Risk factors in horses refer to variables or conditions that increase the likelihood of disease, injury, or other adverse health outcomes in equine populations. These factors can be intrinsic, such as age, breed, and genetic predisposition, or extrinsic, including environmental conditions, management practices, and exposure to infectious agents. Understanding risk factors is important for developing preventive strategies and improving health management in horses. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the identification, assessment, and mitigation of risk factors in equine health, with the aim of enhancing disease prevention and promoting overall well-being in horses.
Joss R, Baschnagel F, Ohlerth S, Piskoty G, Fürst A, Bischofberger AS. The aim of this study was to compare the potential of an unshod and shod hoof to cause an orbital fracture in the event of a kick. Methods: Thirty-four equine cadaveric orbitae were exposed to a steel or horn impactor in a dropping test set-up. An impactor velocity of 7 m/s was used for both materials. Testing was repeated on the same orbit at a velocity of 10 m/s with the horn impactor if no damage occurred. A high-speed camera was used to analyse the impact process. Physical parameters (peak force and impact duration) were calculated based on quantitative video-tracking. Computed tomog...
Rossi TM, Moore A, O'Sullivan TL, Greer AL.Respiratory disease is a common morbidity of young racehorses. Infections can lead to compromised welfare, and economic loss. Identification of risk factors for infection through clinical signs monitoring and collection of demographic, serologic, and contact network data can aid in the development of prevention and control strategies. The study objectives were to: (1) describe the transmission and clinical course of infectious respiratory disease in standardbred racehorses in a multi-barn training facility and, (2) identify demographic, serological, and contact network risk factors associated ...
Reef VB.Arrhythmias detected on prepurchase examination should be confirmed with an ECG. Exercising ECG determines if the arrhythmia is overdriven during exercise or is a safety concern. An echocardiogram is needed in all horses with a grade 3/6 or louder mid to late systolic, holosystolic, or pansystolic murmur or any holodiastolic decrescendo murmur to identify the cardiac abnormality and its hemodynamic impact. Most horses with arrhythmias and murmurs have a normal performance career and life expectancy and are insurable. Risks for sudden death and congestive heart failure associated with the commo...
Blikslager AT.Management factors associated with colic, particularly related to stall confinement and nutrition, have been linked to alterations in gastrointestinal mucosal transport, motility, and microbiome, which in turn creates conditions that induce colic. In particular, meal feeding creates large changes in water movement in and out of the colon and alters the microbiome. These conditions may in turn result in colic conditions such as large colon impaction or large colon volvulus. In addition, a range of management and nutritional factors have been found to place horses at risk of select colic conditi...
Pritchard A, Nielsen B, McLean A, Robison C, Yokoyama M, Hengemuehle S, Bailey S, Harris P.Donkeys are often kept, especially in industrialized countries, as companion animals. Donkeys have greater digestive efficiency and tend to expend less energy than horses or ponies, which contributes to obesity in nonworking donkeys. Obesity in all equine species increases risk of chronic health conditions such as laminitis and insulin resistance. Previous studies in horses and ponies have documented obesity's potential effects on glucose-insulin dynamics with lower insulin sensitivity and higher insulin responses to glucose. However, limited studies on obesity and its health impacts in donkey...
Nuttall HE, Ravenhill PJ.Equine dental disease remains a widespread affliction in domestic horses, with the potential to cause significant welfare problems. This retrospective study aimed to increase understanding of this aspect of equine health by examining dental records of 932 horses, taken from a 1-year period of first-opinion practice in south-western England and southern Wales. Three grossly-identifiable dental diseases were analysed: equine periodontal disease, diastemata and peripheral caries. The prevalence of active periodontal disease, diastemata and peripheral caries were 13.9%, 8.7% and 8.2%, respectively...
Pollard D, Wylie CE, Verheyen KLP, Newton JR.Equine laminitis is a complex disease that manifests as pain and lameness in the feet, often with debilitating consequences. There is a paucity of data that accounts for the multifactorial nature of laminitis and considers time-varying covariates that may be associated with disease development; particularly those that are modifiable and present potential interventions. A previous case-control study identified a number of novel, modifiable factors associated with laminitis which warranted further investigation and corroboration. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with equi...
