"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.
Foreman JH.Metabolic causes of exercise intolerance can be subtle and difficult to document in horses. Because of increased metabolic rate in exercising muscle, most metabolic causes of exercise intolerance are clinically manifested by muscle abnormalities such as ER. Newer causes of ER are being documented by current research and are summarized in the article on muscular causes of equine exercise intolerance. Endocrine causes of exercise intolerance have been poorly documented, but recent work has shown the detrimental effects of hypothyroidism on exercise tolerance in horses. Many metabolic manifestati...
Marsh AE, Barr BC, Madigan J, Lakritz J, Nordhausen R, Conrad PA.Neosporosis was diagnosed in an 11-year-old Quarter Horse gelding with clinical signs and diagnostic test results compatible with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Presumptive postmortem diagnosis of EPM attributable to Sarcocystis neurona infection is generally made on the basis of detecting an antibody titer to S neurona in the CSF or characteristic histologic lesions, even when parasites have not been specifically identified. Neosporosis was confirmed in the horse described here by use of immunohistochemical examination, in vitro culturing, and ultrastructural and molecular characte...
Landoni MF, Lees P.Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters were established for enantiomers of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) ketoprofen (KTP), each administered separately at a dose level of 1.1 mg/kg to a group of six New Forest geldings, in a three-period cross-over study using a tissue cage model of inflammation. For both S(+)-and R(-)-KTP, penetration into tissue cage fluid (transudate) and inflamed tissue cage fluid (exudate) was rapid, and clearances from exudate and transudate were much slower than from plasma. AUC values were, therefore, higher for exudate and, to a lesser degre...
MacDonald MH, Benton HP.To determine the influence of activated equine neutrophils on sulfated glycosaminoglycan metabolism of equine articular cartilage in vitro. Methods: Articular cartilage explants harvested from the metacarpophalangeal joints of 7 horses. Methods: Proteoglycan degradation and synthesis were measured by release of glycosaminoglycan from the explants, and incorporation of [35S]sulfate into newly synthesized glycosaminoglycan. Results: Activated equine neutrophils significantly increased the release of glycosaminoglycan from explant matrix and the magnitude of that response was influenced by durati...
Baerg SD, Russell DA, LeVan LM, Kirker-Head CA.A 22-year-old thoroughbred gelding was presented for evaluation and treatment of chronic dental disease. The horse had a history of quidding and abnormal bite behavior. Intraoral examination revealed signs of chronic generalized gingival inflammation and severe dental caries affecting the maxillary and mandibular incisor teeth. Treatment was provided on two separate visits over an interval of four months. The first visit consisted of the surgical extraction of three unrestorable incisor teeth and restoration of six carious maxillary incisor teeth. The second visit consisted of conventional end...
Klaus AM, Hapke HJ.This review compromises data about endogenous cortisol and its physiological variations in horses. The influence of synthetic glucocorticoids on the endogenous cortisol concentrations is discussed as well. The second part of the review summarizes detection times of therapeutically used glucocorticoids (dexamethasone, betamethasone, triamcinolone, prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone and hydrocortisone) in the horse and their implication for doping control.
Valberg SJ.The muscular system of the horse is remarkable in its athletic scope and capacity to adapt to the demands placed on it. Muscular fatigue often causes exercise intolerance in horses as a primary muscular dysfunction or secondary to abnormalities in other integrated systems such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, or skeletal system. This article reviews basic muscular physiology leading to a discussion of the physiologic causes of muscular fatigue. In addition, a review of pathologic muscle disorders such as muscle strains and exertional myopathies that lead to poor performance is provided.
Ito S, Ishimaru M, Hobo S, Fujinaga T.Rapid infusion is believed to be harmful to the lung, however, the pathological status of pulmonary edema resulting from excessive fluid therapy in horses has not been clarified because the quantitative diagnosis of pulmonary edema is impossible. To evaluate the precision of the double indicator dilution method using heat and sodium in horses, which allows the quantitative diagnosis of pulmonary edema, we compared extravascular lung water volume measured using a lung water computer based on the theory of the double indicator dilution method with that determined by the direct method. The value ...
