Predictive models in equine research involve the use of statistical and computational techniques to forecast outcomes related to horse health, performance, and behavior. These models integrate various data inputs, such as genetic information, physiological parameters, and environmental factors, to predict future events or conditions. Applications of predictive models in equine science include anticipating disease outbreaks, assessing performance potential, and optimizing breeding strategies. By analyzing historical and real-time data, these models can provide insights that assist in decision-making processes. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the development, validation, and application of predictive models in the context of equine science.
Akköse M.Foals, that receive poor-quality colostrum, are exposed to a risk of failure of transfer of passive immunity. The Brix refractometer can be used for the estimation of the immunoglobulin (IgG) concentration of mare colostrum, yet there is a scarce literature available on Brix refractometer thresholds for use in the detection of mare colostra with high and low IgG concentrations. Objective: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the Brix refractometer in determining mare colostra with IgG concentrations of <50g/L, <60g/L, >80g/L, >100g/L and >125g/L. Methods: Two hundred and seven...
Wilkins PA, Wong D, Slovis NM, Collins N, Barr BS, MacKenzie C, De Solis CN, Castagnetti C, Mariella J, Burns T, Perkins G, Delvescovo B, Sanchez LC....Sepsis has been defined in humans as the concurrent proven or suspected presence of microbial infection and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Sepsis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal foals. The clinical utility of using SIRS or its individual components to predict infection and mortality in critically ill foals is currently unknown. Objective: Assess the ability of history and signalment, clinical findings, laboratory results, and SIRS-related indices to predict infection and mortality in critically ill foals. Methods: Retrospective, multi-center, cr...
Román Durá B, Dunham O, Grulke S, Salciccia A, Dupont J, Sandersen C.Equine anesthesia is related to high morbidity and mortality rates and recent studies suggested that the period of recovery remains the phase associated with the greatest risk of mortality in horses. Intraoperative hypotension, hypoxemia, and hypercapnia are recognized as potential determinants of recovery quality. This study, conducted at the Equine University Hospital of Liege, aimed to explore how these factors influence recovery outcomes and compare complications between non-emergency and emergency procedures. We analyzed data from 1057 horses, with a mean weight of 498 kg (ranging from 15...
Wang B, Duan W, Zhao J, Bai D.Once a mare experiences parturition abnormalities, the outcome between a live foal and a stillborn can change rapidly. Automated detection of mare parturition and timely human intervention is crucial to reducing risks during mare and foal parturition. This paper addresses the challenges of manual monitoring of parturition in large-scale equine facilities due to the unpredictability of mare parturition timing, proposing an algorithm for detecting mare parturition through a balanced multi-scale feature fusion based on an improved Libra RCNN. Initially, a ResNet101 backbone network incorporating ...
Hernández-Avilés C, Varner DD, Ramírez-Agámez L, Samper JC, Love CC.In the current study, we report the effect of different commercially available semen freezing extenders utilized for the "test-freeze" procedure for 13 years (2010-2023) as part of a commercial program of stallion sperm cryopreservation. Ejaculates obtained from sexually active and healthy stallions (n = 124) were cryopreserved using up to five commercially available semen freezing extenders (Lactose-EDTA [LE], MFR5, CryoMax LE [CMLE], CryoMax MFR5 [CMMFR5] or BotuCrio [BC]). Post-thaw sperm motility (total motility - TM [%]; progressive motility - PM [%]; and curvilinear velocity - VCL [μm...
Aoun R, Ogunmola Z, Musso A, Taguchi T, Takawira C, Lopez MJ.The shift in vertical forces on the equine hoof surface by heart-bar, egg-bar, and wooden clog shoes can significantly impact gait kinetics. Hypotheses tested in this study were that vertical, braking, and propulsion peak force (PF) and impulse (IMP) are different while shod with heart-bar, egg-bar, open-heel, and wooden clog shoes, or while unshod, and the resultant ground reaction force vector (GRF YZ ) has the longest duration of cranial angulation with open-heel shoes followed by unshod, then egg-bar and heart-bar shoes, and the shortest with wooden clog shoes. Forelimb GRFs were recorded ...
