Salivary cortisol is a biomarker used to assess stress and physiological responses in horses. It is a glucocorticoid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex and is released into the bloodstream in response to stressors, with measurable levels detectable in saliva. The non-invasive collection of saliva makes it a practical method for evaluating cortisol levels in equine studies. Salivary cortisol is utilized in research to explore stress-related conditions, welfare assessments, and the effects of training or environmental changes on horses. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the measurement, variability, and implications of salivary cortisol in equine health and behavior.
Ekici S, Ozmen O.The active roles of microribonucleic acids (miRNAs) in gene regulation have made miRNAs a key point for the scientific world in the study of physiological processes. Although saliva includes the largest number of miRNAs, there is no miRNA study in saliva on horses has been found. Our study is the first study on miRNAs isolation from saliva in horses. In the present study, saliva was studied in Arabian racehorses to better understand the molecular mechanisms of expression levels that are effective in lipid metabolism of miRNAs and their target genes during the race. Identification of lipid meta...
Sauer FJ, Gerber V, Frei S, Bruckmaier RM, Groessl M.The aim of the present study was to measure salivary cortisol concentrations of horses before and after hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stimulation by means of liquid chromatography-tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and an immunoassay (cELISA) for method comparison. Nine clinically healthy horses participated in the study. An ACTH stimulation test was performed. Saliva samples were collected before (T0) and 60 (T60) min after intravenous injection of 1 μg/kg BW synthetic ACTH1-24. LC-MS/MS was assessed for the determination of equine salivary cortisol. The results of these measur...
Christensen JW, Bathellier S, Rhodin M, Palme R, Uldahl M.Recent studies have reported significant alterations in horse physiological and gait parameters when exposed to increased rider weight during moderate to high intensity exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of increased rider weight (+15% and +25% of the regular rider's bodyweight) on horse behavioral, physiological and gait symmetry parameters during a standard dressage test. Twenty rider-horse equipages performed the same test three times in a randomized, crossover design. Salivary cortisol (SC), heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), behavior and gait symmetry (GS) were ...
Nagel C, Melchert M, Aurich J, Aurich C.Cortisol is involved in the initiation of parturition and we hypothesized that increased maternal cortisol release advances the onset of foaling. Transport is a stressor for horses and induces an increase in cortisol release. To determine stress effects on the time of foaling, late-pregnant mares were transported by road for 3 hours (n = 12) or remained in their stable as controls (n = 4). Starting on day 325 of gestation, saliva and blood samples were taken for cortisol and progestin analysis, respectively. Fetomaternal electrocardiograms were recorded repeatedly. Mares were checked for im...
Sauer FJ, Hermann M, Ramseyer A, Burger D, Riemer S, Gerber V.Sport horses need to fulfill high physical and psychological requirements during training and competition. These as well as certain conditions of modern husbandry may affect their wellbeing. Here we aimed to (1) evaluate effects of demographic and management factors as well as personality traits on stress reactivity of sport horses, (2) investigate if elite sport horses have elevated stress levels compared to amateur sport horses, and (3) assess whether different equestrian disciplines differentially influence equine adrenal cortex responsiveness. For this purpose, we visited 149 healthy elite...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, Henry S, Coste C, Tecles F, Escribano D, Cerón JJ, Hausberger M.Acute stress induces an array of behavioural reactions in horses that vary between individuals. Attempts to relate behavioural patterns and physiological responses have not always given clear-cut results. Here, we measured the changes in a panel of salivary components: salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), lipase, total esterase (TEA), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), adenosine deaminase (ADA), and cortisol, and their potential link with horses' behaviours after acute stress. Saliva samples were collected in nine riding horses subjected to a test consisting of opening an umbrella. Saliva sampling was obt...
