"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.
Ter Woort F, Caswell JL, Arroyo LG, Viel L.OBJECTIVE To describe histologic findings in the small airways during postmortem examination of actively racing horses and to quantify the degree of airway inflammation by use of a semiquantitative scoring system. SAMPLE Lung tissues obtained from 95 horses (Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, and Quarter Horses) that had been actively racing or training. PROCEDURES 10 standardized lung sections were obtained during postmortem examination of 37 horses that had been actively racing or training, and 2 histologic sections of the caudodorsal lung lobes previously collected from each of 58 horses that di...
Bowser JE, Costa LRR, Rodil AU, Lopp CT, Johnson ME, Wills RW, Swiderski CE.OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of 2 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sampling techniques and the use of N-butylscopolammonium bromide (NBB) on the quantity and quality of BAL fluid (BALF) samples obtained from horses with the summer pasture endophenotype of equine asthma. ANIMALS 8 horses with the summer pasture endophenotype of equine asthma. PROCEDURES BAL was performed bilaterally (right and left lung sites) with a flexible videoendoscope passed through the left or right nasal passage. During lavage of the first lung site, a BALF sample was collected by means of either gentle syringe aspirati...
Kilcoyne I, Nieto JE, Knych HK, Dechant JE.OBJECTIVE To determine the maximum concentration (Cmax) of amikacin and time to Cmax (Tmax) in the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint in horses after IV regional limb perfusion (IVRLP) by use of the cephalic vein. ANIMALS 9 adult horses. PROCEDURES Horses were sedated and restrained in a standing position and then subjected to IVRLP (2 g of amikacin sulfate diluted to 60 mL with saline [0.9% NaCl] solution) by use of the cephalic vein. A pneumatic tourniquet was placed 10 cm proximal to the accessory carpal bone. Perfusate was instilled with a peristaltic pump over a 3-minute period. Synovial ...
Tavanaeimanesh H, Azarnoosh A, Ashar FS, Dehghan MM, Mohebbi Z, Akbarinejad V, Corley K.The choice of analgesic agents for the horse is limited, and many have side effects that can restrict their use for chronic and prolonged pain. Little information has been published on tramadol and acetaminophen use in the horse. The study evaluated the analgesic effects of coadministration of tramadol and acetaminophen compared to those of each drug individually in a crossover study. The study was performed on six healthy horses each infused with the following over 1 hour: control (normal saline), tramadol, acetaminophen, or both (acetaminophen and tramadol infused together). Nociception (usi...
Cox AH, Amador JA.Historically, much of the New England landscape was converted to pasture for grazing animals and harvesting hay. Both consumer demand for local sustainably produced food, and the number of small farms is increasing in RI, highlighting the importance of characterizing the effects livestock have on the quality of pasture soils. To assess how livestock affect pasture on Charlton and Canton soils series in RI, we examined soil quality in farms raising beef cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), and horses (Equus ferus caballus), using hayed pastures as a control. We sampled three pastures per li...
Burger D, Meuwly C, Thomas S, Sieme H, Oberthür M, Wedekind C, Meinecke-Tillmann S.Although female preferences are well studied in many mammals, the possible effects of the oestrous cycle are not yet sufficiently understood. Here we investigate female preferences for visual and non-visual male traits relative to the periodically cycling of sexual proceptivity (oestrus) and inactivity (dioestrus), respectively, in the polygynous horse (Equus caballus). We individually exposed mares to stallions in four experimental situations: (i) mares in oestrus and visual contact to stallions allowed, (ii) mares in oestrus, with blinds (wooden partitions preventing visual contact but allow...
Sousa AS, Jesus IIC, Araújo Oliveira CA, Costa RB, de Godoi FN.The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphometric measurements of stallion and mares show-winning and nonwinning Campolina breed with batida and picada gaits. A total of 167 horses (74 stallions and 93 mares), consisting of 102 batida and 65 picada gait animals, were used. Among these horses, 96 were awarded and 71 were not. Twenty linear, seven angular, and 11 girth measurements were taken. Results from the judging sessions were collected, and awards were observed in both sexes and both gaits. A descriptive statistical analysis and an analysis of variance were performed using the MEANS s...
