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.
Evenberg A, Meyer H, Verheij HM, de Haas GH.Two phospholipases A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) with different isoelectric points have been isolated from horse pancreas in high yield (880 mg/kg tissue). From pancreatic juice the more acidic species was isolated as the sole phospholipase A2. Upon tryptic activation the zymogens release a hepta- and pentapeptide, respectively from the N-terminal part of the protein giving rise to the formation of one single enzyme with a specific activity higher than that of pancreatic phospholipases A2 from other mammalian species. Horse phospholipase A2 differs from the porcine and bovine enzymes with respect to amino a...
Colles CM, Jeffcott LB.Much has been written on laminitis and its treatment over the past 200 years. This article makes a brief review of the practical essentials of the disease and considers some of the recent trends in therapy. Knowledge of the pathogenesis and aetiology of equine laminitis is still very incomplete but recent work in the United States by Coffman and his colleagues has been particularly productive.
Schubert B.Some chromatographic procedures, which can be used to detect and determine certain corticosteroids in samples from race horses, are described. These procedures include thin-layer, gas and high pressure liquid chromatography.
Allsup TN.This paper deals with some recent developments in the air transportation of cattle, sheep, pigs and horses and comments on the factors involved which influence the results.
Hall-Patch PK, Orton RG, Sampson JH.A description is given of trail and endurance riding in the UK as controlled by the Endurance Horse and Pony Society. Veterinary involvement and responsibility are described and measures for their satisfactory execution discussed. Opportunities and need for research into the problems arising are mentioned.
Rose RJ.Complications from neurectomy have been well known for many years. A 16-year-old mare suffered bilateral luxation of the coffin joints following palmar neurectomy and was destroyed. Autopsy showed complete rupture of the deep flexor tendons, and the supporting ligaments of the coffin joints. Arthritis of the coffin joints, with erosion of articular cartilage was evident.
Panitz E.Ethyl-6-ethoxybenzothiazole-2-carbamate (Sch 18099) was evaluated for efficacy against natural helminth infections in ponies, pigs, lambs and chickens. Sixteen critical trials were conducted in ponies at dosages of 15 to 150 mg/kg. At 15 mg/kg, efficacy against adult and larval Oxyuris equi was 100% and 91% and against small strongyles it was 98%. Efficacy levels were 95% against Strongylus vulgaris and S. edentatus at the 20 mg/kg dosage. In two trials at 100 mg/kg efficacy against Parascaris equorum was 77%. No efficacy was observed against Gastrophilus spp. or Anoplocephala spp. In swine si...
McGavin MD, Knake R.A 35-kg Duroc pig died 3 days after eating a ration containing aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2. It had hemorrhagic enteritis and extensive midzonal necrosis in the liver. A 13-year-old Quarterhorse that died 2 days after eating moldy hay had hemorrhagic enteritis, fatty degeneration of the myocardium and renal tubules, and extensive total midzonal necrosis of the liver.
Gaskin JM, Neal FC, Rubin HL.Precipitin lines not associated with equine infectious anemia (EIA) were observed in routine agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) testing for the infection. The serums which produced these lines were obtained from horses which had been given multiple vaccinations with commercially available cell culture-origin equine virus vaccines as part of a comprehensive herd health program. The lines formed against cell culture-derived, but not spleen-derived EIA viral antigens. Investigation revealed that bovine serum proteins in the vaccines induced precipitating antibodies which reacted with bovine serum pr...
Cimprich RE, Rooney JR.Corynebacterium equi is a pathogen associated with respiratory disease in the foal. This paper discusses two cases of Corynebacterium equi infection, one acute and one chronic, in which the major damage was intestinal. Necrosis of Peyer's patches was the only lesion seen in the small intestine of both foals. The foal with acute disease had distinct green-tan focal necrosis and thickened mucosa of the large intestine. In the foal with chronic disease, the mucosa of the large intestine was thickened, rugose, and mottled red-tan. Histologically, the predominant lesions were villous atrophy, mucos...
Mitchell KF, Karush F, Morgan DO.The heterogeneity of the IgM response has been studied with anti-lactose antibody purified from the sera of seven horses. The IgM antibody was induced with a bacterial vaccine and the sera were obtained during a one-year period of immunization. L and H chain preparations were derived from separate bleedings of each horse and examined by analytical isoelectric focusing. All of the L chain preparations were complex and similar and, under optimum conditions, exhibited about 45 bands. Their similarity included almost identical concentration distributions over the entire pH gradient. Isoelectric ba...
