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.
Chen J, Weng Q, Chao J, Hu D, Taya K.In China, the first Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) group was released in Kalamaili Ungulate Protected Area in Xinjiang, in August 2001. The objective of this study was to investigate reproduction and development of released Przewalski's horses in Xinjiang, China from 2002 to 2006. Twenty-four descendants were naturally born, average reproduction rate was 38.7%, and average survival rate of foals was 69.1% in this interim. Frequent alternation of the leading stallion and infertility in female horses due to environmental factors were main causes for the low reproduction rate. The infant ...
De Boyer Des Roches A, Richard-Yris MA, Henry S, Ezzaouïa M, Hausberger M.Lateralization of emotions has received great attention in the last decades, both in humans and animals, but little interest has been given to side bias in perceptual processing. Here, we investigated the influence of the emotional valence of stimuli on visual and olfactory explorations by horses, a large mammalian species with two large monocular visual fields and almost complete decussation of optic fibres. We confronted 38 Arab mares to three objects with either a positive, negative or neutral emotional valence (novel object). The results revealed a gradient of exploration of the 3 objects ...
Licka T, Frey A, Peham C.The pattern of electromyographic activity of the equine long back muscle at the walk has not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to use surface electromyography to measure activity of the longissimus dorsi muscles of horses walking on a treadmill. Fifteen horses without back pain were used and electromyographs were recorded bilaterally from the longissimus dorsi muscles at the level of T12, T16 and L3. Mean electromyograph activity and mean motion were calculated for each horse. At the walk, only one maximum activity for each longissimus dorsi muscle was detected during each motion cy...
Parkin TD.This article describes the development of epidemiologic analyses of racetrack injury in racehorses. The risk or rate of fatal and nonfatal injury in racing and training around the world is examined. The focus is on the importance of global collaboration and the identification of modifiable risk factors. In particular, exercise-related risk factors for injury are evaluated and the potential impact of interventions discussed.
Armengou L, Monreal L, Tarancón I, Navarro M, Ríos J, Segura D.Septicemia is associated with a systemic inflammatory response, hemostatic activation, and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC). Objective: Increased plasma d-dimer concentration occurs in septic neonates and can reliably detect sepsis or DIC, and predict death in ill neonatal foals. Methods: 40 septic, 41 nonseptic hospitalized foals, and 22 healthy neonates. Methods: Prospective observational clinical study. Blood samples were collected on admission, at 24-48 hours after admission, and at the time of discharge or euthanasia. Plasma d-dimer concentration, clotting times, antithrombin...
Maros K, Gácsi M, Miklósi A.Twenty domestic horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to rely on different human gesticular cues in a two-way object choice task. An experimenter hid food under one of two bowls and after baiting, indicated the location of the food to the subjects by using one of four different cues. Horses could locate the hidden reward on the basis of the distal dynamic-sustained, proximal momentary and proximal dynamic-sustained pointing gestures but failed to perform above chance level when the experimenter performed a distal momentary pointing gesture. The results revealed that horses coul...
Marais HJ, Nel P, Bertschinger HJ, Schoeman JP, Zimmerman D.There are no reports in the literature describing any tumours, and specifically sarcoids, in zebras. The equine sarcoid, a locally aggressive, fibroblastic skin tumour, is the most common dermatological neoplasm reported in horses. The Cape mountain zebra (CMZ) has been described as one of the most vulnerable mammals in South Africa with current populations existing in isolated units. All South African CMZ are descendants from no more than 30 individual animals originating from 3 populations, namely the Mountain Zebra National Park, and Kammanassie and Gamka Mountain Nature Reserves near Crado...
Rho JR, Srygley RB, Choe JC.We investigated mutual grooming by Jeju pony (Equus caballus) foals to determine whether male foals preferentially interact with potential future sexual partners or competitors. We predicted that relative to female foals, male foals would exchange grooming more frequently with young mares and that in general, foals would mutually groom more frequently with the opposite sex rather than the same sex. Observing 53 foals between April and October 1998, we recorded 113 mutual grooming events. Male foals exchanged grooming with yearling mares more frequently than with their mother, while female foal...
Krüger K, Flauger B.Like many other herbivores, in a natural environment equids feed on rather evenly distributed resources. However, the vegetation in their vast habitats constantly changes. If food is plentiful only little competition occurs over food, and in non-competitive situations domestic horses tend to return to the same feeding site until it is overgrazed. In contrast, they compete over limited food for which the social status of the individuals appears to be important. Especially in ruminants several studies have proved an influence of social organisations, rank, sex and the depletion of feeding sites ...
