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.
Bell LG, Lowe JE.A questionnaire was designed to determine the incidence of major injuries, severe colic, and acute laminitis in horses at American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) A- and B-rated shows, ie, those shows requiring a veterinarian in attendance. The questionnaire was sent to the show stewards and filled out by the attending veterinarians of the AHSA A- and B-rated shows held from January 1982 to October 1984. Of 2,952 questionnaires sent out, 799 (27%) were completed and returned by veterinarians; 99 of them were discarded because of incomplete or misleading information. The study revealed a low inc...
Manohar M.Systemic distribution of blood flow was studied in 11 healthy adult grade ponies, using radionuclide-labeled microspheres (15 micron diameter) that were injected into the left ventricle. Measurements were made at rest, during severe exercise (SE) without furosemide, as well as during SE at 10 minutes and 120 minutes after furosemide administration (1.0 mg/kg, IV). During SE, heart rate, cardiac output, mean aortic pressure, and whole body O2 consumption were 220 +/- 4 beats/min, 720 +/- 44 ml/min/kg, 169 +/- 4 mm of Hg, and 126 +/- 9 ml of O2/min/kg, respectively. With SE performed after furos...
Denkhaus M, Van Amstel S.Non-commercial, endotoxin positive, intravenous fluids as well as a commercially available intravenous fluid were given to clinically normal horses. Endotoxin-positive fluids caused clinical signs attributable to endotoxaemia. Leukopenia, preceded by a fluctuating white cell count, was observed in horses showing clinical signs. The commercial intravenous fluid had no effect on the white cell count or on the clinical state. Precautions to be taken and recommendations are made with regard to the monitoring of horses in which one might be forced to use non-commercial intravenous fluids.
Wernette KM, Hubbell JA, Muir WW, Sams RA.The cardiopulmonary effects of 3 dosages of doxapram hydrochloride (0.275 mg/kg, 0.55 mg/kg, and 1.1 mg/kg, IV) were studied in 6 adult horses. Doxapram given IV significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased PaCO2 and increased respiratory rate, cardiac output arterial blood pressures (systolic, mean, and diastolic) arterial pH, and PaO2 at 1 minute after each dose was administered. Heart rate and mean and diastolic pulmonary arterial blood pressure were significantly (P less than 0.05) increased 1 minute after the 2 larger dosages of doxapram were given (0.55 mg/kg and 1.1 mg/kg, IV), but not af...
Husebekk A, Husby G, Sletten K, Marhaug G, Nordstoga K.Amyloid was extracted from the liver of a horse that had developed amyloidosis after being used for several years for the production of antibodies to bacterial antigens. The amyloid fibrils were shown to be of the AA type. Two AA proteins with molecular weights of 9000 and 11,000 and with identical partial N-terminal amino acid sequences were identified. Marked structural homology with AA from other species including man was seen, although clear species-related antigenic specificity was observed. SAA isolated from an acute phase (septic abortion) horse serum was identical to AA with respect to...
Adeyefa CA.The clinicopathological features and treatment of cases of dermatomycotic infections in horses are reported. Organisms isolated from these cases include Trichophyton mentagrophyte, T. equinum and Micosporum equinum. The Veterinary, medical and economic importance of the disease is discussed.
Weers JG, Maki AH.Triplet-singlet energy transfer has been studied in the complex formed between auramine O (AO) and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase with optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy. The results show that Trp-15 and Tyr residues transfer triplet energy mainly by a trivial process, whereas Trp-314 transfers triplet energy by a Förster process with two observed lifetimes at 77 K of 170 and 50 ms. The different Förster energy-transfer lifetimes are ascribed either to quenching of the two Trp-314 residues of the dimer by a single asymmetrically bound AO or to two distinct conformat...
Hillidge CJ.Idiopathic left-sided laryngeal paralysis was present in 14 of 169 horses on a thoroughbred horse farm (8.3 per cent). In nine animals, it was evident only after exercise and arytenoid abduction and adduction were normal at rest. Asynchronous movement of the arytenoid cartilages was observed in 94 horses at rest (55.6 per cent), 86 of which were considered to be normal after exercise. Conversely, synchronous movement of the arytenoids was noted when at rest in six of the 14 animals diagnosed as having laryngeal hemiplegia after exercise. An abnormal inspiratory noise during exercise was detect...
Manohar M.Eight healthy adult grade ponies were studied at rest as well as during maximal exertion carried out with and without adenosine infusion (3 microM X kg-1 X min-1 into the pulmonary artery) on a treadmill to compare levels of blood flow in respiratory muscles with those in other vigorously working muscles and to ascertain whether there remained any unutilized vasodilator reserve in respiratory muscles of maximally exercising ponies. Radionuclide-labeled 15-micron-diam microspheres, injected into the left ventricle, were used to study tissue blood flows. During maximal exertion, there were incre...