Sherman J, Thorsen J, Barnum DA, Mitchell WR, Ingram DG.Upper respiratory disease has been a serious problem in Standardbred horses on racetracks in Ontario, with outbreaks occurring once or twice annually in late winter and early spring seasons. To determine the causes of these epidemics, a 3-year investigation was carried out in which nasal swabs and serum samples were obtained at intervals from apparently healthy horses and from horses suffering from upper respiratory disease. The nasal swabs were used to isolate bacteria and viruses. The serum samples were examined for the presence and level of antibodies to equine influenza viruses and equine ...
Moore JN, Mcilwraith CW.Two cases of osteochondrosis are presented. Lesions involving the lateral trochlear ridge of the femur are demonstrated on conventional radiographs and double-contrast arthrograms. A radiographic suggestion of osteochondrosis lesions in the patella is noted. Post mortem examination of one case confirmed the presence of partially free cartilaginous flaps. Reference is made to familial tendency to osteochondrosis in man, dog, pig and horse. The significance of rapid growth rate in the pathogenesis of the condition is also discussed.
Wheeldon EB, Greig WA.The history, clinical signs and post mortem findings in a case of Globidium leuckarti infection in a horse with chronic diarrhoea are described. The limited literature concerning this infection is reviewed, with particular reference to pathogenicity.
Gard GP, Marshall ID, Walker KH, Acland HM, Saren WG.An outbreak of Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) occurred in New South Wales during the first five months of 1974. Specimens from 52 horses with nervous disease collected January to May 1974 were examined histopathological or virologically. Although MVE virus was not isolated, 13 horses had serological evidence of recent infection with MVE virus. Another 4 horses had evidence of recent infection with Ross River virus. Two animals had histological evidence of viral infection of the central nervous system. Attempts to experimentally infect 2 horses with a low dose of MVE virus were not successful...
Sakura JD, Rupley JA.Reaction of horse methemoglobin with O-methylisourea at pH 10.2 results in 95% conversion of lysine residues to homoarginine. Analysis of the chymotryptic peptides showed that no single ϵ-amino group was unreactive. Guanidination decreases the dependence of the sedimentation coefficient on hydrogen ion concentration in the range of pH 8 to 11 and did not affect the dependence on protein concentration at pH 7. These results support the conclusion that the lysine side chains involved in subunit contacts have sufficient freedom to accommodate the small changes in bulk and geometry associated wit...
Lancaster WD, Olson C, Meinke W.Four of five spontaneous benign equine connective tissue tumors of unknown etiology and a bovine papilloma virus (BPV)-induced equine tumor contained BPV-specific DNA sequences as determined by DNA-DNA hybridization of DNA from tumors with BPV DNA labeled in vitro. Analysis of the kinetics of reassociation indicated that 20-75% of the BPV genome was present in the various tumors. The number of partial BPV genome equivalents ranged from 60 to 500 copies per diploid quantity of cellular DNA. Thermal denaturation profiles of duplexes formed between labeled BPV DNA and DNA from tumor cells indicat...
Thomas AL, Schramme MC, Lepage OM, Segard EM.An awareness of magnetic susceptibility artifacts is important for interpreting prepurchase and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in horses. These artifacts occur when a metallic or a paramagnetic substance creates a local magnetic field deformity. Aims of the current experimental study were to determine prevalence of these artifacts after arthroscopy in a sample of nonlame horses, and to describe effects of time and type of pulse sequence on low-field MRI signal intensity and detection of the artifacts. Ten, nonlame Standardbred horses were prospectively recruited. All ho...
Hallebeek JM, Beynen AC.In a Latin square design, six horses were fed hay and concentrates with isoenergetic amounts of either starch, cellulose or medium chain triacylglycerols (MCT). The dietary variables provided on average 22% of total dietary net energy. Plasma triacylglycerols and other variables of lipid metabolism were determined. The experimental periods lasted 21 days. Blood samples were taken just before the morning meal and three and six hours later. The diet rich in MCT significantly raised the plasma level of triacylglycerols when compared to either the starch- or cellulose-rich diet. The plasma concent...
Ingarden J, Dubiel A, Rauluszkiewicz S.This study investigated the effect of a beta blocker on parturition, fetal membrane retention and subsequent fertility in mares. The animals were divided into an experimental group (150 mares treated during second stage labour with propranolol [50 mg i.v.]) and a control group (180 mares with no treatment). Administration of propranolol was associated with a significant decrease in time of expulsion of fetal membranes, and an increase in both exhibition of foal heat and pregnancy rates at this heat.