Melchert M, Aurich C, Aurich J, Gautier C, Nagel C.Stress at foaling has been demonstrated to delay birth. In this study, we followed the hypothesis that even a short delay of foaling increases catecholamine and cortisol release in foals, induces acidosis and impairs neonatal adaptation. Foaling was prolonged for 5 min by transferring mares to an unfamiliar environment at rupture of the allantochorion (group delay, n = 6) while control mares (n = 5) were left undisturbed. In their foals, times from birth to first standing and first suckling, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol concentration were analysed. B...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, Escribano D, MartÃnez-Subiela S, MartÃn-Cuervo M, Lamy E, Tecles F, Cerón JJ.The biochemical components of saliva can change in certain pathologies in horses, for example in acute abdominal disease. The aim of this study was (1) to evaluate if a panel of biochemical analytes usually used in serum can be measured in saliva of horses and (2) to study the possible changes of these biochemical analytes in saliva of horses affected by acute abdominal disease. A panel of 23 analytes was analytically validated in saliva of horses and possible changes in these analytes in a pilot study with six healthy horses and six horses with acute abdominal disease were evaluated. The anal...
Bonelli F, Rota A, Aurich C, Ille N, Camillo F, Panzani D, Sgorbini M.Salivary cortisol provides information about free plasma cortisol concentration, and salivary sampling is a noninvasive well-tolerated procedure. The aim of this study was to validate a commercial enzyme immunoassay for the determination of salivary cortisol in donkeys. Saliva samples were collected in four donkey stallions on 13 nonconsecutive days at 8:30 AM to avoid circadian variation. Animals were already accustomed to be handled. Saliva was collected using a swab inserted at the angle of the lips, placed onto the tongue for 1Â minute and returned into a polypropylene tube. Tubes were cen...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, MartÃnez-Subiela S, Cerón JJ, MartÃn-Cuervo M, Tecles F, Escribano D.Salivary biomarkers could be useful to objectively evaluate critical illness and prognosis for survival in horses with acute abdominal disease. Objective: To compare salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity and concentration in healthy horses and horses with acute abdominal disease, and evaluate the association between sAA activity and concentration with disease severity and outcome. Methods: A prospective cohort. Methods: sAA activity, measured using a colorimetric commercial kit, and concentration, measured using a Time-resolved immunofluorometric assay, in 25 healthy horses and in 33 horses wi...
Pendry P, Carr AM, Vandagriff JL.This study examined associations between adolescents' ( = 59; = 11.63) diurnal and momentary activity of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis as marked by salivary cortisol, and affective and behavioral responses to their first, mounted equine assisted learning (EAL) activity. The introduction to riding occurred during the fifth week of an 11-week EAL program for at-risk and typically developing adolescents. Before the 11-week program began, participants collected 6 salivary cortisol samples at prescribed times (wakeup, 4 p.m., bedtime) over 2 days, from which indices of diurnal cor...
Burton LE, Qeadan F, Burge MR.Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and debilitating disorder among war veterans. Although complementary and alternative therapies are gaining acceptance in the treatment of PTSD, the efficacy of animal-based therapies in this disorder is unknown. The goal of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is to improve the social, emotional, and/or cognitive functions of individuals with PTSD. Objective: This study aims to explore the effects of EAP on PTSD symptoms. We hypothesized that veterans with PTSD who participate in a standardized EAP program for 1 h per week for 6 weeks would exp...
Rowland AL, Navas de Solis C, Lepiz MA, Cummings KJ, Watts AE.Bone marrow is commonly collected from horses for regenerative medicine applications. Little information is available regarding pain experienced by the horse during bone marrow aspiration. The objective of this study was to characterize horse reaction and pain response during bone marrow aspiration (BMA) compared to a sham (SHAM) procedure. We hypothesized there would be significantly greater horse reaction or pain response measured by salivary cortisol, heart rate variability, and depth and duration of sedation between BMA and SHAM. Twelve university owned horses underwent a BMA and sham proc...
Sauer FJ, Bruckmaier RM, Ramseyer A, Vidondo B, Scheidegger MD, Gerber V.The aims of this study were to better characterize the adrenal response to i.v. adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in horses with and without gastric disease and to validate and simplify the ACTH stimulation test by determining the diagnostic accuracy of six consecutive sampling time points after ACTH administration for equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) and equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD). Twenty-six endurance and eventing horses without clinical disease [Sport Horse Population (SHP)] and an independent population of 62 horses [General Population (GP)] were grouped by gastroscopic...
Schwinn AC, Sauer FJ, Gerber V, Bruckmaier RM, Gross JJ.Cortisol levels reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity. While most plasma cortisol is supposed to be bound to the soluble corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), only free cortisol (FC) actively regulates metabolic and immunological processes. We aimed to establish a multispecies suitable method to assess FC in cows and horses which in combination with total cortisol (TC) allows interpreting proportional changes of cortisol in saliva as well as in blood in response to a standardized HPA axis activation via ACTH. We further investigated if the ratios of cortisol fracti...