Whittem T, Firth EC, Hodge H, Turner K.This study examined the pharmacokinetics of steady-state phenylbutazone and single bolus intravenous gentamicin when administered together in the horse. The trial design was completed as a cross-over with seven thoroughbred horses. In the first phase each horse received 2.2 mg/kg gentamicin intravenously. After a 2-week washout, each horse received 4.4 mg/kg phenylbutazone intravenously every 24 h for 5 days. On the fourth day each horse received gentamicin as before. Plasma was harvested for gentamicin concentration determination by fluorescence polarization immunoassay and for phenylbutazone...
Mitten LA.Exercise intolerance, due to cardiovascular disease in horses, may be caused by cardiac arrhythmias, valvular regurgitation, congenital abnormalities, myocardial dysfunction, pericardial disease, and vascular thrombosis. The most common cardiovascular cause of exercise intolerance in horses is atrial fibrillation. Cardiovascular abnormalities such as cardiac arrhythmias or murmurs, however, are common in athletic horses and are not always associated with exercise intolerance. Use of an electrocardiography (during rest and exercise) and echocardiography may be necessary to better determine the ...
Gummow B, de Wet CS, de Waal DT.Serum samples from yearling Thoroughbred horses (n = 176) in the magisterial districts of Colesberg, Venterstad, and Wodehouse in the Northern and Eastern Cape Provinces were collected between September and November 1995 to determine the prevalence of antibodies to Babesia equi and Babesia caballi in these regions. Samples were examined for specific antibodies using the indirect fluorescent antibody test. The 95% confidence intervals for the prevalence of serum antibodies in the 3 districts combined varied from 47% to 61% for B. equi and from 26% to 40% for B. caballi. Antibody prevalence did ...
The Journal of physiologyDecember 1, 1996
Volume 497 ( Pt 2), Issue Pt 2 349-364 doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1996.sp021773
Hanna WJ, Tsushima RG, Sah R, McCutcheon LJ, Marban E, Backx PH.1. The Na+ channel mutation associated with equine hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis (HPP) affects a highly conserved phenylalanine residue in an unexplored region of the alpha-subunit. This mutation was introduced into the rat skeletal muscle Na+ channel gene at the corresponding location (i.e. F1412L) for functional expression and characterization in Xenopus oocytes. 2. In comparison with wild-type (WT) channels, equine HPP channels showed clear evidence for disruption of inactivation: increased time-to-peak current, slowed rates of whole-cell current decay, significant increases in sustained...
Araujo JF, Righini AS, Fleury JJ, Caldas MC, Costa-Neto JB, Marques N.An attempt has been made to define semen seasonality in a horse in the Southern Hemisphere. Repeated measurements of three variables in the semen were made for 36 months (Jan/90-Dec/92) in a 21-year old "Mangalarga" stallion living under natural photoperiod and temperature conditions in a farm situated in São José do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, Brazil (latitude 21 degrees) 36'S; longitude 46 degrees 53' W). The horse fed on natural pasture and a nutritionally balanced feed twice a day (11:00 and 17:00 h). Water and mineral supplement were available ad libitum. Semen was collected almost daily by ...
Babptiste KE, Holladay SD, Freeman LE.An improved technique for preparing casts of the equine guttural pouch is described. The new technique is simplified and inexpensive in comparison to previous techniques and produces highly accurate anatomic models which are both durable and flexible. Methods: Silicone rubber bathtub caulk was injected into the guttural pouches of horse cadavers. The silicone was allowed to cure overnight, and casts were removed by dissection. The new technique was then used to evaluate changes in the shape of the guttural pouch with changes in head position. Results: With flexion of the atlanto-occipital join...
Martin RB, Lau ST, Mathews PV, Gibson VA, Stover SM.We studied birefringence as an indicator of collagen fiber orientation in the diaphysis of the equine third metacarpal bone. We had previously shown that tissue from the lateral cortex of this bone is stronger monotonically, but less fatigue resistant, than tissue from the medial and dorsal regions. To learn whether collagen fiber orientation might play a role in this regional specialization, we tested three hypotheses using the same specimens: (1) collagen fiber orientation is regionally dependent; (2) remodeling changes collagen fiber orientation; (3) longitudinal collagen fibers correlate p...
Marklund L, Moller MJ, Sandberg K, Andersson L.The melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor gene (MC1R) is the major candidate gene for the chestnut coat color in horses since it is assumed to be controlled by an allele at the extension locus. MC1R sequences were PCR amplified from chestnut (e/e) and non-chestnut (E/-) horses. A single-strand conformation polymorphism was found that showed a complete association to the chestnut coat color among 144 horses representing 12 breeds. Sequence analysis revealed a single missense mutation (83Ser-->Phe) in the MC1R allele associated with the chestnut color. The substitution occurs in the second ...