Chang LY, Chang SM, Andrews L, Saeedi O.Hippotherapy has recently emerged as a horse-based rehabilitative therapy to improve balance, coordination, and strength in patients with a wide range of medical conditions. Although several studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in restoring balance and gait in patients who have suffered cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), few studies have reported on adverse events associated with the treatment. Methods: This case report describes a female post-stroke patient who fell from a horse during a hippotherapy session. She suffered a closed right zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture and ruptured g...
Durham AE, Frank N, McGowan CM, Menzies-Gow NJ, Roelfsema E, Vervuert I, Feige K, Fey K.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a widely recognized collection of risk factors for endocrinopathic laminitis. The most important of these risk factors is insulin dysregulation (ID). Clinicians and horse owners must recognize the presence of these risk factors so that they can be targeted and controlled to reduce the risk of laminitis attacks. Diagnosis of EMS is based partly on the horse's history and clinical examination findings, and partly on laboratory testing. Several choices of test exist which examine different facets of ID and other related metabolic disturbances. EMS is controlled ...
Sánchez-Guerrero MJ, Solé M, Azor PJ, Sölkner J, Valera M.Vitiligo and melanoma are relatively common disorders in grey Pura Raza Español horses and other horse breeds with grey-coloured coats. Objective: To determine the breed prevalence, environmental risks factors and estimate the genetic parameters for vitiligo and melanoma in Pura Raza Español horses. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: We analysed data from a large worldwide population of Pura Raza Español horses. The database included the vitiligo and melanoma scores, on either a four- or six-point linear scale, of 11,436 horses. Genetic parameters were estimated using a Bayesian ...
de Laat MA, Sillence MN, Reiche DB.Equine endocrinopathic laminitis is common and can be associated with an underlying endocrinopathy, such as equine metabolic syndrome (EMS), pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), pasture consumption, or any combination of these factors. Objective: The aim of the study was to improve the risk assessment capabilities of clinicians, and to inform management strategies, for acute endocrinopathic laminitis by prospectively examining the phenotypic, hormonal, and clinical characteristics of the disease in a large cohort. Methods: Privately owned horses and ponies (n = 301) of any age, se...
Public healthJanuary 25, 2019
Volume 168 67-75 doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2018.11.023
Meredith L, Thomson R, Ekman R, Kovaceva J, Ekbrand H, Bálint A.Horse riding is a popular activity but has also been found to lead to many injuries and even fatalities. No reduction in the numbers of those being admitted to hospital for equestrian-related injuries have been seen in Sweden in recent years. The aim of this work was to examine injuries, fatalities, and predictors of fatalities in equestrian-related activities and to investigate the cost of these injuries to the public health system. Methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of hospital data. Methods: National Swedish hospital and mortality registers were retrospectively examined, inclusi...
Smith LCR, Wylie CE, Palmer L, Ramzan PHL.There are few observational studies regarding the potentially serious complication of synovial sepsis following intrasynovial medication in general equine practice. Quantification of risk is fundamental to fully inform decision-making and owner consent prior to undertaking procedures. Objective: To describe the occurrence of synovial sepsis following intrasynovial injections in a large ambulatory equine practice between 2006-2011. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Medication records were cross-referenced against synovial cytology submissions and hospital admissions for synovial sep...
de Lagarde M, Larrieu C, Praud K, Schouler C, Doublet B, Sallé G, Fairbrother JM, Arsenault J.Although antimicrobial resistance is increasingly common in equine medicine, molecular and epidemiological data remains scarce. Objective: We estimated the prevalence of, and risk factors for, shedding of multidrug resistant (MDR), extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, and AmpC β-lactamase-producing, or some combination of these in Escherichia coli in horses in France. We characterized ESBL/AmpC isolates for antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of virulence and ESBL/AmpC-associated resistance genes. Methods: Fecal samples from healthy adult horses at 41 premises were colle...
Degeling C, Gilbert GL, Annand E, Taylor M, Walsh MG, Ward MP, Wilson A, Johnson J.Hendra virus (HeV) infection is endemic in Australian flying-fox populations. Habitat loss has increased the peri-urban presence of flying-foxes, increasing the risk of contact and therefore viral 'spillovers' into horse and human populations. An equine vaccine is available and horse-husbandry practices that minimize HeV exposure are encouraged, but their adoption is suboptimal. Ecological approaches-such as habitat creation and conservation-could complement vaccination and behavioural strategies by reducing spillover risks, but these are controversial. We convened three community juries (two ...