Horecky C, Horecka E, Futas J, Janova E, Horin P, Knoll A.Genotyping microsatellite markers represents a standard, relatively easy, and inexpensive method of assessing genetic diversity of complex genomic regions in various animal species, such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and/or natural killer cell receptor (NKR) genes. MHC-linked microsatellite markers have been identified and some of them were used for characterizing MHC polymorphism in various species, including horses. However, most of those were MHC class II markers, while MHC class I and III sub-regions were less well covered. No tools for studying genetic diversity of NKR com...
Rapson JL, Schott HC, Nielsen BD, McCutcheon LJ, Harris PA, Geor RJ.Age and diet may affect insulin sensitivity (SI) but these factors have received limited investigation in horses. Objective: To measure minimal model parameters during an insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGTT) after adaptation to a forage only diet (HAY) or forage supplemented with either starch/sugar-rich (SS) or oil/fibre-rich (FF) concentrate feeds; and to assess glucose and insulin responses to a standardised meal challenge (SMC, 4 g/kg BW of SS) after diet adaptation in adult and aged mares. Methods: Latin square design with eight adult (5-12 yea...
May-Davis S, Doveren A, Sweere R, Smak J, Vermeulen Z.Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) is a condition rarely diagnosed in horses, which has not been previously reported in Dutch Warmblood horses. Its presentation resembles that diagnosed in humans, and it is predominantly active during periods of skeletal maturation. This case study reports a link between a granddam with no obvious HME lesions and its first and second generations presenting with HME, albeit with different sires. The severity in affected horses (n = 5) varied from one foreleg to the other with extensive multiple lesions of 123 of 205 bones in a half sibling in the first genera...
Onder Z, Duzlu O, Yildirim A, Ciloglu A, Okur M, Inci A.This study reports intense horn fly infestations of horses raised in an important wetland ecosystem, Sultan Marshes in Central Anatolia, Turkey. In total, seven horses raised together were found to be harbored over 500 flies per site of each animal. Totally, 376 fly specimens were collected from the horses by using the nets and were subjected to the laboratory for species identification. All flies were morphologically identified as the adults of Haematobia irritans. Partial fragments of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mt-COI) gene from totally 50 isolates were amplified for sequence and ph...
McGreevy PD, Griffiths MD, Ascione FR, Wilson B.Recent studies have cast doubt on the effectiveness of whipping horses during races and this has led to questions concerning its continuing justification. Furthermore, it has been argued that whipping tired horses in racing is the most televised form of violence to animals. The present study used de-identified data from a recent independent Australian poll (n = 1,533) to characterise the 26% of respondents (113 females and 271 males) who support the whipping of racehorses and the 10% of racing enthusiasts in the sample (44 females and 63 males) who would stop watching races and betting on them...
Colling A, Lunt R, Bergfeld J, McNabb L, Halpin K, Juzva S, Newberry K, Morrissy C, Loomes C, Warner S, Diallo I, Kirkland P, Broder CC, Carlile G....Obtaining statistically sound numbers of sera from Hendra virus (HeV)-infected horses is problematic because affected individuals usually die or are euthanized before developing a serum antibody response. As a consequence, test validation becomes a challenge. Our approach is an extension of OIE principles for provisional recognition and included 7 validation panels tested across multiple laboratories that provided estimates for test performance characteristics. At a 0.4 S/P cutoff, 16 of 19 sera from HeV-infected horses gave positive results in the HeV soluble G, indirect ELISA (HeVsG iELISA; ...
Weber R, Hospes R, Wehrend A.The aim of this study was to summarize the current status of the possible causes, clinical symptoms and pathogenesis of abortion in the mare and to evaluate the frequency of varying causes of abortion in German thoroughbred breeding. An analysis of the literature using electronic libraries, journals and textbooks was performed. In addition, the results of examinations of 123 abortions of thoroughbred breeding in central Germany were evaluated. In the literature, bacterial infections are the most frequently described cause of abortion. Other important causes are infections with equine herpesvir...