Feh C, Munkhtuya B.The sexual selection hypothesis explains infanticide by males in many mammals. In our 11-year study, we investigated this hypothesis in a herd of Przewalski's horses where we had witnessed infanticidal attacks. Infanticide was highly conditional and not simply linked to takeovers. Attacks occurred in only five of 39 cases following a takeover, and DNA paternity revealed that, although infanticidal stallions were not the genetic fathers in four cases out of five, stallions present at birth did not significantly attempt to kill unrelated foals. Infanticide did not reduce birth intervals; only in...
Krueger K, Heinze J.Animals that live in stable social groups need to gather information on their own relative position in the group's social hierarchy, by either directly threatening or by challenging others, or indirectly and in a less perilous manner , by observing interactions among others. Indirect inference of dominance relationships has previously been reported from primates, rats, birds, and fish. Here, we show that domestic horses, Equus caballus, are similarly capable of social cognition. Taking advantage of a specific "following behavior" that horses show towards humans in a riding arena, we investigat...
Preston SA, Trumble TN, Zimmel DN, Chmielewski TL, Brown MP, Hernandez JA.To characterize lameness during training and compare exercise variables and financial returns among yearling Thoroughbreds that were bought for the purpose of resale for profit. Methods: 40 yearling Thoroughbreds. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: Horses purchased at yearling sales (summer 2004) were trained prior to resale at 2-year-olds in training sales (spring 2005). Horses were monitored daily for diagnosis and treatment of lameness during training. Selected variables, including sex, age, purchase price, lameness, distance (No. of furlongs) galloped during training, and financial retur...
Moffat PA, Firth EC, Rogers CW, Smith RK, Barneveld A, Goodship AE, Kawcak CE, McIlwraith CW, van Weeren PR.Conditioning by early training may influence the composition of certain musculoskeletal tissues, but very few data exist on its effect during growth on tendon structure and function. Objective: To investigate whether conditioning exercise in young foals would lead to any ultrasonographically detectable damage to the superficial digital flexor tendon or an increase in cross-sectional area (CSA). Methods: Thirty-three Thoroughbred foals reared at pasture were allocated to 2 groups: control (PASTEX) allowed exercise freely at pasture; and CONDEX, also at pasture, began conditioning exercise from ...
Knubben JM, Furst A, Gygax L, Staﾬher M.Studies on the prevalence and predisposing factors of bite and kick injuries in horses have not been reported in a population-based data sample. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of bite and kick injuries in horses and associated risk factors in a representative sample of horses in Switzerland. Methods: A questionnaire on the incidence of disease and injury, which included the frequency of bite and kick injuries and their association with breed, housing, use and feeding regime, was sent to 2559 horse owners randomly selected throughout Switzerland. Results: The data of 2912 horses with ...
Christensen JW, Malmkvist J, Nielsen BL, Keeling LJ.In fear-eliciting situations, horses tend to show flight reactions that can be dangerous for both horse and man. Finding appropriate methods for reducing fearfulness in horses has important practical implications. Objective: To investigate whether the presence of a calm companion horse influences fear reactions in naive subject horses. Objective: The presence of a habituated (calm) companion horse in a fear-eliciting situation can reduce fear reactions in naive subject horses, compared to subject horses with a nonhabituated companion (control). Methods: Minimally handled (n = 36), 2-year-old s...
Lindegaard C, Husted L, Ullum H, Fjeldborg J.Endoscopy of the upper airways of horses is used as a diagnostic tool and at purchase examinations. On some occasions it is necessary to use sedation during the procedure and it is often speculated that the result of the examination might be influenced due to the muscle-relaxing properties of the most commonly used sedatives. Objective: To evaluate the effect of detomidine (0.01 mg/kg bwt) and acepromazine (0.05 mg/kg bwt) on the appearance of symmetry of rima glottidis, ability to abduct maximally the arytenoid cartilages and the effect on recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) grade. Methods: ...
