"Horses" is a broad topic that encompasses various aspects of equine biology, behavior, and management. This category includes studies on the anatomy, physiology, and genetics of horses, as well as their behavior, nutrition, and care. Research in this area may also cover the historical and cultural significance of horses, their roles in agriculture, sport, and therapy, and the challenges associated with their conservation and welfare. The page aggregates peer-reviewed research articles and scholarly studies that explore the multifaceted relationships between humans and horses, examining both scientific and socio-economic perspectives.
Auer JA, Garner HE, Amend JF, Hutcheson DP, Salem CA.The duration and quality of recovery after separate 2 hour anaesthetic periods with equipotent alveolar concentrations of isoflurane, enflurane, halothane and methoxyflurane were evaluated in experimental ponies. Recovery was shortest after isoflurane anaesthesia, followed by enflurane, halothane and finally methoxyflurane, although standing was achieved more rapidly after enflurane than after isoflurane. This sequence of recovery times was compatible with the respective solubilities of the 4 agents. The smoothest recovery was obtained after isoflurane anaesthesia, followed by methoxyflurane, ...
Cybinski DH, St George TD, Paull NI.Neutralising antibody to Akabane virus was shown to develop in cattle in northern Australia throughout the year and also on the east coast of New South Wales in the summer during 1975/1976. Other species found to have antibody to Akabane virus were buffaloes, horses, camels and sheep, but no antibody was found in domestic chickens, ducks, wallabies or man. The biting midge Culicoides brevitarsis has been detected in all the major areas where antibody was demonstrated in this study.
Kaminski M.The detection of the recessive null allele of horse serum esterase (Es) is possible in heterozygotes Es+/EsO which by starch gel electrophoresis appear like homozygotes Es+/Es+. Two methods are proposed, the titration of enzymatic activity of esterase and the immunochemical titration of esterase as antigen. These methods can be applied to solve the cases of suspect parentage or in population studies.
Hillidge CJ.The serum activities of creatine kinase (CPK), aldolase (ALD) and alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBD) were determined in a group of Welsh Mountain ponies before and after a 30 minute period of neuroleptanalgesia induced by i.v. injection of Immobilon and terminated by i.v. injection of Revivon. There were slight but significant increases in the serum activities of CPK and HBD following neuroleptanalgesia, but no change in the serum activity of ALD. It is suggested that this form of neuroleptanalgesia may be associated, in ponies, with a degree of reversible myocardial hypoxic change, pos...
Shehata R.The anatomy and histology of the male uterus were studied in the donkey and the horse. In the former it was found complete and long, while in the latter it was incomplete or absent. Some variations met with are described. A new concept of "internal male hermaphroditism' is presented and two types are differentiated.
Ludwig H, Thein P.From 18 horses with clinical symptoms of an affection of the central nervous system and with histopathologic alterations in the brain, four were demonstrated to have Bornavirus-specific antibodies. The antibodies are monospecific, recognizing identical antigens from infected brains of different animal species as well as from persistently infected tissue culture cells. Discrete immunoglobulin species (oligoclonal IgG) can be demonstrated in concentrated horse cerebrospinal fluid; they carry Bornavirus antibody specificity. Their presence, together with the higher antibody titers in the cerebros...
Jones RH, Hayes RO, Potter HW, Francy DB.A survey of biting flies in the southwestern United States resulted in the recovery of 34 species as they attacked equines. The geographic distribution of each species at 15 sites and the abundance of attacking flies were used to determine that 22 species commonly attack equines. Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett) was the most common species collected; it was recovered at 12 sites and comprised the highest percentage (29.8%) of the total survey catch for all species collected. The next 2 most common species were Psorophora columbiae (Dyar & Knab) and Aedes vexans (Meigen). C. variipennis was ...