Troy JR, Holcombe SJ, Fogle CA, Epstein KL, Woodie JB.To determine the influence of hyaluronate-carboxymethylcellulose (HA-CMC) membranes applied to intestinal anastomoses or enterotomies on postoperative complications after emergency exploratory celiotomy. Methods: Multicenter retrospective case-controlled series. Methods: Adult horses (59 in the HA-CMC group and 91 controls). Methods: Medical records from 4 referral hospitals were searched for horses ≥1 year of age, treated between 2008 and 2014 with emergency exploratory celiotomy, and surviving at least 24 hours postoperatively. Horses receiving repeat celiotomy during the same hospitalizat...
Janczarek I, Wilk I, Pietrzak S, Liss M, Tkaczyk S.The aim of this study was to determine the taste preferences of horses in relation to their breed and sex. Forty-eight adult purebred Arabian, Anglo-Arabian, Polish Konik, and Polish cold-blooded horses-stallions and mares in equal numbers-were examined in the study. During the experiment, five types of industrially processed feeds based on oats and natural dried products commonly regarded as horse treats (i.e., sour and sweet apples, carrots, sugar beet molasses, and barley with salt) were given to horses in buckets on three consecutive days. The behavior of the horses during the experiment ...
Zeng L, Chen N, Yao Y, Dang R, Chen H, Lei C.To determine the genetic diversity and validate the pedigree record of Chinese Guanzhong horse, 67 individuals were genotyped with eight microsatellite markers. In our study, the mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.51 and 0.66, respectively. The mean observed number of alleles for the Guanzhong horse was 3.88. Nonetheless, the total value of F multiloci clearly indicates that about 0.5% of overall genetic variation is due to line founder differences, while differences among individuals are responsible for the remaining 99.5%. In addition, the polymorphic information content (PIC...
Johnson AL, Johnstone LK, Stefanovski D.The accuracy of the Lyme multiplex assay for the diagnosis of neuroborreliosis in horses is unknown. Objective: To describe Lyme multiplex results in horses with a postmortem diagnosis of neuroborreliosis. The hypothesis was that paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) results and a CSF : serum ratio would allow differentiation of horses with neuroborreliosis from those with other neurologic diseases. Methods: Ninety horses that had neurologic examinations, serum and CSF Lyme multiplex analyses, and postmortem examination of the nervous system performed. Methods: Retrospective study. Data...
Parkinson NJ, McKenzie HC, Barton MH, Davis JL, Dunkel B, Johnson AL, MacDonald ES.Venous air embolism is a potentially life-threatening complication of IV catheter use in horses. Despite widespread anecdotal reports of their occurrence, few cases have been reported in the literature and the prognosis is currently unknown. Objective: Our objective was to describe the surrounding circumstances, clinical signs, treatment, progression, and outcome of venous air embolism in hospitalized horses. Methods: Thirty-two horses with acute onset of compatible clinical signs associated with IV catheter disconnection or damage. Methods: Multicenter retrospective study. Data extracted from...
Srinivasan SM, Cavagnino DT, Bhat AN.Literature on effects of equine therapy in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown in recent times. Equine therapy is an alternative multimodal intervention that involves utilizing a horse to enhance core impairments in ASD. Recent systematic reviews in this area have several limitations including inclusion of populations other than ASD, assessment of a variety of animal-assisted interventions other than equine therapy, and a failure to conduct quantitative analyses to provide accurate effect size estimates. We conducted a focused systematic review to address these limitation...
Decloedt A, Broux B, De Clercq D, Deprez P, Van Steenkiste G, Vera L, Ven S, van Loon G.Based on its pharmacokinetic profile and electrophysiological effects in healthy horses, sotalol potentially could be used as a long-term PO antiarrhythmic drug in horses. Objective: To evaluate the effect of sotalol on heart rate (HR), QT interval, atrial fibrillatory rate, and success of cardioversion in horses with naturally occurring chronic atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Twenty-eight horses referred for transvenous electrical cardioversion of AF were treated with 2 mg/kg sotalol PO q12h for 3 days before cardioversion, and 13 horses underwent the same protocol without sotalol administ...
Sancler-Silva YFR, Silva-Junior ER, Fedorka CE, Scheeren VFC, Cavalero TS, Papa PM, Alvarenga MA, Dell'Aqua JA, Papa FO.The aim of this report is to describe a new methodology to successfully treat stallions diagnosed with urethral rent. Four stallions of ages ranging from 7 to 12 years (median 9) with hemospermia were admitted for clinical evaluation, breeding soundness examination, and urethroscopy for inspection of the urethra and vesicular glands. Once the presence of urethral rent was identified and/or other sources of hemorrhage were excluded, a topical treatment was performed with 4% Policresulen solution (Albocresil). The treatment was carried out by infusing 100 mL of the solution into the lumen of t...