Dyson SJ, Greet TR.ALTHOUGH diaphyseal and distal metaphyseal fractures of
the equine humerus have been discussed in the literature
(Johnson, Lowe, Fessler and Amstutz 1974; Vaughan and
Mason 1975; Turner 1984), reports of humeral fractures of
other configurations are rare. Allen and White (1984) described
the successful surgical treatment of a chip fracture of the greater
tubercle of the humerus. This report describes the clinical
features and treatment of a fracture of the deltoid tuberosity.
Allen WE.THE accumulation of a gross excess of fluid in the amniotic or
allantoic cavities is not uncommon in bovidae, although the
latter occurs most frequently. The resulting pathological
conditions are usually referred to as hydrops amnii and
hydroallantois, respectively. They are often associated with
abnormalities of the foetus in cattle (Vandeplassche el ul1965;
Roberts 1971) and hydro-allantois is quite common in twin
pregnancies (Roberts 1971).
This article describes two cases of excess foetal fluid in the
mare, both of which were associated with abnormal
pregnancies.
Mair TS, Taylor FG, Gibbs C, Lucke VM.THE horse appears to possess a strong innate resistance to
tuberculosis because the disease is infrequently recognised even
in countries where the condition is common in other species
(Luke 1958). Reports of the disease are now scarce and earlier
records of infections in horses usually implicated the bovine
strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, although avian and
human strains have been isolated. Of 55 equine cases reviewed
by Griffith (1937), 53 were caused by the bovine strain and two
were independently infected with avian and human strains.
Since the implementation of the bovine tu...
Rumpel AS, De Carvalho AL, Vassoler JM, Schmidt ML, Mertz CC, Rozo CAC, Campos JK, Alievi MM. The aim of this study was to compare the biomechanical properties of two minimally invasive arthrodesis techniques of the equine proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint (three transarticular 5.5-mm cortical screws [AO-3TLS] vs. two transarticular 7.0-mm headless cannulated multi-use compression screws [MUC-2TS]) in dynamic non-destructive testing and compression testing to failure. Methods: The experimental study included six pairs of cadaveric adult equine forelimbs; one limb from each horse was randomly assigned to one of the treatments, and the contralateral limb was submitted to the rem...
St Lawrence AC, Lawrence LM, Coleman RJ.Many studies have examined the effect of pre-exercise feeding on glucose and insulin responses of horses. The objective of this study was to determine whether exercise performed one hour prior to a meal would attenuate the glucose and insulin responses to a meal. Data collected from 8 mature geldings in a 2 period crossover design experiment were used to determine the postprandial glucose and insulin responses to a meal of oats offered 1 h postexercise. During each period, 4 horses received a test meal following a 14 h fast (NoEx) or a 14 h fast and exercise bout (PostEx) that consisted of 48 ...
Updike SJ.The deep fascia of the equine crus was dissected grossly and separated into 2 layers, the superficial and deep laminae of the deep fascia. Attachments of these fascial laminae to the tibia and fibula formed 5 separate osteofascial compartments: cranial, lateral, caudal deep, caudal intermediate, and caudal superficial. Cranial tibial vessels and the deep peroneal nerve entered the cranial compartment through separate fascial hiatuses; this may predispose the equine crus to the occurrence of compartmental syndromes with clinically recognizable neural deficits.
Wagner AE, Bennett DG.Eighteen clinically normal horses were used to study the characteristics of normal thoracic fluid. Thoracic fluid was obtained from each horse and was found to be similar to equine abdominal fluid. Total leukocytes averaged 3994/ul, total protein 1.8 g/dl, and specific gravity 1.015. Analysis of thoracic fluid from 16 horses with clinical signs of thoracic disease showed abnormalities in every case. Thoracic fluid analysis alone determined a specific diagnosis in 50% of the cases.
Shipman E, Burford JH, Bowen M, Duz M.Teaching and learning how to perform examination of the ocular fundus is challenging. Smartphones can support to enhance students' confidence and experience. Following an optional year-4 ophthalmoscopy practical using hand-held ophthalmoscopes, students completed a questionnaire using a visual analogue scale (VAS) investigating if students felt smartphone use aided learning and if student's self-assessed confidence in visualising the ocular fundus had improved. VAS scores were compared using the Wilcoxon signed rank test (significance: P<0.05). All 30 year-4 students attending the practic...