The interest in horses and equestrian sport is constantly increasing, and so is the will in both riders and trainers to learn more about the effect the rider and its equipment have on the horse. The last twenty years, more and more studies have been performed were the horse and its kinematics have been in focus. The access to more advanced technology has made it possible to study areas, which earlier have been hard to reach. The knowledge about kinematics in the horse, and how riders and their equipment interact with the horse?s movement, is also of great interest to veterinarians in equine practice.

Thermography is the assesment of the surface temperature of the horses body and it falls into the categori of physiological imaging. Thermography allows us to portray inflammation and changes in sympathetic tone in a graphical manner. The purpose of this study was to review thermography in equine medicine and to evaluate thermography as an aid in the diagnosis of lamness in horses. Thermography has been helpful to identyfy sprains, stress fractures, shin splints and soft tissue, tendon, ligamentous and nerv injuries and to monitor healing processes during rehabilitation. Routine thermography may reveal inflammatory responses prior to clinical signs. In present study thermograpy gave especially valuabel information in two cases. In one horse reduced blood flow in a. saphena due to a thrombosis were visualised and in the other horse bilateral thoracolumbal radiculopati was diagnosed.

A method for equine intra oral radiology has been tested. In the study, both a digital system with an intraoral sensor connected to a laptop and a system utilizing image plates and digital developing was tested, initially on cadaver sculls and finally on sedated horses. The digital sensor was not considered viable for this purpose, while the system with image plates and digital developing worked very well. Two different techniques, i.e. parallel and bisectris, are suggested for the best visualization of different parts of the teeth. Intra carious injections of Mixobar oesophaghus contrast fluid was found useful when evaluating the extent of carious lesions. Compared to extra oral radiology, the new method had several advantages and can be used both in clinic and field practices..

Följande litteraturstudie sammanställer information från sex rapporter om hästar med kolik orsakad av spolmask. Särskild tyngdpunkt är ägnad förekomsten av spolmaskassocierad kolik, predilektionsområde för obstruktionen, riskgrupp, riskperiod samt avmaskning i samband med kolikfallen. Detta ämne är synnerligen aktuellt då avmaskningsmedel numera är receptbelagt och en alltmer utbredd läkemedelsresistens mot anthelmintika förekommer. Riskperioden då flest kolikfall inträffar är under hösten och riskåldern är cirka fem månader. Majoriteten av hästarna är avmaskade med ett paralyserande anthemintikum en till fem dagar innan koliken.

Syftet med detta arbete var att redogöra för hur EHV-1 orsakar abort hos dräktiga ston samt patogenes och egenskaper hos viruset som leder fram till abort. Ekvint herpesvirus typ 1(EHV-1) är ett ?-herpesvirus som finns över hela världen och kan orsaka tre olika typer av sjukdomar hos häst: Respiratorisk sjukdom, neurologisk sjukdom och abort. EHV-1 överförs främst genom inandning av aerosoler från infekterad häst och orsakar först luftvägssjukdom och viremi. Viruset bildar sedan latens, främst i lymfknutor nära de övre luftvägarna samt i trigeminala ganglier.

The use of a bit in the mouth of a horse is being increasingly questioned with respect to its actual function, and is sometimes judged an obsolete instrument of control with potential to injure the horse. The objective of the research presented herein was twofold; firstly, to investigate the actual pressure load in the mouth of the horse with regard to oral health issues, and, secondly, to investigate whether this could be a viable method to objectively measure strength exerted by a rider/driver to the mouth of the horse especially with regard to training regimes. From the results, it is evident that these newly developed sensors have a future in equine research, although they are still under development. They can be useful both as a pedagogic teaching instrument, providing instructor and pupil with instantaneous, objective feedback on the contact between hand and mouth, as well as an aid in measuring pressure loads from our common bits. .

SUMMARYThis work consists of a review of the medical records of 142 horses that visited the Equine dermatology clinic, at the University Animal Hospital, UDS, at Ultuna, Uppsala, Sweden, between January 2007 and June 2010. The study answers certain main questions like clinical signs responsible for the visit, the most common diagnoses, their diagnostic procedures, treatment modalities and finally, the outcome of treatment.Among 50 diagnoses, four were predominant followed by additional 46 diagnoses, each presenting by few or, in many cases, only one horse. The most common dermatological problem diagnosed was Equine Sarcoid representing 18,3 % of the cases (26/142), which probably reflects the initiation of a Sarcoid treatment-trial in 2007, that resulted in an accumulation of sarcoid horses in the clinic .The second most common diagnosis was Atopy 12 % (17/142) followed by Allergy with skin affection 9,2 % (13/142) and Acute superficial pyodermia 4,9 % (7/142). If the horses were divided into diagnostic groups, the majority (34,5 %) belonged to HA5 group, (Immunological skin diseases), followed by group HA4, (Infectious and inflammatory conditions of the skin) (22,5 %) and HA6, (Neoplasia) (21,8 %). Traumatic skin injuries represented only 2,1 % of the cases, compared to 80 % of horses in the Agria insurance statistics for veterinary care.The most common clinical sign and reasons for veterinary consultation was pruritus (35,9 %), suspected sarcoids (17,6 %), alopecia (12,7 %), nodules (12 %), seborrea, scaling and crusts (9,2 %) and excoriations (5,6 %), respectively, followed by a scattered number of more uncommon symtoms.The diagnostic methods most frequently applied were cytology and biopsy, used in 41,5 % and 36,6 % of the cases, respectively.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) it?s a clinical condition that includes obesity, regional adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and laminitis. A similar syndrome exists in human medi-cine, the metabolic syndrome (MS), were systemic hypertension also is a prominent fea-ture. The systemic hypertension seen in humans with MS is partly due to a vascular endo-thelial dysfunction with an enhanced endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediated vasoconstriction. There are indications that systemic hypertension might be a feature in EMS as well but if ET-1 is involved in the development of the systemic hypertension in horses is not known.

