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Topic:Veterinary Science
Veterinary science and horses encompass the study and application of medical, surgical, and therapeutic practices to maintain and improve the health and welfare of equines. This field addresses a wide range of topics, including disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as nutrition, reproduction, and behavior. Research in veterinary science for horses often involves understanding the pathophysiology of equine-specific diseases, developing advanced diagnostic techniques, and improving treatment protocols. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various aspects of veterinary science related to horses, providing insights into the latest advancements and methodologies in equine healthcare.
Daytime shelter use of individually kept horses during Swedish summer. In Sweden, no provision for summer shelter to protect horses from heat and insects is required, although access to shelter for horses kept outdoors 24 h during winter is a requirement. This study investigated horses' daytime shelter-seeking behavior in relation to weather conditions and insect activity during a 2-wk period in summer. Eight Warmblood riding horses had access to 2 shelters of different design to test which shelter design is preferred by horses. Furthermore, rectal and skin temperatures and insect-defensive behavior were measured to test whether horses would benefit from the prov...
Quantification of sodium pentobarbital residues from equine mortality compost piles. Sodium pentobarbital, a euthanasia drug, can persist in animal carcasses following euthanasia and can cause secondary toxicosis to animals that consume the remains. This experiment was conducted to observe the effects of composting on euthanized horse carcass degradation and sodium pentobarbital residues in compost material up to 367 d. Six separate compost bins were constructed on pastureland. Three bins served as the control while 3 served as the treatment. The carbonaceous material, or bulking agent, consisted of hardwood chips mixed with yard waste wetted to approximately 50% moisture cont...
Technical note: Comparison of two methods to quantify exercise energy expenditure in trotters. This study aimed at quantifying energy expenditure during 4 specific training exercises, that is, promenade, jogging, parcours, and interval exercises, using field measurements of oxygen consumption and heart rate in trotters. Six animals performed 2 preliminary tests to determine their individual maximum velocity and to establish their individual oxygen consumption/heart rate relationship from an incremental test. Then, they undertook each of the 4 specific exercises separated by 1 wk to avoid fatigue. The intensity of the 4 exercises was expressed in percent of individual maximum velocity as...
Genome-Wide Association Study of Insect Bite Hypersensitivity in Swedish-Born Icelandic Horses. Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most common allergic skin disease in horses and is caused by biting midges, mainly of the genus Culicoides. The disease predominantly comprises a type I hypersensitivity reaction, causing severe itching and discomfort that reduce the welfare and commercial value of the horse. It is a multifactorial disorder influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, with heritability ranging from 0.16 to 0.27 in various horse breeds. The worldwide prevalence in different horse breeds ranges from 3% to 60%; it is more than 50% in Icelandic horses exported to ...
Energy supplementation and herbage allowance effects on daily intake in lactating mares. Little is known about how to manage grazing horses, including the thresholds under which energy supplementation is required. Here we investigated the effects of daily herbage allowance (DHA) and energy supplementation (ES) on daily herbage intake in lactating mares of light breeds grazing high-quality regrowth during summer. Three contrasting DHA, low (LOW), medium (MED), and high (HIGH), that is, 35.0, 52.5, and 70.0 g DM∙kg BW(-1)∙d(-1), respectively, were obtained by adjusting pasture strip width. Eighteen Anglo-Arab and French Saddle lactating mares were either supplemented with 2.6 kg...
Flying-fox roost disturbance and Hendra virus spillover risk. Bats of the genus Pteropus (flying-foxes) are the natural host of Hendra virus (HeV) which periodically causes fatal disease in horses and humans in Australia. The increased urban presence of flying-foxes often provokes negative community sentiments because of reduced social amenity and concerns of HeV exposure risk, and has resulted in calls for the dispersal of urban flying-fox roosts. However, it has been hypothesised that disturbance of urban roosts may result in a stress-mediated increase in HeV infection in flying-foxes, and an increased spillover risk. We sought to examine the impact of...
