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.
Mansmann RA.Little has been written about the use of antibiotics in the horse. This article is based on personal experiences related to equine clinical medicine and literature review and certainly does not represent all the possible therapeutic regimens that can he employed in the horse. There are two concepts that this article will emphasize. First and most importantly, when an infective process is suspected in a patient, cul-tures and sensitivities are the most important determinations to be made prior to antibiotic therapy. Whether in the treatment of a single case or in the treatment of a herd problem...
Muir WW, Moore CA, Hamlin RL.The influence of various concentrations of CO2 and O2 in the inspired gases on minute volume (V), tidal volume (VT), and respiratory rate (breaths per min; BPM) was examined in nonanesthetized, nonsedated normal horses. The VT and BPM increased linearly in response to increases in inspired CO2 concentration and curvilinearly in response to decreases in inspired Os concentration. The V increased curvilinearly in response to both increases in inspired CO2 concentration and decreases in inspired O2 concentration.
Holtan DW, Nett TM, Estergreen VL.Jugular vein plasma from 13 mares was extracted with diethyl ether and chromatographed on Sephadex LH-20 columns (.5 × 9 cm) after which progesterone and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (170HP) were quantified by a competitive protein binding radioassay. During pregnancy, progesterone increased (P < .05) from 1.1 ± .4 ng/ml (mean ± SE) on day 0 to 7.5 ± 1.2 ng/ml on day 8 followed by a transient (nonsignificant) decrease to 4.8 ± .4 ng/ml on day 28. From days 28 to 44 progesterone again increased (P < .05) attaining a maximum concentration of 15.2 ± 1.4 ng/ml on day 64. Thereafter progesterone ...
Engle CC, Foley CW.Uterine tubal fluids were collected twice a day from mares for 5 consecutive estrous cycles between March 15 and September 1. Follicular fluids were aspirated from the follicles of exteriorized ovaries of 3 mares between days 2 and 5 of estrus. Uterine tubal fluid and follicular fluid were analyzed for osmolarity, dry matter, total lipids, total free fatty acids, glucose, fructose, and lactic acid. Blood samples were collected (jugular venipuncture) throughout the estrous cycle, and the same physical and biochemical analyses were made on blood plasma. A difference (P less than 0.01) was found ...
Pickett BW, Sullivan JJ, Byers WW, Pace MM, Remmenga EE.The effect of centrifugation of diluted and undiluted semen on equine and bovine spermatozoan motility and fertility was examined, as was the effect of seminal plasma and dilution on stallion spermatozoa during incubation before and after freezing. Centrifugation at 370 g or 829 g was not detrimental (P greater than 0.05) to prefreeze or postfreeze motility if a final concentration of 10% seminal plasma was present. A reduction of seminal plasma from 10% to 2% significantly (P smaller than 0.05) reduced motility. A centrifugal force of 956 g significantly reduced prefreeze but not postfreeze m...
Targowski SP.Treatment of ponies with a single dose of prednisolone markedly reduced the number of blood lymphocytes. A decrease of the number of eosinophils was also observed. In contrast, the number of neutrophils significantly increased. These profound changes were temporary and returned to the pretreatment level within 48 h. The number of monocytes did not show any of the significant changes post-prednisolone treatment. The reactivity of the blood lymphocytes of these ponies, in vitro, to stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or streptokinase-strepto-dornase (SK-SD) was measured by incorporation of...
Erickson GA, Maré CJ.Goat Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) antiserum and normal serum were conjugated and evaluated for staining sensitivity and specificity. Cross-staining with either eastern or western equine encephalomyelitis virus-infected cells did not occur. The baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cell line when combined with highly specific VEE conjugate detected 100 medium suckling mouse intracerebral lethal doses (suckling mouse LD-50/IC) of the 1B subtype of VEE virus per milliliter of equine tissue suspension. Conjugated goat antiserum was assayed for sensitivity for detection of VEE virus-infected eq...
Allen WE.Ten pregnant Welsh pony mares were each treated with a series of three intravenous injections of 2000 iu human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) on alternate days. In four mares the first dose was given before the 39th day of gestation and conceptual loss followed treatments in all mares. The other six mares were first treated between the 40th and 97th days. No conceptual loss occurred despite five of the mares being given a fourth dose of HCG. Two mares first treated on days 36 and 38 of pregnancy subsequently produced PMSG although foetal death had occurred.