Injuries to the suspensory ligament represent a huge problem in equine veterinary medicine. As many of the affected horses are elite-competition athletes, there are high expectations on veterinarians to make these horses fully functional again. The suspensory ligament has several features which makes the healing process complicated. So far no treatment has shown to optimize the healing process. This has led to the testing of many new treatment methods, in order to find a consensus for the injury.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to be used for the diagnosis and study of osteoarthrosis in the equine tarsal region. In the development of new diagnostic MRI techniques cadaver specimens are often used. To allow the use of cadaver legs for these types of studies it is important to know the effect of time after death on the MRI image. Since the relaxation times are temperature dependent, it is interesting to examine whether the time after death and the temperature of the cadaver may play a role in the image appearance and quality. The radio pulse sequences that show the different types of tissues are also important to know when pathological evaluation with MRI is used.

Sport horses are widely used for performance in jumping, dressage, endurance etc. To enable comparisons of horses, training facilities, programs or physical status, an exercise test can be used. Exercise tests are also important to increase knowledge about exercise physiology of the horse considering different ways of training to compare training methods or individual qualities, development of an individual or other investigations of equine exercise physiology. Since several investigations are done on standard- and thoroughbred horses but less on sport horses, it is of great importance to get an overview of the investigations done. Most common is to investigate heart rate and lactate concentration.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate if pulsed inhaled nitric oxide (PiNO) could be used as a treatment for hypoxemia during general anaesthesia in colic horses. Previous studies have shown a positive response in horses receiving PiNO in comparison to controls, but these studies have only included healthy individuals. A total of 30 horses were included in this present study, they all underwent abdominal surgery because of acute colic that could not be medically treated. Fifteen of the horses received PiNO and 15 horses served as a control group. Arterial oxygenation was improved in all horses receiving PiNO.

Clinicians in veterinary practice have responsibilities for the development of global antibiotic resistance. In some cases, antibiotics are contraindicated or even useless in wound treatments and therefore other options are needed. Antiseptics may be another option but their use are controversial and may be questioned by owners. As professionals, it may be very difficult to be able to motivate this choice of treatment. The aim of this paper is to gain knowledge about four antiseptics; iodine, silver, polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) and honey to make it easier for veterinary nurses and other clinicians in veterinary practices to decide their potential use. The assessment will be made with consideration of the available evidence concerning the properties, usability and the animal?s experience. The results showed a lack of evidence in in-vivo studies in horses, particularly studies within the field of veterinary nursing.

Dysfunction of the upper respiratory tract is a common cause of impaired performance and intolerance to exercise in racehorses and include several upper airway obstructions. The ones termed dynamic obstructions are primarily seen during physical exertion and affected horses often appear to be normal during endoscope examination at rest. The correlation between diagnoses made at rest respectively exercise is low, suggesting that an examination at rest alone is likely to be insufficient. The upper respiratory tract is exposed to great differences in pressure throughout the respiratory cycle; variations that are further altered during strenuous exercise and affect the rigidity of upper airway structures. In presence of great fluctuations in pressure, stability is achieved through coordinated and synchronous neuromuscular mechanisms. Due to nerve damage or anatomical abnormalities, these functions may be disrupted and further cause a dynamic collapse of the upper respiratory tract when pressure changes become too severe. The etiology behind the neuromuscular dysfunction is not yet fully understood.

High-performance equine athletes have an energy requirement that often reaches twice the maintenance requirement. Horses are grazers and adapted to a grass diet, and diets high in grains and concentrates are associated with digestive upsets and behavioural disorders. It could therefore be of interest if the energy requirement of a high-performing horse could be met by forage. It is important that the forage have a high concentration of energy so that the horse is able to consume the whole amount of energy needed from the forage without exceeding the maximum voluntary intake. The purpose of this literature study was to investigate if the energy demand of a high-performance horse can be covered by forage produced under Northern Swedish climate conditions.