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.
Wolf L.The locomotor system requires normal movement for normal function. Movement restrictions of soft tissues and joints stimulate nociceptive pathways in the corresponding vertebral segment. Reflex-induced alterations of sensory and motor neuron activity within the segment lead to detrimental changes within many of the tissues associated with and distant from the area. Manual therapy is utilized in both diagnosis and treatment of tissue and joint movement restrictions. Early recognition and treatment of dysfunction in the equine athlete prevents permanent pathology and facilitates performance exce...
Garton NJ, Gilleron M, Brando T, Dan HH, Giguère S, Puzo G, Prescott JF, Sutcliffe IC.Rhodococcus equi is a major cause of foal morbidity and mortality. We have investigated the presence of lipoglycan in this organism as closely related bacteria, notably Mycobacterium tuberculosis, produce lipoarabinomannans (LAM) that may play multiple roles as virulence determinants. The lipoglycan was structurally characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry following permethylation, capillary electrophoresis after chemical degradation, and (1)H and (31)P and two-dimensional heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance studies. Key structural features of the lipoglycan are a linear alph...
Bennett RC, Steffey EP.REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION: There is limited, but convincing, evidence that epidural administration of morphine and some other mu-agonist opioids consistently relieves regional pain in horses. In addition, this effect is not accompanied by notable undesirable effects. On the other hand, a clinically important analgesic action has not been demonstrated for similarly administered kappa-agonist opioids. There has been little objective data presented to support the analgesic effectiveness of intra-articularly administered opioids in horses. However, the evidence of local opioid receptors legitimately...
Bollwei H, Weber F, Kolberg B, Stolla R.Uterine and ovarian blood flow was investigated in four mares during two consecutive estrous cycles using transrectal color Doppler sonography. The uterine and ovarian arteries of both sides were scanned to obtain waves of blood flow velocity. The pulsatility index (PI) reflected blood flow. There were significant time trends in PI values of all uterine and ovarian blood vessels during the estrous cycle (P < 0.05). PI values did not differ between the uterine arteries ipsi- and contralateral to the corpus luteum or the ovulatory follicle. PI values of the uterine arteries showed a wave shap...
Mama KR.Many new or modified injectable anesthetic techniques are available for use in horses. This increased availability allows the clinician to select the technique most appropriate for the patient and clinical circumstance. The use of sedative and anesthetic drugs in managing a variety of anesthesia-related and unrelated aspects of patient care is also increasing. As we begin to use these techniques in the clinical management of our patients, it is important to remember that, while there are more options, no single anesthetic agent or combination of agents is devoid of undesirable effects. Knowled...
Martinez EA.In summary, with proper vigilance, neuromuscular blocking agents can be used safely in anesthetized equine patients to optimize conditions for certain surgical procedures. By appropriate use of neuromuscular monitoring techniques and reversal agents, residual blockade and muscle weakness should be avoided, allowing the horse to recover to standing without difficulty. Research is ongoing to develop the ideal muscle relaxant, one that has a rapid onset, predictable duration and recovery times, and negligible hemodynamic effects. As newer agents become available, they should be evaluated for thei...
Steffey EP.Both desflurane and sevoflurane offer theoretical and practical advantages over other inhalation anesthetics for horses. The lower solubility of both agents provides improved control of delivery and helps to counteract the confounding influence of the voluminous patient breathing circuit commonly used for anesthetizing horses. The lower solubility should account for faster rates of recovery compared with the older agents; whether or not the quality of recovery differs remains to be objectively evaluated in a broad range of circumstances. The pharmacodynamic effects are, in large part, similar ...
Gupta GD, Lakritz J, Kim JH, Kim DY, Kim JK, Marsh AE.Parasite-specific antibody responses to Neospora spp. and Toxoplasma gondii, antigens were detected using the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and immunoblot analysis in a korean equine population located on Jeju island, South Korea (126 degrees 12' E and 33 degrees 34' N). For comparison, a naturally infected Neospora hughesi horse and an experimentally inoculated T. gondii equid (pony) were used. In addition, all samples were tested for antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona by immunoblot analysis. A total of 191 serum samples from clinically normal horses were evaluated. Only 2% (4 out ...