Bull TE, Lindman B, Einarsson R, Zeppezauer M.The binding of Au(CN)2- and Pt(CN)4-2- ions to the coenzyme binding site of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (alcohol : NAD+ oxidoreductase EC 1.1.1.1) has been studied by 35C1 nuclear magnetic relaxation. Longitudinal relaxation rates were analyzed in terms of a simple model and binding constants for Au(CN)2-, Pt(CN)4-2- and C1- were estimated. From a comparison between transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates the correlation time and the quadrupole coupling constant of bound chloride ion were obtained. The quadrupole coupling constant estimated from a simple electrostatic model for chlo...
Harrington DD.Spontaneous Tyzzer's disease is described in quarter horse foals which died suddenly with no clinical history of apparent illness. Significant gross findings included icterus, focal paletan areas in the liver and catarrhal entercolitis. Focal dark red lesions were present in the small intestine of one foal, and the mesenteric lymph nodes of another were enlarged and hyperemic. Histopathologically, the liver showed multiple discrete and confluent foci of necrosis, fatty change, sinusoid congestion and haemorrhage. Bundles of intracytoplasmic bacilli were demonstrated in hepatocytes at the margi...
Hayes HM, Priester WA, Pendergrass TW.From 11 North American veterinary university hospitals and clinics, 248 animals were a confirmed diagnosis of nervous-tissue tumor were identified; 7 tumors were found in cattle, 28 in horses, 14 in cats, 199 in dogs, and none in other species. Tumors were divided for analysis into three categories-glial, meningeal, and peripheral nerve. In cattle and horses, all tumors involved peripheral nerves, the risk of which, in horses, reached a plateau at 4-6 years of age and remained constant thereafter. In cats, the tumors were equally distributed among the three tumor categories whereas, in dogs, t...
Krook L, Wasserman RH, Shively JN, Tashjian AH, Brokken TD, Morton JF.A chronic debilitating disease is described in Florida horses. There is progress weight loss and lameness of increasing severity. Plasma calcium is elevated to moderate or severe degree. Anatomical changes include dystrophic calcinosis of elastic tissues, viz. major arteries, tendons and ligaments. A generalized osteopetrosis is present and may be related to hypoparathyroidsim and hypercalcitoninism. The presence of Cestrum diurnum (day-blooming jessamine, day cestrum, wild jasmin) in areas accessible to affected animals, the observation that leaves of the plant were stripped in these areas, a...
Ford GH, Empson RN, Plopper CG, Brown PH.Masses removed from the superficial fascia of the jugular groove of a 12-year-old Arabian mare and from the femoral canal of a 7 1/2-year-old female cat appeared to be counterparts of the human malignant giant cell tumor of soft parts, even recapitulating the clinical behavior of the respective subgroups. Histologically, both neoplasms contained the characteristic features of the malignant giant cell tumor of soft parts: large multinucleate giant cells, pleomorphic mononuclear giant cells, histiocytes, fibroblasts and fibrocytes that were sometimes sarcomatous, and foci of hemorrhage and necro...
Lewis GE, Huxsoll DL, Ristic M, Johnson AJ.Dogs (German Shepherd Dogs and Beagles), cates, rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and baboons (Papio anubis) were inoculated with Whrlichia equi, the etiologic agent of equine ehrlichiosis. Within 3 to 7 days after inoculation, morulae were observed in the eosinophils of cats, neurtrophils of macaques and baboons, and in both neutrophils and eosinophils of dogs. The severe disease produced in horses by this agent was not a feature of E equi infection in dogs, cats, macaques, and baboons. However, a susceptible horse, inoculated with the pooled blood of 2 infected macaques, developed severe cli...
Wensing T, van Gent DM, Schotman AJ, Kroneman J.(I) The lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in sera of 4 healthy and 9 hyperlipaemic patients were determined. From the results of the analyses, it is suggested that three types of hyperlipoproteinaemia can be distinguished in ponies: (a) Type 1, characterised by a very pronounced increase in only the very low density lipoproteins (VLDL); (b) Type 2, in which there is a pronounced increase in the chylomicrons (Chylo) and the very low density lipoproteins (VLDL); (c) Type 3, which can be the result of fasting and is characterised by a moderate increase in the concentration of chylomicrons and ...
Salinger A, Mochal-King C, Clinton K, Priddy LB, Elder S, Fontenot R, Eddy A, Wills R, Jaffe M.Frontal plane slab fractures account for the majority of third carpal bone (C3) fractures in racing and performance horses. Recommended treatment is stabilization with a lagged AO cortical screw. Associated complications are fragment splitting, fragment spinning, and irritation of dorsal soft tissue structures. A novel, headless, cannulated screw with interlocking threads the Headless Compression Screw Fastener (HCSF) has been developed to resist multidirectional forces and bending moments; however, it has not been applied in the horse. Simulated C3 frontal plane slab fractures were created in...