Cruz AM, Poljak Z, Filejski C, Lowerison ML, Goldie K, Martin SW, Hurtig MB.To determine characteristics, incidence rate, and possible associations with selected demographic characteristics of catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMIs) in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: 76 Thoroughbreds with CMIs. Methods: Incidence rates of CMIs during racing or training were calculated with number of CMIs as the numerator and overall numbers of races or training events during 2004 and 2005 as the denominators. Exact 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Associations between incidence and dichotomous exposure factors, nominal factors, and ordinal factors were determined. Only...
Souris AC, Kaczensky P, Julliard R, Walzer C.The Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) became extinct in the wild in the 1960s, but survived as a species due to captive breeding. There have been several initiatives to re-introduce the species in central Asia, but until now only two projects in Mongolia establish free-ranging populations. Data on basic ecology and behavior of the species prior to extinction is largely lacking and a good documentation of the re-introduction process is essential. Between 13 May and 2 September 2003 we documented the time budget-, group synchrony and body score development of a newly released Przewals...
Tennent-Brown BS, Wilkins PA, Lindborg S, Russell G, Boston RC.Blood lactate concentration [LAC] is considered a useful indicator of disease severity in horses. Agreement of point-of-care (POC) lactate monitors with laboratory standards has not been established for clinically abnormal horses. Objective: It was hypothesized that results from a POC lactate monitor would be in agreement with a laboratory-based measurement of [LAC]. Methods: The study included adult horses presented for emergency evaluation. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed. [LAC] was measured with whole blood (AWB) and plasma (APL) by means of a POC monitor (Accutrend...
Hollis AR, Boston RC, Corley KT.Hyperglycemia in critically ill humans is associated with increased glucose production and insulin resistance and is associated with death. This might also be true in horses presenting with acute abdominal disease. Objective: Throughout hospitalization, hyperglycemia will be common in adult horses presenting with acute abdominal disease. Hyperglycemia will be associated with a worse prognosis for survival to hospital discharge. Methods: Two hundred sixty-nine adult horses with acute abdominal disease. Methods: Observational retrospective study. Records were reviewed for 269 horses that had glu...
Momozawa Y, Terada M, Sato F, Kikusui T, Takeuchi Y, Kusunose R, Mori Y.The aim of the study was to determine parameters reflecting equine anxiety trait by comparing results obtained in a behavior test and an anxiety score assessed by familiar caretakers in response to a questionnaire. In the behavior test, horses were individually led into a novel room by their caretakers and loosely tethered to decrease excessive movement using the common cross-tying technique with two leads and breakable plastic cords. The horses initially remained with their caretaker for 2 min; the caretaker then left and the subject animal was left alone for 2 min. The latency to break the p...
Razavizadeh AT, Mashhadi AG, Paphan AA.An observational field study was performed on a well-know purebred horses in Iran (Khozestan-Arab horse). The study was conducted on 105 apparently healthy horses. To find the prevalence of cardiac dysrhythmias in different sexes and ages, the horses were divided into 2 sexes (63 females and 42 males) and three age groups (0-4, 4-8, > 8 years old). After taking the history and performing clinical examination, ECG was obtained on a base apex lead system with the paper speed of 25 mm sec(-1) and sensitivity of 10 or 5 mm mv(-1) at rest. The electrocardiograms were evaluated according to the crit...
Burn CC, Pritchard JC, Farajat M, Twaissi AA, Whay HR.A risk analysis was undertaken in an attempt to improve improvised rump straps on donkeys carrying tourists at the World Heritage Site at Petra, Jordan. Tail-base lesions were identified in 63 of the 86 donkeys. Observations and questionnaires were used to collect data relating to the straps, donkey health and human attitudes. The worse lesions were associated with padded rather than unpadded straps, if tightly fitted. Padding could be a cause of, or a response to lesions, but results suggest that it did not effectively aid healing. Significantly worse lesions occurred with unclean than with c...
Rossdale PD, Mayall ES.In the preceding 2 issues, March and May, editorials were presented
regarding the generality of peer review and the relationship of
authors to readership. In this issue, the outcome of peer review and
content of the Journal is considered as a logical end-point of
endeavours of authors and editors. Science is a hard taskmaster for
both of these participants; it is about what is; and not about what
would be nice, desirable or, even, applicable. The content of any
scientific Journal is presented in order to advance knowledge and is
thereby constrained by correspondingly strict disciplines...
van der Rijt R, van den Boom R, Jongema Y, van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan MM.The aims of this study were to determine (1) which species of Culicoides is most commonly attracted to horses, (2) whether horses suffering insect hypersensitivity attract more Culicoides spp. than unaffected horses, and (3) the times when Culicoides spp. are most active. Horses affected by insect hypersensitivity and unaffected horses were placed inside mosquito netting tents for 30 min at different times of the day. All Culicoides spp. trapped inside the tents were collected and identified. C. obsoletus was the most common species found, followed by C. pulicaris. Healthy horses attracted sli...
