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.
Kent MG, Shoffner RN, Hunter A, Elliston KO, Schroder W, Tolley E, Wachtel SS.An inherited genetic disorder causes XY embryos of the horse to develop as mares. On the basis of our study of 38 such mares, we have identified four grades or classes of XY sex reversal according to this scheme: class I, nearly normal female, of which some are fertile; class II, female with gonadal dysgenesis, normal mullerian development; class III, intersex mare with gonadal dysgenesis, abnormal mullerian development, enlarged clitoris; class IV, virilized intersex characterized by high levels of testosterone. In general, class I and class II mares were typed H-Y antigen-negative whereas cl...
Ginther OJ.One of the most profound theriogenology applications of transrectal diagnostic ultrasonography in mares involves the imaging of ovarian follicles and corpora lutea. The resolving capabilities (frequency) and quality of the scanner directly affect the minimal size of a structure that can be imaged and the quality of the image. High-frequency scanners (5 or 7.5 MHz) of good quality can image a 2-mm follicle and the corpus luteum throughout its functional life. A low-frequency scanner (3 or 3.5 MHz) can image a 6-mm follicle and the corpus luteum for several days after ovulation. Equine follicles...
Wichtel JJ, Reinertson EL, Clark TL.Nonsurgical correction of uterine torsion was performed in 7 mares, and 6 foals were subsequently born alive. Uterine rupture necessitated euthanasia in 1 mare. Correction was achieved by rolling of the mares after general anesthesia had been induced. Previously, this technique was believed to be associated with a high prevalence of fetal and maternal mortality. Nonsurgical correction may be a satisfactory alternative to abdominal surgery in treating uterine torsion in mares.
Riemersma DJ, van den Bogert AJ, Schamhardt HC, Hartman W.Strains of the suspensory ligament and deep digital flexor, superficial digital flexor, and long digital extensor tendons in the equine (pony) hind limb were recorded in vivo, using implanted strain gauges consisting of silicone rubber tubes filled with mercury. The relationship between strain gauge signals and tendon strains was obtained from tension-strain tests performed on isolated tendons after death of the ponies. During normal walking, maximal tendon strain (elongation over initial length, relative to the length of the structures at first ground contact) was 3.1% in the suspensory ligam...
Van Camp SD.The endometrial biopsy is a safe and effective means of predicting a mare's prognosis for foaling. A thorough understanding of the normal cyclic and seasonal pattern displayed by the normal endometrium is necessary before interpreting pathologic changes. Several systems for prognostic classification have been proposed, including a recent one that combines many of the criteria used in the other systems.
There are a wide variety of laboratory tests available to assess damage to and functional impairment of the liver, though the effectiveness of these tests varies greatly depending upon the type of damage and the animal species involved. Species differences in tissue localization, metabolism, specificity and sensitivity of parameters relating to the liver influence the choice of tests. Some tests can be applied usefully to most animal species while others may be highly specific in one species but show very low discriminatory potential in others. The tests available, and their use in veterinary ...
Hardy MH, Fisher KR, Vrablic OE, Yager JA, Nimmo-Wilkie JS, Parker W, Keeley FW.The hyperextensible, fragile skin of two related horses was compared with the skin of eight normal horses. Skin sections were examined by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The deep dermal layer of the dorsal abdomen was much thinner in the affected horses, and contained bundles of collagen fibers which were more loosely packed. Within individual fibers, the fibrils were frequently curved and nonparallel rather than straight and parallel. Both of the affected animals had a greater range of fibril diameters than a normal horse. They had some unusually thick fibrils with very...
Wilson DV, Suslak L, Soma LR.Cardiovascular effects and pulmonary gas exchange were compared during conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) and interrupted high-frequency, positive-pressure ventilation (IHFPPV) in 6 anesthetized ponies in dorsal recumbency. When the peak airway pressure (Paw) was held constant at control values attained during CMV (18 to 20 cm of H2O), and the ventilator frequency of IHFPPV was varied over the range, 2.5 to 12.5 Hz, significant (P less than 0.05) changes from control values were observed only in the ratio of dead-space volume to tidal volume (VD/VT) and in the respiratory minute volume ...
Scott JS, Garon H, Broadstone RV, Derksen FJ, Robinson NE.We examined the response of five ponies with recurrent airway obstruction (principals) and five age- and gender-matched controls to the aerosol alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine after blockade with propranolol and atropine. Measurements were made with principal ponies in clinical remission (period A) and during acute airway obstruction (period B). The blockade had no effect on base-line pulmonary mechanics in control ponies during periods A and B or in the principal ponies during period A. However, in the principal ponies during period B, blockade increased dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and d...
