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.
Bohanon TC, Gabel AA.A heat-vulcanized silicone implant was used for cosmetic repair of a facial deformity in a horse. The deformity had resulted from fracture of the frontal bone into the frontal sinus 6 months earlier. Normal facial contour was restored by suturing the sculpted implant to the periosteum over the defect. Results 1 year after surgery were excellent.
Lange L, Marett S, Maree C, Gerdes T.Suspected molluscum contagiosum was diagnosed in 3 horses in the Chingola district of Zambia. The horses were found to be suffering from a slow progressive skin disease with lesions on the chest, shoulders, inner and lateral aspects of the fore- and hindlimbs, the face, fetlocks, pasterns and on the lateral surfaces of the body. The lesions varied from 4 to 20mm in diameter, were hairless but covered by soft keratin projections which, when removed, left a raw elevated base tightly adherent to the epidermis. These lesions bled profusely when the animals were groomed. Older lesions were well cir...
Van Rensburg IB, Collett MG, Ronen N, Gerdes T.An adult stallion presented with a severe papular dermatitis of especially the neck, chest and genitalia. A marked scrotal oedema was present. Histopathological examination of skin biopsies, revealed the presence of numerous intracytoplasmic molluscum bodies in areas of focal epidermal hyperplasia. Electron microscopical examination showed the presence of typical pox virions in affected epidermal cells. Attempts at viral isolation were unsuccessful. This is believed to be the first reported case of molluscum contagiosum in a horse in the Republic of South Africa.
Sinha AK, Hendrickson DA, Kannegieter NJ.The initial clinical signs displayed by two horses with head trauma are described and related to the pathology and management of the condition, to illustrate the diversity of signs that may result from similar events. It is suggested that careful repeated neurological investigations are more reliable prognostic indicators in cases of equine head trauma than a reliance on the initial assessment.
Silver JR, Parry JM.The increasing incidence of horse-riding accidents, which are often severe in nature, prompted a pilot study of a questionnaire designed to elucidate the cause of such accidents. It was hoped that, on a larger scale, the information gleaned would highlight possible preventative measures which might improve the safety of an important recreational pursuit enjoyed by young and old from many walks of life. A retrospective study of riders sustaining serious spinal injuries admitted to Stoke Mandeville Hospital was compared with riders sustaining minor but significant injuries as the accidents came ...
Erickson BK, Forster HV, Pan LG, Lowry TF, Brown DR, Forster MA, Forster AL.We investigated changes in arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) and pulmonary ventilation (VE) in normal, carotid chemoreceptor-denervated, and hilar nerve-denervated ponies during intravenous lactic acid infusion at rest and treadmill exercise at 1.8 mph-5% grade (mild) and 1.8 mph-15% grade (moderate). Lactic acid, (0.5 M) infusion of 0.10, 0.13, and 0.20 ml.min-1.kg-1 at rest and mild and moderate exercise increased arterial [H+] linearly throughout the 10 min of acid infusion. At 10 min of infusion, arterial [H+] had increased approximately 20 nmol/l (0.2 pH units) for each condition and group. Under mos...
Maede Y, Inaba M, Amano Y, Murase T, Goto I, Itakura C.Cryoglobulin was isolated from a horse which had glomerulo-nephritis and a history of swelling and skin ulcers of the limbs in the winter. The isolated cryoglobulin showed a single peak on a gel permeation chromatography column with an apparent molecular mass (Mr) of 180,000 which could be divided into two gamma bands by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. Immunoelectrophoretic analysis revealed that the cryoglobulin formed two precipitation lines with anti-horse IgG. Spur formation was observed when the cryoglobulin and the IgG purified from a normal healthy horse were cross-reacted with anti-...
Guthrie AJ, Killeen VM, Mülders MS, Grosskopf JF.The ratio of the cardiopulmonary blood volume to stroke volume is called the cardiopulmonary flow index (CPFI). The CPFI can be determined indirectly from the simultaneous recording of a radiocardiogram and an electrocardiogram. The CPFI and cardiac output were measured simultaneously in horses (n = 10) that were diagnosed as having cardiac disease. The diseased subjects were probably all exposed to feed contaminated with the ionophore, salinomycin, and all showed clinical signs indicative of chronic toxic myocarditis. The results obtained from these subjects were compared with those from cont...
