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.
Nylund LE, Sinclair PJ, Hitchens PL, Cobley S.To identify characteristics of jockey falls associated with high-risk landings using a modified Equestrian Fall Assessment Instrument. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Video footage of 22 flat and 58 jump racing falls (N = 80) which occurred in Great Britain, Ireland, and New Zealand from 2013 to 2018 was systematically analysed using the modified Equestrian Fall Assessment Instrument. Race, horse, and jockey-level factors, including the nature of ground contact (landings), were characterised identifying factors associated with high-risk landings. High-risk landings refer to cases ...
Petrucciani A, Yu G, Ventresca M.Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) is an arbovirus that, while it has been known to exist since the 1930's, recently had a spike in cases. This increased prevalence is particularly concerning due to the severity of the disease with 1 in 3 symptomatic patients dying. The cause of this peak is currently unknown but could be due to changes in climate, the virus itself, or host behavior. In this paper we propose a novel multi-season deterministic model of EEE spread and its stochastic counterpart. Models were parameterized using a dataset from the Florida Department of Health with sixteen years of ...
Mundis SJ, Harrison S, Pelley D, Durand S, Ryan SJ.Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a mosquito-borne virus that affects humans and horses, with a high case fatality rate in both species. The virus can be transmitted by several mosquito species and maintained in multiple reservoir hosts, making EEEV dynamics difficult to anticipate. In this study, we identified spatial and temporal factors that precede EEEV detection using sentinel chicken surveillance data from Orange County, Florida, from 2003 to 2017. We first examined the land cover and mosquito species composition associated with sentinel chicken sites. We then fit distributed l...
Panizzi L, Vignes M, Dittmer KE, Waterland MR, Rogers CW, Sano H, McIlwraith CW, Pemberton S, Owen M, Riley CB.to determine the accuracy of infrared (IR)-based serum biomarker profiling to differentiate horses with early inflammatory changes associated with a traumatically induced model of equine carpal osteoarthritis (OA) from controls. Methods: unilateral carpal OA was induced in 9 of 17 healthy Thoroughbred fillies, while the remainder served as sham operated controls. Serum samples were obtained before induction of OA (Day 0) and weekly thereafter until Day 63 from both groups. Films of dried serum were created, and IR absorbance spectra acquired. Following pre-processing, partial least squares dis...
Premont A, Saadeh K, Edling C, Lewis R, Marr CM, Jeevaratnam K.Understanding cardiomyocyte ion channel expression is crucial to understanding normal cardiac electrophysiology and underlying mechanisms of cardiac pathologies particularly arrhythmias. Hitherto, equine cardiac ion channel expression has rarely been investigated. Therefore, we aim to predict equine cardiac ion channel gene expression. Raw RNAseq data from normal horses from 9 datasets was retrieved from ArrayExpress and European Nucleotide Archive and reanalysed. The normalised (FPKM) read counts for a gene in a mix of tissue were hypothesised to be the average of the expected expression in e...
Topczewska J, Bartman J, Kwater T.The aim of this study was to evaluate factors influencing the performance of Hucul horses and to develop a prediction model, based on artificial neural (AI) networks for predict horses' classification, relying on their performance value assessment during the annual Hucul championships. The Feedforward multilayer artificial neural networks, learned using supervised methods and implemented in Matlab programming environment were applied. Artificial neural networks with one and two hidden layers with different numbers of neurons equipped with a tangensoidal transition function, learned using the L...
Mirmojarabian SA, Kajabi AW, Ketola JHJ, Nykänen O, Liimatainen T, Nieminen MT, Nissi MJ, Casula V.Machine learning models trained with multiparametric quantitative MRIs (qMRIs) have the potential to provide valuable information about the structural composition of articular cartilage. To study the performance and feasibility of machine learning models combined with qMRIs for noninvasive assessment of collagen fiber orientation and proteoglycan content. Retrospective, animal model. An open-source single slice MRI dataset obtained from 20 samples of 10 Shetland ponies (seven with surgically induced cartilage lesions followed by treatment and three healthy controls) yielded to 1600 data points...
