Equine
Scoring system finds lameness in horses considered sound by their owners
Low grade lameness in ridden horses is more common than recognised by owners. A previous UK study of 506 sports horses in full work and presumed to be non‐lame found that 47% were lame or had other pain‐related gait a...
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No Foot, No Horse? Are low heels associated with hind limb lameness?
Low heels are the most common abnormal hoof conformation seen in both the front and hind feet of horses. This conformation causes a ‘broken‐back’ hoof‐pastern axis and hyperextension of the distal interphalangeal (cof...
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Assessment of injury risk in high level eventing horses
In human sport science, the acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) is used to monitor an athlete’s preparedness for competition and to assess risk of injury. Researchers in the Netherlands have conducted a study investig...
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New recording technique to detect a difficult-to-diagnose equine heart condition
Use of a new electrocardiogram (ECG) technique to detect an abnormal heart rhythm called paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) has been described in Nature Scientific Reports (Alexeenko et al., 2020). PAF causes rapid,...
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Sweet-Itch, Equine Asthma & The Gastrointestinal Tract
A large component of immunity is linked to what is going on within the gastrointestinal tract and a large amount of the body’s immune cells reside within the gastrointestinal tract (Vighi et al. 2008). The gut microbi...
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Could you be allergic to your Horse?
We are used to hearing about people who are allergic to cats and dogs but possibly less familiar with hearing about people who are allergic to horses. Perhaps 15 years ago Horse and Hound ran an April Fool’s day spoof...
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Your horses’ ECG and heart rate on your mobile phone!
There was a time when a horses’ ECG would be studied in specialist clinics only with the horse standing attached to a large piece of equipment like the one featured (1) (rescued from a skip at the Animal Health Trust ...
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Latest research into heart rates of horses during cross-country in eventing
A horses’ heart rate (the number of times its beat per minute) tells us how hard it working. The harder the horse works the higher the heart rate. It’s the equivalent of the rev counter in a car which tells us how har...
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Would you like ice with that? Whole-body cryotherapy for horses!
The application of ice or snow or very cold water or packs containing cooling gels which have been cooled in freezers to relieve inflammation, pain and swelling is a commonly used first-aid technique for both people a...
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Feeding chromium increases insulin sensitivity in horses
Insulin insensitivity or insulin resistance is a common feature of both equine Cushing’s disease (Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction – PPID) and equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). Insulin insensitivity leads to a num...
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Let’s Talk About Sex!
Preconceived versus Actual Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares
Horse trainers, owners and riders may have preconceived ideas about horse behaviour, temperament and rideability, based solely on the sex o...
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Does Conditioning Equine Athletes on Water Treadmills Improve Fitness?
Equine water treadmills were initially designed for rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries but are now also widely used for conditioning sport horses. High-intensity exercise is important in improving fitness in h...
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