Veterinary care in horses encompasses the medical and preventive measures taken to maintain and improve the health and well-being of equine patients. It includes a wide range of practices such as routine health examinations, vaccinations, dental care, parasite control, and management of injuries and diseases. Veterinary care also involves diagnostic procedures, surgical interventions, and therapeutic treatments tailored to the specific needs of horses. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of equine veterinary care, including advancements in diagnostic techniques, treatment protocols, and health management strategies to support the well-being and performance of horses.
Fazio E, Ferlazzo A.Domestic animals are transported for a variety of reasons including breeding, biomedical purposes, slaughter and, in the case of sporting horses, for competitions, pleasure activities or ceremonial proceedings. Studies to determine the amount of stress on farm animals during transport often have highly variable results and are difficult to interpret. The reaction of animals to stressors depends on the duration and intensity of the stressors, the animal's previous experience, its physiological status and the immediate environmental restraints. Behavioural, haematological, haematochemical, physi...
Wilkins PA, Palmer JE."Shaker foal" disease, toxicoinfectious botulism of foals, was 1st described as a clinical entity in 1967. The reported mortality rate was 90%, with death occurring within 24-72 hours of the onset of the characteristic clinical signs. The mortality rate decreased when equine-origin botulism antitoxin became available; however, a certain percentage of foals continued to die of respiratory failure. Mechanical ventilation is an important part of the treatment of infant botulism and is essential to the survival of many affected infants. We report a retrospective study of 9 foals with toxicoinfecti...
McKenzie EC, Valberg SJ, Godden SM, Pagan JD, MacLeay JM, Geor RJ, Carlson GP.To determine the effect of dietary starch, bicarbonate, and fat content on metabolic responses and serum creatine kinase (CK) activity in exercising Thoroughbreds with recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER), 5 RER horses were fed 3 isocaloric diets (28.8 Mcal/d [120.5 MJ/d]) for 3 weeks in a crossover design and exercised for 30 minutes on a treadmill 5 days/wk. On the last day of each diet, an incremental standardized exercise test (SET) was performed. The starch diet contained 40% digestible energy (DE) as starch and 5% as fat: the bicarbonate-starch diet was identical but was supplemente...
Lyons E.Population-S small strongyles have been studied since 1974 in central Kentucky in a closed Shetland pony breeding herd. The ponies were treated approximately every 8 weeks with cambendazole (1974-1978), oxibendazole (OBZ) (1978-1992), or pyrantel pamoate (PRT) (1992-1999). Small strongyles in the ponies have shown resistance to these compounds in field and critical tests. One purpose of this presentation was to compare different parameters for determination of effects on the small strongyle species in ponies after treatment, mainly with OBZ or PRT, from data in critical tests (n=112). Also, th...
Hodgkinson JE, Lichtenfels JR, Mair TS, Cripps P, Freeman KL, Ramsey YH, Love S, Matthews JB.We report the use of six oligoprobes designed from intergenic spacer region sequences to identify fourth-stage larvae (L4) of the tribe Cyathostominae. Oligoprobes were designed for identification of the following species: Cylicocyclus ashworthi, Cylicocyclus nassatus, Cylicocyclus insigne, Cyathostomum catinatum, Cylicostephanus goldi, and Cylicostephanus longibursatus. A seventh probe was designed as a positive control to identify all these members of the Cyathostominae. The intergenic spacer region was amplified by PCR using conserved primers. Initially, three oligoprobes were used in South...
Welland LM.A 6-year-old, primiparous standardbred mare was presented with a history of intestinal protrusion from the rectum shortly after parturition. A subacute grade IV rectal tear was diagnosed. The unusual nature of the tear led to speculation of a possible owner palpation accident. A grave prognosis was given and the mare was euthanized.
Buote M.A 2-month-old foal was presented with clinical signs of colic. Gastroduodenal ulceration was suspected. A poor response to medical treatment and signs of gastroduodenal obstruction led to celiotomy and an attempted bypass procedure. The foal was euthanized and postmortem examination revealed gastric ulceration, segmental duodenal stenosis, and severe chronic cholangiohepatitis and pancreatitis.
Marryatt PA.Two subcutaneous masses were removed from the elbow of a mare. Histologically they were composed of islands of polygonal to plump spindlelioid cells with large nuclei, coarsely stippled chromatin, and eosinophilic cytoplasm. Findings were diagnostic for a malignant giant cell tumor of soft parts, a rare tumor with a fair prognosis.
