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.
Cook RF, Gann SJ, Mumford JA.An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of serum antibodies to equine arteritis virus (EAV). Results from this assay produced a good correlation with results from virus neutralisation tests in horses which had not been regularly vaccinated with commercially available mammalian tissue culture-derived viral vaccines. Vaccination of some horses with tissue culture-derived vaccines induced the formation of antibodies to bovine serum. These antibodies reacted with the bovine protein contaminants in the EAV ELISA antigen, producing false-positive results. Non-vir...
Lyons ET, Drudge JH, Tolliver SC.Thirteen critical tests (n = 11 horses and 2 ponies) and 4 controlled tests (n = 4 donkeys and 6 horses) were performed to evaluate the activity of the experimental macrocyclic lactone compound F28249-alpha against internal parasites of equids. In the critical tests, activity was determined mainly against the large parasites, but 1 critical test also included benzimidazole-resistant small strongyles. In the controlled tests, evaluation of drug activity included large parasites and stomach worms in all 4 tests, and lungworms in 2 tests. The period between treatment and euthanasia was 6 to 9 day...
Stahlbaum CC, Houpt KA.The role of the Flehmen response in equine behavior was investigated under field and laboratory conditions. In Experiment 1, a field study made of five stallions on pasture with between three and eighteen mares each during the season indicated the following: 1) The Flehmen response was most frequently preceded by nasal, rather than oral, investigation of substances; 2) The stallions' rate of Flehmen varied with the estrous cycles of the mares; 3) The rate of Flehmen response did not show a variation with time of day; and 4) The Flehmen response was most frequently followed by marking behaviors...
Goetz TE, Manohar M, Nganwa D, Gustafson R.The effects of 1.1, 1.5 and 1.8 MAC (minimum alveolar concentration) isoflurane-02 anaesthesia on skeletal muscle blood flow, 02 delivery and vascular resistance were studied in the non-dependent region of seven healthy normothermic, isocapnoeic ponies. Muscle blood flow was determined with 15 microns diameter radionuclide labelled microspheres that were injected into the left ventricle. Muscle blood flow during anaesthesia was compared to unanaesthetised (control) measurements. Isoflurane administration caused a dose dependent decrease in mean aortic pressure, and skeletal muscle (temporalis,...
Gerring EL, King JN.Cisapride and domperidone were both effective in restoring electrical and mechanical activity, coordination between gastric and small intestinal activity cycles and the stomach to anus transit time in three ponies in which post operative ileus was induced experimentally. Cisapride (0.1 mg/kg bodyweight intramuscularly) for three to eight doses prevented idiopathic post operative ileus in 22 clinical cases requiring colic surgery. The only side effects after cisapride were increased bowel sounds and slight, transient sounds of discomfort. No adverse side effects were seen in 16 cases following ...
Trim CM, Moore JN, Clark ES.An ultrasonic flow probe was implanted around a branch of the left renal artery in five horses. The effects of dopamine were studied in the unsedated horses 10 days after surgery. Three experiments, separated by at least two days, were performed in random order on each horse. In two experiments, dopamine was infused intravenously for 60 mins at either 2.5 and 5.0 micrograms/kg bodyweight (bwt)/min. Saline was infused for 60 mins before and after each infusion, and for 180 mins in the third experiment as a control. Renal blood flow increased during administration of dopamine at both dose rates ...
Fessler JF, Bottoms GD, Coppoc GL, Gimarc S, Latshaw HS, Noble JK.Endotoxin (LPS) was quantitated in experimental subjects and in horses with naturally occurring gastrointestinal strangulation obstruction and/or septicaemic diseases to establish the fate of LPS and the clinical usefulness of the Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. The assay was validated for sensitivity (10 pg/ml), recovery (90 to 106 per cent), intra-assay precision (CV = 5.5 per cent) inter-assay precision (CV = 11 per cent), and stability of diluted, heat treated, frozen samples (at least 90 days). Plasma concentrations of LPS after sublethal (3 micrograms/kg) jugular or portal vein bo...