Littiere TO, Costa GB, Sales NAA, Carvalho JRG, Rodrigues IDM, Ramos GV, Ferraz GC.In humans, there is an ongoing academic discussion about measuring plasma lactate concentration ([La]) during an incremental exercise test (IET) to establish thresholds that can predict the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS). Training studies on horses have utilized the onset of [La] (OBLA), also known as V, the velocity at which the [La] of 4 mM is reached. This study assesses the effectiveness of four methods for estimating the MLSS in teaching horses. Ten teaching horses underwent a single IET to determine four exercise intensity thresholds for predicting MLSS and performed several constan...
Feighelstein M, Ricci-Bonot C, Hasan H, Weinberg H, Rettig T, Segal M, Distelfeld T, Shimshoni I, Mills DS, Zamansky A.[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302893.].
Poizat E, Gérard M, Macaire C, De Azevedo E, Denoix JM, Coudry V, Jacquet S, Bertoni L, Tallaj A, Audigié F, Hatrisse C, Hébert C, Martin P....Lameness detection in horses is a critical challenge in equine veterinary practice, particularly when symptoms are mild. This study aimed to develop a predictive system using a support vector machine (SVM) to identify the affected limb in horses trotting in a straight line. The system analyzed data from inertial measurement units (IMUs) placed on the horse's head, withers, and pelvis, using variables such as vertical displacement and retraction angles. A total of 287 horses were included, with 256 showing single-limb lameness and 31 classified as sound. The model achieved an overall accuracy o...
Milner PI, Bardell D.Predicting outcome in horses presenting with colic remains challenging. Objective: To test whether arterial blood samples in horses admitted for colic predict outcome to hospital discharge for different colic types. Methods: Arterial blood samples collected on admission from 358 horses undergoing medical or surgical management of colic were evaluated for pH, PaO, PaCO, Na, K, iCa, Cl, HCO (P), HCO (P, set), Base (B), Base (ecf) and anion gap. Categories were small intestinal non-strangulating (SINS) or strangulating (SIS) lesions, large colon non-volvulus (LCNV) or volvulus (LCV), small colo...
Chapard L, Gorssen W, Meyermans R, Hooyberghs K, Buys N, Janssens S.Show jumping is a popular equestrian sport that requires a unique combination of jumping capacity and rideability. It has been shown that genetics play an important role in show jumping performance that has significant implications for horse breeding programmes. This gives an important opportunity for studbooks to breed horses with the potential to perform at the highest level in show jumping competitions. However, show jumping competitions are performed at various levels (from recreational to international level) but only national competition results are used by Warmblood studbooks in most ge...
Barnabé A, Delcourt V, Loup B, Montanuy W, Trévisiol S, Popot MA, Garcia P, Bailly-Chouriberry L.Doping control screening analyses usually involve visual inspection of extracted ion chromatograms (EIC) by a trained analytical chemist, followed by further investigations if needed. This task is both highly repetitive and time-consuming, given the hundreds of compounds and metabolites to be screened in tens of thousands of samples per year. With the recent widespread adoption of machine learning in analytical chemistry and the training of high-performance convolutional neural networks (CNN), these operations can be automated with high accuracy and throughput. Applying this technology to dopi...
Bhave A, Kieson E, Hafner A, Gloor PA.This research applies unsupervised learning on a large original dataset of horses in the wild to identify previously unidentified horse emotions. We construct a novel, high-quality, diverse dataset of 3929 images consisting of five wild horse breeds worldwide at different geographical locations. We base our analysis on the seven Panksepp emotions of mammals "Exploring", "Sadness", "Playing", "Rage", "Fear", "Affectionate" and "Lust", along with one additional emotion "Pain" which has been shown to be highly relevant for horses. We apply the contrastive learning framework MoCo (Momentum Contras...
Webster AP, Price T, Ingersoll T, Suagee-Bedore JK, White RR.Our objectives were to use a quantitative literature review to explore dietary and feed factors influencing apparent total-tract digestibility of dry matter (DMD), crude protein (CPD), neutral detergent fiber (NDFD), ether extract (EED), non-structural carbohydrates (NSCD), non-fiber carbohydrates (NFCD), and residual organic matter (rOMD) in equine diets, and to assess their contributions to digestible energy (DE) supplies. Data from 54 studies were modeled using linear mixed-effect regressions, with publication as a random effect to account for study variability. For each nutrient, five mode...
