Equine Studies encompasses the scientific exploration and analysis of various aspects related to horses, including their physiology, behavior, genetics, nutrition, and management. This interdisciplinary field integrates knowledge from veterinary medicine, animal science, and equine management to enhance understanding of horse health and welfare. Topics within equine studies often include the study of equine anatomy, disease prevention, breeding practices, and performance optimization. Researchers and scholars contribute to this field by conducting experiments, field studies, and reviews that provide insights into improving equine care and management practices. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate diverse areas within equine studies, offering comprehensive insights into the complexities of horse biology and management.
Shaw EB, Houpt KA, Holmes DF.Average daily core body temperature and behavioural patterns of pregnant mares were studied, in search of definitive signs of parturition within 24 h of the event. Nineteen pony mares were sampled twice daily for core body temperature. A significant temperature drop, averaging 0.1 degrees C (0.2 degrees F) was observed during the day prior to parturition. Between 18.00 h and 06.00 h, during the two weeks before parturition, Thoroughbred and Standardbred mares (n = 52) spent an average 66.8 per cent of their time standing, 27.0 per cent eating, 4.9 per cent lying in sternal recumbency, 1.0 per ...
Clay CM, Squires EL, Amann RP, Nett TM.Influence of day length on seasonal endocrine responses were studied using stallions (seven per group). Treatments included 1) control, with natural day length; 2) 8 h light and 16 h dark (8:16) for 20 wk beginning July 16, 1982 then 16:8 from December 2, 1982 until March 5, 1984 (S-L); or 3) 8:16 from July 16, 1982 until March 5, 1984 (S-S). Blood was sampled hourly for 5 h every 4 wk; sera were pooled within horse, and luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone were quantified. Blood was collected every 20 min for 24 h every 8 wk and 2 wk before and after t...
Irvine CH, Alexander SL.Pituitary venous blood was collected by a painless nonsurgical cannulation method from five ambulatory stallions at 5-min intervals for 5-6 h during the breeding season. In four adult stallions, statistical analysis showed that pulses of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and LH were coincident (P less than 0.01), as were pulses of FSH and LH (P less than 0.05). Furthermore, the patterns of changes in concentration of FSH and LH were highly correlated in each of the four stallions. However, seemingly ineffective pulses of GnRH were also observed, with 28% of GnRH pulses failing to induce a...
Gaffney B, Cunningham EP.Thoroughbred horses have been bred exclusively for racing in England since Tudor times and thoroughbred horse racing is now practised in over 40 countries and involves more than half-a-million horses worldwide. The genetic origins of the thoroughbred go back largely to horses imported from the Middle East and North Africa to England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Since the establishment of the Stud Book in 1791, the population has been effectively closed to outside sources, and over 80% of the thoroughbred population's gene pool derives from 31 known ancestors from thi...
Almahbobi G, Papadopoulos V, Carreau S, Silberzahn P.Two ultrastructurally distinct types of Leydig cells were observed in the equine testis. Whereas the adult testis exhibited both postpubertal and adult Leydig cells, the testis of the pubertal horse contained only the postpubertal type, and that of the aged horse contained only the adult type. However, Percoll-purified testicular preparations from pubertal, adult, and aged horses all exhibited two distinct Leydig cell populations. The quantitative distribution and the functional characteristics of these Leydig cell populations (ability to bind human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG] and increase of...
Sairam MR, Yarney TA, Bhargavi GN, Sanford LM.A membrane preparation from the testis of maturing Dorset-Leicester-Suffolk sheep, capable of discriminating pituitary LH (lutropin) from placental gonadotropins human choriogonadotropin (hCG) and equine choriogonadotropin is described. Maximum binding of 125I-oLH (ovine lutropin) to the testicular receptors occurred at 4 degrees C in a rapid manner, attaining equilibrium in 12-16 h. Under such optimal conditions, only unlabeled ovine LH or the structurally identical bovine LH effectively competed for receptor occupation. Other highly purified pituitary LH preparations from rat and human pitui...
Johansson J, von Bahr-Lindström H, Jeck R, Woenckhaus C, Jörnvall H.The primary structure of the mitochondrial form of horse liver aldehyde dehydrogenase has been determined, utilizing peptide analyses and homology with other enzyme forms. The subunit exhibits N-terminal heterogeneity in size similar to that for the corresponding human mitochondrial protein, the longest form having 500 residues. Catalase was identified as a contaminant of the preparations. All four pairs within a set of aldehyde dehydrogenases can now be compared, including the same two species variants (horse and human) for both the cytosolic and mitochondrial enzyme, revealing characteristic...
