
How Seasonal Stresses Impact Przewalski’s Horses
By understanding these natural seasonal stress patterns, scientists are better equipped to continue preserving this endangered species, researchers said.


By understanding these natural seasonal stress patterns, scientists are better equipped to continue preserving this endangered species, researchers said.

Researchers tested a technique to log heart rate and speed data from each horse in an attempt to monitor, step-by-step, the horse’s physical response to jumping during training, competition, and recovery.

In a recent study Japanese researchers found that the right mix of equine influenza vaccines provided immunity against the virus; the wrong mix, however, did not.

More experienced riders held their eyes on a specific point more frequently than less experienced riders, who shifted their vision frequently to look at more things, researchers found.

Researchers say the standing technique minimizes risk to the patient, reduces costs to the client, and limits complications.

While relatively uncommon, brain worms can occur. And when they do, their infections are usually fatal.

Researchers said many equestrians’ “preconceived ideas” about behaviors they associate with mares, stallions, and geldings could have serious consequences for training and welfare.

Horseback riding is a unique sport, in that it’s an “individual” sport with two participants—horse and rider. That also makes it special in the way it’s coached and learned, researchers say.

A new wearable device allows scientists to take electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements from active, moving horses’ brains in real time, which could help us better understand how horses think and react, researchers said.

These findings could eventually help veterinarians tailor medical care, feeding, and training to individual horses.

Przewalski’s horses and domestic horses probably experience the same emotions but likely developed different priorities and, hence, ways of communicating them.

In horses bone development begins in the womb, but researchers are still working to understand the complexities of in utero bone growth.

Horses have varying degrees of “distractibility,” and this can significantly affect their attention capacities and, hence, their efficiency in learning, researchers confirmed.

Trainers should be aware that joint injections can have many benefits, but veterinarians need to be careful about selecting cases to receive this treatment, one researcher said.

Switzerland’s internet-based voluntary system is a way for veterinarians to report equine infections, such as influenza and herpesvirus, even if they aren’t required to by law.

These findings help us better understand how and why horses’ teeth wear as they do, researchers said.
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