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.
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 ...
Berreta A, Burbick CR, Alexander T, Kogan C, Kopper JJ.Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms that confer a health benefit to the host when administered in adequate amounts, therefore the presence of viable microorganisms is essential. Previous studies reported inconsistencies when comparing contents of probiotics marketed for use in animals with label claims. However, to the author's knowledge the variability of the same product between different lots has yet to be evaluated. The objective of this observational study was to evaluate the content and inter-lot variability of commercial equine probiotic products using culture dependent and in...
Mouloodi S, Rahmanpanah H, Gohari S, Burvill C, Tse KM, Davies HMS.Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are fascinating interdisciplinary scientific domains where machines are provided with an approximation of human intelligence. The conjecture is that machines are able to learn from existing examples, and employ this accumulated knowledge to fulfil challenging tasks such as regression analysis, pattern classification, and prediction. The horse biomechanical models have been identified as an alternative tool to investigate the effects of mechanical loading and induced deformations on the tissues and structures in humans. Many reported invest...
Hopster K, Hurcombe SDA.Bioreactance is the continuous analysis of transthoracic voltage variation in response to an applied high frequency transthoracic current and was recently introduced for non-invasive cardiac output measurement (NICOM). We evaluated NICOM compared to thermodilution (TD) in adult horses. Six healthy horses were used for this prospective, blinded, experimental study. Cardiac output (CO) measurements were performed simultaneously using TD and the bioreactance method. Different cardiac output scenarios were established using xylazine (0.5 mg/kg IV) and dobutamine (1.5-3 mcg/kg/min). Statistical ana...
Gündemir O, Szara T, Pazvant G, Erdikmen DO, Duro S, Perez W.In this study, it was aimed to determine the statistical differences between Arabian horses and Thoroughbred horses based on X-ray images of forelimb digital bones. Latero-medial X-ray images of digital bones of thoracic limbs were taken of 25 Arabian horses and 50 Thoroughbred healthy horses. The difference between males and females within the breed was statistically analyzed as well. Nine measurements and three indexes taken from phalanges of thoracic limbs were used. Thoroughbred horses did not differ significantly between sexes, as indicated by the ANOVA. For the Arabian horses, the length...
Charnock LN, Keys DA, McMullen RJ.Identify ocular findings associated with blunt ocular trauma to aid in differentiation from other equine ocular diseases. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: Medical records of horses at the Equine Clinic Munich-Riem, Munich, Germany and Auburn University, College of Veterinary Medicine were reviewed. Age, sex, breed, laterality, and clinical findings on ophthalmic examination, as well as an observed (confirmed) or unobserved (suspected) history of trauma, were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed to identify any correlation between clinical signs and blunt ocular traum...
Smit IH, Hernlund E, Brommer H, van Weeren PR, Rhodin M, Serra Bragança FM.Gait kinematics measured during equine gait analysis are typically evaluated by analysing (asymmetry-based) discrete variables (eg, peak values) obtained from continuous kinematic signals (eg, timeseries of datapoints). However, when used for the assessment of complex cases of lameness, such as bilateral lameness, discrete variable analysis might overlook relevant functional adaptations. Objective: The overall aim of this paper is to compare continuous and discrete data analysis techniques to evaluate kinematic gait adaptations to lameness. Methods: Method comparison. Methods: Sixteen healthy ...
Ohnuma K, Uchida T, Leung GN, Ueda T, Obara T, Ishii H.In the context of doping control, conventional direct chemical testing detects only a limited scope of target substances in equine biological samples. To expand the ability to detect doping agents and their detection windows, metabolomics has recently become a common approach for monitoring alteration of biomarkers caused by doping agents in relevant metabolic pathways. In horse racing, remarkable changes in metabolic profiles between the rest state and racing are likely to affect the identification of doping biomarkers. Previously, we reported a limited number of significantly upregulated met...
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...
Zhang Z, Zhan Y, Han Y, Liu Z, Wang Y, Wang C.Dezhou donkey is an excellent local hide, meat and milk breed in Shandong Province. To accelerate the speed of breeding, reproduction and conversation, correlation and multiple regression analysis between body weight (BW) and body size of Dezhou donkey rearing under intensive farms was made by SAS 9.4 software (Statistical Analysis for Windows). A total of 162 donkeys of both gender of age 2 ~ 10 years old were used to investigate the relationships between BW and body dimensional traits (cm) including height of withers, body length; thoracic depth, thoracic girth (TG), thoracic width (TW), cir...
