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.
Stick JA, Robinson NE, Krehbiel JD.Esophageal fistulas were made in 6 ponies to evaluate whole blood acid-base values and serum and salivary electrolyte alterations associated with salivary depletion. Acid-base and electrolyte values remained within normal ranges for 15 days in 3 control ponies fed a pelleted diet through nasogastric tubes. In 6 ponies with esophageal fistulas that were fed the same diet through esophagostomy tubes, hypochloremia and hyponatremia developed during the same period. Serum K concentrations were only marginally depleted, probably because of dietary replacement. Salivary depletion resulted in transie...
McColl HP, Orchard VA.Sir,—A series of happy coincidences (serendipity?) has led us to a simple treatment which seems to have successfully alleviated symptoms of “rye-grass staggers” in a horse, a calf and two badly affected sheep. Although primarily engaged in a search for the causative agent(s) of rye-grass staggers, casual conversations with people having long experience of this disorder revealed many interesting observations. One of these was a racing-stable remedy for rye-grass staggers, which was the administration of “a couple of handfulls” of Epsom salts in a bran mash, with as much puha (Sonchus ...
Manley SV.The objectives of monitoring are to gain much information as possible about the anesthetized horse and to follow changes in that information, with the ultimate aim of making anesthesia and surgery as safe as possible for the horse. Information necessary to achieve that aim will vary depending on patient category. For example, a young, healthy horse undergoing a short elective procedure can be clinically well monitored by patient signs, electrocardiogram, and indirect blood pressure response. More invasive monitoring is justified and warranted if the health status of the horse is in question. T...
Austin RJ, Dies KH.The protozoan, Klossiella equi was found in the kidneys of an aged Shetland mare raised in the Fredericton area of New Brunswick. This is the first published report of K. equi in a horse in Canada. The microscopic appearance of the parasite in the kidney is described. A brief discussion of other conditions seen in the horse is also presented.
Pascoe JR, Ferraro GL, Cannon JH, Arthur RM, Wheat JD.Of 235 Thoroughbred racehorses examined with a flexible fiberoptic endoscope within 2 hours of racing to determine the frequency of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), 103 (43.8%) had various degrees of hemorrhage in the tracheal lumen. Two of these horses (0.8%) subsequently had blood flow from the nostrils. Blood seemed to originate from the lung. Statistical analysis of frequency data for 191 horses which finished in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places did not show any relationship between EIPH and horse's age, sex, or finishing position. However, a trend toward an increased frequency of EIP...
Stick JA, Derksen FJ, Scott EA.Cervical esophagostomy for tube feeding was evaluated in 11 ponies. Minor complications responded to supportive therapy in 8 ponies. Two died of complications, and 1 pony had a permanent fistula because of persistent infection. There was a positive correlation between the duration of tube feeding and the event of closure of the esophageal stoma after the tube was removed. There was no difference in the frequency of complications related to duration of tube feeding. When the distal end of the feeding tube was located in the thoracic portion of the esophagus, instead of in the stomach, tubes wer...
Weaver BM, Webb AI.The halothane muscle/gas partition coefficients at 37 degrees C for 26 samples of eight different muscles from four horses were found to depend significantly on the fat content of the muscle sample with a regression coefficient of 1.913 (SEM 0.109) per per cent ether-extractable fat content. The blood/gas partition coefficients in 24 horses showed a significant dependence on plasma triglyceride concentration (regression coefficient 0.00084 (SEM 0.00033) per mg dl-1), an insignificant positive dependence on plasma free and total cholesterol concentration and, in a multiple regression analysis, ...
Combie J, Shults T, Nugent EC, Dougherty J, Tobin T.The locomotor responses of horses given morphine and fentanyl were blocked or lessened by administration of naloxone or acepromazine. Naloxone given at the dosage of 0.015 mg/kg completely blocked the locomotor activity induced in horses given fentanyl (0.020 mg/kg of body weight). The locomotor stimulation produced by morphine given at the dosage of 2.4 mg/kg was reduced by 75% of naloxone (0.020 mg/kg). Acepromazine partially blocked the locomotor responses to fentanyl and morphine. This blockade activity reached its peak about 30 minutes after acepromazine was given (IV) and lasted more tha...
Burrows GE.Endotoxins are non-protein fragments of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria. They must be absorbed into the circulation to produce disease and systemic effects are similar, regardless of bacterial source. Absorption of endotoxins occurs in obstructive bowel disease and may play a significant part in determining the severity of the disease. Many of the responses to experimentally administered endotoxin are identical to those of bowel diseases or the horse and include circulatory, haematological and metabolic alterations. Therapeutic approaches are indirect and include many drugs currently e...