Ensink JM, Klein WR, Barneveld A, Vulto AG, Van Miert AS, Tukker JJ.The distribution of penicillins into a tissue chamber implanted subcutaneously in ponies was studied. Ampicillin sodium (equivalent to 15 mg/kg ampicillin) was administered intravenously. Pivampicillin, a prodrug of ampicillin, was administered by nasogastric tube to fed ponies at a dose of 19.9 mg/kg (equivalent to 15 mg/kg ampicillin). Procaine penicillin G was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 12 mg/kg (equivalent to 12000 IU/kg). Six ponies were used for each medication. Antibiotic concentrations in plasma and tissue chamber fluid (TCF) were measured for 24 h after administration. ...
Bilzer T, Grabner A, Stitz L.Tissues from nine horses and one donkey suffering from natural Borna disease were investigated. Clinically, all animals demonstrated progressive reduced mentation and aggravating gait disturbances. During the clinical course anorexia and progressive loss of proprioception were observed. Cranial nerve failure was accompanied by signs of pharyngeal paralysis, sialorrhea, bruxism, and by blindness. Virologically, infectious virus was detected in the brain of all animals investigated but was not found regularly in all areas of the brain. However, in all cases, infectivity was found in the thalamus...
Ringger NC, Lester GD, Neuwirth L, Merritt AM, Vetro T, Harrison J.To investigate the prokinetic effect of bethanechol and erythromycin in the upper gastrointestinal tract of healthy horses by measuring the gastric emptying (GE) rate of a radioactive meal. Methods: 4 healthy adult horses. Methods: After food was withheld for 12 hours, horses were given 370 MBq of 99mTc-labeled sulfur colloid incorporated into egg albumen and 37 MBq of 111In-labeled diethyltriaminepentaacetic acid in 120 ml of water via nasogastric intubation. Intravenously administered treatments were 0.9% NaCl solution, erythromycin (0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg of body weight), or bethanechol (0.25 mg/...
Souillard A, Audran M, Bressolle F, Jaussaud P, Gareau R.The pharmacokinetics of recombinant human Epo (rHuEpo) were investigated after subcutaneous administration to horses. Four horses received a single 30IU kg-1 dose of rHuEpo. One horse received three repeated doses of 120 IU kg-1 at 48 h intervals. Plasma erythropoietin (Epo) was measured by radioimmunoassay. In both cases pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated using a one-compartment open model and first-order input and output rates. The mean values (+/-SD) for elimination half-life, CL/F, and Vd/F after a single dose were 12.9 +/- 3.34 h, 11.8 +/- 4.96 L h-1, and 233 +/- 126 L, respectivel...
Lauder RM, Huckerby TN, Nieduszynski IA.Fibromodulin has been isolated from bovine and equine articular cartilage and the attached keratan sulphate chains subjected to digestion by keratanase II. The oligosaccharides generated have been reduced and subsequently isolated by strong anion-exchange chromatography. Their structures have been determined by high-field 1H-NMR spectroscopy and high-pH anion-exchange chromatography. Both alpha(2-6)- and alpha(2-3)-linked N-acetylneuraminic acid have been found in the capping oligosaccharides, and, fucose which is alpha(1-3)-linked to N-acetylglucosamine has been found as a branch in both repe...
Hillyer MH, Innes JF, Patteson MW, Barr AR.Discospondylitis, of presumed bacterial origin, was diagnosed in an adult thoroughbred racehorse. The clinical signs were vague and associated with abnormal mobility of the neck and forelimbs. Clinical pathology showed only a non-specific inflammatory response. A scintigraphic examination revealed the site of the lesion and the diagnosis was confirmed by the identification of radiographic changes affecting two thoracic vertebrae. A prolonged course of antimicrobial agents produced a complete recovery and the horse returned to full athletic use.
Crossett B, Allen WR, Stewart F.Large quantities of an unusual 19 kDa protein (p19) are secreted into the lumen of the uterus of the mare (Equus caballus) during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy. p19 associates strongly with the acellular capsule that surrounds the young horse conceptus and is believed to be important in maintaining pregnancy. Here we report the complete cDNA sequence encoding p19, its expression patterns in horse tissues and a Southern blot analysis of the gene in horse DNA. The predicted amino acid sequence of the p19 cDNA demonstrated a signal peptide of 18 residues and a mature protein of 162 resid...