Secchi V, Masala G, Corda A, Corda F, Potop E, Barbero Fernandez A, Pinna Parpaglia ML, Sanna Passino E.Early diagnosis of tendon injuries and accurate long-term monitoring of the healing process are key for equine veterinarians that use conventional ultrasonography. The development of strain elastography could improve the management of clinical cases. The aim of the study was to assess the intraobserver repeatability and interobserver reproducibility of manual measurements of the colored areas of the tendons within elastograms and to standardize this manual modality by comparing the analysis of the images with ImageJ. Twenty elastograms of the injured superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs) ...
Gómez-Torres FA, Estupiñán HY, Ruíz-Saurí A.The principal function of the ventricular conduction system is rapid electrical activation of the ventricles. The aim of this study is to conduct a morphometric study to pinpoint the morphological parameters that define cardiac conduction cells, allowing us to distinguish them from other cells. Five male horse hearts and five male dog hearts were used in the study. The hearts were fixed in a 5% formaldehyde solution. Histological sections of 5 μm thickness were acquired and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome and cardiac conduction cells and their junctions were identified ...
St George L, Clayton HM, Sinclair J, Richards J, Roy SH, Hobbs SJ.Selection and training practices for jumping horses have not yet been validated using objective performance analyses. This study aimed to quantify the differences and relationships between movement and muscle activation strategies in horses with varying jump technique to identify objective jumping performance indicators. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and three-dimensional kinematic data were collected from horses executing a submaximal jump. Kinematic variables were calculated based on equestrian-derived performance indicators relating to impulsion, engagement and joint articulation. Horses ...
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,...
Köhler L, Schulz-Kornas E, Vervuert I, Gittel C, Winter K, Berner D, Gerlach K.Despite clinical importance and frequent occurrence of sinus disease, little is known about the size of paranasal sinuses and their communication in ponies and small horses. To examine the shape and volume of the paranasal sinuses and evaluate the sinonasal communication, three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of computed tomography (CT) datasets of 12 healthy adult Shetland ponies were performed and analysed. Linear measurements of head length and width were taken. Using semi-automatic segmentation, 3D-models of all sinus compartments were created. Volumetric measurement of the seven sinus co...
Joó K, Duque Betancourt D, Vasquez Marin T, Parra Moyano LA.The dynamic upper airway functional (URT) problems of Colombian paso horses (CPH) have not been investigated in literature up to date. These horses perform special walking gaits with high poll flexion of the neck. Our goal is to evaluate the upper airway mechanics in CPH, showing abnormal respiratory sounds and poor performance during exercise. Resting and overground endoscopy was performed in 40 CPHs. Statistical analyses were performed using the sciPy package. One-tailed Fisher exact tests were used to check for positive contingency between each pair of upper respiratory tract disorder (P < ...
Góss GC, Mozzaquatro FD, Vanhove R, Camargo LP, Döwich Pradella G, Leite CT, Gomes EM, Carneiro ALM, Heckler GF, Duarte CA.The physiological measurements of collateral ligaments of distal interphalangeal joint (CL-DIPJ) differ in the literature. The factors that influence these differences are not well described. The aims of this study are to compare CL-DIPJ sizes in equines with different withers height, as well as to correlate body weight and hoof size to the size of these ligaments. In total, 52 horses were used in the study. They were divided into two groups according to wither height: Group 1 (G1) - 21 animals with up to 147 cm - and group 2 (G2) - 21 animals with greater than 148 cm. CL-DIPJ was ultrasonog...
Romness N, Fenner K, McKenzie J, Anzulewicz A, Burattini B, Wilson B, McGreevy P.An evidence-based understanding of dangerous or unwelcome behaviour in horses would greatly benefit both horses and humans who interact with them. Using owner-reported data from the Equine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ), the current study investigated in-hand behaviours associated with dangerous or unwelcome ridden behaviours, notably bolting, rearing and bucking. Respondents ( = 1584) to the ridden horse section of the E-BARQ answered 42 demographic questions, followed by 268 behavioural items. Parallel analysis was conducted to group individual behaviours into rotat...
