"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.
ALEXANDER F.No abstract available1. The magnitude of the rhythmic contractions of the perfused ileum varied with the supply of oxygen.
2. Isotonic sodium chloride solution was as good as Tyrode's solution for suspension of the red cells in the perfusion fluid.
3. Variation of the potassium and calcium content of the perfusion fluid had little effect on motility. Sodium ions had a specific function in maintaining motility.
4. The chloride ions in the perfusion fluid were replaced by bromide, phosphate and sulphate ions without affecting motility. Iodide ions were toxic.
5. The ileum perfused wi...
Kopecka A, Novotna T, Svobodova Z, Drabkova Z.This study describes a case of poisoning by pyrrolizidine alkaloids in a horse. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first confirmed case of Senecio ovatus poisoning. A six-year-old 450-kg Irish cob mare was presented to the Equine Clinic of the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (Czechia) with symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy, which progressively worsened with time despite intensive therapy and led to euthanasia. A complex diagnostic and therapeutic approach including the post-mortem patoanatomical and histopathological examination is described here. Regar...
Varner KM, Curtiss AL, Hogan PM, Love K, Dodam JR.In anaesthetised horses, bradycardia secondary to high vagal tone can reduce cardiac output and blood pressure. The use of anticholinergics in horses is limited due to concerns about ileus and abdominal discomfort. This retrospective study sought to determine the prevalence of post-operative abdominal discomfort in healthy horses that received atropine under isoflurane anaesthesia. Methods: A retrospective evaluation of 222 general anaesthesia events between January 2019 and December 2019 was undertaken. Methods: One hundred and eleven horses that received atropine were identified, and 111 cas...
Silva RC, Coelho GJ, Sousa MBF, Caldas CS, Maciel RP, Mezzomo R, Gomes DÍ, Neta ERDS, Tavares FB, Alves KS, Oliveira LRS.In this study, we analyzed the effects of including açaí kernel, in the experimental diets fed to horses on the intake and digestibility of their nutrient and the resultant effects on the behavior of horses. The experiments were conducted in Federal Rural University of Amazonia. Five mares with no defined breeds, were allocated to five treatments (the replacement of Mombaça grass (Megathyrsus maximus) with crushed açaí kernel at 0, 18.75, 37.50, 56.25, and 75% levels of dry matter), in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The animals were housed in covered stalls with concrete floors, equipp...
Hobbs SJ, Tatlisulu A, Johnson A, Rowlands SD, Lucey M, Martin JH, Graydon RW, Northrop AJ.The maximum galloping speeds of racehorses during a race are influenced by the functional performance of the ground ('going') amongst other factors. For turf racecourses in Britain, the ground is descriptively classified and numerically quantified on the morning of a race meeting by the clerk of the course and subsequently published to assist decision making. Importantly, this includes deciding whether a horse should or should not run. The going is also assessed and classified during the meeting by racing analysts using the normalized winning times from each race result. Differences between go...
Bishop RC, Kemper AM, Clark LV, Wilkins PA, McCoy AM.Equine gastrointestinal microbial communities vary across the gastrointestinal tract and in response to diet or disease. Understanding the composition and stability of gastric fluid microbiota in healthy horses is a prerequisite to understanding changes associated with the development of disease. The objective of this study was to describe microbial communities in the gastric fluid and feces of healthy horses longitudinally. Horses were maintained on pasture (6 weeks), stabled (5 weeks), then returned to pasture. A consistent forage diet was provided throughout. Native gastric fluid and feces ...
Norton AM, Rosanowski SM, O'Brien T.Epiglottic entrapment (EE) is a common cause of poor performance in racing standardbreds (STBs) and thoroughbreds (TBs). There is limited information published on the condition in STB racehorses and limited information on factors associated with return to racing available for either breed. Unassigned: This study investigated and compared the pre surgical findings, post-surgical complications and racing performance in STBs and TBs undergoing surgery for correction of EE. Associations between signalment and pre-surgical findings, and the presence of complications and racing post-surgery were com...
Jargielo MM, Kritchevsky JE, Bertin FR.Pergolide, labeled for the treatment of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, is 90% protein bound and might cause a decrease in blood thyroid hormone concentrations by displacing them from binding proteins. This study investigated the effect of pergolide on the equine thyroid function. Methods: This was an analytic, observational, cohort study. Six horses (17 to 24 years old and 530 to 599 kg) received 1 mg of pergolide mesylate orally once a day from days 1 to 6. Total T4 (tT4) was measured daily from day 0 to 11 (before, during, and after pergolide treatment). Thyrotropin-releasing hormone...
