Statistical analysis in equine research involves the application of mathematical techniques to collect, review, and interpret data related to horse health, behavior, and performance. This field encompasses a variety of methods, including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and multivariate analysis, to identify patterns, test hypotheses, and draw conclusions from equine data. Statistical analysis aids in understanding various aspects of equine science, such as disease prevalence, treatment efficacy, genetic traits, and performance metrics. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, applications, and outcomes of statistical analysis in the context of equine studies.
Kuhnke S, König von Borstel U.The present study aimed to assess an agreement between established and novel methods to determine laterality and to identify the distribution of laterality in warmbloods and Thoroughbreds. Nine different methods to investigate a horses' laterality outside a riding context and during riding were compared across two groups of horses (sample A: 67 warmblood- type horses, sample B: 61 Thoroughbreds). Agreement between any two methods was assessed by calculating Cohen's kappa with McNemar's test or Bowker's Test of Symmetry, and the deviation from equal distributions was assessed with chi2-tests. C...
Carvalho JRG, Trindade PHE, Conde G, Antonioli ML, Funnicelli MIG, Dias PP, Canola PA, Chinelatto MA, Ferraz GC.Facial-expression-based analysis has been widely applied as a pain coding system in horses. Herein, we aimed to identify pain in horses undergoing subcutaneously polylactide-based polymer implantation. The sham group was submitted only to surgical incision. The horses were filmed before and 24 and 48 h after implantation. Five statistical methods for evaluating their facial expressions (FEs) were tested. Primarily, three levels of scores (0, 1, and 2) were applied to the seven FEs (ear movements, eyebrow tension, orbicularis tension, dilated nostrils, eye opening, muzzle tension, and masticato...
Guerri G, Palozzo A, Straticò P, Varasano V, Celani G, Di Francesco P, Vignoli M, Petrizzi L.(1) Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) employs an ultrasound impulse to produce transversely oriented shear waves, which travel through the surrounding tissue according to the stiffness of the tissue itself. The study aimed to assess the reliability of 2D-SWE for evaluating the elastosonographic appearance of the distal attachment of the fetlock joint capsule (DJC) in sound horses and in horses with osteoarthritis (OA) (2). According to a thorough evaluation of metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ), adult horses were divided in a sound Group (H) and in OA Group (P). Thereafter, a 2D-S...
Gmel AI, Burren A, Neuditschko M.Conformation traits such as joint angles are important selection criteria in equine breeding, but mainly consist of subjective evaluation scores given by breeding judges, showing limited variation. The horse shape space model extracts shape data from 246 landmarks (LM) and objective joint angle measurements from triplets of LM on standardized horse photographs. The heritability was estimated for 10 joint angles (seven were measured twice with different LM placements), and relative warp components of the whole shape, in 608 Franches-Montagnes (FM) horses (480 stallions, 68 mares and 60 geldings...
La Rosa L, Twele L, Duchateau L, Gasthuys F, Kästner SB, Schauvliege S.A bolus of 50 mg kg MgSO (treatment Mg) or the same volume of saline (treatment S) was infused over 15 minutes in 5 adult healthy horses. T0 was the end of the infusion. Physiological parameters were recorded throughout the study period. Measurements of electrical, thermal, and mechanical nociceptive thresholds were performed at the pelvic limbs at baseline (before T0), and at specific timepoints. Blood samples were taken at fixed timepoints before, during and until 12 hours after the infusion. For statistical analysis, the 95% confidence intervals (CI's) for the differences in nociceptive th...
Wobbe M, Reinhardt F, Reents R, Tetens J, Stock KF.Awareness of breeders of Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) increased after a widely discussed case in the USA in 2018. The hereditary connective tissue disorder, first described by a US research group in 2011 and for which a commercial genetic test exists since 2013, is caused by a point mutation in the PLOD1 gene, inherited autosomal recessively. Extension of molecular genetic testing and reporting of test results of organized horse breeders to their studbooks implies new opportunities for analyses. In Germany, data are centrally accessible through the integrated equine data base allowin...
Aragona F, Di Pietro S, Arfuso F, Fazio F, Piccione G, Giudice E, Giannetto C.The aim of the present study was to investigate the response to physical exercise of some ocular physiological variables (ocular temperature and intraocular pressure) in horses performing a jumping course in the morning (a.m.) or in the afternoon hours (p.m.), before and after the exercise, in correlation with the rectal temperature. Data collection was carried out on 14 clinical healthy Italian saddle horses. All horses were trained from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. and from 19:00 to 20:00 p.m. according to a specific training program. Ocular temperature (OT), rectal temperature (RT) and intraocular pr...
