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.
Blake CC, Evans PR, Scopes RK.The single peptide chain of 3-phosphoglycerate kinase is folded into two distinct globular units, only one of which seems to be involved in substrate binding.
Momose A, Tsuji T.When sulpyrine and aminopyrine are administered to the horse, unchanged aminopyrine and its metabolites, 4-methylaminoantipyrine and 4-aminoantipyrine, are detected in the urine by means of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and gas liquid chromatography. Further identification of aminopyrine and these metabolites was carried out by the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The procedures for separation and identification are as follows : The excretions were adjusted to pH 9 with ammonium hydroxide and extracted with chloroform. The extract was separated by TLC. The spots were loca...
Denny HR.Brucella abortus infection in horses is important not only as a clinical entity but also as a potential source of infection for man and other animals. A review of the current knowledge of this disease in the horses is therefore thought to be useful. The incidence of infection in horses has been the subject of many surveys. Most authors used the serum agglutination test as an indication of infection. The majority of surveys were carried out in about 1930 and these showed a wide range in the proportion of positive reactors from 0.5 to 40 percent. Several factors would account for this: variation...
Sánchez-Guerrero MJ, Ripollés-Lobo M, Bartolomé E, Perdomo-González DI, Valera M.The Arabian horse is a generally reliable sport horse, and continues to be a remarkable endurance horse, so the relevance of the expected value of the proportion of Arabian genes (EV%AG) in horses participating in eventing could be a relevant factor. A total of 1089 horses participating in eventing (8866 records) were used. A GLM revealed that the EV%AG was significant in dressage, show jumping and cross-country. A BLUP genetic evaluation was computed with five genetic models (without the EV%AG (0) using as a covariate (A), as a fixed effect (B), with variance heterogeneity, and in genetic gro...
Bhardwaj A, Nayan V, Sharma P, Kumar S, Pal Y, Singh J.Equine pituitary gonadotropins (eLH, eFSH, eCG) are heterodimeric glycoprotein hormones with alpha (α) and beta (β) subunits. It is responsible for maintenance of pregnancy in mares during early gestation and fairly valuable for inducing superovulation in animals other than equines. The alpha subunit is common, while beta subunit is species-specific in all glycoprotein hormones. In the present investigation, molecular cloning and in silico characterization including homology modeling and molecular docking analysis of the equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) alpha subunit was carried out for g...
Carlos-Pinedo S, Wang Z.Long-term sustainable biogas production requires different raw material alternatives, especially when reducing the most desirable organic substrate, food waste, which has been set as a goal in the 2030 Agenda. In Sweden, horse manure (HM) is generated in large quantities, and due to its physical and chemical characteristics, it has the potential to be used as a raw material to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD). In order to investigate the challenges that HM digestion can impose in terms of methane yield and/or digestate quality, the modified ORganic WAste REsearch (ORWARE) AD mod...
Blikslager AT, Tate LP, Weinstock D.Effects of neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser irradiation on equine endometrium were evaluated in vitro and in six mares with endometrial cysts. The Nd:YAG laser was applied to six endometrial sites, in each of five uterine specimens, with power densities of 5659 to 33,954 J/cm2. Depth of tissue ablation was measured and graded on histologic sections of the tissue lesions. Power density had a significant effect on the depth of tissue ablation (p < .001). Grade 3 lesions (full-thickness ablation of the endometrium) were created with energy densities of 16,977 to 33,954 J/cm2. Six ...
Love CC, Blanchard TL, Varner DD, Brinsko SP, Voge J, Bliss S, Sudderth K, Teague S, LaCaze K.An experiment was conducted to determine whether cooled semen quality could be maintained for a longer interval by conducting daily centrifugation of extended semen, with resuspension of the sperm pellet in fresh extender. Semen treatments included SP10NC and SP50NC which contained 10 and 50% seminal plasma, respectively, were not centrifuged (NC), and were stored at 4 to 7 °C for 96 h. Treatments SP10C and SP50C contained 10 and 50% seminal plasma, respectively, but were centrifuged (C) after 24, 48, and 72 h of cooled storage, with daily resuspension in fresh extender containing 10% seminal...
