Cooling exercised or overheated equines is critical to avoid heat-related illnesses. Applying water is effective for cooling horses1,2, and a hose is commonly used to continuously apply water.  However, running water from a hose is not always accessible and a bucket of water and sponge may be a suitable alternative for applying water in these […]

Rectal temperature is the most common method used to measure body temperature in horses post-exercise. Recently, percutaneous thermal-sensing microchips (PTSM) have been used to measure temperature in the pectoral (PECT) and middle gluteal (GLUT) muscles of horses before, during, and after exercise1,2,3. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of hosing or […]

In combination with exercise, nutrition is an essential component of managing horses with myopathies. The optimal feeding program for an individual horse is tailored to the diagnosis of a specific underlying myopathy. The key points of this article include: Horses with exertional rhabdomyolysis caused by types 1 and 2 polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM1 and PSSM2-ER) […]

An optimal equine blood fatty acid (FA) profile has not been defined, nor has a general baseline profile been established. Further, there is little information on the clearance rate of FAs in plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) after supplementation ends. Data from 4 studies were compiled to evaluate the baseline FA profile in horses […]

Haylage is often fed to horses around the world and may be an appealing forage choice for certain horses due to its low dust content and lower NSC content when compared with hay of comparable species and maturity. The objective of this study was to determine if there were differences in digestibility and glycemic response […]

The omega-6 fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) has received considerable research attention in other species for its anti-inflammatory properties, largely attributed to the conversion of dietary GLA to dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA). However, there is little to no published research on supplementing GLA to horses. The objective of this study was to determine how varied levels […]

Forty years ago, Henneke and coworkers developed a body condition score (BCS) system for horses that is widely used today. This system applies a score of 1 to an emaciated horse and a score of 9 to an extremely obese horse. The system was originally designed to measure BCS in Quarter Horse broodmares, but it […]

Kentucky (KY), United Kingdom (UK), and Australia (AUS) are major breeding regions for Thoroughbreds. Birth weights (BW) are commonly measured in each region and are perceived as important parameters for assessing foal health and future athletic ability. This study was conducted to evaluate how foal BW is affected by gender, mare age, parity, month of […]

Omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs are essential nutrients for horses. SC-PUFAs (<20 carbon) include α-linolenic acid (ALA, n3), linoleic acid (LA, n6), and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA, n6), while LC-PUFAs (≥20 carbon) include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, n3), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, n3), dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA, n6), and arachidonic acid (AA, n6). Eicosanoids produced from AA tend to be […]

Horses have a slow rate of muscle glycogen repletion relative to other species for unknown reasons. Our aim was to determine the expression of glucose transporters (GLUT) and genes impacting GLUT4 expression and translocation in the gluteal muscle. Five fit Thoroughbred horses performed glycogen-depleting exercises on high-starch (HS, 2869 g starch/day) and low-starch, highfat diets […]