Austin NP, Rogers LJ.We investigated whether horses display greater reactivity to a novel stimulus presented in the left compared to the right monocular visual field, and whether a population bias exists for escape turning when the same stimulus was presented binocularly. Domestic horses (N=30) were tested on three occasions by a person opening an umbrella five metres away and then approaching. The distance each horse moved away before stopping was measured. Distance was greatest for approach on the left side, indicating right hemisphere control of flight behaviour, and thus followed the same pattern found previou...
Egenvall A, Bonnett B, Wattle O, Emanuelson U.Our objective was to determine the amount, type and cost of veterinary care during a 5-year follow-up period, in Swedish warmblooded riding horses with and without locomotor problems as recorded in 1997. The study population comprised horses with complete insurance both for veterinary care and life during 1997. The horses were followed from the beginning of January 1998 to the end of December 2002. The exposed cohort was composed of 1558 horses that had experienced >or=1 veterinary-care event because of locomotor problems in 1997 (LP-cohort). The exposure-negative (LN) cohort was composed of 1...
Gandini M.To compare 3 dorsal techniques for arthrocentesis of the distal interphalangeal joint in horses with regard to ease of performing the technique and to determine the role of operator experience in ease of performing these techniques. Methods: Observational study. Sample Population-Forelimbs from 17 equine cadavers and 12 horses (16 joints) undergoing arthrocentesis for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Methods: In both forelimbs from 7 of the equine cadavers, 3 arthrocentesis techniques (dorsal perpendicular, dorsolateral, and dorsal inclined) were performed in random order by a single experi...
Canada NC, Beard WL, Guyan ME, White BJ.To determine the influence of 3 types of bandages on sub-bandage pressures over the distal limb, carpus, and tarsus. Methods: Observational study. Methods: Eight healthy horses. Methods: Each of the 6 following bandages was applied on each horse in randomized order: (1) distal limb compression bandage (DLC), (2) double layer bandage (DL), (3) inner sanctum bandage (IS), (4) carpal compression bandage (CC), (5) tarsal compression bandage (TC), and (6) adhesive elastic carpal bandage (C-ELA). Sub-bandage pressures were measured with the Picopress compression measuring system (Microlab Electonica...
Warm-season grasses (WSG) incorporated into traditional cool-season rotational grazing systems to increase summer yields are typically established in monoculture in separate pasture areas. Few studies have evaluated alternative interseeded establishment of WSG, despite potential benefits for improving biodiversity and land-use efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of establishment method (monoculture vs. interseeded) on crabgrass pasture forage yield, nutritive value, and preference under equine grazing. Three adult standardbred mares grazed two main plots on two ...
Soma LR, Laster L, Oppenlander F, Barr-Alderfer V.In 3 groups of horses with exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), comparisons of racing times and finishing positions were made between the 5 races before the horses were given furosemide and 5 races after furosemide administration. The horses were grouped according to 3 methods used to diagnose EIPH: group 1, observation of hemorrhage at the nostrils within 1 hour after a workout or race; group 2, observation of pulmonary hemorrhage only by endoscopic examination after a race or workout; and group 3, observation of hemorrhage at the nostrils during a race or immediately after a race. G...
Zakari FO, Ayo JO, Rekwot PI, Kawu MU.The present experiment was performed with the aim of investigating the effect of season on behavioral activities of donkeys during the rainy and harmattan seasons in the Northern Guinea zone of Nigeria. Sixteen apparently healthy donkeys were used as subjects and divided into four groups based on age. During each season, behavioral activities of each donkey were evaluated for three weeks using the focal animal sampling technique. The dry-bulb temperature (DBT), relative humidity (RH), and temperature-humidity index (THI) were obtained three times each day during the experimental period using s...
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...