Müller TM, Hopster K, Bienert-Zeit A, Rohn K, Kästner SBR.Standing surgery, especially dental procedures, are commonly performed in horses. This leads to an increasing demand for reliable sedation protocols. Therefore, it was the purpose of this study to investigate the influence of butorphanol, midazolam or ketamine on romifidine based sedation in horses during cheek tooth removal. Methods: Forty horses presented for tooth extraction were divided in four groups using matched pair randomization. Group R was sedated with romifidine (bolus 0.03 mg/kg, followed by a constant rate infusion (CRI) 0.05 mg/kg/h) and group RB with romifidine (same dose) an...
Scheidegger MD, Gerber V, Bruckmaier RM, van der Kolk JH, Burger D, Ramseyer A.This study tested the hypothesis that adrenocortical function would be altered in horses with equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS). Twenty-six sport horses competing at national or international levels in eventing (n=15) or endurance (n=11) were subjected to a gastroscopic examination and an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test. Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured before (baseline) and after (30, 60, 90, 120 and 150min) IV ACTH injection (1μg/kg bodyweight). Within EGUS, two distinct diseases, equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) and equine glandular gastric diseas...
Rota A, Sgorbini M, Panzani D, Bonelli F, Baragli P, Ille N, Gatta D, Sighieri C, Casini L, Maggiorelli MM, Aurich C, Camillo F.Reproductive management of male donkeys employed for artificial breeding has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of housing system, with the animals grouped together in a paddock or kept in individual boxes, on sexual behaviour, cortisol and testosterone concentration and seminal characteristics of adult male donkeys. The study included four Amiata donkey jacks (stallions) from which ejaculates, saliva and blood were collected during two distinct 3Â weeks periods, one in the group and one in the box housing system. Time needed for semen collection was shorter ...
Campbell MLH, Hampshire D, Hamstead LE, Rose BV, Smith KC, de Mestre AM.Intrauterine infusion of peanut oil at Day 10 post-ovulation has been reported to prolong dioestrus in mares. However, the effects of peanut oil treatment on the endometrium and whether the technique is painful have not been assessed. The objectives of this study were, (i) to determine the effect of intrauterine infusion of peanut oil on endometrial health, (ii) to determine whether use of intrauterine peanut oil is painful and (iii) to confirm that peanut oil causes prolonged dioestrus. Six mares aged 3-12 years old were used in a cross-over design with each mare administered both 1Â ml of in...
Munk R, Jensen RB, Palme R, Munksgaard L, Christensen JW.The main objective of this explorative study was to describe the relationship between competition scores and salivary cortisol concentrations in young horses during dressage and showjumping competitions. The study also investigated whether the diurnal rhythm of salivary cortisol concentrations was affected by competition over consecutive days compared with the home environment. Saliva samples were collected from 126 dressage horses and showjumpers in their home environment and at 3 different events. The relationship between scores given by judges at the competition and cortisol concentrations ...
Mercer-Bowyer S, Kersey DC, Bertone JJ.OBJECTIVE To use noninvasive approaches to assess stress in New York City (NYC) carriage horses during the course of their daily routine to determine whether use of these horses affected their well-being. DESIGN Prospective case control study. ANIMALS 13 (5 mares and 8 geldings) stabled working NYC carriage horses and 5 pastured (nonworking) NYC carriage horses (1 mare and 4 geldings). PROCEDURES Samples for determination of fecal glucocorticoid and salivary cortisol concentrations were collected on 3 successive days from 10, 8, and 9 working carriage horses during rest (time 1), preparation f...
Nagel C, Trenk L, Wulf M, Ille N, Aurich J, Aurich C.In mares, foaling is associated with changes in hematology, plasma electrolytes, blood pressure and heart rate and it has been hypothesized that these are induced by oxytocin. To test this hypothesis, mares (n = 8-14/group) were treated with oxytocin (OT; 20 I.U.) or saline (CON) at 1 h (test A) and 12 h after foaling (test B) and during first postpartum diestrus (test C). Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), atrioventricular blocks, salivary cortisol concentration, blood pressure, plasma electrolytes and blood count were determined. Heart rate decreased from test A to C (P < 0.001)...