Gold JR, Knowles DP, Coffey T, Bayly WM.Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) refers to bleeding from the lungs in association with strenuous exercise. It has been documented in race horses but little information exists on EIPH in barrel racing horses. Objective: Our goals were to evaluate the presence of EIPH in barrel racing horses and estimate its prevalence in the Pacific Northwest. Methods: 149 barrel racing horses enrolled at events in WA (11), ID (3), and MT (33). Methods: Observational cross-sectional study. Data collected included signalment, history of illness, respiratory disease, race division, and pre-race medica...
Jeannerat E, Marti E, Berney C, Janett F, Bollwein H, Sieme H, Burger D, Wedekind C.The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has repeatedly been found to influence mate choice of vertebrates, with MHC-dissimilar mates typically being preferred over MHC-similar mates. We used horses (Equus caballus) to test whether MHC matching also affects male investment into ejaculates after short exposure to a female. Semen characteristics varied much among stallions. Controlling for this variance with a full-factorial within-subject experimental design, we found that a short exposure to an MHC-dissimilar mare enhanced male plasma testosterone and led to ejaculates with elevated sperm nu...
Schwartz D, Pusterla N, Jacobsen S, Christopher MM.Serum amyloid A (SAA) is a major acute phase protein in horses. A new point-of-care (POC) test for SAA (Stablelab) is available, but studies evaluating its analytical accuracy are lacking. Objective: To evaluate the analytical performance of the SAA POC test by 1) determining linearity and precision, 2) comparing results in whole blood with those in serum or plasma, and 3) comparing POC results with those obtained using a previously validated turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA). Methods: Assay validation. Methods: Analytical validation of the POC test was done in accordance with American Society o...
Knych HK, Seminoff K, McKemie DS, Kass PH.Acepromazine is a tranquilizer used commonly in equine medicine. This study describes serum and urine concentrations and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of acepromazine following intravenous, oral, and sublingual (SL) administration. Fifteen exercised adult Thoroughbred horses received a single intravenous, oral, and SL dose of 0.09 mg/kg of acepromazine. Blood and urine samples were collected at time 0 and at various times for up to 72 hr and analyzed for acepromazine and its two major metabolites (2-(1-hydroxyethyl) promazine and 2-(1-hydroxyethyl) promazine sulfoxide) using liqu...
Bażanów B, Jansen van Vuren P, Szymański P, Stygar D, Frącka A, Twardoń J, Kozdrowski R, Pawęska JT.West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are members of the family Flaviviridae which, natural life cycles involve mosquito-bird-mosquito transmission. Both represent emerging viruses in Europe with potential to cause neuroinvasive disease in humans. This study investigates the seroprevalence of serum neutralizing antibodies to WNV and to USUV in birds and in horses in Poland. Antibodies against WNV and USUV were detected in 5 (35.7%) and in 1 (7.14%) of 14 birds and in 62 (15.08%) and in 115 (27.98%) of 411 horses, respectively. Twenty-one WNV serologically positive horses (33.87%) and 67...
Smith AD, Panickar KS, Urban JF, Dawson HD.Vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) play an important role in regulating and shaping an immune response. Deficiencies generally result in inadequate or dysregulated cellular activity and cytokine expression, thereby affecting the immune response. Decreased levels of natural killer, granulocyte, and phagocytic cell activity and T and B cell proliferation and trafficking are associated with inadequate levels of micronutrients, as well as increased susceptibility to various adverse health conditions, including inflammatory disorders, infection, and altered vaccine efficacy. In addition, most s...
Rosenberg HF, Druey KM.Asthma is a chronic, heterogeneous, and recurring inflammatory disease of the lower airways, with exacerbations that feature airway inflammation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Asthma has been modeled extensively via disease induction in both wild-type and genetically manipulated laboratory mice (Mus musculus). Antigen sensitization and challenge strategies have reproduced numerous important features of airway inflammation characteristic of human asthma, notably the critical roles of type 2 T helper cell cytokines. Recent models of disease induction have advanced to include physiologic aero...