Gaughan EM, Hackett RP, Ducharme NG, Rakestraw PC.Sensory innervation of the larynx was examined by tactile stimulation with a blunt biopsy forceps passed through a flexible videoendoscope. Twenty horses with no evidence of laryngeal motor deficit were stimulated on 10 sites by touch with the forceps. Unilateral neurectomies of the internal branch of the left cranial laryngeal nerve were performed on 5 other horses. These horses were stimulated by touch on the same sites preoperatively and up to 1 week postoperatively. In all 25 horses the motor response of the larynx was recorded on videotape and evaluated by 2 observers blind as to treatmen...
Ross WA, Kaneene JB, Gardiner JC.To evaluate the associations of operation and individual animal-level risk factors with occurrence of lameness in the Michigan horse population. Methods: 3,925 horses monitored from 138 randomly selected Michigan operations for a total of 814,753 horse-days. Methods: All horses monitored < 60 days were eliminated from the source population. From the remaining horses, a prospective unmatched case-control study population was generated that included all cases and a random sample of noncases. Analysis of risk factors associated with occurrence of lameness was conducted, using Cox's propor...
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 ...
Ogden NKE, Cullen MD, Stack JD.Accuracy of intrasynovial injections can be challenging to assess in a clinical setting in horses. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) using injectate agitated with air has been used to determine the success rates of synovial injections in human rheumatology. Objective: To assess the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of CEUS and to describe its clinical use. Methods: Cadaveric study followed by a prospective descriptive observational study. Methods: Part 1: CEUS was performed following injection of agitated methylene-blue solution targeting 13 different anatomical synovial structures...
Sweeney CR, Scanlon T, Russell GE, Smith G, Boston RC.To determine application rate and effectiveness of sodium bisulfate to decrease the fly population in a horse barn environment. Methods: 12 privately owned farms in southeastern Pennsylvania. Methods: Application rates of sodium bisulfate were approximately 2.3 kg/stall, 1.1 kg/stall, and 0.5 kg/stall. Two or 3 stalls were treated, and 1 or 2 stalls were not treated (control stalls) at each farm. Farm personnel applied sodium bisulfate in treated stalls daily for 7 days. Fly tapes were hung from the same site in treated and control stalls. After 24 hours, the fly tape was removed, flies adheri...
Perillo A, Passantino G, Passantino L, Cianciotta A, Mastrosimini AM, Lacovazzi P, Venezia P, Jirillo E, Troncone A.Among 622 slaughtered horses from eastern Europe, 156 thyroid glands were selected on the basis of macroscopic alterations (e.g., determination of volume and weight). In the 80% of these thyroids, microscopic alterations consistent with a diagnosis of Hashimoto thyroiditis-like disease were found. In particular, a subverted architecture of the thyroid gland with colloid rarefaction, lymphocytic infiltration, and fibrosis was noted. The confirmation of the histopathological diagnosis of an equine Hashimoto thyroiditis-like disease was provided by the increased serum concentration of thyroglobul...
McGreevy PD, Nicol CJ.The results of an experimental study of the motivational consequences of short-term prevention of crib-biting are reported here. Eight test horses wore a cribbing collar for 24 h. This was effective in preventing crib-biting in 6 subjects. Using analysis of co-variance that accounted for baseline differences in crib-biting rate, test horses showed significantly more crib-biting than control horses on the first day after prevention (P < 0.05). There was also a highly significant increase in the crib-biting rate of test horses on the first day after prevention in comparison with their baselin...
Palmer E, Jousset B.Eight mares were observed clinically for 14 months to detect oestrus and ovarian activity, and assays of urinary oestrogens and plasma progesterone were performed. Cyclical ovarian activity occurred during 60% of the experimental period. Persistent luteal activity was found over 20% of the period and for the rest of the time activity was absent. Cyclical activity was characterized by the alternation of periods of low and high progesterone levels corresponding to the follicular and luteal phases of the ovarian cycle. During the follicular phase, urinary oestrogen levels increased to a maximum o...
Megid Gomaa NA, Köller G, Fritz Schusser G.To measure serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity in horses with acute intestinal obstruction and to determine the diagnostic and prognostic utility of this analyte. Methods: Prospective observational study. Methods: University Veterinary Hospital. Methods: Thirty healthy horses (control group) and 77 horses with acute intestinal obstruction, including 36 horses with nonstrangulating obstruction (23 with left ventral colon impaction and 13 with left dorsal displacement [G1], 22 with small intestinal strangulation [G2], and 19 with colon torsion [G3]). Methods: Serum ADH activity was assaye...