Smyth GB.Lengths of small intestine, caecum, ascending colon and descending colon were measured in intestinal tracts from 103 foetuses, foals and adult horses. Intestinal tracts from 21 of the horses were measured at varying intervals after death. Total intestinal length increased markedly from mid-gestation to one year of age, then showed little increment up to 35 years. Small intestinal length increased most rapidly in the first month of life. Caecal length increased most rapidly from one to six months and length of ascending colon increased most rapidly between one week and one year. Descending colo...
Sponenberg DP, Ito S, Eng LA, Schwink K.Hair samples of various colors of horses were analyzed for content of both eumelanin and pheomelanin by a procedure using high performance liquid chromatography. The results are in accord with generally accepted genetic hypotheses accounting for the various colors. However, the results support the hypothesis that the chestnut/sorrel group of colors is conditioned by the extension locus, not the brown locus. The results also indicate that the brown locus is a likely contributor to some rare color phenotypes.
Koterba AM, Kosch PC, Beech J, Whitlock T.To investigate the mechanism underlying the polyphasic airflow pattern of the equine species, we recorded airflow, tidal volum, rib cage and abdominal motion, and the sequence of activation of the diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal muscles during quiet breathing in nine adult horses standing at rest. In addition, esophageal, abdominal, and transdiaphragmatic pressures were simultaneously recorded using balloon-tipped catheters. Analysis of tidal flow-volume loops showed that, unlike humans, the horse at rest breathes around, rather than from, the relaxed volume of the respiratory system (Vr...
Bowling AT, Wictum E.A fourth allele at the horse erythrocyte phosphohexose isomerase (Phi) locus was proposed to account for phenotypes observed after starch gel electrophoresis and enzymatic staining of red cell lysates from American Saddlebred and Tennessee Walking Horse breeds. The gene was rare, having an estimated frequency of 0.009 in 949 Saddlebreds tested.
Mermod L, Hoppeler H, Kayar SR, Straub R, Weibel ER.Muscle samples were taken from the superficial part of the semitendinosus muscle of four standardbred horses to compare the effects of three different fixation procedures on fiber size and capillarity. Infiltration fixation in an extended position of the muscle was compared to immersion fixation and infiltration fixation in a flexed position of the limb. The capillary length density was used to estimate muscle capillarity. Infiltration fixation was found to be a viable alternative to perfusion fixation of muscles for morphometry of fiber size and capillary length density allowing muscle tissue...
Sambraus HH.Due to motorization the heavy horses, in particular draught horses and carriage horses, were deprived of their "raison d'être". At present therefore, they mostly are found in small livestocks. The past few years they regained some significance through their work in the forests, as an attraction in tourism or somewhere else. In German speaking countries approximately 15 horse breeds must be considered to be threatened in their existence. Breeding history, appearance, use and geographical distribution of 12 of them are discussed in this article.
Hänni K, Hesford F, Lazary S, Gerber H.Genomic DNA isolated from 20 horses was digested with up to six restriction endonucleases and subjected to southern blot hybridization analysis using various human class II alpha- and beta-chain cDNA probes. A high degree of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was found for the DQ alpha, DP beta, DQ beta and DR beta probes, about 20 polymorphic bands being detected for each. DR alpha showed 2-4 polymorphic bands, whereas no evidence for DP alpha-like genes was found. A number of correlations of RFLPs with individual alloantisera were apparent.
Art T, Lekeux P.Exercise-induced variations in their ventilatory mechanics were studied in 8 healthy ponies 4.2 +/- 1.4 years old and weighing 282 +/- 11 kg. Airflow (V), tidal volume (VT), esophageal pressure, mask pressure and electrocardiogram were simultaneously recorded before, during and after a treadmill (incline 8.3 degrees) exercise which consisted of 2 min walking (1.5 m.sec-1), 3 min slow trotting (3.0 m.sec-1) and 3 min fast trotting (3.5 m.sec-1). The results of three consecutive daily measurements were averaged for each pony. Heart rate, minute volume (Ve), respiratory frequency (f) and peak ins...
Haluska GJ, Lowe JE, Currie WB.Recordings of uterine electrical activity were made from 5 pregnant pony mares from Day 141 to 320 of pregnancy. Three types of activity were identified. Short, medium and long bursts were quantified as the percentage of time each occurred during the hour analysed and further categorized according to frequency, amplitude and duration. The uterus was most active during the early stages recorded and became increasingly quiescent after Day 240. Short-burst activity was greatest when the uterus was most quiescent. Long bursts showed the greatest percentage of activity until Day 220 and then decrea...