Bordin C, Raspa F, Greppi M, Harris P, Ellis AD, Roggero A, Palestrini C, Cavallini D, Bergero D, Valle E.In the last decade, haynets and slow feeders have been promoted as sustainable tools to improve the feeding management of horses and reduce forage waste, but little is known about their effects on ponies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of different hay feeding methods on the ingestive behaviors, intake rate and mouth shaping of ponies belonging to two breed types, which are characterized by different head morphologies. Shetland type (SH, n = 5) and Welsh/Cob type (WC, n = 4) ponies were fed hay using four feeding methods: on the ground (G), a fully filled h...
Williams ZJ, Pezzanite LM, Chow L, Rockow M, Dow SW.Companion animals in veterinary medicine develop multiple naturally occurring diseases analogous to human conditions. We previously reported a comprehensive review on the feasibility, safety, and biologic activity of using novel stem cell therapies to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions in dogs and cats (2008-2015) [Hoffman AM, Dow SW. Concise review: stem cell trials using companion animal disease models. Stem Cells. 2016;34(7):1709-1729. https://doi.org/10.1002/stem.2377]. The purpose of this review is to provide an updated summary of current studies in companion animal disease models...
Dubin A, Koj A, Chudzik J.Cytoplasmic granules were isolated from horse blood polymorphonuclear leucocytes by the heparin method and extracted with 0.9% NaCl by repeated freezing. Soluble proteins were separated on a column of Sephadex G-75 followed by chromatography on a column of CM-Sephadex with a NaCl gradient. Gel filtration, density-gradient centrifugation, isoelectric focusing and 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis at pH 7.0 and at pH 4.5 were used to determine molecular parameters of proteinases. Three enzymes hydrolysing both casein and N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-alanine nitrophenyl est...
May-Davis S, Dzingle D, Saber E, Blades Eckelbarger P.This study examined the anomalous variations of the ventral process of C6 in modern E. ferus caballus. The aim was to provide an incremental grading protocol measuring the absence of the caudal ventral tubercle (CVT) in this ventral process. The findings revealed the most prevalent absent CVT (aCVT) was left unilateral (n = 35), with bilateral (n = 29) and right unilateral (n = 12). Grading was determined in equal increments of absence 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, with 4/4 representing a complete aCVT in 56/76, with a significance of p = 0.0013. This also applied to bilateral specimens. In those C6 osseous ...
Rott R, Becht H, Orlich .Influenza virus Equine 1 (A/equine/Prague/56) has a hemagglutinin which is antigenically related to the hemagglutinin of fowl plague virus strain Rostock (FPV) and a neuraminidase which cross-reacts with the enzyme of virus N (A/chick/Germany/49). After a single injection of chickens with Equine 1 virus no hemagglutination inhibiting (HI) and neutralizing antibodies against FPV can be demonstrated, although the birds are fully protected against a lethal dose of FPV. HI and neutralizing antibodies against FPV appear after a second injection of Equine 1 virus several weeks after the first one. L...
STORMONT C, SUZUKI Y.By means of a starch-gel technique suggested by Kristjansson, 3 albumin phenotypes A, AB and B are demonstrable in the serum of horses. As indicated by data on the inheritance of these phenotypes and by a gene-frequency analysis of the distribution of the phenotypes in 2 breeds of horses, the results are consistent with the interpretation that the 3 phenotypes are controlled by a pair of codominant, autosomal alleles. These 3 phenotypes can be diagnosed by examining either the albumin region or the post-albumin region of the gels. Hence, diagnosis in one region serves as an independent check o...
Oguttu JW, Qekwana DN, Odoi A.Antimicrobial resistant Staphylococcus are becoming increasingly important in horses because of the zoonotic nature of the pathogens and the associated risks to caregivers and owners. Knowledge of the burden and their antimicrobial resistance patterns are important to inform control strategies. This study is an exploratory descriptive investigation of the burden and antimicrobial drug resistance patterns of Staphylococcus isolates from horses presented at a veterinary teaching hospital in South Africa. Methods: Retrospective laboratory clinical records of 1027 horses presented at the Universit...
