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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.
Caffeine-induced hyperactivity in the horse: comparisons of drug and metabolite concentrations in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The goals of this study were to elucidate the temporal and quantitative relationships between caffeine and its major bioactive metabolites in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and to characterize the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship for caffeine-induced changes in spontaneous locomotor activity in the horse. We hypothesized that caffeine and its metabolites distribute efficiently into the CSF to antagonize adenosine A1 and A2a receptors and that spontaneous locomotor activity correlates well with caffeine and/or metabolite concentrations in CSF and blood. A microdialysis system w...
Exploitation of a natural pasture by wild horses: comparison between nutritive characteristics of the land and the nutrient requirements of the herds over a 2-year period. In the Molise region (Italy), some autochthonous populations are still bred and, between them, some wild horses named 'Pentro horses.' The breeding area is a natural pasture. It is 2200 ha extended including a broad plane surrounded by wooden hills. The aim of this research was to determine the nutritional characteristics of this area over a 2-year period to improve the management of the herd and to define the stocking rate in relation to the forage production in terms of production and quality. The forage samples were collected over two successive years during the grazing period (May to Octob...
Tracking the motion of hidden segments using kinematic constraints and Kalman filtering. Motion capture for biomechanical applications involves in almost all cases sensors or markers that are applied to the skin of the body segments of interest. This paper deals with the problem of estimating the movement of connected skeletal segments from 3D position data of markers attached to the skin. The use of kinematic constraints has been shown previously to reduce the error in estimated segment movement that are due to skin and muscles moving with respect to the underlying segment. A kinematic constraint reduces the number of degrees of freedom between two articulating segments. Moreover...
Multidirectional cross-species painting illuminates the history of karyotypic evolution in Perissodactyla. The order Perissodactyla, the group of odd-toed ungulates, includes three extant families: Equidae, Tapiridae, and Rhinocerotidae. The extremely rapid karyotypic diversification in perissodactyls has so far prevented the establishment of genome-wide homology maps between these three families by traditional cytogenetic approaches. Here we report the first genome-wide comparative chromosome maps of African rhinoceroses, four tapir species, four equine species, and humans. These maps were established by multidirectional chromosome painting, with paint probes derived from flow-sorted chromosomes o...
Interactive computerized learning program exposes veterinary students to challenging international animal-health problems. This article describes a computerized case-based CD-ROM (CD) on international animal health that was developed to give veterinary students an opportunity to "virtually" work alongside veterinarians and other veterinary students as they try to solve challenging disease problems relating to tuberculosis in South African wildlife, bovine abortion in Mexico, and neurologic disease in horses in Rapa Nui, Chile. Each of the three case modules presents, in a highly interactive format, a problem or mystery that must be solved by the learner. As well as acquiring information via video clips and text ab...
Genetic analysis of white facial and leg markings in the Swiss Franches-Montagnes Horse Breed. White markings and spotting patterns in animal species are thought to be a result of the domestication process. They often serve for the identification of individuals but sometimes are accompanied by complex pathological syndromes. In the Swiss Franches-Montagnes horse population, white markings increased vastly in size and occurrence during the past 30 years, although the breeding goal demands a horse with as little depigmented areas as possible. In order to improve selection and avoid more excessive depigmentation on the population level, we estimated population parameters and breeding value...
Pheromone trap for the eastern tent caterpillar moth. The discovery that the eastern tent caterpillar Malacosoma americanum (F.) causes mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), and thus has the potential to continue to result in major economic losses to the equine industry of Kentucky, has resulted in an intensive effort to identify practical means to monitor and control this defoliator, including these experiments to optimize a sex pheromone trap for this pest. A pheromone-baited delta trap with a large opening, such as InterceptST Delta, was more effective than other tested traps. Orange delta traps caught more moths than other tested colors. ET...
Hematophagous Diptera collected from a horse and paired carbon dioxide-baited suction trap in southern California: relevance to West Nile virus epizootiology. Hematophagous Diptera landing on a horse were removed by vacuum, and their numbers were related to a paired carbon dioxide-baited suction trap at three locations in southern California where West Nile virus activity was high during the preceding year. Insects collected from the horse included mosquitoes (nine species), biting midges (Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones), and black flies (Simulium bivittatum Malloch). Mosquitoes were predominantly collected from the head, crest, withers, neck, chest, and shoulders of the horse, whereas biting midges and black flies were predominantly collected ...
