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.
Strömberg B.Thermography in veterinary medicine has hitherto been proven to be a method of great value in the detection of orthopaedic lesions in racehorses. Lesions of the musculo-skeletal system affecting tendons, joints, bones and skeletal muscle can be demonstrated and documented at an early stage thereby preventing the development of more serious lesions.
Hooper PT.Severe spongy degeneration of the central nervous system (CNS) was seen in 11 cattle, 19 sheep, 4 pigs and 1 goat, associated with a variety of hepatic diseases, particularly those caused by hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. It was also seen in a milder form in 2 of 8 horses examined, 1 dog of 5 dogs examined, and in 1 rabbit only of a large number of laboratory animals examined. This paper reports results of experiments which confirmed initially that the CNS disease cold be caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloid intoxication. This was done by poisoning lambs with lasiocarpine. As the disease was...
Sudia WD, McLean RG, Newhouse VF, Johnston JG, Miller DL, Trevino H, Bowen GS, Sather G.Epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in North America in 1971: vertebrate field studies. Am J Epidemiol 101:36-50, 1975.-In June 1971, epidemic Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) invaded the lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. The Boca Chica area of Cameron County was selected as a study site to investigate vertebrate involvement in the natural cycle of epidemic VEE on the basis of considerable evidence of VEE virus activity there in equines, humans, and mosquito vectors. Only one VEE virus isolation was made from 4739 wild and domestic non-equine vertebrates, although numerous equine...
Fontaine M, Fontaine M.In the first part of this paper the conditions for a specific titration of antibodies against the neuraminidase (N) of each of the two horse virus subtypes are defined. The antigens used are: the H72Neq 1 recombining agent to measure the anti Neq1 antibodies and the A/Duck/Ukraine/63 strain for the anti Neq2 antibodies. The immunity response to neuraminidase appears after the natural disease; this response is studied in two foci, one due to a virus belonging to the A equi I subtype (Loire 73 strain), the other to a virus of the A equi 2 subtype (SHN 73 strain). The kinetics of apparition of an...
Nanda BS, Getty R.The arteria intercarotica caudalis was observed to be present in the dog, horse and cat but was reticulated in the case of cattle, sheep, goat, and pig. The latter structure was a homologue of the former and represented an important intercarotid communication present in most of vertebrate.
Chua MM, Morgan DO, Karush F.The immune response to a bacterial vaccine of Streptococcus faecalis (strain N) was characterized in all of the seven horses studied by the sustained production of about 90% IgM anti-lactose antibody over a period of 44 weeks with maximum values of the total antibody ranging from 4 mg/ml of serum to 12 mg/ml of serum. With respect to the binding of a lactose-containing ligand the association constants of the antibodies purified from sera obtained between 5 and 44 weeks fell in the range of 1 times 10-5 M-1 to 2 times 10-5 M-1. Not only was there no significant indication of maturation of a-fin...
Hillidge CJ, Lees P.Cardiac output in the horse was measured before and at predetermined times during 2-hour periods of thiopentone-halothane and thiopentone-diethyl ether anaesthesia. Left ventricular stroke volume was decreased to a similar extent during anaesthesia with each volatile agent, but a greater reduction in cardiac output occurred during halothane anaesthesia. This finding reflected the differing effects of halothane and ether on heart rate, a slight bradycardia occurring with the former agent while ether produced a small degree of tachycardia. The latter effect was attributed to enhanced sympathoadr...
Buss DD, Rwalings CA, Bisgard GE.Twelve-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded from 52 resting mature female domestic grade ponies. Evaluation of the 50 ECG's ultimately selected for analysis revealed numerous differences from accepted normal values of horses. Among these differences are shorter durations of the P and QRS complexes as well as P-R and Q-T intervals and a lower amplitude of the P wave. Pony ECG's displayed a lower incidence of wandering pacemaker and complete absence of second degree atrioventricular block, in contrast to the relatively routine occurrence of these phenomena in the horse. The existence of ...
Ackerman N, Garner HE, Coffman JR, Clement JW.The angiographic appearance of the normal equine foot was compared with the appearance of equine feet affected with chronic laminitis. The normal foot was characterized by complete filling of the terminal arch, 8 to 10 main branches between 0.1 and 0.2 cm in diameter, a symmetrical netlike vascular pattern in the corium of the hoof, and numerous fine vessels in the corium of the coronary band. The feet affected with chronic laminitis were characterized by poor filling of the terminal arch, larger and less numerous primary branches, an irregular vascular pattern in the corium of the hoof, areas...
Hiepe T, Nickel S, Siebeke F.The eggs of Strongyloides westeri were found in the faeces of the foals from the 16th day of their life, with a peak in their numbers between the 30th and 40th day of life. Egg release ceased in all foals irrespective of their date of birth in the months July-August. Parallel examinations of the mares were negative. Recommendations for the control of strongyloidosis in foals are given.
