Veterinary research in horses encompasses the study of diseases, health management, and medical treatments specific to equine species. This field investigates various aspects of horse health, including infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and musculoskeletal conditions. Researchers focus on understanding the pathophysiology of equine ailments, developing diagnostic tools, and evaluating therapeutic interventions. The study of horse health also involves examining preventive measures such as vaccination protocols and nutritional management to promote overall well-being. This page collects peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the diverse areas of veterinary science related to horses, providing insights into disease mechanisms, treatment strategies, and advancements in equine healthcare.
Friedlander M, Sobotka H, Banzhaf EJ.The precipitin indices for a number of monovalent and polyvalent antipneumococcus sera were determined under known conditions, and found to vary as did the number of protective units. The ratio precipitin index/protective units in monovalent sera was found to lie between 2.8 and 4.8 for Type I and to be about ten times greater for Type III. Lower values were found in polyvalent horses and when mixing heterologous monovalent sera with each other. The influence of the duration of treatment upon the quotient was studied. Several refined and concentrated preparations showed a relative increase in ...
Wadsworth AB, Sickles GM.IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT THE PNEUMOCOCCUS MULTIPLYING IN THE TISSUES OF THE IMMUNIZED ANIMAL (HORSE) BECOMES ATTENUATED: loses, in varying degrees, its virulence, capacity of capsule formation, susceptibility to phagocytosis, and type specificity. The antigenic activity as an immunizing agent and the production of "soluble specific substance" are also altered. In some instances, the typical pneumococcus characteristics may be quickly restored by one or two passages through a susceptible animal (mouse). In others, virulence is not recovered and the organism remains atypical. Whether these changes...
Jones FS.The lower nasal mucosa and the pharynx of thirty eastern and twenty-three western horses have been examined for streptococci. Eight of the eastern horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci on the nasal mucosa. From the pharynx of six, non-hepiolytic streptococci were cultivated. The throats of eighteen contained strains of the hemolytic type. The nasal mucosa of the eastern horses failed to show hemolytic streptococci. Eight western horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci in the nasal passage; eight also harbored the hemolytic type. Twenty-two strains were isolated from the pharynx. Eleven w...
Wadsworth AB, Kirkbride MB.Horses immunized to Type I pneumococci developed serum, 0.1 cc. of which protected against 0.5 cc. of a virulent culture, 0.000001 cc. of which killed mice in less than 40 hours. Protective tests of serum from horses immunized to Type II organisms varied, 0.1 cc. protecting, however, in certain instances against 0.1 and 0.01 cc. of virulent homologous culture. Types I and II sera obtained in our experiments with culture sediment and whole culture did not vary markedly for a given type and corresponded closely in their protective titer with samples of sera received from The Rockefeller Institut...
Inada R, Ido Y, Hoki R, Ito H, Wani H.Horses immunized with cultures of Spirochaeta icterohaemorrhagiae yield an immune serum having therapeutic properties. With rare exceptions the serum destroys completely the spirochetes contained in the circulating blood. The development of antibodies is promoted by the serum injections. The number of spirochetes in the organs is reduced by the treatment. Secondary manifestations due to the serum are slight and disappear promptly. The ultimate effects of the serum treatment on the symptoms and final outcome of the disease have still to be determined.
Wollstein M.The parameningococci of Dopter are culturally indistinguishable from true or normal meningococci, but serologically they exhibit differences as regards agglutination, opsonization, and complement deviation. Because of the variations and irregularities of serum reactions existing among otherwise normal strains of meningococci it does not seem either possible or desirable to separate the parameningococci into a strictly definite class. It appears desirable to consider them as constituting a special strain among meningococci not, however, wholly consistent in itself. The distinctions in serum rea...
Smith T.The foregoing and earlier data taken together demonstrate that an active immunity lasting several years can be produced in guinea-pigs, by the injection of toxin-antitoxin mixtures which have no recognizable harmful effect either immediate or remote. They also show, what might have been anticipated, that under the same conditions mixtures which produce local lesions and which, therefore, contain an excess of toxin produce a much higher degree of immunity than the neutral mixtures, and that an excess of antitoxin reduces the possibility of producing an active immunity, and may extinguish it alt...
Hubbert WR.1. Better results in the production of diphtheria antitoxin can be obtained with greater experience in the selection of the most suitable type of horses to be used. Young animals are usually to be preferred. Over one-half of all such horses can be made to yield 300-unit serum, while a third will yield (5)oo-unit serum. 2. High-test horses require a shorter time to immunize and will yield a potent serum for a longer period than will low-test horses. 3. The period of usefulness of an antitoxin horse is short, and on an average endures only a few months. 4. A horse having attained a maximal antit...