Greenaway EC, Sepulveda MF, Cunningham FM, Goode NT.Eosinophils have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the seasonal equine allergic skin disease, sweet itch. Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in regulating eosinophil function and antigen challenge has been reported to alter PKC isotype expression in blood eosinophils from allergic human subjects. Here we have compared the pattern of PKC isotype expression in eosinophils from sweet itch ponies with that in cells from normal ponies both during the active and inactive phases of the disease. A role for PKC in histamine-induced eosinophil activation was also investigated. Conventional PKCs alp...
Smith MR, Stevens KB, Durham AE, Marr CM.Liver disease is fairly common in horses and, although previous literature suggests that fatality rates are high, impressions gained from current clinical practice suggest that this is no longer the case. Objective: A case-control study was undertaken in 2 hospitals to investigate whether age, gender or breed type predisposed horses to developing hepatic disease, with the additional aim of determining whether these factors and disease category had any effect on outcome. Methods: Eighty-eight cases were identified by review of computerised archives at 2 hospitals. Three cases admitted immediate...
Chandler KJ, Billson FM, Mellor DJ.Ophthalmic lesions were detected in 67 of 83 horses and ponies aged 15 years or more. Degeneration of the vitreous, followed by senile retinopathy, were the most common lesions and both of them became more common with advancing age, although few of the owners reported disturbances of vision in their animals.
Bragulla H.Fetal development of the unique papillary body and its localized peculiarities in the equine hoof are described based on the study of 51 fetuses, nine newborn foals, and five adult horses. The shape and dimensions of the dermal papillae and lamellae have a formative influence on the structure and physical quality of the corneous hoof capsule with its horn tubules and lamellae. The size and arrangement of these horn structures determine the mechanical quality of hoof horn. Proper horn quality is a prerequisite for the various functions of the hoof capsule, such as protecting the living dermis s...
Stanley SD, McKemie D, Skinner W.A rapid, sensitive, and rugged method for detecting drugs and drug metabolites in extracts of horse urine is described. The use of large-volume injection (LVI) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for analysis of horse urine extracts allowed automation of the derivatization procedure and reduction of the sample volume from 5 mL to 1 mL of urine. An autosampler and temperature-programmable inlet were used to automatically dissolve the sample extract and form trimethylsilyl derivatives of over 200 analytes. The suitability of this procedure for routine GC-MS detection of approximately 80...
Christley RM, French NP.The topology of the network of contacts between individuals has important effects on infectious disease dynamics within a population. Here we examine for the first time a network of contacts between training yards that occurred through racing. Objective: To explore the topology of this network and to consider the effects of the network on the potential for disease transmission. Methods: Race data from one week was analysed. Contacts were defined as occurring between trainers that raced horses in the same race and hence one trainer could contact another trainer several times. A connection was s...
Dunkel B, McKenzie HC.Sporadic measurement of serum triglycerides in depressed and inappetant clinically ill horses revealed severe hypertriglyceridaemia without visible evidence of lipaemia on several occasions, leading to the inclusion of serum triglyceride concentrations in the routine serum biochemistry evaluation of our hospital. Since then, more cases have been identified and treated for hypertriglyceridaemia, raising questions about the prevalence, predisposing factors and significance of these findings. Objective: 1) Severe hypertriglyceridaemia without visible opacity of the serum occurs more commonly in c...
Seahorn JL, Slovis NM, Reimer JM, Carey VJ, Donahue JG, Cohen ND.To identify factors significantly associated with an epidemic of fibrinous pericarditis during spring 2001 among horses in central Kentucky. Methods: Case-control study. Methods: 38 horses with fibrinous pericarditis and 30 control horses examined for other reasons. Methods: A questionnaire was developed to solicit information regarding a wide range of management practices and environmental exposures from farm owners or managers. Results: The following factors were found in bivariate analyses to be significantly associated with an increased risk of pericarditis: being from a farm with mares an...