Madej A, Kindahl H, Nydahl C, Edqvist LE, Stewart DR.Two mares received PGF-2 alpha twice daily until abortion and 2 mares received a combined treatment with oestradiol benzoate and oxytocin. The mares were about 150 days pregnant. The PG-treated animals aborted after 37 and 61 h, respectively, and the fetuses were expelled in intact fetal membranes. The other 2 mares aborted 13 and 27 h after the first oxytocin injection, respectively, and showed strong uterine contractions and expelled the fetuses in disrupted fetal membranes. Concentrations of 15-ketodihydro-PGF-2 alpha increased both after PG and oxytocin injections and in association with t...
Mogg TD.Cardiac disease is often life-threatening and challenging to treat. Prolonged therapy is indicated in many cases, which can lead to problems with treatment costs, owner compliance, and potential drug toxicity. Many therapies are empirical or based on data from other species because of a lack of well-designed prospective clinical trials in horses. This article reviews the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics of heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial disease, endocarditis, and pericardial disease.
Ginther OJ, Cuervo-Arango J, Beg MA.The role of passage of follicular fluid into the peritoneal cavity during ovulation in the transient disruption in the periovulatory FSH and LH surges was studied in ovulatory mares (n=7) and in mares with blockage of ovulation by treatment with an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis (n=8). Mares were pretreated with hCG when the largest follicle was ≥32 mm (Hour 0). Ultrasonic scanning was done at Hours 24 and 30 and every 2h thereafter until ovulation or ultrasonic signs of anovulation. Blood samples were collected at Hours 24, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 48, and 60. Ovulation in the ovulatory gr...
Duvivier DH, Bayly WM, Votion D, Vandenput S, Art T, Farnir F, Lekeux P.The present study evaluated ventilatory, cardiovascular and metabolic parameters during recovery from strenuous exercise in horses suffering from a crisis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to determine whether ipratropium dry powder inhalation (DPI) before exercise has an effect on these parameters. When 6 saddle horses, affected with COPD, developed airway obstruction, they inhaled placebo and ipratropium (2400 microg/horse), the order being randomly chosen. Pulmonary function tests were then recorded 15 min after inhalation. Following these tests, the horses underwent a str...
Day WE, Bowen JA, Barhoumi R, Bazer FW, Burghardt RC.This investigation examines the relationship between implantation strategy and gap junction protein expression in uterine endometrium. The pattern of gap junction and connexin protein expression was analyzed in porcine and equine endometrium from cycling and pregnant animals using electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Functional analysis of cell-cell communication was also monitored by laser cytometry in primary cultures of endometrial epithelial cells. Gap junctions were detected in endometrial stroma of cycling and pregnant animals, which was correlated with immunoreactive Cx43 within...
Sandoval C, True C.Clients want dependable veterinary care and to understand how the services will benefit and meet their horse’s needs. Wellness visits provide ambulatory practitioners with great opportunities to strengthen the doctor-client-patient bond; effective communication with clients during wellness visits, where new literature or facts can be presented, can offer opportunities for demonstrating the value of having the veterinarian maintain a primary role in disease control. The criteria for selecting vaccines, interpreting FECs, and diagnosing dental pathology require the continued need for veterinar...
Illera JC, Illera M, Hamlin RL.Electrocardiograms were obtained from 100 male crossbred horses. In addition to standard limb leads, leads were taken from 12 points on the thorax. The QRS complexes were categorized into 1 of 8 forms on the basis of configuration and amplitudes of component deflections. Relative uniformity of QRS was determined for each lead, using the percentage of horses that possess a particular configuration. All unipolar thoracic leads, except those coplanar with the frontal plane, and lead aVR had great uniformity, with greater than 80% of the horses with a QRS of similar contour.
Larsen EA, Lack AC, Wassack E.The use of poloxamer 407 gels have been reported in several studies to prolong the release of drugs at the injection site. Oral lesions unrelated to dental disease are rare but may result in ulceration and sequestration of bone. To date, there have been no reports on the use of penicillin G potassium poloxamer 407 gel and its effect on wound healing. The present case report describes the use of a penicillin G potassium poloxamer 407 gel for the treatment of a sublingual abscess involving the mandible in a 20 year old Arabian mare who initially presented with acute onset of dysphagia, hypersali...