Atkinson JP.1. The globulins of both normal and diphtheria antitoxic serum exhibit chemically toward reagents the same reactions, being precipitated by magnesium sulphate and split up into fractions in precisely the same way. 2. All of the diphtheric antitoxic power of both normal and immunized serum is always carried by the globulin and its fractional precipitates. 3. During the fractional precipitation of the serum globulin of horses immunized from diphtheria toxin and horses not immunized from diphtheria toxin, some of the globulin is lost, likewise at the same time some of the antitoxic power of the g...
Cuervo-Arango J, Stout TAE, Claes AN.This retrospective study compared the relationship between embryonic vesicle diameter at first pregnancy diagnosis and early embryonic loss (EEL) across three pregnancy types: artificially inseminated broodmares (AI; n = 263), recipients carrying in vivo-derived flushed embryos (IVD-F; n = 312), and recipients carrying in vitro-produced embryos by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVP-ICSI; n = 161). Vesicle diameter was recorded at Day 12 post-ovulation in AI, Day 4 post-embryo transfer (ET) for IVD-F, and Day 7 post-ET for IVP-ICSI pregnancies. Mean (±SD) vesicle diameters and E...
Kuwano A, Kusano K, Mita H, Tamura N, Tokushige H, Iimori M, Kurimoto S, Kawabata M, Ueno M, Okada Y, Kamiya K, Tanaka K.Pathological hoof-wall cavities unrelated to nailing (so called "Gidoh" in Japan) often occur in the feet of horses. In 2001, in facilities managed by the Japan Racing Association (JRA), Gidoh was found to occur most frequently in the toe of the fore-hoof, with no gender predilection, and was more prevalent in older horses. However, it remains unclear whether this trend has continued in recent years, which pathological type of Gidoh predominates, and whether there are differences in prevalence among seasons. Therefore, in spring (April) and autumn (October) of 2020, we surveyed all racehorses ...
Boozarjomehri Amnieh S, Ropka-Molik K.The horse is a distinctive translational model for bridging mechanistic discovery and clinically relevant investigation because of its physiological complexity, long lifespan, athletic phenotype, and broad spectrum of naturally occurring conditions that parallel aspects of human health and disease. Its utility extends from musculoskeletal and joint research to immunology, metabolic disorders, and exercise physiology, particularly where naturally developed disease, clinically applicable imaging, and longitudinal sampling are required. Additionally, it offers opportunities to examine both chroni...
O'Brien K, Mair T, Mudhar HS, Pesavento P, Miller H, Priestnall SL, Suárez-Bonnet A.Equine squamous cell carcinomas (eSCCs) are common, and a proportion are likely induced by papillomavirus 2 (EcPV-2). Accurate prediction of clinical outcomes is challenging with no recognized prognostic criteria or consistent histopathological classification scheme for eSCC. The aims of this study were to histopathologically subtype a large case series of eSCCs (genital and ocular) and correlate them with p16 and HER-2 expression, equine papillomavirus infection status, and various clinical and histopathological parameters to predict tumour behavior and prognosis. One hundred and eighty-five...
van Erck-Westergren E, O'Connor S, Stewart BD, Dubois G, Morton J, Hinchcliff KW, Ter Woort F.The frequency, characteristics, and relationship with performance of arrhythmias occurring during high-intensity exercise in Thoroughbred racehorses remain poorly understood. Objective: Describe the frequency, characteristics, and association with subsequent race performance of arrhythmias occurring during intense exercise. Methods: Seventy-one racehorses competing in races sanctioned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Methods: Risk-based case-control study. Single-lead ECGs were recorded during high-intensity trials using wearable devices. Ectopic depolarizations identified during warm-up, maximal...
Hagenbach M, Bierau J, Rott P, Röcken M, Staszyk C.The aim of this study was to display clinically relevant anatomical structures of the carpal region in healthy horses with the help of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).Twenty-eight forelimbs from 15 adult horses without orthopedic diseases were examined. Following native CBCT examination a mixture of hyperattenuating contrast medium with blue epoxy resin dye was injected in the antebrachiocarpal joint and middle carpal joint and contrast-enhanced CBCT scans were also acquired. Subsequently, the limbs were frozen and sawed in different planes corresponding to selected CBCT planes (dorsal, s...
Miller GP, Cornille JL, Hanning R, Lee AKK, Uhl EW, Osborn ML.Lameness is often associated with degenerative joint disease (DJD). Current therapies focus on minimizing pain or treating specific lesions but generally do not address the pathomechanical forces that are the root cause of degeneration. Treatments based on specific, whole-body therapies are becoming common in humans with DJD, but are still not routinely applied in equine cases. Designing targeted therapies for horses requires recognizing habitual postures and movements that are pathological. An important but often missing component for understanding movement postures is accurate and manipulata...