Weiss DJ, Evanson OA.To evaluate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of equine neutrophils in blood. Methods: Blood samples from 5 healthy adult Thoroughbreds. Methods: Neutrophil integrin (CD11/CD18) expression, size variation, degranulation, and deformability were measured with and without incubation with LPS. Time and concentration studies were done. The mechanism of endotoxin-induced neutrophil activation was investigated by inactivating complement or preincubating neutrophils with inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) synthesis, prostaglandin-leukotriene synthesis, or platelet-activati...
Alghamdi AS, Troedsson MH, Xue JL, Crabo BG.To compare the effect of semen extender and seminal plasma on postthaw motility and filtration through a glass wool-Sephadex (GWS) filter for frozen stallion semen. Methods: 7 stallions from which we collected > or = 3 ejaculates/stallion. Methods: 4 experiments were conducted to evaluate postthaw quality of frozen stallion semen. Kenney extender was compared with glucose-EDTA extender by use of various dilution rates that resulted in differing concentrations of seminal plasma. Stallions known to produce semen with poor postthaw quality were used to investigate whether a particular extender or...
Puppione DL, MacDonald MH.To measure apolipoproteins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from healthy mares and to determine whether CSF concentrations of apolipoproteins change during pregnancy and lactation. Methods: 5 healthy pregnant mares. Methods: 2 sets of CSF samples were obtained; initial samples were obtained 10 to 30 days before parturition (mean, 18 days; median, 17 days), and second samples were obtained 19 to 26 days after parturition (mean, 23 days; median, 23 days). Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from the lumbosacral subarachnoid space of standing horses by use of routine collection techniques. Cerebrospina...
Wijnberg ID, van der Kolk JH, Franssen H, Breukink HJ.To determine whether electromyographic abnormalities are evident in skeletal muscles in horses with induced hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia. Methods: 7 healthy adult Dutch Warmblood horses. Methods: Electromyographic examination was performed in the lateral vastus, triceps, and subclavian muscles before and after IV infusion of EDTA. An initial dose (mean +/- SD, 564+/-48 ml) of a 10% solution of sodium EDTA was administered IV during a period of 21+/-73 minutes to establish a blood concentration of ionized calcium of approximately 0.5 mmol/L. Average rate of EDTA infusion to maintain ionized ...
Lindberg A, Näsman-Glaser B, Lindgren JA, Robinson NE.To evaluate leukotriene (LT) biosynthetic capacity in lung tissue from healthy horses and horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). Methods: Lung parenchyma and airway specimens from 8 RAO-affected and 5 healthy horses. Methods: Horses were stabled for > or = 72 hours. Blood was drawn before euthanasia, after which lung specimens were collected. Tissue strips from small airways and parenchyma were incubated in organ baths with the precursor LTA4 or stimulated with calcium ionophore A23187 or the tripeptide N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP), with or without exogenous arachidonic acid, in the...
Iqbal J, Edington N.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is the most common cause of virus-induced abortion in horses. After primary infection the virus becomes latent predominantly in the respiratory tract lymph nodes and the genome can also be detected in the peripheral nervous system. The role of mouse as a feasible model for the establishment of latency and reactivation of EHV-1 was investigated. Intracerebral and intranasal infections of 3- and 17-day-old mice were made and virus replication was confirmed by virus isolation and detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) in brain. For reactivation studies, the mice...
Dowdall SM, Matthews JB, Mair T, Murphy D, Love S, Proudman CJ.Equine clinical larval cyathostominosis is caused by simultaneous mass emergence of previously inhibited larvae from the mucosa of the colon. Clinical signs include diarrhoea, colic, weight loss and malaise, and in up to 50% of cases, the disease results in death. Cyathostominae spend a large part of their life cycle as larval stages in the intestinal mucosa. Definitive diagnosis is difficult due to the lack of diagnostic methods for pre-patent infection. In the present study, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to investigate isotype responses to larval cyathostominae somat...
