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.
Hogg RC, Hodgins GA.The horse-rider relationship is fundamental to ethical equestrianism wherein equine health and welfare are prioritized as core dimensions of sporting success. Equestrianism represents a unique and important form of interspecies activity in which relationships are commonly idealized as central to sporting performance but have been largely unexplored in the sport psychology literature. Horse-rider relationships warrant particular consideration in the elite sporting context, given the tension between constructions of "partnership" between horse and rider, and the pragmatic pressures of elite spor...
Williams ZJ, Sage A, Valberg SJ.The coronavirus pandemic abruptly halted all in-person clerkships, or clinical rotations, for clinical veterinary students across the United States. Online clerkships in radiology offered the opportunity to expand the student's ability to interpret medical images but did not allow for the development of physical hands-on imaging skills recognized as core competencies in veterinary medicine. The present report highlights the value of providing veterinary students with a smartphone-associated Butterfly iQ point-of-care ultrasound during a 3-week self-driven virtual clerkship. During the virtual ...
Merkies K, Franzin O.Horses () have been domesticated for millennia and are regularly utilized for work, sport, and companionship. Enhanced understanding of human-horse interactions can create avenues to optimize their welfare. This review explores the current research surrounding many aspects of human-horse interactions by first highlighting the horse's sensory capabilities and how they pertain to human interactions. Evidence exists that suggests that horses can read humans in various ways through our body odours, posture, facial expressions, and attentiveness. The literature also suggests that horses are capable...
Bukhari SSUH, McElligott AG, Parkes RSV.There are approximately 112 million working equids in developing countries, many of which are associated with brick kilns. Brick kilns and overloading are associated with welfare problems in working equids. Understanding equids' abilities and influencing factors are important for both effective performance and welfare. Traditionally, measurement of the amount of 'bone' was used, and more recently, gait symmetry has been identified as a potential marker for loading capacity. Assessment of stride parameters and gait kinematics provides insights into adaptations to loading and may help determine ...
Uiterwijk M, Ibáñez-Justicia A, van de Vossenberg B, Jacobs F, Overgaauw P, Nijsse R, Dabekaussen C, Stroo A, Sprong H.Ticks of the genus Hyalomma, which are vectors for several tick-borne diseases, are occasionally found in areas outside their endemic range including northern parts of Europe. The objective of this study was to analyse adult Hyalomma ticks that were recently found in the Netherlands. Methods: Hyalomma ticks were morphologically identified. Cluster analysis, based upon sequence data (cox1 barcoding) for molecular identification, and pathogen detection were performed. Additionally, a cross-sectional survey of horses was conducted to actively search for Hyalomma ticks in summer 2019. Analysis of...
Eisersiö M, Byström A, Yngvesson J, Baragli P, Lanata A, Egenvall A.When a rider maintains contact on the reins, rein tension will vary continuously in synchronicity with the horse's gait and stride. This continuous variation makes it difficult to isolate the rein tension variations that represent a rein tension signal, complicating interpretation of rein tension data from the perspective of horse-rider interaction. This study investigated (1) the characteristics of a rein tension signal and (2) horse response to a rein tension signal for backing, comparing pressure applied by a bit (bridle), or by a noseband (halter). Twenty Warmblood horses (10 young, 10 adu...
MacKechnie-Guire R, Pfau T.High-level dressage horses regularly perform advanced movements, requiring coordination and force transmission between front and hind limbs across the thoracolumbosacral region. This study aimed at quantifying kinematic differences in dressage horses when ridden in sitting trot-i.e. with additional load applied in the thoracolumbar region-compared with trotting in-hand. Inertial sensors were glued on to the midline of the thoracic (T) and lumbar (L) spine at T5, T13, T18, L3 and middle of the left and right tubera sacrale of ten elite dressage horses (Mean±SD), age 11±1 years, height 1.70±0...