Kozlov SA.The results of applying N. N. Sirotinin's concept of the use of hypoxic adaptation to enhance working capacity are given. There is evidence for the efficiency of adaptation of trotters to two hypoxias: to hypoxic hypoxia (in the midmountains) and to exercise hypoxia (during interval training under the conditions of Moscow) for increasing their performance. These studies demonstrated that in the midmountains, the trotters had more infrequent respiration, increased respiratory and minute respiratory volumes which were more obvious by the end of a monthly mountain stay. The monthly training of tr...
van Weeren PR, van den Bogert AJ, Barneveld A, Hartman W, Kersjes AW.The function of the reciprocal apparatus in the hind limb of the horse was studied by kinematic gait analysis. For recording purposes a modified opto-electronic CODA-3 kinematic analysis system was used. The raw kinematic data were corrected for skin displacement artifacts by use of recently developed correction models. It was concluded that contradictory findings about the coupling of tarsal and stifle joints by the reciprocal apparatus, when comparing in vitro and in vivo studies, can be fully attributed to artifacts due to the movement of the skin markers over the underlying bony structures...
Carstanjen B, Sulon J, Banga-Mboko H, Beckers JF, Remy B.This study describes for the first time the development and validation of a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) for equine osteocalcin (OC) quantification using purified equine OC as standard, tracer, and immunogen for antibody formation in rabbits. The assay allowed to measure equine serum OC levels with a sensitivity of 0.2 ng/mL. Immunoreactive serum OC values of clinically normal, different-aged horses ranged from 3.68 to 127.31 ng/mL. Intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation (CV) were 6.2 and 8.2%, respectively. Serial equine serum sample dilutions were linear. The recov...
Lamas LP, Giovagnoli G, Heath MF, Jeffcott LB.Height is the only factor used to differentiate horses and ponies for competitive purposes; any horse without shoes that is less than 148 cm at the highest point of the withers can be classified as a pony. However, variations in height associated with anatomical and other factors can occur. In this study the accuracy of the most commonly used measuring procedure and seven independent factors that might affect apparent height were evaluated in skeletally mature horses that were less than 155 cm in height. The results indicated that there was an improvement of 57 per cent in the accuracy of meas...
Pringle J, MacMillan K, Briand H, Stämpfli H.The heart rate changes during routine training in a group of 8 actively racing Standardbreds were used to simulate the training work on a treadmill (ST) and indices of exercise compared to maximal effort (MAX) on the treadmill. The following parameters were recorded during treadmill work: heart rate, velocity, O2 consumption, respiratory and stride frequency, and stride length. Blood lactate concentrations were measured before and after each work test. Heart rate during simulated training was mean +/- s.d. 87.8 +/- 5.5% heart rate in MAX, one of the 8 horses working 0.05), being higher during...
Larsdotter S, Holm L, Dahlborn K, Jansson A, Josefsson M, Ridderstråle Y.Sweat gland morphology and carbonic anhydrase (CA) distribution was studied after exercise in trained and untrained horses using a histochemical technique and light microscopic image analysis. Three trained and 3 untrained Standardbred trotters performed an exercise test (20 min trot at 6 m/s with 5 min walk at 1.8 m/s in the beginning and end) on a high-speed treadmill at 35 degrees C. Skin biopsies were taken before exercise and after trot. The fluid loss after exercise was 10, 12 and 12 g/kg bwt in the untrained horses and 4, 6 and 11 g/kg in the trained. Trained horses had a larger cell ar...
Cebulj-Kadunc N, Kosec M, Cestnik V.To determine seasonal changes in circulating leptin concentrations, as well as leptin fluctuations in various patterns of seasonal ovarian activity, blood samples were taken in 107 Lipizzan fillies aged 1-4 years over the whole year from January to December. Serum concentrations were measured in samples obtained once a month (leptin) or twice a month (progesterone), and evaluated with respect to the age of animals (yearlings, 2-, 3- and 4-year olds) and the pattern of ovarian activity (anoestrous, seasonal cycle, prolonged cyclicity, continuous cyclicity). The mean and monthly leptin concentra...
Hampson BA, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC.To determine the effect of various environmental conditions on the degree of hydration in hoof wall horn tissue from feral horses and investigate the effect of short-term foot soaking on moisture content in hoof wall and sole tissue in domestic horses. Methods: 40 feral horses from 3 environments (wet and boggy [n = 10], partially flooded [20], and constantly dry desert [10]) and 6 nonferal Quarter Horses. Methods: The percentage of moisture content of hoof wall samples from feral horses was measured in vitro. In a separate evaluation, the percentage of moisture content of hoof wall and sole t...
Crowell CN, Fenton JM, Perry EB.Gustatory and olfactory changes have been reported during gestation in multiple species. However, few data are available regarding feeding preferences in gestating mares. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of oil-based palatants on feeding behavior in late term gestating mares. Late-term gestating mares (n = 5) and reproductively sound, open mares (n = 4) were evaluated via paired preference testing during the final 120 days of gestation. Oil-based flavors (corn oil, anise, and apple) were topically applied to a basal pelleted diet (0.375 ml/0.23 kg). Diets were offe...