Dauvillier J, Ter Woort F, van Erck-Westergren E.Fungi contribute to the inflammatory response of lungs in horses with recurrent airway obstruction and in some forms of asthma in humans. The role of fungi in inflammatory airway disease (IAD) has not been assessed. Objective: Evaluate the prevalence of fungi in the respiratory samples of horses diagnosed with IAD, describe clinical signs associated with the presence of fungi in respiratory samples, and assess the risk factors associated with IAD and with the presence of fungi in the airways. Methods: Seven-hundred thirty-one active horses referred to a specialized ambulatory practice for sign...
Norton EM, Schultz NE, Rendahl AK, Mcfarlane D, Geor RJ, Mickelson JR, McCue ME.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a complex clinical disorder with both environmental and genetic factors contributing to EMS phenotypes. Estimates of heritability determine the proportion of variation in a trait that is attributable to genetics. Objective: To provide heritability estimates for nine metabolic traits associated with EMS in two high-risk breeds. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: High-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype data was used to estimate the heritability (h ) of nine metabolic traits relevant to EMS in a cohort of 264 Welsh ponies and 286 M...
Hitchens PL, Morrice-West AV, Stevenson MA, Whitton RC.Studies of racehorse injury or fatality in various countries have identified common, and in some cases conflicting, risk factors. We conducted a systematic search of the relevant literature published from 1990 to 2017. Peer-reviewed articles were included if they reported the incidence of fatal or catastrophic musculoskeletal injury (CMI) in Thoroughbred flat races (n=21) or risk factors for CMI (n=65). Pooled effect sizes were estimated using the random-effects DerSimonian-Laird model. The pooled incidence of CMI was 1.17 (95% confidence interval 0.90, 1.44) per 1000 race starts. Almost 300 f...
Sykes BW, Bowen M, Habershon-Butcher JL, Green M, Hallowell GD.To date, risk factors for equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) have not been described in Thoroughbred racehorses. Objective: To determine management factors associated with EGGD, identify clinical signs in affected horses, and compare these to equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD). Methods: The study was carried out on 109 Thoroughbred racehorses from 8 training yards (3 in the United Kingdom and 5 in Australia). Methods: Gastroscopic examination alongside a questionnaire regarding management, feeding, exercise, and health. Results: Management factors and clinical signs were different for...
Padalino B, Rogers CW, Guiver D, Thompson KR, Riley CB.Injuries resulting from road transport are common in horses and are a potential welfare concern, as well as, a source of economic loss. An online cross sectional survey was used to determine the prevalence of road transport related injuries to horses in New Zealand and the association of human factors including demographics, industry background, training and the horse handling experience of the respondents with transport related injury. The survey generated 1133 valid responses that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. At least o...
Tannahill VJ, Cardwell JM, Witte TH.Colic is a common and potentially life-threatening condition of horses. Multiple risk factors have been previously identified and it is known that a careful management routine can help reduce colic rates. The British military working horse population represents a unique cohort of horses that are intensively managed with a strict regimen. This retrospective study examined the incidence and mortality rate of colic within this population, as well as the signalment of affected horses, and compared these with the general population. Data for 717 horses over a five-year period (2008-2012) were analy...
Andres SA, Bushau-Sprinkle AM, Brier ME, Seger YR.To investigate the risk reduction and benefit of wearing body protection/safety vests in equestrian sports. Methods: A comparison of equestrians wearing body protective vests and those not wearing vests was performed using incident report data of 718 participants in the United States Pony Clubs during 2011-2017. Data obtained included age, gender, certification level of member, type of activity, description of incident, description of injuries, what protective equipment was worn and other possible contributing factors. Results: While wearing body protective vests when riding on the flat or for...