Jöchle W.In this uncontrolled clinical study 12 investigators cooperated to evaluate the analgesic and sedative effect of detomidine (DORMOSEDAN; Farmos Group Ltd; Finland) in 234 horses with abdominal pain caused by colic. The study was designed to use each animal as its own control and to evaluate its response to the drug over a 60 min period. Detomidine was given intravenously (i.v.) once in 169 cases (167 horses, 1 mule, 1 donkey) at a dose of 20 micrograms/kg bodyweight (bwt), and to 65 horses at 40 micrograms/kg bwt. The higher dose was used predominantly in horses with severe pain which were mor...
Morris DD, Moore JN, Ward S.A study, at a university in south eastern USA, aimed to determine whether age, sex, breed, management and history differed in colic cases. A detailed history was obtained for 229 horses between January 1987 and June 1988. Causes for colic determined by clinical examination, exploratory laparotomy and/or necropsy included: gastric rupture (GR, 6); ileal impaction (II, 17); small intestinal strangulating obstruction (SIO, 22); proximal enteritis (PE, 16); transient small intestinal distension (TSID, 18); large colon displacement (LCD, 52); large colon impaction (LCI, 34); colitis (8); small colo...
Archer RM, Lindsay WA, Smith DF, Wilson JW.The vasculature of 22 small colons from dead adult ponies was perfused with latex or barium sulphate solution. The vascular anatomy was studied by use of dissection and alkali digestion of the latex specimens and microangiography of the barium sulphate-perfused specimens. The small colon is supplied by the caudal mesenteric artery. The left colic artery arises from the caudal mesenteric artery, which then becomes the cranial rectal artery. Branches from the left colic and cranial rectal arteries form anastomosing arcades that become narrower distally along the length of the small colon. From t...
Orsini PG, Raker CW, Reid CF, Mann P.The normal radiographic anatomy of the equine larynx was determine by use of xeroradiography and dissection. The body and laminae of the thyroid cartilage, the muscular process of the arytenoid cartilages, and the dorsal lamina and arch of the cricoid cartilage had radiographic evidence of mineralization (calcification) and/or ossification in clinically normal horses. There was a significant (P less than 0.01) increase in the degree of mineralization of the thyroid and arytenoid cartilages with advancing age. Horses with diagnosis of arytenoid chondrosis (arytenoid chondral dysplasia, arytenoi...
Palmer JE, Benson CE, Lotz GW.Ten healthy, mature ponies were orally infected with Ehrlichia risticii using Ehrlichia-infected P388D1 mouse monocyte tissue culture cells. Seven developed signs of equine ehrlichial colitis including fever, depression, anorexia, reduced borborygmi, increased abdominal hyperresonance, and diarrhoea. Three remained clinically normal apart from early fever in one. Indirect fluorescent antibody titres were detected in the clinically affected ponies by Days 12 to 17 post infection and increased rapidly to high levels (1:640 to 1:5120) which were maintained until the end of the observation period ...
Tokuriki M, Aoki O, Niki Y, Kurakawa Y, Hataya M, Kita T.Electromyographic (EMG) activity of 4 muscles of the cubital joint and the strain of forelimb hooves were recorded telemetrically in 4 Thoroughbreds (with and without a rider) standing, walking, trotting, and cantering. Bipolar fine wire electrodes were inserted into the muscles, and strain gauges were attached to the hoof wall. Motion pictures (16 mm), synchronized with EMG tracings, were taken to obtain kinematic data. When horses were standing, the biceps brachii had tonic activity, but the brachialis and the caput longum and the caput laterale of the triceps brachii had no EMG activity. Th...
Merritt AM, Campbell-Thompson ML, Lowrey S.Five 5 to 6 month old horses were surgically prepared with silver electrodes sutured to the serosa of gastric antrum, duodenum and proximal portions of the jejunum. Normal migrating motility complex (MMC) periodicity was determined during daytime hours in horses that were fed and horses from which food was withheld for 24 hours. Periodicity was defined as time span from the end of one period of regular spike activity (RSA) to the end of the next RSA in the MMC. The periodicity was 120.5 +/- 9.5 (SEM) minutes in horses from which food was withheld, and was 125.7 +/- 20.3 minutes in horses fed h...
Saudek V, Wormald MR, Williams RJ, Boyd J, Stefani M, Ramponi G.Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of acylphosphatase were searched for signs of beta-structure, i.e. characteristic nuclear Overhauser enhancement patterns displayed in the two-dimensional spectra, typical chemical shifts, coupling constants and slow 2H-H exchange. The results provided identification of the main-chain resonances of amino acid residues involved in the beta-structure. The full sequential assignment of this region was gained by identification of some amino acid spin systems and their alignment with the primary sequence. The assignment of the side-chains was virtually completed s...
