Veterinary medicine for horses encompasses the study and application of medical practices to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases in equine species. This field involves a comprehensive understanding of equine anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. Veterinary practitioners employ a range of diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions to address health issues in horses, including lameness, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory conditions, and infectious diseases. Preventative care, such as vaccination and deworming programs, is also a significant aspect of equine veterinary medicine. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary medicine as it pertains to horses, including advancements in diagnostic techniques, treatment protocols, and preventive health strategies.
Terblanche HM.Parturition was induced in 6 mares between Day 327 and 346 of pregnancy using oxytocin (Group I) and in 6 mares between Day 315 and 330 of pregnancy with fluprostenol in combination with oxytocin (Group II). A third group of 4 mares which served as controls were allowed to go to full term (322-340 days) and foal down normally. Parturition occurred within 24-102 min (mean = 61,4; SD = 31,6) in 5 of the Group I mares and within 160-185 min (mean = 173; SD = 10,86) in the mares of Group II. Expulsion of the afterbirth took place between 7 and 206 min (mean = 79; SD = 76,38) and between 7 and 73 m...
Nelson R, Hampe DW.Tracheal mucous transport rates were measured in 12 nonanesthetized horses after an intratracheal injection of 99mtechnetium-sulfur colloid. The transport rate of the subsequent bolus of radioactivity was determined, using a portable scaler rate meter fitted with a high-energy gamma-scintillation probe. A gamma-scintillation camera was used to verify bolus form and movement in 1 horse. The mean tracheal mucous transport rate was 1.66 +/- 0.24 cm/min.
Bastianello SS.A survey was carried out on the neoplasms of horses, donkeys and mules which are recorded in the registration files of the Section of Pathology of the Veterinary Research Institute, Onderstepoort, in the Republic of South Africa, over a 40-year period from 1935 to 1974. A total of 378 tumours are recorded, 339 of which were in horses, 32 in mules and 7 in donkeys. Sarcoids (38%), squamous cell carcinomas (23,5%), fibromas (8,2%), melanomas (8,0%), papillomas (4,5%), fibrosarcomas (3,4%) and lymphosarcomas (3,0%) accounted for 88,6% of the total. Of the 58 sarcoids for which the site or origin ...
Suquet CM, Leid RW.Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a lipid released as a result of immediate allergic reactions from basophils and mast cells as well as by a variety of other cell types and stimuli, is one of the most potent platelet agonists and hypotensive agents known. Equine platelets stimulated over a wide range of PAF concentrations aggregated in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Maximum aggregation was observed at concentrations of PAF as low as 3.58 x 10(-14) M with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and 3.58 x 10(-16) M with washed platelets. Furthermore, the aggregation observed did not appear to be breed-d...
Foss RR, Genetzky RM, Riedesel EA, Graham C.Two horses with ataxia of all four limbs were found to have cervical intervertebral disc protrusion. Severe pelvic limb ataxia, proprioceptive deficits and spasticity were present in both horses with similar but less severe signs in the thoracic limbs. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was within normal limits. Metrizamide myelography allowed definitive diagnosis in one case when a compression of the spinal cord was demonstrated at the level of the second intervertebral space. In the second case, an intervertebral disc protrusion between cervical vertebrae 6 and 7 was found at necropsy. Fiber degen...
Howey WP, Jochle W, Barnes WJ.Alfaprostal (K 11941), a novel prostaglandin F2 alpha analogue was clinically tested in 24 dioestrous mares, 40 anoestrous mares and 31 postpartum mares, all being given 2 or 3 mg intramuscularly. Blood samples were taken for the determination of plasma progesterone levels and the objective confirmation of luteolytic drug effects. Two hundred and thirty-six mares at the same location were used for comparisons of the rates of pregnancy, early embryonic loss and foaling. Alfaprostol was found to act as a potent luteolytic agent with good oestrus induction, follicular development and normal conce...
Herd RP, Donham JC.Forty horses having microfilariae of Onchocerca cervicalis in association with dermatitis, alopecia, and pruritus on the ventral midline were given a single IM injection of 0.2 mg of ivermectin/kg of body weight (June to August 1981). Microfilarial counts in the 40 horses ranged from 18 to 42,446 microfilariae/skin snip on the day of treatment, and histopathologic examination of these skin sections indicated a chronic eosinophilic dermatitis. Numerous microfilariae were in the dermis, but there was no consistent relationship between the presence of microfilariae and the severity of the inflamm...