Ziadi C, Demyda-Peyrás S, Valera M, Perdomo-González D, Laseca N, Rodríguez-Sainz de Los Terreros A, Encina A, Azor P, Molina A.The single-step best linear unbiased predictor (ssGBLUP) has emerged as a reference method for genomic selection in recent years due to its advantages over traditional approaches. Although its application in horses remains limited, ssGBLUP has demonstrated the potential to improve the reliability of estimated breeding values in livestock species. This study aimed to assess the impact of incorporating genomic data using single-step restricted maximum likelihood (ssGREML) on reliability (R) in the Pura Raza Española (PRE) horse breed, compared to traditional pedigree-based REML. Methods: The an...
Ciamillo S, Stefanovski D, Kulp J, van Eps A.To determine the relationship between hoof surface (HS), hoof wall (HW), and lamellar tissue (LAM) temperature during distal limb cooling and evaluate 4 cooling methods in ambulatory horses over extended periods using HW to estimate LAM temperature. Methods: 8 healthy, university-owned horses were enrolled. Temperature was measured over 4 hours at LAM, HS, and HW for 4 cooling methods: ice sleeve (SLEEVE), ice pack system (ICEPACK), low-volume ice water immersion (LV-IMMERSION), and high-volume ice water immersion (HV-IMMERSION). The relationship between HW, HS, and LAM was mathematically mode...
Cetintav B, Yalcin A.Colic is a leading cause of mortality in horses, demanding precise and timely interventions. This study integrates machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) to predict survival outcomes in horses with colic, using clinical, procedural, and diagnostic data. Random forest and XGBoost emerged as top-performing models, achieving F1 scores of 85.9% and 86.1%, respectively. SHAP (Shapley additive explanations) was employed to provide interpretable insights, offering both global and local explanations for model predictions. The analysis revealed that key features, such as pulse r...
Nazari-Ghadikolaei A, Fikse WF, Viklund ÅG, Mikko S, Eriksson S.Swedish Warmblood horses (SWB) are bred for show jumping and/or dressage with young horse test scores as indicator traits. This study aimed to investigate possible candidate genes and regions of importance for evaluated and linearly scored young horse test traits. A single-step genome-wide association study (ssGWAS) was done using the BLUPF90 suite of programs for factors scores from factor analysis of traits assessed at young horse tests together with height at withers. The ssGWAS included 20,814 SWB with factors scores for four factors for evaluated traits. A total of 6436 of these horses al...
Corbally AF, Fahey AG.Sale prices at auction significantly impact the economic return of sport horse production. This study aimed to determine factors associated with auction sales prices of sport horses at four maturity stages: foals, juveniles, young horses, and older horses. A total of 42,799 sales records from 2003 to 2022 were obtained from two Irish equine auction companies. A univariate regression model was used, and significant variables underwent multivariate analysis. Within each maturity category, factors associated with above-mean-priced horses differed from those associated with below-mean-priced horse...
Gonzalez SW, Espy BMK, Stefanovski D, Turner RM.Monitoring gestation and predicting parturition in mares with unknown breeding dates is challenging, especially in pasture bred herds of bucking horses. Transrectal ultrasonographic measurement of fetal vitreous body length is a validated predictor of foaling dates, but previous research suggested a need for breed-specific parameters to develop accurate indices for respective breeds. This study aimed to develop a scale associating fetal vitreous body length with days before parturition (DBP) in bucking horses. Biannual data collection over 2 years identified 199 pregnancies out of 240 reproduc...
Watanabe M, Sato F, Innan H.We investigated the changes in inbreeding levels in Japanese Thoroughbred horses over the past 46 years. Our results show a significant increase in inbreeding over the past 30 years, primarily due to the influence of two sires, Northern Dancer and Sunday Silence. Northern Dancer's bloodline spread gradually through descendants like Northern Taste, leading to a slower increase in the inbreeding coefficient. In contrast, Sunday Silence was directly imported and became a leading sire, causing a rapid increase in his blood proportion and inbreeding coefficient. Our findings suggest that monitoring...
Matsubara T, Fukatsu R, Yamamoto M, Moriya M, Hano K, Nakamura K, Ohba Y, Takasu M.Including Internet of Things (IoT) technology in horse-rearing management can potentially mitigate problems such as human resource shortages and time limitations in performing daily behavior monitoring. In this study, a small and inexpensive activity meter used to monitor dogs and cats (PLUS CYCLE, JARMeC, Kanagawa, Japan) was used to monitor the daily behavior of horses. A study was performed to examine the suitability of the PLUS CYCLE device for monitoring horses and to determine whether it could estimate horse behavior. The device was equipped with an accelerometer and was used to monitor ...
