The effect of early moderate exercise on articular cartilage and subchondral bone were investigated by comparing two groups of age and sex matched, pasture reared, 1 8 month old (± one month) Thoroughbred horses. The treatment group (n=6, 3 colts, 3 fil l ies) were exercised five days per week from I 0 days of age on a purpose-built grass racetrack. The control group were managed ident ical ly ...

In horses, the exercise-induced elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) is thought to play a deterministic role in exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), and thus treatment designed to lower Ppa might reasonably be expected to reduce EIPH. Five Thoroughbred horses were run on a treadmill to volitional fatigue (incremental step test) under nitric oxide (NO; inhaled 80 ppm) and cont...

Wastage is the term used to describe the phenomenon of the loss of racehorses from conception to adulthood due to death or injuries (i.e. they never reach a race-track), or the days lost by racehorses due to not training or being withdrawn from a race. This epizoological study was conducted to investigate wastage in Thoroughbred horses used for flat racing in the Gauteng Province of South Afric...

The effectiveness of commonly used parasiticides decreases due to the drug resistance developed by many organisms. Therefore, application feed additives possessing antiparasitic properties may be helpful in limiting burden parasites. aim this research was evaluate parasitological coefficients for endoparasites regularly dewormed Arabian horses and Thoroughbreds, fed on a basal diet oat muesli w...

The objective was to describe the incidence of failure to finish a race in flat-racing Thoroughbreds in New Zealand as these are summary indicators of falls, injuries and poor performance. Retrospective data on six complete flat racing seasons (n = 188,615 race starts) of all Thoroughbred flat race starts from 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2011 were obtained. The incidence of failure to finish event...

Chromium has been recognized as an essential nutrient in humans for many years (Mertz, 1992). Though chromium may well be involved in other physiological processes, at present its only known role is as a component of glucose tolerance factor (GTF) which potentiates the action of insulin. Therefore, it is involved in carbohydrate metabolism and other insulin dependent processes such as protein a...

Many physiological processes of domestic animals exhibit daily rhythmicity. The goal of the present study was to investigate, in horses, the existence of the daily rhythms of some haematological parameters: red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentra...

Genes within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encode proteins involved in innate and adaptive immune responses. Genetic variation in this region can influence the immune response of an individual animal to challenges from a variety of pathogens; however, a complete documentation of genetic variation in the MHC is lacking for most domestic animals, including horses. To provide addition...

In the first four decades of the twentieth century, horse racing was one of America’s most popular spectator sports. Members of America’s elite took to breeding and racing horses as one of their preferred pastimes. Coinciding with an increase in immigration and the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, the idea that careful breeding of thoroughbreds would result in improved horses resonated with A...

Manohar, Murli, and Thomas E. Goetz. Intrapulmonary arteriovenous shunts of 15 m in diameter probably do not contribute to arterial hypoxemia in maximally exercising Thoroughbred horses. J Appl Physiol 99: 224–229, 2005. First published March 17, 2005; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01230.2004.—The present study examined whether Thoroughbred horses performing strenuous exercise exhibit intrapulmonary...