"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.
Darbre PD, Romero-Herrera AE, Lehmann H.The tryptic and peptic peptides from the myoglobin of the zebra (Equus burchelli) have been compared with those obtained from the myoglobin of the horse (Equus caballus). No differences in the myoglobin were found between these two species.
Science (New York, N.Y.)May 26, 1975
Volume 188, Issue 4189 738-740 doi: 10.1126/science.1168366
Carter CD, Kimbrough RD, Liddle JA, Cline RE, Zack MM, Barthel WF, Koehler RE, Phillips PE.Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin was identified as the apparent cause of an outbreak of poisoning in humans, horses, and other animals. Exposure was related to the spraying of contaminated waste oil on riding arenas for dust control. The contamination resulted from improper disposal of a toxic industrial waste. The pathologic effects and chemical identification of tetrachlorodibenzodioxin are described.
Wagenaar G.A description is given of three cases in which horses died very shortly after being given an intramuscular injection of iron dextran. The use of iron dextran in the case of horses is inadvisable.
Baker JR, Leyland A.In a histological survey of 244 tumerous growths from 155 horses, the tumours commonly found were fibromas, squamous cell carcinomas, sarcoids and papillomas, most frequently affecting the skin, external genitalia, eye and orbit. The histological features that differentiate fibroblastic citaneous growths are detailed so that the clinical behaviour of these distinct neoplasms can be studied.
Harris WF.Three horses exhibited nervous and cardiopulmonary signs after ingestins small amounts of metaldehyde, and 2 died in 3 to 5 hours. A colt given 0.1 mg/kg was similarly affected and died.
Rawlings CA, Byars TD, Van Noy MK, Bisgard GE.Activated coagulation test (ACT) was performed in 37 adult ponies and 31 adult horses. The mean ACT time of all ponies and horses was 2 minutes 38 seconds, with a standard deviation (SD) of 29 seconds. The ACT was compared with the Lee-White clotting test in heparinized ponies. The correlation of ACT with the Lee-White test was 0.95. Anticoagulation heparinized ponies during prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass was successfully monitored with the ACT. The ACT is simple and reproducible, has a definite end point, and would seem to be an ideal screening test for hemorrhagic diathesis in equine anima...
Inkerman PA, Scott K, Runnegar MT, Hamilton SE, Bennett EA, Zerner B.Chicken, sheep, and horse liver carboxylesterases have been purified by procedures involving ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration on Sephadex. The actual yields of the procedures described were as follows: chicken, 1 g from 2 kg of liver powder (chloroform-acetone); sheep, 200 mg from 400 g of powder (chloroform-acetone); horse, 230 mg from 800 g of powder (acetone). The purified enzymes are free of non-carboxyl-esterase protein as shown by gel electrophoresis, although they do contain electrophoretic variants. The equivalent weight of the chicken enzy...
Brown MP, MacCallum FJ.Tetracycline-labeled bones of 23 foals from 52 to 104 days old were sectioned and macroscopically examined to assess the extent of ossification or fusion of ossification centers. A grading system was devised with which to record information about the ossification centers and growth plates. The objective was to define anatomic standards which could contribute toward obtaining an accurate radiologic interpretation. Labeled limb bones of 3 neonatal foals were similarly treated, but grading of these was limited to the consideration of whether each site was still cartilaginous or had commenced to o...
Gronwall R, Engelking LR, Anwer MS, Erichsen DF, Klentz RD.Surgically placed bile duct cannulas allowed collection of secreted bile from nonanesthetized ponies. UNINTERRUPTED ENTEROPHEPATIC CIRCULATION WAS PERMITTED BETWEEN COLLECTIONS. Deleterious effects of cannulation were not observed. Average bile flow was 18.6 plus or minus 1.72 (standard error) mul/minute/kg, bile acid excretion was 0.179 plus or minus 0.0212 mumole/minute/kg, and bilirubin excretion averaged 1.22 plus or minus 0.136 mug/minute/kg.
Cabler P, Geddes LA, Rosborough J.Ultrasonic energy, provided by a commercially available water vaporizer, was used to vaporize methoxyflurane, halothane, and chloroform. The vaporizer was placed directly in the respiratory line, and the anaesthetic liquid was vaporized one drop at a time. Anaesthesia was maintained for periods up to 6 hr in horses, ponies, calves, sheep, dogs, and one pig. This method of vaporizing liquids is applicable to a wide variety of anaesthetics. It is easily controlled, and the same vaporizer can be used with a wide range of sizes of subjects. The vaporizer can be placed directly in the respiratory c...