Munk Z, Dusek J.The fertility problems were studied in the herd of the English Thoroughbred horse on the Napajedla stud farm. Breeding records for the period from 1880 to 1972 were used as the starting data. The survey comprised 32 stallions. The relationship between fertility and the number of matings was calculated by the chi 2 quantity. The calculated values are highly variable. However, it is generally seen in most of the stallions that the number of matings per heat (i. e. one or several matings) had no significant influence on the pregnancy of mares and on the fertility values of the stallions. A higher...
Sieme H, Klug E, Bader H.Equine ejaculates are significantly characterized by widely varying parameters especially in those of practical relevance for equine Al. Therefore it is of interest for practical purposes to get subpopulations of concentrated, vital, and competent spermatozoa from the origin ejaculates. Special preparation of the donor stallions will stabilize sperm output. Fractionated semen collection from stallions supplies sperm enriched seminal fractions very useful to work with further in semen preservation. Most important to achieve a concentrated sperm subpopulation are semen manipulations post ejacula...
Bolat D, Yıldız D, Bahar S, Yürüker S, Kaymaz F, Ilgın C, Bozkurt EÜ, Karahan S, Sabancı SS.We investigated the microscopic structure of transverse sections of the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves of Arabian foals using stereological methods. Bilateral nerve pairs from 2-month-old female Arabian foals were analyzed. The tissues were embedded in plastic blocks, then 1 µm thick sections were cut and stained with osmium tetroxide and methylene blue-azure II. Stereology was performed using light microscopy. Morphometry showed that the right and left pairs of nerves were similar. The transverse sectional areas of the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves were 1.93 ± 0.19 mm...
Thway TM, Wolfe MW.Primates and equids are the only species known to express the placental glycoprotein hormone, chorionic gonadotropin (CG), a heterodimeric glycoprotein composed of an alpha subunit linked to a hormone-specific beta subunit. The regulatory mechanisms involved in the induction of equine glycoprotein alpha subunit gene expression have not been identified. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor is known to transduce signals that alter a number of different cellular functions (cell proliferation, differentiation, hormone secretion, and gene regulation). In the present study, we investigated the reg...
Walker N, Cater M, Bourg B, Devall H, Sarver M.Due to the increased awareness of animal welfare issues and sensitized attitudes throughout society, youth animal projects provide a unique opportunity to assess and impact youth understanding and attitudes regarding animal welfare. Animal ethics training is not an uncommon requirement for participants in 4-H livestock programs. However, participants in 4-H horse projects are not universally held to the same standard. The purpose of this study was to assess youth knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in understanding of equine welfare at the 4-H state horse show, as well as to determine the bel...
Mang L, Li JL, Shi YF.Mitochondrial DNA D-Loop varied region 400 bp sequence variations in 4 Chinese Mongolian horses and 4 External Thoroughbred horses were analyzed in this experiment. The results showed that the average nucleotide mutational rate of mtDNA D-Loop varied region in 4 Chinese Mongolian horses was 3.69%, while External Thoroughbred horses were 4.00%. Three types of mutations including transition, transversion and deletion were all found in the investigated mtDNA D-Loop regions, of which transition was the most frequent. Nucleotide mutational loci were abundant, length mutations were found and great d...
Brugère H, Castellani G, Boxebeld A, Wolter R.A re-entrant cannulation of the digestive tract was performed in Equidae (ponies and donkeys) between the distal extremity of the ileum and the base of the caecum. The operative technique was conceived to avoid risks of infection of the peritoneal cavity: the openings of the ileum and of the caecum were achieved only after the closure of the abdominal wall incision. Two donkeys were still alive ten months after the operation. This method can provide a convenient model for digestibility studies in Equidae, particularly for assessment of the pre-caecal digestibility.
Clark L, Bradley EJ, Mackechnie-Guire R, Taylor A, Ling J.Asymmetry of horses and humans is widely acknowledged, but the influence of one upon the other during horse riding is poorly understood. Riding simulators are popular for education of beginners and analysis of rider biomechanics. This study compares trunk kinematics and saddle forces of 10 experienced riders (ER) and 10 novice riders (NR) performing rising trot on a simulator. Markers were placed on the 4th lumbar (L4) and 7th cervical (C7) spinous processes, and both acromion processes. Displacements in three axes of motion were tracked using 10 high-speed video cameras sampling at 240 Hz. Di...