Gehlen H, Krumbach K, Thöne-Reineke C.This literature review was aimed at analyzing whether stallion husbandry in groups is possible and desirable or poses risks. This was determined on the basis of different studies in order to be able to give practical recommendations from the viewpoint of animal welfare. Consequently, 50 different sources were analyzed, as well as observations of an experiment of the Swiss National Stud on the subject of change from single-stallion to group husbandry and its influence on animal welfare. The results revealed that stallion husbandry in groups is possible but still rarely practiced. It was found t...
Benavides JA, Salgado-Caxito M, Opazo-Capurro A, González Muñoz P, Piñeiro A, Otto Medina M, Rivas L, Munita J, Millán J.Antibiotic-resistant bacteria of critical importance for global health such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases-producing (ESBL)- have been detected in livestock, dogs, and wildlife worldwide. However, the dynamics of ESBL- between these animals remains poorly understood, particularly in small-scale farms of low and middle-income countries where contact between species can be frequent. We compared the prevalence of fecal carriage of ESBL- among 332 livestock (207 cows, 15 pigs, 60 horses, 40 sheep, 6 goats, 4 chickens), 82 dogs, and wildlife including 131 European rabbits, 30 rodents, and 12 ...
Spurgin CL, Coverdale JA, Leatherwood JL, Redmon LA, Bradbery AN, Wickersham TA.This study was conducted to determine the effects of forage crude protein () level on intake and digestion of Coastal bermudagrass hay by horses. Four cecally fistulated geldings were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design with four treatments and four periods. Horses were fed one of four Coastal bermudagrass hays consisting of 7%, 10%, 13%, or 16% CP during each of the four 15-d periods. Intake and apparent digestibility were determined for each horse at the end of each period by total fecal collection. In addition, cecal fluid and blood samples were collected on the last day of each period for...
Collinet A, Grimm P, Julliand S, Julliand V.In horses, abrupt changes from high-fiber (HF) to high-starch (HS) diets can affect the cecal and colonic microbiota. This study investigated modifications and recovery of fecal microbiota after two consecutive abrupt dietary changes. Twelve horses fed HF for 2 weeks were changed to HS for 5 days then returned to HF for 7 weeks. Six received lactic acid bacteria supplementation. Bacterial population diversity, structure, and activity, especially fibrolysis, were assessed to obtain an overview of alteration in hindgut microbiota. Two days after the abrupt change from HF to HS, the findings in f...
Perez JA, Hutton AE, Cudd SK, Brown JA.To describe a novel standing trans-nasal endoscopic guided CO2 laser fenestration approach to access the sphenopalatine sinus (SPS) in the horse. Methods: Case report. Methods: Cadaver study and client-owned 20-year-old Warmblood gelding. Methods: The rostral palatine bone within the nasopharynx was investigated as a possible site for fenestration to access the SPS in cadavers. The ability to fenestrate the SPS was tested in cadavers using a flexible endoscope and CO2 laser fiber inserted via biopsy channel. The fenestration procedure was then performed in a clinical case presented for unilate...
Magalhaes HB, Canuto LEF, Canisso IF.The objectives of this study were to determine (i) the usefulness of serial assessment of mammary gland electrolytes concentrations and correspondent pH to detect impending parturition in jennies; and (ii2) the associations between mammary gland secretions, and gestation length, foal sex, maternal, placental, and foal birth weights. Multiparous jennies (n = 37) were monitored daily from 350 to 355 days of gestation until parturition. The pH of mammary gland secretions was assessed daily with a hand-held device. Aliquots of mammary secretions were frozen daily and then retrospectively assesse...
Onder Z, Yildirim A, Pekmezci D, Duzlu O, Pekmezci GZ, Ciloglu A, Simsek E, Kokcu ND, Yetismis G, Ercan N, Inci A.A total of 1340 fresh fecal samples from farm and pet animals in Central Anatolia and the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey were investigated using a PCR assay targeting the SSU rRNA of Blastocystis sp. An overall Blastocystis sp. prevalence of 19.4% (183/940) was found in farm animals, including cattle, sheep, water buffaloes, and chickens. Fecal samples of dogs, cats, and horses were negative. The highest prevalence of Blastocystis sp. was found in sheep (38.2%) among the farm animals. The SSU rRNA sequence analysis revealed two animal-specific subtypes, including ST10 in cattle and sheep an...