Firth EC.The signs observed in 6 cases of peripheral vestibular disease included incoordination, head tilt and nystagmus. The intensity of the signs varied greatly with duration of the disease, and in 3 cases facial paralysis was also present. Tympanosclerosis was demonstrable in all cases subject to radiology. Trauma was the causative factor in most cases. The causes of, and relationships between, vestibular dysfunction and concomitant facial paralysis are discussed. The exact etiology of the tympanosclerosis is unknown.
Boomker J, Coetzer JA, Scott DB.Black grain mycetoma occurred in two horses, one a cross-bred pony and the other a Thoroughbred racehorse. Lesions were limited to wart-like growths in one case and a deep-seated girth gall in the other. In both cases the granules in the affected tissues were similar in pigmentation and structure to those produced by Curvularia geniculata in dogs. Since all the specimens were received in formalin, the causative fungus could not be isolated. These are the first cases of maduromycosis in animals to be recorded in South Africa.
Reddy VK, Kammula RG, Randolph A, Graham TC, Srungaram SK.Studies on regional blood flow to the stomach and small intestine were performed in 9 anesthetized ponies. Carbonized microspheres (15 +/- 5 micron in diameter) labeled with 85Sr were injected into the left atrium to determine blood flow distribution. In 4 ponies, the regional flows to mucosal-submucosal layers of the stomach and the small intestine were also measured. The nonglandular region of the stomach received the least blood per 100 g of tissue, and the duodenum received the greatest. The regional blood flow to the duodenum was significantly higher than that to the glandular stomach reg...
McConnel MB, Katada M, McConnell S, Moore R.Electron microscopy was used to demonstrate the presence of viral particles in primary cultures of leukocytes taken from a horse after SC inoculation with the Wyoming strain of equine infectious anemia virus. Unlike previous studies, the exposure virus was not passaged through cell culture prior to horse inoculation. Cultures were begun approximately 1 week before and 1 week after the 1st pyrexic period after inoculation. In both samples, viral particles and cytoplasmic alterations were observed resembling those previously reported in equine infectious anemia virus and other retravirus-infecte...
Hillidge CJ, Lees P.Measurements of the rate of rise of left ventricular blood pressure (dP/dt) have been made in conscious and anaesthetised ponies. Concurrent measurements of heart rate, mean arterial pressure and left ventricular pressure were also made in order to assess their relationship to values of dP/dt. Thiopentone-halothane and thiopentone-ether anaesthesia reduced the maximal rate of rise of intraventricular pressure (dP/dt max) from conscious control levels. After correcting for variations in the loading conditions of the ventricle, the depressant effect of halothane was still apparent, but the actio...
Sturm RT, Lang GH, Mitchell WR.The sera of 2596 thoroughbred and standardbred racehorses from Ontario were examined by hemagglutination-inhibition for antibodies to reovirus types 1, 2 and 3. The prevalence of antibodies differed between the standardbred and thoroughbred horses and varied with the age groups within the two populations. While reovirus 1 was the principal virus type infecting thoroughbreds, all three types seemed to infect standardbred horses. Differences of these findings with data from similar studies in Europe are mentioned and the epizootiological and pathological significance of these findings are discus...
Littlejohn A, Bowles F, Maluleka W.The percentage venous admixture was calculated in 21 clinically normal horses and ponies and in 13 horses and ponies with chronic obstructure pulmonary disease (COPD). The oxygen contents of pulmonary end-capillary blood, arterial and mixed venous blood were calculated from blood and respiratory gas values and substituted in the shunt equation. The mean percentage venous admixture of the COPD subjects was significantly greater than that of the normal subjects. It was concluded that a larger proportion of alveoli in the lungs of COPD subjects were hypoventilated than that of alveoli of the norm...
Haynes PF.The intent and extent of the respiratory tract examination relevant to purchase are dictated by numerous factors, including historical information, signs suggestive of respiratory tract abnormalities, intended use of the horse, and economic considerations. Following a thorough and systematic examination of the horse at rest, evaluation during and following exercise may be warranted. The physical examination should include evaluation of regional symmetry of the head, neck, and thorax; evaluation of nasal airflow and patency; palpation of the nasal septum, larynx, and trachea; examination for su...