Bass A.Practice management software benefits the equine practitioner in many ways. Ready access to patient records, rapid entry and lookup of clinical findings, easy invoicing and monitoring of revenues, inventory management, rapid search and sorting of data, reminder and recall maintenance, and integrated word processing are just some of the software functions that assist the successful practitioner. Computer use in veterinary practice may have seemed to many to be a gimmick at one time. Now that computers have become a part of our everyday life, it is clear that they can be an essential component o...
Krüger B, Siesenop U, Böhm KH.In 1993 and 1994 a highly increased occurrence of equine dermatophilosis was observed, and a study was initiated to determine phenotypic heterogeneity among 120 clinical isolates using biochemistry, antibiotic resistance profiles, membrane protein profiles and Western blotting. The biochemical examinations contained 1% equine serum in medium. Moreover, the API ZYM-test from bioMérieux was used. The biochemical reactions were suited to identify Dermatophilus congolensis but did not allow a differentiation among the various isolates. Antibiotic resistance in one or more isolates was observed ag...
Aoki O.Most of the principles of farriery have been derived from practical experience and traditional skills of individual farriers. To date, there has been little done in the way of good science and few publications have appeared to advance the discipline. Therefore, opinions or policies on horse shoeing vary greatly between farriers and members of the veterinary profession. The aim of this workshop was to present the latest information on biomechanical analysis of horse shoeing as it relates to modern day farriery and could have direct benefits for the future of shoeing in performance horses.
Wilkins PA, Boston RC, Gleed RD, Dobson A.To compare cardiac output measured in the pulmonary artery and a carotid artery by use of thermal and electrical impedance dilution. Animals-7 fit, clinically normal Standardbreds between 2 and 5 years of age. Methods: Transient changes in electrical impedance and temperature of blood were induced by bolus injections of ice-cold saline hypertonic (6% and 9% NaCl) solutions. Cardiac output was calculated by applying Stewart-Hamilton principles to the indicator dilution transients. Measurements were made during sequential exercise episodes on a level treadmill over approximately an 8-fold range ...
Milne EM.Equine serum haptoglobin was separated by polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing and visualized by protein staining or Western blotting. Conventional protein staining revealed up to three bands in the pI range 4.17 to 4.44. The blotting technique, however, showed an anodal group of 8 to 10 bands with a pI range of 4.11 to 4.52 and a cathodal group of 4 to 6 bands with a range of 4.55 to 5.14. The blotting method revealed that equine haptoglobin migrates outside the prealbumin area, in contrast to previous reports.
Satoh M, Higuchi T, Inoue S, Gotoh T, Murase H, Nambo Y.This is a retrospective study of uterine torsion (UT) in seven mares. In two cases, serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations were also investigated. The mare and foal/fetus survival rate was 57% (4/7). Four cases presented with clockwise torsion, and two cases presented with counterclockwise torsion. The direction was undetermined in one case. The degree of torsion varied. Correction of torsion was performed by ventral midline celiotomy in all cases. In the two cases with measured hormone levels, elevated levels of P were decreased through medication. All mares discharged from the hospi...
Kondo T, Mashimo Y, Sato F, Tsuzuki N, Yamada K.Thoroughbred horses appear to be particularly predisposed to cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CVSM), also known as wobbler syndrome. We hypothesized that variations in the cervical vertebral volumes can affect the dynamic instability of the cervical vertebrae. This observational study aimed to clarify whether cervical vertebral volume could be considered as a contributing factor in CVSM in Thoroughbred horses. Computed tomography (CT) was used to investigate a total of 21 male Thoroughbred horses (age range, 217-1,002 days; mean, 542.3 days). The study population comprised 17 CVSM horse...
D'Anza E, Buono F, Albarella S, Castaldo E, Pugliano M, Iannuzzi A, Cascone I, Battista E, Peretti V, Ciotola F.The Pony of Esperia is an Italian autochthonous horse breed reared in the wild on the Aurunci and Ausoni Mountains. Currently, it is considered an endangered breed, as its population consists of 1623 animals. It is therefore essential to identify all aspects that can improve the management and economy of its breeding, favoring its diffusion. In this paper, the effects of intestinal strongyle infection on the chromosome stability of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) was evaluated through aneuploidy and chromosome aberration (gap, chromatid and chromosome breaks, and the number of abnormal cel...