Brunner S, Fürst AE, Jackson MA.Dermal melanoma is a common neoplastic disease in horses, which occurs particularly in gray horses. There are various local and systemic therapeutic approaches to treat this skin tumor. Vaccination with human tyrosinase, ONCEPT ® vaccine, is a newer type of systemic melanoma therapy. In this study, the effectiveness of this ONCEPT ® vaccine was retrospectively examined in eight treated horses. In half of the horses (4) a positive change in tumor growth in the sense of retardation, stagnation and, in one of these horses, even reduction in the size of the melanomas was observed. Of the rem...
Jabar Aziz K, Mikaeel FB, Azeez SH, Bilal SJ.Equine neosporosis is an intracellular protozoan disease with a global distribution, affecting a diverse range of warm-blooded animals. Neospora caninum Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper et Uggla, 1988 is associated with foetal loss, neurological disease and abortion in equids. No information was available regarding equine N. caninum infection among equids in Iraq. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence rate of N. caninum in equines by using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA). A total of 329 blood samples randomly selected from equines, comprising 268 ...
Seabaugh K, Rao S, Koenig JB, Pezzanite L, Dow S, Koch TG, Russell KA, Mehrpouyan S, Alizadeh AH, Goodrich LR.Synovitis is present before and during osteoarthritis in horses and can result in performance-limiting lameness. Twenty-four horses with lameness localized to the metacarpo-/metatarsophalangeal joint or a single joint of the carpus were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the response of intra-articular injection with 10 million activated (aMSC) or non-activated (naMSC) allogeneic equine umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Subjective and objective lameness was assessed on Days 0, 1, 21, and 42. The treatment injection was randomly assigned and performed following th...
Mazzei M, Sorvillo B, Sgorbini M, Bindi F, Perelli A, Laus F.(1) Background: Respiratory problems may be associated with pathogens among which viruses may play an important role in causing or promoting clinical signs. However, traditional diagnostic methods for equine infectious diseases, such as PCR, are limited to known pathogens and often miss rare or novel viruses. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing is a transformative method that allows the sequencing of all genomes present in a sample. Recent studies have used next-generation sequences to identify viral sequences in horses with unexplained respiratory symptoms, revealing potential links betwee...
Cohen ND, Hughes EV, Bayne C, Morris ERA, Bray JM, Landrock KK, Gonzales DM, Baker RM, Klein RL, Liu W, Legere RM, Wehmeyer SG, Bordin AI....Evaluate the immunogenicity of a vaccine targeting the S protein (Ssee) of Streptococcus equi subsp equi and determine antibody activity against Ssee in horses with strangles. Methods: The study was designed as a prospective experiment using 20 university-owned Quarter Horses and a cross-sectional serosurvey of 78 privately owned horses with strangles. Horses were immunized IM with 0 (n = 4), 200 (n = 8), or 400 (n = 8) μg of recombinant Ssee at weeks 0, 4, and 12. Serum and nasal secretions were collected at weeks 0, 4, 6, 12, 16, and 28 and tested by ELISA for immunoglobulin (Ig)-G against ...
Cohen ND, Hughes EV, Bayne C, Morris ERA, Bray JM, Landrock KK, Gonzales DM, Baker RM, Klein RL, Liu W, Legere RM, Wehmeyer SG, Bordin AI....Evaluate the immunogenicity of a vaccine targeting the S protein (Ssee) of Streptococcus equi subsp equi and determine antibody activity against Ssee in horses with strangles. Methods: The study was designed as a prospective experiment using 20 university-owned Quarter Horses and a cross-sectional serosurvey of 78 privately owned horses with strangles. Horses were immunized IM with 0 (n = 4), 200 (n = 8), or 400 (n = 8) μg of recombinant Ssee at weeks 0, 4, and 12. Serum and nasal secretions were collected at weeks 0, 4, 6, 12, 16, and 28 and tested by ELISA for immunoglobulin (Ig)-G against ...
Dahm E.Emma Dahm introduces a new society in the world of showing that aims to give horses that have come back from neglect and abuse a platform to show off their talents and resilience.
Allen SE, Taylor S, Given J, Verheyen KL.The British horseracing industry is committed to reducing equine fatalities in jump racing. Race-related fatalities are a major welfare concern and threaten the sport's social licence to operate. Objective: To describe the risk of, and determine risk factors for, fatality in British jump racing. Methods: Retrospective cohort. Methods: Analyses included all starts made in British jump races between January 2010 and April 2023. Available information for each horse, race, racecourse, trainer and jockey was collated and combined with details of all fatalities recorded by official veterinary office...
