BACKGROUND The climatic and cultural diversity of the Italian Peninsula triggered, over time, the development of a great variety of horse breeds, whose origin and history are still unclear. To clarify this issue, analyses on phenotypic traits and genealogical data were recently coupled with molecular screening. METHODOLOGY To provide a comprehensive overview of the horse genetic variability i...

We compared the genetic diversity and distance among six German draught horse breeds to wild (Przewalski's Horse), primitive (Icelandic Horse, Sorraia Horse, Exmoor Pony) or riding horse breeds (Hanoverian Warmblood, Arabian) by means of genotypic information from 30 microsatellite loci. The draught horse breeds included the South German Coldblood, Rhenish German Draught Horse, Mecklenburg Cold...

Giardia duodenalis is globally recognized as an important zoonotic intestinal protozoan parasite. So far, eight assemblages of G. duodenalis (A-H) have been identified. Substantial evidence suggests the zoonotic potential of assemblages A, B, and E in livestock. In this study, the genotype of Giardia duodenalis isolates was genetically identified by determining the sequence of ssu-rRNA gene and...

Artificial Insemination (AI) involves the introduction of sperm into the reproductive tract of the mare without natural mating. AI in the horse was first practiced long ago. Ancient Arabian texts describe how mares were successfully inseminated. In the late 18th Century, an Italian scientist took the idea up again. He performed a series of studies in which he placed stallion semen in the snow a...

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between race horse breed and the frequency of limb injuries through the time of training and racing. The study population consisted of 4042 Thoroughbred and 2553 Arabian horses raced at Warsaw race Track, from 2000 to 2008. Among these horses, 94 Thoroughbreds and 32 Arabians had different limb injuries. Based on the achieved results, it is possi...

Equine guttural pouch tympany (GPT) is a hereditary condition affecting foals in their first months of life. Complex segregation analyses in Arabian and German warmblood horses showed the involvement of a major gene as very likely. Genome-wide linkage and association analyses including a high density marker set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were performed to map the genomic region h...

In human beings a striking loss of pigment may occur in the skin and hair surrounding normal nevi, the primary sites of melanomas, cutaneous nodules of metastatic melanoma, and over the surface in the form of vitiligo in those with melanomas. It is generally assumed that vitiliginous changes are associated with .he local destruction of normal melanocytes on either an autoimmune or cytotoxic bas...

The existence of the Hucul horse on Romanian territory has been documented from the very distant past; today Hucul is a unique breed that is part of the FAO Program for the Preservation of Animal Genetic Resources. We compared Hucul with several primitive European and Asiatic breeds in order to elucidate the origin of these horses. We analyzed a 683-bp mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop fra...

A 3-year-old Arabian colt was presented for a major gingiva wound at the right rostral part of mandible. After clinical assessments, rostral mandibular fracture was determined. Stabilization of fractured region was achieved via cerclage wire application under general anesthesia. Fixation wires were left in place for 6 weeks. A 3 -month follow up revealed complete fracture healing. The purpose o...