Effect of specialization on genetic parameters of studbook-entry inspection in Dutch Warmblood horses. Recent studies on data from the Dutch Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) have shown that the ongoing specialization of horses for either dressage (DH) or show jumping (JH) has led to a decreasing genetic relationship between the two subpopulations. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the specialization process on the genetic parameters of traits measured in the studbook-entry inspection of KWPN during the last fifteen years. Data from 18,125 DH and 23,800 JH recorded from 1998 until 2013 were used to analyse 13 traits scored in both DH and JH. Analyses were performed in a Bayesian framew...
Field Necropsy of the Horse. Being able to conduct an equine field necropsy in a safe and proficient manner is a helpful skill for the equine practitioner. Use of a systematic process enables the practitioner to develop a familiarity with normal anatomic positioning and tissue appearance such that abnormalities are quickly identified. This article outlines a systematic necropsy protocol that can be used to investigate mortality events and clinical questions.
Circadian activity of Culicoides oxystoma (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), potential vector of bluetongue and African horse sickness viruses in the Niayes area, Senegal. Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are important vectors of arboviruses in Africa. Culicoides oxystoma has been recently recorded in the Niayes region of Senegal (West Africa) and its high abundance on horses suggests a potential implication in the transmission of the African horse sickness virus in this region. This species is also suspected to transmit bluetongue virus to imported breeds of sheep. Little information is available on the biology and ecology of Culicoides in Africa. Therefore, understanding the circadian host-seeking activity of this putative vector is of prima...
Knot Security of 5 Metric (USP 2) Sutures: Influence of Knotting Technique, Suture Material, and Incubation Time for 14 and 28 Days in Phosphate Buffered Saline and Inflamed Equine Peritoneal Fluid. To evaluate knot security for 3 knot types created in 3 commonly used 5 metric suture materials incubated in physiological and pathological fluids. Methods: In vitro mechanical study. Methods: Knotted suture loops (n = 5/group). Methods: Loops of 3 different suture materials (glycolide/lactide copolymer; polyglactin 910; polydioxanone) were created around a 20 mm rod using 3 knot types (square [SQ], surgeon's [SK], and triple knot [TK]) and were tested to failure in distraction (6 mm/min) after tying (day 0) and after being incubated for 14 and 28 days in phosphate buffered saline (PBS...
Passive surveillance for ticks on horses in Saskatchewan. Passive surveillance of ticks on horses in Saskatchewan revealed that the horses were parasitized by 3 species, Dermacentor albipictus, D. andersoni, and D. variabilis. The nymphs and adults of D. albipictus occurred on horses earlier in the year than did adults of the 2 other species. Une surveillance passive des tiques chez des chevaux de la Saskatchewan a révélé que les chevaux étaient affectés par des parasites de trois espèces: et Les nymphes et les adultes de se présentaient chez les chevaux plus tôt dans l’année que les adultes des deux autres espèces.(Traduit par Isabel...
Horse-meat for human consumption – Current research and future opportunities. The consumption of horse-meat is currently not popular in most countries, but because of its availability and recognized nutritional value consumption is slowly increasing in several western European countries based on claims that it could be an alternative red meat. In this review, horse-meat production, trade and supply values have been summarized. In addition, the advantage of horse production is noted because of its lower methane emissions and increased uptake, particularly of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which is based on its digestive physiology. Of particular interest in thi...
Limited similarity between plasmids encoding CTX-M-1 β-lactamase in Escherichia coli from humans, pigs, cattle, organic poultry layers and horses in Denmark. CTX-M-1 is a common extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) in Escherichia coli from animals and is often detected among human clinical isolates. The objective of this study was to investigate the epidemiological relationship between CTX-M-1-producing E. coli isolated from patients and animals in Denmark between 2006 and 2010. In total, 65 CTX-M-1-producing isolates from patients (n=22), pigs (n=21), cattle (n=4), organic poultry layers (n=3) and horses (n=15) were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Plasmids harbouring bla were characterised by S1 PFGE, PCR-based replicon typing, ...
