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.
Amann JF, Smith RM, Ganjam VK, Paull WK, McClure RC, Green EM, Garner HE.The distribution of cells that stain positive for beta-endorphin and ACTH immunoreactivity was studied in the pars intermedia (PI) of the hypophysis in 3 healthy horses and 2 healthy ponies. Serial sections treated with commercial antibodies generated against beta-endorphin or ACTH were processed for immunocytochemical studies, using the avidin biotin immunoperoxidase-complex method. Distribution patterns of cells reacting with antibodies were similar in cells from all equids. Cells immunostained for ACTH were numerous and widely distributed in the PI. Cells immunopositive for ACTH probably co...
Byrns G, Crump AL, Lalonde G, Bernoco D, Antczak DF.The ELY-1 locus controls the expression of a polymorphic cell surface antigen of equine lymphocytes which was detected using antibodies generated by alloimmunization with peripheral blood lymphocytes. The ELY-1 antigens were not detected on erythrocytes or platelets by absorption experiments. The two alleles, which have been designated ELY-1.1 and ELY-1.2, are expressed codominantly and appear to constitute a closed system at the population level. In family studies, the ELY-1 antigens segregated as products of an autosomal locus not linked to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of the h...
Mayhew IG, Brown CM, Stowe HD, Trapp AL, Derksen FJ, Clement SF.Two horse farms, on which there was a high incidence of proven and suspected equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), were studied. Symmetric ataxia and paresis, along with laryngeal adductor, cervicofacial, local cervical, and cutaneous trunci hyporeflexia, characterized the syndrome. Serum vitamin E concentration reflected a deficient state in affected and unaffected horses on both farms when compared with selected reference groups and with published values. A high incidence of the disease was evident in offspring of two particular sires on one farm. Vitamin E supplementation resulted ...
Scott DW.Pemphigoid (from the Greek “resembling pemphigus”) has been recognized in humans for many years. The occurence of pemphigoid in domestic animals is a much more recent observation. In the dog, bullous pemphigoid was first documented in 1978.1 Equine bullous pemphigoid was originally reported in 1981.2 The purpose of this article is to review pemphigoid in domestic animals, compare the disease with its human counterpart, and alert the physician to an exciting area for comparative dermatologic research.
Kosiniak K, Bittmar A.Physiological processes connected with sexual maturation of stallions were observed on 10 half-breed Anglo-Arab stallions beginning from 8 months of age, until 4.5 years of age. It was found that there is full somatic and sexual development in the stallion reached around the age of 3.5 years, and the sperm morphology stabilized in the range of the physiological norm around 3.0 years of age. On the other hand biochemical components of the semen plasma such as glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC), ergothioneine (EGT), total protein (PRT), up to age 4.5 years, reach significantly lower value than in m...
Schamhardt HC, Merkens HW.A method was developed to quantify the ground reaction force pattern of the horse. A number of selected force amplitudes and peak-time positions in the normalized stance phase of left and right contralateral limbs were used to calculate symmetry indices. Data from each limb were compared with those of a 'standard horse' resulting in limb indices. The combination of amplitude and peak-time symmetry and limb indices yielded one H(orse)INDEX. These indices were useful for comparison of different horses and for the evaluation of lameness and treatment.
Pool KF, Wilson JM, Webb GW, Kraemer DC, Potter GD, Evans JW.Two hormone regimens were utilized for recipient mares which were 2-14 days after ovulation at the time of non-surgical embryo transfer. In Exp. I, 20 embryos were transferred non-surgically into recipient mares which had been given 22 mg altrenogest daily starting the day of recipient ovulation. Higher (P less than 0.05) pregnancy rates (50% vs 0%) were obtained in mares which were 2-6 days after ovulation at the time of transfer compared with mares which were 7-12 days after ovulation. In Exp. II, on the day the donor mare ovulated (Day 0), 10 mg PGF-2 alpha were given to the recipient mare ...
Smith SJ, Cox JE, Houghton E, Dumasia MC, Moss MS.Deuterium, 14C- and 3H-labelled steroid substrates were incubated with minced testicular tissue from stallions of different ages. After extraction and separation of the neutral and phenolic fractions the metabolites were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The presence of the expected C19 neutral and C18 phenolic steroids was confirmed. An isomer of 5(10)-oestrene-3,17-diol was also identified.
