Horse owner?s knowledge about horse feeding and nutrition is directly linked to the horse?s health and welfare. According to several studies, both Swedish and foreign, horse owners generally have inadequate knowledge about horse feeding. The housing systems and feeding routines of today differs in many ways from what horses have adapted to through evolution. Wild horses live in harem herds and roam on large open fields, spending about 60 % of the day grazing, mainly grass and herbs.

Animals living in captivity are often subjected to various kinds of stress. Individuals within species can respond differently to the same stressor depending on differences in coping style and physiology. Active and passive coping is a common way to describe different coping styles in animals and it is likely that these strategies have a high heritability. Individuals with an active coping style are characterized by an urge of control and a higher level of aggression than individuals with passive coping style, who in general are more flexible and respond to stress by immobilisation to a greater extent. The aim of this bachelor?s thesis is to investigate the presence of different coping styles and personality types in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and horses (Equus ferus caballus) and to find fields of application for this information.

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is considered a specific and a sensitive biomarker of cardiac disease, and due to a high inter-species sequence homology; human cTnI assays can often be used in veterinary medicine. The main aim of this study was to perform an initial evaluation of a human cTnI test, the Meritas Troponin I test, for measurement of equine plasma cTnI, in order to investigate whether the test could be a possible subject for a more comprehensive validation. The hypothesis was that the test could measure equine cTnI, as there is a good homology between equine cTnI and human cTnI. The evaluation included a dilution parallelism, an intra-assay precision study and measurement of plasma cTnI healthy horses. In the dilution parallelism and the intra-assay precision study, equine plasma with previously established high cTnI concentration, according to another cTnI assay, was used. In addition, cTnI concentration was measured in plasma, collected from 19 horses, without signs of disease at physical and ECG examinations. The obtained curve in the dilution parallelism was linear, indicating that the Meritas Troponin I test can be used to measure different concentrations of equine cTnI in plasma.

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.

The EU Water Framework Directive has led that management follows the boundaries of natural catchments.The Swedish waters suffer from a nutrient overload that originates mainly from diffuse sources such as agriculture and the subcatchment of Hackstabäcken in Vallentuna Kommun, just north of Stockholm, has been chosen for this study because of its high nutrient load and because it has undergone obvious changes in land use through the years.In this study, the land use in 1902 is compared with the land use in 2011 in order to investigate if it has influenced the ability of the landscape to produce ecosystem services related to nutrient removal. These services will continue to be produced as long as the system is stable and resilient, but when landuse changes and manure from horses increases it will lead to disturbances that can convert a system from one regime in to a completely different one. That will result in loss, or degradation, of ecosystem services such as denitrification, phosphor sedimentation and adsorption, vegetation uptake and infiltration.The results of this study are based upon area calculations of landuse from old maps from 1902 and 2011. Through these maps it becomes clear that the forests in Hackstabäcken, has increased with 170 ha together with an urbanization of 311 ha, at the same time as wetlands and arable land has diminished and lakes has suffered from reductions. Wetlands have been reduced with 76 ha and the ones remaining are of insufficient quality from a nutrient removal perspective.Data from 1902 and 2011 regarding number of horses and bovines indicated a decrease in bovines and an increase in horses.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect on growth of foals on two different diets, either a forage-based diet or a diet containing approx. 40 % concentrate. The report also includes a review of the pertinent literature on the effects of diet on mares? milk and growth of horses. The hypothesis of the study was that a forage based diet will result in a similar growth pattern as a diet including more concentrates if the diets contain the same amount of energy, crude protein, lysine, calcium and phosphorous.

Eight healthy 3-day-old foals were given repeated injections of trimethoprim-sulfadiazine intravenously for 3 days, at a dosage of 15 mg/kg bodyweight (2,5 mg trimethoprim and 12,5 mg sulfadiazine). Blood samples were collected prior to each administration and for the following 24 hours after last administration. Serum concentrations of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine were measured and the pharmacokinetics for the substances were studied. The elimination half time (t½) and clearance (ClB) for trimethoprim and sulfadiazine for the foals did not diverge from adult horses. According to these data it is possible to assume that the same dose interval and dose can be used for foals as for adult horses.