Carvalho Filho WP, Souto PC, Orozco AMO, Jiménez AKA, Girardi FM, Bento LD, Fonseca LAD.Horse transport is a common practice and is usually associated as a cause of stress in animals, with consequences for their well-being. There are several of evidence that stress can increase an acute phase response. The aim of this study was to verify whether the road transport of horses over distances of 50 and 300 kilometers induces changes in the values of acute phase proteins. To do this, the serum SDS-PAGE was performed and the bands obtained were identified by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). The blood samples were collected in tubes without anticoagulant to obtain the serum, and the evalu...
Möller R, Graglia F, Pizzigatti D, van Lier E.Horses went through functional differentiation during their evolutionary and reproductive development, however, some body parts continued to improve their specificity for speed. Regarding this, we evaluated by morphometric analysis the relationship between limb section (LS) differences in the appendicular structures of horses. Two hundred and seven (n = 207) adult horses of different breeds and sex were selected. The limb section was measured by identification of topographic palpable skeleton landmarks with a measurement tape (centimetres). Quantitative variables (limb section) were analysed...
Magalhaes HB, Canisso IF.Practitioners are frequently requested to diagnose and stage pregnancy in donkeys with unknown breeding dates; however, scant work has been done to stage pregnancy in the species. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between measurements of fetal aortic, thoracic, and heartbeat with gestational age in donkeys carrying and delivering healthy foals. Multiparous Dezhou donkeys (n = 50) ranging from 4 to 16 years were enrolled in the study by 150 days of gestation. Transabdominal ultrasonography coupled with a 3.5 MHz sectorial convex transducer was performed at 30 day-interv...
Lo Feudo CM, Stucchi L, Cavicchioli P, Stancari G, Conturba B, Zucca E, Ferrucci F.To evaluate the association between the severity of dynamic upper airway obstruction (DUAO) and selected fitness parameters in Standardbred racehorses measured by treadmill test. 191 Standardbred racehorses that underwent a standardized diagnostic protocol for poor performance evaluation between 2002 and 2021 at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Milan. Horses underwent a diagnostic protocol including clinical examination, lameness evaluation, laboratory analyses, ECG, resting upper airway endoscopy, metabolic incremental treadmill test, high-speed treadmill endoscopy, postexercis...
Logan AA, Nielsen BD, Hiney KM, Robison CI, Manfredi JM, Buskirk DD, Popovich JM.Circular exercise is used in many equestrian disciplines and this study aimed to determine if circle diameter impacts juvenile animal forelimb bone and joint health. On day 0, 24 calves at 9 weeks of age were assigned the following exercise treatments: small circle (12 m clockwise), large circle (18-m clockwise), treadmill, or non-exercised control. Exercise was initiated at 1.1−1.5 m/s for 5 min/d and increased 5 min weekly until reaching 30 min/d. On day 49, synovial fluid was collected from multiple joints, cartilage was collected from the proximal surface of fused third and fourth metaca...
Lelláková M, Lešková L, Florián M, Mesarčová L, Skurková L, Peťková B, Takáčová D, Kottferová J.The determination of cortisol concentrations in animal hair appears to be a relatively simple and non-invasive method of assessing chronic stress. This method has advantages but it also has some drawbacks. We discovered that there are specific coat properties and individual factors in animlas that can affect corisol levels and skew the interpretation of results. We removed horsehair from 8 different areas of the body (chest, left saddle, right saddle, right thoracic fetlock, and left thoracic fetlock, the mane was also sampled at the withers, just behind the ears, and the tail strand) in 31 ho...
Beazley SG, Focken A, Fernandez-Parra R, Thomas KL, Adler A, Duke-Novakovski T.To determine changes in distribution of lung ventilation with increasing intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) from carbon dioxide (CO) insufflation in standing sedated horses. Methods: Prospective experimental study. Methods: A group of six healthy adult horses. Methods: Each horse was sedated with acepromazine, detomidine and butorphanol and sedation maintained with a detomidine infusion. The horse was restrained in a stocks system and a 32 electrode electrical impedance tomography (EIT) belt was wrapped around the thorax at the fifth-sixth intercostal space. EIT images and arterial blood samples f...