Coleman MC, Blodgett GP, Bevevino KE, Ivanek R, Cummings KJ, Carter GK, Cohen ND.The occurrence of Rhodococcus equi at farms varies, with disease occurring endemically at some farms, but only sporadically, or not at all at other farms. Only some foals residing on endemic farms develop clinical signs of disease. Limited evidence is available regarding foal-level risk factors for the development of R. equi pneumonia. The purpose of this study was to identify foal-level risk factors associated with the development of R. equi pneumonia among foals at a large breeding farm in Texas with a recurrent problem of R. equi pneumonia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted usin...
Harnek J, James SK, Lagerqvist B.Covered stents are mostly used for coronary perforations with a high risk of early adverse events; however, their long-term outcome is unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate the short- and long-term outcome of patients treated with covered stents compared to all other stented patients. Results: The Swedish national registries from 2005-2017 disclosed 265 patients who had received 366 covered stents. Their outcomes were compared to all other stented patients (197,948) who had received 320,784 stents. Compared to regular stents, covered stents showed significant differences (p<0.001)...
O'Connor S, Warrington G, Mb AM, Cullen S.Point-to-point racing may place jockeys at risk of serious injuries due to the high incidence of falls as previously reported. Despite many advances in health and safety strategies, the incidence of falls and injuries in point-to-point racing has not been reported since 2006. Objective: To provide a longitudinal analysis of the fall and injury incidence in point-to-point horse racing jockeys in Ireland from 2007 to 2015 and compare these findings with the previous literature. Methods: Descriptive epidemiologic study. Methods: All injuries that occurred due to a fall at every official point-to-...
Trimble AC, Blevins CA, Beard LA, Deforno AR, Davis EG.Leptospirosis is a worldwide veterinary and public health concern, and well recognized infectious disease of horses. Seroprevalence rates vary with geography, but many studies have confirmed a high exposure rate. The correlation between seropositivity and shedding status has not been made in horses, however. The aims of this study were to use semi-nested PCR on urine from apparently healthy horses to determine period prevalence of leptospiral shedding and to correlate these findings with MAT results to establish associations with client based survey data regarding horse management and environm...
Racine J, Vidondo B, Ramseyer A, Koch C.To describe a closed castration technique in standing equids, report associated complications, and identify potential risk factors. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 300 standing equids that were castrated with the Henderson Equine Castrating Instrument. Methods: Thirteen participating veterinarians recorded intraoperative difficulties and postoperative complications. Descriptive statistics, univariate analyses with Fisher's exact tests, and logistic regressions were used to evaluate intraoperative difficulties and postoperative complications and to assess risk factors for postoperative com...
McCoy AM, Norton EM, Kemper AM, Beeson SK, Mickelson JR, McCue ME.Osteochondrosis is a common developmental orthopedic disease characterized by a failure of endochondral ossification. Standardbred horses are recognized as being predisposed to tarsal osteochondrosis. Prior heritability estimates for tarsal osteochondrosis in European Standardbreds and related trotting breeds have been based on pedigree data and range from 17-29%. Here, we report on genetic architecture and heritability based on high-density genotyping data in a cohort of North American Standardbreds (n = 479) stringently phenotyped for tarsal osteochondrosis. Whole-genome array genotyping d...
Krüger L, Hohberg M, Lehmann W, Dresing K.Horse riding is a popular sport, which bears the risk of serious injuries. This study aims to assess whether individual factors influence the risk to sustain major injuries. Methods: Retrospective data were collected from all equine-related accidents at a German Level I Trauma Centre between 2004 and 2014. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for major injures. Results: 770 patients were included (87.9% females). Falling off the horse (67.7%) and being kicked by the horse (16.5%) were the two main injury mechanisms. Men and individuals of higher age showed higher odds for ...
de Mestre AM, Rose BV, Chang YM, Wathes DC, Verheyen KLP.Early pregnancy loss (EPL) between days 15-65 after breeding has been shown to occur in 7.9% of equine pregnancies with substantial economical, welfare and safety implications. Whilst maternal age has been recognised as an important risk factor in relation to the incidence of EPL, few other risk factors have been conclusively identified. Further, multivariable data analysis of risk factors for EPL is sparse. A prospective cohort investigation of thoroughbred broodmares in the United Kingdom was conducted over the 2013 and 2014 breeding seasons. Information relating to 28 factors including mare...