Troillet A, Scharner D.Cecocolic intussusceptions are a rare condition of acute colic in horses requiring immediate surgical intervention due to persistent uncontrollable pain and ongoing ischemic cecal necrosis. Particularly in cases where reduction of the intussusception is surgically not feasible surgical interventions such as partial typhlectomy through colotomy (partial cecal amputation) combined with or without cecal bypass techniques are described. Alternatively, surgical interventions can also be performed without partial typhlectomy via incomplete bypass ileocolostomy. Information regarding applicable techn...
Kneipp MLA, Sousa LN, Cota LO, Malacarne BD, Winter IC, Santana CH, Santos RL, Xavier ABS, Faleiros RR, Carvalho AM.Coxofemoral dysplasia is a condition characterized by the abnormal development and flattening of the femoral head and deformities in the acetabulum, leading to joint instability. Although described in various animal species, it is uncommon and rarely reported in horses. This article presents a case of incapacitating coxofemoral dysplasia diagnosed in a four-month-old foal Mangalarga Marchador, which exhibited lameness in the hind limbs, thoracolumbar kyphosis, gluteal muscle atrophy, and pronounced sensitivity during pelvic limb flexion. The clinical diagnosis indicative of bilateral coxofemor...
Kaufman KL, Suagee-Bedore JK, Johnson SE, Ely KM, Ghajar SJ, McIntosh BM.Forage is essential for equine health and performance, but intake of elevated pasture nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) may exacerbate metabolic disorders. This study aimed to investigate the influence of laminitis history on metabolic and morphometric responses in grazing horses. Twelve non-pregnant mares (15 ± 3.4 yrs) were selected based on previous diagnosis of laminitis (PRELAM; n=6) or not (NOLAM; n=6). Horses were maintained on 8.5-ha pasture. Weekly pasture samples were clipped at random for nutrient analysis. Monthly blood samples were collected and analyzed for glucose and insulin c...
Bussiman F, Richter J, Hidalgo J, Silva FFE, Ventura RV, Carvalho RSB, Mattos EC, Ferraz JBS, Eler JP, de Carvalho Balieiro JC.Gait visual scores are widely applied to horse breeding because they are a fast and easy phenotyping strategy, allowing the numeric interpretation of a complex biological process such as gait quality. However, they may suffer from subjectivity or high environmental influence. We aimed to investigate potential causal relationships among six visual gait scores in Campolina horses. The data included 5475 horses with records for at least one of the following traits: Dissociation (Di), Comfort (C), Style (S), Regularity (R), Development (De), and Gait total Scores (GtS). The pedigree comprised thre...
Dörner CA, Vargas V, Castellón CH.The aim of this prospective case-control study was to describe and implement a reliable, accurate, and straightforward ultrasound-guided proximo-medial approach technique for injecting the carpal flexor tendon sheath in horses. The proximo-medial ultrasound-guided approach for intrathecal access to the carpal canal, as described in this study, was firstly developed on ten cadaveric limbs using an undiluted ionic iodinated contrast medium. Landmarks were identified, and the access point was established. Subsequently, the technique was validated in ten horses, and its efficacy was compared with ...
Aboelmaaty AM, Elgharieb AEA, El-Debaky HA, Alkhadrawy JMH, Abou-Ahmed MM, Ghallab AM.Senility influences fertility in women and companion animals, especially horses. Unassigned: This study aimed to investigate the effect of aging in horses on the daily changes in the dominant follicle (DF) dynamics and hemodynamics, antimüllerian hormone (AMH), enzymes, antioxidants, and ovarian hormones during the estrous cycle. Unassigned: Ovaries of old mares ( = 5, age >20 years) and young native mares ( = 6, age <10 years) were scanned during 6 different estrous cycles from March 2022 to August 2023 with Doppler ultrasound. The DF diameter and color area, the corpus luteum (CL) dia...
Hodgson E, Thirouin M, Narayanan P, Romano TR, Wise J, Bond S.Current methods to measure intragastric pH in horses have limitations. A wireless capsule has been designed for continuous esophageal pH monitoring in humans. Objective: To (1) determine the feasibility and describe the methodology of measuring intragastric pH wirelessly in horses; and (2) determine attachment duration of the capsules. Methods: Eleven healthy adult horses. Methods: Capsules were attached to squamous and glandular gastric mucosa under gastroscopic guidance, using suture loops and 1 to 4 hemostasis clips. pH was continuously recorded using a wireless recorder in both fed and fas...