Wilson DG, Trent AM, Crawford WH.A surgical approach to the ramus of the mandible was developed. Subperiosteal elevation of the masseter muscle from the ramus allowed reduction and plate fixation of ramus fractures in a bull and a horse. Results of follow-up examinations, 2 years after surgery, showed excellent functional and cosmetic results.
Maher MA, Ahmad IM.The current study was performed on ten adult Egyptian donkeys of both sexes for anatomical and radiographic studies in addition to six other donkeys for enzymatic, biochemical and statistical analysis. The aim was to illustrate the normal hepatic arterial and biliary distribution using different anatomic techniques and radiographic imaging besides, establishing an accurate laboratory profile specific for donkeys that used as standard indicators for hepatobiliary dysfunction. The right branch of the hepatic artery in donkey forms a curved arch erupting five branches, unlike the left branch that...
Guo X, Sugita S.Four cell types including the bipolar, amacrine, horizontal and Muller cells were investigated quantitatively in the inner nuclear layer of the retina in the horse. Cells were identified on the basis of the morphology and distribution of processes leaving from their somata, cytological features and positional features. The average percentages of the above 4 cell types were 44%, 24%, 1% and 29%, respectively. The average total cell densities in the inner nuclear layer in the visual streak, the nasal and temporal regions, the dorsal and ventral regions of the retina were also estimated. It is ex...
Yarbrough TB, Voss E, Herrgesell EJ, Shaw M.To report the clinical signs and management of 4 foals with persistent frenulum of the epiglottis. Methods: Case report. Methods: Four newborn foals. Methods: Foals were admitted with a complaint of oronasal reflux after nursing. Variable systemic signs of aspiration pneumonia were evident. Nasal endoscopy confirmed persistent dorsal displacement of the soft palate. Persistent frenulum of the epiglottis, confirmed by oral endoscopic examination, was transected. Results: After surgery, all foals had the epiglottis positioned normally, dorsal to the soft palate. Clinical signs of oronasal reflux...
Pala S, Hänninen NE, Mohammadi A, Ebrahimi M, Te Moller NCR, Brommer H, René van Weeren P, Mäkelä JTA, Korhonen RK, Afara IO, Töyräs J....The aim of this study is to assess whether articular cartilage changes in an equine model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), induced by surgical creation of standard (blunt) grooves, and very subtle sharp grooves, could be detected with ex vivo T relaxation time mapping utilizing three-dimensional (3D) readout sequence with zero echo time. Grooves were made on the articular surfaces of the middle carpal and radiocarpal joints of nine mature Shetland ponies and osteochondral samples were harvested at 39 weeks after being euthanized under respective ethical permissions. T relaxation times ...
Lapin DR, Ginther OJ.A crude equine pituitary ethanol extract (EE) was used to induce single and miltiple ovulations in seasonally anovulatory pony mares 3-15 years of age. 12 mares were injected daily for 14 days with EE; 6 of the EE-treated mares were also treated with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), and 6 control mares received saline vehicle only. In a 2nd experiment designed to determine if EE treatment could induce multiple ovulations in seasonally ovulatory mares, 7 mares were treated during diestrus, 7 mares were treated beginning on Day 1 of estrus, and 7 remained untreated. The results of experiment ...
Sergeant ES, Cowled BD, Bingham P.This observational study was undertaken in order to evaluate the diagnostic specificity of the blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bELISA) for serum antibodies to influenza A virus nucleoprotein during the equine influenza (EI) outbreak response in New South Wales, Australia, in 2007. Using data collected during the outbreak response, bELISA testing data were collated for assumed uninfected horses from areas where EI infection was never recorded. Diagnostic specificity of the bELISA used during the EI response was high, but varied significantly between some regions, although the reason...
Sanclemente JL, Rivera-Velez SM, Horohov DW, Dasgupta N, Sanz MG.Foals that develop pulmonary ultrasonographic lesions on Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) endemic farms are treated with antibiotics because those at risk of developing clinical pneumonia (~20%) cannot be recognised early. Candidate biomarkers identified using metabolomics may aid targeted treatment strategies against R. equi. Objective: (1) To describe how foal ageing affects their plasma metabolome (birth to 8 weeks) and (2) to establish the effects that experimental infection with Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) has on foal metabolome. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Nine healthy newborn foals...