Mokry A, Van de Water E, Politiek HT, van Doorn DA, Pille F, Oosterlinck M.Dynamic load distribution and landing patterns play an important role in equine orthopaedics. The aim of this study was to analyse dynamic load distribution and hoof landing patterns of sound Standardbreds. Twenty-four sound, unshod Standardbreds were walked and trotted over a pressure plate to obtain the peak vertical force (PVF), vertical impulse (VI) and stance time (ST) of both forelimbs. Asymmetry indices between both forelimbs were calculated and the dynamic medio-lateral and toe-heel load distribution of the forelimbs were compared between normal, toed-in and toed-out horses. The hoof l...
A human-animal relationship can be developed through subsequent interactions, affected by the positive or negative emotional valence of the proceeding one. Horses implement a process of categorization to classify humans with whom they interact as positive, negative, or neutral stimuli by evaluating the kind of approach and the nature of the contact. In these terms, human-animal interactions are emotionally charged events, eliciting specific emotional states in both subjects involved. Although the human-horse relationship has been mainly investigated through behavioral analysis, physiological i...
McCrae P, Guigand C, Jones KB, Thueson ES, Troudt TA, Warlick LM, Sides RH, Jones JH, Bayly WM, Léguillette R.High pulmonary blood pressure contributes to exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. The objective of this study was to use bioimpedance spectroscopy to assess body fluid compartment volumes under 3 conditions in 6 racehorses: i) Pre- and post-supramaximal treadmill exercise (control); ii) Exercise 4 hours after furosemide (0.5 mg/kg body weight, IV); iii) Exercise, removal of ~14 L of blood and subsequent reinfusion of the blood. Statistical analysis used linear mixed effects models. Body compartment volumes did not change during the control runs. Total body water (TBW) ( = 0.007, = 0.007), e...
Detilleux J.Frequentism dominates scientific practice although Bayesianism may provide an alternative, especially when analysing data from complex, high-dimensional models. The key differences between Bayesianism and Frequentism are highlighted in the introduction. Next, I review the different stages of Bayesian statistical reasoning in a research setting, explain the key concepts and illustrate them with toy examples taken in equine veterinary medicine. An extension to more complex models (Bayes network) is introduced and guidelines are offered as a conclusion.
Solar Diaz IDP, Strauss Borges Junqueira G, Aparecida Rocha Cruz V, Albano Araújo de Oliveira C, Nunes de Oliveira H, Miguel Ferreira de Camargo G....Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to evaluate the genetic variability and relationship between 15 morphometric traits in 91,483 Campolina horses, as well as to propose an index based on an aggregate genotype that promotes a particular selection objective. PCA was applied to the genetic (co)variance matrix among variables. After calculation of the principal components, the breeding values were estimated to obtain an index related to the component that explained most of the variation. The first principal component (PC1) accounted for 97.8% of the total additive genetic variance of t...
Hanson CM, Kline KH, Foreman JH.Heart scores (the arithmetic mean of the QRS durations of the three bipolar limb leads for 10 cycles) and heart weights were determined from five draft type horses and five racing type horses, and evaluated for relationships between heart score and heart size within and between the two different types of horses. Horses were killed using a captive bolt gun, and actual heart weights were recorded using an electronic digital scale. The linear regression equation for heart weight versus heart score had a significant (P < 0.05) negative slope for racing types. The regression coefficients for heart ...
Weil M, Litzke LF, Fritsch R.Thirty-six lameness free horses and 119 horses with lameness of the distal forelimb including the carpus were evaluated through thermography. Examination was done with an infrared thermography camera "Thermovision 470" and a specially developed analyzing software program. Temperature differences between corresponding regions of the left and right forelimb were determined and scrutinized statistically between various lameness groups. By creating temperature differences between both limbs a parameter for skin temperature was found which is independent of surrounding temperature. In lameness free...
Aguilar JJ, Cuervo-Arango J, Santa Juliana L.It is scientifically demonstrated that lunar cycles have important effects on several biological events. Controversy exists about the lunar influence on human and animal parturition. In addition, in the horse industry, especially in Polo Horse breeders of Argentina and around the world there is a higher demand for female offspring than for males. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between the lunar phase at the time of mating and the sex ratio at birth in horses. The Argentinean Stud Book provided information related to all matings registere...