Mason DK, Watkins KL, Luk CM.An outbreak of respiratory disease among thoroughbred horses in training in Hong Kong was caused by equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) subtype 1 (abortion strain). Two of the horses affected by EHV-1 were serially blood sampled over a period of several weeks and their haematological values measured. There was an increase in monocyte count in the first few days which steadily decreased in one horse, but the other had a second monocyte peak after a period of exercise, thus demonstrating the importance of not working animals in the early stages of the disease.
al-Timimi I, Gaillard JL, Amri H, Silberzahn P.Whereas mare corpus luteum does not produce androgens or estrogens in vivo, the incubation of mare corpus luteum microsomes with progesterone and NADPH resulted in 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and estrogen production with a small yield of androstenedione. In the presence of an aromatase inhibitor (4-hydroxyandrostenedione), 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione were accumulated. Aromatization of testosterone and androstenedione occurred via stereospecific loss of the 1 beta, 2 beta hydrogen atoms and was inhibited by MgCl2, KCl, and EDTA. The Km of estrogen synthetase from equine co...
Nation PN.Trifolium hybridum (alsike clover) has been implicated as the cause of two diseases of the horse. One of these is photosensitivity, of which alsike clover is only one of a number of presumed causal agents. The other is a fatal syndrome which is known as "alsike clover poisoning" and which is manifest by progressive loss of condition, signs of hepatic failure, and varying degrees of neurological impairment. The underlying lesion of alsike clover poisoning is fibrosis and proliferation of the biliary tree. The experimental evidence implicating alsike clover as the cause of this syndrome comes en...
Samuelson D, Smith P, Brooks D.The iridocorneal angle of the horse was anteriorly lined by a pectinate ligament, consisting of several layers of vertically oriented collagenous beams, that were interrupted by a network of extracellular spaces. The anterior chamber angle consisted mostly of a large uveal trabecular meshwork that was composed of widely-spaced, thick trabeculae. These trabeculae were attached in part posteriorly to extensions of the ciliary body musculature and anteriorly inserted into the prominent pectinate ligament. The corneoscleral trabecular meshwork was shaped hemiobovately and formed the external bound...
Johnson L, Tatum ME.The temporal appearance of seasonal changes in numbers of Leydig, Sertoli, and germ cells was evaluated to determine if seasonally increased daily spermatozoan production might be preceded by changes in numbers of either of two somatic testicular cells. A significant increase in numbers of spermatogonia and Sertoli cells preceded the significant increase in number of Leydig cells in the approaching breeding season. Seasonal changes in parenchymal weight and in numbers of Sertoli cells, Leydig cells, and germ cells were maximal in May and June. Numbers of A or B spermatogonia in June were 2.4 t...
Tovar P, Escabias MI, Santisteban R.A study of electrocardiograms recorded from foals during the first two weeks of life has been made in order to detect any changes of the cardiac activation and recuperation processes during this period. A stepwise discriminant analysis revealed significant differences between the first and second week of age, fundamentally on the basis of the T and P wave amplitudes which gave the lowest values at 14 days, and on the PQ segment duration that showed the highest values at the same age.
The Journal of heredityMay 1, 1989
Volume 80, Issue 3 173-178 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110831
Woolf CM.The hypothesis was tested that white facial markings in the Arabian horse show multifactorial inheritance. The hypothesis assumes that (1) alleles at different loci acting in a cumulative manner influence the variation in white facial markings, (2) the amount of whiteness is correlated with the number of genes, and (3) interacting nongenetic factors influence the variation. The study was based on computerized data obtained from the Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc. The facial region was divided into five areas, and each horse was given a score according to the number of areas with a whit...
Eysker M, Boersema JH, Kooyman FN.Overwintering of horse cyathostomes as inhibited third stage larvae (L3) and the effect of repeated oxfendazole (OFZ) treatment on strongyle infections were studied in an experiment with two groups of three Shetland ponies. Both groups were grazed together from May 28 to November 11, 1986 and subsequently housed. Treatments with 10 mg OFZ kg-1 were given on May 26, July 1 and July 28 and again one week before each group was necropsied in December and April, respectively. Worm populations of both groups were dominated by inhibited early L3. The proportion of fourth stage larvae (L4) was signifi...