Pradel J, Chalvet Monfray K, Molia S, Vachiéry N, Rousteau A, Imbert D, Martinez D, Sabatier P, Lefrançois T.In Guadeloupe, West Nile virus (WNV) activity was first observed in equids in 2002, and a high seroprevalence was found in 2003. The objective of our study was to determine individual and environmental factors associated with the risk of WNV seropositivity during 2002-2003. Fieldwork was conducted to retrospectively determine the location of equids at the time of virus circulation and to collect information regarding environmental and individual variables. Sera were collected from 369 equids out of an estimated total population of less than 500. Thirty-four environmental and individual variabl...
Zeng Z, Jiang X, Li X, Wells A, Luo Y, Neapolitan R.By the 1990s it became popular for women to use hormone therapy (HT) to ease menopause symptoms. Bioidentical estrogen and progesterone are supplements whose molecular structures are identical to what is made in the human body, while synthetic supplements are ones whose structures are not. After the Women's Health Initiative found that the combined use of the synthetics conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) increased breast cancer risk, prescriptions for synthetic HT declined considerably. Since then there has been an increased interest in bioidentical HT; toda...
Libardoni F, Machado G, Gressler LT, Kowalski AP, Diehl GN, dos Santos LC, Corbellini LG, de Vargas AC.The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of equine strangles and to identify associated risk factors for this disease through a cross-sectional study of nasal swabs. Nasal swabs (n=1010) from healthy equines (absence of nasal discharge, lymphadenopathy and cough) from 341 farms were plated on 5% blood agar; of these horses, 24 were identified as positive for Streptococcus equi through isolation, PCR and DNA sequencing. The estimated prevalence for individual animals was 2.3%, and for herds, it was 5.86%. Statistical analysis identified the following as associated risk factors: the ...
Orsini JA, Parsons CS, Capewell L, Smith G.This retrospective study investigated the factors associated with a poor outcome (death by euthanasia or from other causes) in horses treated for laminitis at a tertiary care hospital. Cases (n = 247) were defined as patients with laminitis that were euthanized or that died of other causes during hospitalization. Controls (n = 344) were patients with laminitis that survived to be discharged from the hospital. In the final multivariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with an increased risk for death and their respective odds ratios (OR) were as follows: Thoroughbred (OR = 1.57); ...
Merridale-Punter MS, Wiethoelter AK, El-Hage CM, Hitchens PL.Lameness is an important concern in working equids of low- and middle-income communities (LMICs) with significant One Welfare implications. This study aims to determine the prevalence and influencing factors of lameness in working equids of LMICs. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to investigate pooled outcome prevalence using a random intercept regression model. Subgroup and sensitivity analysis were performed through meta-regression. A meta-analysis of study factors for lameness prevalence was performed. Sixty-four studies were included in the review. The pooled prevalence...
Andersen MS, Clark L, Dyson SJ, Newton JR.Post anaesthetic colic is a recognised risk of general anaesthesia (GA), but causes are poorly understood. Objective: To identify risk factors for development of colic following GA for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or nonabdominal surgery and to test whether the use of perianaesthetic morphine was associated with an increased risk of post anaesthetic colic. Methods: A total of 553 anaesthetic and clinical records of 500 horses anaesthetised at the Animal Health Trust were analysed, 342 (62%) involved MRI and 211 (38%) nonabdominal, predominantly orthopaedic surgery. Multivariable logistic r...
Hassel DM, Aldridge BM, Drake CM, Snyder JR.Enteroliths are intestinal calculi that result in intestinal obstruction and colic in horses. Equine enterolithiasis occurs worldwide, but the disease is particularly prevalent in some geographic locations, including California. The objectives of this study were to evaluate dietary and environmental risk factors for the disease. This was accomplished through a case-control study by comparing horses with colic from enterolithiasis presenting to the University of California, Davis VMTH, to horses with colic of other causes. Data were collected on 61 horses with enterolithiasis and 75 controls vi...
Levet T, Martens A, Devisscher L, Duchateau L, Bogaert L, Vlaminck L.There is a lack of evidence-based data on the prevalence, outcome and risk factors of distal limb cast sores, and no objective tool has been described for the early detection of cast sores. Objective: To investigate the prevalence, location, outcome and risk factors of cast sores after application of a distal limb cast and to determine whether static thermography of the cast is a valuable tool for the assessment of sores. Methods: A prospective study was conducted on horses treated with a distal limb cast. At each cast removal, cast sores were graded as superficial sores (SS), deep dermal sore...
