Observational studies in horses involve systematically assessing and recording behaviors, conditions, or other characteristics without manipulating the study environment. These studies provide insights into natural equine behaviors, health conditions, and interactions with their environment. Researchers often focus on aspects such as herd dynamics, feeding patterns, or responses to environmental changes. The data collected can help identify trends, correlations, and potential risk factors for certain conditions. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various observational methodologies and their applications in understanding equine behavior and health.
Dyson S, Pollard D.The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) comprising 24 behaviours was developed to facilitate the identification of musculoskeletal discomfort, with scores of ≥8/24 indicating the presence of pain. The median RHpE score for 147 competitors at World Cup Grand Prix events from 2018 to 2020 was three (interquartile range [IQR] 1-4; range 0-7). The aim of the current study was to apply the RHpE to 38 competitors at the Hickstead-Rotterdam Grand Prix Challenge and 26 competitors at the British Dressage Grand Prix National Championship in 2020. The median RHpE scores were four (IQR 3-6; range 0-8) an...
van Loon JPAM, Macri L.The objective assessment of chronic pain is of utmost importance for improving welfare and quality of life in horses. Freedom from disease and pain is one of the 'five freedoms' that are necessary for animal welfare. The aim of this study was to develop a pain scale for the assessment of chronic pain in horses (Horse Chronic Pain Scale; HCPS), which is based on behavioural and facial expressions. The scale was used to assess 53 horses (26 horses diagnosed with chronic painful conditions by means of clinical examination and additional diagnostic procedures (consisting of osteoarthritis, chronic...
Krueger K, Esch L, Farmer K, Marr I.Every animal species has particular environmental requirements that are essential for its welfare, and when these so-called "basic needs" are not fulfilled, the animals suffer. The basic needs of horses have been claimed to be social contact, social companionship, free movement and access to roughage. To assess whether horses suffer when one or more of the four proposed basic needs are restricted, we examined several studies ( = 38) that reported behavioural and physiological reactions to these restrictions. We assigned the studies according to the four types of responses investigated: (a) Str...
Quiney L, Stewart J, Routh J, Dyson S.There is a lack of understanding of the pathological and/or physiological nature of lumbosacral region pain. Objective: To describe the gross variations of the osseous and soft tissues of the lumbosacral region and report the histological findings of sections of nerve tissue in affected and control horses. Methods: Descriptive post-mortem case series. Methods: All horses had undergone full clinical and gait assessment, including ridden exercise. Horses with a substantial response to infiltration of local anaesthetic solution around the sacroiliac joint regions were included in the affected gro...
Rule EK, Boyle AG, Redding LE.Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important public health risks facing our world today. Antimicrobials are commonly prescribed in equine veterinary medicine, but limited information exists documenting their use in practice. The goal of this study was to investigate antimicrobial prescription patterns in regards to prescription frequency, duration, drug class, clinician and affected body system in an equine ambulatory setting via retrospective analysis of billing and electronic medical records. Risk factors associated with antimicrobial prescription including the nature of the visit, ...
Özçelik R, Remy-Wohlfender F, Küker S, Visschers V, Hadorn D, Dürr S.Animal owners' potential to observe and report clinical signs, as the persons with the closest contact to their animals, is an often neglected source of information in surveillance. Allowing community members other than health care professionals, such as animal owners, to report health events can contribute to close current surveillance gaps and enhance early detection. In the present study, we tested a community-based surveillance (CBS) approach in the equine community in Switzerland. We aimed at revealing the attitudes and intentions of equine owners toward reporting clinical signs by making...
Spoormakers TJP, Graat EAM, Serra Bragança FM, Weeren PRV, Brommer H.Lameness assessment in horses is still predominantly performed using subjective methods. Visual assessment is known to have moderate to good intra-rater agreement but relatively poor inter-rater agreement. Little is known about inter- and intra-rater agreement on the evaluation of back motion, for which no objective measurement technique in a clinical setting is available thus far. To describe inter- and intra-rater agreement of visual evaluation of equine back mobility. Rater reliability study using a fully crossed design in which all horses are rated by all observers. This data is compared w...