Data in briefApril 1, 2022
Volume 42 108123 doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108123
Gmel AI, Gmel G, Weishaupt MA, Neuditschko M.This article presents the data obtained from the scoring of 24 stallions of the Franches-Montagnes (FM) horse breed by six experts of this breed. The experts scored six traits at walk and eight at trot from the video recordings of these stallions walking and trotting on a treadmill during an incremental speed test. The scores were given on a scale of one to nine. All experts scored the same videos twice (two scoring tests) with a time interval of two years, and without feedback from the first scoring. Video sequences were presented in a different order between first and second scoring. The int...
Ničová K, Bartošová J.This study aimed to identify factors that can influence show-jumping performance during top level competitions in the Western European League (2017/2018, CSI5*). The performance data of 144 riders and 222 horses were obtained from video records (FEI TV/ website). Riders with horses achieved a total of 9114 jumping-efforts over 320 obstacles including oxers (n = 142), oxers with water (n = 15), triple bars (n = 6), verticals (n = 136), verticals with water (n = 14) and walls (n = 7). Obstacles in the first round (FR) or in jump off (JO) were standing either as single (n = 6290) or as a combinat...
Huricha , Kawai M, Inose Y, Yamada F, Ninomiya S.In this study, we investigated maternal effects on the growth of Hokkaido native horses kept outdoors throughout the year. We used the data on body weight (BW), height at withers (HW), heart girth (HG), and cannon circumference (CC) of 517 foals during the first year of life to (1) examine the growth patterns by comparing six linear mixed models and (2) analyze the maternal effect on BW, HW, HG, and CC for each month by estimating variance components. The segmented polynomial third-order regression equation was selected as the best model for all the traits. The estimated proportion of variance...
Lançoni R, Celeghini ECC, Gonella-Diaza AM, Júnior VG, de Carvalho CPT, Zoca GB, Garcia-Oliveros LN, Batissaco L, Oliveira LZ, de Arruda RP.This study aimed to assess the semen ubiquitin levels of stallions with good (GF) and poor semen freezability (PF) and to evaluate the relationship between sperm ubiquitination and sperm morphological defects. Five ejaculates from eight adult stallions (n = 40) were collected and cryopreserved. Then, the ubiquitin level in equine sperm cells was assessed by immunohistochemistry with epifluorescence microscopy, and sperm morphology was assessed by differential interference contrast microscopy. Sperm cells were classified according to the intensity (classification 1: from I to IV; I = very l...
Kinsella HM, Hostnik LD, Snyder HA, Mazur SE, Kamr AM, Burns TA, Mossbarger JC, Toribio RE.The equine neonate is considered to have impaired glucose tolerance due to delayed maturation of the pancreatic endocrine system. Few studies have investigated insulin sensitivity in newborn foals using dynamic testing methods. The objective of this study was to assess insulin sensitivity by comparing the insulin-modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (I-FSIGTT) between neonatal foals and adult horses. This study was performed on healthy neonatal foals (n = 12), 24 to 60 hours of age, and horses (n = 8), 3 to 14 years of age using dextrose (300 mg/kg IV) and insulin (0....
Logan AA, Nielsen BD, Hallock DB, Robison CI, Popovich JM.A current trend in equine research is technology development to minimize the subjective nature of gait analysis. One such technology is the Tekscan Hoof System, which records force and area loaded by the hooves during motion. The objective of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of the Tekscan Hoof System between two sessions, and the recordings within those sessions. Four mature Standardbred geldings wore Tekscan Hoof System sensors on both front hooves, secured by glue-on shoes (SoundHorse Technologies). Horses were exercised in AM and PM sessions. In each session, horses ...
Logan AA, Nielsen BD, Robison CI, Hallock DB, Manfredi JM, Hiney KM, Buskirk DD, Popovich JM.Circular exercise can be used at varying gaits and diameters to exercise horses, with repeated use anecdotally relating to increased lameness. This work sought to characterize mean area, mean vertical force, and mean pressure of the front hooves while exercising in a straight line at the walk and trot, and small (10-m diameter) and large circles (15-m diameter) at the walk, trot, and canter. Nine mature horses wore TekscanTM Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs adhered with a glue-on shoe. Statistical analysis was performed in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of leg, gait, and exercise type (PROC GLIMMIX...