McGill S, Coleman B, Hayes M.Cooling out horses is a common practice after intense exercise. Typical cooling procedures include both walking and drenching (often with scraping). The cool out is performed to ensure the horses physiologic responses returned to a baseline range as quickly as possible. The use of water in cool out provides the greatest potential for removing heat from the animals. However, adding air velocities that can increase evaporation rates from the horses can potentially increase the rate of cool out; thereby reducing the time until the horses' physiologic measurements return to baseline. This study me...
Serra Bragança FM, Broomé S, Rhodin M, Björnsdóttir S, Gunnarsson V, Voskamp JP, Persson-Sjodin E, Back W, Lindgren G, Novoa-Bravo M, Gmel AI....No abstract available
Keller P, Vanwesenbeeck I, Hudders L, Decloedt A.Complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM) is becoming increasingly popular in horses. Online, cross-sectional survey in 1532 horse owners. Attitude towards CAVM, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intention for future CAVM use were measured based on the theory of planned behaviour. Structural equation modelling was performed to characterize factors influencing intention to use CAVM. Past use of CAVM, predominantly manual therapies and herbal supplements, was reported by 72.5% of all participants. Frequently reported indications were improving horse's well-being,...
Ricci-Bonot C, Romero T, Nicol C, Mills D.Social buffering occurs when the presence of one animal attenuates another's stress response during a stressful event and/or helps the subject to recover more quickly after a stressful event. Inconsistent previous results might reflect previously unrecognised contextual influences, such as the nature of the stimulus presented or social factors. We addressed these issues in a two-part study of horses paired with familiar (16 subjects) or unfamiliar (16 subjects) companions. Each subject performed 4 tests in a counterbalanced order: novel object test (static ball)-alone or with companion; and um...
Caprioli G, Genangeli M, Mustafa AM, Petrelli R, Ricciutelli M, Sagratini G, Sartori S, Laus F, Vittori S, Cortese M.A simple and fast analytical method able to simultaneously identify and quantify 17 endogenous and exogenous steroidal hormones was developed in bovine and equine blood using UHPLC-MS/MS. A total amount of 500 µL of sample was deproteinized with 500 µL of a mixture of methanol and zinc sulfate and evaporated. The mixture was reconstituted with 50 µL of a solution of 25% methanol and injected in the UHPLC-MS/MS triple quadrupole. The correlation coefficients of the calibration curves of the analyzed compounds were in the range of 0.9932-0.9999, and the limits of detection and quantification ...
Dyson S, Pollard D.There is considerable debate about the social license to compete with horses and controversy about training methods for dressage horses. The objectives were to: 1. apply the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) to dressage horses competing at elite Grand Prix level; 2. compare RHpE and judges' scores; and 3. document deviations in gaits from Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) guidelines. Video recordings of 147 competitors from nine World Cup competitions were assessed. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tested the correlation between RHpE and judges' scores. The median RHpE score wa...
Belotta AF, Mayer MN, Waldner CL, Robinson K, Sidhu N, Carmalt J, Bell CD, Koehncke NK.The objective of this study was to report observed radiation safety practices among equine workers using portable X-ray units at 3 veterinary practices in Canada. Practice 1 was comprised of equine field service workers from an academic institution, whereas Practices 2 and 3 were comprised of workers from private equine referral practices. Out of 2969 exposure-worker observations, protective aprons were worn for > 99% (2968/2969), thyroid shields for 87% (2584/2969), and eyeglasses for 10% (310/2969). The cassette was held by hand for 97% (1078/1114) of observations, and the X-ray unit was ...
Ortiz-Rodríguez JM, Martín-Cano FE, Gaitskell-Phillips GL, Silva A, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Gil MC, Peña FJ.Energy metabolism in spermatozoa is complex and involves the metabolism of carbohydrate fatty acids and amino acids. The ATP produced in the electron transport chain in the mitochondria appears to be crucial for both sperm motility and maintaining viability, whereas glycolytic enzymes in the flagella may contribute to ATP production to sustain motility and velocity. Stallion spermatozoa seemingly use diverse metabolic strategies, and in this regard, a study of the metabolic proteome showed that Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways related to pyruvate metabolism and the Krebs cycle were pr...