Jenner F, Kirker-Head C.To determine the effect of core decompression surgery and bone mineral density (BMD) on the mechanical properties of equine navicular bones. Methods: Experimental, in vitro study. Methods: Fore limb navicular bones (n=36 pairs) from sound 2-5-year-old horses with no radiographic abnormalities of the distal aspect of the forelimbs. Methods: Navicular BMD was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. One randomly assigned navicular bone from each pair served as control. The contralateral test specimen was allocated to 1 of 6 treatment groups defined by drill bit size (3.2 versus 2.5 mm di...
Davis K, Carter R, Tully T, Negulescu I, Storey E.To evaluate aqueous humor viscosity in the raptor, dog, cat, and horse, with a primary focus on the barred owl (Strix varia). Methods: Twenty-six raptors, ten dogs, three cats, and one horse. Methods: Animals were euthanized for reasons unrelated to this study. Immediately, after horizontal and vertical corneal dimensions were measured, and anterior chamber paracentesis was performed to quantify anterior chamber volume and obtain aqueous humor samples for viscosity analysis. Dynamic aqueous humor viscosity was measured using a dynamic shear rheometer (AR 1000 TA Instruments, New Castle, DE, US...
Hedenström UO, Wattle OS.Ossification of the ungular cartilages (OUC) in the foot of horses has been studied for more than 100 years. There is a high heritability of this condition but its clinical relevance has remained questionable. Nevertheless, modern equine orthopedic literature ranks OUC as one of top 10 causes of lameness in cold-blooded trotters and stallions of these breeds are excluded from breeding if they have more than mild levels of side bones. Cold-blooded trotters have been used for racing for many decades and official sports data have been available since 1923. A decreased performance is often the onl...
Ferlazzo A, Medica P, Cravana C, Fazio E.Involvement of thyroid function on performance warrants further investigation as limited data exists on the effects of showjumping on the dynamics of total and free iodothyronines. Objective: To investigate the response of circulating total and free iodothyronines in horses to experimental showjumping sessions and compare with the effects normally induced by competition and determine if fence height has any effect. Methods: Using a randomised crossover study design 6 trained horses were studied during experimental showjumping sessions over 10 fences of different height: 1.00 m (Session 1), 1.1...
Nankervis KJ, Bradley F, Kosek K, Dyson SJ.Published guidelines indicate an English saddle tree should not extend beyond the 18th thoracic vertebra (T18). The study aimed to assess reliability of saddle fitters (SFs) to identify the T18 spinous process (SP). Part 1 investigated agreement between T18 (T18SF) as identified by three SFs using palpation and a veterinary surgeon (VS) using radiography (T18VS) in seven horses. Saddle fitter 1 and SF2 palpated the lumbosacral joint and counted cranially six SPs, whereas SF3 followed the rib curvature toward the dorsal midline. In part 2, SF1 and SF2 identified T18 by counting cranially five S...
Próchniak T, Rozempolska-Rucińska I, Zięba G, Łukaszewicz M.The aim of the study was to select traits that may constitute a prospective criterion for breeding value prediction of young horses. The results of 1,232 starts of 894 four-, five-, six-, and seven-year-old horses, obtained during jumping championships for young horses which had not been evaluated in, alternative to championships, training centres were analyed. Nine traits were chosen of those recorded: ranking in the championship, elimination (y/n), conformation, rating of style on day one, two, and three, and penalty points on day one, two, and three of a championship. (Co)variance component...
Collins NM, Palmer L, Marr CM.The aim of this study was to establish reference values for a series of conventional two-dimensional (2-D) and M-mode echocardiographic variables in Thoroughbred foals at increasing age intervals. Methods: Nineteen healthy Thoroughbred foals (11 males, 8 females) were examined at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of life. Auscultatory findings were recorded and echocardiographic examinations (2-D and M-mode) were performed. Descriptive statistical analyses, including mean, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval for the means, were used to summarise the data. The relationships between selecte...
Secchi V, Masala G, Corda A, Corda F, Potop E, Barbero Fernandez A, Pinna Parpaglia ML, Sanna Passino E.Early diagnosis of tendon injuries and accurate long-term monitoring of the healing process are key for equine veterinarians that use conventional ultrasonography. The development of strain elastography could improve the management of clinical cases. The aim of the study was to assess the intraobserver repeatability and interobserver reproducibility of manual measurements of the colored areas of the tendons within elastograms and to standardize this manual modality by comparing the analysis of the images with ImageJ. Twenty elastograms of the injured superficial digital flexor tendons (SDFTs) ...