Kingston JK, Bayly WM, Sellon DC, Meyers KM, Wardrop KJ.To investigate the effects of formaldehyde fixation on equine platelets using flow cytometric methods to evaluate markers of platelet activation. Methods: Blood samples from 6 Thoroughbreds. Methods: The degree of fluorescence associated with binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated anti-human fibrinogen antibody and FITC-annexin V in unactivated and adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-, platelet activating factor (PAF)-, and A23187-activated platelet samples in unfixed and 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% formaldehyde-fixed samples was assessed by use of flow cytometry. Results: In samples incubated...
Hagedorn HW, Meiser H, Zankl H, Schulz R.Due to its tranquilizing properties, the tricyclic antidepressant doxepin may be misused as a doping agent in competition horses. Therefore, efficient analytical procedures are required to detect this drug in samples submitted for doping control. To screen for parent doxepin in equine blood and urine, a less specific method has been accepted employing gas chromatography (GC) combined with electron impact (EI) mass spectrometry (MS). The aim of this study was identification of doxepin metabolites providing more specific MS data to verify positives resulting from screening. Thus, after a horse w...
Schwarzwald CC, Feige K, Wunderli-Allenspach H, Braun U.To determine pharmacokinetic variables and to evaluate the influence on clotting times after SC administration of single doses of dalteparin and enoxaparin to horses. Methods: 5 healthy adult horses. Methods: The study was designed as a 4-period crossover study. Each horse received a single SC injection of dalteparin (50 and 100 anti-Xa U/kg) and enoxaparin (40 and 80 anti-Xa U/kg). Plasma anti-Xa activities and clotting times were measured, and pharmacokinetic variables were determined. Absolute and relative maximal prolongation of clotting times was calculated, and correlation between plasma...
Finley MR, Li Y, Hua F, Lillich J, Mitchell KE, Ganta S, Gilmour RF, Freeman LC.In dogs and in humans, potassium channels formed by ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 protein ERG1 (KCNH2) and KCNQ1 alpha-subunits, in association with KCNE beta-subunits, play a role in normal repolarization and may contribute to abnormal repolarization associated with long QT syndrome (LQTS). The molecular basis of repolarization in horse heart is unknown, although horses exhibit common cardiac arrhythmias and may receive drugs that induce LQTS. In horse heart, we have used immunoblotting and immunostaining to demonstrate the expression of ERG1, KCNQ1, KCNE1, and KCNE3 proteins and RT-PCR to det...
Mader Ch, Geisel O, Gerhards H, Hermanns W.In the present work transponders of 2 identification systems have been implanted on an exactly defined site at the bottom of the ear on 28 horses. The Backhome system is easier to handle and less complicated than the trovan system since it is smaller and handier. The hemorrhages that had occurred after the injection were mild at 17 animals and moderate at 4 animals. Inflame changes at the injection site post application were limited to minor swellings (n = 3) and minor pain (n = 6). The interrogator's scope of the two transponder systems is different. The interrogator's scope of the trovan tra...
Nordengrahn A, Merza M, Ros C, Lindholmc A, Palfl V, Hannant D, Belák S.Equineherpesvirustypes 2 and 5 (EHV-2andEHV-5)have a rather unclearpathogenicity and distribution within the equid population. In order to gain more information on the prevalence of these two viruses, type-specific PCR assays were developed to detect viral DNA in nasal specimens and in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) of adult horses and foals from various regions of Europe, i.e. Sweden, Hungary and the United Kingdom. In adult horses, the prevalence of EHV-2 in PBLs was up to 68% in Sweden and 71% in the United Kingdom. EHV-2 DNA was detected in the PBLs from all the foals tested in all cou...
Pommer AC, Linfor JJ, Meyers SA.Preserved stallion semen often has decreased spermatozoal motility and fertility that can vary significantly between individual stallions. It is not known whether the medium used for extending equine sperm contributes to these decreases by inducing premature capacitation during storage. If spermatozoa undergo capacitation or acrosome reaction prior to insemination, this could result in a diminished capacity to penetrate the cumulus mass and fertilize the egg. We hypothesized that skim milk-based semen extenders, similar to those used in cooled storage, stabilize sperm membranes and prolong spe...