We evaluated the influences of workload intensity, bath handling and environmental conditions in the rolling behaviour of horses and mules. For this purpose, animals were observed after being exposed to different levels of workload and the rolling behaviour was recorded and described. During all testing procedures, the weather condition (temperature and humidity) was registered by a Black globe and Wet Bulb apparatus. Horses frequently rolled after intense exercise and after bath handling, independently of the weather condition. Mules frequently rolled after control (no exercise) and intense e...
de Oliveira AR, Gozalo-Marcilla M, Ringer SK, Schauvliege S, Fonseca MW, Esteves Trindade PH, Prospero Puoli Filho JN, Luna SPL.Although facial characteristics are used to estimate horse sedation, there are no studies measuring their reliability and validity. This randomised controlled, prospective, horizontal study aimed to validate a facial sedation scale for horses (FaceSed). Seven horses received detomidine infusion i.v. in low or high doses/rates alone (DL 2.5 μg/kg+6.25 μg/kg/h; DH 5 μg/kg+12.5 μg/kg/h) or combined with methadone (DLM and DHM, 0.2 mg/kg+0.05 mg/kg/h) for 120 min, or acepromazine boli i.v. in low (ACPL 0.02 mg/kg) or high doses (ACPH 0.09 mg/kg). Horses' faces were photographed at i) baseline,...
Trindade PHE, Taffarel MO, Luna SPL.This prospective and longitudinal study aimed to identify spontaneous post-orchiectomy pain behaviors in horses regardless of the effects of anesthesia, analgesia, and recording time of day. Twenty-four horses divided into four groups were submitted to: inhalation anesthesia only (GA), or combined with previous analgesia (GAA), or orchiectomy under pre (GCA), or postoperative (GC) analgesia. The data obtained from the subtraction of frequency and/or duration of 34 behaviors recorded during seven 60-min time-points in the 24 h after the anesthesia from those recorded in the mirrored time-points...
Contalbrigo L, Borgi M, De Santis M, Collacchi B, Tuozzi A, Toson M, Redaelli V, Odore R, Vercelli C, Stefani A, Luzi F, Valle E, Cirulli F.Equine-assisted interventions (EAIs) are well-known complementary practices combining physical activity with emotional/cognitive stimulation. They are especially suited for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who need a high degree of physical and psychological enrichment. Even though EAIs have become a common practice, stress responses in horses interacting with individuals that can manifest inappropriate behaviours, such as ASD children, have not been thoroughly investigated. Our multicentre study aimed to investigate behavioural and physiological indices of stress in horses involv...
Atalaia T, Prazeres J, Abrantes J, Clayton HM.Injuries to the locomotor system are a common problem in athletic horses. Veterinarians address these injuries using appropriate medical, surgical, and pharmacological treatments. During or after recovery from the initial injury, horses may be treated for functional locomotor deficits using specific rehabilitation techniques aimed at restoring full athletic performance. This study reviews the literature to identify which rehabilitative techniques have been used most frequently in horses over the past 20 years, the protocols that were used, and the outcomes of the treatments in naturally occurr...
Corgan ME, Grandin T, Matlock S.It is dangerous for both riders and horses when a horse suddenly startles. Sometimes horses do this in familiar environments because familiar objects may look different when rotated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether horses that had been habituated to a complex object (children's playset) would react to the object as novel when rotated 90 degrees. Twenty young horses were led past the playset 15 times by a handler. Next, the rotated group was led past the rotated playset 15 times. Each time the horse was led by the object was a pass. The behavioral responses observed and analy...
Taylor SD, Ivester KM, Stewart C, Page AE, Horohov DW, Couetil LL.Immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of mild to moderate equine asthma (MEA) are not completely understood. There are limited data on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and blood inflammatory cytokine profiles in racehorses with MEA, and the effect of racing on inflammatory cytokines is unknown. Objective: We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokine gene expression in BALF and resting blood would be higher in racehorses with lower airway inflammation compared to healthy controls, and that gene expression in blood collected immediately post-race would be increased compared to r...