Penicillin G (benzylpenicillin) is the most commonly used antimicrobial substance used in equine medicine today. Two forms of penicillin G are available for equine use; one form is the poorly soluble penicillin G procaine and the other is the very soluble sodium salt. Although penicillin has a wide safety margin and is considered to possess a good tolerance, reactions due to side effects are sometimes encountered, which commonly is named ?penicillin-shock?. The etiology behind penicillin shock in horses is not completely understood, but the most common reason is believed to be procaine toxicity.

Eight healthy 3-day-old foals were given repeated injections of trimethoprim-sulfadiazine intravenously for 3 days, at a dosage of 15 mg/kg bodyweight (2,5 mg trimethoprim and 12,5 mg sulfadiazine). Blood samples were collected prior to each administration and for the following 24 hours after last administration. Serum concentrations of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine were measured and the pharmacokinetics for the substances were studied. The elimination half time (t½) and clearance (ClB) for trimethoprim and sulfadiazine for the foals did not diverge from adult horses. According to these data it is possible to assume that the same dose interval and dose can be used for foals as for adult horses.

As the number of inhabitants increases, the cities expand into the former rural landscape. The urbanization causes changes to the functioning of the peri-urban fringe. Land that previously was used for agricultural production is now used for alternative enterprises, as for example horse keeping and recreation. 75 % of all horses (approx. 200 000) are situated in the peri-urban fringe.

Eight healthy 3-day-old foals were given repeated injections of trimethoprim-sulfadiazine intravenously for 3 days, at a dosage of 15 mg/kg bodyweight (2,5 mg trimethoprim and 12,5 mg sulfadiazine). Blood samples were collected prior to each administration and for the following 24 hours after last administration. Serum concentrations of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine were measured and the pharmacokinetics for the substances were studied. The elimination half time (t½) and clearance (ClB) for trimethoprim and sulfadiazine for the foals did not diverge from adult horses. According to these data it is possible to assume that the same dose interval and dose can be used for foals as for adult horses.

SammanfattningDetta arbete tar upp de viktigaste fysiologiska förändringarna hos den åldrande hästen, hur dessa påverkar hästens beteende och behov, och hur det i sin tur påverkar den omvårdnad hästen har behov av. Sjukdomar som i större utsträckning drabbar äldre hästar än yngre tas upp, och fokus ligger främst på att så långt det är möjligt förebygga dessa. I de fall detta inte är möjligt ligger fokus på att göra livet för den sjuka hästen så symtomfritt som möjligt. Den åldrande hästens näringsbehov tas upp, samt hur detta kan påverkas av olika sjukdomar. Med åldrande hästar menas i detta arbete hästar i åldern 20 år och uppåt.SummaryTreating older horses for illness and injury becomes more and more common.

Sarcoid is the most common tumor in horses all over the world. The sarcoid is a benign, locally invasive, usually fibroblastic proliferative skin neoplasm. Even if the etiology is not completley verified, the epidemiology and clinical behavior suggest a infectious intervention, probably BPV type 1 or type 2. However, it is known that the cause is multifactorial. A genetic prepdispositon has been identified associated to genes within the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), but also to breed, age and perhaps gender.

Sarcoid is the most common tumor in horses all over the world. The sarcoid is a benign, locally invasive, usually fibroblastic proliferative skin neoplasm. Even if the etiology is not completley verified, the epidemiology and clinical behavior suggest a infectious intervention, probably BPV type 1 or type 2. However, it is known that the cause is multifactorial. A genetic prepdispositon has been identified associated to genes within the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), but also to breed, age and perhaps gender.

A tight economy and a keen competition force the Swedish agricultur to do a structural rationalization. The quantity of farmers is less but the units are growing. How to make money I think some kind of niche is necessary. In my examwork I have locked how to farm herbaceous plant and the marking of herb to feedstuff for horses. Today health food and alternative medicine are accepted to use and there is an increase in demand. The Swedish market for herbaceous plants to horses is small and the products are mostly imported. But there is a group of consumers who is willing to pay a higer price for Swedish cultivated herbs. The only way to find out which herbaceous plants I could cultivate is to make a test cultivate. I think that the market for herbaceous plants is growing.