Lightbody KL, Davis PJ, Austin CJ.Tapeworm infections pose a significant threat to equine health as they are associated with clinical cases of colic. Diagnosis of tapeworm burden using fecal egg counts (FECs) is unreliable, and, although a commercial serologic ELISA for anti-tapeworm antibodies is available, it requires a veterinarian to collect the blood sample. A reliable diagnostic test using an owner-accessible sample such as saliva could provide a cost-effective alternative for tapeworm testing in horses, and allow targeted deworming strategies. Objective: The purpose of the study was to statistically validate a saliva ta...
Scheidegger MD, Gerber V, Ramseyer A, Schüpbach-Regula G, Bruckmaier RM, van der Kolk JH.The aim of this study was to further characterize the ACTH stimulation test as reflected by salivary cortisol response and to measure the short- and long-term repeatability of it in healthy horses as a tool to assess the capacity of the adrenal cortex to secrete cortisol. Nineteen healthy horses were subjected to 3 ACTH stimulation tests. Intervals were 2 wk and 5 mo between the first and second and the second and third tests, respectively. A dose of 1-μg/kg BW synthetic ACTH was injected intravenously. Saliva samples were collected at baseline and at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 min afte...
Kang OD, Yun YM.The present study aims to confirm the influence of a horse-riding lesson program (HRLP) on the stress level of horses and riders by respectively analyzing their salivary cortisol concentration. Twenty-four healthy horses and 23 riders participated in this study. The horses were randomly classified into two groups for the horse riding lesson program: Class 1 (for the beginner lesson) and Class 2 (for the intermediate lesson). The Class 1 group consisted of 12 horses and 12 riders, while the Class 2 group consisted of 12 horses and 11 riders. Salivettes cotton wool swabs were used for saliva col...
Müller TM, Hopster K, Bienert-Zeit A, Rohn K, Kästner SBR.Standing surgery, especially dental procedures, are commonly performed in horses. This leads to an increasing demand for reliable sedation protocols. Therefore, it was the purpose of this study to investigate the influence of butorphanol, midazolam or ketamine on romifidine based sedation in horses during cheek tooth removal. Methods: Forty horses presented for tooth extraction were divided in four groups using matched pair randomization. Group R was sedated with romifidine (bolus 0.03 mg/kg, followed by a constant rate infusion (CRI) 0.05 mg/kg/h) and group RB with romifidine (same dose) an...
Bonelli F, Rota A, Aurich C, Ille N, Camillo F, Panzani D, Sgorbini M.Salivary cortisol provides information about free plasma cortisol concentration, and salivary sampling is a noninvasive well-tolerated procedure. The aim of this study was to validate a commercial enzyme immunoassay for the determination of salivary cortisol in donkeys. Saliva samples were collected in four donkey stallions on 13 nonconsecutive days at 8:30 AM to avoid circadian variation. Animals were already accustomed to be handled. Saliva was collected using a swab inserted at the angle of the lips, placed onto the tongue for 1Â minute and returned into a polypropylene tube. Tubes were cen...
Janczarek I, Stachurska A, Kędzierski W, Wiśniewska A, Ryżak M, Kozioł A.Predatory attacks on horses can become a problem in some parts of the world, particularly when considering the recovering gray wolf populations. The issue studied was whether horses transformed by humans and placed in stable-pasture environments had retained their natural abilities to respond to predation risk. The objective of the study was to determine the changes in cardiac activity, cortisol concentrations, and behavior of horses in response to the vocalizations of two predators: the gray wolf (Canis lupus), which the horses of the breed studied had coevolved with but not been exposed to r...
Smiet E, Van Dierendonck MC, Sleutjens J, Menheere PP, van Breda E, de Boer D, Back W, Wijnberg ID, van der Kolk JH.Different head-and-neck positions (HNPs) are discussed in relation to potential welfare issues. To evaluate the effect on welfare, seven Royal Dutch Sport horses were studied in five predetermined HNPs: (1) unrestrained (HNP1); (2) neck raised, bridge of nose around the vertical (HNP2); (3) neck lowered and considerably flexed, bridge of nose pointing towards the chest (HNP4); (4) neck raised and extended, bridge of nose in front of the vertical (HNP5), and (5) neck lowered and flexed, bridge of nose pointing towards the carpus (HNP7). A standardised exercise test (SET) of 34 min consisted o...