Johnson SE, Barshick MR, Gonzalez ML, Riley JW, Pelletier ME, Castanho BC, Ealy EN.Strenuous exercise can cause tissue damage, leading to an extended recovery period. To counteract delayed post-exercise recovery, a commercial product containing L-carnitine (AID) was tested in adult horses performing consecutive exercise tests to exhaustion. Fit Thoroughbreds were administered an oral bolus of placebo (CON) or AID prior to performing an exercise test to exhaustion (D1). The heart rate (HR) and fetlock kinematics were captured throughout the exercise test. Blood was collected before, 10 min and 1, 4 and 6 h relative to exercise for the quantification of cytokine (1, 8, 10, ) g...
Golzari K, Kong Y, Reed SA, Posada-Quintero HF.The continuous monitoring of stress, pain, and discomfort is key to providing a good quality of life for horses. The available tools based on observation are subjective and do not allow continuous monitoring. Given the link between emotions and sympathetic autonomic arousal, heart rate and heart rate variability are widely used for the non-invasive assessment of stress and pain in humans and horses. However, recent advances in pain and stress monitoring are increasingly using electrodermal activity (EDA), as it is a more sensitive and specific measure of sympathetic arousal than heart rate var...
Côté MA, Blum KM, Burd MA.During artificial insemination of horses, it is important to accurately estimate the number of spermatozoa in each insemination dose. However, little research exists regarding sources of spermatozoa loss during collection and artificial insemination. Therefore, spermatozoal losses were quantified in the dismount loss (187.6×10(6)±62.5×10(6)spermatozoa), gel fraction (179.8×10(6)±61.7×10(6)spermatozoa), and the collection receptacle (136.1×10(6)±26.9×10(6)spermatozoa). Spermatozoal losses were examined in the centrifuge tube (25.8×10(6)±2.1×10(6)spermatozoa), AI pipette during the a...
Guthrie GP, Cecil SG, Kotchen TA.To assess the renin-aldosterone system in a large mammal, simultaneous morning activities of plasma renin and concentrations of aldosterone and cortisol were measured in 25 thoroughbred horses. Renin was relatively low in all horses (0.16 +/- 0.02 (S.E.M.) ng angiotensin I/ml per h), levels of aldosterone in plasma were 527 +/- 130 pmol/1 and levels of cortisol in plasma were 141 +/- 11 nmol/l. Levels of aldosterone were significantly correlated with levels of renin in all horses (r = 0.62, P less than 0.001) but not with those of cortisol, and renin was negatively correlated with age in male ...
Li XQ, Uboh CE, Soma LR, Guan FY, You YW, Kahler MC, Judy JA, Liu Y, Chen JW.A non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (NACE-MS) method was developed for simultaneous separation and identification of 12 amphetamine and related compounds in equine plasma. Analytes were recovered from plasma by liquid-liquid extraction using methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). A bare fused-silica capillary was used for separation of the analytes. Addition of sheath liquid to the capillary effluent allowed the detection of the analytes by positive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using full scan data acquisition. The limit of detection (LOD) for the target analyte...
Seltzer KL, Stover SM, Taylor KT, Willits NH.The torsional monotonic structural material properties of equine metacarpi with or without, either a 5/16 inch or 3/8 inch diameter bicortical lateromedial middiaphyseal hole were assessed to determine the effect of a hole on metacarpal strength. Torsional stiffness was not significantly effected by the presence of a bicortical hole, whereas yield and failure angles, torques and energies of metacarpi with a hole were 51% to 97% of those of intact bones. Significant differences were not apparent for yield and failure mechanical properties between metacarpi with a 5/16 inch diameter hole and met...
DeBoer M, Konop A, Fisher B, Martinson K.Thermoregulation is an energy-expensive process, which can be mitigated by blanketing horses in cold climates, potentially preventing weight loss or leading to decreased feed intake. The objective of this study was to evaluate feed intake, body weight (BW), and body condition scores (BCSs) in blanketed and nonblanketed horses. In October 2019, 16 mature adult horses were blocked by breed and BCS and randomly assigned to a blanketed (n = 8) or nonblanketed (n = 8) treatment; blankets were placed. Data were collected in December 2019 and January 2020 in River Falls, Wisconsin. During the study...
Tangyuenyong S, Nambo Y, Nagaoka K, Tanaka T, Watanabe G.Most thyroid hormone determinations in animals are based on immunoassays adapted from those used to test human samples, which may not reflect the actual values of thyroid hormone in horses because of the presence of binding proteins. The aims of the present study were i) to establish a novel radioimmunoassay (RIA) using a more simple and convenient method to separate binding proteins for the measurement of total thyroxine (T4) in horses and ii) to validate the assay by comparing total T4 concentrations in yearling horses raised in different climates. Blood samples were collected from trained y...