Müller A, Glüge S, Vidondo B, Wróbel A, Ott T, Sieme H, Burger D.Prediction of impending foaling is highly desirable as early intervention may improve mare and foal outcomes. However, monitoring the peripartum mare is a time-consuming challenge for breeders and many foaling prediction systems have limitations. "Heating up" of the mare is empirically used by breeders as a sign of upcoming parturition in mares. The purpose of this study was to investigate if an increase in skin temperature shortly before parturition is detectable and to determine whether such physiological changes could be an additional valuable parameter to predict foaling. For that, 56 foal...
Ferreira L, Machado N, Gouvinhas I, Santos S, Celaya R, Rodrigues M, Barros A.n-Alkanes and long-chain alcohols (LCOH) have been used as faecal markers to assess the feeding behaviour of both wild and domestic herbivore species. However, their chemical analysis is time-consuming and expensive, making it necessary to develop more expeditious methodologies to evaluate concentrations of these markers. This work aimed to evaluate the use of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technology in the near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) intervals, for the determination of n-alkane and LCOH concentrations of different plant species and faecal samples of domestic he...
Bishop RC, Gutierrez-Nibeyro SD, Stewart MC, McCoy AM.To evaluate previously published predictive survival models in a population of horses undergoing colic surgery in the midwestern United States. Methods: Retrospective cohort study; single referral hospital. Methods: A total of 260 horses met the inclusion criteria. Methods: Medical records of horses undergoing surgical treatment for colic were reviewed. Previously published models were applied to cohort data to predict outcome. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy for prediction of short-term survival were calculated. Results:...
Iglesias-García M, Rodríguez Hurtado I, Ortiz-Díez G, De la Calle Del Barrio J, Fernández Pérez C, Gómez Lucas R.The extrinsic and intrinsic characteristics of an equine population may influence the onset of gastrointestinal lesions and affect the survival rate of patients. The equine population in Spain has been the focus of a small number of studies, none of which have involved more than one surgical center. In this retrospective cohort study, we aimed to analyze the survival rate, identify the variables that influenced death, and generate multivariate models using clinical variables. Data were collected from the clinical records of two surgical referral centers in the same region, and a total of 566 h...
Satoła A, Łuszczyński J, Petrych W, Satoła K.Knowledge of the body weight of horses permits breeders to provide appropriate feeding and care regimen and allows veterinarians to monitor the animals' health. It is not always possible to perform an accurate measurement of the body weight of horses using horse weighbridges, and therefore, new body weight formulas based on biometric measurements are required. The objective of this study is to develop and validate models for estimating body weight in Icelandic foals using machine learning methods. The study was conducted using 312 data records of body measurements on 24 Icelandic foals (12 col...
Young N, Corletto F, Wright I.To identify prognostic factors for return to racing after lag screw repair of condylar fractures and develop a predictive model for return to racing. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: A total of 356 horses referred to a single referral hospital in the UK with a third metacarpal/metatarsal condylar fracture between January 1999 and December 2018. Methods: Age, sex, fracture site, fracture characteristics, surgery related variables and complications were retrieved from case records. Data were divided into two sets for model training and model validation. Univariable analyses were per...
ELKhamary AN, Keenihan EK, Schnabel LV, Redding WR, Schumacher J.While MRI is the modality of choice for the diagnosis of longitudinal tears (LTs) of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) of horses, differentiating between various grades of tears based on imaging characteristics is challenging due to overlapping imaging features. In this retrospective, exploratory, diagnostic accuracy study, a machine learning (ML) scheme was applied to link quantitative features and qualitative descriptors to leverage MRI characteristics of different grades of tearing of the DDFT of horses. A qualitative MRI characteristic scheme, combining tendon morphologic features, alt...
Ortega-Sánchez R, Bárcenas-Reyes I, Cantó-Alarcón GJ, Luna-Cozar J, E RA, Contreras-Magallanes YG, González-Ruiz S, Cortez-García B....The spatio-temporal epidemiology of rabies has related the influence of environmental factors and anthropogenic changes on the movements of the hematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus. In Mexico, D. rotundus is the main transmitter of the rabies virus for different livestock species, modifying annually the fluctuation of the number of cases of rabies and its dissemination in subtropical areas and regions considered free of the disease. The purpose of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis of the distribution of cases of rabies in Mexico, and to perform a time-series analysis to evaluate ...