Traub-Dargatz JL, Salman MD, Voss JL.This paper reports the results of a survey conducted among members of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, concerning medical problems of adult horses. A one-page questionnaire listing 36 medical problems grouped by body system was completed by 1,149 veterinarians. The top-ranked disease was colic, followed by viral respiratory tract disease, endometritis, dermatitis, and parasitism. When responses were evaluated by type of practice, location of practice, and number of veterinarians in the practice, ranking of the top 2 diseases was the same for the total respondents. Ranking of d...
Meyers PJ, Varner DD.A mummified fetus was aborted at 284 days of gestation from a Quarter Horse mare with a history of consecutive abortions. The abortion occurred 12 days after administration of supplemental progestogen had been discontinued. Results of a breeding soundness evaluation revealed that this mare had a short uterine body. Other abnormalities were not discovered. This condition may have been responsible for repeated abortions in this mare, and may represent a cause of fetal mummification other than twin pregnancy in mares.
Hellander JC, Samper JC, Crabo BG.At the beginning of the breeding season an eight-year-old standardbred stallion had semen with virtually zero sperm motility and an approximately 90 per cent incidence of midpiece and tail defects. The motility of the sperm improved to 7 per cent when semen was collected daily but its morphology did not improve. Electron microscopy revealed that the defects consisted mainly of a loss of microtubules in the axoneme and of disorganised midpieces. A pregnancy rate of 24 per cent per cycle and 44 per cent for the season was achieved in 32 mares after the insemination of whole ejaculates collected ...
Houttu J.This paper presents the results of arthroscopic surgery in 42 Standardbred trotters and three Finnish horses. Forty-five horses were operated on. The age range was one to seven years; 73 per cent of the horses were three years old or younger. Horses showed a variety of clinical signs ranging from moderate to severe lameness at slow speeds, to obscure lameness manifesting only at high speeds. Synovial effusion of the fetlock joint was rare. In this series, 44 horses that had Type I fragments and one horse that had Type III fragments were operated on. Of the 45 horses operated on, 23 (51 per cen...
Schönherr W.Francis CLATER presumably was born in 1754 near Nottingham. He became farrier after years of apprenticeships at Newark and Retford. In 1783 the first edition of his book "Every man his own farrier" was published. Within 50 years at least 30 editions were printed. This book was translated by PRETOT into French (1822), by S. von TENNECKER (1823) and by LENTIN (1834) into German and by TURNE (1838) into Russian language. Contents of some editions are compared and valued.
Dorman DC, Haschek WM.Toxicosis attributable to propylene glycol (1,2-propanediol) was suspected in an 8-year-old 450- to 500-kg male Quarter Horse. Clinical signs of toxicosis developed within 15 minutes of the accidental iatrogenic oral administration of 3.8 L of propylene glycol. Clinical signs of toxicosis included salivation, sweating, ataxia, and signs of pain. Additionally, at 24 hours after propylene glycol ingestion, the horse became increasingly atactic, had an abnormal breath odor, developed rapid shallow breathing, and was cyanotic. The horse died of apparent respiratory arrest 28 hours after the propyl...
Marlin DJ, Harris RC.In vitro titration of muscle homogenates has been used to assess muscle buffering capacity (beta mtitr) in a variety of species. In the present study, factors likely to affect the estimation of beta mtitr were investigated. Also, values of beta mtitr from normal Thoroughbred horses are presented. A non-linear titration curve was obtained with addition of HCl to muscle homogenates. As a result, beta mtitr is expressed as the mumol H+ required to change the pH of 1g of dry muscle or wet muscle from 7.1 to 6.5. An effect of dilution on the initial pH was found below 40 mg wet muscle per ml homoge...
Weber A, Ligthelm AJ, Verstraete FJ.An 8-year-old Hannoverian horse developed a swelling of the maxilla caused by a tumour of the hard palate. On histological examination the tumour was diagnosed as a primary intra-osseous carcinoma of the maxilla, a rare odontogenic tumour not previously described in the horse.
Reeves MJ, Trotter GW, Kainer RA.The anatomical and functional communications of the synovial sacs of the equine stifle joint were evaluated in 50 stifle joints of 25 horses. Femoropatellar joint (FPJ) sacs were injected with 50 ml of gelatin-based dye and horses were then walked for 50 m. Horses were subsequently killed, the stifle joints dissected and the location of the dye recorded. Twenty-three horses (46 joints) had clinically normal stifle joints and in this group, anatomical communications of the stifle joints were bilaterally symmetrical in each horse. In 15 of these 23 horses (65 per cent), direct anatomical communi...
