Scientific Literacy of Equine Students Regarding the Use of Antibiotics and Vaccines

There exists much misinformation about antibiotic and vaccine use. An understanding of these topics is important for the use of these tools for the best equine health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate students’ understanding of antibiotics and vaccines, identify learned misinformation, and establish baseline data. A survey was administered at the beginning of Equine Health & Disease (AS 213) and Horse Production (AS 365) at South Dakota State University during the spring 2016 semester. AS 213 is not a prerequisite for AS 365. Results of the survey suggest that students may come with some understanding of the concepts surrounding antibiotic and vaccine use (Table 1), but are willing to administer vaccines and antibiotics in situations where they are unwarranted (Table 2). This data suggests that misconceptions related to vaccine and antibiotic use exist in the student population and there may be a need for increased instructional emphasis on the application of vaccines and antibiotics in equine management

Knowing What is Normal for Your Horse

Early recognition of an illness or problem with your horse is easier to catch if you are familiar with what is normal for your horse. If your horse is usually a voracious eater and suddenly shows less interest in their feed, this can be a first sign that something isn’t right. Many changes in health status can be identified simply by observing your horse in his or her environment. Vital signs can be evaluated to provide indications of the type of illness or health challenges your horse may be experiencing. This article presents methods to help you make observations of your horse’s behavior and determine what is normal or abnormal and how to take and evaluate vital signs

Best Practices for Healthy Horsekeeping

Biosecurity Basics: A New Perspective Post Pandemic. Whoever imagined that a worldwide pandemic would help highlight the value and importance of horse disease prevention processes/practices and biosecurity? Some have compared our covid pandemic experience to “The Great Epizootic”, an equine disease outbreak that brought our nation to its horse-drawn knees in 1872 (Moates, 2020). Previously, biosecurity education in the horse world was often met with the “teenage eye roll” reaction, or comments, such as “It will never happen to me”, but since COVID-19, knowledge and understanding of disease prevention has improved. Many people have been directly or indirectly affected/impacted by illness, loss of loved ones, canceled events, and quarantines. Regardless of personal views on the response to the pandemic, very few people would not be able to rattle off “wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and social distance”. One key difference between humans and horses is that horses don't have the ability to make their own decisions about biosecurity. Human caretakers can help set horses up for success or failure

Splanchnic Extraction of Phenylalanine in Mature Mares Was Not Affected by Threonine Supplementation

This study determined splanchnic extraction of phenylalanine at two intakes of threonine. Six Thoroughbred mares were supplemented with isonitrogenous amounts of either threonine or glutamate. Dietary threonine intakes were 119 (+Thr) and 58 (Basal) mg/kg/day, respectively. Each horse received each diet twice and each was studied once with an oral and once with an intravenous (IV) infusion of [1-13C]phenylalanine. A 2-h primed, constant IV infusion of [13C]sodium bicarbonate and a 4-h primed, constant infusion of [1-13C]phenylalanine, either orally or IV, were used to measure isotopic enrichments. Phenylalanine kinetics were not affected by diet (P \u3e 0.05). Values for the splanchnic extraction of phenylalanine were 26 ± 5% and 27 ± 3% for the +Thr and Basal supplemented diets, respectively. These values will improve the accuracy of future equine indicator amino acid oxidation studies

Gastrointestinal Nitrogen Metabolism of Equids and Impact on Protein Requirement

Equids evolved grazing forage of low protein and high fiber content. However present day horse feeding management typically consists of higher protein and less fiber, often exceeding protein requirements. Feeding excessive proteins to equids on nitrogen (N) excretion and contamination of ground water is of particular concern and relevance in areas close to water ways. A review was prepared as part of an initiative by the USDA Multi-State project NE-1041 committee on “Environmental Impacts of Equine Operations” to build programs aimed at mitigating N excretion from equine feeding operations. This review presents information on dietary protein utilization in equids and identify knowledge gaps for potential key future research areas to build upon. The review addresses the gastrointestinal anatomy of equids with an emphasis of the evolutionary dietary and anatomical adaptation. Challenges in assessment of protein quality of feeds are emphasized in particular in regards to the significance of pre and post-cecal protein digestibility and the contribution from hindgut N and AA metabolism and absorption. The need for greater understanding of GIT protein digestion processes, anatomical site of N and AA absorption, and systemic access to protein and AA digestibility estimates of equine feeds to refine current CP and generate AA requirement estimates is discussed