Malan FS, Reinecke RK.A single oral dose of fenbendazole (FBZ) at 10mg/kg body mass was given to 5 donkeys. A further 5 donkeys were dosed with a medicated lick (1 mg FBZ/g lick) until the oral consumption was 10mg/kg body mass. In both trials FBZ was highly effective against adults of the following genera: Cyathostomum, Cylicocyelus, Cylicostephanus, Cylicodontophorus, Poteriostomum, Cabellonema, Craterostomum and Triodontophorus; similarly high efficiency was obtained against the following species: Habronema majus, Habronema musca, Strongylus vulgaris and Oxyuris equi and worms identified as belonging to the subf...
Hardee GE, Tshabalala MA, Moore JN, Gokhales RD.Separate high performance liquid chromatographic methods were developed for thiabendazole (TBZ) and 5-hydroxy thiabendazole (5-OH-TBZ) determination in horse plasma using 1-methyl-2-phenyl benzimidazole (MPBZ) as an internal standard. In both methods TBZ and 5-OH-TBZ were extracted from plasma using organic solvents, injected on to a C-18 column, and eluents monitored by a fluorescence detector. However, mobile phase composition, extraction solvent as well as detector wavelength differed in the two methods. The linear range for TBZ was 0.02 to 0.77 microgram ml-1 while that for 5-OH-TBZ was 0....
BonenClark GD, MacKay RJ, Ward RE, Sheerin B.To evaluate the humoral response of horses to vaccination, using a murine monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody (A4) that shares an epitope with lipid A. Methods: Serum concentrations of antilipid A antibody and 1C9 (epitope on murine monoclonal antilipid A antibody) were measured serially during the period of vaccination with A4. Methods: 6 clinically normal adult ponies. Methods: Ponies were inoculated IM 3 times at monthly intervals with A4. Two weeks after each inoculation, serum was obtained and was assayed by ELISA for antilipid A and 1C9 concentrations. Additional vaccinations were given t...
Ramzan PH.Fractures involving the fetlock region are encountered commonly in Thoroughbred racehorses. Condylar fractures of the distal metacarpus/metatarsus and mid-sagittal fractures of the proximal phalanx account for the majority of fetlock injuries during both racing and training and clinical features, management and outcome of these injuries have been well described. Transverse fractures of the distal diaphysis of the third metacarpus, however, are seldom observed and have received little attention in the literature. This paper describes clinical and radiological findings associated with 6 cases en...
Proudman CJ, Knottenbelt DC, May SA, Edwards GB.Several imaging techniques were used to diagnose hypoplasia of the soft palate in a horse. The absence of the caudal soft palate, hypertrophied lymphoid tissue and the formation of a pseudouvula were observed endoscopically. Plain and contrast radiography were used to demonstrate a soft palate remnant and to identify structures rostral to the epiglottis. Retrograde endoscopy of the pharynx via a tracheotomy incision is described.
Merkt H.The use and techniques of artificial insemination for horses in Germany over the last 30 years is described. Artificial insemination appears to produce pregnancy percentages equal to those from normal breeding methods and its continued availability under veterinary supervision is recommended in conditions where disease, disability or distance debar normal service.
de Brot S, Junge H, Hilbe M.Two horses were presented with non-specific clinical signs of several weeks' duration and were humanely destroyed due to a poor prognosis. At necropsy examination, both horses had multiple small, white nodules replacing pancreatic tissue and involving the serosal surface of the abdominal cavity, the liver and the lung. Microscopically, neoplastic cells were organized in acini and contained abundant (case 1) or sparse (horse 2) intracytoplasmic zymogen granules. Immunohistochemically, both tumours expressed amylase and pan-cytokeratin, but not insulin or neuron-specific enolase. In case 2, a lo...
Allen WE.Seven Welsh pony mares (9 pregnancies) received either 50 mg, 100 mg or 150 mg progesterone on alternate days, starting on day 21 of gestation. All but 2 pregnancies failed following prostaglandin administration on day 27. Although both mares were receiving the 150 mg progesterone dose rate, this treatment was not consistently successful in preventing pregnancy failure after prostaglandin administration.
Reed SA, Streff LN.The field of equine sports medicine and rehabilitation provides a career opportunity for students interested in remaining in the horse industry but not focused on a career as a veterinarian. However, throughout the United States, there are limited educational opportunities for undergraduate students to prepare for this career. The objective of this work was to determine what skills and theoretical knowledge professionals in the equine rehabilitation industry deemed most useful for employment in the equine rehabilitation industry, and, using that information, develop a curriculum to meet these ...