Matthews NS, Hartke S, Allen JC.Evaluation of five pulse oximeters in dogs, cats and horses with sensors placed at five sites and hemoglobin saturation at three plateaus. Methods: Prospective randomized multispecies experimental trial. Methods: Five healthy dogs, cats and horses. Methods: Animals were anesthetized and instrumented with ECG leads and arterial catheters. Five pulse oximeters (Nellcor Puritan Bennett-395, NPB-190, NPB-290, NPB-40 and Surgi-Vet V3304) with sensors at five sites were studied in a 5 x 5 Latin square design. Ten readings (SpO2) were taken at each of three hemoglobin saturation plateaus (98, 85 and ...
Moens Y, Lanz F, Doherr MG, Schatzmann U.To study the analgesic potency of the alpha2-agonist romifidine in the horse using both an electrical current and a mechanical pressure model for nociceptive threshold testing. In addition, a comparison was made with doses of detomidine and xylazine that produce equivalent degrees of sedation. Methods: Randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded cross-over study. Methods: Six adult Swiss warmblood horses, one mare and five geldings, weighing from 530 to 650 kg and aged 6-15 years. Methods: Nociceptive thresholds were measured using an electrical stimulus applied to the coronary band and using a pn...
Mircica E, Clutton RE, Kyles KW, Blissitt KJ.To identify the incidence of adverse effects caused by morphine 100-170 micro g kg-1 administration during surgery in horses. Methods: Retrospective case record analysis (1996-2000). Methods: Eighty-four healthy (ASA 1 or 2) horses, mean age 5.5 +/- 3.1 (SD) years (2 months to 16 years), mean weight 524 +/- 14 kg (100-950). Methods: Physiological data and evidence of complications were collected from the anaesthetic records of all animals anaesthetized with romifidine, ketamine, diazepam and halothane and undergoing laryngeal surgery or orchiectomy at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Stud...
Pascoe PJ, Taylor PM.To determine whether specific dopamine receptor antagonists block alfentanil-induced locomotor stimulation in horses. Methods: Randomized, prospective, crossover experiment. Methods: Eight adult horses (462-604 kg). Methods: Doses of dopamine-1 (D1) (NNC 01-0756) and dopamine-2 (D2) antagonists (eticlopride) were selected in a pilot study prior to a three part, blinded, cross-over study. In part 1, horses received 7.5 micro g kg-1 eticlopride, 5 micro g kg-1 NNC 01-0756 or an equal volume of saline. In part 2, they received both antagonists and in part 3, acepromazine at 0.05 mg kg-1. Locomoto...
Castillo-Olivares J, Tearle JP, Montesso F, Westcott D, Kydd JH, Davis-Poynter NJ, Hannant D.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) causes a systemic infection in equids with variable outcome, ranging from subclinical infections to severe disease, and also has the capacity to induce abortion in pregnant mares and persistent infections in stallions. The serum virus-neutralizing antibody response that invariably develops in the infected animal lasts for many months or years and is believed to play an important role in virus clearance. However, very little is known about cellular immunity against EAV because of a lack of methods for evaluating these immune responses. In the present study, we descr...
Radtke CL, Danova NA, Scollay MC, Santschi EM, Markel MD, Da Costa Gómez T, Muir P.To determine changes in the distal ends of the third metacarpal and metatarsal bones (MCIII and MTIII) of Thoroughbred racehorses that had sustained a catastrophic condylar fracture during high-speed exercise. Methods: Fractured and contralateral MCIIIs and MTIIIs from 11 Thoroughbred racehorses that sustained a displaced condylar fracture during racing, both MCIIIs from 5 Thoroughbred racehorses euthanatized because of a catastrophic injury other than a condylar fracture, and both MCIIIs from 5 horses of other breeds that had not been professionally trained or raced. Methods: Macroscopic obse...
Ollivier FJ, Brooks DE, Kallberg ME, Komaromy AM, Lassaline ME, Andrew SE, Gelatt KN, Stevens GR, Blalock TD, van Setten GB, Schultz GS.To examine in vitro effects of various antiproteolytic compounds on activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 in the tear film of horses with active corneal ulcers. Methods: Samples of tear film obtained from the eyes of 34 horses with active ulcerative keratitis. Methods: Horses were sedated, and tear samples were collected from the lower fornix of 34 ulcerated eyes by use of capillary tubes. The protease inhibitors 0.2% EDTA, 0.1% doxycycline, 10% N-acetylcysteine (NAC), 0.1% solution of a modified dipeptide that contains hydroxamic acid (ie, ilomostat), 0.1% alpha1-proteinase inhi...