Chapman MR, French DD, Monahan CM, Klei TR.Three fecal egg count reduction assays (FECR) and one critical trial were performed to determine the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate (PP) at 6.6 mg base kg-1 on a well managed stud farm in Louisiana where a loss of efficacy was suspected. Efficacy of PP based on FECR varied from 25% in mares to 83% in yearlings. Second treatments with PP 2 weeks following an initial treatment failed to reduce eggs per gram (EPG). A critical trial was performed to determine the cyathostome species resistant to PP. Three strongyle-naive ponies which acquired infections on the farm were used for this purpose. Follow...
Anderson BH, Turner TA, Kobluk CN.Successful treatment of a comminuted frontal plane fracture of the distal phalanx in a horse is described. The bone fractured through the solar canal, close to the insertion of the deep digital flexor tendon. A hoof case was used to reduce bending and tensile stresses on the solar surface by limiting expansion of the hoof wall during weightbearing. In addition, the heel was elevated, using 3 degrees wedge pads incorporated within the hoof cast, to reduce distraction at the fracture site caused by the pull of the deep digital flexor tendon. Two casts were used over a 4-month period. Complete ra...
Madden CR, Shih DS.Sequential passage of the tissue culture-adapted prototype strain of EIAV in fetal donkey dermal (FDD) cell cultures generated a virus stock which exhibits cytopathic effects in FDD cell cultures. In this study, the effects of the long terminal repeat (LTR) region on virus replication and cytopathogenicity were examined. The FDD-adapted virus LTR was found to contain a number of base pair mutations and a large insertion within the U3 region in comparison with the previously characterized LTR, lambda12. Transient gene expression studies showed that basal promoter activity, in FDD cell cultures,...
Bertone AL.With large colon resection and anastomosis, up to 95 per cent of the length of the large colon has been successfully removed. A hand-sewn end-to-end anastomosis is effective for lesions in the left dorsal colon and pelvic flexure. Transection and a side-to-side anastomosis with stapling equipment is most effective for extensive resections (greater than 50 per cent). Horses with extensive colon resection (95 per cent) have permanent deficiencies of water absorption and digestion of cellulose and protein. Fermentative capacity is reduced, owing to decreased particulate matter retention time in t...
Gehlen H, Bradaric Z.The evaluation of plasma ACTH and the dexamethasone suppression test are considered the methods of choice to evaluate the course of therapy of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID). Sampling protocols as well as vacutainers for analysis differ between the laboratories. To evaluate the reproducability of plasma ACTH measurement between four different laboratories (A, B, C, D) in Germany as well as within the laboratories themselves, ten horses with previously diagnosed PPID and four healthy horses were sampled and analyzed. Each laboratory received two differently labeled samples of each...
Wouters CP, Toquet MP, Renaud B, François AC, Fortier-Guillaume J, Marcillaud-Pitel C, Boemer F, De Tullio P, Richard EA, Votion DM.Atypical myopathy (AM) is a severe rhabdomyolysis syndrome that occurs in grazing horses. Despite the presence of toxins in their blood, all horses from the same pasture are not prone to display clinical signs of AM. The objective of this study was to compare the blood metabolomic profiles of horses with AM clinical signs with those of healthy co-grazing (Co-G) horses. To do so, plasma samples from 5 AM horses and 11 Co-G horses were investigated using untargeted metabolomics. Metabolomic data were evaluated using unsupervised, supervised, and pathway analyses. Unsupervised principal component...
Hall LW, Trim CM.Horses breathing spontaneously under halothane anaesthesia were subjected to expiratory resistance by the introduction of a water-trap into the expiratory limb of a circle absorber. Resistances of 10 and 20 cm H2O produced no significant increase in PaO2 (P greater than 0.05) during halothane/air and halothane/oxygen anaesthesia. The imposition of resistance was associated with an increase in PaCO2 and a significant increase in mixed venous PCO2. In three animals subjected to 20 cm H2O resistance under halothane/air anaesthesia, the cardiac output was reduced (P less than 0.01). It was conclud...