Menzies-Gow NJ, Bond R, Patterson-Kane JC, McGowan CM.Two mature large-breed horses with coronary band dystrophy and chorioptic mange are described. They both had clinical signs of coronary band scaling and crusting but were not lame. Coronary band dystrophy can be differentiated from similar clinical conditions on the basis of the histological appearance of skin biopsy specimens, and by the exclusion of other possible disease processes. Its aetiology is uncertain, but probably involves a localised defect of keratinisation affecting the specialised epithelium of the coronary band.
Glaser AL, Renshaw RW, Trock SC, Brady RC, Dubovi EJ.Salem virus (SalV) is a recently identified equine virus belonging to the family Paramyxoviridae. The only known isolate was obtained from a horse that was involved in a disease outbreak of undetermined nature and the circumstances of its isolation suggested an etiologic role. However, the experimental infection of a colostrum-deprived foal failed to reproduce the disease; only mild neutropenia and temperature elevation were recorded. An additional attempt to establish an etiological relationship with the disease was made by conducting a retrospective evaluation of the serological profiles of ...
Davidson HJ, Pinard CL, Keil SM, Brightman AH, Sargeant JM.The ocular effects of latanoprost ophthalmic solution were evaluated in two studies, with eight horses in each study. One eye of each horse was treated with latanoprost ophthalmic solution once daily for 5 days, and the opposite eye received a control solution of sterile eyewash. Intraocular pressure and pupillary diameter were measured daily for 5 days after treatment. Latanoprost had no significant effect on intraocular pressure or pupillary diameter in normal horse eyes compared with control eyes in these studies. Placement of an eyelid nerve block resulted in significantly lower intraocula...
Zweygarth E, Lopez-Rebollar LM, Nurton J, Guthrie AJ.Thirteen blood samples of horses from South Africa, five of which were seropositive for Babesia caballi and eight for both B. caballi and Theileria equi, were subjected to in vitro culture to identify carrier animals. None of the animals had a detectable parasitaemia on Giemsa-stained blood smears before culture initiation. Cultures were initiated in L-cysteine-enriched medium, either in an oxygen-reduced gas mixture or in a 5% CO2-in-air atmosphere. All five animals seropositive for B. caballi were identified as carrier animals using an oxygen-reduced atmosphere, whereas only four samples bec...
Colahan PT, Bailey JE, Johnson M, Rice BL, Chou CC, Cheeks JP, Jones GL, Yang M.Following the regimen used to treat equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, sulfadiazine (20 mg/kg) and pyrimethamine (1mg/kg) were administered orally once daily to 12 physically conditioned Thoroughbred horses for 4 consecutive days. The horses were randomly assigned to two test groups in a crossover design, with each horse serving as its own control. A stepwise exercise stress test was conducted to exhaustion. No effect on athletic performance was observed, and only marginal effects were noted in some hematologic and serochemical measurements, including decreased total white blood cell counts, ...
Colahan PT, Bailey JE, Chou CC, Johnson M, Rice BL, Jones GL, Cheeks JP.Twelve clinically sound, healthy, athletically conditioned Thoroughbred horses were subjected to an incremental exercise stress test to determine the effects and period of detection of a single dose of flunixin meglumine (1.1 mg/kg by intravenous injection) in serum and urine by ELISA. Flunixin concentrations, performance, and hematologic and clinical chemical parameters were measured. All horses were rotated through four treatment groups of a Latin-square design providing for each horse to serve as its own control. Flunixin meglumine reduced prostaglandin F(1alpha) and thromboxane concentrati...
Hurcombe SDA.The assessment of blood analytes in racehorses can provide useful data on performance and health. The horses' adaptive responses to training that occur to optimize performance should be considered when interpreting alterations seen on laboratory results. Similarly, the alterations observed in laboratory test results can identify subclinical and clinical disease and be helpful for identifying organ dysfunction and, in many cases, monitoring progress and response to treatment. This article discusses hematologic and biochemical tests that are important in the evaluation of performance and health ...