Renaudin CD, Kass PH, Bruyas JF.A table was generated, based on foetal ultrasonographic measurements in light breed mares, for each day of gestation beginning with day 100, to provide the predicted value of four biometric parameters: biparietal diameter (BPD), eye approximated volume (EyV), foetal aortic diameter (AortD) and femur length (FL). Using this table, day of gestation was successfully predicted in 23 Quarter Horses (QH) with known mating or ovulation dates. BPD, EyV and FL were the best foetal age predictors between 100- and 200-days gestation predicting within 2 weeks of the actual day of gestation, while BPD and...
Di Pol G, Crotta M, Taylor RA.Increases in temperature and extreme weather events due to global warming can create an environment that is beneficial to mosquito populations, changing and possibly increasing the suitable geographical range for many vector-borne diseases. West Nile Virus (WNV) is a flavivirus, maintained in a mosquito-avian host cycle that is usually asymptomatic but can cause primarily flu-like symptoms in human and equid accidental hosts. In rare circumstances, serious disease and death are possible outcomes for both humans and horses. The main European vector of WNV is the Culex pipiens mosquito. This stu...
Marchand WR, Joubert K, Smith J, Nazarenko E, Klinger W, Sheppard S, Hoopes KH.The aim of this observational pilot study was to assess the safety, feasibility, preliminary outcomes, and predictors of participant response as a result of implementing an equine-assisted intervention within a residential substance abuse treatment program at a large Veterans Administration medical center. A secondary aim was to evaluate psychological instruments for use in future, more rigorous studies. The overarching goal was to complete the necessary work to prepare for a large randomized controlled trial of this intervention for Veterans with addictive disorders. Methods: Participants wer...
Ahern BJ, Sole A, de Klerk K, Hogg LR, Vallance SA, Bertin FR, Franklin SH.Upper airway endoscopy of thoroughbred (TB) yearlings is commonly used in an attempt to predict laryngeal function (LF) and its impact on future race performance. The aim of this study was to determine if different grading systems and laryngeal grades were correlated with future performance. Methods: Postsale endoscopic recordings were obtained from an Australian TB yearling sale during a four-year period from 2008 to 2011. Horses were included if they had a diagnostic postsale video endoscopic recording and raced within Australia. Recordings were graded using the Havemeyer system and subseque...
Huang YH, Lyle JV, Ab Razak AS, Nandi M, Marr CM, Huang CL, Aston PJ, Jeevaratnam K.Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia in both human and equine populations. It is associated with adverse outcomes in humans and decreased athletic performance in both populations. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) presents with intermittent, self-terminating AF episodes, and is difficult to diagnose once sinus rhythm resumes. Unassigned: We aimed to detect PAF subjects from normal sinus rhythm equine electrocardiograms (ECGs) using the Symmetric Projection Attractor Reconstruction (SPAR) method to encapsulate the waveform morphology and variability as the basis of a machi...
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...
Buhl R, Hesselkilde EM, Carstensen H, Hopster-Iversen C, van Loon G, Decloedt A, Van Steenkiste G, Marr CM, Reef VB, Schwarzwald CC, Mitchell KJ....The recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation (AF) in horses after cardioversion to sinus rhythm (SR) is relatively high. Atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR) derived from surface ECG is considered a biomarker for electrical remodelling and could potentially be used for the prediction of successful AF cardioversion and AF recurrence. Objective: Evaluate if AFR was associated with successful treatment and could predict AF recurrence in horses. Methods: Retrospective multicentre study. Methods: Electrocardiograms (ECG) from horses with persistent AF admitted for cardioversion with either medical treatmen...
Larison B, Pinho GM, Haghani A, Zoller JA, Li CZ, Finno CJ, Farrell C, Kaelin CB, Barsh GS, Wooding B, Robeck TR, Maddox D, Pellegrini M, Horvath S.Effective conservation and management of threatened wildlife populations require an accurate assessment of age structure to estimate demographic trends and population viability. Epigenetic aging models are promising developments because they estimate individual age with high accuracy, accurately predict age in related species, and do not require invasive sampling or intensive long-term studies. Using blood and biopsy samples from known age plains zebras (Equus quagga), we model epigenetic aging using two approaches: the epigenetic clock (EC) and the epigenetic pacemaker (EPM). The plains zebra...