Kosinska MK, Eichner G, Schmitz G, Liebisch G, Steinmeyer J.The current limitations in evaluating synovial fluid (SF) components in health and disease and between species are due in part to the lack of data on normal SF, because of low availability of SF from healthy articular joints. Our study aimed to quantify species-dependent differences in phospholipid (PL) profiles of normal knee SF obtained from equine and human donors. Knee SF was obtained during autopsy by arthrocentesis from 15 and 13 joint-healthy human and equine donors, respectively. PL species extracted from SF were quantitated by mass spectrometry whereas ELISA determined apolipoprotein ...
Zambrano M LA, Kilroy D, Kumar A, Gilchrist MD, Ní Annaidh A.Wormian (intrasutural) bones are small, irregular bones, that are found in the cranial sutures of the skull. The occurrence of Wormian bones in human skulls has been well documented but few studies have detected the presence of such bones in domestic animals. Although some research has linked the presence of Wormian bones to bone pathology, its anatomical significance in healthy individuals is not known. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has examined the biomechanical features of Wormian bone. This study uses microCT imaging of the parietal bone region to determine the frequency ...
Próchniak T, Kasperek K, Knaga S, Rozempolska-Rucińska I, Batkowska J, Drabik K, Ziȩba G.The aim of the study was to characterize the population structure and assess the genetic diversity of warmblood horses used in the show jumping discipline. Pedigree data of 1,048 horses participating in the Polish Championships for Young Horses were analyzed. The pedigree of these animals included 12 863 individuals. The study consisted in analysis of the pedigree structure of the horses and characterization of the homozygosity and genetic diversity in the population. It was found that pedigree completeness and depth were sufficient for reliable assessment of the genetic diversity in the analy...
Rosengren MK, Sigurðardóttir H, Eriksson S, Naboulsi R, Jouni A, Novoa-Bravo M, Albertsdóttir E, Kristjánsson Þ, Rhodin M, Viklund Å, Velie BD....The back plays a vital role in horse locomotion, where the spine functions as a spring during the stride cycle. A complex interaction between the spine and the muscles of the back contribute to locomotion soundness, gait ability, and performance of riding and racehorses. Conformation is commonly used to select horses for breeding and performance in multiple horse breeds, where the back and croup conformation plays a significant role. The conformation of back and croup plays an important role on riding ability in Icelandic horses. However, the genes behind this trait are still unknown. Therefor...
Zhang S, Li Y, Bao Z, Sun N, Lin S.In this study, the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) on apparent morphology and molecular structure of shell-like ferritin obtained from horse spleen was determined by circular dichroic (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, cold field emission scanning electron microscopy (CF-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and verified by molecule dynamics (MD) simulation. After PEF treatment, the α-helix content of the samples reached a minimum value at 10 kV/cm, which indicated that the ferritin structure has been partially unfolded. However, the α-helix content peaked ...
MacKechnie-Guire R, Fisher M, Mathie H, Kuczynska K, Fairfax V, Fisher D, Pfau T.Thermography is a non-invasive method for measuring surface temperatures and may be a convenient way of identifying hypo/hyperthermic areas under a saddle that may be related to saddle pressures. A thermal camera quantified minimum/maximum/mean temperatures at specific locations (left/right) of the thoracic region at three-time points: (1) baseline; (2) post lunging; (3) post ridden exercise in eight non-lame sports horses ridden by the same rider. A Pliance (Novel) pressure mat determined the mean/peak saddle pressures (kPa) in the cranial and caudal regions. General linear mixed models with ...
Cho HC, Hwang S, Kim EM, Park YJ, Shin SU, Jang DH, Chae JS, Choi KS. is an obligate intracellular zoonotic bacterium with a global distribution. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of in different animals and to assess the potential role of these species as reservoirs of infection and transmission to humans. A total of 592 blood samples (105 beef cattle, 61 dairy cattle, 110 Korean native goats, 83 Boer goats, and 233 horses) were collected in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The DNA was detected from blood samples using the transposon-like repetitive region () by PCR method. The results showed that 22.7% of the Korean-native goats, 16.4% of t...