Franco C, Paris JJ, Wulfert E, Frye CA.Prevalence rates of gambling are influenced by gender. Among normative populations, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress is affected by gender. However, pathological, compared to recreational, gamblers demonstrate perturbations in HPA activation in response to gambling stimuli. We examined whether there were gender differences in HPA response to gambling in a naturalistic setting among horse-race bettors and scratch-off lottery bettors. Salivary cortisol was collected from horse-race gamblers (n=32) and scratch-off lottery ticket players (n=39) before and after (0, 10, ...
Erber R, Wulf M, Rose-Meierhöfer S, Becker-Birck M, Möstl E, Aurich J, Hoffmann G, Aurich C.In this study, effects of weaning on behavioral and physiological stress parameters in young horses (foals) were determined. Foals were weaned either simultaneously without the presence of adult horses (group A, n = 6), or in the presence of two adult females familiar but unrelated to the foals (group B, n = 5), or weaned consecutively by removing two mother horses per day (group C, n = 6). Behavior, locomotion, salivary cortisol concentration, beat-to-beat (RR) interval, heart rate variability (HRV) and weight were determined. Group A foals lost weight for 2 days (mean ± SEM) - 8.3Â...
Nagel C, Erber R, Ille N, von Lewinski M, Aurich J, Möstl E, Aurich C.External and internal stressors prolong parturition in different species. At parturition, sympathoadrenal activation should be avoided because an increased sympathetic tone may cause uterine atonia via β2-receptors. We hypothesized that at physiological parturition, horses are under parasympathetic dominance, and stress-response mechanisms are not activated during delivery of the foal. To evaluate stress responses, heart rate, heart rate variability, catecholamines, and cortisol were analyzed in mares (n = 17) throughout foaling. Heart rate decreased from 2 hours before (51 ± 1 beats/minute)...
Nagel C, Melchert M, Aurich J, Aurich C.Cortisol is involved in the initiation of parturition and we hypothesized that increased maternal cortisol release advances the onset of foaling. Transport is a stressor for horses and induces an increase in cortisol release. To determine stress effects on the time of foaling, late-pregnant mares were transported by road for 3 hours (n = 12) or remained in their stable as controls (n = 4). Starting on day 325 of gestation, saliva and blood samples were taken for cortisol and progestin analysis, respectively. Fetomaternal electrocardiograms were recorded repeatedly. Mares were checked for im...
Schwinn AC, Sauer FJ, Gerber V, Bruckmaier RM, Gross JJ.Cortisol levels reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity. While most plasma cortisol is supposed to be bound to the soluble corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), only free cortisol (FC) actively regulates metabolic and immunological processes. We aimed to establish a multispecies suitable method to assess FC in cows and horses which in combination with total cortisol (TC) allows interpreting proportional changes of cortisol in saliva as well as in blood in response to a standardized HPA axis activation via ACTH. We further investigated if the ratios of cortisol fracti...
Munk R, Jensen RB, Palme R, Munksgaard L, Christensen JW.The main objective of this explorative study was to describe the relationship between competition scores and salivary cortisol concentrations in young horses during dressage and showjumping competitions. The study also investigated whether the diurnal rhythm of salivary cortisol concentrations was affected by competition over consecutive days compared with the home environment. Saliva samples were collected from 126 dressage horses and showjumpers in their home environment and at 3 different events. The relationship between scores given by judges at the competition and cortisol concentrations ...
Pasing S, von Lewinski M, Wulf M, Erber R, Aurich C.The aim of this study was to evaluate the stress response of stallions (n = 16) aged 3-13 years with previous sexual experience to semen collection by determination of heart rate, heart rate variability, and cortisol in saliva. Recordings were done on two consecutive days. The time intervals from leaving the box until arrival in the collection barn and from first exposure to the teaser mare until ejaculation as well as the number of mounts until ejaculation were neither affected by collection day nor by age, sexual experience (i.e., the number of breeding seasons the stallion experienced), or ...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, MartÃnez-Subiela S, Cerón JJ, MartÃn-Cuervo M, Tecles F, Escribano D.Salivary biomarkers could be useful to objectively evaluate critical illness and prognosis for survival in horses with acute abdominal disease. Objective: To compare salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity and concentration in healthy horses and horses with acute abdominal disease, and evaluate the association between sAA activity and concentration with disease severity and outcome. Methods: A prospective cohort. Methods: sAA activity, measured using a colorimetric commercial kit, and concentration, measured using a Time-resolved immunofluorometric assay, in 25 healthy horses and in 33 horses wi...