Liu Y, Zhou F, Zheng W, Bai T, Chen X, Guo L.The sleeping and eating behaviors of horses are important indicators of their health. With the development of the modern equine industry, timely monitoring and analysis of these behaviors can provide valuable data for assessing the physiological state of horses. To recognize horse behaviors in stalls, this study builds on the SlowFast algorithm, introducing a novel loss function to address data imbalance and integrating an SE attention module in the SlowFast algorithm's slow pathway to enhance behavior recognition accuracy. Additionally, YOLOX is employed to replace the original target detecti...
Haase L, Monett D, Sedlmayr M.Animal owners may increasingly rely on large language models for gathering animal health information alongside internet sources in the future. This study therefore aims to provide initial results on the accuracy of ChatGPT-4o in triage and tentative diagnostics, using horses as a case study. Ten test vignettes were used to prompt situation assessments from the tool, which were then compared to original assessments made by a veterinary specialist for horses. The most probable diagnosis suggested by ChatGPT-4o was found to be quite accurate in most cases, with the urgency to contact a veterinari...
Bogossian PM, Nattala U, Wong ASM, Morrice-West AV, Zhang GZ, Rana P, Whitton RC, Hitchens PL.Decreasing speed and stride length over successive races have been shown to be associated with musculoskeletal injury (MSI) in racehorses, demonstrating the potential for early detection of MSI through longitudinal monitoring of changes in stride characteristics. A machine learning (ML) approach for early detection of MSI, enforced rest, and retirement events using this same horse-level, race-level, and stride characteristic data across all race sectionals was investigated. A CatBoost model using features from the two races prior to an event had the highest classification performance (sensitiv...
Padilha DAO, Padilha SF, Martins R, Scheffer BEM, Miliorini MR, Dias LT, Teixeira RA.This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters for race time in seconds and final ranking, as well as to analyze the genetic trends associated with race time. The study utilized a dataset consisting of 23,290 records of race times and final ranks at distances of 1,000, 1,600, and 2,000 m from 6,213 Thoroughbred horses from the São Paulo Jockey Club. Our model considered the year of the run, animal sex, race class, track conditions, the linear effect of horse weight and age, and the quadratic effect of age as fixed covariates. Random effects included direct additive genetic, animal permanent ...
Wang C, Zeng Y, Wang J, Wang T, Li X, Shen Z, Meng J, Yao X.Racing performance traits are the main indicators for evaluating the performance and value of sport horses. The aim of this study was to identify the key genes for racing performance traits in Yili horses by performing a genome-wide association study (GWAS). Breeding values for racing performance traits were calculated for Yili horses (n = 827) using an animal model. Genome-wide association analysis of racing performance traits in horses (n = 236) was carried out using the Blink, and FarmCPU models in GAPIT software, and genes within the significant regions were functionally annotated....
Frontiers in geneticsOctober 29, 2024
Volume 15 1455790 doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1455790
Harari S, Deretz S, Dumont Saint Priest B, Richard E, Ricard A.In order to find early selection criteria to improve the longevity of show jumping horses, a specific protocol was designed. Unassigned: Before entering competition, young horses selected from extreme stallions for longevity were measured for many traits, including blood parameters. Blood samples were taken from 952 horses aged 2-4 years old, sired by two groups of stallions: one with unfavorable (U) and the other with favorable (F) extreme estimated breeding values for functional longevity. These breeding values were previously calculated from data on 202,320 horses that participated in show...
Hobbs SJ, Tatlisulu A, Johnson A, Rowlands SD, Lucey M, Martin JH, Graydon RW, Northrop AJ.The maximum galloping speeds of racehorses during a race are influenced by the functional performance of the ground ('going') amongst other factors. For turf racecourses in Britain, the ground is descriptively classified and numerically quantified on the morning of a race meeting by the clerk of the course and subsequently published to assist decision making. Importantly, this includes deciding whether a horse should or should not run. The going is also assessed and classified during the meeting by racing analysts using the normalized winning times from each race result. Differences between go...