Longworth KE.Pulmonary intravascular macrophages are an important part of the mononuclear phagocyte system in some species of mammals, mainly sheep and other ruminants, pigs, and horses. These cells phagocytize foreign particles, cell debris and pathogens that pass through the pulmonary circulation. Species with intravascular macrophages localize intravenously injected tracer particles and bacteria predominantly in the lung rather than the liver, and exhibit pulmonary hypertension when these cells are activated. Both in vivo and in vitro studies show that pulmonary intravascular macrophages have distinct s...
Carroll SL, Sykes BW, Mills PC.Husbandry and veterinary procedures have the potential to generate fear and stress in animals. In horses, the associated responses can pose a significant safety risk to the human personnel involved in the procedure, as well as to the animal itself. Traditionally, physical restraint, punishment, and/or threat of an aversive, have been the most common strategies used to achieve compliance from the horse. However, from a welfare perspective, this is less than ideal. This approach also has the potential for creating a more dangerous response from the horse in future similar situations. When caring...
Waran NK, Robertson V, Cí·¯ord D, Kokoszko A, Marlin DJ.The effects of transporting horses facing either forwards or backwards were compared by transporting six thoroughbred horses in pairs in a lorry on one journey facing in the direction of travel, and on another journey facing away from the direction of travel, over a standard one-hour route. Heart rate monitors were used to record their heart rate before, during and after the journey and the horses' behaviour was recorded by scan sampling each horse every other minute. The average heart rate was significantly lower (P < 0.05) when the horses were transported facing backwards, and they also t...
Lauderdale MA, Hinchcliff KW.The power:time-to-fatigue relationship for high-intensity exercise in man is useful in determining anaerobic work capacity. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of this relationship in horses. Eight Standardbred horses performed 5 or 6 run-to-fatigue trials on a treadmill. Exercise intensities were chosen to induce fatigue in 30 to 240 s. The order of trials was randomised for each horse, but balanced overall for the first 4 trials. The data for power (independent variable) and time-to-fatigue (dependent variable) were tested for goodness of fit to hyperbolic, linear and expon...
Jiang Q, Wei Y, Huang Y, Jiang H, Guo Y, Lan G, Liao J.The Debao pony (Equus caballus) is the most important local variety of domestic horses, and is strictly protected by the Chinese government. Their average adult withers height is 94.42±3.76 cm for males and 98.35±4.55 cm for females, respectively. In the present study, the complete sequence of the Debao pony mitochondrial genome was determined (GenBank Accession No. EU939445), and was found to be similar to other equine mitochondrial genomes. However, there were 85 nucleotide substitutions in the 13 protein-coding genes; the percentage of substitution was 0.8±0.1. Polymorphisms of mtDNA con...
Takahashi Y, Takahashi T, Mukai K, Ohmura H.Exercise intensity during races is considerably high. To understand how Thoroughbreds adapt to fatigue conditions, stride parameters for the first and second lap of the race (2400-m, turf) were compared. A high-speed video system was set in a right lateral position about 20 m before the finishing post, with a field view width of about 16 m. The stride frequency, the length between each limb (hind step, diagonal step, fore step, and airborne step), and stride length were measured and analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. Compared with the first lap, the mean ± standard deviation val...
Velie BD, Hamilton NA, Wade CM.Performance data for 164,046 Thoroughbreds entered in a race or official barrier trial in Australia were provided by Racing Information Services Australia. Analyses estimating the heritability for a range of racing performance traits using a single-trait animal model were performed using ASREML-R. Log of cumulative earnings (LCE; 0.19 ± 0.01), log of earnings per race start (0.23 ± 0.02) and best race distance (0.61 ± 0.03) were all significantly heritable. Fixed effects for sex were significant (P < 0.001) for all performance traits aside from LCE (P = 0.382). With the exception of annual ...