Steinbach F, Bischoff S, Freund H, Metzner-Flemisch S, Ibrahim S, Walter J, Wilke I, Mauel S.Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells, which are well known for their capacity to stimulate immunity. The ex vivo generation of myeloid DC from monocytes has facilitated the development of DC-vaccination protocols which have been extensively evaluated in tumour immunology and are regarded by some as a gold mine for clinical research. However, there is a considerable amount of work required to overcome the potential risks associated with such therapy. It is therefore mandatory to characterize the system to be applied and to study the reactions, particularly at the level of T cell r...
James K, Pullar DM, James VS, Wood A, Epps HB, Rahr L.Serum samples were obtained at regular intervals from groups of horses immunized with peripheral blood lymphocytes, thoracic duct lymphocytes, or peripheral blood lymphocyte membranes. These sera were separated into the classical 19 S, 10 S, 7 S, and 4.5 S fractions by Sephadex gel filtration and the antibody activity (antilymphocytic or otherwise) of these fractions, and of the original sera, was assessed by standard in vitro procedures. The antilymphocytic activities measured included lymphocyte agglutination, lysis, and transformation. The other antibodies assayed were platelet and erythroc...
Underwood C, Norton JL, Nolen-Walston RD, Dallap-Schaer BL, Boston R, Slack J.Hypohydration causes transient echocardiographic changes in pigs, dogs, humans, and cats. These changes mask the diagnosis of some cardiac diseases (valvular regurgitation, dilated cardiomyopathy) and promote the diagnosis of others (hypertropic cardiomyopathy and infiltrative disease), thus inhibiting accurate echocardiographic evaluation. Objective: To describe the echocardiographic changes associated with hypohydration in normal horses. Methods: Ten adult horses without detectable cardiac disease. Methods: Experimental study. Echocardiographic examinations were performed on horses in the eu...
Dart AJ, Snyder JR, Spier SJ, Sullivan KE.Packed cell volume, total plasma protein, serum sodium, potassium, and ionized Ca2+ concentrations, and blood pH were determined at the time of admission and following surgery in 147 horses with acute abdominal crisis. Horses were allotted to 3 categories on the basis of the surgical lesion: (1) nonstrangulating obstruction of the ascending or descending colon (category A, n = 76), (2) strangulating and nonstrangulating infarction of the cecum or ascending colon (category B, n = 37), and (3) strangulating and nonstrangulating infarction of the small intestine (category C, n = 25). Horses with ...
Zeng W, Sun L, Xiang Z, Li N, Zhang J, He Y, Li Q, Yang F, Song J, Morris J, Rosenthal BM, Sun L, Liu H, Yang Z.While Sarcocystis parasites from the muscles of donkey and horse have been characterized as different species, similarities between the parasites in these host raises questions about this assignment (Levine and Tadros, 1980; Matuschka, 1983; Odening et al., 1995b). To resolve this, we examined the tissue cysts of Sarcocystis collected from donkeys and horses were studied by morphological and molecular methods. Morphological studies performed by light microscopy (LM) revealed that each of two types of cysts were present in samples from each host type. Under LM, villar protrusions (VP) were some...
Svoboda WK, Martins LC, Malanski Lde S, Shiozawa MM, Spohr KA, Hilst CL, Aguiar LM, Ludwig G, Passos Fde C, Silva LR, Headley SA, Navarro IT.Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) primarily occurs in the Americas and produces disease predominantly in humans. This study investigated the serological presence of SLEV in nonhuman primates and horses from southern Brazil. Methods: From June 2004 to December 2005, sera from 133 monkeys (Alouatta caraya, n=43; Sapajus nigritus, n=64; Sapajus cay, n=26) trap-captured at the Paraná River basin region and 23 blood samples from farm horses were obtained and used for the serological detection of a panel of 19 arboviruses. All samples were analyzed in a hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay; p...
Brocklehurst C, Weller R, Pfau T.Turning is commonly used as a diagnostic aid in equine lameness examinations. Forces experienced on the circle differ from those in a straight line, necessitating an inward lean of the body and asymmetric head/pelvic excursion, which are important parameters for lameness investigations. To better understand gait adaptations to lungeing in normal horses, the effect of turn direction on body lean in trot and in canter warrants further investigation. In this study, it was hypothesised that, on average and independent of gait, the observed body lean angle would be consistent with the ratio between...
