. Oocytes were cultured in M199 supplemented with pFSH and eLH and, at 0, 12, 24, and 36 hr after the onset of culture, they were fixed for immunocytochemistry ...
Vollmerhaus B, Knospe C, Roos H.Phylogenetic research on the teeth of equidae beginning with dagger Hyracotherium ('Eohippus') will be summarized, subdivided into its components, analysed in a new way and finally interpreted according to several theories of evolution. In this context, specific cells (ameloblasts, odontoblasts, cementoblasts) are discussed and valued according to Preuss (1987) as active carriers of the evolution of teeth.
Richard F, Messaoudi C, Lombard M, Dutrillaux B.Using human chromosome painting probes, we looked for homologies between human and mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae, Equidae, Perissodactyla) karyotypes. Except for two very short segments, all euchromatic regions were found to have a human homologous chromosome segment. Conserved syntenies previously described in various mammalian orders were detected. Each synteny corresponded to a chromosomal region homologous to two parts of human chromosomes: HSA3 and HSA21, HSA7 and HSA16, HSA12 and HSA22, and HSA16 and HSA19. Chromosomal segments homologous to a part of HSA11 and HSA19p are found ...
Sleeper MM, Durando MM, Miller M, Habecker PL, Reef VB.Clinical findings in 4 horses with aortic root disease are described. Three of the horses had aneurysms of the right aortic sinus, and in 2 of the 3, the aneurysm ruptured, creating a fistula between the aorta and right ventricle. One of these horses had had a murmur since birth, and the aortic sinus aneurysm may have been a congenital anomaly. In a second horse, the aneurysm may have been an acquired condition that developed secondary to chronic aortic regurgitation. Another horse had a large subendocardial hematoma associated with dissection of blood from the aorta to the interventricular se...
Staniar WB, Kronfeld DS, Wilson JA, Lawrence LA, Cooper WL, Harris PA.Growth and protein status were examined in Thoroughbred foals and yearlings offered pasture supplements with different crude protein contents and amino acid compositions. Both supplements contained 3.0 Mcal/kg DM, 10% corn oil, 1.4% calcium, and three sources of fiber. The control supplement contained 14% CP and 22% soybean meal, whereas the experimental supplement contained 9% CP and 3% soybean meal and was fortified with 0.6% lysine and 0.4% threonine. Mares and foals were fed twice daily (0700 and 1400) and kept on 12.14-hectare pastures (mixed grass and ladino clover) until weaning (6 mo)....
Worster AA, Brower-Toland BD, Fortier LA, Bent SJ, Williams J, Nixon AJ.This study evaluated chondrogenesis of mesenchymal progenitor stem cells (MSCs) cultured initially under pre-confluent monolayer conditions exposed to transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), and subsequently in three-dimensional cultures containing insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Bone marrow aspirates and chondrocytes were obtained from horses and cultured in monolayer with 0 or 5 ng of TGF-beta 1 per ml of medium for 6 days. TGF-beta 1 treated and untreated cultures were distributed to three-dimensional fibrin disks containing 0 or 100 ng of IGF-I per ml of medium to establish fou...
Schmidt O, Deegen E, Fuhrmann H, Dühlmeier R, Sallmann HP.The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a fat-supplemented diet compared with a carbohydrate diet on the lipid metabolism and the enteroinsular axis of Shetland ponies. The 'crossover' experiment was divided into two parts: in the first 10 weeks the diets comprised the correct number of calories according to requirements and in the following 10 weeks they were hypercaloric, in order to check the effect of a different energy content of the diets. Feeding the fat-enriched diet, independently of its energy content, led to a significant decrease in plasma triglycerides, associate...
Carneiro G, Lorenzo P, Pimentel C, Pegoraro L, Bertolini M, Ball B, Anderson G, Liu I.The effects of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its interaction with gonadotropins, estradiol, and fetal calf serum (FCS) on in vitro maturation (IVM) of equine oocytes were investigated in this study. We also examined the role of IGF-I in the presence or absence of gonadotropins, estradiol, and FCS in parthenogenic cleavage after oocyte activation with calcium ionophore combined with 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP), using cleavage rate as a measure of cytoplasmic maturation. Only equine cumulus-oocyte complexes with compact cumulus and homogenous ooplasm (n = 817) were used. In experim...