Amano T, Tozaki T, Takasu M, Onogi A, Yamada F, Kawai M, Ueda J.We investigated whether regular changes of the sire in a breeding farm of Hokkaido Native Horses (HKDs) enables the DNA-level genetic variation of the produced animals to be maintained. The genotypes of 31 microsatellite markers were identified and analyzed in 207 animals produced in a breeding farm in which the sire was replaced every 3 to 5 years. The mean allele number indicating the degree of genetic variation was 5.97 and was similar to those reported previously. The mean observed heterozygosity was 0.74 and was higher than the expected heterozygosity, 0.69; F was -0.07, indicating that ...
Lu G, Huang J, Li S.Theiler's disease-associated virus (TDAV) could be the aetiological agent of Theiler's disease. Horses experimentally inoculated with equine plasma containing TDAV develop acute and chronic infections with viraemia. Since its first identification in 2013, TDAV has not been detected in equines in the epidemiological studies that have been conducted. Until now, only one genome sequence of TDAV (HorseA1_serum) had been obtained. In this study, we sequenced the genome of four TDAV strains (A/China, F/China, H/USA and I/USA) in commercial equine sera used for cell culture propagation in China using...
Scandella M, Lazzaretti SS, De Zani D, Cassano M, Zani DD, Ravasio G, Gualtieri M.Tenoscopy of the navicular bursa has been recently introduced as a diagnostic and therapeutic treatment in cases of palmar foot pain syndrome. A deep digital flexor tendon transthecal approach was suggested in 1999, and the endoscopic technique has been reviewed. Smith and coworkers have recently reported good and promising results. An anatomic cadaver limb study was performed, and the endoscopic technique was evaluated. Subsequently, a 14-year-old Argentine mare, affected by palmar foot pain syndrome, was treated. Clinical data, MRI and endoscopic findings, and a 6-month follow-up evaluation ...
Junco M, Iglesias LE, Sagüés F, Zegbi S, Guerrero I, Saumell CA.In horses, the nematodes of the Strongylidae family are the most important due to their prevalence and pathogenicity. Sanitary plans include parasite control based on chemical anthelmintics. Among these, the benzimidazole compounds have been used since the 1960s to control the nematode Strongylus vulgaris. Its inappropriate use resulted in the development of resistance in parasites with a shorter biological cycle, such as the small strongyles. Currently, the genera that make up this group show widespread resistance to all chemical treatments available in veterinary medicine, except for macrocy...
Eksell P, Carlsson S, Lord P, Carlsten J.The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a digital filter on the detectability of a phantom lesion in a scintigram of the equine tarsus. Lateral images containing 50, 100, 150, 500, or 1000 kcounts were acquired. A created phantom lesion of 0 (normal), 10, 15, 20, or 30% increased intensity relative to local background was placed in the centrodistal tarsal joint area in the images of different count levels. Duplicate images were filtered with a Metz filter. The complete set of filtered and unfiltered images totaling 180 images was projected as slides to a group of 9 observers. The s...
Domingues RR, Ginther OJ, Gomez-Leon V, Castro T, Wiltbank MC.In heifers and mares, multiple pulses of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF) are generally associated with complete luteal regression. Although PGF pulses occur before and during luteolysis, little is known about the role of minor PGF pulses during preluteolysis on subsequent luteal and endometrial PGF production that may initiate luteolysis. Heifers (n = 7/group) and mares (n = 6/group) were treated with a single minor dose of PGF (3.0 and 0.5 mg, respectively) during mid-luteal phase (12 and 10 days postovulation respectively). After treatment, a transient decrease in progesterone (P4) con...
Ginther OJ.Examples of research discoveries and first reports on mare reproduction by the O.J. Ginther team are (1) determined daily circulating concentrations of four hormones during the estrous cycle, (2) showed that mares can be induced to ovulate and superovulate by hormone treatment during both ovulatory and anovulatory seasons, (3) demonstrated that prostaglandin F2α was the luteolysin in mares, (4) described the mare's elaborate hormonal and biochemical mechanism for selecting the ovulatory follicle from a pool of like follicles, (5) developed the method for diagnosing fetal sex by Day 60 using l...