Nasciutti NR, Garcia FG, da Silva ESM, de Miranda RL, Fontes LAR, Rosa JB, Headley SA, Mundim AV, Saut JPE.Several studies have demonstrated variations in peripartum blood biochemical analytes used to monitor the health status of mares and their foals of different breeds. Objective: We aimed to characterize the physiologic changes of peripartum energy and mineral metabolism in healthy Quarter Horse mares and their neonatal foals. Methods: Blood samples were initially collected from 17 mares on days 60 and 30 prepartum, and from mares and their foals on the day of parturition (after colostrum ingestion), and on days 15, 30, and 60 postpartum. The serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, magnesiu...
de Oliveira Bussiman F, Carvalho RSB, E Silva FF, Ventura RV, Ferraz JBS, Mattos EC, Eler JP, Balieiro JCC.Multitrait models can increase the accuracy of breeding value prediction and reduce bias due to selection by using traits measured before and after it has occurred. However, as the number of traits grows, a similar trend is expected for the number of parameters to be estimated, which directly affects the computing power and the amount of data required. The aim of the present study was to apply reduced rank (principal components model-PCM) and factor analytical models (FAM), to estimate (co)variance components for nineteen traits, jointly evaluated in a single analysis in Campolina horses. A to...
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...
Joó K, Trúzsi RL, Kálmán CZ, Ács V, Jakab S, Bába A, Nielsen MK.In Hungary, equine parasite control is mostly based on traditional approaches involving rotational anthelmintic treatment at regular intervals. Almost no farms utilize fecal egg counts (FECs) on a regular basis to guide deworming treatments. This approach is certainly not sustainable and is the major factor responsible for the current high levels of anthelmintic resistance. The aims of this study were to statistically analyze risk factors associated with strongylid egg count magnitude and prevalence. Fecal samples and horse data (age, pasture history, stocking density, anthelmintic history) we...
Ortolani F, Scilimati N, Gialletti R, Menchetti L, Nannarone S.The purpose of this study was to describe the development and preliminary validation of a composite pain scale, called the Equine Ophthalmic Pain Scale (EOPS), to assess ocular pain in horses. Indicators associated with ocular pain were selected and classified as behavioural, physiological or ocular expressions. Eight horses diagnosed with ocular or adnexa diseases that required medical or surgical treatment were enrolled in the study (group P). The developed EOPS was applied at the baseline (T0) and 1 week later (T7). Moreover, the EOPS was applied twice, 1 week apart, to 15 healthy control h...
Rumpel AS, Alievi MM, Jardim Filho JO, Rozo CAC, Schuster LAH, da Silva AV, Ferreira MP.Physical activity has been widely investigated in horses to elucidate locomotion characteristics and behavior. However, research in real environment of training stables is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of training regimen on night time physical activity of racehorses. Physical activities of twenty animals were monitored during the night time using accelerometers. The animals were compared in terms of training regimen: horses subjected to training on continual days, and horses subjected to training on intermittent days; age and sex were also considered. The var...
Li XB, Huang XX, Zang CJ, Ma C, Chen KX, Zhao GD, Li Q, Li XY, Zhang WJ, Yang KL.There is little objective information concerning the effect of steam-flaked grains on foal's growth performance and faecal microbiota. To determine the effects of steam-flaked grains on foal's growth performance and faecal microbiota, faecal samples were collection from 18 foals which had been fed either corn, oat or barley diets over the 60 days of the experiment. Body weight and conformation measurements were collected. Next-generation sequencing of the V3 + V4 region of the 16 S rRNA gene was used to assess the microbial composition of faeces. Alpha diversity, Venn graph, Relative abun...
Lerch N, Cirulli F, Rochais C, Lesimple C, Guilbaud E, Contalbrigo L, Borgi M, Grandgeorge M, Hausberger M.Little is known about the impact of equine-assisted interventions (EAI) on equids' perception of humans. In this study 172 equids, living in 12 riding centres, were submitted to a standardised human-horse relationship test: the motionless person test. Age, sex, type (horse/pony), housing, and feeding conditions of subjects were recorded. Overall, 17 equids worked in EAI, 95 in riding school lessons (RS), and 60 in both (EAI-RS). There were high inter-individual variations in the number of interactive behaviours directed towards the experimenter: negative binomial general linear models showed t...