Ward MP, Wittich CA, Fosgate G, Srinivasan R.West Nile Virus (WNV) was first detected in the Texas equine population during June 2002. Infection has since spread rapidly across the state and become endemic in the equine population. Environmental risk factors associated with equine WNV attack rates in Texas counties during the period 2002 to 2004 were investigated. Equine WNV attack rates were smoothed using an empirical Bayesian model, because of the variability among county equine populations (range 46-9,517). Risk factors investigated included hydrological features (lakes, rivers, swamps, canals and river basins), land cover (tree, mos...
Public healthJanuary 25, 2019
Volume 168 67-75 doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2018.11.023
Meredith L, Thomson R, Ekman R, Kovaceva J, Ekbrand H, Bálint A.Horse riding is a popular activity but has also been found to lead to many injuries and even fatalities. No reduction in the numbers of those being admitted to hospital for equestrian-related injuries have been seen in Sweden in recent years. The aim of this work was to examine injuries, fatalities, and predictors of fatalities in equestrian-related activities and to investigate the cost of these injuries to the public health system. Methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of hospital data. Methods: National Swedish hospital and mortality registers were retrospectively examined, inclusi...
Espinosa P, Le Jeune SS, Cenani A, Kass PH, Brosnan RJ.To determine if preoperative and intraoperative physiologic variables, and surgical factors correlate with survival to anesthetic recovery or hospital discharge, repeat celiotomy, and postoperative nasogastric intubation (NGT) in horses undergoing exploratory celiotomy for small intestinal (SI) strangulating lesions. Methods: Retrospective case series. Methods: Horses that had surgical correction of SI strangulating lesions (n = 258). Methods: Medical records (January 2000-December 2014) of horses that had surgical correction of SI strangulating lesions were reviewed. Data collection inclu...
Newton JR, Hedderson EJ, Adams VJ, McGorum BC, Proudman CJ, Wood JL.The reasons why equine grass sickness (EGS) recurs on premises are unknown and, consequently, practical methods for reducing the risk of recurrence are not available. Objective: To identify risk factors associated with recurrence of EGS on premises and to gain possible insights into the pathogenesis of the disease. Methods: Data on disease history and risk factors were collected by postal questionnaire from premises with EGS cases between 1st January 1997 and 31st December 2001. Data on variation in rates of recurrence of EGS for different risk factors were analysed using Poisson regression an...
Asa N, Newton A, Sullivan L, Shi J, Wheeler K, Smith GA, Yang J.Despite inherit dangers of horseback riding (HBR), research on HBR-related injuries is sparse. This study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to (1) examine HBR-related injuries treated in emergency departments (EDs) and associated risk factors and (2) explore HBR-related injury experiences and recommendations for prevention strategies from the perspective of riders. We retrospectively analyzed data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), identifying HBR-related ED visits between 2010 and 2014. Additionally, we conducted 10 phone interviews with active horseback ride...
Egenvall A, Penell JC, Bonnett BN, Olson P, Pringle J.The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of the database maintained by the Swedish insurance company Agria for providing disease statistics on Swedish horses. The demography of the horses insured for veterinary care during the period 1997 to 2000 was recorded and the incidence of morbidity, defined as horses that required veterinary care that cost more than the policy excess, was calculated. Yearly incidences were calculated for horses that required veterinary care at least once, first overall, and then for horses with complete insurance, by sex, age, breed group, breed, ...
Williams S, Horner J, Orton E, Green M, McMullen S, Mobasheri A, Freeman SL.A change in management from pasture to stabling is a risk factor for equine colic. Objective: To investigate the effect of a management change from pasture with no controlled exercise to stabling with light exercise on aspects of gastrointestinal function related to large colon impaction. The hypothesis was that drinking water intake, faecal output, faecal water content and large intestinal motility would be altered by a transition from a pastured to a stabled regime. Methods: Within-subject management intervention trial involving changes in feeding and exercise using noninvasive techniques. M...
de Pádua BR, Dias RA, Fioravanti MCS, Borsanelli AC.Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is an infectious disease affecting equine in most countries and represents a notifiable disease with compulsory euthanasia of positive animals. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of EIAV infected equines in herds of the state of Goiás (Central Brazil) and to evaluate the risk factors associated with the occurrence of the disease. Blood samples were collected from 1170 equids from 332 randomly selected farms divided into three different strata according to their herd characteristics. Also, an epidemiological questionnaire was applied during the v...