Tulamo RM, Bramlage LR, Gabel AA.The case histories and follow-up data for 11 horses with slab fractures of the central or 3rd tarsal bones were examined for information pertaining to the diagnosis, which was difficult to identify, treatment, which was proven ineffective, and the prognosis, which was shown to be poor for return to racing. The purpose of the study was to define the results that could be obtained by nonoperative methods, in an attempt to determine whether surgical treatment was advisable. Nine of the horses were Standardbreds and 2 were Thoroughbreds; all horses were 2 to 4 years old and were being exercised at...
Parry BW, Anderson GA.The effect of acepromazine maleate (ACP) on the equine venous haematocrit and total plasma protein concentration was studied in six clinically normal horses. Total plasma protein concentration was not appreciably influenced by ACP. However, the haematocrit decreased with the duration, but not the degree, of the decrease being dose-related. Mean haematocrit values returned to control levels by 12 h after 0.05 mg ACP/kg body weight and 21 h after 0.15 mg ACP/kg body weight.
Braverman Y, Ungar-Waron H, Frith K, Adler H, Danieli Y, Baker KP, Quinn PJ.A survey of sweet itch in horses in Israel based on a questionnaire to owners reported that 158 of 723 horses (21.8 per cent) had sweet itch lesions. The results indicated that the likelihood of a horse acquiring sweet itch decreased with increasing altitude but no definite association with rainfall zones was evident. Variation in the density of the horse population, however, obscured these observations. In the population surveyed, stallions were more sensitive than mares and pale horses appeared to be less sensitive than dark ones, but the sample size of this latter group was much smaller. In...
Anderson GA, Mount ME, Vrins AA, Ziemer EL.Acorn poisoning was diagnosed in an 11-year-old Quarter Horse with signs of severe colic, tachycardia, hyperpnea, abdominal borborygmus, rectal tenesmus, and hemorrhagic diarrhea. The diagnosis was based on history and predisposing factors, clinical signs, laboratory data, acorn husks in the feces, the urinary gallic acid equivalent concentration, and necropsy findings. The most striking pathologic changes were gastrointestinal and mesenteric edema, ulcerative enterocolitis, and nephrosis.
de Vries PJ, van der Holst W.The reliability of determination of the plasma progesterone level within approximately eighteen days after ovulation in the pregnancy diagnosis of mares is examined in the present study. Studies were done in seventy-five mares, a number of which were served or inseminated during several cycles so that a total number of eighty-seven blood samples were obtained. On the analogy of other authors, the progesterone level above which mares were believed to be pregnant and below which they were assumed to be non-pregnant, was set at 2 ng/ml. The twenty-five mares in which the level was below 2 ng/ml. ...
DiPietro JA, Paul A, Todd KS.Forty horses from a herd known to have benzimidazole-resistant small strongyles were treated with mebendazole (8.8 mg/kg) or combinations of mebendazole and piperazine monohydrochloride (25, 40, or 55 mg of piperazine base/kg). Pretreatment and 7-day posttreatment fecal examinations were done. Fecal cultures and strongyle egg per gram (epg) counts, and in vitro testing for benzimidazole resistance were performed. Results of fecal examinations prior to treatment were similar in all horses, and results of testing were positive for benzimidazole resistance. Horses treated with mebendazole and pip...
Donné-Op den Kelder GM, de Haas GH, Egmond MR.At alkaline pH porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2 is known to bind two Ca2+ ions per protein molecule. One Ca2+ ion is strongly bound to the active site and is essential for enzyme activity. A second Ca2+ ion binds more weakly to the protein and improves the affinity of the enzyme for lipid-water interfaces severalfold at high pH values. A group having a pK around 6 controls enzyme binding to lipid-water interfaces in the absence of Ca2+. By use of proton titration techniques this group is now identified to be a carboxylate having an abnormally high pK. Its pK shifts to a value around 4.5 in ...