Takeyama T, Sasaki N.Thoracic spinous process osseous changes in horses occur due to riding-induced back compression. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the findings of thoracic spinous process osseous changes on radiographic imaging and conformation based on the difference in over-riding of the dorsal spinous processes in racing horses. This study included 55 sports horses. The hardness of the back muscles (the multifidus, longissimi, and latissimi collectively) was measured, and the horses were divided into two groups: low muscle hardness (n = 16) and high muscle hardness (n = 39). We conf...
Kuroda T, Minamijima Y, Nomura M, Yamashita S, Yamada M, Nagata S, Mita H, Tamura N, Fukuda K, Kuwano A, Kusano K, Toutain PL, Sato F.For medication control in several jurisdictions, withdrawal time is the period of refrain from racing after drug administration. It is set by adding a safety period to an experimental detection time. However, there are no reports of statistical analyses of detection time for the determination of withdrawal time in flunixin meglumine-treated horses. Objective: To analyse the population pharmacokinetics of flunixin in horses through the generation of a dataset for detection time statistical analysis and predictions via Monte Carlo simulation. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Drug plasma and...
Shorten PR, Legacki EL, Chavatte-Palmer P, Conley AJ.Hormone secretion by the maternal ovaries, trophoblast/placenta and fetus occurs sequentially, creating distinct steroid metabolomic 'signatures' in systemic blood of pregnant mares that vary with gestational stage. Algorithms were developed to predict the gestational day (GD) from the maternal steroid metabolome (nine steroids; pregnenolone (P5), progesterone (P4), 5α-dihydroprogesterone (DHP), 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, allopregnanolone, 20α-hydroxy-DHP, 3β,20α-dihydroxy-DHP, DHEA and androstenedione) determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) of eight thoroug...
Zuffa T, Bennet ED, Parkin TDH.Endurance riding is a popular equestrian sport organised at the international level by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). The sport involves prolonged exercise at speed over significant distances, which puts a substantial load on equine athletes' musculoskeletal systems and metabolism and contributes to the risk of injuries and other veterinary problems. The FEI employs a system of in-ride veterinary inspections aimed at early detection of such problems and elimination of horses unfit to continue in the ride. To date, risk factors for elimination due to irregular gait or metaboli...
de Miguel Garcia C, Campoy L, Parry SA, Martin-Flores M, Gleed RD.Several factors affect the quality of recovery from general anesthesia in horses. These can increase the likelihood of injury. Body and limb position during recovery may correlate with successful standing. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of and the factors associated with successful standing at the first attempt in horses undergoing general anesthesia. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Video of recovery and anesthetic records from 221 equine patients were reviewed by six veterinary students. Cases with poor video quality or incomplete anesthetic records were exc...
Kupratis ME, Gure AE, Benson JM, Ortved KF, Burris DL, Price C.Healthy articular cartilage supports load bearing and frictional properties unmatched among biological tissues and man-made bearing materials. Balancing fluid exudation and recovery under loaded and articulated conditions is essential to the tissue's biological and mechanical longevity. Our prior tribological investigations, which leveraged the convergent stationary contact area (cSCA) configuration, revealed that sliding alone can modulate cartilage interstitial fluid pressurization and the recovery and maintenance of lubrication under load through a mechanism termed 'tribological rehydration...
Gaitskell-Phillips G, Martín-Cano FE, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Silva-Rodríguez A, da Silva-Álvarez E, Gil MC, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Seminal plasma plays an important role in sperm physiology. Seminal plasma proteins vehiculated in microvesicles, carry RNAs and proteins with a potential role in early embryo development. Additionally, proteins present in seminal plasma participate in redox regulation and energy metabolism. In view of these facts, we hypothesized that differences in protein composition of the seminal plasma among stallions may help to explain differences in freeze-ability seen among them. Three independent ejaculates from 10 different stallions of varying breeds were frozen using standard protocols in our lab...