Daradics Z, Bungărdean D, Lupșan AF, Popescu M, Bulmez O, Ciulu-Angelescu V, Chelaru VF, Morar I, Mircean M, Cătoi C, Tripon MA, Crecan CM.Ethylene glycol toxicosis is a common occurrence in dogs and cats but has been reported in other species as well. Up to date, only one case of ethylene glycol toxicosis has been described in horses, and specific guidelines for treating ethylene glycol intoxication in this species are not available. Here we describe the case of 39 sport horses that ingested water contaminated with ethylene glycol. The main clinical sign was apathy, but more severely affected individuals also developed abdominal pain and laminitis. Treatment was initiated around 24 h after the exposure, using ethanol as an antid...
Talbot AM, Shanks-Boon H, Baldwin CM, Barnes H, Maddox TW.Obesity has been associated with human obstructive sleep apnoea and canine brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. The effect of body condition score (BCS) on structures of the oropharynx, nasopharynx and upper airway of the horse has not been investigated. Objective: To investigate the effect of BCS on tongue measurements, soft palate angle and basihyoid depth in horses. Methods: Retrospective, analytical, cross-sectional. Methods: Computed tomographic (CT) images of the head of 58 horses were assessed. DICOM viewing software was used to measure head length, basihyoid-skin depth, soft pal...
Castro D, Clark-Price S.Pre-existing muscle disorders in horses can often be subtle and may only become evident during or after anesthesia. Advancements in veterinary medicine, along with increased knowledge and research in this field, help minimize anesthesia-related problems. Adequate preanesthesia assessment, early disease diagnosis, and proper management are crucial in minimizing risks to the neuromuscular system during general anesthesia.
Chanutin S, Bauck AG, Roberts JF, Denagamage TN, Freeman DE.Jejunocaecostomy (JC) is frequently required to bypass diseased ileum as a side-to-side (SS) anastomosis with blind end closure of the small intestine. The effects of the blind end closure method on the performance of the anastomosis have not been studied. Objective: To compare handsewn and stapled blind end closures of the ileum and jejunum. Methods: In vivo experiments. Methods: JC was performed with either Parker-Kerr (PK; 6 horses) or oversewn stapled technique (OS; 6 horses) to close jejunum and ileum for an SS anastomosis. At surgery, peritoneal fluid was analysed and various anastomotic...
Holst BS, Engelmann A, Gröndahl G, Gunnarsson L, Haug Haaland A, Hielm-Björkman A, Moe L, Rhodin M, Rönnberg H, Stråhle M, Toljander Y....The societal value of cats, dogs and horses is high, and the companion and sport animal health care sector is growing. Clinical research concerning cats, dogs and horses is crucial for the development of evidence-based medical care that benefits animals and their owners, and has implications for human and environmental health from a One Health perspective. Basic information on companion animal and equine research enables more directed measures to improve conditions for research within the area. The aim of the present study was to describe Nordic companion animal and equine clinical research fr...
Millares-Ramirez EM, Dupuis-Dowd F, Mainguy-Seers S, Lavoie JP.In severe equine asthma, structural remodeling of the airways ultimately leads to bronchial wall thickening and airflow obstruction. Increased bronchial vascularization has been described in horses affected by the severe form of the disease, but whether it contributes to bronchial remodeling in milder forms of asthma remains to be determined. In a blinded, retrospective case-control study, we evaluated the presence of bronchial angiogenesis in horses with mild and moderate equine asthma (MEA) and its correlation to airway smooth muscle remodeling. Methods: Endobronchial biopsies from the Equin...
Seery S, Gardiner J, Bates KT, Pinchbeck G, Clegg P, Ireland JL, Milner PI.Trimming is critical for a functioning equine hoof. Pressure distribution provides information on loading; however, information on the effects of trimming on pressure distribution is lacking. Objective: To describe the pressure changes of equine fore feet following trimming. Methods: Cross-sectional cohort study. Methods: Fifty sound horses were recruited. Eighteen external hoof measures of the dorsal, lateral, medial and solar aspects were obtained before and after trimming from 94 fore feet. Horses were walked over a pressure mat before and after trimming and pressure maps of the solar surfa...
Alemi M, Ahmadi Sheikhsarmast S, Mohri M.The optimal amount of vitamin D required for the proper functioning of the immune system differs from the amount necessary for bone homeostasis. Furthermore, vitamin D metabolism varies among horses. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of information regarding reference values for vitamin D in horses, particularly in the Turkmen breed. The primary objectives of this study were to determine the concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)Vit D) in Turkmen, Thoroughbred and mixed Turkmen × Thoroughbred horses and to explore the effects of various factors on it and its relationship with serum bio...