Dorn CR, Garner HE, Coffman JR, Hahn AW, Tritschler LG.The characteristics of a series of equine laminitis cases were compared with that of other Equidae examined at the University of Missouri Veterinary Hospital and Clinic during May, 1965 through December, 1971. The model age for ponies with laminitis was 7-9 years and for all other cases the model age was 4-6 years. Also the predominant age for mares was 4-6 years and for males was 7-9 years. After controlling for age and breed differences, there were significantly fewer castrated males among the affected males than expected (P small than 0.02), indicating that hormonal factors may play a role ...
Boorman J, Mellor PS, Penn M, Jennings M.Seven-day-old embryonated hen eggs were infected with African Horse Sickness virus by the yolk sac and intravenous routes. Virus reached a high titre in the blood of infected embryos. Culicoides variipennis midges which took a blood meal from infected eggs became infected with virus, and after 7 days at 26 degrees - 27 degrees C transmitted African Horse Sickness virus to uninfected eggs. C. variipennis may therefore be considered a biological vector of African Horse Sickness virus in the laboratory.
Moroz LA, Comerford TA, Guttman RD.Serum sickness followed the administration of anti-lymphocyte globulin to a patient with multiple sclerosis. In addition to other characteristic features of this syndrome, there was hypocomplementemia and transient renal dysfunction similar to that observed in the 'one-shot' experimental model of serum sickness. Cryoglobulinemia was transiently demonstrable at the height of the inflammatory response. Analysis of the purified cryoprecipitate revealed the presence of human IgG and IgA, and, in addition, equine IgG. This demonstration of a well-defined exagenous antigen in the cryoprecipitate pro...
Wormstrand A.An immunological gel-diffusion test for the diagnosis of pregnancy in the mare is described. 56 blood samples from 50 different mares were tested. Control tests were made both by the Ashheim-Zondek method and by clinical examination. The accuracy of the immunological method was 96.4 %. No false positive reactions were observed. It is recommended to draw the blood sample at approximately 45 days or more after the last service. The immunological method is simple, cheap and accurate and is recommended as a routine test for the diagnosis of pregnancy in mares.
Kyles KW, McGorum BC, Fintl C, Hahn CN, Mauchline S, Mayhew IG.Electromyography was used as an aid to the diagnosis of equine motor neuron disease in a conscious horse while it was under caudal epidural anaesthesia. A muscle biopsy was taken to confirm the diagnosis which was then supported by a postmortem examination.
Vos JH, Deleu SA, Heling W, de Vries AR, Zeeuwen AA.The most relevant results of a written questionnaire among veterinarians in the Netherlands are presented and discussed. The inquiry was performed by MarketResponse Nederland BV. The objective was to get an overview of the current perception and the future view of the profession. The response was 37%. Most respondents (66%) were practitioners, 7% were active in research or teaching institutions, 5% were governmental employees, 5% were employed in industry, and 17% did not belong to any of these categories (retired, unemployed etc.). Forty-seven per cent of the veterinarians practised mainly sm...
Cohen ND, Carey VJ, Donahue JG, Seahorn JL, Brown SE, Riddle TW.To characterize the temporality of dates of breeding and abortion classified as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) among mares with abortions during early gestation. Methods: 2,314 mares confirmed pregnant at approximately 28 days after breeding from 36 farms in central Kentucky, including 515 mares that had early-term abortions. Methods: Farm veterinarians and managers were interviewed to obtain data for each mare that was known to be pregnant to determine pregnancy status, breeding date, last date known to be pregnant, and date of abortion. Results: Mares bred prior to April 1, 2001, app...
Daly AE, Deible CG, Lamb CE, Santacaterina SM, Marzolf NL, Page AE, Horohov DW, Wood PL, Werre SR, Chapman SE, Christmann U.To evaluate surfactant protein D (SP-D) concentrations in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from young healthy horses on pasture or housed in a typical barn. Methods: 20 young healthy horses. Methods: Horses were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups (pasture, n = 10; barn, 10), and serum and BALF samples were collected for SP-D determination at baseline (all horses on pasture) and 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the barn group of horses was relocated from the pasture to the barn. Other evaluations included physical and tracheoscopic examinations. Findings were compared within and between g...
Gethmann D.In the early twentieth century, counting and speaking horses, like the famous Clever Hans or the "Horses of Elberfeld," became widely debated subjects in experimental psychology. The idea was to determine whether their learning success was only a fraud, or if it might open up a new chapter in "animal psychology" - or even belong to the realm of parapsychology and telepathy. When their tricks were discovered, the teachers of the animals were marked as charlatans. Both the attempts to detect charlatans and the efforts to avoid this accusation during the talking horse experiments proceeded using ...
Chiapetta JR, Baker JC, Feeney DA.An Arabian foal, which was recumbent for 4 days, had signs of extensor rigidity of the thoracic limbs and hypotonic paralysis of the pelvic limbs. Survey radiography revealed a lesion at T15, with radiographic impression of a compression fracture or a hemivertebra. Postmortem examination revealed a fracture at T15. Clinical and pathologic findings in this case were compatible with the Schiff-Sherrington syndrome, which is characterized by thoracic limb extensor hypertonia associated with paraplegia from acute thoracolumbar trauma.