Wolfsberger WW, Ayala NM, Castro-Marquez SO, Irizarry-Negron VM, Potapchuk A, Shchubelka K, Potish L, Majeske AJ, Oliver LF, Lameiro AD....Since the first Spanish settlers brought horses to America centuries ago, several local varieties and breeds have been established in the New World. These were generally a consequence of the admixture of the different breeds arriving from Europe. In some instances, local horses have been selectively bred for specific traits, such as appearance, endurance, strength, and gait. We looked at the genetics of two breeds, the Puerto Rican Non-Purebred (PRNPB) (also known as the "Criollo") horses and the Puerto Rican Paso Fino (PRPF), from the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico. While it is reasonable ...
Kienzle E, Zeyner A.The development of a metabolizable energy (ME) system for horses is described. Predictive equations for gross energy and digestible energy (DE) are revisited. The relationship between feed protein content and renal energy losses and the relationship between feed fibre content and methane energy losses were analysed in a literature review to develop predictive equations for ME. In horses, renal energy losses are much higher than losses by methane energy. Renal energy losses were correlated more strictly to protein intake than to digestible protein intake. The reason probably is that per gram of...
Faverjon C, Leblond A, Hendrikx P, Balenghien T, de Vos CJ, Fischer EA, de Koeijer AA.African horse sickness (AHS) is a major, Culicoides-borne viral disease in equines whose introduction into Europe could have dramatic consequences. The disease is considered to be endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent introductions of other Culicoides-borne viruses (bluetongue and Schmallenberg) into northern Europe have highlighted the risk that AHS may arrive in Europe as well. The aim of our study was to provide a spatiotemporal quantitative risk model of AHS introduction into France. The study focused on two pathways of introduction: the arrival of an infectious host (PW-host) and the arri...
Constantinopol M, Jones JH, Weibel ER, Taylor CR, Lindholm A, Karas RH.Because the maximal rate of O2 consumption (VO2max) of the horse is 2.6 times larger than that of steers of equal size, we wondered whether their pulmonary gas exchanger is proportionately larger. Three Standardbred racehorses [body mass (Mb) = 447 kg] and three domestic steers (Mb = 474 kg) whose cardiovascular function at VO2max had been thoroughly studied (Jones et al. J. Appl. Physiol. 67: 862-870, 1989) were used to study their lungs by morphometry. The basic morphometric parameters were similar in both species. The nearly 2 times larger lung volumes of the horses caused the gas exchange ...
Younes M, Robert C, Cottin F, Barrey E.Nearly 50% of the horses participating in endurance events are eliminated at a veterinary examination (a vet gate). Detecting unfit horses before a health problem occurs and treatment is required is a challenge for veterinarians but is essential for improving equine welfare. We hypothesized that it would be possible to detect unfit horses earlier in the event by measuring heart rate recovery variables. Hence, the objective of the present study was to compute logistic regressions of heart rate, cardiac recovery time and average speed data recorded at the previous vet gate (n-1) and thus predict...
Grilz-Seger G, Reiter S, Neuditschko M, Wallner B, Rieder S, Leeb T, Jagannathan V, Mesarič M, Cotman M, Pausch H, Lindgren G, Velie B, Horna M....The roan coat color in horses is characterized by dispersed white hair and dark points. This phenotype segregates in a broad range of horse breeds, while the underlying genetic background is still unknown. Previous studies mapped the roan locus to the KIT gene on equine chromosome 3 (ECA3). However, this association could not be validated across different horse breeds. Performing a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) in Noriker horses, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (ECA3:g.79,543.439 A > G) in the intron 17 of the KIT gene. The G -allele of the top associated SNP...
Almeida J, Conley AJ, Mathewson L, Ball BA.Sertoli cells are essential in development of a functional testis. During puberty, Sertoli cell maturation can be characterized by a number of markers, including anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and its receptor (AMHR2), androgen receptor (AR), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKN1B), and connexin 43 (Cx43). In the present study, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to characterize changes in expression of AMH, AMHR2, AR, CDKN1B, and Cx43 in prepubertal, postpubertal, and adult equine testes. During puberty, AMH expression decrease...
