Ocular abnormalities in a herd of Old Kladruber Horses: A cross-sectional study.

The research article presents the findings of a study that investigated the prevalence of eye disorders in a herd of Old Kladruber Horses, finding that ocular disorders were quite common, but they were not usually a threat to the vision of the horses and didn’t affect their quality of life.

Overview of the Research

• The study was conducted on a herd of 261 Old Kladruber Horses (OKH), including 122 Old Kladruber Gray Horses and 139 Old Kladruber Black Horses. These horses are owned by the National Stud Farm Kladruby nad Labem in the Czech Republic.
• The horses were manually restrained and their eyes were examined in a dark environment by a single expert. The equipment used consisted of a portable slit-lamp biomicroscope, direct ophthalmoscope, and monocular indirect ophthalmoscopy using a Finnoff transilluminator and 20 D condensing lens. When it was deemed necessary, fluorescein testing was also performed.

Findings of the Study

• Of the total horse population, they found that 133 horses, or slightly over half of the herd, demonstrated some forms of ocular abnormalities, with no preference for one eye over the other.
• Amongst the abnormalities identified, the most prevalent were cataract formation, hyperpigmentation of the iris, changes in the size of the corpora nigra, and nonsenile vitreal degeneration. Additionally, a few cases of linear keratopathy, corneal stromal haze, and corneal subepithelial punctate opacities were also observed.
• On the other hand, there were certain anatomical variations that were normal to these horses: posterior lenticular suture lines, tapetal hypoplasia resulting in a multicolored tapetum, nuclear sclerosis, and senile vitreal degeneration.

Conclusion

• The research concluded that while ocular disorders were fairly common in Old Kladruber Horses, these conditions typically did not compromise their vision or interfere with their quality of life.