Burton LE, Qeadan F, Burge MR.Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and debilitating disorder among war veterans. Although complementary and alternative therapies are gaining acceptance in the treatment of PTSD, the efficacy of animal-based therapies in this disorder is unknown. The goal of equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is to improve the social, emotional, and/or cognitive functions of individuals with PTSD. Objective: This study aims to explore the effects of EAP on PTSD symptoms. We hypothesized that veterans with PTSD who participate in a standardized EAP program for 1 h per week for 6 weeks would exp...
Rota A, Sgorbini M, Panzani D, Bonelli F, Baragli P, Ille N, Gatta D, Sighieri C, Casini L, Maggiorelli MM, Aurich C, Camillo F.Reproductive management of male donkeys employed for artificial breeding has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of housing system, with the animals grouped together in a paddock or kept in individual boxes, on sexual behaviour, cortisol and testosterone concentration and seminal characteristics of adult male donkeys. The study included four Amiata donkey jacks (stallions) from which ejaculates, saliva and blood were collected during two distinct 3Â weeks periods, one in the group and one in the box housing system. Time needed for semen collection was shorter ...
Janczarek I, Bereznowski A, Strzelec K.The aim of the study was to define the influence of the selected factors (gender, age, transportation time, riding distance and air temperature during the ride) on the cortisol secretion and finding a correlation between the hormone level and the horses' sport results (veterinary parameters and the ride route parameters). The research was performed on 38 Arabian pure breed horses taking part in the endurance rides. The cortisol level was measured with enzyme-immunological method in saliva samples, taken four times from each horse. In order to verify the differences between the mean results the...
Muñoz-Prieto A, Contreras-Aguilar MD, Cerón JJ, Ayala de la Peña I, MartÃn-Cuervo M, Eckersall PD, Holm Henriksen IM, Tecles F, Hansen S.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a highly prevalent disease that affects horses worldwide. Within EGUS, two different forms have been described: equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) and equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD). The associated clinical signs cause detrimental activity performance, reducing the quality of life of animals. Saliva can contain biomarkers for EGUS that could be potentially used as a complementary tool for diagnosis. The objective of this work was to evaluate the measurements of calprotectin (CALP) and aldolase in the saliva of horses as potential biomarkers ...
Kang OD, Yun YM.The present study aims to confirm the influence of a horse-riding lesson program (HRLP) on the stress level of horses and riders by respectively analyzing their salivary cortisol concentration. Twenty-four healthy horses and 23 riders participated in this study. The horses were randomly classified into two groups for the horse riding lesson program: Class 1 (for the beginner lesson) and Class 2 (for the intermediate lesson). The Class 1 group consisted of 12 horses and 12 riders, while the Class 2 group consisted of 12 horses and 11 riders. Salivettes cotton wool swabs were used for saliva col...
Christensen JW, Bathellier S, Rhodin M, Palme R, Uldahl M.Recent studies have reported significant alterations in horse physiological and gait parameters when exposed to increased rider weight during moderate to high intensity exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of increased rider weight (+15% and +25% of the regular rider's bodyweight) on horse behavioral, physiological and gait symmetry parameters during a standard dressage test. Twenty rider-horse equipages performed the same test three times in a randomized, crossover design. Salivary cortisol (SC), heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), behavior and gait symmetry (GS) were ...
Contreras-Aguilar MD, Lamy E, Escribano D, Cerón JJ, Tecles F, Quiles AJ, Hevia ML.This study aims to evaluate the circadian and circannual variations in a panel of analytes in horse saliva that have been previously described as biomarkers related to stress and disease, in order to interpret them correctly when they are measured in this species. This panel of analytes integrated cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), lipase (Lip), total esterase (TEA), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), adenosine deaminase (ADA), γ-glutamyl transferase (gGT), creatine kinase (CK), urea, total bilirubin, total protein (TP), and phosphorus. These analytes were measured in saliva obtained from a p...