Berger J.Much evidence now suggests that the postnatal killing of young in primates and carnivores, and induced abortions in some rodents, are evolved traits exerting strong selective pressures on adult male and female behaviour. Among ungulates it is perplexing that either no species have developed convergent tactics or that these behaviours are not reported, especially as ungulates have social systems similar to those of members of the above groups. Only in captive horses (Equus caballus) has infant killing been reported. It has been estimated that 40,000 wild horses live in remote areas of the Great...
Mishra PC, Leach DH.The extrinsic and intrinsic venous drainage of the equine hoof have previously been poorly described. There is also an absence of information about the venous organisation of both primary and secondary dermal lamellae of the hoof wall. The purpose of this study was to describe the normal venous pattern of the horse hoof, especially that associated with the dermal lamellae of the wall. The venous organisation of 46 pairs of hooves from clinically healthy horses was studied using standard plastic vascular corrosion casts and histological sections. A consistent pattern of venous organisation was ...
Oprescu SV.The paper presents the results of some genetic studies accomplished in Romania in the field of pathology of reproduction in domestic animals (pseudohermaphroditism in horses, testicular hypoplasia in he-goats, intersexuality in pigs, freemartinism and genital infantilism in cattle). Also, the use of the cytogenetic test in genetic prophylaxis in pigs and cattle was shown. In addition, the methods for detecting genitors with undesirable genes were devised and perspectives for the development of hereditary hygiene discussed.
Zamansky GB, Arundel C, Nagasawa H, Little JB.The growth of two human diploid skin fibroblast cell lines, originally grown in medium supplemented with foetal bovine serum and later adapted to medium supplemented with newborn bovine, bovine calf or horse serum, has been studied. Prolonged generation times increased cell volumes and decreased plating efficiencies were observed in cultures grown in newborn bovine, bovine calf or horse serum. In general, the deleterious effects were most severe as a result of growth in bovine calf or horse serum. In the light of the present findings, we believe investigators should exert great caution in swit...
MacKay RJ, French TW, Nguyen HT, Mayhew IG.The effects of large doses of phenylbutazone were evaluated in clinically normal horses. The drug was given to 4 groups of 2 horses each at the rate of 30 mg/kg of body weight, orally, or 30, 15, or 8 mg/kg IV daily for up to 2 weeks. All horses became anorectic and depressed after 2 to 4 phenylbutazone treatments, and the horses given 15 or 30 mg/kg died on or between days 4 and 7 of treatment. A decrease in total blood neutrophil count occurred in all horses, and was associated with toxic left shift in horses given the 2 larger dosage schedules. The horses also had progressive increases in s...
Black SB, Stenhouse AM, Hansson RC.This paper details various rapid and sensitive methods for the extraction and derivatisation of propranolol, metoprolol, sotalol, atenolol, pindolol, timolol, oxprenolol, alprenolol and penbutolol in equine urine and in human post mortem whole blood and urine. Three solid-phase extraction methods are described involving the use of either XtrackT XRDAH515, Bond Elut Certify or Sep-Pak C18 cartridges. Two derivatisation methods are also described involving the formation of cyclised silyl or pentafluoropropionate derivatives with either chloromethyldimethylchlorosilane or pentafluoropropionic anh...
Boland CJ, Morris RS.A survey by means of a postal questionnaire was undertaken to investigate the patterns of work and the need for information of veterinary practitioners in New Zealand. Of the 670 eligible veterinarians, 399 practitioners (60 per cent) participated in the survey. Of these, 38 per cent were in large animal practice (less than 20 per cent of work devoted to cats and dogs) and 31 per cent were in small animal practice (more than 80 per cent of work with cats and dogs). The remaining 31 per cent were in mixed practice, with a workload intermediate between the other two groups. Across the entire sam...
Reinemeyer CR, Prado JC, Nichols EC, Marchiondo AA.In recent years, numerous veterinary practitioners have reported anecdotal episodes in which anthelmintic treatment did not appear to deliver the expected efficacy against equine pinworms (Oxyuris equi). Anthelmintic resistance has not been demonstrated formally in equine pinworms, so a clinical study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of paste formulations of pyrantel pamoate or ivermectin against naturally acquired infections with O. equi. Twenty-one horses (>4 months to 15 years of age) with patent, naturally acquired pinworm infections were blocked by source of origin and allocated rand...