Allen GP, Coogle LD.The molecular structure of the equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) gene encoding glycoprotein 13 (gp13) was analyzed. The gene is contained within a 1.8-kilobase AccI-EcoRI restriction fragment mapping at map coordinates 0.136 to 0.148 in the UL region of the EHV-1 genome and is transcribed from right to left. Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the DNA fragment revealed a complete transcriptional unit composed of typical regulatory promoter elements upstream to a long open reading frame (1,404 base pairs) that encoded a 468-amino-acid primary translation product of 51 kilodaltons. The p...
The Journal of traumaAugust 1, 1988
Volume 28, Issue 8 1255-1259 doi: 10.1097/00005373-198808000-00020
Landercasper J, Cogbill TH, Strutt PJ, Landercasper BO.A survey of all American Veterinary Medical Association members in Minnesota and Wisconsin was conducted by questionnaire to document injuries resulting from animal treatment. Of 995 respondents, 64.6% had sustained a major animal-related injury. Seventeen per cent were hospitalized within the last year. Of those hospitalized, 25.3% required a surgical procedure. Hand injuries were most common in a veterinarian's career (52.6% of respondents), followed by trauma to the arms (27.6%), and the head (20.8%). The thorax (8.3%), genitalia (3.9%), and intra-abdominal viscera (2.8%) were injured less ...
Blackburn NK, Swanepoel R.During the nine years from October 1972 to September 1981 African horse sickness (AHS) virus was isolated from 23 suspected cases of the disease in Zimbabwe and complement fixation antibody titres indicative of recent infection were detected in a further 49 horses. The 23 isolations belonged to seven of the nine known serotypes of AHS virus. In response to a questionnaire in 1980 the owners of 20% (1,654/8,000) of the horses in Zimbabwe indicated that they had recorded 207 cases of clinically diagnosed AHS with 107 deaths from 1975 to 1980. Fifty-six cases with 50 deaths had occurred in foals ...
Serteyn D, Lavergne L, Coppens P, Mottart E, Philippart C, Micheels M, Lamy M.Measurements of muscular microcirculation in horses anaesthetised with halothane were performed by laser Doppler flowmetry. Variations of microcirculation in the compressed and uncompressed triceps brachii were measured when horses were positioned in dorsal recumbency after a prolonged period in lateral recumbency. A significant post ischaemic hyperaemia was recorded in horses which developed a post anaesthetic myositis.
Terpstra C.The aetiology, symptoms, diagnosis and control of African horse sickness are described. Special attention is paid to the introduction and epizootiology of the disease in Spain and its consequences in respect to the international trade of horses.
Given BD, Mostrom MS, Tully R, Ditkowsky N, Rubenstein AH.A mare with signs of hypoglycemia had high serum insulin concentrations before it was euthanatized. High pressure liquid chromatography revealed that the insulin in the mare's blood was of commercial origin. Surreptitious insulin injection has been suspected as the cause of several suspicious deaths of insured horses. The use of high-pressure liquid chromatography should help put an end to this practice.
Ginther OJ, Bergfelt DR.Incidence of embryo reduction (natural elimination of one member of a twin set) before d 11 was studied by comparing the number of ultrasonically detected conceptuses per ovulation between single and double ovulators. Effect of unilateral (n = 24) vs bilateral (n = 26) double ovulations on the incidence of embryo reduction also was considered. Each of 50 double-ovulating mares was matched with two single ovulators yielding 100 ovulations, or potential embryos, per group. Frequency with which an ovulation resulted in a conceptus was greater for single ovulators (85%, P less than .01) and for bi...
Young DW, Smyth GB.A commercial radioimmunoassay kit designed for measuring gastrin in human serum was validated for use with equine serum. This nonextraction, double-antibody procedure uses an antiserum with broad specificity for molecular forms of gastrin. Synthetic human gastrin (G17-I) was added to pooled equine serum, and the observed assay values were compared with the mass added. Recovery was 99 to 115% in the gastrin concentration range of 40 to 640 pg/ml. Dilutions of postprandial serum with serum from fasted horses were assayed, and the inhibition curves were compared with those of the human gastrin ki...
Dodman NH, Williams R, Court MH, Norman WM.Five horses that underwent prolonged anesthesia (greater than 3 hours) in dorsal recumbency for a surgical procedure were unable to stand after recovery and were euthanatized. A provisional diagnosis of postanesthetic myopathy was confirmed at necropsy in all 5 horses. However, distribution of affected muscles in these horses was atypical, because there was bilateral hind limb adductor muscle involvement.