Sapper CB, Koch C, Schweizer D, Cunha Silva L, Pauwels FE, Klopfenstein MD, de Preux M, Van der Vekens E.Lesions of the tendons and manica flexoria (MF) within the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) are a common cause for lameness in horses. This prospective study compared and quantified the agreement and disagreement of positive contrast computed tomographic tenography (CTT), positive contrast radiographic tenography (RXT), ultrasonography (US) and tenoscopy for diagnosing naturally occurring lesions within the DFTS, without application of a gold standard. Lesions affecting the deep (DDFT) and/or superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), and/or the MF and/or constriction of the palmar/plantar a...
Jasiński T, Borowska M, Juszczuk-Kubiak E, Turek B, Kaczorowski M, Bąk M, Żuk J, Domino M.Horses presenting with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunctions are often clinically evaluated for TMJ osteoarthritis (OA). Due to the unique characteristic of TMJ-related pain, the clinical diagnosis of equine TMJ OA is challenging; however, it may be supported by computer-aided tools incorporating biomarker data. This study aims to evaluate a machine learning-based approach to address a binary classification distinguishing healthy TMJs from TMJ OA. Among 50 equine cadaver heads, 82 TMJs were included and annotated as healthy or OA based on histological and computed tomography (CT) findings...
Physical exercise represents a physiological stressor capable of activating the acute-phase response (APR) in horses. However, the relative contribution of exercise intensity duration to acute-phase protein (APP) dynamics remains incompletely defined. This study compared the effects of short, high-intensity gallop exercise (2400 m flat race; = 12) and prolonged, low-intensity endurance exercise (40 km; = 13) on serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), and ceruloplasmin (Cp) in Thoroughbred racehorses. Blood samples were collected before exercise and at defined post-exercise time points. Bet...
Pye E, Marcilla MG, Duncan JC.Regional anaesthesia of the equine anogenital tract is limited to local infiltration, extradural, blind palpation and nerve stimulator-guided techniques which risk iatrogenic damage, recumbency and ataxia. This study aimed to describe and assess the feasibility of transcutaneous ultrasound-guided (USG) pudendal nerve staining in equine cadavers. An initial pilot phase used two fresh equine cadavers and one standing unsedated horse to image the intrapelvic anatomy using ultrasound. One fixed equine cadaver specimen was also dissected to identify the pudendal nerve and refine the dissection appr...
Putnoki V, Pollard D, Dyson S, Boros K, Nagy A.There are limited data on sequential computed tomographic (CT) evaluation and objective CT assessment of the metacarpal condyles in Thoroughbred racehorses. This longitudinal study aimed to document changes in attenuation of the metacarpal condyles during the first two years of training and racing. Fan-beam CT examination of the metacarpophalangeal regions was performed on 40 non-lame Thoroughbred yearlings, and repeated four more times, approximately six months apart. Mean Hounsfield Unit (HU) measurements were obtained on sagittal reconstructions of the dorsal and palmar halves of the medial...
Shams N, Jaydari A, Khademi P, Eydi J, Sgroi G.Due to the abundance of ticks on open grassy surfaces, racetracks may represent ideal scenarios for tick-borne pathogens. Therefore, in 2024/2025 Turkmen horses (Akhal-Teke breed) and ticks collected by dragging in paddocks of Iran were screened for Anaplasmataceae using Sanger sequencing on 16S rRNA, TRP36 and dsb genes. Amongst 200 horses, 11 (5.5%) tested positive without signs/symptoms, being 8 (4%) for Ehrlichia canis and 3 (1.5%) for Anaplasma ovis; no difference in prevalence was found by gender and age (p>0.05). All ticks were identified as Hyalomma asiaticum and Haemaphysalis sulca...
Palunas V, Fussell D, Helgert N, Long AE, Aitken MR, Abraham M.A 2-year-old Irish Sport Horse colt presented with acute, severe and rapidly progressive neurological signs, arriving recumbent to the hospital. Ante-mortem diagnostics did not reveal the cause of the recumbency, and the colt was euthanized after treatment and supportive care did not result in clinical improvement. A cranial cervical extradural mast cell tumour with eosinophilic granulomas and secondary compressive myelopathy with axonal degeneration was diagnosed on post-mortem evaluation. No other masses or clinically relevant findings were present, suggesting a primary neoplasm. Neoplasia a...