MacKechnie-Guire R, Pfau T.High-level dressage horses regularly perform advanced movements, requiring coordination and force transmission between front and hind limbs across the thoracolumbosacral region. This study aimed at quantifying kinematic differences in dressage horses when ridden in sitting trot-i.e. with additional load applied in the thoracolumbar region-compared with trotting in-hand. Inertial sensors were glued on to the midline of the thoracic (T) and lumbar (L) spine at T5, T13, T18, L3 and middle of the left and right tubera sacrale of ten elite dressage horses (Mean±SD), age 11±1 years, height 1.70±0...
Gehlen H, Krumbach K, Thöne-Reineke C.This literature review was aimed at analyzing whether stallion husbandry in groups is possible and desirable or poses risks. This was determined on the basis of different studies in order to be able to give practical recommendations from the viewpoint of animal welfare. Consequently, 50 different sources were analyzed, as well as observations of an experiment of the Swiss National Stud on the subject of change from single-stallion to group husbandry and its influence on animal welfare. The results revealed that stallion husbandry in groups is possible but still rarely practiced. It was found t...
Isgren CM, Williams NJ, Fletcher OD, Timofte D, Newton RJ, Maddox TW, Clegg PD, Pinchbeck GL.Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in horses is important to aid empirical treatment decisions and highlight emerging AMR threats. Objective: To describe the AMR patterns of common groups of bacteria from clinical submissions from horses in the UK during 2018, and to determine how this varies by sample site and type of submitting veterinary practice. Methods: Prospective observational study. Methods: All data on bacterial culture and subsequent antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) collected in 2018 from six large equine diagnostic laboratories were included. Resistance patter...
Smith R, Pinchbeck G, McGowan C, Ireland J, Perkins E.The number of aged horses in the UK has been growing over recent years, with many horses remaining active and being cared for into old age. However, increasing age is paralleled with a heightened risk of morbidity and mortality; therefore, owners of older horses must manage changes in their horse, making decisions about management and health care provision. In this paper, we discuss data collected from an open-access online discussion forum, where forum users sought advice arising from concerns about their older horse. Qualitative data analysis was performed using grounded theory methods. A co...
Ricci-Bonot C, Romero T, Nicol C, Mills D.Social buffering occurs when the presence of one animal attenuates another's stress response during a stressful event and/or helps the subject to recover more quickly after a stressful event. Inconsistent previous results might reflect previously unrecognised contextual influences, such as the nature of the stimulus presented or social factors. We addressed these issues in a two-part study of horses paired with familiar (16 subjects) or unfamiliar (16 subjects) companions. Each subject performed 4 tests in a counterbalanced order: novel object test (static ball)-alone or with companion; and um...
Dyson S, Pollard D.There is considerable debate about the social license to compete with horses and controversy about training methods for dressage horses. The objectives were to: 1. apply the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) to dressage horses competing at elite Grand Prix level; 2. compare RHpE and judges' scores; and 3. document deviations in gaits from Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) guidelines. Video recordings of 147 competitors from nine World Cup competitions were assessed. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tested the correlation between RHpE and judges' scores. The median RHpE score wa...
Belotta AF, Mayer MN, Waldner CL, Robinson K, Sidhu N, Carmalt J, Bell CD, Koehncke NK.The objective of this study was to report observed radiation safety practices among equine workers using portable X-ray units at 3 veterinary practices in Canada. Practice 1 was comprised of equine field service workers from an academic institution, whereas Practices 2 and 3 were comprised of workers from private equine referral practices. Out of 2969 exposure-worker observations, protective aprons were worn for > 99% (2968/2969), thyroid shields for 87% (2584/2969), and eyeglasses for 10% (310/2969). The cassette was held by hand for 97% (1078/1114) of observations, and the X-ray unit was ...
de Moura Alonso J, de Melo-Neto GB, Dos Santos B, Mogollón García HD, Paim KP, Pinheiro Ferreira JC, Santos Schmidt EM, da Silva ANF, da Cunha GM....This study aimed to evaluate the inflammatory response of miniature horses subjected to open and half-closed orchiectomy by physical examination, blood cell count, peritoneal fluid evaluation, total plasma protein, fibrinogen, and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations. Methods: Thirteen male healthy miniature horses were divided into two groups, according to the surgical approach: half-closed technique (HCT) and open technique (OT). The HCT group was subjected to ligation of the spermatic cord followed by its sharp incision, and closure of the vaginal tunic, and the OT group was only submitted ...
