Clinical Research Abstracts of the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress 2015.

This research discusses the impact of factors such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, and time of day on thermography readings of horses. Furthermore, the study delves into potential differences between the readings taken from the horse’s left and right sides.

Research Objective

– The objective of the study was to investigate whether the time of day, ambient temperature and relative humidity influence thermography readings of horses.
– The researchers hypothesized that these factors do impact the measurements and that there would be no significant difference between readings taken from the left and right sides of a horse.

Research Methodology

– The research involved repeated thermography on fifteen healthy horses at three different time points during a single day: 08.00, 12.00, and 16.00 hours.
– Thermal images of several regions of the horse’s body, including the neck, carpus, distolateral thoracic limbs, thoracolumbar, pelvis, hock, and pelvic limb tendons, were taken.
– The relative humidity and ambient temperature for each imaging session were recorded.

Research Findings

– The data showed significant differences in temperature readings across the three timepoints in all the areas imaged.
– The ambient temperature and relative humidity were found to correlate with thermography readings in the caudal imaging areas of the horses, but not in all cranial areas.
– Only two regions, the minimum values in the carpus and thoracic tendon areas recorded in the morning session, showed a significant difference between the left and right sides of the horse at the same time of day.

Research Conclusion

– The research concluded that the time of day, ambient temperature, and relative humidity must all be taken into consideration when using infrared imaging.
– While the study found minimal difference between the left and right sides of the horse, these variations can occur and should be taken into account when analyzing pathological asymmetry.

Ethical Considerations and Funding

– The research was conducted under ethical approval granted by the Royal Veterinary College Ethics and Welfare committee.
– The project was funded by the Royal Veterinary College as part of the first and second authors’ final year research project. There were no touching competing interests in this research.