Tiralongo J, Schmid H, Thun R, Iwersen M, Schauer R.Microsomes prepared from equine submandibular glands and incubated with tritium-labelled AcCoA incorporated acid-insoluble radioactivity in a manner dependent on time, protein, membrane integrity and AcCoA concentration, with incorporation being optimal at 37 degrees C and pH 6.6. Under the experimental conditions used a K(M) of 32.1 microM for AcCoA and a V(max) of 1.2 pmol/mg protein x min was obtained. The incorporation of acid-insoluble radioactivity was also inhibited by CoA in a competitive manner (K(i)=240 microM), as well as by para-chloromercuribenzoate, 3'-dephospho-CoA, 5'-IDP, 5'-A...
Sanders SG, Tucker RL, Bagley RS, Gavin PR.Magnetic resonance imaging (MR) was used to make a diagnosis of equine nigropallidal encephalomalacia in a horse. Equine nigropallidal encephalomalacia is a neurodegenerative disease that has many characteristics with Parkinson-like diseases in humans. Historically, horses were euthanized based on clinical signs and exposure to the toxic weed, yellow star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis). Previously, the disease has only been confirmed on necropsy. MR imaging can provide accurate and sensitive visualization of typical lesions seen in the brain of horses affected with equine nigropallidal encep...
Gazêta GS, Guerim L, Amorim M, Serra-Freire NM.Variation between aeropile numbers of the right and left peritrematic plate in male and female Anocentor nitens (Neumann, 1897) is reported from a site in Brazil. From January to December 1998, 146 males and 247 females of A. nitens were recovered from Equus caballus L. in Silva Jardim District, State of Rio de Janeiro. Asymmetry of numbers of aeropiles between right and left plates occurred in 83.6% of the males and 82.2% of the females. Differences in the number of aeropiles between the sexes were not significant. Quantitative variation of aeropiles was correlated to the period of recovery, ...
Henry T, Bishop I.Adjunct extraction techniques are used when the shape or integrity of the tooth, the shape or size of the patient's oral cavity, the location of the tooth, or the location of the proximal teeth prevents or complicates standard oral extraction. Techniques described and discussed include partial coronectomy, tooth sectioning, minimally invasive buccotomy, transbuccal screw extraction, and commissurotomy.
Stefaniuk M, Kaczor U, Augustyn R, Gurgul A, Kulisa M, Podstawski Z.Myostatin (GDF-8) encoded by the MSTN gene is a negative regulator of muscle growth and development and belongs to the TGF-β superfamily of secreted growth and differentiation factors. In Thoroughbred horses, an MSTN sequence polymorphism (g.66493737C>T) is associated with optimum race distance. In the present study, a genetic polymorphism of a predicted promoter of the MSTN gene was investigated in 451 horses belonging to five different breeds: Arabian, Thoroughbred, Polish Konik, Hucul and Polish Heavy Draft. Two SNPs located at g.66495826T>C and g.66495696T>C (chr;18 EquCab 2.0) s...
Sinha AK, Rose RJ, Pozgaj I, Hoh JF.The histochemical ATPase method for muscle fibre typing was first described by Brooke and Kaiser in 1970. However, problems have been found with the subdivision of type II fibres using this technique. To determine whether indirect myosin immunocytochemistry using anti-slow (5-4D), anti-fast (1A10) and anti-fast red (5-2B) monoclonal antibodies with cross reactivity for type I, II and IIa fibres, respectively, in a number of species, could identify three fibre types in equine skeletal muscle, data on fibre type composition and fibre size obtained using the two different techniques were compared...
Villagomez DAF, Welsford EG, King WA, Revay T.In the domestic horse; failure of normal masculinization and virilization due to deficiency of androgenic action leads to a specific disorder of sexual development known as equine androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). Affected individuals appear to demonstrate an incoherency between their genetic sex and sexual phenotype; i.e., XY-sex chromosome constitution and female phenotypic appearance. AIS is well documented in humans. Here we report the finding of two novel genetic variants for the AR-gene identified in a Tennessee Walking Horse and a Thoroughbred horse mare; each in individual clinica...
Kempson SA.Farrier's Formula feed supplement was added to the diet of 18 horses with two types of hoof horn defects. The first group of horses showed sand cracks and crumbling horn around the nail holes; the second group suffered frequent bruising and had flat feet with collapsed heels. Hoof clippings from both groups were studied in the transmission and scanning electron microscopes. All the horses showed a progressive improvement in the gross and microscopic structure of the hoof horn, starting six weeks after the supplementation began. Once good quality hoof horn had grown there was no relapse during ...