Seabra JC, Dittrich JR, Vale MMD.Researchers believe that the development and prevalence of abnormal behaviors in horses may be caused by several environmental and biological factors, and the literature offers numerous reports that discuss the causes and effects of stereotypies in these animals. In this light, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the scientific literature, summarizing the main risk factors associated with the development of abnormal behaviors in horses. The searches were conducted over the course of four years in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The publications reviewed were ...
The Journal of heredityApril 30, 2017
Volume 108, Issue 5 505-514 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esx039
Druml T, Grilz-Seger G, Neuditschko M, Neuhauser B, Brem G.Genetic analyses of coat colors are frequently restricted to subjectively categorized phenotype information. The aim of this study was to develop a method to numerically quantify the variability of leopard complex (LP) spotting phenotypes introducing tools from image analysis. Generalized Procrustes analysis eliminates systematic errors due to imaging process. The binarization of normalized images and the application of principal component analysis (PCA) on the derived pixel matrices, transform pixel information into numerical data space. We applied these methods on 90 images to ascertain the ...
Reyes AM, Jahr H, van Schie HT, Weinans H, Zadpoor AA.The elastic strain limit (ESL) of tendons is the point where maximum elastic modulus is reached, after which micro-damage starts. Study of damage progression in tendons under repetitive (fatigue) loading requires a priori knowledge about ESL. In this study, we propose three different approaches for predicting ESL. First, one single value is assumed to represent the ESL of all tendon specimens. Second, different extrapolation curves are used for extrapolating the initial part of the stress-strain curve. Third, a method based on comparing the shape of the initial part of the stress-strain curve ...
Lelláková M, Lešková L, Florián M, Mesarčová L, Skurková L, Peťková B, Takáčová D, Kottferová J.The determination of cortisol concentrations in animal hair appears to be a relatively simple and non-invasive method of assessing chronic stress. This method has advantages but it also has some drawbacks. We discovered that there are specific coat properties and individual factors in animlas that can affect corisol levels and skew the interpretation of results. We removed horsehair from 8 different areas of the body (chest, left saddle, right saddle, right thoracic fetlock, and left thoracic fetlock, the mane was also sampled at the withers, just behind the ears, and the tail strand) in 31 ho...
Collar EM, Duesterdieck-Zellmer KF, Huber MJ, Semevolos SA, Parker JE, Husby KA.To assess outcomes and behavior changes associated with bilateral laparoscopic ovariectomies. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Fifty-one equids. Methods: Medical records were evaluated from equid bilateral laparoscopic ovariectomies from January 2012 to October 2018 with a potential of 6 months follow-up. Follow-up information obtained by telephone interviews included behavior before and after surgery. Likelihood ratio chi-square tests and odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI were calculated where applicable, with statistical significance at p < .05. Results: Bilateral ovariectomy was pe...
Martins JN, Silva SR.Equitation is a cause of physiological stress in the equine athlete, and personality is a factor generally associated with the different responses of equines to stressors. This study explored ocular temperature, measured via infrared thermography, associated with personality and stress in horses submitted to dressage exercising in riding lessons, ridden training and lunging. Infrared thermograms of 16 horses were taken before and after sessions using an FLIR F4 camera (FLIR Systems AB, Sweden) to determine maximum eye surface IRT temperature (IRTmax), and total training time was registered (T)...
Huggins L, Norris J, Conley A, Dini P.Abnormal or undesired mare behaviours are often assumed to be associated with ovarian abnormalities. Objective: We aimed to determine the incidence of abnormal behaviours and their association with concentrations of one or more ovarian hormones associated with a granulosa cell tumour (GCT). Methods: Retrospective descriptive. Methods: A total of 2914 hormonal profile samples submitted with the words behave, behaviour, or behaving in the submission history were analysed. The association between reported abnormal behaviours and concentrations of testosterone, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), inhib...
Júnior WHF, Garcia de Carvalho JR, Mendes de Almeida ML, Macedo Lemos EG, Brioschi Soares OA, Ribeiro G, de Queiroz-Neto A, de Camargo Ferraz G.We compare the expression levels of the lactate transporter complex consisting of the lactate transporter, monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1), and its ancillary protein, cluster of differentiation 147 (CD147), in the membranes of red blood cells (RBCs) from two breeds of jumping horses and associate the expression levels of these proteins with their jumping ability. The expression levels of MCT1 and CD147 proteins on the membranes of RBCs collected from 30 show jumping horses of two different breeds were quantified: the Brazilian Sport Horses (n = 17) and the European Warmbloods (n = 13). ...