Collatos C, Reef VB, Richardson DW.An abscess of the external umbilical remnant and umbilical vein remnant was diagnosed in a 16-month-old colt, using ultrasonography. Because of the colt's size, primary closure of the surgical incision after umbilical cord resection was not complete. Vertical mattress stainless steel sutures and stents were used, and healing was by second intention. Intervening gas-filled viscera made it impossible to visualize ultrasonographically the bladder of umbilical artery remnants in a colt of this age.
Carmalt JL, Bell CD, Panizzi L, Wolker RR, Lanovaz JL, Bracamonte JL, Wilson DG.To assess the safety and efficacy of alcohol-facilitated ankylosis of the distal intertarsal (DIT) and tarsometatarsal (TMT) joints in horses with osteoarthritis (bone spavin). Methods: Prospective clinical trial. Methods: 21 horses with DIT or TMT joint-associated hind limb lameness and 5 nonlame horses. Methods: 11 horses (group 1) underwent lameness, force-plate, and radiographic examinations; following intra-articular analgesia, lameness and force-plate examinations were repeated. Nonlame horses were used for force-plate data acquisition only. Following localization of lameness to the DIT ...
Thomas AL, Schramme MC, Lepage OM, Segard EM.An awareness of magnetic susceptibility artifacts is important for interpreting prepurchase and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in horses. These artifacts occur when a metallic or a paramagnetic substance creates a local magnetic field deformity. Aims of the current experimental study were to determine prevalence of these artifacts after arthroscopy in a sample of nonlame horses, and to describe effects of time and type of pulse sequence on low-field MRI signal intensity and detection of the artifacts. Ten, nonlame Standardbred horses were prospectively recruited. All ho...
Modesto RB, Rodgerson DH, Masciarelli AE, Spirito M.This retrospective study describes placement of distal radial transphyseal screws in Thoroughbred yearlings with carpal varus deformities while standing, and identifes short- and long-term complications following the procedure. Data gathered from 2009 to 2013 identified 8 yearlings that met the inclusion criteria. Horses were sedated intravenously and a single 4.5-mm cortical screw was placed in the distal lateral radial physis following application of local anesthetic and surgical preparation of a pre-placed hole. All horses were evaluated weekly after surgery and screw removal was performed ...
Hallebeek JM, Beynen AC.In a Latin square design, six horses were fed hay and concentrates with isoenergetic amounts of either starch, cellulose or medium chain triacylglycerols (MCT). The dietary variables provided on average 22% of total dietary net energy. Plasma triacylglycerols and other variables of lipid metabolism were determined. The experimental periods lasted 21 days. Blood samples were taken just before the morning meal and three and six hours later. The diet rich in MCT significantly raised the plasma level of triacylglycerols when compared to either the starch- or cellulose-rich diet. The plasma concent...
Ingarden J, Dubiel A, Rauluszkiewicz S.This study investigated the effect of a beta blocker on parturition, fetal membrane retention and subsequent fertility in mares. The animals were divided into an experimental group (150 mares treated during second stage labour with propranolol [50 mg i.v.]) and a control group (180 mares with no treatment). Administration of propranolol was associated with a significant decrease in time of expulsion of fetal membranes, and an increase in both exhibition of foal heat and pregnancy rates at this heat.
Don-van't Slot HP, van der Kolk JH.Severe-Combined-Immunodeficiency-Disease (SCID) is discussed with special reference to its pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, pathology, and diagnosis. The disorder has been observed in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia and is characterized by an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. The clinical features of the disease seen in Arab foals under 46 days of age are intermittent fever, (adenoviral) pneumonia, and weight loss sometimes associated with diarrhoea. From 1998 on, the SCID gene can be detected in the Netherlands by means of DNA analysis.
Baba SS, Akinyele HA, Olaleye OD.The occurrence of antibodies against the African horse sickness virus was investigated in 246 domestic animals (horses, donkeys, camels, dogs) in various regions of Nigeria by means of the complement-fixing rate. 34% of the sera tested were positive: 75% in donkeys, 68% in horses, 19% in camels, and 9% in dogs. Among the horses, those of 6 to 15 years of age had higher than average prevalence rates than the other age groups. Stallions from the northern regions had higher prevalence rates than mares generally and stallions from other regions. These findings are important for the epidemiology of...
Bass A.Practice management software benefits the equine practitioner in many ways. Ready access to patient records, rapid entry and lookup of clinical findings, easy invoicing and monitoring of revenues, inventory management, rapid search and sorting of data, reminder and recall maintenance, and integrated word processing are just some of the software functions that assist the successful practitioner. Computer use in veterinary practice may have seemed to many to be a gimmick at one time. Now that computers have become a part of our everyday life, it is clear that they can be an essential component o...