Ellis KL, Barrett MF, Selberg KT, Frisbie DD.Pathology involving the oblique sesamoidean ligaments (OSLs) is commonly diagnosed during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the equine distal limb. Presence of striations within the ligament and magic angle artefact can result in an incorrect diagnosis of pathological change. No studies have been performed using histopathology, the gold standard, to corroborate their imaging diagnosis. Objective: (a) To determine which MRI characteristics are associated with normal vs abnormal OSLs and (b) to evaluate the ability of MRI to correctly identify abnormal vs normal oblique sesamoidean ligaments u...
Knight PK.This study analysed the race day veterinary reports from harness racing meetings controlled by the New South Wales Greyhound and Harness Racing Regulatory Authority between 1 September 2008 and 30 June 2009. The findings of all prerace and postrace examinations were analysed, and the frequency of observations was recorded. Chi-square testing was used to determine whether the incidence of abnormalities differed between age groups and tracks. A total of 542 meetings were conducted during the period of the study, with veterinary examinations conducted at 395 of these meetings. A total of 520 vete...
O'Neill HD, Bladon BM.Records of horses admitted to a veterinary surgery in the UK for lameness investigation during 2000 to 2008 were reviewed. Twenty-one horses were identified with both scintigraphic and radiological evidence of enostosis-like lesions (ELLs), in which 68 individual foci of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake were confirmed in 57 long bones. The presenting lameness was attributed to ELLs in 15 of 21 (71 per cent) horses; the remainder were thought to be incidental findings. Five horses were subjected to a repeat examination, four of which showed the occurrence of new lesions in the same or diffe...
Freire R, Clegg HA, Buckley P, Friend MA, McGreevy PD.The effects of dietary supplements of virginiamycin on the behaviour and physiology of 17 thoroughbred geldings (five cribbers, six weavers and six control horses) were compared with the effects of a placebo over a period of 16 weeks. Virginiamycin had no effect on the horses' stereotypic behaviour, but it reduced their explorative behaviour, possibly owing to a reduction in feeding motivation. Virginiamycin increased the water intake of the cribbers and decreased the water intake of the control horses, but it was not possible to eliminate possible confounding factors for this effect. Virginia...
Kalhoro AB, Rex MA.Twenty-one horses undergoing clinical surgery and diagnostic procedures received 15% glyceryl guaiacolate followed by a rapid intravenous injection of a thiobarbiturate for induction of anaesthesia. Premedication was with atropine and acepromazine. Induction was smooth and free from problems apart from transient apnoea in some horses. Maintenance of anaesthesia was with oxygen and halothane administered by means of a closed circle system with soda-lime absorber and with the vaporiser out of circuit. During the period immediately following induction, the heart rate increased and the respiratory...
Malschitzky E, Pimentel AM, Garbade P, Jobim M, Gregory RM, Mattos RC.The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effect of management strategies aiming to improve animal well-being on pregnancy and embryonic death (ED) rates. Breeding records of a cohort of 1206 Thoroughbred mares brought to a stallion station facility, to be bred with the stallions housed there, were evaluated during ten breeding seasons. Mares were blocked according to management strategies in two groups: Stress and Relax. Strategies used to improve animal well-being (Relax group) were as follows: stopping the teasing routine, reducing or eliminating stall confinement, reduc...
Klecel W, Drobik-Czwarno W, Martyniuk E.Arabian show horses are well known for their exceptional beauty and elegance. The breed type, body conformation and movement are assessed during horse shows by licensed judges. The 5 judging categories are type, head and neck, body and topline, legs and movement, which are scored on a 20 point scale. It can be hypothesized that the scores in different categories are related to each other, and that the score for the most subjective type category depends on the scores for conformation categories. We analyzed 762 sets of average scores obtained by 583 unique horses at the World Championships. Cor...
Ragle CA, Snyder JR, Meagher DM, Honnas CM.A study of 15 American miniature horses (AMH) that underwent surgical treatment for colic was performed. Information obtained from the medical records included signalment, clinical signs, type and location of gastrointestinal lesion, and postoperative complications. All 15 AMH had intraluminal obstructions, attributable to feed impactions (11 horses), enteroliths (2), and sand (2). The most common location of obstruction was the small colon, which was involved in 9 of the 15 cases. All 15 AMH survived and were discharged from the hospital. Six of the 15 AMH underwent subsequent surgical treatm...