Crispe EJ, Lester GD.Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) occurs commonly in horses undergoing strenuous exercise. Reported risk factors include racing in cold temperatures and wearing of bar shoes. In horses with documented moderate to severe EIPH, increasing the interval between races and adopting a negative race pace strategy may reduce the severity of EIPH in subsequent races. EIPH seems to have an impact on performance only when moderate to severe. This occurs in a small number of starters, approximately 6%. EIPH often is erratic in severity from race to race, although across a population it is weakly...
Bailey PA, Hague BA, Davis M, Major MD, Zubrod CJ, Brakenhoff JE.The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of post-anesthetic colic in non-fasted adult horses undergoing isoflurane inhalant anesthesia for an elective, non-abdominal procedure at a single referral center. Medical records were searched from May 1, 2012 to May 31, 2014. Inclusion criteria included non-fasted patients ≥ 2 years of age that were anesthetized for an elective, non-abdominal procedure. The incidence of post-anesthetic colic for this study population was 2.5%. None of the risk factors examined (season, age, gender, breed, surgeon, procedure, recumbency, butorphanol a...
Jaramillo-Morales C, Gomez DE, Renaud D, Arroyo LG.The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of S. equi in a horse population in Colombia, to determine the risk factors associated with its detection in the guttural pouches and to report the antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates. Fifteen farms and 137 horses >6 months of age were enrolled. Sampling was randomly, stratified and proportional to the population size of each farm. The guttural pouch (GP) was swabbed via endoscopic guidance and culture was performed. DNA extraction and conventional PCR were performed in colonies compatibles with S. equi, the PCR products we...
Shrestha M, Solé M, Ducro BJ, Sundquist M, Thomas R, Schurink A, Eriksson S, Lindgren G.Equine insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is a pruritic skin allergy caused primarily by biting midges, Culicoides spp. IBH susceptibility has polygenic inheritance and occurs at high frequencies in several horse breeds worldwide, causing increased costs and reduced welfare of affected horses. The aim of this study was to identify and validate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with equine IBH susceptibility. After quality control, 33,523 SNPs were included in a Bayesian genome-wide association study on 177 affected and 178 unaffected Icelandic horses. We report associated regio...
Cocco P, Satta G, D'Andrea I, Nonne T, Udas G, Zucca M, Mannetje A', Becker N, Sanjosé Sd, Foretova L, Staines A, Maynadié M, Nieters A, Brennan P....We explored the risk of lymphoma and its most prevalent subtypes associated with occupational contact with livestock, and whether risk was modified by age at first contact, in 2,348 incident lymphoma cases and 2,462 controls who participated in the EPILYMPH case-control study. A detailed occupational history was collected in cases and controls, including working in a livestock farm, species of livestock, its approximate number and circumstances of contact. For each disease outcome, and each type of livestock, odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using un...
Mullen KR, Rivera BN, Tidwell LG, Ivanek R, Anderson KA, Ainsworth DM.Studies of neonatal health risks of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) have not included comprehensive assessments of environmental chemical exposures. We investigated a clustering of dysphagic cases in neonatal foals born between 2014 and 2016 in an area of active UNGD in Pennsylvania (PA),USA. We evaluated equine biological data and environmental exposures on the affected PA farm and an unaffected New York (NY) farm owned by the same proprietor. Dams either spent their entire gestation on one farm or moved to the other farm in late gestation. Over the 21-month study period, physic...
Beisser AL, McClure S, Wang C, Soring K, Garrison R, Peckham B.To determine the incidence of and compare the types of catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMIs) sustained in Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses during racing at 3 Midwestern racetracks from 2000 to 2006. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: 139 Thoroughbred and 50 Quarter Horse racehorses euthanized because of CMIs. Methods: Veterinary officials from 3 Midwestern racing jurisdictions provided injury reports for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses that sustained CMIs (which required euthanasia) and the total number of race starts for each year. The number of CMIs/1,000 starts was determ...