Conner M, Kalica A, Kita J, Quick S, Schiff E, Joubert J, Gillespie J.Reoviruses have been isolated from a number of species including human, bovine, feline, canine and equine. In most species they seem to produce mild to inapparent disease. We have isolated a reovirus type 3 from a foal with diarrhea. The virus designated the Ralph strain has been propagated in both the MA-104 and A-72 cell lines. The strain produced cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in these cell cultures. Tissue-cultured virus fixed complement in the presence of reovirus antibodies, but failed to do so in the presence of rotavirus antiserum. By electron microscopy the viral particle measured +/- 6...
Dai X, Hilsen RE, Hu WG, Fulton RE.An electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassay, incorporating chemically biotinylated and ruthenylated antibodies down-selected from a panel of monoclonal and polyclonal reagents, was developed to detect and identify Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV). The limit of detection (LOD) of the optimized ECL assay was 10(3)pfu/ml VEEV TC-83 virus and 1 ng/ml recombinant (r) VEEV E2 protein. The LOD of the ECL assay was approximately one log unit lower than that of a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) incorporating the same immunoreagents. Repetition of ECL assays over time and...
Martin RG, McMeniman NP, Dowsett KF.Intakes of milk and milk nutrients were determined for 8 foals at 11-18 days of age and for 10 foals at 30-44 days and 60-74 days of age while sucking grazing mares. Water intakes (sources other than milk) of the foals were determined at 30-44 days and 60-74 days of age. Five of the 10 mares were fed a protein supplement (24% crude protein) in addition to grazing during the stud season. The protein supplement did not influence foal intakes of milk and milk nutrients, milk composition, weight gains of the mares or the growth rate of the foals. Foal milk intakes increased (P less than 0.05) from...
Crawley GR, Grant BD, White KK, Barbee DD, Gallina AM, Ratzlaff MH.A modified Cloward's technique was performed for arthrodesis of one metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint in eight horses. Dorsal arthrotomies were performed medial and lateral to the common digital extensor tendon and two 16 mm holes were drilled through the joint. A perforated cylindrical stainless steel basket filled with cancellous bone was impacted into each hole. The limbs were supported in casts for 8 weeks. The joints were examined and radiographed at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 6 months, and 10 months. One horse was euthanatized at week 14 to assess the progress of the arthrodesis. In the other seven...
Schoster A, Altermatt N, Torgerson PR, Bischofberger AS.To describe outcome and complications after large intestinal trocarization in equids with colic and identify factors associated with nonsurvival and clinically relevant peritonitis (CRP). Methods: 228 (198 horses, 24 ponies, and 6 donkeys and mules) equids with colic that underwent large intestinal trocarization. Methods: Medical records from 2004 through 2015 were reviewed for equids with colic that underwent large intestinal trocarization. Factors associated with nonsurvival in all (ie, surgically and medically treated) equids and with CRP in medically only treated equids were identified. Me...
Cornick-Seahorn J.There is a plethora of information regarding anesthetic management of horses; however, controlled studies of the critically ill equine patient are few. These patients should be managed like any equine anesthetic candidate but much more stringently:I. Preoperative evaluation and appropriate therapy may represent the difference between life and death during the intraoperative and recovery periods. 2. The anesthetic induction and maintenance protocol should be based on the individual situation of the veterinary facility and personnel("comfort zone"). 3. Appropriate monitoring and intraoperative s...
Crews HM, Dean JR, Ebdon L, Massey RC.The speciation of cadmium in retail pig kidney has been examined by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled directly to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Approximately 35% of the cadmium from uncooked kidney was soluble after aqueous extraction at pH 8 and SEC - ICP-MS revealed three discrete peaks whose retention times corresponded to estimated relative molecular masses of 1.2 x 10(6), 7.0 x 10(4) and 6 x 10(3)-9 x 10(3). In the cooked kidney, 35% of the Cd was soluble and was all associated with a peak of a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 6 x 10(3)-9 x 10(3). After s...