Bye TL, Lewis V.This study explored the relationship between footedness and postural asymmetry in equestrian riders. 28 female riders completed the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire- Revised (WFQ-R), giving a score for footedness. They then took part in a test on a riding simulator where measures of saddle force, stirrup force, and degree of lateral tilt of the pelvic, trunk, and shoulder segments were taken over a period of 20 seconds in trot. Symmetry indices were calculated for stirrup force and saddle force. There were no significant correlations between WFQ-R score and any of the measures of postural sym...
Zoccante L, Marconi M, Ciceri ML, Gagliardoni S, Gozzi LA, Sabaini S, Di Gennaro G, Colizzi M.Equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) have been suggested to improve adaptive behavior, and possibly motor function, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated the effects of EAAT on adaptive behavior and motor function in 15 children with ASD (13 males) aged 7-15 years as well as the impact of EAAT on the magnitude of stress in the parent-child system and the evolution in the child interaction with both the trained therapist and the therapeutic animal through the 20 weekly sessions of EAAT. EAAT were associated with greater adaptive behavior and coordination (all ...
Johnson RA, Albright DL, Marzolf JR, Bibbo JL, Yaglom HD, Crowder SM, Carlisle GM, Grindler K, Harms N, Willard A, Wassman M, Russell CL.Posttraumatic stress disorder commonly occurs among U.S. military veterans. Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) has emerged as an adjunct therapy. We explored 20 veterans' perceived benefits, drawbacks and views of a 6-week THR program. Participants had confirmed diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or both. Veterans rode the same horse weekly, the same day, at the same time. Data were collected as part of a randomized clinical trial testing the effects of THR on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Veterans responded to an open-ended questionnaire. Content analysis wa...
Punsmann S, Hellige M, Hoppe J, Freise F, Venner M.Acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) in foals is a rare but challenging syndrome. Diagnostic imaging is crucial for its diagnosis. While there are some reports on radiographic findings, ultrasound is sparsely described. Variability in the evaluation of radiographs in AIP has been well described in human literature. Part one of this study is a prospective, observational, observer agreement study investigating inter- and intraobserver agreement in the assessment of thoracic radiographs. Part two is a prospective, controlled, descriptive study on thoracic ultrasonography in foals with AIP. Eighteen...
Smith RKW, McIlwraith CW.Tendinopathy remains one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders affecting both human and equine athletes and presents a considerable therapeutic challenge. The following workshop report comes from the third Dorothy Havemeyer Symposium of Tendinopathy which provided a unique overview of our current understanding of both the basic science and the clinical challenges for diagnosing and treating tendinopathy in both species. Pathologically, tendon demonstrates alterations in both cellular, molecular, structural, and biomechanical features, leading to a spectrum of pathological endotypes. To ...
Janczarek I, Stachurska A, Wilk I, Wiśniewska A, Różańska-Boczula M, Kaczmarek B, Łuszczyński J, Kędzierski W.The horse's welfare and, consequently, the emotional arousal may be connected with stressful environmental conditions. This study aimed to determine whether horses show behavioural or physiological symptoms of thermal discomfort and if their behaviour and cardiac parameters are related to freely chosen insolated (IS), shaded (SH), or water sprayed (with a mist curtain (MC)) areas in a paddock under heat conditions (29-32 °C, 42.0 ± 1.5% humidity). Twelve adult horses freely moving in the paddock were studied during a 45 min solitary turnout. Six cardiac variables, locomotor, and non-locomoto...
Crawford KL, Finnane A, Greer RM, Phillips CJC, Bishop EL, Woldeyohannes SM, Perkins NR, Ahern BJ.Worldwide, musculoskeletal injuries remain a major problem for the Thoroughbred racing industry. There is a strong interest in developing training and management strategies to reduce the impact of musculoskeletal injuries, however, progress has been limited by studies reporting conflicting findings, and a limited understanding of the role of different training methods in preventing injury. There is little data on patterns of rest periods and exercise data and how these vary between trainers. This prospective study of two-year-old racehorses was conducted in Queensland, Australia and involved w...