Textor JA, Nixon AJ, Fortier LA.To develop a tenoscopic method to divide the carpal flexor retinaculum and decompress the carpal canal. Methods: Cadaver specimen study and prospective trial. Methods: Twelve cadaveric limbs, 4 clinically normal horses, and 2 clinically affected horses. Methods-A tenoscopic approach to the proximolateral aspect of the carpal sheath was used to identify and facilitate endoscopic division of the inner and outer layers of the carpal flexor retinaculum in cadaver limbs. The technique was further evaluated in 4 normal and 2 clinically affected horses. Results: Anatomic dissection, intraoperative ob...
Cho DY, Hubbard RM, McCoy DJ, Stewart TB.A well-circumscribed proliferative mass was protruding from the body of the mandible of a 4-year-old Appaloosa gelding. The mass was uniformly firm and was ulcerated on the dorsal surface. The horse was euthanatized due to extensive involvement of the jaw and difficulty in eating. Microscopically, the mass consisted of numerous discrete microgranulomas separated by bands of abundant fibrous connective tissue containing lymphocytes, plasma cells, and histiocytic macrophages. Numerous rhabditiform nematodes were in the microgranulomas as well as in the surrounding connective tissue. The nematode...
Weiss DJ, Monreal L, Angles AM, Monasterio J.Carbohydrate-induced laminitis has been associated with decreased platelet survival, decreased blood flow to the hoof wall and with the deposition of platelets and microthrombi within venules in the dermal laminae. To evaluate further the systemic prothrombotic events occurring in the prodromal stages of laminitis, plasma samples from control and laminitis-affected ponies and horses were tested for the presence of thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes and fibrin fragment D (D-dimer). No statistically significant differences between the control and laminitis-affected animals were observed for e...
Beazley SG, Focken A, Fernandez-Parra R, Thomas KL, Adler A, Duke-Novakovski T.To determine changes in distribution of lung ventilation with increasing intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) from carbon dioxide (CO) insufflation in standing sedated horses. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: A group of six healthy adult horses. Methods: Each horse was sedated with acepromazine, detomidine and butorphanol and sedation maintained with a detomidine infusion. The horse was restrained in a stocks system and a 32 electrode electrical impedance tomography (EIT) belt was wrapped around the thorax at the fifth-sixth intercostal space. EIT images and arterial blood samples f...
Hong CB, Van Meter PW, Latimer CL.A malignant rhabdoid tumour was diagnosed in the orbit of a 2-year-old Thoroughbred filly. The neoplasm, which was very aggressive, was present in nearly every part of the ocular and periocular structures and had spread to the lymph nodes of the head and neck, the salivary glands and the subcutaneous tissues around the eye. The neoplasm was composed of polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm. Many cells had a large, vesiculate, indented nucleus and contained a paranuclear globular inclusion. Ultrastructurally, the inclusions were seen to consist of whorls of intermediate filaments...
Nasu T, Yamanaka T, Nakai M, Ogawa H.The blood supply in the equine hoof was studied by a microvascular casting corrosion technique and scanning electron microscopy in combination with observations of sections of the decalcificated digit. The dermal lamella was observed at the hoof wall and the dermal papilla at the other parts of the hoof. The microvascular architecture of the dermal lamella differed from that of dermal papilla. The vascular cast in the dermal papillar regions indicated that each papilla contained two central vessels (artery and vein), which ran parallel to each other, and the capillary plexus surrounding these ...
Julliand S, Dacremont C, Omphalius C, Villot C, Julliand V.Although hay is the foundation of most equine diets, horse owners rarely ask for biochemical analysis and the routine practice is to choose hay based on its 'perceived' nutritional value. The present study aimed at exploring the relationship between sensory properties as perceived by sight, touch and smell, and the nutritional value of hay measured by biochemical analysis using a 'free sorting task' method. Fifty-four non-expert participants were asked individually to: (1) observe 21 hays samples, (2) group together hays that they perceived as similar for each of the three modalities (hay appe...
Hart KA, Sherlock CE, Davern AJ, Lewis TH, Robertson TP.N-butylscopolammonium bromide (NBB) is an anticholinergic agent used to treat spasmodic colic in horses. Intestinal smooth muscle spasm also occurs in horses with intraluminal intestinal obstructions, such as ileal impactions. The antispasmodic effects of NBB may be useful in managing ileal impactions, but the effects of NBB on equine ileal smooth muscle are unknown. Objective: To investigate the effects of NBB on spontaneous and induced contraction of the equine ileum in an ex vivo model. Methods: Ex vivo biomechanical study assessing contractile properties in isolate equine ileal smooth musc...