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.
Phillips AW, Courtenay JS, Ruston RD, Moore J, Baker C, Epps HB.A simple apparatus is described for the collection of plasma from horses while maintaining their blood in extracorporeal circulation. Using this device, nearly 2.5 kg of plasma protein was collected from a horse during a period of 3 weeks without any obvious adverse effect upon the animal. The blood’s packed cell volume showed little variation throughout this period, although its content of plasma protein was found to fall. The normal plasma protein level was almost completely re-established after 3 weeks rest. A horse immunized with tetanus toxoid and subjectcd to repeated cycles of plasmap...
Neuvonen E, Estola T.A serological survey on the occurrence of group-specific chlamydial antibodies in random sera of Finnish sheep, cattle and horses was performed. The whole material consisted of 1347 serum samples, including 432 ovine, 454 bovine and 461 equine sera. The sera were sent to the laboratory for various serological tests during 1968–1972. Of the ovine sera 9.5%, bovine 12.8 % and equine 7.1 % showed a titer ≥ 1:16 in the complement fixation test. No definite geographic differences could be found in the distribution of the herds which showed positive results. The ubiquity of chlamydial infections...
Geddes LA, Tacker WA, Rosborough JP, Moore AG, Cabler PS.Electrical ventricular defibrillation of heavy subjects (over 100 kg body weight) is uncommon for the human or any animal species. This paper reports trans-chest ventricular defibrillation of subjects ranging in weight from 2.3 to 340 kg using conventional defibrillation current (heavily damped sine wave) of 0.3-30 ms duration. It was found that a body weight-to-electrical-shock strength relationship exists and can be expressed in terms of either electrical energy or peak current. For the duration of current pulse used clinically (3-10 ms), the relationship between energy requirement and body ...
England JJ, Watson RE, Larson KA.On electron microscopic examination of a cell line derived from an equine sarcoid, intracytoplasmic oncornavirus-like particles were seen. Cells treated with idoxuridine-dimethyl sulfoxide (idu-dmso) had a two- to four-fold increase in the number of particles as compared with nontreated cells or cells treated with dmso alone. The intracytoplasmic virus-like particles were double membrane structures measuring 80 to 100 nm. in diameter. Particles were seen extracelluarly or budding from the cell membrane into the extracellular space. These extracellular particles were 100 nm. in diameter and con...
Xie FY, Feng YL, Wang HH, Ma YF, Yang Y, Wang YC, Shen W, Pan QJ, Yin S, Sun YJ, Ma JY.Prior to the mechanization of agriculture and labor-intensive tasks, humans used donkeys (Equus africanus asinus) for farm work and packing. However, as mechanization increased, donkeys have been increasingly raised for meat, milk, and fur in China. To maintain the development of the donkey industry, breeding programs should focus on traits related to these new uses. Compared to conventional marker-assisted breeding plans, genome- and transcriptome-based selection methods are more efficient and effective. To analyze the coding genes of the donkey genome, we assembled the transcriptome of donke...
Douthit TL, Bormann JM, Kouba JM.The objective of this study was to retrospectively analyze demographic variables and academic preparation of students to determine how these factors relate to student performance in ASI 521 Horse Science, an upper-level course offered in the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry (ASI) at Kansas State University (KSU). Data were collected for 264 students enrolled in the course from 2008 to 2010. Students who took the course in 2008 received greater final percentages than those who took the course in subsequent years (P = 0.0016). Females tended to receive greater percentages than males (P...
Gürelli G, Lyons ET, Kesbiç FI.Species composition and distribution of hindgut ciliates were investigated in the feces of 20 thoroughbred mares in Kentucky, USA. Thirty-three species and six morphotypes belonging to 21 genera were identified. The average density of hindgut ciliates in mares was 13.5 ± 13.7 × 104 cells ml-1, whereas mean number of ciliate species per host was 14.4 ± 5.3. Bundleia nana, B. elongata, B. piriformis, Blepharoconus hemiciliatus, Holophryoides ovalis, H. macrotricha, Blepharoprosthium polytrichum, Prorodonopsis coli, Paraisotrichopsis composita, Blepharocorys microcorys, and Ochoterenaia append...
Viljoen A, Saulez MN, Carstens A, Gummow B.Clinical use of diagnostic ultrasound at point-of-care or emergency situations, although common, has not been well documented in veterinary medicine. Medical records of after-hour emergency equine admissions during a 10-year period were reviewed and horses that received ultrasound scans were identified. Data sheets for each ultrasound scan performed during emergency clinical evaluation were collected and reviewed. Data extracted included anatomical region imaged, body system affected, documented ultrasonographic diagnosis and final diagnosis. Six hundred and nine records were available of whic...