Elbourne M, Keledjian J, Cawley A, Fu S.Altrenogest, also known as allyltrenbolone, is a synthetic form of progesterone used therapeutically to suppress unwanted symptoms of estrus in female horses. Altrenogest affects the system by decreasing levels of endogenous gonadotrophin and luteinizing and follicle-stimulating hormones, which in turn decreases estrogen and mimics the increase of progesterone production. This results in more manageable mares for training and competition alongside male horses while improving the workplace safety of riders and handlers. However, when altrenogest is administered, prohibited steroid impurities su...
Centoducati P, Maggiolino A, De Palo P, Tateo A.The aim of this work was to study, using Wood's model, the lactation curve in Italian Heavy Draft horse (IHDH) mares, both for milk yield and composition. Interest in mare's milk has grown for use in human nutrition, as a substitute for human and cow milk for premature newborns and allergic children. For this study, 7 IHDH mares were used. Milk yield was evaluated from d 15 to 180 postpartum (every 15 d). Wood's lactation model was used to describe milk yield, fat, protein, and lactose lactation curves in the first 180 d in milk (DIM), with a prediction to 210 DIM. Mean values recorded across ...
Mansour C, Mocci R, Santangelo B, Sredensek J, Chaaya R, Allaouchiche B, Bonnet-Garin JM, Boselli E, Junot S.The parasympathetic tone activity (PTA) index is based on heart rate variability and has been developed recently in animals to assess their relative parasympathetic tone. This study aimed to evaluate PTA index in anaesthetized horses with different health conditions and the performance of PTA variations (∆PTA) to predict changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP). Thirty-nine client-horses were anaesthetized for elective or colic surgery and divided into "Elective" and "Colic" groups. During anaesthesia, dobutamine was administered as treatment of hypotension (MAP <60 mmHg). In both groups, no...
Rochais C, Sébilleau M, Houdebine M, Bec P, Hausberger M, Henry S.Attention is described as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others. In this study, we characterized horses' spontaneous attention by designing a novel visual attention test (VAT) that is easy to apply in the animal's home environment. The test was repeated over three consecutive days and repeated again 6 months later in order to assess inter-individual variations and intra-individual stability. Different patterns of attention have been revealed: 'overall' attention when the horse merely gazed at the stimulus and 'fixed' attention characterized by fixity and...
Xing J, Liu G, Zhang X, Bai D, Yu J, Li L, Wang X, Su S, Zhao Y, Bou G, Dugarjaviin M.The community of microorganisms inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract of monogastric herbivores played critical roles in the absorption of nutrients and keeping the host healthy. However, its establishment at different age groups has not been quantitatively and functionally examined. The knowledge of microbial colonization and its function in the intestinal tract of different-age donkeys is still limited. By applying the V3-V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and functional prediction on fecal samples from different-age donkeys, we characterized the gut microbiota during the different age...
Luck MM, Le Moyec L, Barrey E, Triba MN, Bouchemal N, Savarin P, Robert C.Long-term endurance exercise severely affects metabolism in both human and animal athletes resulting in serious risk of metabolic disorders during or after competition. Young horses (up to 6 years old) can compete in races up to 90 km despite limited scientific knowledge of energetic metabolism responses to long distance exercise in these animals. The hypothesis of this study was that there would be a strong effect of endurance exercise on the metabolomic profiles of young horses and that the energetic metabolism response in young horses would be different from that of more experienced horses....
Saegerman C, Alba-Casals A, García-Bocanegra I, Dal Pozzo F, van Galen G.West Nile fever (WNF) is a viral zoonotic infection caused by a mosquito-borne flavivirus of the Flaviviridae family. According to a comparative study, the passive surveillance of horses by equine veterinarians appeared to be the most cost-effective system in the European context of WNF. Clinical data issued from a passive epidemiosurveillance network from September 2010 to December 2011 on horses in Spain were statistically compared and used to develop a predictive diagnostic decision tree, both with the aim to improve the early clinical detection of WNF in horses. Although clinical signs wer...
Rohrbach BW, Buchanan BR, Drake JM, Andrews FM, Bain FT, Byars DT, Bernard WV, Furr MO, Paradis MR, Lawler J, Giguère S, Dunkel B.To create a mathematical model to assist in early prediction of the probability of discharge in hospitalized foals < or= 7 days old. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 1,073 foals. Methods: Medical records from 910 hospitalized foals < or = 7 days old for which outcome was recorded as died or discharged alive were reviewed. Thirty-four variables including historical information, physical examination findings, and laboratory results were examined for association with survival. Variables associated with being discharged alive were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. A...