Sasaki N, Morita Y, Moriyama T, Yamada H.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the canine cranial cruciate ligament repair system on laryngeal hemiplegia in heavy draft horses. Twenty-four heavy draft horses diagnosed with grade 4 laryngeal hemiplegia were allocated to either the prosthetic laryngoplasty (PL) group (n=14) or a canine cranial cruciate ligament repair system (CCCLRS) group (n=10). Right to left angle quotients (RLQs) of abductions of the arytenoid cartilages were endoscopically evaluated before and after surgery. Post-operative RLQs in the CCCLRS group were significantly lower than those of the PL gro...
Eades SC, Moore JN.Changes in lateral cecal arterial blood flow, mean internal carotid arterial pressure, and heart rate caused by nasogastric administration of fenoldopam (3, 6, and 9 mg/kg of body weight), a selective agonist of dopaminergic receptors, were recorded in 7 healthy horses. Cecal arterial blood flow was significantly increased within 30 minutes after administration of fenoldopam at all 3 dosages, with the peak increases from baseline (67.8 +/- 17.5 ml/min) being 125 +/- 28, 120 +/- 22, and 153 +/- 32 ml/min for 3, 6, and 9 mg/kg, respectively. Although carotid arterial pressure did not change sign...
Firth EC.The signs observed in 6 cases of peripheral vestibular disease included incoordination, head tilt and nystagmus. The intensity of the signs varied greatly with duration of the disease, and in 3 cases facial paralysis was also present. Tympanosclerosis was demonstrable in all cases subject to radiology. Trauma was the causative factor in most cases. The causes of, and relationships between, vestibular dysfunction and concomitant facial paralysis are discussed. The exact etiology of the tympanosclerosis is unknown.
Cantor GH, Palmer GH, Fenwick BW.The concentrations of several post mortem aqueous humour chemical constituents were compared with ante mortem serum chemical values in the horse. Urea nitrogen and creatinine values in post mortem aqueous humour were good predictors of ante mortem serum values. Aqueous humour urea nitrogen increased only slightly and creatinine did not change significantly for up to 24 h after death. Formulae were derived for calculating estimated ante mortem serum urea nitrogen and creatinine from aqueous humour values obtained after death. These results from normal horses identify analytes that are accurate ...
Jackson DS.This paper reviews some of the biochemical modifications involved in fibrous tissue formation and discusses possible ways of controlling fibrosis in clinical conditions. The lathyritic agents, beta-aminoproprionitrile (BAPN) and penicillamine, appear in certain situations to be able to control fibrosis by blocking the biosynthesis of collagen. There are no compounds that are yet known which are capable of reversing pre-existing fibrosis and future research may perhaps be more profitably directed towards the stimulation of collagen catabolism rather than the inhibition of its synthesis.
Schönberg A, Caldas EM, Sampaio MB, Costa E, Plank SJ.IN the State of Bahia (Brazil) the leptospirin produced in Germany for experimental use by the Institute for Veterinary Medicine, Federal Health Office, Berlin, was administered to humans and animals in order to diagnose leptospirosis in collaboration with this Institute. The results were compared with the microscopic agglutination reaction. The total number of test persons or animals was 268; this group included 81 human patients. 60 heads of cattle, 50 goats, 40 pigs, 25 horses, and 12 dogs. All were tested serologically and simultaneously the intracutaneous test was carried out. This test w...
Walmsley EA, Jackson M, Wells-Smith L, Whitton RC.Subchondral bone injury at the palmar/plantar aspect of the condyles of the third metacarpal/metatarsal bone (MC/MT3) commonly causes lameness and poor performance in racehorses. Injury occurs due to repetitive loading, the magnitude of which may be influenced by the position of the distal phalanx relative to the ground surface, i.e. the solar angle. The association of solar angle and injury at the palmar/plantar condyles of distal MC/MT3 therefore warrants investigation. Objective: Investigate the relationship between solar angle and radiopharmaceutical uptake at the palmar/plantar aspect of ...
Otcenásek M, Mátl J, Vítovec J, Vladík P, Wohlman J.A case of maduromycotic mycetoma (eumycetoma) in seven years old draught horse is described. The disease was localized in anal region and healed after surgical treatment. Attention is drawn to the necessity of distinguishing three types of mycosis in horses, characterized by the origin of tumor lesions - mycetomas, hyphomycosis and entomophthoromycosis - and information was gathered on their etiology and geographical occurrence. On the basis of the morphology of fungal elements traced in inflammated changed tissues and with regard to the existing findings on the origin of eumycetoma in animals...