Wylie CE, Newton JR, Bathe AP, Payne RJ.The electronic patient records of all equine patients of Rossdales Equine Practice between January 1, 2005 and November 1, 2013 were reviewed to determine the number of cases of supporting limb laminitis (SLL) in a large equine practice and referral hospital setting in the UK and to discuss the implications for future epidemiological studies. The clinical notes were searched electronically for a combination of 'laminitis AND (contralateral OR supporting OR overload OR weight bearing)'. The prevalence of SLL within each identified denominator population and the corresponding 95% CI were calcu...
Weiss E, Dolan ED, Mohan-Gibbons H, Gramann S, Slater MR.There are approximately 200,000 unwanted horses annually in the United States. This study aimed to better understand the potential homes for horses that need to be re-homed. Using an independent survey company through an Omnibus telephone (land and cell) survey, we interviewed a nationally projectable sample of 3036 adults (using both landline and cellular phone numbers) to learn of their interest and capacity to adopt a horse. Potential adopters with interest in horses with medical and/or behavioral problems and self-assessed perceived capacity to adopt, constituted 0.92% of the total sample....
Zhang M, Dickinson RM.Multiple red, raised nodules multifocally distributed along the serosal surface of the normal and the nonviable jejunum were identified in a 24-year-old neutered male horse undergoing surgery for removal of the strangulating lipoma around the jejunum. Histologically, these nodules consisted of many significantly and variably dilated, blood-filled vascular channels lined by a single layer of flattened, well-differentiated endothelial cells with occasional thrombi within a mildly thickened fibrous stroma. A diagnosis of intestinal angiomatosis was proposed. To the best of the authors' knowledge,...
Robert C, Benamou-Smith A, Leclerc JL.In an attempt to reduce morbidity, an additional veterinary examination is performed at the end of the hold time--the Recovery Check (RC)--of the last vet gate of all long distance endurance rides held in France. At the RC, a normal FEI-type inspection is performed combined with a cardiac recovery index (CRI): the heart rate is taken before (HR0) and 1 min after (HR1) the horse trotted for 30 m out and back. Results from 12 (130 and 160 km long) rides and based on 489 horses were analysed. Of all RC performed, 10.4% lead to elimination of the horses and lameness was the most frequent reason (4...
With outbreaks of equine influenza continuing to be reported in the UK, Richard Newton and Fleur Whitlock of the Animal Health Trust discusses practical steps that vets can promote and practise to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
Munro R, Ressel L, Gröne A, Hetzel U, Jensen HE, Paciello O, Kipar A.During the mid-1700s, development of the veterinary profession was largely focussed on equine medicine and surgery. Subsequently, rather erratic development encompassed other species and eventually led to specialization in different disciplines. Teaching of veterinary pathology was well established in Europe and North America by the late 19 century. Specialization in this discipline was boosted in the 1940s by the formation, in the USA, of the Register of Veterinary Pathology and American College of Veterinary Pathologists. National societies followed soon afterwards in Europe. The European So...
Kilgour R.Modern pastoral farming has radically transformed the niche where agricultural animals live. Recent trends in husbandry tend to give as much emphasis to economic profit and human convenience, as do a concern for the farmed species. Most of the traditional ways of handling sheep, cattle, goats, horses and pigs, like castration, ear tagging, tail-docking or horse breaking, have been accepted by the public with little concern. Inevitably, as renewed public interest focuses on intensive farming, some questions are directed towards extensive pastoral farming practices, particularly in newly-farmed ...
Schumacher J, Schumacher J, Spano JS, McGuire J, Scrutchfield WL, Feldman RG.Twenty-four clinically normal horses were castrated by routine methods. Peritoneal fluid was collected prior to castration and at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days postcastration. Peritoneal fluid was collected on days 9 and 11 if nucleated cell (NC) counts were still markedly elevated on day 7. Peritonitis, defined as NC counts greater than 10,000/microliters, was evident in 15 horses following castration. Mean NC counts peaked on day 5 but were less than 10,000/microliters for 74% of the horses by day 7, and 90% of the horses by day 9. One horse had a NC count greater than 60,000/microliters on day 11 whe...