Sharp DC, Grubaugh WR.Push-pull perfusion was used to study GnRH secretory ability of the hypothalamus in anoestrous, transitional, dioestrous and oestrous Pony mares. The technique involved placement of a concentric (tube within a tube) cannula into the area of the medial basal hypothalamus and perfusing a carrier medium (artificial cerebrospinal fluid) through the inner tube whilst aspirating from the outer tube so that the flow rate within the hypothalamic tissue was essentially constant. The perfusion rate was 0.5 ml/10 min and samples were collected at 10-min intervals for 10-15 h. The carrier medium, which co...
Kraft W.Neurological examination in equine practice, physiological findings and pathological disturbances are described. Because of the sizes of the horse the neurological examination is more difficult than in small animals. The examination of cerebrospinal fluid is a worthful completion and is able to refer to the etiology of a certain disease. The technique of the puncture of cerebrospinal fluid is described.
Cheal EJ, Snyder BD, Nunamaker DM, Hayes WC.The objective of this investigation was to examine the stress-morphology relationships for trabecular bone around implants with different surface characteristics. Stainless steel spheres with either a polished surface or a sintered-bead porous coating were implanted unilaterally into equine patellae and maintained for a 6 month period. Stereological methods were used to quantify the trabecular bone morphology and finite element analyses were performed to predict the trabecular bone stresses. In general, the remodeling response around the smooth implants was greater than that around those porou...
Müller Z.From 341 stallions examined for sperm quality, 61% of warm-blooded stallions and 47% of cold-blooded stallions fulfilled the pre-existing criteria for their occasional use in insemination. From these stallions 51-71% of acceptable ejaculates were obtained. Altogether 959 mares were inseminated in an average of 1.36 oestrous cycles. For the insemination of one mare in one oestrous cycle on the average 2.2 insemination doses were used. These inseminations were carried out by 41 cattle insemination technicians trained in mare insemination. A pregnancy rate of 56% and a foaling rate of 48% were ac...
Higuchi RG, Wrischnik LA, Oakes E, George M, Tong B, Wilson AC.Sequences are reported for portions of two mitochondrial genes from a domestic horse and a plains zebra and compared to those published for a quagga and a mountain zebra. The extinct quagga and plains zebra sequences are identical at all silent sites, whereas the horse sequence differs from both of them by 11 silent substitutions. Postmortem changes in quagga DNA may account for the two coding substitutions between the quagga and plains zebra sequences. The hypothesis that the closest relative of the quagga is the domestic horse receives no support from these data. From the extent of sequence ...
Foster CV, Harris RC.To study the changes in carnitine in muscle with spring exercise, two Thoroughbred horses performed two treadmill exercise tests. Biopsies of the middle gluteal were taken before, after exercise and after 12 min recovery. Resting mean muscle total carnitine content was 29.5 mmol.kg-1 dry muscle (d.m.). Approximately 88% was free carnitine, 7% acetylcarnitine and acylcarnitine was estimated at 5%. Exercise did not affect total carnitine, but resulted in a marked fall in free carnitine and almost equivalent rise in acetylcarnitine. The results are consistent with a role for carnitine in the regu...
König HE, Ries R.The ovary of the mare is vascularized by two branches of the A. ovarica, which differ in diameter. They take a characteristic course in this organ. Near the ovulation fossa several branches of 1st and 2nd class leave the A. ovarica to provide the functional structures. These vessels are formed like a corkscrew. At the veins and its ramifications there are sphincter-like structures which support the venous valves. They are of haemodynamic importance for the different phases of the functional structures.
Fordyce PS, Edington N, Bridges GC, Wright JA, Edwards GB.In 27 potential neuropathies an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using P2 preparations from either bovine or equine myelin, detected all cases of cauda equina neuritis in which there was caudal involvement. The test was of limited value in differentiating neuropathies involving only cranial or other peripheral nerves.
Irvine CH, Alexander SL.A direct method for measuring the capacity of the high-affinity binding protein, CBG, based on charcoal adsorption, was validated for use in the horse. Several unique aspects of cortisol binding in the horse were observed: (1) CBG content at birth was the lowest of any species studied, (2) CBG concentration increased with age whereas in other species it decreases, (3) the plasma of the new born foal has a binding protein, not reported for other species, which binds as much cortisol as does CBG. Its capacity and affinity are intermediate between albumin and CBG. It may be involved prenatally in...