Strzemienski PJ, Benson CE, Acland HM, Kenney RM.Two groups of 3 mares were inoculated with Haemophilus equigenitalis or Pseudomonas aeruginosa on the 1st day of estrus. Uterine flushing samples were recovered on day 3 of estrus and day 8 after ovulation for each cycle. Mares were killed 22, 25, and 30 days after inoculation with P aeruginosa and 45, 46, and 49 days after inoculation with H equigenitalis. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was recovered from the uterus of 2 mares 48 hours after inoculation. Although the initial flushing sample of 1 of these 2 mares had an increased total protein concentration, there appeared to be little difference betw...
Zientara S, Sailleau C.The authors briefly review the clinical forms of equine rhinopneumonitis and indicate changes in the nomenclature of equine herpesviral infections. The value of restriction profiles for epidemiological studies is described, taking as an example the strains of virus isolated in France. A technique is given for preparing molecular probes, as well as the application of these probes in direct diagnosis from biological specimens.
Schauer SN, Briant C, Ottogalli M, Decourt C, Handel IG, Donadeu FX.This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that supplementation of growing follicles with LH during the early spring transitional period would promote the development of steroidogenically active, dominant follicles with the ability to respond to an ovulatory dose of hCG. Mares during early transition were randomly assigned to receive a subovulatory dose of equine LH (in the form of a purified equine pituitary fraction) or saline (transitional control; n = 7 mares per group) following ablation of all follicles >15 mm. Treatments were administered intravenously every 12 h from the day th...
Gill KK, Kroeger EA.Equine airway smooth muscle is innervated by vagal efferents and, in addition, displays spontaneous mechanical activity. The preparation thus appears to contain at least two discrete excitable components, the cholinergic neural elements and the smooth muscle membrane. Indomethacin (INDO), a cyclooxygenase (CO) inhibitor, exerts a considerable potentiation of function in this preparation. The latter may be effected indirectly, through loss of the inhibitory effect of endogenous prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on neural acetylcholine release and through direct effects on smooth muscle of the generally a...
Butcher MT, Bertram JE, Syme DA, Hermanson JW, Chase PB.The digital flexors of horses must produce high force to support the body weight during running, and a need for these muscles to generate power is likely limited during locomotion over level ground. Measurements of power output from horse muscle fibers close to physiological temperatures, and when cyclic strain is imposed, will help to better understand the in vivo performance of the muscles as power absorbers and generators. Skinned fibers from the deep (DDF) and superficial (SDF) digital flexors, and the soleus (SOL) underwent sinusoidal oscillations in length over a range of frequencies (0....
La Rosa L, Twele L, Duchateau L, Gasthuys F, Kästner SB, Schauvliege S.A bolus of 50 mg kg MgSO (treatment Mg) or the same volume of saline (treatment S) was infused over 15 minutes in 5 adult healthy horses. T0 was the end of the infusion. Physiological parameters were recorded throughout the study period. Measurements of electrical, thermal, and mechanical nociceptive thresholds were performed at the pelvic limbs at baseline (before T0), and at specific timepoints. Blood samples were taken at fixed timepoints before, during and until 12 hours after the infusion. For statistical analysis, the 95% confidence intervals (CI's) for the differences in nociceptive th...
Kouba V.This analysis of global veterinary personnel was based on the available quantitative data reported by individual countries to international organisations. The analysis begins with a time series of globally reported numbers of veterinarians, starting in the year 1959 (140,391). In 2000 this number reached 691,379. Of this total, 27.77% of veterinarians were working as government officials, 15.38% were working in laboratories, universities and training institutions and 46.33% were working as private practitioners. The ratio of veterinarians to technicians was 1:0.63. The global average of resour...
van Niekerk HP, Couvaras S.The possibility of including sodium hydroxide-treated lucerne hay as a constituent in rations for horses was investigated by measuring its effect on the performance and certain bloodcomponents of growing foals. As no adverse effects were found it is concluded that further investigation is necessary to see whether the inclusion of low grade-treated roughages in the ration of horses would be of economic significance.
Zhao J, Marghitu DB, Schumacher J.Tranquilization of horses with acepromazine has been used to suppress erratic head movements and increase the accuracy of a lameness examination. Some equine clinicians believe that tranquilization with acepromazine will make lameness more evident by causing the horse to focus on adjusting its gait to avoid limb pain rather than its surroundings. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acepromazine on the Lyapunov exponents of lame horses. Ten lame horses were trotted in a straight line for a minimum of 25 strides. Kinematic data created by head movement were analyzed. Nonlinear...
