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.
Ayala I, Montes A, Benedito JL, Castillo C, Hernández J, Gutierrez C, García-Partida P.Configuration and amplitude values of the QRS complex of the electrocardiogram were studied with standard Einthoven leads in 173 healthy Spanish-bred (Andalusian) horses, aged between 1 month and 17 years. Animals which were 1 month old had a predominantly negative QRS complex, whereas a predominantly positive complex direction was found in the rest of the animals. Statistically significant variations were found for the Q-wave and QRS main vector between the different age groups, with highest values for the Q-wave and most negative values for the direction of the QRS main vector in animals up ...
Rosiles MR, Bautista J, Fuentes VO, Ross F.Equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM), swine pulmonary oedema and human oesophageal cancer have been associated with fumonisine B1 (FB1) ingestion. For the first time in this study it is reported that FB1 was identified as being associated with an outbreak of ELEM at Oaxaca, Mexico. Symptoms of ELEM and Equine Venezuelan Encephalitis (EVE) are similar and a different diagnosis is obligatory. In the geographical area (Oaxaca, Mexico) where donkeys died showing a neurological syndrome, 14 corn samples were collected. With the use of TLC (Thin layer chromatography) and HPLC (High performance liquid...
Wittern C, Hendrickson DA, Trumble T, Wagner A.A 364-kg (800-lb) 15-month-old sexually intact cryptorchid male Quarter Horse was admitted to the veterinary teaching hospital for castration. The horse was placed in standing stocks, and a caudal epidural injection of 18 mg of detomidine hydrochloride (50 micrograms/kg [23 micrograms/lb] of body weight) was administered. Fifteen minutes after injection, the horse unexpectedly collapsed to the floor, first into sternal, and then into lateral, recumbency. Because the horse would not get up, the decision was made to perform the surgery with the horse under general anesthesia. The horse required ...
Holman PJ, Becu T, Bakos E, Polledo G, Cruz D, Wagner GG.Babesia equi, a causative agent of equine piroplasmosis, was isolated from horses in the Chaco Province of Argentina, a known piroplasmosis endemic region. Fifteen B. equi field isolates were acquired by culture from 23 actively working horses from 2 ranches. The horses appeared healthy with no clinical signs or histories indicative of equine piroplasmosis. All 23 horses had B. equi-specific antibody activity by the indirect fluorescent antibody test and 18 were also complement fixation test positive for B. equi. Equine erythrocytes were prepared for parasite culture using a microcentrifuge tu...
Klug E, Sieme H, Peters E.Equine artificial insemination (AI) meanwhile has been widely established in the warm blood horse industry. Because of its importance consistent hygienic aspects and their significance for the use of stallions as semen donors in AI-programs are presented and clarified. Incidence as well as importance of equine venereal infectious diseases are considered. Data of physiological bacterial genital flora and treatment principles of therapeutic control of venereal infectious bacterial agents as well as a model of control of Equine Viral Arteritis are given. A prophylactic hygiene program for donor s...
Sprayberry KA, Madigan J, LeCouteur RA, Valentine BA.A Thoroughbred-Percheron crossbred gelding developed a fulminant cascade of sequelae following a severe episode of rhabdomyolysis. Complications may occur with rhabdomyolysis of any etiology. In warmblood horses with Percheron bloodlines, rhabdomyolysis may be secondary to polysaccharide storage disease, and aggressive therapy should be undertaken promptly to avoid the complications.
Jánosi S, Huszenicza G, Kulcsár M, Kóródi P.After giving an overview of the general pathology of endotoxin-mediated diseases, the authors summarise the endotoxin-induced endocrine changes and their clinical consequences, with particular regard to reproduction. The consequences of temporary activation of the cyclooxygenase-2 and lipoxygenase enzyme systems resulting in elevated release of various prostanoids are discussed in cyclic and pregnant ruminants, sows and mares. The clinical failures attributable to increased glucocorticoid secretion as well as the endotoxin-induced changes in thyroid function and in peripheral level of some oth...