Huthmann S, Staszyk C, Jacob HG, Rohn K, Gasse H.The Curve of Spee is well known, yet hardly understood in the horse, as there is a striking lack of biometrically related data which could help to explain its biomechanical significance. Older horses display drastic alterations of the Curve of Spee in routine clinical examinations. Since the Curve of Spee is known to be biomechanically related to the masticatory forces in humans, the same may apply to the equine, and masticatory deficits can be expected in the geriatric horse. Quantitative data of the Curve of Spee cannot be obtained directly by means of measurements in the horse's long and na...
Kaczmarek A, Nowak A, Leszczynski P.An increased occurrence of lifestyle-related diseases such as osteoporosis indicates the necessity for taking preventive action, including regularly engaging in physical activity. The aim of the study was to assess the areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and bone turnover markers levels in young adult women engaging in recreational horseback riding and to determine the relationship between training characteristics and bone metabolism indices. The study involved 43 women: 23 equestrians and 20 age- and body mass index-matched controls. The hip and spine aBMD and serum levels of the bone turnover ...
Berner D, Mader D, Groß C, Gerlach K.In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations, moderate to severe changes of the distal sesamoidean impar ligament (DSIL) were found in horses with lameness localized to their feet. Histologic abnormalities were detected more commonly in lame horses. Because of its heterogeneity and small thickness, evaluation of the DSIL in MRI can be challenging. The aim of the study was to determine the optimal sequence and the ideal transverse perpendicular angle for visualization of the DSIL before and after arthrography of the distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ). Twenty-five cadaver forelimbs were exa...
Sherlock CE, Eggleston RB.To determine the clinical signs, treatment, and prognosis for horses with impaction of the cranial aspect of the base of the cecum (cecal cupula). Methods: Retrospective observational case series. Methods: 7 horses with colic attributed to cecal cupula impaction. Methods: Medical records were reviewed and horses that underwent exploratory celiotomy from 2000 through 2010 were identified. Horses with cecal cupula impaction and without other abdominal problems to which colic could be attributed were selected for inclusion in the study. Information regarding history, clinical findings, diagnostic...
Shmalberg J, Xie H, Memon MA.Equine acupuncture and herbal medicine are increasingly popular and have been anecdotally used in the treatment of a number of conditions. There is, however, a lack of data on the most commonly treated conditions in horses. The medical records of 164 horses presented exclusively for acupuncture and herbal therapy over a three-year period from October 2012 to October 2015 were evaluated from a mixed animal integrative medicine service at a veterinary academic teaching hospital. Horses were presented primarily for musculoskeletal conditions (62.0%), gastrointestinal disorders (9.5%), and anhydro...
Lubow BC, Ransom JI.Reliably estimating wildlife abundance is fundamental to effective management. Aerial surveys are one of the only spatially robust tools for estimating large mammal populations, but statistical sampling methods are required to address detection biases that affect accuracy and precision of the estimates. Although various methods for correcting aerial survey bias are employed on large mammal species around the world, these have rarely been rigorously validated. Several populations of feral horses (Equus caballus) in the western United States have been intensively studied, resulting in identifica...
Jastrzębska E, Sadowska J, Wnuk-Pawlak E, Różańska-Boczula M, Janczarek I.This study aimed at assessing the behaviour of Konik geldings and mares, kept in a stable and in a free-range system, during behavioural tests regarded as a determinant of the exploration urge. A total of 19 Konik horses kept in individual stables and in a free-range system were included in the study. The experiment was conducted in five phases separated by five-day breaks. A one-stage passive human test was performed during the first phase, a three-stage active human test-2nd phase, a three-stage unknown object test-3rd phase, a two-stage unknown surface test-4th phase, and a one-stage test o...
Yovich JV, Stashak TS, DeBowes RM, Ducharme NG.Fractures of the distal phalanx of the forelimb were diagnosed in 5 colts and 3 fillies ranging in age from 2 weeks to 5 1/2 months at the time of fracture. Three fractures entered the distal interphalangeal joint and 6 fractures (one foal had bilateral fractures) were nonarticular. All foals with articular fractures became sound with conservative treatment. Four of 5 foals with nonarticular fractures became sound with conservative treatment and 1 foal developed separation of the hoof at the coronary band after application of acrylic around the hoof. On the basis of our observations in these f...