Kamerling JP, Vliegenthart JF.A number of O-acetylated N-acylneuraminic acids, isolated from submandibular glands of cow and horse and from horse erythrocytes, have been characterized by mass spectrometry. On the basis of the typical fragmentation patterns of the pertrimethylsilyl derivatives of the methyl esters of the compounds, they were identified as 4-O-acetyl-, 9-O-acetyl-, 4,9-di-O-acetyl-, and 7,9-di-O-acetyl N-acetylneuraminic acid, and 4-O-acetyl-and 9-O-acetyl-N-glycolylneuraminic acid.
Scott EA.A weanling Quarter Horse filly developed ventral swelling of the lower cervical area after difficult passage of a stomach tube for deworming. Intermittent bilateral nasal discharge developed. Radiography revealed fluid and gas density dorsal to the trachea and esophagus. Surgical incision with drainage and debridement of the abscess and fistulous tract, facilitated by use of drains, led to complete recovery. Contrast medium injected after surgery demonstrated a communication between the abscess and the pharyngeal region.
Pause B, Nolte I, Geiss V, Mayer H, Lasch HG.A thoroughbred horse, suffering from intermittent lameness was treated with streptokinase, urokinase and warfarin. The appearing fibrinolytic changes in coagulation were exhibited in a resonance thrombogram. In attendant coagulation studies fibrinogen- and fibrin-degradation products were demonstrated. The stallion does not show any lameness since the end of the treatment and is standing in a breeding station since March 1988.
Hutchens DE, Paul AJ, DiPietro JA, Lock TF, Jones CJ, Rowley DD, Wallace RW.A controlled test was conducted to assess the efficacy bioequivalence of a single dose of 0.5% fenbendazole (FBZ) top dress pellets to a 10% FBZ suspension formulation (Panacur suspension 10%, Hoechst Roussel Vet). Thirty horses with naturally-acquired parasite infections, in replicates of three, were used. Strongyle egg per gram counts were not significantly different (P>0.1) between groups pretreatment, but FBZ treated groups were significantly different from the control group post-treatment. At necropsy, which occurred seven to nine days post-treatment, two methods of nematode recovery were...
Winder NC, Gruenig G, Hermann M, Howald B, von Fellenberg R.Equine respiratory secretions (RS) collected before (33 horses) and after (76 horses) slaughter were evaluated cytologically and grouped according to the histological diagnosis of the lungs from which they were obtained. The histological categories included normal lungs (control; 17 horses), chronic small airway disease with mild (23 horses), moderate (13 horses) and severe lesions (25 horses), interstitial pneumonia (13 horses), pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration (13 horses) and pulmonary haemorrhage (5 horses). On a group basis there were significantly more neutrophils in RS of horses with ...
Brennvall HM, Bjune T, Sverdrup Ø, Ráki M, Abedini S.Zoonoses are important to consider when humans become ill after being in contact with animals. In such cases thorough patient history is crucial, especially when infections have an unclear cause. We present a patient with infection-associated glomerulonephritis, where a horse was the probable source of infection. A young woman was admitted to the district general hospital in Vestfold, Norway, with infection and acute kidney failure. Renal biopsy suggested glomerulonephritis, and nasopharyngeal culture taken at admission detected Streptococcus equi. It emerged that the patient had daily contact...
Hélie P, Ammann VJ, Kervern I.A 6-year-old, standardbred mare was presented for colic of 12 h duration. Transrectal palpation revealed intestinal distension of unknown cause. The mare was euthanized. At necropsy, segmental jejunoileal incarceration and strangulation through an opening in the spleen was observed. This opening was considered to be a congenital defect.
Allen JL, Herbert G, Muscatello G, Gilkerson JR.Bronchopneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi is an important disease of young horses throughout the world. Although early diagnosis and treatment improves the prognosis, this also increases the amount of antimicrobial usage and therefore increases the likelihood of resistance developing. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the level of resistance to commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents of 97 virulent Rhodococcus equi isolates. Methods: Analysis of archived samples. Methods: Virulent Rhodococcus equi isolates were collected between 1991 and 2014 from clinically affected horses ...
Lány P, Pospísil Z, Zendulková D, Cíhal P, Jahn P.A mild outbreak of acute respiratory infection was reported in racing horses in the fall of 1995. Four studs were investigated for the sources and routes of infection. In five horses from two herds, virus isolates were obtained which, in preliminary typing experiments, were identified as the influenza A/equi 2 virus. The presence of this illness in all the examined herds was confirmed by a rise in specific antibody titres. The affected animals included both older vaccinated horses and young horses not yet vaccinated. Epidemiological studies suggested that the spread of infection occurred in si...