Doherty TJ, Frazier DL.This study investigated the effect of lidocaine i.v. on halothane minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) in ponies. Six ponies were anaesthetised with thiopentone and succinylcholine, intubated and anaesthesia maintained with halothane. Ventilation was controlled and blood pressure maintained within clinically acceptable limits. Following a 2 h equilibration period, baseline halothane MAC was determined. The ponies were then given a loading dose of lidocaine (2.5 or 5 mg/kg bwt) or saline over 5 min, followed by a constant infusion of lidocaine (50 or 100 microg/kg/min, or saline, respectively)....
Rand T, Bindeus T, Alton K, Voegele T, Kukla C, Stanek C, Imhof H.The authors evaluate the role of low-field strength magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with sonography in the evaluation of degenerative changes of tendons, with histologic correlation, based on investigations of horse cadavers. Methods: Low-field MRI and sonography was performed in 42 hours specimens for the evaluation of tendons and ligaments. Magnetic resonance imaging included sagittal and axial T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and gradient echo images. Sonography and MR images were evaluated for degenerative changes or tears and the findings were correlated with the histologic results. Re...
Lendal S, Larsen MM, Bjørn H, Craven J, Chriél M, Olsen SN.A questionnaire survey to obtain information on endoparasite control practices and management on 68 Danish horse farms was undertaken in 1995. The study revealed that foals, young horses and adults were on average, annually treated 4.3, 4.0 and 3.7 times, respectively. The most commonly used drug from 1993-1995 was ivermectin. On average 2.4 different drugs were used annually. The most used method of weight estimation was eye measure: for foals by 78%, for youngsters by 81% and adults by 82% of the herd owners. The most commonly used weight in the dosing of anthelmintics was individual weights...
Craven J, Bjørn H, Henriksen SA, Nansen P, Larsen M, Lendal S.This study reports on the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in strongyles of horses in Denmark. Of 5 methods used for the calculation of faecal egg count reduction (FECR) the method recommended by the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology, for the detection of resistance in sheep was the most sensitive procedure for detecting resistance. Using this method benzimidazole resistance was detected on 33 of 42 farms (79%) examined. Pyrantel was tested on 15 farms and FECR tests indicate resistance on 3 (30%) farms. On 2 farms on which resistance to pyrantel was detecte...
Raisis AL, Hodgson JL, Hodgson DR.Twenty-one compromised neonatal foals hospitalised at the Rural Veterinary Centre (RVC) during 1993 were studied to determine i) serum gentamicin concentrations obtained when gentamicin was administered at 3.3 mg/kg bwt twice daily i.m.; ii) factors which contributed to inter-foal variation in serum gentamicin concentrations achieved and iii) clinical efficacy of gentamicin therapy in foals with confirmed septicaemia. Septicaemia was confirmed in 7 foals with positive blood cultures and suspected in 8 foals with a sepsis score > 11. Peak serum concentrations (Ps) were > 6 microg/ml in al...
Gerard MP, Healy LN, Bowman KF, Miller RT.Two months after colic surgery, subcutaneous masses were found on the ventral and lateral portions of the thorax of a 3-year-old Hanoverian-cross filly. Six months later, the filly was admitted for evaluation of severe lameness. Arthrocentesis of the tarsocrural joint yielded clotted sanguineous material; however, unusual multinucleated giant cells were seen. Radiography of the right tarsus revealed soft tissue opacity and degenerative joint disease. The filly was euthanatized to prevent further suffering. At necropsy, multiple soft-tissue masses were located throughout the fascial planes of t...
Chua HC, Stewart B, Lim BH, Lee HK.A chromatographic method was developed to detect and confirm the presence of chlorpropamide (I) in horse plasma samples, for antidoping control. The plasma sample (1 ml) was extracted with dichloromethane and screened by high-performance liquid chromatography, and confirmation of the drug's presence was accomplished by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The limit of detection was found to be 3.5 ng/ml at a signal-to-noise ratio of three. Derivatization of I with N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide with 1% trimethylchlorosilane allowed for highly stable, accurate and sen...