Ohta M, Bannai H, Kambayashi Y, Tsujimura K, Tamura N, Iwamoto Y, Wakuno A, Yamayoshi S, Kawaoka Y, Nemoto M.Updating vaccine strains is important to control equine influenza (EI). Previously, we reported that a monovalent inactivated EI vaccine derived from a virus generated by reverse genetics (RG) elicited immunogenicity in horses. In the present study, we compared antibody responses to a bivalent inactivated EI vaccine generated by RG and a commercially available bivalent inactivated EI (CO) vaccine derived from wild-type equine influenza viruses in Thoroughbred horses. The CO vaccine contained A/equine/Ibaraki/1/2007 (Florida sub-lineage clade 1) and A/equine/Yokohama/aq13/2010 (Florida sub-line...
Bugno M, Slota E, Witarski W, Gerber V, Klukowska-Roetzler J.The results obtained in the present study enabled the physical map of the donkey genome to be extended with markers associated with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), a major performance-limiting disease of Equidae. The equine BAC clone containing the IL4R and CLCA1 genes were localized to EAS 14q13 and EAS 6q15 respectlivy by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Identification of their locus confirmed the distribution of syntenic regions between the domestic horse and the domestic donkey within the chromosomes analysed.
Sumner-Smith G, Bell M, Manley P, Caddell E, Hoare J.The advances made by the use of a telemetric system in the study of bone strain in a free-moving horse are reported. A rosette strain gauge was bonded to the craniomedial aspect of the metacarpus of the horse. Attachment of a miniature FM transmitter to lead wires facilitated telemetric transmission of of resistance changes which corresponded to limb movement. During 3 different gaits, the trace pattern remained similar, although frequency and amplitude varied. The tracings were similar to those reported in other species in which nontelemetric transmission was used.
Patoux S, Istasse L.Eight trained horses (6 mares - 2 geldings, 6 Selle Français, 2 Trotteur Français, 12 ± 5.8 years old, 538 ± 72.5 kg) were offered three diets to potentially affect haematology and the fatty acids (FA) profiles in red blood cells (RBC) membranes. The control diet was composed of 50% hay and 50% concentrate containing mainly rolled barley (48%) and whole spelt (48%). In the case of sunflower oil diet, sunflower oil (62.0% of α-linoleic acid, LA) was incorporated at a rate of 8% and substituted by an equal proportion of barley. In the linseed oil diet, first cold-pressed linseed oil (...
Heitmann C, Levin LS.Tissue expansion in the upper extremity is a valuable technique with expanding indications and expected outcomes. The primary indications are coverage problems after trauma, but the technique is also applicable to defects caused by treatment of hemangioma, nevi, tattoos, or hypertrophic scars as well as correction of unstable tissue or as an alternative to free tissue transfer. The advantage of expansion-specifically, match in tissue texture and retention of sensibility-may be more important in the hand and upper extremity than in other areas. The inevitable capsule that forms around the expan...
Bielański W.Choice of the best methods for semen examination is dictated by the purpose of the examination, whether it be to assess the fertility of an individual stallion or to evaluate individual semen samples for routine purposes. In the author's experience of examining stallion semen, emphasis should be placed upon morphological examination, sperm cinematography and survival tests in vitro. Special problems concerning examination of frozen semen are discussed and the ultrastructure of spermatozoa frozen in the presence and absence of glycerol is described.
Irfan M.Studies have been made on the effect of storage and temperature on factor V in animals and a method for its assay is described. There was a decrease of the factor with age in oxalated plasma of cattle, horses, sheep, dogs, rabbits and one elephant. This deterioration was very rapid in plasma kept at 37C. as compared with that stored at 4C. Rabbit plasma had the highest concentration of factor V followed by dogs, horses, cattle and sheep. Mixing various dilutions of aged plasma kept at 4C. wlth fresh plasma would enable the percentage prothrombin activity to be determined for the assay of facto...
Raeside JI, Liptrap RM, McDonell WN, Milne FJ.Plasma levels of total oestrogens and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) were measured by radioimmunossay in samples taken from various blood vessels in both maternal and fetal compartments in 11 Pony mates. High concentrations of oestrogens (greater than 100 ng/ml of plasma), expressed as oestrone equivalents, were found in the fetal circulation. On both the fetal and maternal sides, oestrogen concentrations were lower in blood going to than from the placenta. DHA concentrations, on the other hand, were higher in blood flowing to the placenta from the fetus. The fetal gonads were seen as the source...
David JS.A total of 424 eggs was recovered from flushings of 176 pairs of oviducts. Of these eggs, 324 were in a state of advanced degeneration (Type 4) and ten appeared to have been recently ovulated (Type 1). The number of eggs/oviduct varied from 0 to 13, most being up to 3 eggs, but fifty oviducts contained no eggs. It is widely believed that unfertilized ova are selectively retained in the oviducts but an alternative explanation for their presence is put forward.