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.
Knudsen O.The paper briefly describes the percutaneous tendon splitting operation as performed in general practice and evaluates its effectiveness on the basis of races run during a 2 year follow-up period. The results are compared with similar figures for normal Standardbred trotters. A higher percentage of horses subjected to splitting of the suspensory ligament failed to remain sound long enough to run more than 10 races during the follow-up period. The percentage of horses returning to racing whose superficial flexor was operated upon was somewhat lower than the control group.
Firth EC.A case of vesical calculus in which haematuria was not a presenting sign is described. Methods of removal of vesical calculi are discussed. In this case, urethral sphincterotomy facilitated delivery.
Goulden BE, Anderson LJ, Davies AS, Barnes GR.A horse with rostral displacement of the palatopharyngeal arch was found to have a bilaterally symmetrical deformity of the laryngeal area. Both left and right cricopharyngeal muscles were absent. The shape of the thyroid cartilage was grossly abnormal and vestiges of the cricothyroid muscles were attached only to the cricoid cartilage. It was suggested that such an anomaly could have resulted from aberrant development of the fourth branchial arch.
Green DA.One hundred and four animals aged 13-18 months were measured at monthly or two monthly intervals, as were comparable numbers of animals 19-36 months old. Height, girth and circumference of the cannon bone below the knee were recorded, measurements for colts and fillies are shown separately. The average height at 18 months was 148 cm (15.01/2 h.h.) and at 36 months 156 cm (15.31/2 h.h.).
Palomba E, Martone F, Meduri A, Vaccaro A, Damiani N.A description is given of an outbreak of equine infectious anaemia (E.I.A.) in Campania [at Naples and Aversa (Caserta)]; it was diagnosed by clinical, pathological and serological examinations (Coggins test). Using the serum of 45 horses with E.I.A. and 11 healthy horses (controls), numerous investigations were carried out on: enzymes, intrinsic coagulation factors, lipids and other substances. The results obtained were very interesting and show that in this disease there are significant increases in many enzymes (LDH, LAP, gamma-GT, CPK, PK and ALD) and copper. Insignificant increases were f...
Pettersson H.A series of 79 fractures of the pedal bone in various types of horses are reported and the clinical features described. The fractures were of 3 types--intra-articular or extra-articular, involving the wing of the pedal bone, and fractures of the extensor process. Forty-five horses with a fractured wing of the pedal bone were treated conservatively and 11 by immobilisation of the bony fragment with a compression screw. Conservative treatment was usually successful in the extra-articular fractures. Intra-articular fractures treated conservatively in animals under 3 years had a good prognosis. Th...
Whitwell KE.A rodent pathogen, Bacillus piliformis, has been recognised as causing a rapidly fatal hepatitis in 4 foals in England. The disease in foals has been recognised in America since 1973. A clinico-pathological account of the 4 cases is given and the differential diagnosis discussed. The 4 foals' ages fell within a very narrow range (24-34 days). Some of the properties of this unusual intracellular pathogen are reviewed. For the first time in the equine the bacillus was seen in association with myocardial lesions. There are marked differences in the epidemiology of the disease in the mouse and in ...
Verberne LR, Mirck MH.A scheme of combined anthelmintic treatment and vaccination is described. The seasonal veterinary activities are as follows: March (all horses); parasitological examination of faeces, anthelmintic treatment, immunization against influenza and tetanus (booster dose). June: parasitological faeces examination of foals, anthelmintic treatment of all horses, immunization of foals against tetanus (1st dose). August: anthelmintic treatment of all horses and immunization of foals against influenza (1st dose) and tetanus (2nd dose). October: parasitological faeces examination and anthelmintic treatment...
McGuire TC, Banks KL, Davis WC.Combined immunodeficiency (CID) is a significant disease in terms of prevalence in Arabian foals and is a useful animal for study of a similar condition in children. Thymuses from all CID foals examined were extremely hypoplastic. Light and electron microscopic examination of thymuses from CID foals, as well as a thymus from an aborted CID fetus, demonstrate that the basic thymic structure is intact, despite a number of dissimilar morphologic appearances. From these data, we inferred that the thymic hypoplasia was caused by a failure of committed lymphocytes from the bone marrow to populate th...
Serrano L, Lees P, Hillidge CJ.Ponies were anaesthetized by administration of the ataractic, azaperone (0 · 2–0 · 8 mg/kg), in combination with the hypnotic, metomidate (3 · 5 mg/kg). Changes in blood biochemistry were measured during and following the course of action of these drugs. In control experiments, azaperone (0 · 4 and 0 · 8 mg/kg) was administered alone to other ponies. There were no significant changes in blood glucose concentration in either circumstance. Blood lactate and pyruvate concentrations and lactate/pyruvate ratio were not altered significantly by azaperone. However, moderate increases in lactat...