Tolley EA, Notter DR, Marlowe TJ.Repeatabilities (t) and heritabilities (h2) of racing time were estimated from data on 7,206 2- and 3-yr-old Standardbred pacers and trotters competing in 1-mile (1.6 km) charted races at six tracks between 1975 and 1978. A total of 38,487 records representing 2,387 sire progeny groups were divided into subsets by gait, age and track. Initially, the designation "class of race" was recognized as a subjective categorization that reflected nonrandom assignments of horses to races. After extensive investigation, we concluded that racing times should be adjusted by linear regression for the time of...
Kuhnke S, König von Borstel U.The present study aimed to assess an agreement between established and novel methods to determine laterality and to identify the distribution of laterality in warmbloods and Thoroughbreds. Nine different methods to investigate a horses' laterality outside a riding context and during riding were compared across two groups of horses (sample A: 67 warmblood- type horses, sample B: 61 Thoroughbreds). Agreement between any two methods was assessed by calculating Cohen's kappa with McNemar's test or Bowker's Test of Symmetry, and the deviation from equal distributions was assessed with chi2-tests. C...
Shi L, Wang D, Riggs CM, Qin L, Griffith JF.Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a computational technique that has been used to analyze statistical differences between groups of MR brain images. This study outlines a new VBM pipeline, designed for determining statistical variation in bone mineral density (BMD). CT images of proximal sesamoid bone (PSB) specimens from the right forelimb of six racehorses that had suffered PSB fractures were compared with six age-matched control specimens. Following segmentation, masked gray-scale images were co-aligned to a statistical template generated with all 12 CT datasets iteratively. Student t-tests ...
Poyato-Bonilla J, Sánchez-Guerrero MJ, Cervantes I, Gutiérrez JP, Valera M.Measurements from 13 different morphological traits of importance in the Pura Raza Español (PRE) horse were used to estimate genetic and environmental parameters following a heteroscedastic model in which data were assigned to stallions. Data sets used ranged from 20,610 (height at withers) to 48,486 measurements (length of shoulder), and the number of animals analysed in the pedigrees varied from 17,662 (height at withers) to 23,962 (dorsal-sternal diameter). Results of heritabilities of the traits varied from 0.09 (width of chest and upper neck line) to 0.30 (muscular development). Further,...
Copland VS, Hildebrand SV, Hill T, Wong P, Brock N.Blood pressure during anesthesia and surgery was compared for 2 groups of horses. Group A, consisting of 23 horses, had a tourniquet placed on the distal portion of a limb. The other group of 20 horses (group B) had surgery of comparable nature and duration as did group-A horses, but a tourniquet was not used. There was a statistical difference (P less than 0.05) in the peak systolic arterial blood pressure between the groups; group-A horses had a mean (+/- SEM) peak of 151 +/- 6 mm of Hg and group-B horses had a peak of 118 +/- 4 mm of Hg. In addition, group-A horses had immediate decrease in...
O'Callaghan MW.This study was initiated to determine the accuracy of M-mode echocardiography in measuring left ventricular dimensions and estimating heart weights in horses. Left ventricular free wall and interventricular septal thickness and left ventricular external and internal diameters were measured and heart weights estimated from the echocardiograms of 47 horses. Autopsy measurements of the same parameters were then recorded. Statistical comparison of the data demonstrated: (1) Systolic measurements of wall thickness more closely resembled the heart in death than the diastolic measurements; (2) good c...
Johnson CB, Bloomfield M, Taylor PM.To characterise the effects of thiopentone on the equine electroencephalogram during halothane anaesthesia. Methods: Prospective controlled study. Methods: Eight healthy Welsh mountain pony geldings between 5 and 9 years old and weighing between 270 and 330 kg (mean 301 kg). Methods: Anaesthesia was induced with thiopentone and maintained using halothane in oxygen. End tidal halothane was maintained above 0.75 and below 0.85%. EEG was recorded continuously and a binaural broad band click stimulus was provided throughout the experiment at 6.1224 Hz. An infusion of 500 mg thiopentone was given o...