Cribiu EP, Chaffaux S.With the exception of bovine freemartinism, intersexuality is rarely reported in domestic animals. The few cases of intersexuality reported here in dogs, cattle, goats, sheep and horses were classified according to the karyotype. The XX intersexes described here included goats which were either polled male pseudohermaphrodites or true hermaphrodites and dogs which were female pseudohermaphrodites. Among the XY intersexes studied, one dog was a true hermaphrodite, whereas the others were male pseudohermaphrodites, all mares showed gonadal dysgenesis and one cow was a female pseudohermaphrodite....
Rifkind JM.The reduced glutathione in the erythrocyte was found to inhibit the autoxidation of purified horse hemoglobin. It was observed that much higher concentrations of oxidized glutathione also stabilize hemoglobin. The stabilization by oxidized glutathione most likely involves the formation of a mixed disulfide with the reactive β-93 sulfhydryl groups on the hemoglobin. A similar effect is also observed with N-ethyl- maleimide and HgCl2 which also react with the sulfhydryl groups. The apparent stabilization by reduced glutathione is partially due to the reduction of ferrihemoglobin formed by autox...
Menozzi A, Pozzoli C, Poli E, Dacasto M, Giantin M, Lopparelli RM, Passeri B, Zullian C, Gobbetti T, Bertini S.We investigated the effects of nonselective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors (indomethacin and flunixin meglumine) and selective COX-1 (SC-560) or COX-2 (celecoxib, DUP-398 and NS-697) inhibitors on horse small bowel motility in vitro. At this purpose, samples of equine ileum were put in isolated organ baths for the motility experiments. Nonselective COX inhibitors were devoid of major effects on motility, except for an inhibition of tonic contraction shown by flunixin meglumine. SC-560, selective COX-1 inhibitor, was devoid of significant effects on ileal motility. Selective COX-2 inhibitors r...
Muñoz JA, Marcoux M, Picandet V, Theoret CL, Perron MF, Lepage OM.Palatal sclerotherapy using sodium tetradecyl sulfate has been suggested as a treatment for dorsal displacement of the soft palate in young Standardbred horses. The present study evaluated histological and biomechanical changes in the equine soft palate following trans-endoscopic treatment with a low dose of this compound. Two horses were euthanased and examined at 2 weeks and at 1, 2, 4 and 6 months post-sclerotherapy, while two further horses served as untreated controls. The technique was easily performed in all cases without major complications. On histological examination there was no evi...
Carleton CL, Donahue JM, Marteniuk JV, Sells SF, Timoney PJ.This study was undertaken to investigate the bacterial and fungal microflora on the external genitalia of a population of healthy male donkeys in the state of Michigan, USA. The aim was to identify and determine the frequency of occurrence of these microorganisms using seven different isolation media and standard microbiological procedures. The sites (urethral fossa [fossa glandis], dorsal diverticulum of the urethral sinus, distal urethra, and penile surface) in the distal reproductive tract were cultured and each isolated microorganism identified. Ten different genera of gram-positive bacter...
Gearhart MA, Webb PA, Knight AP, Salman MD, Smith JA, Erickson GA.Two doses of a formalin-killed, cell culture-derived vesicular stomatitis virus (vsv)-New Jersey serotype vaccine were administered intramuscularly, 30 days apart, to all lactating and nonlactating cows in a 350-cow dairy herd. Serum specimens were obtained serially from 96 cows before vaccination and at 30, 52 and 80 days after vaccination and from 24 of these cows 175 days after vaccination. Serum neutralizing antibody titers to vsv-New Jersey serotype were determined from serum-dilution, plaque-reduction tests. Serum neutralizing antibody titers also were determined during the same period f...
Brumund L, Wittenberg-Voges L, Rohn K, Kästner SBR.An accurate risk score that can predict peri-anesthetic morbidity and mortality in equine patients could improve peri-operative management, outcome and client communication. Unassigned: Three hunded horses underwent pre-anesthetic risk assessment using the American Society of Anesthesiologists-Physical Status augmented with equine-specific diseases (ASA-PS-Equine), a multifactorial 10-part rubric risk scale (10-RS), and a combination of both, the Combined horse anesthetic risk identification and optimization tool (CHARIOT). Intra-and post-anesthetic complications, the recovery phase and mortal...
de Souza TC, Burford J, Busschers E, Freeman S, Suthers JM.To report the long-term survival of adult horses that were subjected to synovial lavage for treatment of contaminated and septic synovial structures. Methods: Multicenter, prospective observational trial. Methods: Horses (n = 240) presented for synovial sepsis at 10 UK referral centers. Methods: Data for horses presented for treatment of synovial sepsis were collected over a 15 month recruitment period. Owners were contacted a minimum of 365 days after surgery using a structured client interview to assess long term survival. Descriptive statistics, and univariable and Cox proportional haza...