Assefa A, Tibebu A, Bihon A, Dagnachew A, Muktar Y.African horse sickness is a vector-borne, non-contagious and highly infectious disease of equines caused by African horse sickness viruses (AHSv) that mainly affect horses. The occurrence of the disease causes huge economic impacts because of its high fatality rate, trade ban and disease control costs. In the planning of vectors and vector-borne diseases like AHS, the application of Ecological niche models (ENM) used an enormous contribution in precisely delineating the suitable habitats of the vector. We developed an ENM to delineate the global suitability of AHSv based on retrospective out...
Muñoz PM, Ferrusola CO, Lopez LA, Del Petre C, Garcia MA, de Paz Cabello P, Anel L, Peña FJ.Stallion-to-stallion variability in the quality of cryopreserved ejaculates postthaw affects the commercial acceptability of frozen semen and thus is a major constraint for the equine industry. In recent years, the molecular mechanisms associated with sperm damage during cryopreservation have become better understood. Identification of the freezability of the ejaculates before the freezing process is initiated will have a major impact on the equine industry. We studied three markers of oxidative stress in sperm, including 8-iso-PGF2alpha, 8-OH guanosine, and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE); the prese...
Voulgaris DA, Hofmeister EH.To identify anesthesia-related variables which may independently predict time to standing in horses anesthetized with ketamine/diazepam/isoflurane. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Three hundred and eighty-one horses. Methods: Case records were searched for the years 2000-2003 and 381 horses older than 12 months which weighed at least 200 kg were identified. Data were extracted from the records, and only horses that were anesthetized with xylazine, ketamine, diazepam and isoflurane were included in the analysis. Multiple linear regression was used to relate time to standing with de...
Humblet MF, Vandeputte S, Fecher-Bourgeois F, Léonard P, Gosset C, Balenghien T, Durand B, Saegerman C.This study aimed at estimating, in a prospective scenario, the potential economic impact of a possible epidemic of WNV infection in Belgium, based on 2012 values for the equine and human health sectors, in order to increase preparedness and help decision-makers. Modelling of risk areas, based on the habitat suitable for Culex pipiens, the main vector of the virus, allowed us to determine equine and human populations at risk. Characteristics of the different clinical forms of the disease based on past epidemics in Europe allowed morbidity among horses and humans to be estimated. The main costs ...
McGivney BA, Hernandez B, Katz LM, MacHugh DE, McGovern SP, Parnell AC, Wiencko HL, Hill EW.Durability traits in Thoroughbred horses are heritable, economically valuable and may affect horse welfare. The aims of this study were to test the hypotheses that (i) durability traits are heritable and (ii) genetic data may be used to predict a horse's potential to have a racecourse start. Heritability for the phenotype 'number of 2- and 3-year-old starts' was estimated to be = 0.11 ± 0.02 (n = 4499). A genome-wide association study identified SNP contributions to the trait. The neurotrimin (NTM), opioid-binding protein/cell adhesion molecule like (OPCML) and prolylcarboxypeptidase ...
Sarin JK, Te Moller NCR, Mohammadi A, Prakash M, Torniainen J, Brommer H, Nippolainen E, Shaikh R, Mäkelä JTA, Korhonen RK, van Weeren PR, Afara IO....To assess the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for in vivo arthroscopic monitoring of cartilage defects. Sharp and blunt cartilage grooves were induced in the radiocarpal and intercarpal joints of Shetland ponies and monitored at baseline (0 weeks) and at three follow-up timepoints (11, 23, and 39 weeks) by measuring near-infrared spectra in vivo at and around the grooves. The animals were sacrificed after 39 weeks and the joints were harvested. Spectra were reacquired ex vivo to ensure reliability of in vivo measurements and for reference analyses. Additionally, cartilage thickn...
Song R, Ma Y, Hu Z, Li Y, Li M, Wu L, Li C, Dao E, Fan X, Hao Y, Bayin C.Dermacentor marginatus Sulkzer is a common tick species found in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, and is a vector for a variety of pathogens. To determine the potential distribution of this tick species in Xinjiang, a metadata containing 84 D. marginatus presence records combined with four localities from field collection were used for MaxEnt modeling to predict potential distribution of this tick species. Identification of tick samples showed 756 of 988 (76%) were D. marginatus. MaxEnt modeling results indicated that the potential distribution of this tick species was mai...
