The Impact of Circular Exercise Diameter on Bone and Joint Health of Juvenile Animals.

Circular exercise is used in many equestrian disciplines and this study aimed to determine if circle diameter impacts juvenile animal forelimb bone and joint health. On day 0, 24 calves at 9 weeks of age were assigned the following exercise treatments: small circle (12 m clockwise), large circle (18-m clockwise), treadmill, or non-exercised control. Exercise was initiated at 1.

Impact of Gait and Diameter during Circular Exercise on Front Hoof Area, Vertical Force, and Pressure in Mature Horses.

Circular exercise can be used at varying gaits and diameters to exercise horses, with repeated use anecdotally relating to increased lameness. This work sought to characterize mean area, mean vertical force, and mean pressure of the front hooves while exercising in a straight line at the walk and trot, and small (10-m diameter) and large circles (15-m diameter) at the walk, trot, and canter. Nine mature horses wore Tekscan Hoof Sensors on their forelimbs adhered with a glue-on shoe.

Clinical health markers in dogs fed raw meat-based or commercial extruded kibble diets.

The interest and demand for healthy and less processed foods for human consumption have been mirrored in the pet industry, with an explosion of alternative diets available. Several nontraditional feeding methodologies including raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) are believed by many dog owners to be superior to traditional extruded commercial dog foods. Despite the strong opinions, limited data are available comparing objective health measures among healthy dogs fed using different methods of diet preparation.

Calves, as a model for juvenile horses, need only one sprint per week to experience increased bone strength.

Previous research has determined that maintaining young animals in stalls is detrimental to their bone health, while the addition of 50 to 82-m sprints 5 d/week aids in counteracting the reduction of bone strength from confinement. The current research aims to determine if 1 or 3 d/week of sprinting affords the same benefits to bone as 5 d/week of sprinting compared to animals confined with no sprinting. Twenty-four Holstein bull calves were obtained from the Michigan State University Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center.

Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor.

Show Horse Welfare: The Viewpoints of Judges, Stewards, and Show Managers.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the current state of stock-type show horse welfare based on the perceptions of show officials and to identify potential means of preventing and intervening in compromises to show horse welfare. Thirteen horse show officials, including judges, stewards, and show managers, were interviewed. Findings revealed the officials had an incomplete understanding of nonhuman animal welfare and a high level of concern regarding the public's perception of show horse welfare.