Palmieri G, Sanna L, Asole A, Farina V, Bo Minelli L.The origin and course of the collateral sesamoidean (suspensory navicular) ligament of the horse and ass and its attachment to the distal sesamoid bone were studied by means of dissection. Particular attention was given to the topographic relations between this ligament and the deep digital flexor tendon. Numerous sensitive nerve endings are present in this anatomical district. The free and encapsulated nerve endings, displayed by impregnating techniques, are mostly concentrated in the ligament tract connected to the above-named tendon and close to its attachment to the distal sesamoid angle. ...
Hall NP, Ragle CA, Farnsworth KD, Caffey SR, Sanclemente JL.To describe a technique for basihyoid-ceratohyoid disarticulation (BCD) in standing sedated horses affected by temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO) and report outcomes for horses that underwent the procedure. Methods: 6 client-owned horses. Methods: Electronic medical records of a veterinary teaching hospital were searched to identify horses that underwent BCD for treatment of THO from 2018 to 2019. Signalment, clinical data, use of the horse, and complications were recorded. Follow-up data obtained by telephone interview with owners included the clinical outcome and time to improvement after s...
Sandusky GE, Wightman KA.Specific cell populations in the pituitary glands of the rat, cat, pig, and human being were positive for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). When reacted with prediluted rabbit anti-human TSH, LH, and FSH, antisera were not positive for the demonstration of these hormones in the horse, cow, or dog. Immunocytochemical staining was obtained in the horse, cow, and dog by the use of a primary antiserum against a specific beta-subunit of bovine TSH. The immunocytochemical staining of TSH, LH, FSH, adrenocorticotropic hormone, growth ...
Forster HV, Pan LG, Flynn C, Bisgard GE.The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was any recovery of the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex in ponies between 2-4 wk and 3-4 yr after hilar nerve denervation (HND). Under anesthesia and before HND, airway occlusion after a 3-liter lung inflation lengthened the subsequent occluded breath by nearly 10 times the control breath duration. Between 2 wk and 3-4 yr after HND, this maneuver increased the duration of the occluded breath by only 2.5 times the control breath duration. Also under anesthesia, the airway was occluded at end expiration. This maneuver increased the duration...
Hofing GL, Bennett DG.Shetland ponies (n = 4) were given diethylcarbamazine orally at a dose level of 22 mg/kg/day for 1 week before they were inoculated with 800 third-stage larvae of Strongylus vulgaris. Treatment was continued for 86 (1 pony) or 200 days (3 ponies) after the inoculation. As compared with the changes seen in a similarly inoculated group of ponies (group 2) which were not treated, diethylcarbamazine did not prevent the clinical or pathologic changes due to the migrating larvae. Fewer adult parasites were recovered at necropsy from treated ponies than from nontreated (group 2) ponies, even when tre...
Salinger A, Mochal-King C, Clinton K, Priddy LB, Elder S, Fontenot R, Eddy A, Wills R, Jaffe M.Frontal plane slab fractures account for the majority of third carpal bone (C3) fractures in racing and performance horses. Recommended treatment is stabilization with a lagged AO cortical screw. Associated complications are fragment splitting, fragment spinning, and irritation of dorsal soft tissue structures. A novel, headless, cannulated screw with interlocking threads the Headless Compression Screw Fastener (HCSF) has been developed to resist multidirectional forces and bending moments; however, it has not been applied in the horse. Simulated C3 frontal plane slab fractures were created in...
Madej A, Kindahl H, Nydahl C, Edqvist LE, Stewart DR.Two mares received PGF-2 alpha twice daily until abortion and 2 mares received a combined treatment with oestradiol benzoate and oxytocin. The mares were about 150 days pregnant. The PG-treated animals aborted after 37 and 61 h, respectively, and the fetuses were expelled in intact fetal membranes. The other 2 mares aborted 13 and 27 h after the first oxytocin injection, respectively, and showed strong uterine contractions and expelled the fetuses in disrupted fetal membranes. Concentrations of 15-ketodihydro-PGF-2 alpha increased both after PG and oxytocin injections and in association with t...
Mogg TD.Cardiac disease is often life-threatening and challenging to treat. Prolonged therapy is indicated in many cases, which can lead to problems with treatment costs, owner compliance, and potential drug toxicity. Many therapies are empirical or based on data from other species because of a lack of well-designed prospective clinical trials in horses. This article reviews the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics of heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial disease, endocarditis, and pericardial disease.