Graham RJTY, Anderson JR, Phelan MM, Cillan-Garcia E, Bladon BM, Taylor SE.Palmar osteochondral disease (POD) is a common cause of lameness in competition horses. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most sensitive diagnostic modality currently available, however it may not be financially or logistically practical for routine screening of POD. There is increasing interest in the use of metabolomics for diagnosis prior to progression to irreversible damage. Objective: To determine metabolite levels in synovial fluid (SF) of horses with a clinical diagnosis of POD based on diagnostic analgesia and MRI, with the hypothesis that metabolomic profiles differ between dis...
León B, Jiménez-Sánchez C, Retamosa-Izaguirre M.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an arbovirus transmitted by arthropods, widely distributed in the Americas that, depending on the subtype, can produce outbreaks or yearly cases of encephalitis in horses and humans. The symptoms are similar to those caused by dengue virus and in the worst-case scenario, involve encephalitis, and death. MaxEnt is software that uses climatological, geographical, and occurrence data of a particular species to create a model to estimate possible niches that could have these favorable conditions. We used MaxEnt with a total of 188 registers of VEEV pr...
Viklund A, Näsholm A, Strandberg E, Philipsson J.For Swedish Warmblood sport horses, breeding values (BVs) are predicted using a multiple-trait animal model with results from competitions and young horse performance tests. Data go back to the beginning of the 1970s, and earlier studies have indicated that some of the recorded traits have changed through the years. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of including all performance data or excluding the older ones compared to a bivariate model (BM) considering performance traits in early and late periods as separate traits. The bivariate approach was assumed to give the mo...
Roberts RS, Foppa IM.Since the introduction of West Nile Virus (WNV) to the United States in 1999, the efficacy of dead bird surveillance for the prediction of human and veterinary WNV infection has been an issue of debate. We utilized South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control surveillance data from 2003 to determine whether dead bird surveillance accurately predicts equine WNV infection on a county level. We adjusted for human population density as a potential confounder of an association between WNV-positive dead bird counts and mammalian WNV risk. We found a strong positive association bet...
Kelen PV, Downs JA, Unnasch T, Stark L.A GIS-based risk index model was developed to quantify EEEV transmission risk to horses in the State of Florida. EEEV is a highly pathogenic arbovirus that is endemic along the east coast of the United States, and it is generally fatal to both horses and humans. The model evaluates EEEV transmission risk at individual raster cells in map on a continuous scale of 0 to 1. The risk index is derived based on local habitat features and the composition and configuration of surrounding land cover types associated with EEEV transmission. The model was verified and validated using the locations of docu...
Al-Agele R, Paul E, Taylor S, Watson C, Sturrock C, Drakopoulos M, Atwood RC, Rutland CS, Menzies-Gow N, Knowles E, Elliott J, Harris P, Rauch C.Global inequalities in economic access and agriculture productivity imply that a large number of developing countries rely on working equids for transport/agriculture/mining. Therefore, the understanding of hoof conditions/shape variations affecting equids' ability to work is still a persistent concern. To bridge this gap, using a multi-scale interdisciplinary approach, we provide a bio-physical model predicting the shape of equids' hooves as a function of physical and biological parameters. In particular, we show (i) where the hoof growth stress originates from, (ii) why the hoof growth rate ...
Hinterhofer C, Stanek C, Haider H.A finite element (FE) hoof capsule was built as a small, symmetrical forelimb hoof on IDEAS* as a model for calculation and visualisation of stress and displacement of the equine hoof capsule. The model's loading was performed according to the suspension of the coffin bone within the hoof wall (pulling force) and over the sole and frog (compressing force) with a total of 3000 N. Restraints of the model's ground nodes and surface wall nodes were defined for simulation of 4 shoeing situations: a regular horseshoe, a horseshoe with a toe clip, a horseshoe with regular side clips and a horseshoe w...
Mayhew IG, Donawick WJ, Green SL, Galligan DT, Stanley EK, Osborne J.Over a period of 5 years on a central Kentucky Thoroughbred stud farm 132 foals were evaluated for the presence of cervical vertebral malformation (CVM). Lateral cervical vertebral radiographs were obtained on 70 standing foals. These radiographs were evaluated semi-quantitatively and scored numerically for the presence of stenosis of the vertebral canal, enlarged physeal growth plates, caudal extension of the dorsal border of the orifice of the vertebral canal, angular fixation, delayed ossification of bone and degenerative joint disease. From these scores a total CVM score was given for each...