Sauer FJ, Hermann M, Ramseyer A, Burger D, Riemer S, Gerber V.Sport horses need to fulfill high physical and psychological requirements during training and competition. These as well as certain conditions of modern husbandry may affect their wellbeing. Here we aimed to (1) evaluate effects of demographic and management factors as well as personality traits on stress reactivity of sport horses, (2) investigate if elite sport horses have elevated stress levels compared to amateur sport horses, and (3) assess whether different equestrian disciplines differentially influence equine adrenal cortex responsiveness. For this purpose, we visited 149 healthy elite...
Holtby AR, McGivney BA, Browne JA, Katz LM, Murphy KJ, Hill EW.Thoroughbred horses are bred for competitive racing and undergo intense training regimes. The maintenance of physical soundness and desirable behavioural characteristics are critical to the longevity of a racing career. Horses intended for Flat racing generally enter training as yearlings and undergo introductory training prior to exercise conditioning for racing. This period requires rapid adjustment to a novel environment. As a prey animal, a horse's 'fight-or-flight' response is highly adapted, in which a well-understood component of this response, the hypothalamic-pituitary-axis, is activa...
Pendry P, Carr AM, Vandagriff JL.This study examined associations between adolescents' ( = 59; = 11.63) diurnal and momentary activity of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis as marked by salivary cortisol, and affective and behavioral responses to their first, mounted equine assisted learning (EAL) activity. The introduction to riding occurred during the fifth week of an 11-week EAL program for at-risk and typically developing adolescents. Before the 11-week program began, participants collected 6 salivary cortisol samples at prescribed times (wakeup, 4 p.m., bedtime) over 2 days, from which indices of diurnal cor...
Muñoz-Prieto A, Escribano D, Contreras-Aguilar MD, Horvatić A, Guillemin N, Jacobsen S, Cerón JJ, Mrljak V.The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the salivary proteome in horses with acute abdominal disease (AAD) using a tandem mass tags (TMT)-based proteomic approach. The saliva samples from eight horses with AAD were compared with six healthy horses in the proteomic study. Additionally, saliva samples from eight horses with AAD and eight controls were used to validate lactoferrin (LF) in saliva. The TMT analysis quantified 118 proteins. Of these, 17 differed significantly between horses with AAD and the healthy controls, 11 being downregulated and 6 upregulated. Our results showe...
Nagel C, Trenk L, Wulf M, Ille N, Aurich J, Aurich C.In mares, foaling is associated with changes in hematology, plasma electrolytes, blood pressure and heart rate and it has been hypothesized that these are induced by oxytocin. To test this hypothesis, mares (n = 8-14/group) were treated with oxytocin (OT; 20 I.U.) or saline (CON) at 1 h (test A) and 12 h after foaling (test B) and during first postpartum diestrus (test C). Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), atrioventricular blocks, salivary cortisol concentration, blood pressure, plasma electrolytes and blood count were determined. Heart rate decreased from test A to C (P < 0.001)...
Baumgartner M, Erhard MH, Zeitler-Feicht MH.Automated feeding systems offer numerous advantages for animals and humans, but the associated benefits and risks can often only be seen under practical conditions. The space allowance (~80 cm per horse) at time-controlled hay racks for horses in group housing, unlike at partitioned feeding stands or transponder-controlled feed stations, currently falls below the required individual distance between the horses, which can result in a high level of aggression between the horses due to the lack of partitions between them. Hence, a feed-through at a time-controlled hay rack cannot be equated with ...
Mercer-Bowyer S, Kersey DC, Bertone JJ.OBJECTIVE To use noninvasive approaches to assess stress in New York City (NYC) carriage horses during the course of their daily routine to determine whether use of these horses affected their well-being. DESIGN Prospective case control study. ANIMALS 13 (5 mares and 8 geldings) stabled working NYC carriage horses and 5 pastured (nonworking) NYC carriage horses (1 mare and 4 geldings). PROCEDURES Samples for determination of fecal glucocorticoid and salivary cortisol concentrations were collected on 3 successive days from 10, 8, and 9 working carriage horses during rest (time 1), preparation f...