Sadek MH, Al-Aboud AZ, Ashmawy AA.Data of 13 body measurements have been analysed from 166 Arabian horses, 123 mares and 43 stallions, ranging from 49 to 298 months of age, belonging to Alzahraa stud, Cairo, Egypt. General linear model was used to study age and gender effects on these measures. Gender was a significant source of variation for most studied traits, but not for neck girth, cannon bone circumference of fore and hind legs, and pastern girth of fore and hind legs. Age significantly affected pastern girths of fore and hind legs and cannon bone circumference of fore legs, while there was no significant effect on the o...
Catalán J, Yánez-Ortiz I, Tvarijonaviciute A, González-Arostegui LG, Rubio CP, Yeste M, Miró J, Barranco I.This study investigated whether the activities of the antioxidant components of donkey seminal plasma (SP)-both enzymatic (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase-like (CAT), glutathione peroxidase-like (GPX), and paraoxonase type 1 (PON1)) and non-enzymatic (measured in terms of total thiol, copper-reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC))-and oxidative stress index (OSI) are related to sperm cryotolerance. For this purpose, 15 ejaculates from jackasses (one per individual) were collected and split into tw...
Rovere G, Ducro BJ, van Arendonk JA, Norberg E, Madsen P.Most Warmblood horse studbooks aim to improve the performance in dressage and show jumping. The Dutch Royal Warmblood Studbook (KWPN) includes the highest score achieved in competition by a horse to evaluate its genetic ability of performance. However, the records collected during competition are associated with some aspects that might affect the quality of the genetic evaluation based on these records. These aspects include the influence of rider, censoring and preselection of the data. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of rider effect, censoring and preselection on the genetic...
Ronéus M, Lindholm A, Asheim A.Muscle biopsies were taken from the middle gluteal muscle in 163 healthy Thoroughbreds aged one to six years. The horses were separated according to sex and divided into four different age groups (one, two, three and four to six years). Muscle biopsies were analysed for fibre type (I, IIA and IIB), and the enzyme activities of citrate synthase, 3-OH-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and hexokinase were measured. The percentage of Type I fibres of all horses increased with age, irrespective of sex (from 9 to 16 per cent). The percentage of Type IIA fibres varied with age and sex, in...
Thompson GM, Jess S, Murchie AK.African horse sickness is an economically highly important non-contagious but infectious Orbivirus disease that is transmitted by various species of Culicoides midges. The equids most severely affected by the virus are horses, ponies, and European donkeys; mules are somewhat less susceptible, and African donkeys and zebra are refractory to the devastating consequences of infection. In recent years, Bluetongue virus, an Orbivirus similar to African horse sickness, which also utilises Culicoides spp. as its vector, has drastically increased its range into previously unaffected regions in norther...
Reissmann M, Musa L, Zakizadeh S, Ludwig A.Considering the hidden mode of inheritance of some coat-color-associated alleles, we investigated the presence/absence of coat-color-associated alleles in 1093 domestic horses of 55 breeds and 20 specimens of Przewalski's horse. For coat-color genotyping, allele specific PCR, pyrosequencing and Li-Cor analyses were conducted on 12 coat-color-associated alleles of five genes. Our data provide deep insight into the distribution of coat-color-associated alleles within breeds. We found that the alleles for the basic colorations (bay, black, and chestnut) are widely distributed and occur in nearly ...
Liu MA.Gene-based vaccines are under development for a broad variety of applications, ranging from vaccines to immunotherapies for infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmune diseases and allergy. In addition, following the licensing of DNA vaccines for use in fish and horses, and DNA immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer in dogs, several veterinary uses of vaccines have been demonstrated for species ranging from fish and shrimp to cattle and horses. A variety of publications describing preclinical and clinical studies of the technologies used to increase the potency of gene-based vaccines, and resea...