Kristiansen KK, Kold SE.There is limited knowledge available of factors influencing response to treatments of the DIP-joint in horses with lameness responding to diagnostic analgesia of the DIP-joint. For this reason a multivariable statistical analysis was performed. Objective: Horses with lameness reduced by > or = 75% 10 min after intra-articular analgesia of the DIP-joint, can be treated successfully by intra-articular medication of the joint. Multiple factors influence the response to treatment. Methods: The study was performed retrospectively based on clinical records of horses treated with either polysulpha...
Collins SN, Dyson SJ, Murray RC, Newton JR, Burden F, Trawford AF.To establish and validate an objective method of radiographic diagnosis of anatomic changes in laminitic forefeet of donkeys on the basis of data from a comprehensive series of radiographic measurements. Methods: 85 donkeys with and 85 without forelimb laminitis for baseline data determination; a cohort of 44 donkeys with and 18 without forelimb laminitis was used for validation analyses. Methods: For each donkey, lateromedial radiographic views of 1 weight-bearing forelimb were obtained; images from 11 laminitic and 2 nonlaminitic donkeys were excluded (motion artifact) from baseline data det...
Nocera I, Bonelli F, Meucci V, Rinnovati R, Spadari A, Intorre L, Pretti C, Sgorbini M.Literature on the protein carbonyl content (PCC) evaluation in horses is scarce, thus the aims were to evaluate the PCC in healthy and SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) horses and to investigate the performances of PCC in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio in identifying SIRS positive and negative horses. A total of 72 adult horses were included. All the horses underwent to a complete physical examination, blood analysis, and were evaluated for the SIRS status. Blood samples were collected once in healthy horses and at admission time, then 24, 48, 72, and 96 h...
Eichler F, Ehrle A, Jensen KC, Baudisch N, Petersen H, Bäumer W, Lischer C, Wiegard M.Cannabidiol (CBD) products have been proposed to exert stress- and anxiety-relieving effects in animals. Despite the increasing popularity of CBD for veterinary use, the available research detailing the effects of CBD in horses is limited. The aim of this study (part 1 of 2) was to analyze stress parameters via behavioral observations and heart rate monitoring in healthy horses following single oral administration of a CBD containing paste in different doses. Study products were two pastes for oral administration, one containing CBD and one containing no active ingredient. Pastes were applied ...
Equine piroplasmosis is caused by two tick-borne protozoan parasites, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi,, which are clinically relevant in susceptible horses, donkeys, and mules. Moreover, equine piroplasmosis significantly constrains international trading and equestrian events. Rapidly diagnosing both parasites in carrier animals is essential for implementing effective control measures. Here, a rapid immunochromatographic test for the simultaneous detection of antibodies to T. equi and B. caballi was evaluated using samples from horses and donkeys collected in Greece, Israel, and Italy. The ...
Greppi M, Bordin C, Raspa F, Maccone E, Harris P, Ellis AD, Cavallini D, Bergero D, Valle E.Slow feeding devices (SFDs) are useful tools in order to improve the horse well-being and to reduce wastage, but their use may result in unnatural posture during feeding and frustration behaviours. Moreover, it may be important to evaluate the laterality during feeding. The aim of the study was to investigate ponies' feeding behaviour (i.e., lateralisation, frustration, postural eating style) with different hay feeding methods: on the ground (G), a fully filled hay net (HF), a partially filled hay net (HL), and a slow feeder hay box (HB). Nine ponies of two different breed types (Shetland and ...
Busechian S, Bindi F, Pieramati C, Orvieto S, Pisello L, Cozzi S, Ortolani F, Rueca F.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) is a worldwide disease, and includes two different syndromes, Equine Squamous Gastric Disease (ESGD), affecting the squamous mucosa, and Equine Glandular Gastric Disease (EGGD), affecting the glandular mucosa. These two diseases are present in different categories (different activities, ages, etc.) and breeds of horses. The effect of sex on gastric health is not clear: some studies found a higher prevalence of ESGD in geldings and stallions, while others found no influence of sex on the squamous mucosa. The few studies conducted on glandular diseases failed...
Ahlawat S, Niranjan SK, Arora R, Vijh RK, Kumar A, Sharma U, Raheja M, Popli K, Yadav S, Mehta SC.The unique horse and pony breeds of India are declining at an alarming rate. These horses have been integral to the Indian culture and customs for centuries and represent a valuable genetic resource. It is imperative to harness the potential of this equine genetic resource that urgently needs conservation. The study highlights the design and development of a high density SNP array, the Axiom_Ashwa to aid in the genetic analysis and conservation efforts for Indian horse and pony breeds. With 613,950 SNPs, this chip offers extensive genome coverage having an average inter-marker distance of 4 k...