Kirker-Head CA, Fackelman GE.Four long bone fractures with a short distal fragment were repaired with a cobra head bone plate alone (2 cattle) or in combination with a straight, broad dynamic compression plate (2 horses). Three fractures were of the distal femur (1 horse, 2 cattle) and one was of the distal radius (1 horse). The long-term outcome of the three femoral fractures was soundness in one case and mild lameness in two. Although satisfactory bone healing progressed in the horse with the radial fracture, laminitis in the contralateral forelimb necessitated euthanasia at week 6.
Ryan AF, Rainey JW.THE disease that forms the subject of this
paper was first described by one of us in 1944
( Rainey, 1944 ).
Observation by us since then. separately
and in consnltation, of ,further calses of t'his
disease has enabled us to correct -0y amplify
the original description. For instance, ye know
now that although young horses have constituted
the bulk of the cases seen by us, old animals
may also suffer. We observed recently an
acute case in a seventeen-year-old gelding.
In our experience only heavy or half-bred
horses have been affected j we have observed
no case among horses of the t...
Ceccarelli P, Pedini V, Gargiulo AM.The presence and distribution of serotonin-containing cells in the gastroenteric tract of horses have been investigated. The enterochromaffin (EC) cells have been identified using immunostaining procedures at both light and electron microscopic level. The EC cells were very numerous in the pyloric gland region, were only few in the duodenum but were absolutely lacking from the more distal portions of the intestine.
Kabil E, Göktaş EF, Güneş E, Yatanaslan L, Zor TA, Tektaş MH, İnceman B, Tufan M.A recent trend in the use of high-resolution accurate mass screening (HRAMS) for doping control testing in both human and animal sports has emerged owing to significant improvement in high-resolution mass spectrometry in terms of sensitivity, mass accuracy, mass resolution and mass stability. Several HRAMS methods have been reported for the detection of multidrug residues in human or equine urine. These improved analytical technologies have led to changes in the use of prohibited substances, and the administration of more than one substance at low concentrations as a "cocktail" has become one ...
Wagner AE, Bennett DG.Eighteen clinically normal horses were used to study the characteristics of normal thoracic fluid. Thoracic fluid was obtained from each horse and was found to be similar to equine abdominal fluid. Total leukocytes averaged 3994/ul, total protein 1.8 g/dl, and specific gravity 1.015. Analysis of thoracic fluid from 16 horses with clinical signs of thoracic disease showed abnormalities in every case. Thoracic fluid analysis alone determined a specific diagnosis in 50% of the cases.
Stowe HD.The effects of 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2% potassium, as K2CO3, in a purified diet were studied in orphaned foals of mixed breeding ranging in age from 11 to 57 days. Observations regarding feed intake, rate of gain, packed cell volume (PCV), erythrocyte counts (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), leukocyte counts (WBC), and serum Na, K and Fe were made. Consumption of the 0.2% K diet after 8 days was inadequate to support growth. The foals consumed the 1.0 and 1.2% K diet at significantly higher rates (28.8 and 27.5 g/kg foal per day, respectively) than the 0.4% K diet. Rates of gain of foals fed 0.4...
Epstein K, Short D, Parente E, Reef V, Southwood L.The objective was to characterize ultrasonographic changes in bowel wall thickness, contractility, degree of distension, luminal contents, and peritoneal fluid associated with exploratory celiotomy in normal ponies. Gastrointestinal ultrasonographic examination was performed in 14 ponies on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after an exploratory celiotomy. Wall thickness, contractility, degree of distension, and luminal contents were recorded for the duodenum and jejunum. Stomach wall thickness and location, cecal wall thickness, and peritoneal fluid location and character were recorded. Peritoneal fluid was...
Nagy A, Dyson SJ, Murray JK.Information acquired from endurance riders and its relationship with the results of the ride has not been investigated. The aims of this study were to assess associations between data provided by riders and data obtained from the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) website at FEI endurance rides and to identify whether data provided by riders in pre- and post-ride questionnaires was subject to response and/or information bias. Variables were collected from the FEI website and from self-completed pre-ride and post-ride questionnaires at 20 FEI endurance rides in 2011 and 2012. Kappa stat...