Timoney JF, Eggers D.An indirect test based on horse blood was used to study bactericidal responses of the horse to Streptococcus equi following infection or vaccination. Bactericidal antibody appeared in convalescent sera between two and four weeks and high titres were usually attained by eight weeks. Infection without clinical evidence of abscessation was also effective in eliciting strong bactericidal responses. Serum bactericidal activity of horses either recovered from strangles or immunised with commercial bacterin had declined eight months after vaccination. However, horses that developed strangles eight to...
Issel CJ, Adams WV.A horse whose serum reacted equivocally in the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test for equine infectious anemia was studied over a 3-year period. The horse remained afebrile and virus was detected in only 1 of 6 horse inoculation tests. The intensity of AGID test reactions increased temporarily following this evidence for virus. Although the AGID test reaction was equivocal and 5 of the 6 transmission attempts failed, the 1 successful transmission proved the horse was infected.
Barnard BJ, Bengis R, Keet D, Dekker EH.The viraemic period of African horsesickness is significantly longer in experimentally infected zebra than in horses. The virus could be isolated 40 d post-infection from blood and 48 d post-infection from spleen. The introduction of zebra into African horsesickness-free countries should therefore be considered carefully, and preferably be restricted to serologically negative zebra.
Tsuzuki N, Endo Y, Kikkawa L, Korosue K, Kaneko Y, Kitauchi A, Katamoto H, Hidaka Y, Hagio M, Torisu S.The performance of horses undergoing regular intense exercise is adversely affected by oxidative stress. Thus, it is important to increase antioxidant production in horses in order to reduce oxidative stress. Ozonated autohemotherapy (OAHT) reportedly promotes antioxidant production. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of OAHT on antioxidant capacity. Ten Thoroughbred horses were used in this study. After the OAHT, we collected serum samples and measured biological antioxidant potential (BAP). We found that BAP began to increase after the OAHT and was significantly higher in the OAHT grou...
Hartmann E, Bøe KE, Jørgensen GH, Mejdell CM, Dahlborn K.Limited information is available on the extent to which blankets are used on horses and the owners' reasoning behind clipping the horse's coat. Research on the effects of those practices on horse welfare is scarce but results indicate that blanketing and clipping may not be necessary from the horse's perspective and can interfere with the horse's thermoregulatory capacities. Therefore, this survey collected robust, quantitative data on the housing routines and management of horses with focus on blanketing and clipping practices as reported by members of the Swedish and Norwegian equestrian com...
Homnick DN, Henning KM, Swain CV, Homnick TD.Falls are an important cause of morbidity in older adults. Equine-assisted activities including therapeutic riding (TR) benefit balance and neuromuscular control in patients with neurological disabilities but have not been systematically studied in older adults at greater risk for falls due to balance deficits. The effect of an 8-week TR program on measures of balance and quality of life in community-dwelling older adults with established balance deficits was evaluated. Methods: This was a pretest-post-test single-group trial of a TR program on measures of balance and quality of life. Methods:...
Schwarz BC, Sallmutter T, Nell B.A 6-year-old 680-kg (1,496-lb) German Warmblood gelding was evaluated because of bilateral blepharospasm and head shaking. Results: Moderate blepharospasm was evident bilaterally, and both eyes had hyperemic and edematous conjunctivas and lusterless corneas. For each eye, the Schirmer tear test value was only 7 mm/min. The horse's nasal mucosa was dry. Abnormal behaviors included mild repetitive vertical movement of the head, snorting, and flehmen response (classic signs of head shaking). Touching the horse's nostrils and face revealed paresthesia and dysesthesia with slight nasolabial muscle ...
Sweers L, Carstens A.Two horses with discospondylitis are described with emphasis on the imaging modalities used and their contribution to the final diagnosis and outcome. Radiographic findings were vertebral endplate lysis with sclerosis in both horses, with additional vertebral subluxation and ventral spondylosis in one horse. Ultrasonographic findings included vertebral malalignment and obliteration of the intervertebral disc by spondylotic bone in one horse and irregular endplates, a widened disc space, a hypoechoic paravertebral abscess and hypoechoic, atrophic adjacent musculature with loss of linear fiber p...