Recio P, López PG, Hernández M, Prieto D, Contreras J, García-Sacristán A.The involvement of nitric oxide (NO) and the mechanisms mediating neurogenic relaxation were investigated in the horse corpus cavernosum. NADPH-diaphorase activity was expressed in nerve fibres around arteries and muscular bundles in the horse trabecular tissue. Relaxations in response to electrical field stimulation were tetrodotoxin (10(-6) M)-sensitive, indicating their neurogenic origin. The NO synthase inhibitor, L-NO-arginine (L-NO-Arg, 3 x 10(-5) M), abolished the electrically induced relaxations, which were significantly reversed by L-arginine (3 x 10(-3) M). Exogenous NO (10(-6)-10(-3...
Costa LR, Spier SJ, Hirsh DC.Ribotyping and susceptibility to 17 antimicrobial agents were used to compare 37 isolates of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (28 from horses, 1 from cattle, 3 from sheep and 5 from goats) derived from various types of lesions, and different geographic locations. According to the presence of nitrate reductase, all but one isolate from horses reduced nitrate (nitrate-positive), whereas all isolates from sheep and goats were unable to reduce nitrate (nitrate-negative). The ribotype of the nitrate-negative isolate from a horse with ulcerative lymphangitis was identical to all the other isolates...
Marlin DJ, Scott CM, Mills PC, Louwes H, Vaarten J.The effects of administering (1) 6L isotonic oral rehydration solution (ORS), similar in composition to plasma (except for an elevated potassium concentration) and with an osmotic skeleton and (2) 6L water (no osmotic skeleton), were evaluated in five thoroughbred horses following exercise-induced dehydration. The horses were exercised on a treadmill for 10 min at walk (1.7 m.s-1; approximately 15% VO2max), 40 min at trot (3.7 m.s-1; approximately 25% VO2max) and 10 min at walk (1.7 m.s-1; approximately 15% VO2max). Exercise was undertaken on a 3 degrees incline at 30 degrees C/80% RH. Solutio...
Mikami T, Tsuchihashi K, Kashiwagi M, Yachida Y, Daino T, Hashi K, Akino T, Gasa S.A sulfatide, O-fatty-acylated 3-sulfogalactosylceramide at C6-O on galactoside, was isolated from equine brain and the chemical structure was characterized by proton NMR and MS. The O-acylation site of the acylated sulfatide was determined by the down-field shift of protons attached to a carbon having an O-acyl group in the NMR spectrum and by analysis of a partially methylated derivative before and after acetalization of the intact sulfatide using GC-MS. The O-acyl chain length was determined by GLC, revealing that it exclusively had palmitoyl and stearoyl residues as the major fatty acids. T...
Sponseller BA, McElhaney R, Carlson GP, Yarbrough TB, Macon SZ.The article presents a case study of a 17-year-old mare that had persistent bladder infections due to abnormal urinary tract anatomy characterized by a septum in the bladder, dilated ureters, […]
MacLachlan NJ, Balasuriya UB, Hedges JF, Schweidler TM, McCollum WH, Timoney PJ, Hullinger PJ, Patton JF.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the causative agent of equine viral arteritis, an apparently emerging disease of equids. In this study, the antibody response of horses to the structural proteins of EAV was evaluated using gradient-purified EAV virions and baculovirus-expressed recombinant EAV structural proteins (G(L), G(S), M, N) as antigens in a Western immunoblotting assay. Thirty-three sera from horses that previously had been naturally or experimentally infected with EAV were evaluated, including samples from mares, geldings, and both persistently and nonpersistently infected stallions. S...
Kay AT, Spirito MA, Rodgerson DH, Brown SE.To describe a surgical technique for repair of grade IV rectal tears after parturition in mares and to report outcome. Methods: Clinical report. Methods: Horses (n=6) with grade IV rectal tears. Methods: Mares were sedated and restrained in standing stocks. After caudal anesthesia and evacuation of feces from the rectum, the perineal region was aseptically prepared. Four stay sutures were placed through the external anal sphincter before vertical transection (12 o'clock). Caudal retraction of the tear was performed using Allis tissue forceps (5 mares) or stay sutures before accurate apposition...