The horse genome derby: racing from map to whole genome sequence. The map of the horse genome has undergone unprecedented expansion during the past six years. Beginning from a modest collection of approximately 300 mapped markers scattered on the 31 pairs of autosomes and the X chromosome in 2001, today the horse genome is among the best-mapped in domestic animals. Presently, high-resolution linearly ordered gene maps are available for all autosomes as well as the X and the Y chromosome. The approximately 4350 mapped markers distributed over the approximately 2.68 Gbp long equine genome provide on average 1 marker every 620 kb. Among the most remarkable deve...
Factors associated with vesicular stomatitis in animals in the western United States. To identify factors associated with development of vesicular stomatitis (VS). Methods: Case-control study. Methods: 138 livestock premises and 118 horses suspected of having VS in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Methods: Premises with >or= 1 animal with clinical signs and laboratory confirmation of infection were classified as case premises. Premises where laboratory confirmation results were negative were control premises. Among equine premises, case and control horses were selected on the basis of premises status. A survey was conducted to identify factors associated with VS for premises an...
Regionalisation of the muscle fascicle architecture in the equine longissimus dorsi muscle. The longissimus dorsi is the largest muscle in the equine back and plays an important role in locomotor ability and performance in the horse. In vivo studies suggest that the mechanical function varies between different muscle segments, in part determined by anatomy. It is possible therefore that variations in function reflect variations in the anatomy of the longissimus dorsi along its length. Objective: To identify if there are regional variations in muscle architecture of the longissimus dorsi. Methods: Computed tomography scans were obtained from 8 cadaver backs to identify the cross-secti...
Helix-rich transient and equilibrium intermediates of equine beta-lactoglobulin in alkaline buffer. Acidic buffer conditions are known to stabilize helix-rich states of even those proteins with a predominantly beta-sheet native secondary structure. Here we investigated whether such states also exist under alkaline buffer conditions. The guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl)-induced unfolding transition and kinetic refolding of equine beta-lactoglobulin (ELG) by GuHCl-jump were investigated at pH 8.7 by far-ultraviolet circular dichroism. We found that an equilibrium intermediate appeared in 45% ethylene glycol (EGOH) buffer with 1.5 M GuHCl. The intermediate is rich in non-native alpha-helix, whic...
An investigation of colour discrimination with horses (Equus caballus). The ability of four horses (Equus caballus) to discriminate coloured (three shades of blue, green, red, and yellow) from grey (neutral density) stimuli, produced by back projected lighting filters, was investigated in a two response forced-choice procedure. Pushes of the lever in front of a coloured screen were occasionally reinforced, pushes of the lever in front of a grey screen were never reinforced. Each colour shade was randomly paired with a grey that was brighter, one that was dimmer, and one that approximately matched the colour in terms of brightness. Each horse experienced the colour...
Comprehension of human pointing gestures in horses (Equus caballus). Twenty domestic horses (Equus caballus) were tested for their ability to rely on different human gesticular cues in a two-way object choice task. An experimenter hid food under one of two bowls and after baiting, indicated the location of the food to the subjects by using one of four different cues. Horses could locate the hidden reward on the basis of the distal dynamic-sustained, proximal momentary and proximal dynamic-sustained pointing gestures but failed to perform above chance level when the experimenter performed a distal momentary pointing gesture. The results revealed that horses coul...
A chromosome inversion near the KIT gene and the Tobiano spotting pattern in horses. Tobiano is a white spotting pattern in horses caused by a dominant gene, Tobiano(TO). Here, we report TO associated with a large paracentric chromosome inversion on horse chromosome 3. DNA sequences flanking the inversion were identified and a PCR test was developed to detect the inversion. The inversion was only found in horses with the tobiano pattern, including horses with diverse genetic backgrounds, which indicated a common genetic origin thousands of years ago. The inversion does not interrupt any annotated genes, but begins approximately 100 kb downstream of the KIT gene. This inversion...
Physicochemical properties of meat of Italian Heavy Draft horses slaughtered at the age of eleven months. To investigate rheological and chemical characteristics of the meat from Italian Heavy Draft horse, 24 foals (12 males and 12 females) were weaned at 6 mo, reared and fed in the same way, and slaughtered at 11 mo of age. The results obtained showed that there were no significant differences between the sexes but that the muscle type is a significant variation source. The rectus femoris muscle was lighter, and the biceps femoris had a lower a* index than longissimus dorsii, rectus femoris, and semimembranosus muscle. The most tender muscle was the semitendinosus, and the toughest even after coo...