Al-Kass Z, Ntallaris T, Morrell JM, Johannisson A.Although previous studies have examined the relationship between the sperm DNA fragmentation index and fertility in stallions, other aspects of chromatin structure or packaging and fertility have not been explored. In the present study, relationships between fertility and DNA fragmentation index, protamine deficiency, total thiols, free thiols and disulfide bonds in stallion spermatozoa were investigated. Ejaculates (n = 36) were collected from 12 stallions and extended to prepare semen doses for insemination. One dose from each ejaculate was sent to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sc...
Ortega-Sánchez R, Bárcenas-Reyes I, Cantó-Alarcón GJ, Luna-Cozar J, E RA, Contreras-Magallanes YG, González-Ruiz S, Cortez-García B....The spatio-temporal epidemiology of rabies has related the influence of environmental factors and anthropogenic changes on the movements of the hematophagous bat Desmodus rotundus. In Mexico, D. rotundus is the main transmitter of the rabies virus for different livestock species, modifying annually the fluctuation of the number of cases of rabies and its dissemination in subtropical areas and regions considered free of the disease. The purpose of this study was to perform a descriptive analysis of the distribution of cases of rabies in Mexico, and to perform a time-series analysis to evaluate ...
Eerdekens A, Deruyck M, Fontaine J, Damiaans B, Martens L, De Poorter E, Govaere J, Plets D, Joseph W.Equine training activity detection will help to track and enhance the performance and fitness level of riders and their horses. Currently, the equestrian world is eager for a simple solution that goes beyond detecting basic gaits, yet current technologies fall short on the level of user friendliness and detection of main horse training activities. To this end, we collected leg accelerometer data of 14 well-trained horses during jumping and dressage trainings. For the first time, 6 jumping training and 25 advanced horse dressage activities are classified using specifically developed models base...
Neild DN, Gadella BM, Agüero A, Stout TA, Colenbrander B.In general, fertility in breeding stallions is lower and more variable than in the other farm animal species, primarily because selection is based on pedigree, looks and/or athletic performance, with little consideration of fertility or fertility potential. Moreover, because the average stallion breeds only a limited number of mares per year and in-field fertility is influenced significantly by non-stallion factors such as management and mare fertility, meaningful fertility data are hard to come-by. Unfortunately, generating usable figures would involve impractically high costs, time and numbe...
Cordero VV, Cavinder CA, Tedeschi LO, Sigler DH, Vogelsang MM, Arnold CE.Mathematical nutrition models have been developed for beef and dairy cattle to estimate dietary energy intake needed to change BCS. Similar technology has not been used to improve nutrition and feeding strategies for horses. An accurate equine nutrition model may enhance feeding management and reduce the costs of unnecessary overfeeding and promote an optimal level of fatness to achieve reproductive efficiency. The objectives of this study were to develop and evaluate a mathematical nutrition model capable of accurately predicting dietary energy changes to alter BW, rump fat (RF) thickness, an...
Agnew ME, Slack J, Stefanovski D, Linton JK, Sertich PL.Variable gestation length in the mare poses a challenge for determination of fetal readiness for birth. The objectives of this study were to describe sonographic characteristics of the fetal GI tract in the late gestation mare and identify changes that occur with progressing fetal maturity. Based on these characteristics, a grading scale modeled after the existing human and canine scoring system was developed. Weekly sonographic examination of the fetus by one observer beginning 2-3 weeks prior to a calculated due date of 330 days was performed. Fetal assessment included; presence of stomach r...
Korosue K, Murase H, Sato F, Ishimaru M, Endo Y, Nambo Y.The purpose of this study was to observe the changes in body temperature before parturition using a wireless temperature monitoring device (WTMD) and to evaluate the usefulness of body temperature measurements using a digital rectal thermometer (DRT) and a microchip transponder thermometry device (MTTD) for predicting parturition in mares. The body temperatures using a WTMD at 0 hr and -1 hr were significantly different from those at the same time on Days 1-5 (P<0.01). The temperature differences between the morning of Day 0 and at -3 hr, -2 hr, -1 hr and 0 hr using the DRT and MTTD showed ...