Novel equine conceptus?endometrial interactions on Day 16 of pregnancy based on RNA sequencing. Maintenance of pregnancy is dependent on the exchange of signals between the conceptus and the endometrium. The objective of this study was to use next-generation sequencing to determine transcriptome blueprints of the conceptus and endometrium 16 days after ovulation in the horse. There were 7760 and 10 182 genes expressed in the conceptus and endometrium, respectively, of which 7029 were present in both. Genes related to developmental processes were enriched among conceptus-specific transcripts, whereas many endometrium-specific genes had known roles in cell communication, cell adhesion and ...
Molecular Characterization and Expression Analysis of Adrenergic Receptor Beta 2 (ADRB2) Gene before and after Exercise in the Horse. The adrenergic receptor beta 2 (ADRB2) plays a role in various physiological responses of the muscle to exercise, such as contraction and relaxation. Given its important role in muscle function, we investigated the structure of the horse ADRB2 gene and its expression pattern after exercise to determine if it can serve as a putative biomarker for recovery. Evolutionary analyses using synonymous and non-synonymous mutation ratios, were compared with other species (human, chimpanzee, mouse, rat, cow, pig, chicken, dog, and cat), and revealed the occurrence of positive selection in the horse ADRB2...
The horse pinworm (Oxyuris equi) in archaeology during the Holocene: Review of past records and new data. This paper focuses on the horse pinworm, Oxyuris equi, in archaeology during the Holocene period, and presents an overview of past published occurrences, early mentions in texts, and new data from our paleoparasitology research. This original compilation shows that the most ancient record of the horse pinworm dates to ca. 2500 years before present (ybp) in Central Asia and to ca. 2020 ybp in Western Europe. It also shows that the parasite is not detected on the American continent until contemporary periods. The role of European migrations from 1492 (Christopher Columbus) is discussed to explai...
Platelet-rich plasma in orthopedic therapy: a comparative systematic review of clinical and experimental data in equine and human musculoskeletal lesions. This systematic review aimed to present and critically appraise the available information on the efficacy of platelet rich plasma (PRP) in equine and human orthopedic therapeutics and to verify the influence of study design and methodology on the assumption of PRP's efficacy. We searched Medline, PubMed, Embase, Bireme and Google Scholar without restrictions until July 2013. Randomized trials, human cohort clinical studies or case series with a control group on the use of PRP in tendons, ligaments or articular lesions were included. Equine clinical studies on the same topics were included inde...
Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies. Studying vocal correlates of emotions is important to provide a better understanding of the evolution of emotion expression through cross-species comparisons. Emotions are composed of two main dimensions: emotional arousal (calm versus excited) and valence (negative versus positive). These two dimensions could be encoded in different vocal parameters (segregation of information) or in the same parameters, inducing a trade-off between cues indicating emotional arousal and valence. We investigated these two hypotheses in horses. We placed horses in five situations eliciting several arousal level...
The interfascicular matrix enables fascicle sliding and recovery in tendon, and behaves more elastically in energy storing tendons. While the predominant function of all tendons is to transfer force from muscle to bone and position the limbs, some tendons additionally function as energy stores, reducing the cost of locomotion. Energy storing tendons experience extremely high strains and need to be able to recoil efficiently for maximum energy storage and return. In the equine forelimb, the energy storing superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) has much higher failure strains than the positional common digital extensor tendon (CDET). However, we have previously shown that this is not due to differences in the properties of...
The role of associative and non-associative learning in the training of horses and implications for the welfare (a review). Horses were domesticated 6000 years ago and since then different types of approaches have been developed to enhance the horse's wellbeing and the human-horse relationship. Even though horse training is an increasingly important research area and many articles have been published on the subject, equitation is still the sport with the highest rate of human injuries, and a significant percentage of horses are sold or slaughtered due to behavioral problems. One explanation for this data is that the human-horse relationship is complex and the communication between humans and horses has not yet been...