Boyle MS, Cran DG, Allen WR, Hunter RH.The morphology of the uterotubal junction (UTJ) and caudal isthmus during the peri-ovulatory period, and the distribution of spermatozoa within the region, were studied in 10 Pony mares. The proximal tip of the uterine horn and caudal 1-2 cm of the isthmus were removed during oestrus or shortly after ovulation from animals mated or artificially inseminated within the previous 24 h. The tissues were incised longitudinally and fixed for scanning electron microscopy. Analysis of micrographs showed deep longitudinal and oedematous folds in the preovulatory samples. After ovulation, much of the fol...
Romagnano A, Richer CL, King WA, Betteridge KJ.To define the time of X-chromosome inactivation in the horse, 122 conceptuses were collected transcervically between Days 6 and 28 (ovulation = Day 0) and subjected to cytogenetic analysis: 59 of the embryos were divided and in 41 of these separate cytogenetic analysis of the embryonic disc and remaining tissues was possible. Conceptuses were measured and photographed before capsule removal, culture in the presence of 5-bromodeoxyuridine and subsequent fixation for cytogenetic analysis. On average, 15 slides were prepared per conceptus. C-banding was used to determine the sex of each conceptus...
Safir JM, Loy RG, Fitzgerald BP.To investigate the hypothesis that the onset of the breeding season in the mare may be due to a daylength-induced seasonal increase in LHRH pulse frequency, 5 mares were immunized against LHRH. Beginning 1 December, 5 immunized and 5 untreated control mares were exposed to an abrupt, artificial increase in daylength (16L:8D) to advance the onset of the breeding season. In control mares ovulation occurred 49.6 +/- 3.5 (s.e.m.) days later (18 January), whereas in 3/5 immunized mares ovulation had not occurred by 1 April. In the remaining 2 mares, although ovulation occurred once (Mare 79) or twi...
Rosati I, Berlinguer F, Bogliolo L, Leoni G, Ledda S, Naitana S.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 ...
Yamashita J, Oki H, Hasegawa T, Honda T, Nomura T.Genetic contributions of nine historically important ancestors and allelic diversity in the Japanese Thoroughbred population were examined by applying the gene dropping simulation to the foals produced from 1978 to 2005. Full pedigree records traced to ancestors (base animals) born around 1890 were used for the simulation. Alleles originated from some of the historically important ancestors were found to be at risk of future extinction, although their genetic contributions to the foal population have increased during the last three decades. The proportion of surviving alleles to the total alle...
Silva MAB, Lupianhes AFG, Lage JB, Sande LAP, Rosa RC, Lombardi LA, Espindula AP.Activation of the trunk and lower limb muscles, namely the multifidus, rectus abdominis, rectus femoris, and tibialis anterior, was analyzed using surface electromyographyin 40 young, healthy, and sedentary individuals. Methods: Data were collected from sneaker-clad subjects with independent gait and during hippotherapy using saddles and blankets, with the feet in and out of the stirrups. Results: Surface electromyography results demonstrated a statistically significantly greater activation of the rectus femoris comparison to tibialis anterior muscle during hippotherapy. No statistically signi...
Haussler KK, Holt TN.There is a growing body of evidence to support the use of spinal mobilization and manipulation techniques in equine practice. Outcome parameters reported across studies include measures of joint motion, nociception, muscle tone, and performance. Spinal examination procedures include static and dynamic assessments of the quantity and the quality of both active and passive movements. Tiered treatment approaches are recommended to stage the application of various therapies based on ease, cost, and efficacy.
Henner J, Poncet PA, Aebi L, Hagger C, Stranzinger G, Rieder S.Coat color played an important role during domestication and formation of breeds. Livestock breeders often had special preferences for particular color phenotypes because they believed them to be associated with performance or fitness traits. Socio-cultural reasons might have had an influence on color selection as well. Recently genetic tests on DNA level got available to genotype in any individual horse for basic horse coat colors (chestnut, bay, black). In particular, hidden carriers of the recessive chestnut and black allele are recognizable with these tests. A sample of 162 Franches-Montag...