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Filho HCM, Trindade KLG, Silva CJFL, Cruz RKS, Vilela CF, Coelho CS, Filho JDR, Manso HECCC. The Welfare of Horses Competing in Three-Barrel Race Events Is Shown to Be Not Inhibited by Short Intervals between Starts. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:583. [PMID: 38396551 PMCID: PMC10886278 DOI: 10.3390/ani14040583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Equestrian sports require precise animal welfare and health evaluations. To test the hypothesis that horses maintain their welfare when subjected to two three-barrel (3TB) races with 2 min intervals, an experiment was designed to evaluate their surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in regions of interest (barrel, flank, neck, jaw, corner of the mouth, and ocular caruncle) and also measure blood biomarkers (hemogram, total plasma protein, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, GGT, CK, cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β). Ten Quarter Horses were monitored through thermography (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race) and blood sampling (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race). ANOVA and Tukey test at 5% were used. IRT in six regions of interest (Left/Right-barrel, flank, neck muscles) increased at +, with no differences between values recorded at +1 and +4 when compared to those measured pre-race (p > 0.05). Plasma protein, RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, WBC count, neutrophils, and lymphocytes (p < 0.05) increased immediately after the races, with recovery at +1 h. Other biomarkers did not change, including cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β (p > 0.05). Results indicate that well-conditioned 3TB horses subjected to two races at short intervals do not show changes that could be related to impaired health or welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helio C. Manso Filho
- Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil; (K.L.G.T.); (C.J.F.L.S.); (H.E.C.C.C.M.)
| | - Keity L. G. Trindade
- Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil; (K.L.G.T.); (C.J.F.L.S.); (H.E.C.C.C.M.)
| | - Carolina J. F. L. Silva
- Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil; (K.L.G.T.); (C.J.F.L.S.); (H.E.C.C.C.M.)
| | - Raissa K. S. Cruz
- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Centro Universitário Cesmac, Maceió 57051-160, AL, Brazil;
| | | | - Clarisse S. Coelho
- Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Universidade de Évora, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal;
- Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lusofona University, 376 Campo Grande, 1749-024 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - José D. Ribeiro Filho
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa 36570-900, MG, Brazil;
| | - Helena E. C. C. C. Manso
- Núcleo de Pesquisa Equina, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife 52171-900, PE, Brazil; (K.L.G.T.); (C.J.F.L.S.); (H.E.C.C.C.M.)
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Maśko M, Sikorska U, Borowska M, Zdrojkowski Ł, Jasiński T, Domino M. The Postural and Body Surface Temperature Response of Leisure Horses to Lunging with Selected Lunging Aids. Animals (Basel) 2023; 14:22. [PMID: 38200753 PMCID: PMC10778250 DOI: 10.3390/ani14010022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Incorporating lunging into a horse's daily routine aims to enhance fitness, physical condition, and specific skills or exercises when using lunging aids (LAs). To assess the effectiveness of lunging, non-contact technologies like geometric morphometrics and infrared thermography can be employed. This study seeks to evaluate lunging efficiency based on the horse's posture and surface temperature when lunging with different head and neck positions. The study aims to determine if changes in a horse's posture correspond to increased metabolic activity, as indicated by body surface temperature. Thirteen horses included in the study were lunged with chambon (CH), rubber band (RB), and triangle side reins (TRs) as well as with a freely moving head (FMH). Images were taken in visible light and infrared. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to analyze horse posture changes and a Pixel-Counting Protocol (PCP) was used to quantify surface temperature patterns. The horses' posture exhibited contrasting changes, reflected by a changing centroid shape (p < 0.0001) but not size (p > 0.05) when lunged with RB and TRs, but not CH. Different (p < 0.0001) surface temperature patterns were observed during lunging. FMH lunging resulted in lower temperatures over a larger surface, CH induced moderate temperatures on a smaller area, RB caused moderate to high temperatures across a broader surface, and TRs led to higher temperatures over a smaller region. The studied lunging cases returned different (p < 0.0001) surface temperature patterns. Lunging with FMH returned lower temperatures over a larger surface, CH moderate temperatures on a smaller area, RB moderate to high temperatures across a broader surface, and TRs higher temperatures over a smaller region. The proposed methods can be applied to evaluate the efficiency of lunging in horses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Małgorzata Maśko
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS–SGGW), 02-787 Warsaw, Poland; (M.M.); (U.S.)
| | - Urszula Sikorska
- Department of Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS–SGGW), 02-787 Warsaw, Poland; (M.M.); (U.S.)
| | - Marta Borowska
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Białystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland;
| | - Łukasz Zdrojkowski
- Department of Large Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS–SGGW), 02-787 Warsaw, Poland;
| | - Tomasz Jasiński
- Department of Large Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS–SGGW), 02-787 Warsaw, Poland;
| | - Małgorzata Domino
- Department of Large Animal Diseases and Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS–SGGW), 02-787 Warsaw, Poland;
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Basal Reactivity Evaluated by Infrared Thermography in the "Caballo de Deporte Español" Horse Breed According to Its Coat Color. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12192515. [PMID: 36230256 PMCID: PMC9559532 DOI: 10.3390/ani12192515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Horses have been valued for their diversity of coat color since prehistoric times. In particular, the pleiotropic effect that coat color genes have on behavior determines the way the horse perceives and reacts to its environment. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of coat color on basal reactivity assessed with infrared thermography as eye temperature at rest (ETR), determine their relation with the results obtained by these horses in Show Jumping competitions and to estimate the genetic parameters for this variable to test its suitability for genetic selection. A General Linear Model (GLM) and Duncan post-hoc analysis indicated differences in ETR due to coat color, sex, age, location, and breed-group factors. A Spearman’s rank correlation of 0.11 (p < 0.05) was found with ranking, indicating that less reactive horses were more likely to achieve better rankings. Heritability values ranged from 0.17 to 0.22 and were computed with a model with genetic groups and a model with residual variance heterogeneity. Breeding values were higher with the last genetic model, thus demonstrating the pleiotropic effect of coat color. These results indicate that ETR has a suitable genetic basis to be used in the breeding program to select for basal reactivity due to coat color.
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