Norman WM, Dodman NH, Court MH.Interstitial pressure and pH in the dependent biceps femoris muscle were measured in anesthetized, laterally recumbent horses. The mean (+/- standard deviation) interstitial pressure in 10 horses was 19.70 +/- 0.15 mmHg in the 30 to 180 minute interval after induction of anesthesia. Pressures of this order have been associated with reduction in muscle perfusion. Mean (+/- standard deviation) interstitial pH in six horses decreased from 7.07 +/- 0.30 to 6.73 +/- 0.21 between 45 and 150 minutes of anesthesia. These results indicated the presence of circulatory compromise to intracompartmental st...
Art T, Lekeux P.The exercise-induced changes in the equine breathing pattern were studied by analyzing tidal breathing flow-volume loops recorded in ten ponies both at rest and during a standardized exercise. Airflow, tidal volume, esophageal pressure and mask pressure were simultaneously recorded before, during and after a treadmill exercise. From the collected data, respiratory frequency and total pulmonary resistance were calculated, tidal breathing flow-volume loops were retraced using a computerized method and loop indices were measured for each period of the experimental protocol. For each pony, results...
Hildebrand SV, Arpin D.Neuromuscular and cardiovascular effects of atracurium, a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent, were evaluated in 10 halothane-anesthetized adult horses. Hind limb digital extensor tension (hoof twitch) was measured with a strain gauge to quantitate the muscle relaxant effects of atracurium. Response of facial muscles was compared with hoof twitch. Five injections of atracurium were given. Initial mean (+/- SEM) dosage of 0.07 +/- 0.01 mg of atracurium/kg of body weight caused 98.6 +/- 0.8% reduction of the preinjection hoof twitch. Subsequent dosages of 0.04 +/- 0.003 mg/kg induced a ...
King JM, Flint TJ, Anderson WI.A newly described congenital heart anomaly, the incomplete subaortic stenotic ring was detected at necropsy in four dogs, one cat, one cow, one horse, one sheep and one pig. These structures were grossly and histologically similar to complete subaortic stenotic rings, being composed of variably dense interlacing bands and sheets of fibrous connective tissue. In all nine cases, their presence at necropsy was considered an incidental finding.
Schamhardt HC, Merkens HW.A method was developed to quantify the ground reaction force pattern of the horse. A number of selected force amplitudes and peak-time positions in the normalized stance phase of left and right contralateral limbs were used to calculate symmetry indices. Data from each limb were compared with those of a 'standard horse' resulting in limb indices. The combination of amplitude and peak-time symmetry and limb indices yielded one H(orse)INDEX. These indices were useful for comparison of different horses and for the evaluation of lameness and treatment.
The Veterinary recordSeptember 9, 2017
Volume 181, Issue 10 ii doi: 10.1136/vr.j4128
Carslake H.Harry Carslake, equine medicine specialist at the Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital, Liverpool, reviews a fiveday course on advanced cardiac ultrasound scanning that he completed recently.
Chuit P.The author illustrates by the study of ancient texts the interest shown for equine dentistry since the age of times. The first detailed studies on the technique go back to the 17th century. The 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries were fertile in instrumental as well as technical discoveries; it was the time of creativity, and he quotes authors like Günther father and son, Frick, Goubaux and Barrier, Mérllat, Cadiot, and Colyer with his enormous work on animal dentistry published in 1936. During and right after the 2nd World War, it is the time of desertion, with only one exception, ...
Gomez-Villamandos R, Santisteban J, Ruiz I, Avila I.Two horses with fibrotic myopathy of the semitendinosus muscle are described. The report deals with the aetiology, clinical signs and diagnosis of the condition, and discusses the different surgical techniques described in the literature. Tenotomies were performed on both horses. Excellent results were obtained in the horse in which only the semitendinosus muscle was affected, but in the horse in which the semimembranosus and gracilis muscles were also involved the results were less satisfactory.
Edwards KE, Stevens S, Woodward CB, Tweeten KA.Counterimmunoelectrophoresis was evaluated as a method to distinguish urine of human origin from that of equine origin. The procedure used anti-equine serum and anti-human serum antibodies that had been solid-phase absorbed to eliminate species cross-reactivity. Counterimmunoelectrophoresis reliably detected contamination of equine urine by human urine to a level of 10% with a minimum sensitivity to about 2% contamination. Compared with double diffusion, counterimmunoelectrophoresis was approximately 10 to 15 times more sensitive in the detection of urine proteins.