Ma W, Klemm WR.Equine urine was analysed by capillary gas chromatography. The volatile profiles from oestrous and dioestrous samples were compared to establish any qualitative or quantitative difference that may have potential value in olfactory communication. Forty-five different volatile compounds were detected. Of these, 17 major compounds were common to all chromatograms. The chemical profile of oestrous urine was distinguished by the presence of a unique peak that was not present in dioestrous samples. Numerous constituents exhibited endocrine dependence: while the concentrations of seix peaks increased...
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...
Simhofer H, Niederl M, Anen C, Rijkenhuizen A, Peham C.The objective of this study was to compare masticatory movements before and after dental treatment using kinematic analysis. The masticatory movements of 15 adult Warmblood horses with mild dental pathology chewing standardised hay were recorded on three consecutive days before and three times after (days 7, 21, 28) dental correction. The results of the leading mandibular tracking marker, located at the caudal edge of the inter-mandibular suture, were compared statistically. Reproducibility of measurements prior to dental treatment was excellent (P<0.05). Rostrocaudal mandibular motion was ...
Sieme H, Troedsson MH, Weinrich S, Klug E.Twelve fertile stallions were divided into two groups, either receiving gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) (n = 6) or Placebo (n = 6). Based on the history of frozen/thawed semen characteristics three stallions within each group were assigned as being "good freezers" [GnRH (+); Placebo (+)] and three stallions were assigned as being "poor freezers" [GnRH (-); Placebo (-)]. The study was performed as a "blinded" investigation and stallions were treated twice daily by an intramuscular injection of 1 ml GnRH (Buserelin), 50 microg) or Placebo. The experiment was divided into three time periods...
Bartolomé E, Perdomo-González DI, Ripollés-Lobo M, Valera M.Horses have been valued for their diversity of coat color since prehistoric times. In particular, the pleiotropic effect that coat color genes have on behavior determines the way the horse perceives and reacts to its environment. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of coat color on basal reactivity assessed with infrared thermography as eye temperature at rest (ETR), determine their relation with the results obtained by these horses in Show Jumping competitions and to estimate the genetic parameters for this variable to test its suitability for genetic selection. A Gene...
Rose RJ, Ilkiw JE, Hodgson D.Thirty-one horses competing in a 100 kilometre endurance ride had electrocardiograms recorded before and after the ride from which the heart score of each horse was calculated. Blood was also taken to determine the packed cell volume (PCV) and total plasma protein (TPP) before the ride, after 60 kilometres (mid ride) and at completion of the ride. Statistical analysis of the heart scores showed that a faster group of horses had significantly higher heart scores than either a slower group or those eliminated due to inadequate recovery of heart rate. No horses developed electrocardiogram abnorma...
Gómez MD, Goyache F, Molina A, Valera M.The mating policy for Spanish Purebred horses encourages the same or closely related stallions to be used for reproduction across studs differing in environments. Stallions may perform differently across studs, and if so, adjustment for the sire x stud (ss) interaction is recommended. However, there are no studies available that analyzed the influence of ss interaction on estimation of genetic parameters in horses. This research is aimed at assessing the implications of including ss interaction in models fitted for the estimation of genetic parameters for traits under selection using 8 body me...
Rushton JO, Kolodziejek J, Tichy A, Nowotny N, Nell B.To date the influence of herpesviruses on the development of equine ocular diseases has not been clearly determined. Objective: The purpose of this study was to illustrate the course of equine ocular findings over a period of 18 months at 6 month intervals, in correlation with the results of herpesvirus detection. Methods: 266 Lipizzaners in 3 federal states of Austria underwent complete ophthalmologic examination 4 times. Blood samples, nasal- and conjunctival swabs were obtained at the same time and used for the detection of the equid gammaherpesviruses EHV-2 and EHV-5 using consensus herpes...
Wilkes EJA, Woodgate RG, Raidal SL, Hughes KJ.This study investigated the impact of variability in Parascaris spp. and strongyle faecal egg counts (FEC) from foals on treatment decision-making and detection of a patent infection. A single faecal sample was collected once daily for three days from 53 foals and a FEC was performed on three separate portions of each sample (total of nine egg counts per foal). Differences in the decision to administer an anthelmintic using the results of a single count (C), the mean of three (X¯) or nine counts (X¯) and the upper 5% confidence limit of the gamma confidence interval (CI) of the estimate of t...