Johnson AL, McAdams-Gallagher SC, Aceto H.There are no studies evaluating a large population of adult horses treated for botulism. Reported survival rates in outbreak situations are low; however, many horses in outbreaks do not receive treatment. Objective: That adult horses treated at a veterinary hospital would have improved survival compared to outbreak situations. Additional aims included identification of predictors of nonsurvival. Methods: All horses greater than 6 months of age with a final diagnosis of botulism admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital between 1989 and 2013 were included. Methods: Retrospective study. Histori...
Ijichi C, Collins LM, Creighton E, Elwood RW.Objective assessment of animal personality is typically time consuming, requiring the repeated measure of behavioural responses. By contrast, subjective assessment of personality allows information to be collected quickly by experienced caregivers. However, subjective assessment must predict behaviour to be valid. Comparisons of subjective assessments and behaviour have been made but often with methodological weaknesses and thus, limited success. Here we test the validity of a subjective assessment against a battery of behaviour tests in 146 horses (Equus caballus). Our first aim was to determ...
Davie AL, Evans DJ.The associations between velocity during a standardized, submaximal 800-m exercise test and blood lactate concentration after exercise were investigated in Thoroughbred racehorses on sand and grass racetracks. Predicted lactate concentrations for each horse's exercise test velocity were calculated from the line of best fit derived from results at each racetrack. The repeatability of the differences between the measured and predicted blood lactate response to exercise was also investigated. Exercise tests were conducted at speeds ranging from 12.8 to 16.6 m/s. The variability of velocity within...
Lacombe VA, Mayes M, Mosseri S, Reed SM, Fenner WR, Ou HT.In contrast with reports in man and small animals, a systematic classification of seizures in horses is lacking. Objective: The purpose of this study was to classify seizures based on their aetiology and to characterise epilepsy in 104 horses presented for seizures at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center between 1988 and 2009. Methods: In a retrospective observational study, seizures were classified by aetiology based on history, clinical observations, diagnostic investigations (e.g. electroencephalograms, cerebrospinal fluid and computed tomography imaging of the head) and post...
Furr M, Tinker MK, Edens L.This study was conducted to develop an equation for the prediction of outcome in neonatal foals undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU). Fifty-three physical examination, historical, and clinicopathologic variables were analyzed from the records of 99 neonatal foals (< 14 days of age) treated in the neonatal ICU of the Equine Medical Center. The outcome was recorded and the results were categorized into either surviving or nonsurviving groups. The mean values for the 2 groups were compared, and variables that differed significantly between the two groups were retained and used ...
Delarocque J, Frers F, Feige K, Huber K, Jung K, Warnken T.Little is known about the implications of hyperinsulinemia on energy metabolism, and such knowledge might help understand the pathophysiology of insulin dysregulation. Objective: Describe differences in the metabolic response to an oral glucose test, depending on the magnitude of the insulin response. Methods: Twelve Icelandic horses in various metabolic states. Methods: Horses were subjected to 3 oral glucose tests (OGT; 0.5 g/kg body weight glucose). Basal, 120 and 180 minutes samples were analyzed using a combined liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and flow injection analysis ...
Stick JA, Peloso JG, Morehead JP, Lloyd J, Eberhart S, Padungtod P, Derksen FJ.To compare endoscopic findings of the upper portion of the respiratory tract in Thoroughbred yearlings with their subsequent race records to determine whether subjective assessment of airway function may be used as a predictor of future racing performance. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 427 Thoroughbred yearlings. Methods: Endoscopic examination findings were obtained from the medical records and the videoendoscopic repository of the Keeneland 1996 September yearling sales. Racing records were requested for the yearlings through the end of their 4-year-old racing season (1997-2000). Tw...
Webb AI, Weaver BM.Seventeen horses were dissected and their organs and tissues weighed. The results of these dissections are presented together with comparisons of the data with that already available in the literature. Predictive equations for organs and tissue weights are also given which were derived by comparison of linear and allometric regression models using 4 different body weight indices.