Peremans K, Verschooten F, De Moor A, Desmet P.The clinical and radiographic findings in 21 ponies with laminitis and its treatment and results are described. All ponies received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. All were fed hay and no concentrates. They were box rested for varying periods depending on clinical improvement. Dorsal hoof wall resection was performed in 11 ponies and all regained complete soundness. To shorten the period of non-activity, working ponies were shod and the hoof wall defect was packed with technovit or a combination of glue with cotton cuttings. Ten were treated conservatively; two recovered completely, fou...
Munro CD, Renton JP, Butcher R.Using a range of positive and negative sexual behaviour components, proceptivity of cycling, non-lactating mares and postpartum, lactating Pony mares was quantified around ovulation. Behavioural observations were compared to plasms concentrations of progesterone, total oestrogens and androstenedione. In addition, in cycling mares, comparison with plasma testosterone concentrations was carried out. Overall rejection behaviour by the mare was apparent both during dioestrus and during periods of basal plasma progesterone concentrations. Within cycling, non-lactating mares, and between postpartum ...
Vitour D, Zientara S, Fablet A, Bréard E, Sailleau C.African horse sickness (AHS) is a major arthropod-borne disease that causes significant losses in horses in sub-Saharan Africa. It is caused by the African horse sickness virus (AHSV), which is transmitted during a blood meal by Culicoides biting midges. The distribution of historical African culicoid vectors increases due to global warming. In addition, recent (Thailand, 2020) and earlier (Iberian Peninsula, 1965-66/1987-90) AHS outbreaks outside Africa demonstrate the adaptation of the virus to endogenous species in AHS-free regions, similar to what has been observed for bluetongue disease i...
Hayes AM, Kastl B, Perry E, Moore AR, Springer NL.Myeloma-related disorders, including multiple myeloma, extramedullary plasmacytoma, and solid osseous plasmacytoma, are rare in horses. Clinical complaints for myeloma-related disorders are nonspecific, and when present, M-protein location is more variable on protein electrophoresis in horses relative to dogs and cats. Here, we describe a case of a 15-year-old Thoroughbred mare who presented with recurrent blepharitis. Marked hyperglobulinemia was an incidental finding on routine hematologic and biochemical testing. Bone marrow aspiration consisted of >30% plasma cells, and serum protein el...
Bischoff K, Moiseff J.Feed as a cause of poisoning in horses can occur on small or large scales. It is challenging to work up cases of suspected feed contamination, but there are resources available to veterinarians and owners. Feed contamination can be chemical or biological. This article focuses on and provides examples of chemical feed contamination including misformulation, adulteration, and natural contaminants. Additionally, recommendations for feed sampling and diagnostic submission, including legal documentation, are included.
Costello S, Heffron B, Taddei L, Benoit M, Hurt L, Simpson L, Bishop J, Folker-Calderon D, Negrusz A.Fluphenazine, a potent antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia in humans, is used in racehorses as a performance-enhancing drug, and for that reason it has been banned by the Association of Racing Commissioners International. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for detecting and quantitating fluphenazine in equine serum was developed and validated. The method was then employed to quantitate fluphenazine in serum samples collected from three study horses after intramuscular injection of fluphenazine decanoate. Stability testing showed that fluphenazine is stable in unextra...
Thompson DL, Pickett BW, Squires EL, Nett TM.Sixteen stallions were castrated and 30 days later assigned to one of four treatments: (1) testosterone propionate (175 microgram/kg body weight), (2) 17 beta-estradiol-3-benzoate (44 micrograms/kg body weight), (3) a combination of both steroids or, (4) vehicle only. These dosage were administered every other day for 18 days. The dosages were then doubled and continued for 20 days. Concentrations of testosterone and estradiol in serum decreased rapidly after castration and stabilized within about 6 hours. Mean concentrations of testosterone and estradiol maintained by the steroids were 1.4 an...
Marr CM, Bright JM, Marlin DJ, Harris PA, Roberts CA.We hypothesised that exercise in a hot and humid environment would affect echocardiographic indices of cardiac dimensions and function more than exercise in a cool environment. M-mode echocardiograms were obtained in 5 clinically normal horses before, and at 0, 10, 30 and 60 min after a treadmill exercise test. The test was performed in a controlled environment at 20 degrees C/40% relative humidity (RH) and again at 30 degrees C/80% RH. All the horses completed the exercise test in cool conditions, but only one horse completed the exercise test in the hot/humid environment. The relaxation time...
