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.
Pace-Owens S.Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), developed in 1984, was the result of further studies on in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since that time many nurses have worked in settings near in vitro fertilization centers and, therefore, have a basic understanding of the technology. An overview is given of the GIFT procedure to prepare nurses to advise and refer couples who may qualify for GIFT and to highlight the shift in the fertility program nurse coordinator's functions toward the positions of administrator and consultant.
Haluska GJ, Wilkins K.Rectal temperature was recorded from 22 mares at 0700, 1500 and 2300 h daily for seven days pre-partum and one day post partum. A circadian variation in rectal temperature was present with the lowest temperature recorded at 0700 h. Because of this, the mares were divided into three groups based on time of parturition; those foaling between 0700 and 1500 h (n = 2); between 1500 and 2300 h (n = 13); and between 2300 and 0700 h (n = 7). On the day prior to delivery (Day -1) the circadian pattern was absent because the nocturnal increase did not occur. A significant decrease in temperature was rec...
DeBenedette V.Horseback riding carries several risks, some of which can be minimized if riders take riding lessons, wear proper headgear and footgear, and remember that they are on top of a large, willful animal.
Brostroöm H, Paulie S, Perlmann P.To characterise the expression of surface antigens on equine sarcoid cells compared to normal equine fibroblasts, immune sera were produced in rabbits against transformed cells of a virus-containing sarcoid cell line (Mc-1) and normal dermal fibroblasts, respectively. The specificities of the sera were analysed by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against 51Cr-labelled target cells using human lymphocytes as effector cells. Anti-Mc-1 antiserum induced strong cytotoxicity against transformed cells of two sarcoid cell lines (Mc-1 and Bay Mc-1), whereas the cytotoxicity against transformed...
Beard WL, Lohse CL, Robertson JT.The blood supply to the descending colon of the horse was studied by gross dissection and methyl methacrylate corrosion casts. The arterial supply is derived from the left colic artery and cranial rectal artery with the left colic artery supplying approximately the proximal three fourths. Each artery gives off four to eight arcuate arteries that form a series of anastomosing arcades. The arcade pattern continues to form a marginal artery that parallels the long axis of the colon. Small branches from the marginal artery anastomose with adjacent branches to form a secondary arcade. The secondary...
Ross MW, Rutkowski JA, Cullen KK.The myoelectric activity of the cecum and right ventral colon (RVC) was studied in 4 female ponies. Eight, bipolar Ag-AgCl electrodes were sequentially placed on the seromuscular layer of the cecum (6 electrodes) and RVC (2 electrodes), and recordings were begun 14 days after surgery. The myoelectric activity for each pony was recorded during 12, 60-minute recording sessions done during the interdigestive period (3 to 7 hours after the morning feeding). Coordinated series of spike bursts were recognized as independent motility patterns in the cecum and in the RVC. Local haustra-haustra myoelec...
Pepys MB, Baltz ML, Tennent GA, Kent J, Ousey J, Rossdale PD.A sensitive and precise immunoassay for equine serum amyloid A protein (SAA) was established and used to determine, for the first time, the circulating concentration of this protein in health and disease. As in other species, equine SAA was present only at trace levels in healthy animals but behaved as an extremely sensitive and rapidly responding acute phase reactant following most forms of tissue injury, infection and inflammation, objectively reflecting the extent and activity of disease. Measurements of SAA should make a significant contribution to diagnosis and management of viral and bac...
Mathieu-Costello O, Hoppeler H, Weibel ER.Capillary orientation (anisotropy) was compared in hindlimb muscles of mammals of different size and/or different aerobic capacity (dog, goat, pony, and calf). All muscles were fixed by vascular perfusion at sarcomere lengths ranging from 1.5 to 2.7 micron. The ratios of capillary counts per fiber cross-sectional area on two sets of sections (0 and 90 degrees) to the muscle fiber axis were used to estimate capillary anisotropy and the coefficient c(K,0) relating 1) capillary counts on transverse sections (a commonly used parameter to assess muscle capillarity) and 2) capillary length per volum...