Kim YK, Seo EG, Lee SS, Suh EH, Houpt KA, Lee HC, Lee HJ, Yeon SC.We investigated the differences between vocalizations of mares in estrus and diestrus and determined the spectrographic parameters to discriminate estrus from diestrus. Thoroughbred brood mares (n=89) were exposed to a teasing procedure for 3 min, and we recorded all vocalizations emitted from them. Among the mares, 56.5% of estrus and 78.6% of diestrus mares emitted calls toward an approaching stallion, indicating that there was higher tendency in the occurrence rate of vocal responses in diestrus than estrus mares. We analyzed the spectrographic data of the mares (25 estrus and 22 diestrus m...
Rushton JO, Tichy A, Kolodziejek J, Nowotny N, Nell B.The prevalence of linear keratopathy with progressing age in a closed population of a single horse breed is reported. All Lipizzaners in three federal states in Austria underwent complete ophthalmic examination four times over a period of 18 months, with six-month intervals. Findings consistent with linear keratopathy were recorded, and associated with factors such as sex, location, boarding system and level of performance throughout the study period. Logistic regression was applied to determine the influence of age on ophthalmic findings. On the first, second, third and fourth examinations, 0...
Derisoud E, Jouneau L, Margat A, Gourtay C, Dubois C, Archilla C, Jaszczyszyn Y, Dahirel M, Daniel N, Peynot N, Briot L, De Geoffroy F, Wimel L....No abstract available
Sod GA, Hubert JD, Martin GS, Gill MS.To compare the monotonic biomechanical properties and fatigue life of a broad, limited contact, dynamic compression plate (LC-DCP) fixation with a broad, dynamic compression plate (DCP) fixation to repair osteotomized equine 3rd metacarpal (MC3) bones. Methods: In vitro biomechanical testing of paired cadaveric equine MC3 with a mid-diaphyseal osteotomy, stabilized by 1 of 2 methods for fracture fixation. Methods: Twelve pairs of adult equine cadaveric MC3 bones. Methods: Twelve pairs of equine MC3 were divided into 3 test groups (4 pairs each) for (1) 4-point bending single cycle to failure t...
Smith AV, Wilson C, McComb K, Proops L.In the original publication, data availability text was incorrectly published. The correct text should read as below.
Silvia PJ, Johnson L, Fitzgerald BP.In mares, the amount of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is low in the hypothalamus during seasonal anoestrus, but by early spring, concentrations of GnRH are high. The timing of this response was characterized more precisely by determining concentrations of GnRH in hypothalamic tissue collected immediately before and at various times after the winter solstice (22 December 1986). Ovaries, pituitary gland, hypothalamus and a blood sample were collected from six groups of mares (6-12 mares per group) at death, 1 week before day of the winter solstice and 1, 2, 3 and 12 weeks afterwards. No...
Deriusheva SE, Loginova IuA, Chiriaeva OG, Iaschak K.A high-resolution cytogenetic map (670 bands per haploid set) of RBA-banded chromosomes has been constructed in the domestic horse Equus caballus. The size and distribution of the replication-based R(G)-bands were analyzed using the computer program VideoTest-Karyo. The obtained data were compared to the results of cytogenetic mapping in other mammalian species and human.
Billington HE, McEwan NR.Although various combinations of parental coat colours can produce a Palomino foal, examination of records of the British Palomino Society suggest that many animals registered with the society resulted from matings which maximise the likelihood or even guarantee a Palomino foal. When show records were examined, it was clear that the colouration preferred by judges corresponds to that of the only pair-wise parental combination guaranteeing a Palomino foal.
Bedenice D.One of the fundamental skills required for practicing evidence-based medicine is the development of a well-built clinical question, which specifies the patient group or problem, intervention, and outcome of interest. For this purpose, various "levels of evidence" have been developed in the human literature, which rank the validity of evidence. Our established conclusions and advice are thus supported by specific "grades of recommendations," which are intended to give an indication of the "strength" of a clinical recommendation. This article was compiled with these principles in mind.
Juneja RK, Sandberg K, Kuryl J, Gahne B.Two-dimensional agarose gel (pH 8.6)-horizontal polyacrylamide gel (pH 9.0) electrophoresis of horse serum samples, followed by general protein staining, revealed genetic polymorphism of an unidentified protein tentatively designated serum protein 3 (SP3). The SP3 fractions appeared distinctly when a 14% concentration of acrylamide was used in the separation gels. The 2-D mobilities of SP3 fractions were quite similar to that of albumin. Family data were consistent with the hypothesis that the observed SP3 phenotypes were controlled by four co-dominant, autosomal alleles (D, F, I, S). Evidence...