Ferreira L, Machado N, Gouvinhas I, Santos S, Celaya R, Rodrigues M, Barros A.n-Alkanes and long-chain alcohols (LCOH) have been used as faecal markers to assess the feeding behaviour of both wild and domestic herbivore species. However, their chemical analysis is time-consuming and expensive, making it necessary to develop more expeditious methodologies to evaluate concentrations of these markers. This work aimed to evaluate the use of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technology in the near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) intervals, for the determination of n-alkane and LCOH concentrations of different plant species and faecal samples of domestic he...
Frazer LL, Santschi EM, Fischer KJ.To predict the bone formation stimulus of a transcondylar screw across an equine subchondral bone cyst (SBC) in an equine medial femoral condyle (MFC). Methods: Finite element modeling (FEM) of an equine MFC with a 2 cm SBC under several transcondylar screw conditions. Methods: The right stifle of a yearling thoroughbred without stifle disease that had been euthanized for reasons unrelated to this study and donated to the University. Methods: The FEM was derived from computed tomography of a yearling thoroughbred and analyzed in ABAQUS v6.14. The transcondylar screw was modeled as a 4.5-mm s...
Oldenhof H, Bigalk J, Hettel C, de Oliveira Barros L, Sydykov B, Bajcsy ÁC, Sieme H, Wolkers WF.In this study, modeling and experimental approaches were used to investigate the interplay between cooling rate and protectant concentration for cryopreservation of stallion sperm. Glycerol (GLY), ethylene glycol (EG), dimethylformamide (DMF), propylene glycol (PG), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were tested as cryoprotective agents (CPAs), using concentrations up to 1500 mM and cooling rates ranging from 5°C to 55°C min. Modeling of the extent of sperm dehydration during freezing was done using previously determined values of the sperm membrane permeability to water to predict optimal cool...
Gaitskell-Phillips G, Martín-Cano FE, Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Silva-Rodríguez A, da Silva-Álvarez E, Gil MC, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Peña FJ.Seminal plasma plays an important role in sperm physiology. Seminal plasma proteins vehiculated in microvesicles, carry RNAs and proteins with a potential role in early embryo development. Additionally, proteins present in seminal plasma participate in redox regulation and energy metabolism. In view of these facts, we hypothesized that differences in protein composition of the seminal plasma among stallions may help to explain differences in freeze-ability seen among them. Three independent ejaculates from 10 different stallions of varying breeds were frozen using standard protocols in our lab...
Halama A, Oliveira JM, Filho SA, Qasim M, Achkar IW, Johnson S, Suhre K, Vinardell T.Equine performance in endurance racing depends on the interplay between physiological and metabolic processes. However, there is currently no parameter for estimating the readiness of animals for competition. Our objectives were to provide an in-depth characterization of metabolic consequences of endurance racing and to establish a metabolic performance profile for those animals. We monitored metabolite composition, using a broad non-targeted metabolomics approach, in blood plasma samples from 47 Arabian horses participating in endurance races. The samples were collected before and after the c...
Iglesias-García M, Rodríguez Hurtado I, Ortiz-Díez G, De la Calle Del Barrio J, Fernández Pérez C, Gómez Lucas R.The extrinsic and intrinsic characteristics of an equine population may influence the onset of gastrointestinal lesions and affect the survival rate of patients. The equine population in Spain has been the focus of a small number of studies, none of which have involved more than one surgical center. In this retrospective cohort study, we aimed to analyze the survival rate, identify the variables that influenced death, and generate multivariate models using clinical variables. Data were collected from the clinical records of two surgical referral centers in the same region, and a total of 566 h...
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....
Duaso J, Perez-Ecija A, Martínez E, Navarro A, De Las Heras A, Mendoza FJ.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne disease affecting equids worldwide. Diagnosis is based on direct methods (blood smear or PCR) or indirect methods (serology); however, these techniques yield positive and negative results. Thus, an alternative, reliable, rapid, and cost-effective complementary tool, such as hematologic parameters and newly described hematologic ratios, could help in the EP diagnosis. This study describes the changes induced by piroplasmosis infection on hematologic parameters and ratios in horses. PCR-positive horses exhibited anemia and thrombocytopenia, whereas PCR...