Wang C, Zeng Y, Wang J, Wang T, Li X, Shen Z, Meng J, Yao X.The Yili horse is a riding-type breed that has been continuously bred independently in China. The genetics of body conformation and racing performance traits need to be comprehensively considered in making breeding decisions. This study is the first to estimate the genetic parameters of 13 body conformation and racing performance traits in Yili horses using a linear model. In total, 9937 body conformation and 2576 race records of 9100 Yili horses obtained from 1993 to 2022 were reviewed. The results showed that heritability estimates of body measurement traits were medium to high, ranging from...
Aragona F, Rizzo M, Arrigo F, Arfuso F, Fazio F, Giudice E, Pugliatti P, Piccione G, Giannetto C.Among physiological parameters, total locomotor activity (TLA) and heart rate (HR) are used as physiological indicators in animal welfare evaluations. The present study aimed to simultaneously record for 24 h the TLA and HR of ten clinically healthy horses housed in conventional individual boxes subjected to a natural photoperiod and temperature. An actigraphy-based data logger was placed on the headstall, and an equine HR monitor was placed around the chest to monitor TLA and HR, respectively. Activity was monitored with 5 min sampling intervals and HR with 5 s intervals. To make the data poi...
Kawahisa-Piquini G, Bass LD, Pezzanite LM, Moorman VJ.Lameness, discipline, training intensity, environmental variability, and shoeing are all factors demonstrated to affect hoof loading and therefore act as adaptive stimuli to alter hoof morphology. Objective: To evaluate the effect of age at training initiation on hoof morphology and lameness incidence and determine if specific hoof morphology measurements correlate with lameness in juvenile American Quarter Horses. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Methods: American Quarter Horses (n = 42; 29 two-year-olds, 13 three-year-olds) entering training were monitored for hoof morphology and lamenes...
Ralston JM, Stenhouse AM, Stenhouse NS, Buck GJ, Lucks SF, Reynoldson JA, Bolton JR.A survey of the concentrations of cortisol in blood and urine samples taken from thoroughbred and standardbred horses after racing is presented. Statistical analysis showed the only significant difference between thoroughbred and standardbred horses was a higher cortisol concentration in thoroughbred urine. Urine volume and pH had no significant influence on the urinary cortisol concentration, however 9.5% of the urinary cortisol variation could be explained due to the influence of plasma cortisol concentration. The results of cortisol and ACTH administrations are also shown and compared with ...
Grint NJ, Whay HR, Beths T, Yvorchuk K, Murrell JC.To evaluate a thermal nociceptive threshold (TNT) testing device in the donkey, and the influence of potential confounding factors on TNTs. Methods: Two groups (Group 1 and Group 2) of eight castrated male donkeys aged 4-9 years, weighing 105-170 kg. Methods: TNTs were measured by heating a thermal probe on skin until an end-point behaviour (threshold temperature) or a cut-out temperature (51 °C) was reached. The withers and the dorsal aspect of the distal limb were used as sites for TNT testing. The effects on TNT of different confounding factors: the limb tested; rate of heating; and amb...
Geiger SM, Reich E, Böttcher P, Grund S, Hagen J.Biplane high-speed fluoroscopy is a new method for gait analysis of the equine distal extremity. This is the first study validating the noninvasive tracking possibilities (Autoscoping and Scientific Rotoscoping) taking equine anatomy into account. Objective: To determine the resolution with which Autoscoping and Scientific Rotoscoping depict motion of the equine phalanges in comparison to the invasive gold standard marker-based registration. Methods: Comparative ex vivo study. Methods: In 5 distal extremities of slaughtered ponies, 3 or 4 tantalum beads with 1 mm diameter were implanted in e...
Secombe CJ, van Eps AW, Bruce M, Lester GD.To investigate the relationship between bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology, particularly mast cells, and airway hyper-reactivity in athletic horses presented for poor performance that included a respiratory tract evaluation in two disparate locations in Australia. Methods: Multi-centre, retrospective and prospective cross-sectional study METHODS: Eighty four adult horses underwent both pulmonary function testing and histamine bronchoprovocation with a commercial flowmetric plethysmography system. A bronchoalveolar lavage was performed four to twelve hours later. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid...