Saiatov MKh, Beĭsembaeva RU.Profiles of distribution of non-specific gamma-inhibitors of influenza A2/Victoria/35/72 in donkey and horse sera were established by gel chromatography in Sephadex G-200. High and low molecular inhibitors were found in 19S and 4S serum fractions. Highly purified preparations of a2-macroglobulin, transferrine and albumin were isolated by a combination of methods of salt precipitation, gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100, G-200 and ion exchange on DEAE-Sephadex A-50. Heating sera resulted in a considerable increase of the antiviral activity of a2-macroglobulin and transferrine and a reduction ...
Scherer WF, Ordonez JV, Dickerman RW, Navarro JE.Evidence was sought during 1970-1975 of persistence of equine-virulent Venezuelan encephalitis (VE) virus in regions of Central America that were heavily involved in the epidemic-equine epizootic of 1969. (a) Four sentinel horses were exposed in an arid, upland region of the Atlantic drainage of Guatemala during August-October 1970, but no horse became infected. (b) The epicenter region of the 1969 outbreak, in southwestern Guatemala and southwestern El Salvador, was studied during July 1970-February 1974; no antibody developed in sentinel horses, sentinel hamsters did not die, mosquitoes yiel...
Goto H.The efficacy of Japanese encephalitis vaccine in horses has been described from the effect of mass vaccination on the local prevalence of the disease in horses in each district of Hokkaido, Japan.
Targowski SP.The present study describes a two step technique for the separation of mononuclear leukocytes or mononuclear and polymorphonuclear leukocytes from whole equine blood. First, the leukocyte rich plasma was obtained by sedimentation of erythrocytes in the undiluted blood. Subsequently, separation of the different populations of white blood cells was performed by centrifugation with different gradients overlaid with the leukocyte rich plasma. The optimal separation of the mononuclear cells was obtained by the centrifugation of the leukocyte rich plasma overlaying the gradient containing 24 parts o...
Faur YC, Weisburd MH, Wilson ME.NYC medium supplemented with cow blood (NYC-C) and sheep blood (NYC-S) were tested for the growth of N. gonorrhoeae and urogenital mycoplasma in comparison with standard NYC medium which contains horse blood. In situations where horse blood is not available, cow blood could be substituted in NYC standard medium, whereas the use of sheep blood was found unsuitable.
Estola T, Neuvonen E.In 1974, a very extensive influenza/A/equi 2 epidemic broke out in the Finnish horse population. To study the efficacy of influenza vaccinations a questionnaire was sent after the epidemic to all Finnish veterinarians. The answer material was selected to contain only stables which had had clinically typical cases. The material consisted 234 unvaccinated and 629 vaccinated horses. In the latter group 466 horses were vaccinated adequately. The results of the study showed that of the unvaccinated horses 212 (91%) and of the adequately vaccinated horses only 42 (9.4%) contracted clinically typical...
Haughey KG, Jones RT.A high frequency of meningeal lesions was found at autopsy in foals dying perinatally. Such lesions are considered an index of injury to the fetal central nervous system, from trauma and/or hypoxia during birth. Their incidence in the sample examined (26 foals) is similar to that observed in the perinatal mortality of lambs and calves.
Cooper MJ.Fluprostenol (ICI 81,008) is a 16-aryloxyprostaglandin, structurally related to PGF2alpha. It is a highly potent luteolytic agent, being effective in thoroughbred mares at a single intramuscular dose of 250 mug and having a wide margin of safety in this species. A total of 941 mares have been treated with fluprostenol in an international trial, for various forms of infertility associated with abnormal persistence of luteal function. These mares were selected for treatment on the basis of clinical examination and 760 (approximately 80 per cent) responded fluprostenol by showing oestrus within s...
van Suntum M, Hartung K.Subchondral bone cysts or cyst like lesions are an important hint in the radiographic diagnosis of degenerative joint disease. In this study we set artificial lesions of different size in the subchondral bone of different joint surfaces of horses, and we then tried to determine from which size on these lesions could be made visible on radiographs in different projections. It shows that the possibility of visualization of such lesions is frequently overestimated, cyst like lesions have to be quite large, before they can be seen on routine radiographs.
Stalheim OH, Stone SS, Blackburn BO, Foley J.In horses given whole cultures or cells of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp capri (by subcutaneous and intravenous injections), antibody responses were measured by serologic procedures. During an immunization period of 22 weeks, horses produced an antiserum that was used to identify M mycoides subsp capri by agglutination, complement-fixation, and fluorescent antibody (FA) tests, but not by the growth-inhibition test. Horses that were injected with whole cultures of M mycoides subsp capri responded better than horses that were injected with only cells, ie, antibodies were detectable sooner by agar ge...
Boersema JH.A horse with foot-mange failed to recover following a number of courses of treatment with coumaphos. Mites isolated from this horse were tested in vitro for their sensitivity to coumaphos and lindane. The mites were resistant to coumaphos and sensitive to lindane. Following treatment with lindane, the horse recovered within four weeks.