K-Jánosi K, Sztojka A, Kis IE, Biksi I, Bakos Z, Kaszab E, Mag T, Albert E.In 2024, a highly fatal outbreak of equine salmonellosis occurred in a Hungarian equine referral hospital, resulting in the death or euthanasia of four out of five affected horses. () subsp. serovar Typhimurium was identified as the primary causative agent from equine faecal, reflux, and post-mortem intestinal content samples, while one case involved Coeln. Extensive environmental sampling during the outbreak also yielded multiple serovars. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a high degree of genetic relatedness among the Typhimurium isolates, confirming nosocomial transmission. The source ...
Scott D, Kreitner K, Kim L, Seabaugh K, Duncan C, Magzamen S.To characterize spatiotemporal patterns of criteria air pollutants surrounding Thoroughbred racetracks in the US. Unassigned: We identified all active Thoroughbred racetracks from 2011 through 2024, linking their location with daily air quality data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality System. Mean daily and annual pollutant concentrations within a 50-km bounding box of each racetrack were summarized using descriptive statistics and evaluated for monthly and annual trends. Exceedances were defined as any observation in which pollutant concentration met or exceeded the ...
Rodrigues GJ, Monteiro FDO, Teixeira PPM.This case report describes the successful application of video-assisted hysteroscopy to evaluate endometrial recovery in a 6-year-old mare following treatment for complete uterine prolapse secondary to dystocia. Upon presentation, the uterus was manually reduced and supported with a Buhner's suture. A multimodal medical protocol, including broad-spectrum antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and uterine lavage, was initiated. Five days after reduction, an endoscopic evaluation was performed using a dedicated videovaginoscope without uterine insufflation. The procedure provided high-resolution i...
Vandaele Z, Flyps J, Cuypers C, De Baere S, Devreese M, Schauvliege S.Subanaesthetic doses of ketamine (0.5 mg kg) provide analgesia in several species, but there is limited information on the pharmacokinetics and clinical effects of intramuscularly administered ketamine in horses. This study investigated the pharmacokinetics of ketamine and norketamine, and evaluated clinical effects, ataxia, and vital parameters, following intramuscular and intravenous administration of 0.5 mg kg ketamine in nine healthy horses, using a randomized two-period crossover design with a 1-week washout period. Plasma concentrations were analyzed using Ultra-High Performance ...
Sakai DM, Ishikawa Y, Im JSY, Zhang S, Reed RA, Quandt JE, Barletta M, Knych HK.Administering large volumes of bupivacaine in the rectus abdominis sheath (RAS) block in horses could cause local anesthetic toxicity. This study aimed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of 2 mg/kg bupivacaine in RAS blocks and the associated toxicity risk. Six healthy adult horses were sedated with xylazine and received an ultrasound-guided bilateral 2-point RAS block. Plasma samples were collected at baseline and from 5 min to 24 h after the block and analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A noncompartmental analysis was performed to determine the maximum concentr...
Nadal-Desbarats L, Dupuy C, Montigny F, Bertevello PS, Douet C, Gesbert A, Reigner F, Goudet G.Saliva is a relevant biofluid for real-time welfare-friendly monitoring of systemic events in animals, because some bioanalytes have a systemic origin and its collection is painless, stress-free and non-invasive. Our aim was to analyze the metabolome of equine saliva during the five days before foaling, with a focus on identifying metabolites whose level significantly changed before parturition, that could be potential salivary biomarkers of the onset of parturition. We compared the saliva and plasma metabolomes to investigate their relationship. Saliva and blood samples were collected from tw...
Firdausy LW, Fikri F, Wicaksono AP, Maslamama ST, Purnama MTE.Equine viral arteritis (EVA) is a globally widespread infectious disease affecting equids, with significant consequences for reproductive efficiency and the regulation of international equine trade. Nevertheless, despite the accumulation of numerous region-specific investigations, an integrated synthesis of global seroprevalence estimates and overarching epidemiological patterns remains insufficiently developed. Objective: To calculate the pooled global seroprevalence of EVA and to explore sources of epidemiological heterogeneity. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken ...
Massie S, Bayly WM, Takahashi Y, Léguillette R.In clinical research, laryngeal hemiplegia (LH) is induced by temporarily supressing recurrent laryngeal nerve function; however, the technique is challenging. The aim was to develop a novel method to induce LH by injecting bupivacaine directly into the cricoarytenoid dorsalis (CAD) muscle with ultrasound guidance. Unassigned: 5 cadaver larynges and 9 Thoroughbreds with normal laryngeal function. Unassigned: Part 1: A high-frequency (6.5- to 13.0-MHz) linear ultrasound probe was used to inject methylene blue (5 mL) into the CAD of 5 cadaver larynges. Part 2: The left side of the larynges of 9 ...