Kakoi H, Kikuchi M, Tozaki T, Hirota KI, Nagata SI, Hobo S, Takasu M.The distribution of Y chromosomal haplotypes in Japanese native horse populations was investigated to obtain genetic information on these populations. Here, 159 male/gelded horses from eight local populations were investigated, and three Y haplotypes (JHT-1, JHT-2, and JHT-3) were identified by analyzing five Y-linked loci. Five populations had only JHT-1, whereas two populations had only JHT-2. One population had JHT-1 and JHT-3. Based on the geographical distribution of these haplotypes and previously reported haplotypes for other Asian horses, JHT-1 is considered to be a major haplotype in ...
Gambini A, Maserati M.Interest in equine somatic cell nuclear transfer technology has increased significantly since the first equid clones were produced in 2003. This is demonstrated by the multiple commercial equine cloning companies having produced numerous cloned equids to date; worldwide, more than 370 cloned horses have been produced in at least six different countries. Equine cloning can be performed using several different approaches, each with different rates of success. In this review we cover the history and applications of equine cloning and summarise the major scientific advances in the development of t...
Sankey C, Henry S, Górecka-Bruzda A, Richard-Yris MA, Hausberger M.How do we bond to one another? While in some species, like humans, physical contact plays a role in the process of attachment, it has been suggested that tactile contact's value may greatly differ according to the species considered. Nevertheless, grooming is often considered as a pleasurable experience for domestic animals, even though scientific data is lacking. On another hand, food seems to be involved in the creation of most relationships in a variety of species. Results: In this study, we used the horse training context to test the effects of food versus grooming during repeated human-ho...
Fazio F, Gugliandolo E, Nava V, Piccione G, Giannetto C, Licata P.The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels and the potential bioaccumulation of vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and bismuth (Bi) in horses from the industrial risk area of Sicily (Italy). Different biological substrates (whole blood, serum; tail and mane) and samples of hay, concentrate and water provided to the horses were processed by means of Thermo Scientific iCAP-Q ICP-MS spectrometer for mineral concentration. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to show the differences in various trace elements in the bio...
Duru S.The aim of this study was to evaluate genetic variability in the Turkish Arab horse population using pedigree information. This study is the first detailed pedigree analysis of the breed in Turkey. Pedigree data were collected from the National Studbook. The pedigree data for 23 668 horses, born between 1904 and 2014, were used in the analysis. From this data set, a reference population (RP) of 14 838 animals symbolising the last generation was defined. Demographic parameters, the inbreeding level (F), the average relatedness (AR), the effective population size (N e), the effective number of f...
Bartolomé E, Menéndez-Buxadera A, Molina A, Valera M.To obtain a sport horse that excels in the highest levels of competition, breeders must take into account certain genetic and environmental factors that could influence the sport horse's performance, such as the rider-horse interaction (RHI). The main aim of this study was to describe this interaction in a genetic model by modelling it in relation to the horse's age. A total of 31,129 sport results from Spanish Sport Horses were used from a total of 1,101 animals evaluated, and these were grouped in three age levels and had been ridden by 606 different riders. Only riders who had ridden more t...
Smith AW, Vedros NA, Akers TG, Gilmartin WG.In a 5-year study (1972-1977) of microbial agents isolated from both clinically normal and diseased marine mammals, it was shown that certain disease agents are widespread in a diversity of ocean populations and that some are also transmissible to a number of terrestrial mammal species. Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona has been isolated repeatedly from 2 species of pinnipeds (Zalophus californianus califonianus and Callorhinus ursinus). Some of the more important bacterial pathogens for land mammals that were isolated from wild marine mammals are Pseudomonas mallei, Clostridium chauvoei, ...
The Journal of heredityNovember 5, 1997
Volume 88, Issue 5 355-357 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a023117
Short RV.Haldane's law states that in interspecific hybrids, it is the heterogametic sex that is likely to be absent, rare, or sterile. In mammals, there is increasing evidence to suggest that this may be due to the high mutation rate of male sex-determining genes on the Y chromosome. The mule, humanity's first successful attempt at genetic engineering, provides some support for this concept. Interspecific hybrids may also shed new light on the importance of the maternal transmission of mitochondrial DNA and the phenomenon of genomic imprinting.