Nawrot K, Soroko-Dubrovina M, Zielińska P, Dudek K, Howell K.The study aimed to evaluate the impact of BEMER (Physical Vascular Therapy) on body surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in the distal parts of the forelimbs in Thoroughbreds. The study tested the hypothesis that BEMER therapy leads to an increase in body surface temperature and blood vessel diameter in the distal parts of the forelimbs. The study involved 16 horses, split into 2 groups: active BEMER ( = 8) and sham ( = 8). The active BEMER group had BEMER boots applied to the distal parts of the forelimbs, whereas the sham group had BEMER boots applied without activation of t...
Fikri F, Hendrawan D, Wicaksono AP, Purnomo A, Khairani S, Chhetri S, Purnama MTE, Çalışkan H.Colic is the primary problem affecting equestrian care worldwide. The primary cause of colic is digestive diseases; however, they can also affect organs from different systems in the abdominal region. In addition to a prior history of the disease and its treatment, risk factors may be assessed to determine the etiology of the disease in horses without or with a history of colic. This study aimed to present a summary of the incidence, risk factors, and medical procedures for colic in horses. Unassigned: Based on owner reports, 223 horses in Tuban, Indonesia, suspected of having colic were inves...
Vázquez FJ, Argüelles D, Muñoz JA, Genton M, Méndez Angulo JL, Climent F, Roquet I, Iglesias M, Velloso Álvarez A, Vitoria A, Bulnes F, Saitua A....Inguinal hernias (IHs) and ruptures are a relatively common condition in horses, occurring in foals (congenital) and adult (acquired) animals. A retrospective observational analysis was conducted on 40 cases that underwent laparoscopic surgery to close the VRs using barbed sutures alone or combined with other techniques. Signalment, clinical presentation, surgery, and follow-up data were obtained. In total, fifty-nine VRs were closed using barbed sutures (alone or in combination with other methods), with six cases performed prophylactically and forty-four due to acquired IH. Of the forty-four ...
Casado-Santos A, González-Cubero E, González-Fernández ML, González-Rodríguez Y, García-Rodríguez MB, Villar-Suárez V.Corneal ulcers are a common and potentially vision-threatening condition in horses that can be challenging to treat with conventional therapies alone. This case report describes the successful treatment of a non-healing corneal ulcer in a 28-year-old Hispano-Bretón mare using the secretome derived from adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs). Despite initial treatment with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and surgical debridement, the corneal ulcer failed to heal properly, exhibiting persistent epithelial defects and stromal complications. As an alternative regenerative appr...
Shokrollahi S, Mohammadi R, Sarrafzadeh-Rezaei F, Jalilzadeh-Amin G, Hashemi-Asl SM.The aim of this study was to compare the sedative and cardiovascular effects of the combination of xylazine-acepromazine versus xylazine-pregabalin - in horses. Four healthy crossbred horses were included in the study and assigned to two treatments. In treatment I (T1), the animals received xylazine hydrochloride (1.00 mg kg) in combination with acepromazine maleate (0.05 mg kg) intravenously. In treatment II (T2), the animals received intragastric administration of pregabalin (4.00 mg kg) followed by xylazine hydrochloride (1.00 mg kg) intravenously after 60 min. Head height above ground (HHA...
Herbst AC, Coleman MC, Macon EL, Harris PA, Adams AA.Information on health care and health status of U.S. senior horses (≥15 years of age) is currently sparse. Objective: (A) Provide an overview of owner-reported (1) medical conditions, (2) management/treatment practices for equine metabolic syndrome and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), (3) frequencies of routine health care practices and (4) supplement and pharmaceutical use in U.S. senior horses (≥15 years of age). (B) Evaluate potential risk factors for certain medical conditions and for low routine health care. Methods: Online survey. Methods: Descriptive and inferential...
