Where does it hurt? Problems with interpretation of regional and intra‐synovial diagnostic analgesia

Detailed clinical evaluation and diagnostic analgesia are crucial for accurate lameness diagnosis. This review discusses the ways in which local analgesic techniques can cause confusion and highlights how important it is to recognise that the majority of methods are less specific than was formerly thought. Interpretation of responses must be done together with the results of clinical examination and careful assessment of diagnostic images. With the knowledge of false negative and false positive results of local analgesic techniques and the recognition that there may be more than one focus of pain contributing to lameness, it is still possible to reach accurate diagnoses, provided that a logical, thoughtful approach is utilised.     

Horses,saddles and riders: Applying the science

An enthusiastic crowd of 400 people gathered at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK on 29 November 2014 for the second International Saddle Research Trust Conference on the theme of Horses, Saddles and Riders: Applying the Science. The conference was organised under the auspices of the Saddle Research Trust (SRT) which is a charitable organisation based in the UK established with the intention of stimulating and supporting research into the influence of saddles on the welfare, performance and safety of horses and riders using objective scientific methods. The SRT aims to provide a coordinated, focused approach to research in these areas, to facilitate publication of the findings in scientific journals and dissemination of the results to the equestrian world. This approach allows the SRT to act as a link between research, education and the industry. The trust supports research into all aspects of the interaction between the horse, saddle and rider. Areas of specific recent interest include studying welfare, performance and safety issues related to the use of a saddle, the role of the saddle in equine and human back problems, characterising behavioural issues of horses associated with saddle‐related discomfort, assessing the effects of saddle design on rider performance and health and designing saddles for disabled riders. Further information about the SRT is available on the website www.saddleresearchtrust.com . Sponsors of the conference were World Horse Welfare, a practical and forward‐thinking charity that believes in using scientific evidence to help guide its work, Amerigo saddlers, a company that advocates research as a basis for improving product design, the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and Horse and Hound.     

Application of a Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to horses competing at 5-star three-day-events: Comparison with performance

A Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) was previously developed to facilitate the detection of musculoskeletal pain. The objectives were to apply the RHpE during warm-up for the dressage phase of two 5* three-day events and to correlate the RHpE scores with subsequent performance. It was hypothesised that there would be a higher rate of failure to complete the cross-country phase in horses which exhibited ≥7 behaviours compared with those showing <7 behaviours. The RHpE, comprising 24 behaviours, was applied for 10–12 min during warm-up. Gait abnormalities in trot and canter were recorded. Dressage penalties, cross-country performance, showjumping penalties and final placings were documented. Horses were categorised as those which completed cross-country, or those which did not complete because of elimination or retirement. RHpE scores (n = 137) ranged from 0 to 9/24 (median 3 [range 0–9] for nonlame horses; median 5 [range 1–9] for horses with gait abnormalities in trot or canter). There was a moderate correlation between dressage penalty scores and the RHpE score (rho = 0.4, P<0.001, Spearman rank). Fifty-nine per cent of horses (n = 10/17) with a RHpE score ≥7 failed to complete cross-country, compared with 33% (n = 39/117) with a score <7. Horses that failed to complete the cross-country phase had higher RHpE scores compared with those that completed (P = 0.04, W = 8.3, Kruskal–Wallis; pairwise comparison Bonferroni, P = 0.06). There was a significant (rho = 0.3) relationship between total RHpE score and final horse placings (n = 80, P<0.01, Spearman rank). Horses with lameness or gait abnormalities in canter had significantly higher RHpE scores (P<0.01, χ² = 35, chi-square test) compared with other horses. There was a strong correlation between the RHpE scores for horses which competed at both events (P<0.001, rho = 0.6, Spearman rank). The RHpE should facilitate earlier identification of horses which may benefit from diagnosis and treatment, resulting in improvement in both performance and equine welfare.     

Radiological interpretation of the navicular bone

Accurate radiological interpretation of a navicular bone requires at least a true lateromedial (LM) image, dorsoproximal‐palmarodistal oblique (DPr‐PaDiO) and palmaroproximal‐palmarodistal oblique (PaPr‐PaDIO) images. Additional information is sometimes acquired from a weightbearing dorsopalmar (DPa) image. The LM image is used to assess thickness of the palmar cortex, proximal or distal extension of the palmar cortex, demarcation between the cortex and spongiosa and the presence of periarticular osteophytes. The number, size, shape and position of radiolucent zones along the distal borders of the navicular bone are assessed in a PaPr‐PaDiO image, together with the presence of central or acentric radiolucent osseous cyst‐like lesions in the spongiosa, proximal or distal border entheseophytes, distal or proximal border fragments and a fracture. The PaPr‐PaDiO image is used to identify radiolucent lesions in the palmar cortex and to confirm the thickness of the palmar cortex and the presence of a fracture, and to assess the trabecular architecture of the spongiosa. The presence of a bipartite or tripartite navicular bone is determined from DPr‐PaDiO, PaPr‐PaDiO and DPa images.     