Hood J, McDonald C, Wilson B, McManus P, McGreevy P.Whip use in horseracing is increasingly being questioned on ethical, animal welfare, social sustainability, and legal grounds. Despite this, there is weak evidence for whip use and its regulation by Stewards in Australia. To help address this, we characterised whip rule breaches recorded by Stewards using Stewards Reports and Race Diaries from 2013 and 2016 in New SouthWales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). There were more recorded breaches at Metropolitan (M) than Country (C) or Provincial (P) locations, and by riders of horses that finished first, second, or third than by ri...
Fogle J, Jacob M, Blikslager A, Edwards A, Wagner B, Dean K, Fogle C.Clinically useful biomarkers are needed for early identification of endotoxaemic horses. Soluble CD14 (sCD14) is amplified early in response to inflammatory signals, including bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and may prove a useful biomarker for clinical endotoxaemia. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if sCD14 could serve as a more reliable biomarker of the clinical signs of endotoxaemia, compared to measuring LPS alone. Methods: Prospective observational study in horses at a veterinary teaching hospital. Methods: Plasma samples were collected from 20 healthy horses and 35 h...
Christensen JW, Bathellier S, Rhodin M, Palme R, Uldahl M.Recent studies have reported significant alterations in horse physiological and gait parameters when exposed to increased rider weight during moderate to high intensity exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of increased rider weight (+15% and +25% of the regular rider's bodyweight) on horse behavioral, physiological and gait symmetry parameters during a standard dressage test. Twenty rider-horse equipages performed the same test three times in a randomized, crossover design. Salivary cortisol (SC), heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), behavior and gait symmetry (GS) were ...
Schwarzmüller-Erber G, Stummer H, Maier M, Kundi M.Connectedness to nature and nature contact can provide many benefits to humans, like stress reduction, recovery from illness, and increased positive emotions. Likewise, recreational horseback riding is a widespread sports activity with the potential to enhance physical and psychological health. Yet, the influence of connectedness to nature on the wellbeing of older aged recreational horseback riders has not been investigated so far. The aim of the present study therefore was to explore the relationship between nature relatedness and physical, psychological and social wellbeing and happiness. T...
Górecka A, Słoniewski K, Golonka M, Jaworski Z, Jezierski T.There are studies on the relationship between the position and shape of hair whorls on bovine forehead and phenotypic traits. According to anecdotal beliefs by horse users and handlers, temperamental traits may be related to the position of hair whorls in horses. No previous research on the mechanisms of inheritance of hair whorls has been performed, so the aim of the present study was to determine the heritability of the position of the hair whorl on the forehead of Konik horses. The horses (n = 362) were classified into five groups based on the whorl position on forehead with respect to the ...
Hackett RP, Ducharme NG, Fubini SL, Erb HN.Videorecordings of the laryngeal activity of 108 unsedated horses were obtained at rest by passing a flexible videoendoscope into the nasopharynx through the right ventral meatus. All videotaped images were reviewed once, and 72 were reviewed twice, by three veterinarians. Laryngeal cartilage movement was assessed subjectively with a five-tier grading system. The mean intraobserver agreement was 83.3% (range, 75.0%-90.2%) with a kappa statistic of .65 to .98. The mean interobserver agreement was 79.0% (range, 70.4%-80.6%) with a kappa statistic of .51 to .90. A computer program was developed t...
Schrimpf A, Single MS, Nawroth C.Dogs and cats use human emotional information directed to an unfamiliar situation to guide their behavior, known as social referencing. It is not clear whether other domestic species show similar socio-cognitive abilities in interacting with humans. We investigated whether horses ( = 46) use human emotional information to adjust their behavior to a novel object and whether the behavior of horses differed depending on breed type. Horses were randomly assigned to one of two groups: an experimenter positioned in the middle of a test arena directed gaze and voice towards the novel object with eith...