Dávila AM, Souza SS, Campos C, Silva RA.Since little information is available on the epizootiological status of Trypanosoma evansi in South America and particularly Brazil, we evaluated equine serum samples collected in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997 for the presence of antibodies against this trypanosome species. Our study shows corroborative evidence about the correlation among high T. evansi seroprevalence and the rainy season in the Pantanal, Brazil. The higher seroprevalence was 79.2% in horses from a ranch located in the Nhecolândia sub-region in 1994 and the lower 5.8% in animals from the same ranch in 1997. No seroprevalence was...
Vandeweerd JM, Desbrosse F, Clegg P, Hougardy V, Brock L, Welch A, Cripps P.The distal limb innervation of the horse has been studied extensively to allow use of local anaesthetic techniques to detect the origin of pain in lameness. However, the innervation of the lumbar spine has so far been poorly described and a more precise description may assist clinicians to localise back pain in the horse. Objective: To gain better knowledge of the innervation of the lumbar spine and identify salient anatomical features that might be used for diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound guided injections. Methods: The spines of 8 mature horses were dissected. Branches of the dorsal ra...
Littlejohn A, Howell W, Killeen V.In ten Thoroughbred racehorses which suffered epistaxis during a race, the mean pulmonary arterial diastolic pressure (PADP) was significantly higher, and the mean pulmonary arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) was significantly lower, than the corresponding mean values of a sample of fourteen clinically normal Thoroughbreds in training. The authors conclude that in horses with epistaxis during a race, pulmonary dysfunction may persist for up to two months after the episode, and that the results indicate a need for pulmonary function studies before and after racing, in order to resolve problems conc...
Hatch C, McCaughey WJ, O'Brien JJ.During the months October-May inclusive 90-8% of horses slaughtered at an abattoir near Dublin and 66-9% of those at an abattoir near Belfast were infected with Gasterophilus intestinalis; 28-6% of horses at the former abattoir harboured G nasalis while none of the horses examined at the latter abattoir was found to be infected with this species.
Pereira HG, Takimoto S, Piegas NS, do Valle LA.Influenza equine (Heq2Neq2) strains isolated during the course of epizootics observed in Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) and São Paulo, Brazil, in July-October 1969 were shown to differ antigenically from earlier strains of the same subtype (A/equine/Miami/1/63 (Heq2Neq2)). The difference could be clearly demonstrated in haemagglutination inhibition tests performed with postinfection horse or ferret sera but not with hyperimmune rooster sera. Antibody responses of diseased horses were higher and more frequent against current isolates than against strain equine/Miami/1/63. Some animals also showed ...
Rodger LD, Carlson GP, Moran ME, Yarbrough TB, Pascoe JR, Reynolds JA.A 3-year-old Thoroughbred colt was presented for evaluation of azotemia and anorexia. Physical examination revealed a ureterolith in the left ureter, approximately 10 cm from the bladder, which was thought to obstruct urine flow by approximately 90% when viewed cystoscopically. Ultrasonographic examination of both kidneys revealed indistinct corticomedullary junctions, and the right kidney was more hyperechoic. A percutaneous biopsy of the right kidney revealed chronic interstitial nephritis with marked interstitial medullary fibrosis. Medical therapy consisting of IV fluids, sodium chloride P...
Cohen JM, Southwood LL, Engiles J, Leitch M, Nunamaker DM.To examine the efficacy and biocompatibility of a thiolated gelatin-thiolated carboxymethyl hyaluronan (CMHA-SGX) sponge as an osteoconductive device in an equine second and fourth metacarpal bone defect model. Methods: Seven millimetre segmental ostectomies were created bilaterally in the second and fourth metacarpal bones of four horses. The left and right metacarpal defects were randomly assigned to (1) be filled with a CMHA-SGX sponge (treated) or (2) were left unfilled (control). The duration of the study was nine weeks. Bone healing was evaluated using serial radiology, as well as histol...
Clayton HM, Hobbs SJ.The piaffe is an artificial, diagonally coordinated movement performed in the highest levels of dressage competition. The ground reaction forces (GRFs) of horses performing the piaffe do not appear to have been reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe three-dimensional GRFs in ridden dressage horses performing the piaffe. In-ground force plates were used to capture fore and hindlimb GRF data from seven well-trained dressage horses. Peak vertical GRF was significantly higher in forelimbs than in the hindlimbs (7.39 ± 0.99 N/kg vs. 6.41 ± 0.64 N/kg; < 0.001) with ve...