Kimpfler S, Pospischil A, Rüsch P, Sydler T.One of the essential tasks of veterinary pathology is the gross and microscopic examination of animals post mortem. Frequently requests are made for the cause of disease or death in the absence of a precise history or an otherwise specific assignment e.g. whether a notifiable disease is involved. The general examination is supplemented by a spectrum of additional examinations depending on the case whereas attempts are made to keep the costs within limits and to answer the client's request with justifiable effort. 36,365 necropsy cases and 9192 organs submitted between 1988 and 2004 were analys...
Mobarak MS, Ryan MF.The ultrastructure of the dorsal oesophageal gland ampulla and its relationship with the oesophagus, oesophageal ultrastructure, and control mechanisms in oesophageal activity were studied. Terminal ducts of the sub-ventral glands open through the oesophageal crown at the base of the buccal cavity. The terminal duct of the dorsal oesophageal gland running through the dorsal gutter opens to the exterior at the rim 'groove' of the buccal capsule. The posterior oesophageal region is clavate and the cuticle of the lumen folds to form outlet valves, 'valvulae'. An inconspicuous oesophago-intestinal...
Burn JB.The aim of this study was to describe placement of a nictitating membrane flap as a treatment for corneal ulceration and bullous keratopathy in two horses. Methods: A 13-year-old American Saddlebred mare presented for severe corneal edema, superficial stromal ulceration, and a central bulla of the left eye. A 4-year-old Trakhener stallion also presented with a large axial bulla of the left eye with concurrent severe corneal edema and a deep stromal ulcer. Methods: A complete ophthalmic examination was performed. Samples were obtained for corneal cytology, and both horses were started on aggres...
Kakas R, Stockdale S, Carr A.The research article discusses a case study of a young boxer diagnosed with septic physitis of the humerus, and the MRI findings observed which assisted in identifying the condition. Introduction […]
Geisert RD.Establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in a number of mammalian species depends upon a tightly regulated interaction between the semiallogeneic conceptus and the maternal uterine endometrium.The term "Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy" is attributed to Roger V. Short's paper titled "Implantation and the Maternal Recognition of Pregnancy" which was published in proceedings from the 1969 Symposium on Foetal Autonomy.Professor Short's landmark paper stimulated increased interest in elucidating how the conceptus signals its presence to assure maintenance of the corpus luteum beyond the normal ...
Lopes MA, Salter CE, Vandenplas ML, Berghaus R, Hurley DJ, Moore JN.To investigate the effect of ex vivo exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the expression of inflammatory genes in leukocytes from horses with gastrointestinal (Gl) disease and determine whether the pattern or magnitude of the response to LPS correlated with the type of disease and outcome. Methods: 49 horses with Gl disease and 10 healthy horses Methods: Leukocytes were isolated from blood samples and submitted to 3 protocols: immediate freezing, freezing after 4-hour incubation in medium, and freezing after 4-hour incubation in medium containing LPS. Expression of 14 genes associated with ...
Balun J, Sutta J, Janda J.In this paper the haemocoagulative effect of the Vasolamin preparation was examined after intravenous application in cattle, sheep, and horses by means of tests. After a laboratory confirmation of the coagulative effect of the tested preparation we used it for the purpose of haemostasis in the clinical practice. After an administration of the preparation faster coagulation of the blood was observed in all examined animals. The setting in of the effect could be observed already after 5 minutes, the maximum effect was recorded between the 15th and 30th minutes after application, and the effect l...
Kim Y, Seo C, Oh S, Kwak J, Jung S, Sin E, Kim H, Ji M, Lee HS, Park HJ, Lee G, Yu J, Kim M, Lee W, Paik MJ.Loxoprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug of the 2-arylpropionic acid type, which has used to treat musculoskeletal disorders in the horse racing industry. However, it has also used illicitly to mask clinical signs of inflammation and pain in racehorses. Thus, its accurate analysis has become an important issue in horse doping laboratories. In this study, an analytical method of loxoprofen was developed as tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) derivative by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Characteristic fragment ions of [M-15], [M-57], and [M-139] permitted the accurate and ...