Hartman N, Greening LM.The physical environment is known to influence nocturnal behavioral time budgets of the stabled horse, but less evidence exists to suggest how this might be affected by including additional sensory stimuli. This study aimed to establish the impact of novel auditory stimuli on the frequency of equine sleep-related behavior. Seven horses stabled for 24 hours per day on the same yard receiving the same daily management routine were observed from 2030 to 0630 over nine nights. Frequency of nocturnal behavior was recorded using focal intermittent sampling against a predetermined ethogram and an in...
Hitchens PL, Blizzard CL, Jones G, Day LM, Fell J.Apprentice thoroughbred racing jockeys have a higher fall rate than their more experienced counterparts. The authors describe rates of occurrence and investigate risk factors for falls among less-experienced thoroughbred flat racing jockeys in Australia who commenced their race riding career between August 2002 and July 2009. Methods: Data on race-day falls were extracted from stewards' reports. Denominator data were provided by Racing Information Services Australia on races conducted in Australia. HRs were estimated using time-to-event (survival analysis) methods. Results: Factors found to be...
Sullivan SL, Anderson GA, Morley PS, Hinchcliff KW.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) is associated with impaired short-term race performance but consequences to long-term race performance of Thoroughbred racehorses are unknown. Knowledge of effects of EIPH on performance over a prolonged time would inform the need for management and treatment of this disorder. Objective: To determine the relationship between EIPH detected on a single occasion and long-term athletic performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: Prospective, longitudinal, observational epidemiological study conducted from 2003 to 2012. Methods: Seven hundred and f...
Dyson S, Pollard D.The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) comprising 24 behaviours was developed to facilitate the identification of musculoskeletal discomfort, with scores of ≥8/24 indicating the presence of pain. The median RHpE score for 147 competitors at World Cup Grand Prix events from 2018 to 2020 was three (interquartile range [IQR] 1-4; range 0-7). The aim of the current study was to apply the RHpE to 38 competitors at the Hickstead-Rotterdam Grand Prix Challenge and 26 competitors at the British Dressage Grand Prix National Championship in 2020. The median RHpE scores were four (IQR 3-6; range 0-8) an...
Keegan KG, Wilson DA, Smith BK, Wilson DJ.To determine whether kinematic changes induced by heel pressure in horses differ from those induced by toe pressure. Methods: 10 adult Quarter Horses. Methods: A shoe that applied pressure on the cuneus ungulae (frog) or on the toe was used. Kinematic analyses were performed before and after 2 levels of frog pressure and after 1 level of toe pressure. Values for stride displacement and time and joint angles were determined from horses trotting on a treadmill. Results: The first level of frog pressure caused decreases in metacarpophalangeal (fetlock) joint extension during stance and increases ...
Lindegaard C, Vaabengaard D, Christophersen MT, Ekstøm CT, Fjeldborg J.To compare effects of hot iron branding and microchip transponder injection regarding aversive behavioral reactions indicative of pain and inflammation in horses. Methods: 7 adult horses. Methods: In a randomized controlled clinical crossover study, behavioral reactions to hot iron branding and microchip transponder injection were scored by 4 observers. Local and systemic inflammation including allodynia were assessed and compared by use of physiologic and biochemical responses obtained repeatedly for the 168-hour study period. Serum cortisol concentration was measured repeatedly throughout th...
Coffin J.Background: Recent statistics have painted a grim picture for Australia's Aboriginal youth, with reports of higher levels of almost every health indicator, including depression, sexual and emotional abuse, unemployment, and incarceration. Traditional western based therapies have proven to have limited effectiveness in engaging this group as they can often be culturally inappropriate. International studies have provided promising results using equine assisted learning, with a sound methodological basis underpinned by Indigenous ways of being and doing. In Australia Aboriginal people have strong...
Franco C, Paris JJ, Wulfert E, Frye CA.Prevalence rates of gambling are influenced by gender. Among normative populations, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress is affected by gender. However, pathological, compared to recreational, gamblers demonstrate perturbations in HPA activation in response to gambling stimuli. We examined whether there were gender differences in HPA response to gambling in a naturalistic setting among horse-race bettors and scratch-off lottery bettors. Salivary cortisol was collected from horse-race gamblers (n=32) and scratch-off lottery ticket players (n=39) before and after (0, 10, ...