Guthrie AJ, Beadle RE, Bateman RD, White CE.This paper presents a method for on-line determination of pulmonary mechanics in standing, non-sedated horses during and following inhalation of aerosolized drug solutions. This method was used to evaluate the temporal effects of inhaled histamine and methacholine aerosols on pulmonary mechanics in 18 Thoroughbred horses. The following were concluded from this study. The extremely large between-breath variation, for all variables used to evaluate pulmonary mechanics in the horse, limits the usefulness of these variables for modeling the non-specific pulmonary responses to inhaled stimulants on...
Jones SL, Wilson WD.Clostridium septicum was isolated by anaerobic culture of blood collected from a 3-day-old foal with hemorrhagic enteritis and signs suggestive of septicemia. The foal responded well to treatment with intravenous fluids, antibiotics, plasma, and oral gastrointestinal protectants. One month after apparent complete recovery from the septicemia and hemorrhagic enteritis, the foal was euthanized during an acute episode of colic that was caused by severe, strangulating intestinal adhesions, thought to have formed as a result of peritonitis secondary to the hemorrhagic enteritis. The value of anaero...
Venugopal CS, Mendes LC, Peiró JR, Laborde SS, Stokes AM, Moore RM.To identify differentially expressed genes in pulmonary tissues of horses affected with summer pasture-associated obstructive pulmonary disease (SPAOPD), which is a form of recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), compared with those of unaffected horses. Methods: 6 horses with SPAOPD-RAO and 6 unaffected (healthy) horses. Methods: Horses were assigned to 2 groups on the basis of medical history, clinical score, and transpleural pressure. Total RNA from each of the 5 lung lobes of each of the 6 SPAOPD-RAO-affected horses was extracted and pooled. Similarly, total RNA from unaffected horses was pool...
Varrasso A, Drummer HE, Huang JA, Stevenson RA, Ficorilli N, Studdert MJ, Hartley CA.The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the P1 region of the genomes of 10 independent equine rhinitis A virus (ERAV) isolates were determined and found to be very closely related. A panel of seven monoclonal antibodies to the prototype virus ERAV.393/76 that bound to nonneutralization epitopes conserved among all 10 isolates was raised. In serum neutralization assays, rabbit polyclonal sera and sera from naturally and experimentally infected horses reacted in a consistent and discriminating manner with the 10 isolates, which indicated the existence of variation in the neutralizatio...
Issel CJ, McManus JM, Hagius SD, Foil LD, Adams WV, Montelaro RC.Equine infectious anemia has been managed in most countries by the imposition of testing and quarantine regulations. In the United States, about 700,000 of the more than 7,000,000 horses are tested annually. As long as the status of greater than 90% of the horse population remains unknown and horses are transported and congregate in a relatively unrestricted manner, EIA will continue to exact its toll. Therefore, it is incumbent on the scientific community to continue to develop and refine practical and sensitive diagnostic tests for EIA which will be used in an expanding market, to reduce the...
Ebert R.A retrospective study was performed on 271 horses with colic referred to the I. Medizinische Tierklinik within a period of 2 years, to examine the prognostic value of different clinical and diagnostic laboratory parameters by Student's t-test and the Chi-quadratic test. The following quantitative parameters presented a highly significant prognostic value (P < 0.0001): capillary refill time, pulse rate, heart rate, respiratory rate, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, blood lactate, base excess and anion gap. The intensity of colic signs, the degree of disturbance of the patient's gen...
Rosa MVD, Rosa M, Botteon PTL.This study aimed to evaluate the use of equine amniotic membrane (EAM), frozen indirectly using liquid nitrogen and stored between -10° and -24°C, in the treatment of equine skin lesions. Six healthy female horses, aged 3-10 years, were included in this study. EAM was collected from previously evaluated healthy parturient mares. Wounds were surgically created at the distal ends of the forelimbs. One limb was chosen for treatment, and the contralateral limb was chosen as the control. Pain sensitivity, presence of granulation tissue, secretions, and bleeding after debridement during cleaning w...