Iron-deficiency anemia in horses is rare, but it does happen. Most horses get sufficient amounts of iron in their diet from hay, pasture, and commercial feeds. An average horse needs 400 to 500 mg of iron per 500 kg of body weight, reports Dr. Gulsah Kaya Karasu of AGG Equine Nutrition Consulting in EQUUS magazine. 

Horses may end up with anemia because of blood loss (causes may include an injury, cancer, or ulcers), reduced blood cell production, or blood cell destruction. 

Some infections, like equine infectious anemia, can lead to red blood cell destruction, as can a heavy worm burden, particularly large strongyles. Chronic kidney disease, cancer, and a few other disorders can prevent a horse from making adequate red blood cells.

An anemic horse will have pale mucous membranes and an increased heart rate, in addition to being sluggish. Adding additional iron to the affected horse's diet isn't recommended as excessive iron can lead to depression, diarrhea, and compromised immune function. It can also interfere with the body's ability to absorb other minerals and increase the risk of a horse becoming insulin resistant. 

Iron-related anemia is rare in horses, so a thorough investigation by a vet is recommended for diagnosis.

Read more at EQUUS. 

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Cattle and horses have traditionally lived together and were familiar with each other. In many modern operations however, most cattle and horses live separately, so they very rarely encounter one another. Horses kept in suburban areas may go their whole lives without exposure to bovines or other hooved animals. 

When horses that are not used to cows are exposed to one outside of their familiar barn, they may act fearful and try to avoid the cow. The research team from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, the University of Chester in England, and the Polish Academy of Sciences created a study to determine if horses were more fearful of cows than other novel objects. 

They created an experiment using 20 healthy riding horses; they put each horse individually in an arena familiar to them and exposed them to two different cows tethered in the space and a box on wheels. They also exposed them to nothing so they had a control. 

The arena was marked off in sections, with section one being closest to the cow and section three being furthest away. The researchers then measured how much time the horses spent at different distances from the cow, as well as the horse's heart rate. The horse's reactions were also recorded. 

Two months later, each horse was led either toward one of the cows or toward the box. The horse's heart rate was monitored. While loose, the horses avoided the area closest to the cow and the box; horses that were led became more fearful the closer they got to the cow and the box.

The results showed that the horses were as afraid or more afraid of the cow than a box. The scientists say this reaction suggests that the horse's fear of novel objects may also be a part of a horse's fear of unfamiliar species.

The team concludes that as prey animals, horses are sensitive to unknown and frightening stimuli, and they often act in fear despite years of domestication and selection against fearful behavior. This instinct to avoid fearful objects, living or not, may be exacerbated when the horse is restrained (in this case led toward the object). They also concluded that with handler support, trained horses can be easily habituated to objects they once found scary.

Read the full study here. 

Read more at HorseTalk. 

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During the last seven days of the study period, researchers recorded body condition score and weight, and percentage of body fat was estimated with an ultrasound. Each horse was then given an exercise test on a treadmill and a field test that mimicked a competition, which was scored by judges. Blood samples were taken, as well as heart rate, temperature and respiratory rate.

On the treadmill test, the horses that had gained weight had a higher heart rate and temperature, and heavier respiration. Blood tests showed that heavier horses had lower physiological fitness.

The team also found that overweight horses showed a marked gait asymmetry compared with leaner horses, as was shown both by sensors placed on the horses while they moved. The heavier horses moved most asymmetrically on the day after their field test.

Judges overseeing the field test also scored heavier horses lower than their leaner counterparts, suggesting that weight affects performance.

The authors conclude that higher body fat and body weight lowers equine performance, made horses move more unevenly, and delayed their recovery from exercise.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Drs. Iwona Janczarek, Anna Stachurska, Izabela Wilk, Anna Wiśniewska, Monika Różańska-Boczula, Beata Kaczmarek, Witold Kędzierski and Jarosław Łuszczyński created a study to test horses' preference for shade, sun or a mist curtain, which offers immediate cooling capabilities.

The team used 12 Warmbloods that were normally kept in stalls for the study. They turned out each horse for 45 minutes on a sandy paddock on a day when temperatures were between 84 and 89 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity was 42 percent. Almost half the paddock was covered in shade and there was a mist curtain in one corner.