Chirnside ED.The causative agent of the respiratory disease equine viral arteritis is a small, single-stranded RNA virus with a genome organization and replication strategy related to that of coronaviruses and toroviruses. Clinical signs of infection in horses vary widely and severe infection can lead to pregnant mares aborting. Infected horses generally make good recoveries but stallions may become semen shedders of equine arteritis virus (EAV). These carrier stallions play an important role in the dissemination and perpetuation of EAV. Laboratory tests exist to detect virus and the equine immune response...
Turło A, Cywińska A, Czopowicz M, Witkowski L, Niedźwiedź A, Słowikowska M, Borowicz H, Jaśkiewicz A, Winnicka A.Training-induced muscle, skeletal and joint trauma may result in acute phase response reflected by the changes in the blood concentration of serum amyloid A (SAA) in racehorses. It remains yet unclear if such systemic reaction could be triggered by sport injuries and what is the impact of different types of musculoskeletal trauma on SAA concentrations in racehorses. This study aimed to determine changes in the SAA blood concentration in racehorses with different types of injuries of musculoskeletal system. Methods: The study involved 28 racehorses diagnosed after the race with bone fractures (...
Dohre SK, Kamthan A, Singh S, Alam SI, Kumar S.Glanders is a disease of horses, donkeys and mules. The causative agent Burkholderia mallei, is a biorisk group 3 pathogen and is also a biothreat agent. Simple and rapid diagnostic tool is essential for control of glanders. Using a proteomic approach and immunoblotting with equine sera, we identified 12 protein antigens that may have diagnostic potential. Various immunoreactive proteins e.g. GroEL, translation elongation factor Tu, elongation factor Ts, arginine deiminase, malate dehydrogenase, DNA directed RNA polymerase subunit alpha were identified on 2-dimentional immunoblots. One of thes...
Dubois MS, Morello S, Rayment K, Markel MD, Vanderby R, Kalscheur VL, Hao Z, McCabe RP, Marquis P, Muir P.Articular stress fracture arising from the distal end of the third metacarpal bone (MC3) is a common serious injury in Thoroughbred racehorses. Currently, there is no method for predicting fracture risk clinically. We describe an ex-vivo biomechanical model in which we measured subchondral crack micromotion under compressive loading that modeled high speed running. Using this model, we determined the relationship between subchondral crack dimensions measured using computed tomography (CT) and crack micromotion. Thoracic limbs from 40 Thoroughbred racehorses that had sustained a catastrophic in...
Bailey E.The sera of 390 pregnant Standardbred mares and 409 pregnant Thoroughbred mares were tested for anti-red blood cell (RBC) antibodies. Of the Standardbred mares and Thoroughbred mares, 20% and 10%, respectively, had anti-RBC antibodies detectable in hemolytic or saline agglutination tests. Most of the antibodies were specific for the CA blood-group antigen of horses. Other antibodies were specific for the Aa, Ab, Aa, Ab, Da, Df, Ka, Ua, or Qa blood-group antigens. The occurrence of these antibodies in the serum and colostrum was compared for 268 mares. With 3 exceptions, whenever antibodies wer...
Morresey PR, Mackay RJ.To measure serum polymyxin B concentration after single and repeated IV infusions in horses. Methods: 5 healthy horses. Methods: In study 1, 1 mg (6,000 U) of polymyxin B/kg was given IV and blood samples were collected for 24 hours. In study 2, 1 mg of polymyxin B/kg was given IV every 8 hours for 5 treatments and blood samples were collected until 24 hours after the last dose. Polymyxin B concentration was measured as the ability to suppress nitrite production by murine macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and interferon-alpha. Urine was collected prior to the first drug infusion a...
Jeannerat E, Marti E, Berney C, Janett F, Bollwein H, Sieme H, Burger D, Wedekind C.The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has repeatedly been found to influence mate choice of vertebrates, with MHC-dissimilar mates typically being preferred over MHC-similar mates. We used horses (Equus caballus) to test whether MHC matching also affects male investment into ejaculates after short exposure to a female. Semen characteristics varied much among stallions. Controlling for this variance with a full-factorial within-subject experimental design, we found that a short exposure to an MHC-dissimilar mare enhanced male plasma testosterone and led to ejaculates with elevated sperm nu...