Mitchell KJ, De Clercq D, Stirn M, van Loon G, Schwarzwald CC.Homocysteine (HCY) is an amino acid produced from methionine metabolism. Plasma homocysteine concentrations ([HCY]p) are elevated (>13 μmol/L) in people with atrial fibrillation (AF) and can predict the recurrence of AF after cardioversion. This study aimed to validate a commercially available human HCY assay for use in horses to develop reference intervals for [HCY]p and compare [HCY]p in healthy horses and horses with AF. Methods: Healthy horses (n = 27) and horses with AF (n = 55, 34 of which were cardioverted using transvenous electrical cardioversion). Methods: Blood samples were a...
Frazer LL, Santschi EM, Fischer KJ.To predict bone and medial meniscal stresses and contact pressures in an equine stifle with a medial femoral condyle (MFC) intact or with a 2-cm subchondral bone void, under varying degrees of internal femoral rotation (IFR). Methods: Finite element model (FEM) of a cadaveric equine stifle loaded to 8000 N. Methods: The FEM was constructed from computed tomography (CT) of the right, extended stifle of a yearling. The CT image was segmented into relevant anatomic structures and meshed into 4-node tetrahedrons. Bone material properties were assigned according to Hounsfield units, soft tissue p...
Bennet ED, Parkin TDH.This study examined the association between riding speed and elimination in Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) endurance events. A total of 35,061 horse starts from 1st July 2012 to 31st December 2015 were included in a multivariable logistic regression model containing 25 different risk factors. Riding speeds in individual stages ('loops') were included as individual risk factors in studying the progress of horses through loops 1-3 of each endurance ride. The possibility of real-time, 'mid-ride' predictive modelling was explored by modelling both riding speeds and sudden changes in sp...
Koskinen E, Kuntsi H, Lindeberg H, Katila T.Follicular growth and hormone determinations were used to predict ovulation in the mare. Thirty Finnhorse mares were used for the investigation and 38 oestrous cycles were studied. The mares were examined by rectal palpation and ultrasonography every 6 hours during late oestrus. Daily blood samples were obtained for progesterone and oestrone sulphate determination. The preovulatory follicle grew 3 mm a day up to 2 days before ovulation. The size then remained constant, before diminishing by 2-3 mm during the last 12 hours. The maximal diameter of the follicle was 43 +/- 4 mm. In 89% of the fol...
Saulez MN, Gummow B, Slovis NM, Byars TD, Frazer M, MacGillivray K, Bain FT.Veterinary internists need to prognosticate patients quickly and accurately in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This may depend on laboratory data collected on admission, the cost of hospitalisation, length of stay (LOS) and mortality rate experienced in the NICU. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study of 62 equine neonates admitted to a NICU of a private equine referral hospital to determine the prognostic value of venous clinicopathological data collected on admission before therapy, the cost of hospitalisation, LOS and mortality rate. The WBC count, total CO2 (TCO2) and alkalin...
Jones RS, Lawrence TL, Veevers A, Cleave N, Hall J.Fifty-three horses, all but two of them over two years of age and varying in type, sex and liveweight (230 to 707 kg) were weighed and seven different body measurements were recorded in duplicate by a single operator. The best overall prediction of liveweight using an equation with two variables was found to be: liveweight (kg) = (umbilical girth [cm])1.78 X (length of body from tuber ischii to elbow [cm]0.97/3011). This equation had an adjusted R2 value of 94.9 per cent and was derived from the pooled data, because differences of sex, type and weight did not significantly affect the relations...
Leahy PD, Smith BS, Easton KL, Kawcak CE, Eickhoff JC, Shetye SS, Puttlitz CM.Computed tomography (CT) data can be employed with respect to determining mechanical properties and has been used to predict parameters such as elastic modulus, yield strength, and ultimate strength of intact bone. Micro-computed tomography (muCT) possesses the resolution capable of detecting apparent bone density in extremely local regions and can characterize the trabecular structure. It has been asserted that this micro-structure is susceptible to micro-buckling and bending, which has a controversial role in predicting the global mechanical properties of bone. The current study measured the...