The research team monitored heart variables to determine if the horses' behavior or emotional states were affected when they stood in different areas of the paddock. The scientists found that the horses had no strong preference on the amount of time spent in a particular area.

The horses showed slightly heightened relaxation when standing under the mist curtain, but they displayed similar levels of emotional arousal in all three areas. They showed no signs of overheating when standing in the sun.

The team suggests that additional studies be completed that focus on longer periods of turnout. The ability to choose between sun and shade may be crucial for maintaining body temperature, so the provision of shade for equine welfare is reasonable, they conclude.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Proper athletic conditioning can increase the actual size of the heart, which is a factor in cardiac output. Cardiac output is a combination of heart rate and stroke volume. The more blood that pumps through the heart, the more oxygen arrives at the muscles. 

A horse that has been trained properly will have healthy lungs, which can take in more oxygen. The oxygen is then carried by the blood and distributed to the muscles. Called maximum oxygen uptake, this process provides power for a longer time. If all other equine systems are in order, the horse's performance level is directly related to maximal oxygen uptake, which can increase by 35 times between rest and intensive exercise.

Athletic conditioning also affects the spleen, which acts as a filter for blood and a blood storage area. Correct training increases the spleen's capacity to hold blood. It also makes the spleen more efficient at contracting during exercise, which forces more blood cells into circulation. 

Proper training also enlarges the capillary network within muscles, allowing more blood to be delivered in a shorter amount of time.   

Read more at AQHA. 

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Drs. Elena Alberti, Luca Stucchi, Valeria Pesce, Giovanni Stancari, Elisabetta Ferro, Francesco Ferrucci and Enrica Zucca, all with the University of Milan in Italy, have found that the hand-held tool is useful, practical and feasible to use.

Previously, the AliveCor Veterinary Heart Monitor had only been evaluated by its use on horses in an equine hospital; the scientific team set out to determine if the tool would be accurate when used in the field as conditions are less stable than in a hospital. The scientists created a study to compare the accuracy of smartphone-based ECGs that were recorded by the AliveCor Veterinary Heart Monitor and a standard ECG unit.

ECGs from both were recorded at the same time on both horses in a barn and horses in an equine hospital. The ECGs recorded on a smartphone were digitized by the device and emailed as a PDF; both sets were then analyzed on a laptop by an experienced clinician who didn't know which ECG was recorded by which device.

Both devices recorded the heart rate and rhythm similarly; they also evaluated atrioventricular block and premature complexes, P wave and PQ interval duration, and QRS complex duration and polarity the same. There were no differences between artefacts recorded in the hospital or in the field.

The scientists concluded that the results the AliveCor Veterinary Heart Monitor provided were accurate and that the smartphone-based monitor was a reliable diagnostic tool for vets in the field as well and in a hospital setting. They did, however, note that exceptional atmospheric conditions, like lightning storms, may prevent the AliveCor from recording in the field.

Read the article here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Drs. Chiara Scopa, Alberto Greco, Laura Contalbrigo, Elisabetta Fratini, Antonio Lanatà, Enzo Pasquale Scilingo and Paolo Baragli noted that horses can determine if a person is familiar or unfamiliar by both vocal and visual cues. Horses are most likely to engage with someone who is familiar to them; they form long-lasting memories of these people and can recognize them long after their last encounter.

Horses then classify humans based off the interactions they have as either positive, negative or neutral. The research team noted that though the human-horse relationship has been investigated though behavioral analysis, they recommended that physiological indicators be considered for an objective assessment of emotional responses.

They hypothesized that long-term, positive relationships with humans would impact a horse's emotion regulation. The team looked specifically at heart rate variability of 23 healthy horses when they interacted with both familiar and unfamiliar handlers.

The team used 22 people, 12 of them familiar to the horses and 10 unfamiliar people. A baseline heart rate was taken before each person entered the stall and stood near the door for five minutes. The horse could see and smell the person, but could move around. The person then groomed the horse for 2.5 minutes on each side.

The researchers found that the horses appeared more relaxed while physically interacting with familiar handlers; this was especially noticeable during right-side grooming. They concluded that repeated positive interactions with a person are probable triggers for positive emotions during interactions with the same person.