Equine CTNNB1 and PECAM1 nucleotide structure and expression analyses in an experimental model of normal and pathological wound repair. Wound healing in horses is fraught with complications. Specifically, wounds on horse limbs often develop exuberant granulation tissue which behaves clinically like a benign tumor and resembles the human keloid in that the evolving scar is trapped in the proliferative phase of repair, leading to fibrosis. Clues gained from the study of over-scarring in horses should eventually lead to new insights into how to prevent unwanted scar formation in humans. cDNA fragments corresponding to CTNNB1 (coding for beta-catenin) and PECAM1, genes potentially contributing to the proliferative phase of repair,...
The ultrastructure of camel blood platelets: a comparative study with human, bovine, and equine cells. Previous studies indicated that the camel has a very active haemostatic mechanism with a short bleeding time and thrombocytosis. However, platelet function, when tested by agonist-induced aggregation and PFA 100 closure time, showed marked inhibition compared to humans. Since camels are also far more resistant to long exposure to excessive heat and high body temperature than humans, it seemed worthwhile to explore fundamental morphological differences between human and camel platelets and those from other species. The present study has examined the ultrastructure of camel platelets and compare...
Investigation of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sport horses bred in Ankara province. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in horses bred for sportive purposes in the province of Ankara. Sera collected from a total of 100 clinically healthy horses were tested for the presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the Sabin-Feldman dye test and a seropositivity of 28% was found. The distribution of seropositivity among dilutions showed that 23 samples were positive at a dilution of 1:16 (82.1%), and 5 samples, positive at 1:64 (17.8%).
Gender differences in non-specific immune response to exercise in the lactate threshold: a study in equine athletes. Gender differences have not been shown in relation to the immune system in athletic horses. The aim of the present paper was to elucidate gender differences in the non-specific immune response of the polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN), plasma glucose and in hormones before and after an exercise in the lactate threshold (LT). A group of 12 Anglo-Arabian horses (6 females and 6 males, 4-7 years old) was observed. A submaximal exercise test was carried out at the LT. The results showed that males had a higher PMN percentage, plasma glucose values, Adherence index (AI) and random migration than fe...
Sex preferences in Jeju pony foals (Equus caballus) for mutual grooming and play-fighting behaviors. We investigated mutual grooming by Jeju pony (Equus caballus) foals to determine whether male foals preferentially interact with potential future sexual partners or competitors. We predicted that relative to female foals, male foals would exchange grooming more frequently with young mares and that in general, foals would mutually groom more frequently with the opposite sex rather than the same sex. Observing 53 foals between April and October 1998, we recorded 113 mutual grooming events. Male foals exchanged grooming with yearling mares more frequently than with their mother, while female foal...
Circulating fatty acid profiles in response to three levels of dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in horses. Fatty acids of the n-3 type confer health benefits to humans and other species. Their importance to equine physiology could include improved exercise tolerance, decreased inflammation, and improved reproductive function. The circulating fatty acid profile and the acquisition and washout of fatty acids in response to n-3 supplementation were determined for horses in the current study. A fatty acid supplement high in eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid was fed to deliver EPA plus DHA at 0 (control), 10, 20, or 40 g/d to 16 mares (n = 4/group) for 28 d. Plasma was collected at -...
Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses’ behavior. Animals that live in stable social groups need to gather information on their own relative position in the group's social hierarchy, by either directly threatening or by challenging others, or indirectly and in a less perilous manner , by observing interactions among others. Indirect inference of dominance relationships has previously been reported from primates, rats, birds, and fish. Here, we show that domestic horses, Equus caballus, are similarly capable of social cognition. Taking advantage of a specific "following behavior" that horses show towards humans in a riding arena, we investigat...
Comparative anatomy and muscle architecture of selected hind limb muscles in the Quarter Horse and Arab. The Quarter Horse (bred for acceleration) and the Arab (bred for endurance) are situated at either end of the equine athletic spectrum. Studies into the form and function of the leg muscles in human sprint and endurance runners have demonstrated that differences exist in their muscle architecture. It is not known whether similar differences exist in the horse. Six Quarter Horse and six Arab fresh hind limb cadavers were dissected to gain information on the muscle mass and architecture of the following muscles: gluteus medius; biceps femoris; semitendinosus; vastus lateralis; gastrocnemius; tib...
Historical perspectives on long distance transport of animals. Since Roman Antiquity, domestic and wild animals have been transported over long distances for purposes as different as improvement of livestock production, food supply, scientific interest, public entertainment, war and numerous other purposes. This long distance transportation was originally limited to the Mediterranean area but, during the Middle Ages extended to the rest of Europe. The conquest of the New World was the first major occasion to transport large numbers of horses and other livestock across the oceans. Domestic animals were necessary for the new colonies and their armies. Europ...