Hermans H, van den Berg EMH, Slenter IJM, Vendrig DJC, de Nijs-Tjon LJL, Vernooij JCM, Brommer H, Boevé MH, Gehring R.Topical dexamethasone and prednisolone are currently the mainstay treatment for equine ophthalmic inflammatory diseases, such as equine recurrent uveitis. Comparative pharmacokinetic studies in horses are lacking and current guidelines are mainly based on empirical data and extrapolation from other species. Objective: To investigate the penetration and local concentrations of topically applied dexamethasone and prednisolone in normal equine ocular fluids and serum. Methods: Prospective randomised experimental pharmacokinetic study. Methods: Twenty-one Shetland ponies without ophthalmic disease...
Craig AM, Blythe LL, Appell LH, Slizeski ML.Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) had been postulated to be a 'masking agent' when used concurrently with therapeutic or prohibited drugs in racing animals. Eight drugs (flunixin, furosemide, caffeine, apomorphine, phenylbutazone, lidocaine, cocaine, and acepromazine maleate) were administered to six horses singly and with concurrent intravenous DMSO. Urine samples were analyzed for the presence of the drugs and/or their metabolites by thin layer chromatography. Direct comparison of thin layer chromatograms of extracts of positive urine samples with and without DMSO verified that DMSO did not interfer...
Carmalt JL, Johansson BC, Zetterström SM, McOnie RC.OBJECTIVE To determine factors affecting race speed in Swedish Standardbred horses undergoing surgery of the carpal flexor sheath (CFS), to investigate whether preoperative racing speed was associated with specific intraoperative findings and whether horses returned to racing, and to compare the performance of horses undergoing surgery of the CFS with that of age- and sex-matched control horses. ANIMALS 149 Swedish Standardbred trotters undergoing surgery of the CFS and 274 age- and sex-matched control horses. PROCEDURES Medical records of CFS horses were examined. Racing data for CFS and cont...
Luna SP, Taylor PM, Brearley JC.Glucose was infused intravenously into six ponies during halothane anaesthesia, to evaluate its effect on their endocrine response to anaesthesia. The ponies were premedicated with acepromazine, and anaesthesia was induced with thiopentone and maintained with halothane in oxygen for two hours. Glucose was infused to maintain the plasma glucose concentration above 20 mmol/litre. Anaesthesia was associated with hypothermia, a decrease in haematocrit, hypotension, hyperoxaemia, respiratory acidosis and an increase in the plasma concentrations of lactate and arginine vasopressin. The concentration...
Bladon BM, Hillyer MH.Extensive resection of the ileum of the horse, using automated stapling equipment followed by a stapled jejunocaecostomy, without closure of the mesenteric defect, was evaluated prospectively as a surgical treatment for lesions involving the distal small intestine. Of 153 horses treated surgically for colic, 10 horses with strangulating lesions involving the distal ileum were treated by extensive resection and jejunocaecal anastomosis leaving a residual mesenteric defect. These were compared with 12 horses with jejunoileal lesions treated by jejunocaecal anastomosis with closure of the mesente...
van Haeringen H.Investigations for the presence of antibodies to red blood cell antigens were carried out in equine colostrum and serum. Material from 181 mares without clinical disease was tested. The object was to obtain information on the number of mares producing antibodies capable of inducing haemolytic disease in newborn foals. Of the mares 2.8% was positive for haemolysins. These mares are expected to be a risk for haemolytic disease. In addition agglutinating antibodies were identified in 39.2 per cent of the mares examined. It is not known whether or not these antibodies constitute a hazard for the f...
Duyn RJ, van Haeringen H.Hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis is a genetic disease that affects the American Quarter Horse population and is caused by a mutation. As a result of this mutation in a gene which codes for the sodium channel in muscle cells, severe muscle weakness can appear. Reliable DNA-tests can establish whether a horse is homozygous negative, heterozygous, or homozygous positive for this mutation. Therapy and prevention are discussed.