Ultrastructure of antennal sensory organs of horse nasal-myiasis fly, Rhinoestrus purpureus (Diptera: Oestridae). Rhinoestrus purpureus (Brauer, 1858) (Diptera: Oestridae) is an economically important parasite that can cause severe nasal myiasis in equids or even attacking humans. The antennae of R. purpureus were examined using stereoscopic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The general morphology was provided detailedly, together with distribution, type, size, and ultrastructure of antennal sensilla. All the three antennal segments, antennal scape, pedicel, and funiculus, are interspersed by microtrichiae. Only mechanoreceptors are detected on antennal scape and pedicel. On antennal funiculus,...
Absence of population asymmetry in the American Quarter Horse (Equus ferus caballus) performing skilled left and right manoeuvres in reining competition. Use of the right hand by humans for speech-related hand gestures, writing and throwing exemplifies motoric asymmetry. There are reports of asymmetry in many other animal species, including reports of left preference in emotional responsivity, spontaneous behaviour and the trained performance of the horse, Equus ferus caballus. The present study used the novel approach of using judges' scores to examine asymmetry in an equestrian event. The study analysed the scores of five judges evaluating the reining performance of 482, three-year-old American Quarter Horses competing in a major competition....
Serological evidence of equine influenza infections among persons with horse exposure, Iowa. Equine influenza virus (EIV) is considered enzootic in North America and experimental studies have documented human EIV infections. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined 94 horse-exposed and 34 non-exposed controls for serological evidence of EIV infection. Sera were evaluated for antibodies against three EIV and two human H3N2 viruses using microneutralization (MN), neuraminidase inhibition (NI), enzyme-linked lectin (ELLA), and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) serological assays. Risk factor analyses were conducted using logistic regression and proportional odds modeling. Results: The...
Evidence of horsemanship and dogmanship and their application in veterinary contexts. This review collates peer-reviewed evidence for desirable attributes for those who work with dogs and horses. It is written with a particular focus on the veterinary profession. Although veterinarians and veterinary nurses (VNs) occupy variable roles when interacting with their patients, several behavioural attributes emerge as helpful across the range of such roles. In light of recent research on the value of considering animals' arousal and affective state as predictors of behaviour and welfare, best practice in human-horse and human-dog-interactions is outlined. The attributes of affiliatio...
Comparison of cardiorespiratory variables in dorsally recumbent horses anesthetized with guaifenesin-ketamine-xylazine spontaneously breathing 50% or maximal oxygen concentrations. This study compared cardiorespiratory variables in dorsally recumbent horses anesthetized with guaifenesin-ketamine-xylazine and spontaneously breathing 50% or maximal (> 90%) oxygen (O2) concentrations. Twelve healthy mares were randomly assigned to breathe 50% or maximal O2 concentrations. Horses were sedated with xylazine, induced to recumbency with ketamine-diazepam, and anesthesia was maintained with guaifenesin-ketamine-xylazine to effect. Heart rate, arterial blood pressures, respiratory rate, lithium dilution cardiac output (CO), inspired and expired O2 and carbon dioxide partial pr...
Equine Surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College in the Early 20th Century. This article seeks to examine the history of equine surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in the context of the changing horse economy during the first half of the 20th century. We argue that despite the transition to livestock medicine, public health and small animal practice, the horse, especially as a surgical topic, retained a (diminished) place at OVC due to the lucrative new recreational equine market, the deep links between horses and veterinary medicine, and the equine focus for nearly half a century of Dr. W.J.R. Fowler, the College's primary surgical instructor.
Acylcarnitine ester utilization by the hindlimb of warmblood horses at rest and following low intensity exercise and carnitine supplementation. Acylcarnitines play an important role in fuel metabolism in skeletal muscle. Objective: To assess acylcarnitine ester utilization by the hindlimb of horses at rest and following low intensity exercise and carnitine supplementation. Methods: Acylcarnitine ester uptake by the hindlimb was investigated using the arteriovenous difference technique. Blood from six warmblood mares (mean age 12 ± 3 (SD) years and weighing 538 ± 39 kg) was collected simultaneously from the transverse facial artery and from the caudal vena cava. Food was withheld for 12 hours prior to exercise. Exercise comprised a s...