Werner LC, de Oliveira GM, Daros RR, Costa ED, Michelotto PV.The use of grimace scales enables the clinical identification of changes in the facial expressions of animals caused by pain. The Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) is one such tool, comprising a pain coding system based on facial expressions and assessing six Facial Action Units (FAUs). Each FAU is accompanied by descriptions and anatomical details to assist the evaluator. However, the morphological descriptions for certain FAUs in the HGS are not sufficiently detailed, potentially hindering accurate interpretation. This study is an analytical investigation aimed at enhancing the morphoanatomical deta...
Malalana F.Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancerous cells through the use of cytotoxic drugs. Whilst the use of systemic (intravenous) chemotherapy in equine practice is generally limited to the management of lymphoma, cytotoxic drugs are commonly used in the treatment of accessible skin tumors, either by topical application in the form of ointments or injected intralesionally. These drugs should be employed with caution due to the risk of serious adverse effects. In addition, extreme caution should be followed when preparing, handling, administering, and disposing them, due to their carcinogenic, muta...
Ogden NKE, Winderickx K, Stack JD.Computed tomography (CT) of the axial skeleton is increasing across many equine hospitals. CT of the pelvis and caudal spine in a large group of clinical cases has not been reported previously. Objective: To describe the pathological lesions identified in the caudal spine/pelvis in horses and ponies undergoing CT spine of this region. Methods: A retrospective case series. Methods: Horses with CT imaging of the caudal spine/pelvis were included. Horses aged under 6 months and those with CT examinations performed post-mortem were excluded. Results: Fifty-six horses met the inclusion criteria. ...
McMullen RJ.To review data on the advances in equine ophthalmic imaging that have been made during the past 5 years and highlight advantages of using multiple imaging modalities to improve clinical observational skills and improve diagnostic accuracy. Methods: A literature review from 2019 through 2024 of equine ophthalmic digital photography, fundus photography, ocular and orbital ultrasonography (US), ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), confocal microscopy (CM), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), radiography, CT, and MRI. Results: Digital photography remains the cornerstone of equine oph...
Navas de Solis C, Solomon C, Durando M, Stefanovski D.Exercising arrhythmias can be clinically irrelevant or associated with poor performance, collapse and sudden cardiac death. Objective: To test if readable exercising ECGs can be recorded by grooms or riders and to describe arrhythmias in ECGs from different types of exercise in Eventing horses and investigate associations with type of workout, the presence of previous cardiac signs and intensity of exercise. Methods: Cohort study. Methods: Single lead exercising ECGs were obtained by riders or grooms during training and competition from a convenience sample of horses in training for Eventing c...
Liu Y, Zhou F, Zheng W, Bai T, Chen X, Guo L.The sleeping and eating behaviors of horses are important indicators of their health. With the development of the modern equine industry, timely monitoring and analysis of these behaviors can provide valuable data for assessing the physiological state of horses. To recognize horse behaviors in stalls, this study builds on the SlowFast algorithm, introducing a novel loss function to address data imbalance and integrating an SE attention module in the SlowFast algorithm's slow pathway to enhance behavior recognition accuracy. Additionally, YOLOX is employed to replace the original target detecti...
Farkas A, Thieme K, Soimala T, Jensen CK, Eule JC.This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of povidone-iodine (PI) and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as preoperative antiseptics in equine ophthalmic procedures. Methods: Horses that underwent routine ophthalmic surgery and procedures. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from the medical records of equine patients undergoing ophthalmic procedures. Inclusion criteria were sampling for aerobic microbial culture at three different time points (T0: pre-irrigation, T1: post-irrigation, and T2: postoperatively) and T0 showing bacterial growth. Microbiological outcomes were assesse...
Barot D, Usimaki A, Linardi RL, Arensberg CM, Ortved KF.Quantify the concentration of α2-macroglobulin (A2M), immunomodulatory cytokines, and TGF-β1 factors in 4 commercially available autologous blood-based products including conditioned A2M (CA2M; Alpha2EQ; Astaria Global), autologous protein solution (APS; Pro-Stride; Zoetis), platelet-rich plasma (PRP; Restigen; Zoetis), and autologous conditioned plasma (ACP; Arthrex ACP). We hypothesized that CA2M would have higher concentrations of A2M and lower concentrations of cytokines and growth factors compared to APS, PRP, and ACP. Unassigned: Blood was obtained from 6 healthy, adult horses and proc...