Sjolin E, Zakia LS, Galezowski A, Whitehead AE.Literature on the seroprevalence of antibodies to the causative agents of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) in Canada is limited. Objective: To determine the prevalence of serum antibodies against Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora hughesi in apparently healthy horses without signs of neurologic disease which have always resided in Alberta, Canada, using commercially available immunodiagnostic tests. Methods: Samples from 116 healthy horses were obtained from a biobank containing horse serum collected across Alberta in 2021 and 2022. Samples were selected based on owner survey responses, ...
Smith MA, Ripley N, Gravatte H, Nielsen MK.With rising anthelmintic resistance in adult cyathostomins, the most pervasive equine parasites, the need to assess larvicidal efficacy has increased, yet available methods remain limited. Encysted larvae are quantified using mucosal digestion, wherein a 5% subsample of intestinal mucosa is processed, and a 2% aliquot is counted for early third stage (EL3) and late third stage/mucosal fourth stage (LL3/L4) larvae. This method is imprecise and post-treatment larval differences are often not observed. The following study aimed to assess standard and modified protocol precision and sensitivity. I...
Mienaltowski MJ, Hernandez S, Nastrini E, Wickens CL, McCue ME, Rosa LP, Norton EM, McCoy AM, Brooks SA.The S1094 United States Department of Agriculture Multistate Research Project is a collaborative effort utilizing equine genetics and genomics to improve horse health and well-being. It also provides educational resources and genetic testing tools to equine industry stakeholders. Objective: A survey assessed the knowledge, priorities, and information sources of U.S. horse owners and enthusiasts regarding equine genetic testing to inform future outreach and research efforts. Methods: An online survey was distributed from March to October 2024, targeting horse owners and enthusiasts across the U...
Dorakumbura BN, Beckett NM, Cook EC, Nolan AD, Brown D, Douglas B.Positive identification and reporting of therapeutic substances intended for human consumption in race-day equine and canine samples is a controversial topic. While inadvertent environmental exposure is a potential cause for the presence of these substances in race-day samples, intentional use cannot be ruled out given their therapeutic benefits. Pregabalin is widely prescribed in Australia to treat epilepsy, anxiety, and neuropathic pain in humans; however, it is also increasingly used as a recreational drug. Metformin is commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes in humans. Both pregabalin and m...
Huguet A-S, Gourbeyre O, Bousquet-Mélou A, Ferran AA, Lallemand EA. is an opportunistic intracellular pathogen responsible for severe respiratory infections in foals, requiring prolonged antibiotic treatment. Despite its susceptibility to multiple antibiotics, the eradication of intracellular remains challenging due to its ability to persist and survive within alveolar macrophages. This study aimed to assess the extracellular and intracellular activity of rifampicin, doxycycline, and four macrolides against while assessing current methodologies used to differentiate intracellular and extracellular bacteria. We found that the removal of extracellular wit...
Helmer A, Delore E, Bart O.This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Attention Skill Training (ASTride) protocol-an Equine-Assisted Occupational Therapy (EAOT) intervention-in improving participation, performance skills, and daily function among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Unassigned: A prospective cohort study with an Interrupted Time-Series design was conducted with 50 children (mean age = 9.51 years, Standard Deviation = 1.52) diagnosed with ADHD. Assessments were conducted at baseline (Time 1), pre-intervention (Time 2), post-intervention (Time 3), and three-month follow-up (...
Bouverat VMA, Pradervand N, Wichert BA, Greim E, Dolf GJ, Gerber V.Hay quality is a key factor in equine respiratory health, with microbiological contaminants in inhaled organic dust posing significant risks. Sensory assessment has been used to evaluate hay hygiene, but its value to identify deficiencies remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the potential of sensory assessment to predict both particulate matter (PM) dust concentrations and microbiological contamination. Fifty hay samples were collected from horse owners and evaluated using a structured sensory examination, microbiological analyses, and dust concentration measurements obtained with the ...
Mendes J, Aymée L, Lilenbaum W.Leptospirosis, caused by spp., affects multiple domestic species and can result in significant economic and public health impacts. This scoping review, conducted following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, searched PubMed, SciELO, and Scopus for original studies that described complete therapeutic protocols (including dose, duration, and confirmed diagnosis) in dogs, cats, cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, and goats. Thirty-five studies met the criteria: 14 (40%) in cattle, 7 (20%) in swine, 2 (5.7%) in small ruminants, 7 (20%) in dogs and cats, and 5 (14.3%) in horses. In livestock, streptomycin monoth...