Read the study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Drs. Janne Winther Christensen, Carina Beblein and Jens Malmkvist note that horses will always face situations that can scare them, but through habituation and breeding for a calm demeanor, they can be trained to not flee.

Horses that are scared cause accidents; the researchers note that everyone involved with horses, from those who breed to those who play sports and teach others how to ride, have a responsibility to try to reduce accidents. They also report that it is unethical to breed fearful animals as it has a negative impact on animal welfare.

However, to study equine fearfulness, the same group of horses need to be kept in the identical management situations for the first three or four years of their lives, which is unusual. Winther Christensen and her team followed 25 Warmblood stallions from five months to 3.5 years of age; they were kept as a group with limited human handling.

The researchers reported that foals on their dams' side showed distinct differences in how they approached novel items. Some foals hurried back to their mothers when they saw a scary object while others approached and investigated it. Heart rate monitors showed that the foals that hurried back to their mothers had higher heart rates than the more-inquisitive foals.

Tested again as 3-year-olds, the same horses had similar reactions; overall, the horses that were more alert to the object had more pronounced fear reactions. The team determined that a foal's expression of alertness can help predict later behavior. Fearfulness is consistent across ages, which is helpful to know to ensure proper training and handling of the most-fearful horses. Additionally, if breeders were to breed only calm horses, after a few generations the population would generally become less fearful.

Read more at Horses and People.

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Drs. Iwona Janczarek, Anna Stachurska, Witold Kędzierski, Anna Wiśniewska, Magdalena Ryżak and Agata Kozioł used 19 Polish horses in the study and concluded that the horses reacted more strongly to the growl of a leopard than the howl of a wolf, though they were unfamiliar with either predator. The scientists report that this may indicate that the horse is more afraid of a sound from an unknown predator that one known to their ancestors. The behavioral responses of the horses were less distinct then the physiological changes, the team noted.

The horses used in the study were between 6 and 10 years old; they were divided into three groups based on the amount of Thoroughbred in their pedigree: Six horses were 75 percent Thoroughbred; seven were half-Thoroughbred; and six were 25 percent Thoroughbred.

Individually, the horses listened to recordings of the gray wolf howling and a leopard growling for five minutes. The study team monitored salivary cortisol levels of the horses 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the conclusion of the vocalizations. Each horse's heart rate was continually monitored through the test.

The study team hypothesized that the horses with more Thoroughbred in their breeding would react more strongly to the vocalizations since Thoroughbreds are known for their sensitivity. They were correct: the horses with more Thoroughbreds in their pedigree had stronger internal reaction to the predator's vocalizations. This suggests that the response is partially genetically coded and that the horses were more interested in the sounds rather than frightened by them.

This may also indicate that horses that are handled and trained by humans may be able to manage their emotions. Domesticated animals may not be able to coexist with predators like wolves being reintroduced into their environment and care should be taken to protect them.

Read the article here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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They discovered that foal weight was approximately 10 percent of mare weight, no matter the size of the mare. Placenta weight was highest in Warmbloods; it did not differ between the small- and medium-sized mares. Progestins and cortisol were also highest in the larger mares. Progestin concentrations decreased as foaling got closer and cortisol increased as parturition was imminent in all sizes of horse studied.

Heart rates in all mares increased before foaling, but the most pronounced increase was in the small mares. Overall, the small mares foaled earlier than the larger mares.

Missed heartbeats during foaling occurred regularly in the larger mares, but only occasionally in the small- and medium-sized mares. The scientists report that this is most likely because of differences in heart efficiency. Small- and medium-sized mares occasionally had missed beats during the expulsive phase of foaling and the first two hours after delivery. The researchers suggest that this is an effect of breed, not size.

The team concludes that fit, athletic horses have highly efficient respiratory and cardiovascular systems; while at rest, these horses have reduced heart rates. Fetal heart rate also went down toward birth, with the most prominent reduction in full-sized horses.

The authors determined that mare of different sizes show both similarities and differences in cardiac and endocrine changes as the time for them to give birth nears. They note that late pregnancy puts substantial strain on the mare's cardiovascular system, but that mares are well adapted to these demands, no matter their size.

Read the full article here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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