Ullrich E, Selbitz HJ, Schieck R, Friedrich U, Schulz J.Clinical, bacteriological and serological examinations on a 6 years old pony mare were performed. Cytological alterations in the genital tract were also recorded. A cellular reaction was seen after infection with T. equigenitalis. This reaction is an evidence for infection but it is not specific for this organism. Cytological studies should be performed on mares especially in cases of latent infections to complete bacteriological examination and to prevent false positive or negative results.
Scheidhacker M, Bender W, Vaitl P.After describing horse-riding as a facility in managing mentally ill patients, a program for chronic schizophrenic in-patients is presented. Clinical experience with this program and also results of a controlled study are reported. The therapeutic value and slope for horse-riding are discussed in relation to different diagnoses.
Ricketts SW, Alonso S.Paired endometrial biopsy samples were taken from 530 subfertile mares, before and after treatment (where indicated) and a period of sexual rest. Prognoses were made after each biopsy (Categories 1A-4A before treatment and Categories 1B-4B after treatment), using histopathological criteria similar to those described by Kenney and Doig (1986). Eighty-seven per cent of the mares were assigned to first biopsy prognosis Category 3A. The second biopsy prognosis produced a more even population distribution (10, 47, 40 and 3 per cent respectively for Category 1B, 2B, 3B and 4B mares). First biopsy Ca...
Hughes JP, Stabenfeldt GH.A brief review is presented of the use in equine veterinary medicine of anterior pituitary hormones, posterior pituitary hormones, placental hormones, steroid hormones and prostaglandins. These hormones are used frequently in clinical application without a scientific basis for their expected activity.
Petterson H, Reiland S.The research investigates a specific bone lesion called “periarticular subchondral bone cyst” in horses, based on 14 case studies conducted between 1949 and 1967. Participants and Methodology The study involved […]
Mason BJ.A case of spindle cell sarcoma of the equine para-nasal sinuses is described and discussd in relation to similar tumours recorded in the literature.
Li F, Stevenson RA, Crabb BS, Studdert MJ, Hartley CA.Equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) is a significant pathogen of horses and is also closely related to Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). Despite these facts, knowledge of the prevalence and importance of ERAV infections remains limited, largely due to the absence of a simple, robust diagnostic assay. In this study, we compared the antigenicities of recombinant full-length and fragmented ERAV capsid proteins expressed in Escherichia coli by using sera from experimentally infected and naturally exposed horses. We found that, from the range of antigens tested, recombinant proteins encompassing the ...
Morsy GH.The surface ultrastructure (SEM) of adult worms and eggs of the equine caecal fluke, Gastodiscus aegyptiacus, together with some pathological observations of the caecum and colon of infected horses were studied. SEM showed that G. aegyptiacus had a disc-like body with anterior cone-like part. The oral sucker was surrounded by numerous dome-shaped papillae. The cone-like part possessed tubercle-like papillae at its anterior third. The large ventral sucker was subterminal with small papillae at its rim. The ventral surface was covered with large cauliflower-like papillae. Microvilli were densely...
Rose RJ, Allen JR, Hodgson DR, Kohnke JR.A peripheral vasodilating agent, isoxsuprine hydrochloride, administered as an oral paste, was evaluated to determine its efficacy for the treatment of navicular disease. In a clinical trial, 13 horses with navicular disease were treated at a dose rate of 0.6 mg/kg body weight (bwt) twice daily for periods of six to 14 weeks. Twelve of the horses became completely sound while being treated, although two required a 50 per cent increase in dose. Nine of the horses have remained sound two to 10 months after ceasing therapy. In a controlled randomised double blind clinical trial, 16 horses with na...
Mirck MH, Eysker M, Jansen J.Proceeding on the epidemiology of Strongylidae infection in horses, the effects of combined anthelmintic treatment and moving to non-contaminated pasture in July were studied during 1981 and 1982. This strategy for control was found to be effective as was shown by faecal examination, pasture larval counts and post-mortem worm counts. No significant contamination or worm infection developed in the group of treated ponies moved to celan pasture after July 1. On the permanently grazed pasture the same pattern of infection developed as on the pasture where up to July 1 ponies and subsequently shee...