Foreman JH.Metabolic causes of exercise intolerance can be subtle and difficult to document in horses. Because of increased metabolic rate in exercising muscle, most metabolic causes of exercise intolerance are clinically manifested by muscle abnormalities such as ER. Newer causes of ER are being documented by current research and are summarized in the article on muscular causes of equine exercise intolerance. Endocrine causes of exercise intolerance have been poorly documented, but recent work has shown the detrimental effects of hypothyroidism on exercise tolerance in horses. Many metabolic manifestati...
Fuentealba NA, Sguazza GH, Eöry ML, Valera AR, Pecoraro MR, Galosi CM.Equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) infection has a significant economic impact on equine production, causing abortion, respiratory disease, neonatal death and neurological disorders. The identification of specific EHV-1 genes related to virulence and pathogenicity has been the aim of several research groups. The purpose of the present study was to analyze different genomic regions of Argentinean EHV-1 strains and to determine their possible relationship with virulence or clinical signs. Twenty-five EHV-1 Argentinean isolates recovered from different clinical cases between 1979 and 2007 and two refere...
Mia AS, Koger HD.Serum concentrations of arginase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep and pigs were determined before and after oral administration of CCl(4) at doses known to cause hepatic necrosis. Following CCl(4) administration, serum concentration of arginase and SGOT increased to a level of diagnostic significance in all animals. SGPT increased markedly in dogs and cats and marginally in 1 of 3 cattle and 2 of 3 pigs. In the surviving animals, the serum concentration of arginase returned to normal range much earlier than ...
Doreau M, Dussap G.Female milk production was related to offspring water turnover, estimated by a tracer method (fig. 1). After deuterium oxide was injected into the blood of the offspring, we measured the decrease of its concentration in time. Milk intake was calculated by equations taking into account the weight gain of the offspring. The reliability of this method was checked in 28 bottle-fed lambs with known milk intake; the correlation between the actual intakes and our estimates was 0.98 with an error means of 5.6 p. 100. The error on the mean of 28 lambs was 0.5 p. 100 (table 1). The milk production of 6 ...
Grünig G, Von Fellenberg R, Maier R, Corboz L.Seventeen out of 21 horses had pulmonary microbial organisms which reached considerable numbers in seven cases. Elastase-producing microorganisms from the environment (Streptomyces species and to a lesser extent Bacillus species) constituted 22 per cent to 99 per cent (mean 79 per cent) of the total growth. There was a considerable number of microorganisms with in vitro-produced elastases which were not or only slightly affected by horse serum. There was no correlation between numbers of organisms and pulmonary histopathological findings thus the significance of these microorganisms in the pat...
Bowman SG, Marshall JF, Blikslager AT.To determine demographic characteristics of horses donated to the North Carolina State University Equine Health Center (EHC) between 1996 and 2008. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: 122 horses donated to the EHC between January 1996 and December 2008, and 246 horses offered for donation to the EHC between January 2007 and December 2008. Methods: Telephone and medical records were examined. Data were collected in 5 categories: age, sex, breed, reason for donation, and use prior to donation. Results: From January 1996 through December 2008, 122 horses were donated to the EHC (median,...
Dik KJ.Common soft tissue disorders of the equine carpus are fluctuating or firm soft tissue swellings, wounds and draining tracts. Survey radiography may show the size, position and origin of the swellings and reveals soft tissue calcification, accumulation of air and radiopaque foreign material. Contrast radiography enables accurate visualization of the size, shape, position and origin of fluctuating soft tissue swellings, demonstrates abnormal intersynovial communication and allows precise demonstration of the extent of puncture wounds and draining tracts. Ultrasonography allows differentiation be...
Newton-Clarke MJ, Divers TJ, Valentine BA.A study was conducted over a 12 month period to assess the accuracy of the 'slap test' in the diagnosis of laryngeal adductor myopathy. The thoraco-laryngeal reflexes of 15 horses with no clinical signs of idiopathic laryngeal hemiplegia (ILH) were recorded using a video-endoscope. These 'slap test' responses were examined independently by 3 assessors. The horses were subsequently subjected to euthanasia and samples taken from the cricoarytenoideus lateralis (CAL) muscles for histopathological examination and assessment of denervation atrophy. Despite normal adductory responses, moderate to se...
Madison JB, Ziemer EL.Purified streptococcal M protein was injected into one intercarpal joint in three horses hyperimmunised with Streptococcus equi M protein vaccine. The contralateral joints were injected with pH adjusted polyionic solution. All antigen-injected joints developed a severe suppurative synovitis (mean synovial fluid nucleated cell count = 102,200 x 10(6) cells litre-1). Eosinophils were found in the synovial fluid and in synovial membrane biopsy specimens of two of the horses. Immune complexes were not demonstrated in the synovial membrane. Two horses are described that developed synovial fluid eos...