Westerman TL, Foster CM, Tornquist SJ, Poulsen KP.To evaluate the use of the acute-phase proteins serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin as prognostic indicators in horses with colic with regard to the need for surgical intervention, development of complications, and hospitalization cost and duration. Methods: Prospective observational study. Methods: 20 clinically normal horses and 42 horses with colic. Methods: Total WBC and neutrophil counts and plasma fibrinogen, SAA, and haptoglobin concentrations were compared between healthy (control) horses and horses admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital for colic. Clinicopathologic values were c...
Bosu WT, Van Camp SC, Miller RB, Owen RR.A five year prospective study of equine ovarian problems requiring surgical correction was undertaken at the Ontario Veterinary College. Thirty mares were studied, of which 14 had granulosa cell tumors, six were with anovulatory persistent follicular "structures", five had ovarian hemotoma, two presented ovarian hypoplasia and one each of ovarian dysgerminoma, teratoma and abscessation. The clinical signs manifested by the affected animals were varied. The affected ovaries were removed via flank or midline laparotomy or through colpotomy. Their morphology was studied and representative portion...
McFarlane D, Banse H, Knych HK, Maxwell LK.The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of pergolide in horses with PPID after of long-term oral administration. Six horses with confirmed PPID were treated with pergolide (Prascend ) at 1 mg/horse po q24 h for 2 months, followed by 2 mg/horse po q24 h for 4 months. Following the last dose, plasma samples were collected for measurement of pergolide using an LC/MS/MS method and ACTH measurement using a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Noncompartmental and compartmental pharmacokinetic analyses were performed, as well as p...
Lansade L, Trösch M, Parias C, Blanchard A, Gorosurreta E, Calandreau L.Pet-directed speech (PDS) is a type of speech humans spontaneously use with their companion animals. It is very similar to speech commonly used when talking to babies. A survey on social media showed that 92.7% of the respondents used PDS with their horse, but only 44.4% thought that their horse was sensitive to it, and the others did not know or doubted its efficacy. We, therefore, decided to test the impact of PDS on two tasks. During a grooming task that consisted of the experimenter scratching the horse with their hand, the horses (n = 20) carried out significantly more mutual grooming g...
Rørvang MV, Christensen JW, Ladewig J, McLean A.Prima facie, the acquisition of novel behaviors in animals through observation of conspecifics seems straightforward. There are, however, various mechanisms through which the behavior of animals can be altered from observing others. These mechanisms range from simple hard-wired contagious processes to genuine learning by observation, which differ fundamentally in cognitive complexity. They range from social facilitation and local enhancement to true social learning. The different learning mechanisms are the subject of this review, largely because research on learning by observation can be conf...
Long M, Dürnberger C, Jenner F, Kelemen Z, Auer U, Grimm H.Equine Quality of Life (QoL) is an important concern in decision making in veterinary medicine and is especially relevant for chronically ill or geriatric horses towards the end of their lives. To our knowledge, there is no currently available QoL assessment tool for chronically ill or geriatric horses that assesses equine QoL defined as the horse's evaluation of their life. However, tools exist to assess equine welfare in different contexts. Hence, the aims of this study were to analyse how equine welfare, QoL, well-being and happiness assessment tools label, define and operationalise the con...
Negro S, Bartolomé E, Molina A, Solé M, Gómez MD, Valera M.The stress level is suggested to have a negative effect on horses during equestrian competitions, specifically in trotter racing. The main objectives of this study were to measure stress levels in Spanish Trotter Horse races with a reliable non-invasive method, and determining the threshold level of stress that leads to the best performance results and also shows when the stress perceived by the horse becomes distress. One hundred and thirty individuals were evaluated, measuring their performance (based on racing time per kilometre (TPK)) and their stress (based on eye temperature, assessed wi...
Jago RC, Corletto F, Wright IM.Peri-anaesthetic complications are relatively common in equine patients and further investigations are warranted to identify manageable risk factors. Objective: To report morbidity and mortality rates and identify associated risk factors for horses undergoing general anaesthesia, within a predominantly racing Thoroughbred (TB) population. Methods: Single centre retrospective observational study. Methods: Anaesthetic and case records of all horses ≥12 months old undergoing general anaesthesia at Newmarket Equine Hospital between August 2010 and April 2012 were analysed, excluding emergency ab...