Rockwell H, Mack M, Famula T, Sandmeyer L, Bauer B, Dwyer A, Lassaline M, Beeson S, Archer S, McCue M, Bellone RR.Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is characterized by intraocular inflammation that often leads to blindness in horses. Appaloosas are more likely than any other breed to develop insidious ERU, distinguished by low-grade chronic intraocular inflammation, suggesting a genetic predisposition. Appaloosas are known for their white coat spotting patterns caused by the leopard complex spotting allele (LP) and the modifier PATN1. A marker linked to LP on ECA1 and markers near MHC on ECA20 were previously associated with increased ERU risk. This study aims to further investigate these loci and identify a...
Knobloch M, Portier CJ, Levionnois OL, Theurillat R, Thormann W, Spadavecchia C, Mevissen M.Ketamine is widely used as an anesthetic in a variety of drug combinations in human and veterinary medicine. Recently, it gained new interest for use in long-term pain therapy administered in sub-anesthetic doses in humans and animals. The purpose of this study was to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPk) model for ketamine in ponies and to investigate the effect of low-dose ketamine infusion on the amplitude and the duration of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR). A target-controlled infusion (TCI) of ketamine with a target plasma level of 1 microg/ml S-ketamine over 120 ...
Macías García B, González Fernández L, Ortega Ferrusola C, Morillo Rodríguez A, Gallardo Bolaños JM, Rodríguez Martinez H, Tapia JA....Fatty acids and plasmalogens were extracted from the phospholipids of the plasma membrane of stallion spermatozoa, to determine their relation with sperm quality after freezing and thawing. Sperm quality was rated using a quality index that combined the results of the analysis of sperm motility and velocity (CASA analysis), membrane status and mitochondrial membrane potential (flow cytometry) post thaw. Receiving operating system (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the value of specific lipid components of the sperm membrane herein studied as forecast of potential freezeability. From all parame...
Kienzle E, Zeyner A.The development of a metabolizable energy (ME) system for horses is described. Predictive equations for gross energy and digestible energy (DE) are revisited. The relationship between feed protein content and renal energy losses and the relationship between feed fibre content and methane energy losses were analysed in a literature review to develop predictive equations for ME. In horses, renal energy losses are much higher than losses by methane energy. Renal energy losses were correlated more strictly to protein intake than to digestible protein intake. The reason probably is that per gram of...
Hooijberg EH, van den Hoven R, Tichy A, Schwendenwein I.A wide spectrum of laboratory tests is available to aid diagnosis and classification of equine inflammatory disease. Objective: To compare diagnostic efficacy and combined predictive capability of the myeloperoxidase index (MPXI), and plasma fibrinogen, iron and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations for the diagnosis of inflammation. Methods: Twenty-six hospitalized horses with systemic inflammation (SI), 114 with local inflammation (LI) and 61 healthy horses or those with noninflammatory disease (NI) were included. Methods: A retrospective study was performed; clinicopathologic data from horse...
Younes M, Robert C, Cottin F, Barrey E.Nearly 50% of the horses participating in endurance events are eliminated at a veterinary examination (a vet gate). Detecting unfit horses before a health problem occurs and treatment is required is a challenge for veterinarians but is essential for improving equine welfare. We hypothesized that it would be possible to detect unfit horses earlier in the event by measuring heart rate recovery variables. Hence, the objective of the present study was to compute logistic regressions of heart rate, cardiac recovery time and average speed data recorded at the previous vet gate (n-1) and thus predict...
Meershoek LS, van den Bogert AJ, Schamhardt HC.To describe a method to calculate flexor tendon forces on the basis of inverse dynamic analysis and an in vitro model of the equine forelimb and to quantify parameters for the model. Methods: 38 forelimbs of 23 horses that each had an estimated body mass of > or = 500 kg. Methods: Longitudinal limb sections were used to determine the lines of action of the tendons. Additionally, limb and tendon loading experiments were performed to determine mechanical properties of the flexor tendons. Results: The study quantified the parameters for a pulley model to describe the lines of action. Furthermo...
Love CC, Garcia MC, Riera FR, Kenney RM.The semen of 26 stallions, 2-20 years of age, was collected once a day for 7 consecutive days to determine daily sperm output (DSO). After the last collection, 17 stallions were castrated. Testicular volume was estimated using two methods. Length, width, height, of each testis were measured by caliper. Length, width, height, cross-sectional area and circumference at the widest point of the testis were measured by ultrasonography. Both caliper and ultrasound measurements were first made in the live animal, and again in vitro. There were no differences in these measurements because of method or ...