Pashen RL.Levels of the major circulating metabolite of prostaglandin F-2 alpha, 13, 14 dihydro-15-oxo-prostaglandin F-2 alpha (PGFM) were measured during the induction of foaling using small (2.5-10 iu) intravenous doses of oxytocin. PGFM levels rose rapidly in all animals within 15 min of injection and were associated with typical signs of second stage labour. Because these small doses of oxytocin are effective in successfully triggering parturition it is suggested that higher doses (40-120 iu) used to induce birth in other studies are unnecessary and could be potentially dangerous to the foetal foal....
Turk MA, Gallina AM, Perryman LE.From Jan 1, 1967 through June 1980, 21 cases of Bacillus piliformis infection (Tyzzer's disease) in foals were diagnosed at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Affected foals died between 7 and 35 days of age. Of 4 Arabian foals with the disease, 2 also had combined immunodeficiency.
Fadok VA.Abstract- Urticarial eruptions, with or without pruritus, are common lesions in horses. The pathogenesis of these lesions can include immunological and other mechanisms. Research in the human field suggests that the mast cell co-ordinates the urticarial response by releasing a complex array of inflammatory mediators. Other cells, including the neutrophil, the eosinophil and the macrophage, may also play a role in the development of wheals. Elucidation of the role of many of these cells and mediators in the evolution of urticaria is only just beginning. Successful treatment of this dermatologic...
de la Rúa-Doménech R, Mohammed HO, Cummings JF, Divers TJ, de Lahunta A, Valentine B, Summers BA, Jackson CA.We have conducted an ambidirectional study to estimate the incidence of equine motor neuron disease (EMND) in the northeastern US. The clinical and pathological features of EMND are similar to those described in human motor neuron disease. We have also collected data on all EMND cases reported in the US and described the geographic distribution of the disease. To identify factors associated with the risk of EMND, the authors assembled 163 control horses from the population in which cases were identified. The significance of association between the hypothesized factors and the risk of EMND was ...
McKibbin LS, Paraschak D.The final and last-quarter race times and racing classes for a group of Standardbreds were analyzed before and after infrared laser light treatment. These horses had either check ligament injuries, plantar desmitis or pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia. A 904-nm infrared laser was used to treat check ligaments at 146 Hz for 26 sec/cm2 of affected area, acute plantar desmitis at 73 Hz and chronic plantar desmitis at 292 Hz for 26 sec/cm2 of affected area, and pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia at 146 Hz for 5 minutes. Of 35 horses treated for check ligament injuries, 80% had similar or faster final r...
Murray MJ.Hypothyroidism was diagnosed in a neonatal Thoroughbred foal that was weak, hypothermic, and septicemic. Administration of thyroid-releasing hormone elicited attenuated increases in concentrations of free and total triiodothyronine and thyroxine, as compared with a clinically normal, age-matched foal. The foal died of apparent respiratory insufficiency, pre- and postmortem findings compatible with hypothyroidism included hypothermia, large thyroid glands with distended, colloid-filled follicles, and severe, diffuse atelectasis, with thickened alveolar septae and degenerating alveolar squamous ...
Murray JK, Senior JM, Singer ER.Short format 3-day events were introduced in 2004. Anecdotal reports suggested that horses were more tired on completion of the cross-country phase of short format events when compared with horses completing the cross-country phase of long format competitions, despite the absence of Phases A, B and C. Objective: To compare the physiological parameters and haematological parameters of horses that had completed the cross-country phase of a short format (SF) and a long format (LF) CCI 2* competition. Methods: During a CCI 2* competition 69 competitors took part in the short format and 74 in the l...
Sleeper MM, Palmer JE.The clinical and echocardiographic findings in a 19-h-old female foal with a ventricular septal defect, patent foramen ovale, patent ductus arteriosus, and complete transpositon of the great vessels are described. Clinical signs were suggestive of complex congenital heart disease and echocardiography of the foal allowed definitive diagnosis prior to postmortem.