Hertzsch R, Richter A.Based on their performance-enhancing potential, caffeine and theophylline are prohibited substances in equine sports. Residues in horses can be caused by wilful application or by unintended uptake of contaminated feed. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities recently introduced international residue limits (IRLs) to facilitate the discrimination between pharmacological relevant and irrelevant concentrations in doping samples. The objective of this study was to investigate the scientific validity of these IRLs. A systematic analysis was performed to assess the IRLs by different ...
Lee D, May K, Faramarzi B.Laminitis is a common but critical disease that causes severe pain and disability in horses. The etiology and pathogenesis of laminitis remain inconclusive and a multimodal therapeutic approach is generally indicated. Acupuncture has been used as a treatment option; however, the required number of treatments is still controversial due to the lack of objective scientific evidence. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if the response to a second acupuncture treatment differed from the response to the first acupuncture treatment in horses with chronic laminitis. Methods: Fourte...
Plasma clearance of iohexol is a reliable method to assess the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The relationship between aging and GFR in horses is unclear. To compare GFR estimated by iohexol clearance in horses of different ages. Twenty-one clinically healthy horses were enrolled. Prospective study. Groups: (A) composed by 8 young horses (≤14 years old) with serum creatinine <1.5 mg/dL, (B) by 7 aged horses (≥20 years old) with serum creatinine <1.5 mg/dL, and (C) by 6 aged horses (≥20 years old) with serum creatinine ≥1.5 mg/dL. Iohexol was injected (75.5 mg/kg) through...
Charnock LN, Keys DA, McMullen RJ.Identify ocular findings associated with blunt ocular trauma to aid in differentiation from other equine ocular diseases. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: Medical records of horses at the Equine Clinic Munich-Riem, Munich, Germany and Auburn University, College of Veterinary Medicine were reviewed. Age, sex, breed, laterality, and clinical findings on ophthalmic examination, as well as an observed (confirmed) or unobserved (suspected) history of trauma, were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed to identify any correlation between clinical signs and blunt ocular traum...
McLellan J, Plevin S.Upper respiratory tract (URT) endoscopic examination is a routine part of prepurchase examinations. Discrepancies have been documented in the assessment of arytenoid function grades (AFG) between veterinarians. Objective: To document intra- and interobserver agreement for a population of multi-experience level veterinarians for assessment of AFG of 2-year-old Thoroughbreds. Methods: Observational cohort study. Methods: One-hundred and fourteen URT videoendoscopic examinations were evaluated by 10 veterinarians. Veterinarians were categorised based on experience, into five groups, each group wi...
Johnson CB, Bloomfield M, Taylor PM.To identify and characterize the effects of guaiphenesin (GGE) on the 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%. The EEG was recorded continuously and a binaural broad band click stimulus was provided throughout the experiment at 6.1224 Hz. An infusion of 1500 mg GGE w...
Durket E, Gillen A, Kottwitz J, Munsterman A.To determine the efficacy of lidocaine at reducing incidence of postoperative reflux (POR) in horses by using quantitative statistical analysis. Methods: Systematic meta-analytical review. Methods: Studies on horses undergoing gastrointestinal surgery for small intestinal lesions, identified by systematic search between 2001 and 2017. Methods: A search with PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar was performed, followed by secondary searches of veterinary trade journals and bibliographies of relevant articles. The primary outcome measure for this study was the effect of lidocaine th...
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 ...
Wilkes EJA, Cowling A, Woodgate RG, Hughes KJ.Faecal egg counts (FEC) are used widely for monitoring of parasite infection in animals, treatment decision-making and estimation of anthelmintic efficacy. When a single count or sample mean is used as a point estimate of the expectation of the egg distribution over some time interval, the variability in the egg density is not accounted for. Although variability, including quantifying sources, of egg count data has been described, the spatiotemporal distribution of nematode eggs in faeces is not well understood. We believe that statistical inference about the mean egg count for treatment decis...
Zoller JL, Cavinder CA, Sigler D, Tedeschi LO, Harlin J.Maintaining optimal body condition is an important concern for horse owners and managers as it can affect reproductive efficiency, athletic ability, and overall health of the horse; however, information regarding dietary requirements to maintain or alter BCS in the horse is limited. A recently developed model had high accuracy in predicting the energy required to alter BCS in the horse. However, the model was restricted to sedentary mares, while many horses are subject to physical work. The objective of this study was to expand the scope of that model to include exercising horses by incorporat...