Costa G, Labadia A, Garcia-Sacristan A.The effects of verapamil, a calcium antagonist agent, were studied on smooth muscle preparations of the lower urinary tract of horses. Verapamil (2 X 10(-4) to 2 X 10(-8) M) relaxed the ureter, urethra and urinary bladder preparations contracted by potassium (127 mM), L-noradrenaline (2 X 10(-5) M), histamine (2 X 10(-5) M) and acetylcholine (2 X 10(-5) M). These results allow the conclusion that verapamil has a dose-dependent relaxing effect on smooth muscle of the lower urinary tract.
Gee EK, Firth EC, Morel PC, Fennessy PF, Grace ND, Mogg TD.To determine the influence of copper (Cu) supplementation by injection of mares in late gestation on the frequency and severity of osteochondrosis (OC) lesions in their foals at around 160 days of age. To determine if there was any influence of the concentration of Cu in the liver, growth rate, birthweight, weight at 160 days of age, fatness, sex, or year of birth of the foal on the frequency and severity of OC lesions. To determine the influence of dam's age, and sex and birthweight of the foal on the growth rate from birth to 160 days of age, and weight at 160 days of age. Methods: Thirty-th...
Palmer SE.Evaluation was made of the portable infrared thermometer to measure limb surface temperature in 3 horses--first standing in a stall and then placed in lateral recumbency under general anesthesia. To determine the effect of pigment, black and white targets were examined with the instrument under various clinical conditions. In each horse, thermal gradient measurements were consistent along the extremities. Mean limb surface temperatures were less than rectal temperature and greater than ambient temperature. Limb surface temperatures measured in lateral recumbency under general anesthesia were u...
Holguin-Rocha AF, Calle-Tobon A, Vásquez GM, Astete H, Fisher ML, Tobon-Castano A, Velez-Tobon G, Maldonado-Ruiz LP, Silver K, Park Y....Ticks are obligatory hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit pathogens among various vertebrates, including humans. The composition of the microbial and viral communities in addition to the pathogenic microorganisms is highly diverse in ticks, but the factors driving the diversity are not well understood. The tropical horse tick, , is distributed throughout the Americas and it is recognized as a natural vector of and , the causal agents of equine piroplasmosis. We characterized the bacterial and viral communities associated with partially-fed females collected by a passive survey on hors...
Kraft VW, Menghistu D, Zeilmann M, Grabner A, Ghermai A.Reference values of serum phenols between 0.3 and 0.7 mmol/L in dogs respectively between 0.25 and 0.37 mmol/L in horses are determined. In dogs increased phenol values were found frequently in hepatopathy. Furthermore elevations, particularly in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, were obtained; especially in hemorrhagic enteritis of dogs, associated with parvovirosis, and in mechanical ileus of the small intestine and the large intestine respectively in horses. In renal and endocrine diseases increased phenol values were seldom obtained.
Zhang XY, Zhu FX, Robinson NE.To investigate the effects of changes in intracellular cAMP on alpha 2-adrenoceptor (AR)-induced inhibition of airway acetylcholine (ACh) release, we examined the effects of the alpha 2-AR agonist clonidine on electrical field stimulation-evoked ACh release from equine tracheal parasympathetic nerves before and after treatment with 8-bromo-cAMP or forskolin. We also tested whether charybdotoxin (ChTX)- or iberiotoxin (IBTX)-sensitive Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels mediate alpha 2-AR-induced inhibition by examining the effect of clonidine in the absence and presence of ChTX or IBTX on ACh release...
Olive J, Vila T, Serraud N.To compare navicular bone marrow lesion (BML) conspicuity in the feet of horses as determined via 2 fat-suppressed MRI techniques, including standard short tau inversion recovery (STIR) and inversion recovery gradient echo (IRGE). Methods: Feet (n = 150) of horses with lameness referable to the distal portion of the digit. Methods: STIR and IRGE sequences were obtained prospectively in all feet with a standing low-field equine MRI system. Presence of a BML was ascertained by identification of a characteristic combination of marrow alterations in T1-weighted, T2*-weighted, T2-weighted, and STIR...
Weatherall KM, Boone LH, Munsterman A, Hanson RR.To determine the compressive effect of abdominal bandages after ventral midline celiotomy closure in horses. Methods: Ex vivo, experimental study. Methods: Equine cadavers (n = 18), six per group. Methods: A 20-cm ventral midline celiotomy was created in each of 18 equine cadavers. A 200-L inflatable bladder was placed in the abdomen, and the linea alba was apposed. Horses were randomly assigned to no bandage (C), elastic (E), or Velcro inelastic (I) bandage groups for testing. Circumferential bandages were placed with a subbandage pressure monitoring system over the incision. The bladder was ...