Damm JB, Voshol H, Hård K, Kamerling JP, Vliegenthart JF.The carbohydrate chains of equine fibrinogen were enzymatically released by peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl)asparagine amidase F. The oligosaccharides obtained were fractionated by a combination of FPLC and HPLC and analyzed by 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Four monosialo and four disialo diantennary N-acetyllactosamine type of carbohydrate chains occur: (formula; see text)
Zander R, Flachowsky G, Schubert R, Gruhn K.The nylon-bag method was applied for determination of the rumen degradation of dry matter and nitrogen of 15N-labelled wheat straw. For the experiment 4 wethers fitted with a rumen cannula were used. The bags containing 15N straw were introduced into the rumen and withdrawn 3, 6 or 12 h after incubation. In a second experiment the apparent 15N-digestibility of the same straw was determined in wether and pony. The dry matter disappearance varied between 6 and 23%. For 15N-labelled straw the disappearance of 15N was higher than that of total N. 12 h after incubation 71% of 15N and only 25% of to...
Houpt KA, Thornton SN, Allen WR.Six pony mares deprived of water for 24 hours showed significant increases in plasma vasopressin (2.8 pg/ml) and osmolality (9 mosmol/kg). When water was made available the ponies drank rapidly (5 of 6 drank to satiety within 90 seconds) and corrected their fluid deficits precisely. Vasopressin did not return to predehydration levels until osmolality did after 15 minutes of access to water. The horse differs from rodents and humans, but is similar to pigs in that vasopressin levels do not fall before osmolality returns to normal. Oropharyngeal factors, therefore, may not be as important in vas...
Duckett WM, Manning JP, Weston PG.Serum samples were collected from 10 healthy geldings every 4 h for three consecutive days and the triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) concentrations determined by radioimmunoassay. There were significant differences in the hormone concentrations related to time. The mean (+/- sd) T3 concentration peaked around 08.00 h at a level (54.06 +/- 14.02 ng/dl) significantly (P less than .001) higher than the lowest concentration (38.71 +/- 10.81 ng/dl) around midnight. Although the highest mean T3 level was 08.00 h, this value was not significantly different from the noon and 16.00 h levels. Lik...
Berndtson WE, Jones LS.Testes were obtained from 47 1-20-year-old stallions during the natural breeding season. Total testicular testosterone and testosterone/g testis increased with age (P less than 0.005), and total testicular testosterone was associated with larger testis size (P less than 0.05). Neither testosterone per gram nor per paired testes were related to total Sertoli cell number (P greater than 0.05), but greater testosterone per paired testes was associated with fewer Sertoli cells per unit of seminiferous tubule length (P less than 0.005) or basement membrane area (P less than 0.02) and with a higher ...
Passaniti A, Roth TF.Ferritin was purified from chicken liver by two different methods: gel filtration on controlled-pore glass beads, and immunoaffinity chromatography employing a chicken ferritin-specific monoclonal antibody that did not cross-react with horse spleen ferritin. This antibody recognizes intact ferritin and an oligomeric 240 kDa form of the molecule after protein transfer to nitrocellulose, but not the 22 kDa chicken ferritin subunit. Chicken liver ferritin purified by these methods exhibited reduced migration on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels compared with horse spleen ferritin. These results ...
Cymbaluk NF, Christison GI, Leach DH.Eighteen weanling horses were assigned to two treatments: limited or ad libitum feed intake. Growth and feed utilization were evaluated over a 78-wk period. Ad libitum-fed horses gained 24% more (P less than .05) weight than limit-fed horses. Total BW was distributed into 57% fore and 43% hind weight and did not differ between groups regardless of dietary treatment or age. Net gain and ADG in wither height of ad libitum-fed horses exceeded (P less than .05) that of limit-fed horses over 78 wk. Ad libitum-fed horses consumed 19, 44 and 34% more digestible energy (DE) than indicated in 1978 NRC ...