Rogerson BA, Condron RJ, Baker J, Craven JA.Inoculation of Haemophilus equigenitalis into the uterus of 7 mares caused a disease clinically indistinguishable from contagious equine metritis. The duration of clinical signs varied from 4 to 11 days. The causative organism persisted for a relatively short time (2 to 10 weeks) in 5 mares, but in 2 others it established a carrier status and persisted until they were killed 6 and 10 months after infection. H. equigenitalis was recovered from the vestibule of the vagina and from a combined swab of the clitoral fossa and sinuses throughout the course of the infection. In some mares there were e...
Wilson AM, Pardoe CH.Studies on horseshoe materials have been limited to the analysis of kinematic data to determine slip times and distances, since equine force plate analysis is traditionally undertaken on a rubber-surfaced force plate. The purpose of this study was to modify a force plate for measuring ground reaction forces on a road surface and report preliminary data from the system. A steel-reinforced concrete top plate of 18 mm thickness and mass 23 kg, and a 12 mm thick top plate of 6 mm bituminous macadam wear coat (road surface) contained in a tray constructed of 2 mm thick steel, mass 21 kg, were const...
Sirois J, Betteridge KJ, Brault A.Embryo transfer was used in an equestrian teaching center in order to produce as many foals as possible from their preferred mares during a single breeding season. Embryo collection by uterine lavage was attempted in five donor mares on 25 occasions 6.5 days after ovulation. Sixteen of the collection attempts (64%) yielded a total of 17 blastocysts. Of these 17 embryos, 13 were immediately transferred transcervically into recipient mares that had ovulated within two days of the time of ovulation in the donors, three were frozen for later transfer, and one was lost. Eight of the freshly transfe...
van Weeren PR, Denoix JM.Juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOCC) have a major impact on the equine industry and include many musculoskeletal disorders of the young horse, of which osteochondrosis (OC) is the most prominent. The Breeding, Osteochondral Status and Athletic Career (BOSAC) project is the first large, comprehensive, longitudinal field study on the subject conducted in three breeds of performance horses (Thoroughbreds, Standardbred Trotters and Warmbloods) that were monitored in their natural environment where they were reared under common field conditions. The BOSAC study used a radiographic protocol desi...
Jansen WL, van Alphen M, Berghout M, Everts H, Beynen AC.The ratio of calculated net energy intake (NEi) to calculate net energy requirement (NEr) might serve as an indicator of the efficiency of dietary energy utilization. The ratio was determined for 93 horses and ponies from 10 riding schools. For each animal with an assumed constant body weight, energy intake and energy requirements were assessed. On average, the estimated NEi was 14% greater than NEr. There was a significant, negative association between crude fibre intake and the NEi: NEr ratio. Earlier work indicated that extra fat intake may lead to over estimation of the calculated energy v...
Castro LA, Brown MP, Gronwall R, Houston AE, Miles N.Six foals from 6 to 8 weeks of age were given a single oral dose of rifampin at a dosage of 10 mg/kg of body weight. Serum rifampin concentrations were measured serially during a 24-hour period. The mean peak serum rifampin concentration was 6.7 micrograms/ml at 4 hours after treatment. The concentration decreased slowly, and at 24 hours the mean value was 2.7 micrograms/ml. The elimination half-life was 17.5 hours, and the elimination rate constant was 0.04/hr.
Puschner B, Galey FD.Poisoning in the horse can present a highly complex case. The practitioner, owner, toxicologist, and pathologist play important roles, and all contribute information that may be important to the case. Once all the information is available, all the evidence is collected (historical, clinical, pathologic, and analytic), and proper sampling of specimens has occurred, a complete summary of the findings can be provided to the client. Based on identification of a potential toxic source and, ultimately, the diagnosis, specific treatment of affected animals and prevention of additional cases can be in...
Pedersoli WM, Ravis WR, Belmonte AA, McCullers RM.Digoxin (elixir, 0.022 mg/kg) was administered via stomach tube to healthy horses of mixed breeding and sexes. Serum digoxin concentrations reached a peak (2.21 +/- 0.6 ng/ml) at approximately 1 hour after dosing and had a half-life of 28.8 +/- 10.7 hours. Digoxin kinetics followed a triexponential curve, indicating that at least a 2 compartmental model is required to characterize the serum concentration-time curve after this route of administration. It was calculated that to achieve average serum concentrations of 1.1 ng/ml, an oral dose of 17.4 microgram of digoxin elixir/kg/day and an IV do...