Brunsting JY, Pille FJ, Oosterlinck M, Haspeslagh M, Wilderjans HC.To determine the incidence of infection and associated risk factors, after elective arthroscopy. Methods: Retrospective case study. Methods: Horses (n=1079) undergoing elective arthroscopy. Methods: Medical records of all horses that underwent elective arthroscopy between 2006 and 2013 were reviewed. Age, gender, breed, surgeon, number of joints operated, total anesthetic time, perioperative antimicrobial administration, and the presence and size of osteochondral fragments/subchondral lesions were recorded. For each operated joint, the development of postoperative infection (surgical site infe...
Welsh CE, Lewis TW, Blott SC, Mellor DJ, Lam KH, Stewart BD, Parkin TD.A retrospective cohort study of important musculoskeletal conditions of Thoroughbred racehorses was conducted using health records generated over a 15 year period (n=5062, 1296 sires). The prevalence of each condition in the study population was: fracture, 13%; osteoarthritis, 10%; suspensory ligament injury, 10%; and tendon injury, 19%. Linear and logistic sire and animal regression models were built to describe the binary occurrence of these musculoskeletal conditions, and to evaluate the significance of possible environmental risk factors. The heritability of each condition was estimated us...
Page AE, Adam E, Arthur R, Barker V, Franklin F, Friedman R, Grande T, Hardy M, Howard B, Partridge E, Rutledge M, Scollay M, Stewart JC, Vale A....The ability to identify horses at risk for catastrophic injuries continues to be a pressing issue for the racing industry, especially given recent events in North America. Objective: Since most catastrophic injuries occur in areas of existing pathology and this pathology is likely to elicit an inflammatory response, it was hypothesised that analysis of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression would detect significant changes in select genes in horses at risk for a catastrophic injury. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Methods: Five racing jurisdictions across the United States participated in this stu...
Paris A, Beccati F, Pepe M.To report the type, prevalence, and risk factors for the development of orthopedic injuries in endurance horses. Methods: 235 endurance horses. Methods: Medical records of horses examined between January 2007 and December 2018 were reviewed. Recorded data were birth; breed; sex; dates of first and last examinations; presence of any conformation fault, lameness, positive flexion test result, and orthopedic injury; starts in endurance competitions; level of athletic activity; professional status of trainer or rider; and whether an orthopedic injury developed in > 1 limb or during or within 2 day...
Thomas SJ, de Solis CN, Coleman MC.Equine asthma is a common condition in horses, for which few host-related risk factors have been identified. The objective of this study was to identify host-related risk factors for the development of equine asthma. A retrospective, case-control study was performed, utilizing horses presented to the Texas A&M University, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital from January 2014 December 2018. Incident cases of mild to severe equine asthma (n = 37), diagnosed clinically with cytologic support of disease were examined. For each case, two control populations were identified, including one tem...
Morrice-West AV, Hitchens PL, Walmsley EA, Tasker K, Lim SL, Smith AD, Whitton RC.Fatigue life (FL) is the number of cycles of load sustained by a material before failure, and is dependent on the load magnitude. For athletes, 'cycles' translates to number of strides, with load proportional to speed. To improve previous investigations estimating workload from distance, we used speed (m/s, x) per stride collected using 5 Hz GPS/800 Hz accelerometer sensors as a proxy for limb load to investigate factors associated with FL in a Thoroughbred race start model over 25,234 race starts, using a combination of mathematical and regression modelling. Fore-limb vertical force (NKg) w...
Patipa LA, Sherlock CE, Witte SH, Pirie GD, Berghaus RD, Peroni JF.To evaluate the incidence of colic and risk factors for colic in equids hospitalized for ocular disease. Methods: Retrospective observational study. Animals-337 equids (317 horses, 19 ponies, and 1 donkey) hospitalized for ocular disease. Methods: Medical records of equids hospitalized for > 24 hours for treatment of ocular disease between January 1997 and December 2008 were reviewed. Information from only the first hospitalization was used for equids that were hospitalized for ocular disease on more than 1 occasion. Information gathered included the signalment, the type of ocular lesion and t...