Troyer D, Howard D, Leipold HW, Smith JE.Southern blot analysis of equine DNA's digested with the restriction endonuclease Hinfl hybridized with a 32 PdCTP labeled human VNTR probe revealed a highly polymorphic pattern of restriction fragments upon autoradiography. The horses were unrelated individuals of the quarter horse breed. This heterologous probe can thus be used in the equine species for individual identification and pedigree analysis.
Cymbaluk NF, Christison GI, Leach DH.Eighteen Quarter Horse and Paint weanling colts were assigned to two treatments, either limit or ad libitum feeding. Nutrient digestibilities of diets were evaluated between 6 and 12 mo, 12 and 18 mo and 18 and 24 mo of age. From 6 to 12 mo, energy digestibility (64 to 68%) was unaffected by feed intake level. Ad libitum-fed horses had energy digestibilities 9 to 10% greater (P less than .05) than limit-fed horses between 12 and 24 mo of age, but adjustment for DM intake removed these differences. Limit-fed, mature ponies used dietary energy similarly to growing horses from 6 to 18 mo of age, ...
Edwards DJ, Brownlow MA, Hutchins DR.Urine and blood samples were taken at the same time from normal adult horses presented for routine investigations to establish reference values for a variety of parameters reported to be useful in the clinical evaluation of renal function. Blood biochemical values were consistent with previous studies and had well-defined normal ranges. Parameters representing urine concentration and electrolyte excretion however, varied widely reflecting the ability of the healthy kidney to change the composition of urine in response to differences in environment and management. Percent creatinine clearance r...
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...
Kayar SR, Hoppeler H, Lindstedt SL, Claassen H, Jones JH, Essen-Gustavsson B, Taylor CR.The relationship between maximal oxygen consumption rate (VO2max) and mitochondrial content of skeletal muscles was examined in horses and steers (n = 3 each). Samples of the heart left ventricle, diaphragm, m. vastus medialis, m. semitendinosus, m. cutaneous thoracicus and m. masseter, as well as samples of muscles collected in a whole-body sampling procedure, were analyzed by electron microscopy. VO2max per kilogram body mass was 2.7 x greater in horses than steers. This higher VO2max was in proportion to the higher total volume of mitochondria in horse versus steer muscle when analyzed from...
Saudek V, Atkinson RA, Williams RJ, Ramponi G.It has been proposed that combination of intraresidue, sequential and longer range nuclear Overhauser enhancements occurring in 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of protein chains folded in a helix show a regular characteristic pattern. As a test case the spectra of horse muscle acylphosphatase were searched for this pattern together with other typical signs of a helical conformation (i.e. chemical shift, coupling constants and slow 2H-H exchange). Two amino acid sequences complying with these requirements were found. Just a few amino acid spin system assignments were then sufficient to lo...
Katila T, Oijala M, Kotilainen T, Väisänen K.Four subfertile mares (at least 2 barren years) were used as donors in an embryo transfer program. The embryo recovery rate was 50%, varying between 0-100. The transfer of 9 embryos resulted in the pregnancy rate of 44%. The efficiency of embryo transfer using subfertile mares is low. In this material 20% of flushings resulted in a pregnancy. Fyra subfertila ston (gatt galla i minst 2 är) användes som donatorer i ett program för embryot rans fer. Femtio procent av embryon tillvaratogs (varians 0–100%). Transfer av 9 embryon gav en dräktighetsresultat på 44%. Embryotransfer från subfert...
Pollock RV.Advances in digital technology have vastly increased the speed and content of information transfer. Equine practitioners of the future should be in contact with their office and other information resources at all times through an array of digital networks. Patients and practitioners alike should benefit from better information access.
Steenhaut M, Vlaminck K, Gasthuys F.RUPTURE of the stomach is a common complication of
gastric impaction and intestinal reflux or of gastric distention.
After rupture, the general condition of the horse deteriorates
and death follows within a few hours (Tennant, Wheat and
Meagher 1972; McIlwraith 1982).
Dietz and Wiesner (1982) state that partial rupture of the
stomach may result in severe blood loss with circulatory
collapse. In this report a partial rupture of the stomach was
surgically repaired during exploratory laparotomy.