Current concepts of navicular disease

Navicular disease is unlikely to be a single disease. The close anatomical and functional relationships between the navicular bone, collateral sesamoidean ligament, distal sesamoidean impar ligament, deep digital flexor tendon, navicular bursa and distal interphalangeal joint result in the frequent occurrence of combinations of injuries. There are a number of different pathological processes that affect the navicular bone, which probably have different aetiopathogeneses. While there is strong evidence that biomechanical forces may result in failure of functional adaptation and excessive modelling, it is likely that each disease or injury type has a multifactorial cause.     

Injuries associated with the cartilages of the foot

There is a growing body of evidence that uniaxial or biaxial ossification of the cartilages of the foot should not be discounted as irrelevant in a lame horse, especially if extensive. Potential causes of pain and lameness include primary injury of an ossified cartilage and/or the ipsilateral aspect of the distal phalanx, injury of the chondrocoronal or chondrosesamoidean ligaments and desmopathy of the collateral ligaments of the distal interphalangeal joint.     

Occurrence of Honeysuckle Yellow Vein Virus (HYVV) containing a monopartite DNA-A genome in Korea

Two newly emerged begomoviruses were isolated from naturally infected tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants grown in greenhouses at Jeju Island and Dangjin in Korea and their genomes were characterized. These viruses-infected plants had very small leaves that curled upward, yellow margins and a leathery appearance, and a bushy and stunted appearance with short internodes. Nucleotide (nt) sequence analysis of their genomes showed that they have a DNA-A component of a monopartite begomovirus. Their genomes comprised 2763 and 2764 nucleotides with six open reading frames. The results of nt sequence similarity analysis of DNA-A genome between the two Korean isolates and isolates of Tobacco leaf curl Japan virus (TbLCJV), Honeysuckle yellow vein virus (HYVV), Honeysuckle yellow vein mosaic virus (HYVMV), and Eupatorium yellow vein virus in Japan (EpYVV) showed that they are likely similar to HYVV-[Masuda] (89.4–92.8% nt identity). Consequently, we tentatively propose the two isolates’ names as HYVV-Jeju and -DJ according to the ICTV geminivirus rules. Phylogenetic relationship analysis of 33 DNA-A genome sequences using PAUP* 4.0b10 and MrBayes revealed that HYVV-Jeju and -DJ belong to the Far East Asian begomovirus species complex. Within the Far East Asian begomovirus species complex, HYVV-Jeju and -DJ are distantly related to EpYVV, HYVMV, and TbLCJV groups. Based on the presence of a recombination fragment spanning the C3 ORF, a recombinant origin was suggested for both HYVV-Jeju and –DJ, with parents close to Japanese isolates HYVMV-[SP1:00] and Eupatorium yellow vein virus (EpYVV)-[Suya]. In addition, the presence of a further recombination fragment spanning the IR suggested the parents of HYVV-DJ were close to HYVV-Jeju and EpYVV-[Suya].     

Effects of postharvest preparation on organophosphate insecticide residues in apples

Apples were sampled directly from orchard trees at 96, 45, and 21 days postapplication with one of three organophosphate insecticides (azinphos methyl, phosalone, or phosmet, respectively). Individual apples were prepared for analysis following one of three postharvest preparations: no preparation, rinsed with deionized water for 10-15 s, or rinsed and peeled. Azinphos methyl, phosalone, and phosmet concentrations ranged from below the level of detection to 5.26 ng/g, 94.7 to 5720 ng/g, and 0.011 to 663 ng/g in the apples that received no postharvest preparation, respectively. Although rinsed apples had lower maximum concentrations than observed in apples with no preparation, levels were not significantly lower. Concentrations of all three OP insecticides in apples that were rinsed followed by peeling, however, were much lower (below detection limits to 0.733 ng/g, azinphos methyl; 0.322-219 ng/g, phosalone; and below detection limits to 44.0 ng/g, phosmet) than observed in apples that had been rinsed alone. Rinsing and peeling of apples resulted in a 74.5-97.9% reduction in OP residues, while rinsing alone lowered mean concentrations by 13.5-28.7% relative to apples that received no postharvest preparation.