Ruet A, Biau S, Arnould C, Galloux P, Destrez A, Pycik E, Boichot L, Lansade L.This study investigated the relationships between four behavioral and postural indicators of a compromised welfare state in loose boxes (stereotypies, aggressive behaviors toward humans, withdrawn posture reflecting unresponsiveness to the environment, and alert posture indicating hypervigilance) and the way horses perceived riding. This perception was inferred using a survey completed by the usual riding instructor and during a standardized riding session (assessment of behaviors and postures, qualitative behavior assessment (QBA) and characterization of the horses' locomotion using an inerti...
Harnek J, James SK, Lagerqvist B.Covered stents are mostly used for coronary perforations with a high risk of early adverse events; however, their long-term outcome is unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate the short- and long-term outcome of patients treated with covered stents compared to all other stented patients. Results: The Swedish national registries from 2005-2017 disclosed 265 patients who had received 366 covered stents. Their outcomes were compared to all other stented patients (197,948) who had received 320,784 stents. Compared to regular stents, covered stents showed significant differences (p<0.001)...
Firth EC, Rogers CW, Perkins NR, Anderson BH, Grace ND.This is the first in a series of papers reporting studies in 2-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses that aimed to determine the response of musculoskeletal tissues to early training on grass and sand racetracks. In this paper, the experimental set-up of the whole study is described, and nutritional, workload, and clinical, radiographic and pathological outcomes are reported, including semi-quantitative assessment of macroscopic changes in articular cartilage. Methods: The study group comprised 14 two-year-old Thoroughbred fillies reared entirely at pasture. Of these, seven were selected by a licen...
Fonseca-Rodríguez O, Pinheiro Júnior JW, Mota RA.In Brazil, glanders remains a serious problem, with the obligatory sacrifice of disease-positive animals without compensation. Each year, glanders cases are reported in several regions of the country, causing severe economic losses and trade restrictions. The present study describes and discusses the occurrence of glanders foci in Brazil during a 12-year period from 2005 to 2016. The highest frequency of reported affected holdings during the study period was in the northeast region. Moreover, during this period, the disease incidence in Brazil showed an overall increasing tendency. The number ...
Walter J, Balzer HJ, Seeh C, Fey K, Bleul U, Osterrieder N.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a highly prevalent pathogen in horse populations worldwide. Oronasal infection represents the classic route of disease transmission. Venereal shedding of EHV-1 is not regarded relevant in terms of virus spreading, which is in contrast to the close relatives of EHV-1, bovine and suid alphaherpesvirus, for which artificial insemination is a well-documented and accepted means of virus spread. Objective: Documentation of venereal EHV-1 shedding in 3 naturally infected stallions. Methods: Three stallions were infected during an acute outbreak by an EHV-1 strain with t...
Majecka K, Klawe A.The aim of this study was to explore whether the size of paddocks affected social interactions within a group of horses. Furthermore, the effects of the gender composition in groups on social behavior were investigated. The research was done in a horse-riding center. A total of 78 horses and ponies, forming 3 groups, were included in the study. The time of the observation was divided into 2 periods. The data obtained from the 1st period (the horses were on relatively small paddocks) and the 2nd period (the paddocks were significantly bigger) were compared. The findings uniformly indicated that...
Bindi F, Vezzosi T, Sala G, Freccero F, Marmorini P, Bonelli F, Sgorbini M.Smartphone-based technology for ECG recording has recently spread as a complementary tool for electrocardiographic screening and monitoring in adult horses and in other animal species. The present study aimed to assess the feasibility and accuracy of a smartphone-based ECG in healthy foals. This was a prospective observational study (authorization n. 45,865/2016) including 22 foals aged less than 21 days. A reference standard base-apex ECG (rECG) was acquired, and a smartphone ECG (sECG) was recorded immediately after by using a smartphone-based single lead electrocardiograph. All ECG tracings...
