2,215 research outputs found
Management and stereotypies of thoroughbreds in Central- Northern Italy
No full textManagement and stereotypies of thoroughbreds in Central- Northern Italy
Francesca Martuzzi*, Stefania Pagot°, Federico Righi*
* Dipartimento di Scienze degli Alimenti, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy;
° Veterinario Libero Professionista
Corresponding author: [email protected]
The study deals with horse management and incidence of behavioural anomalies, considering 504 thoroughbreds for flat and national hunter races, housed in 30 barns located in 3 racecourse and training facilities: Merano, Pisa, Livorno. The horses were examined by one of the authors, veterinary surgeon employed in the racecourses. Two kinds of questionnaire were used to collect further information asking owners and personnel. Form 1 considered housing (type of box, bedding); feeding (number of meals, concentrates and hay); training (sessions frequency and intensity, use of horse-walker, paddock). Form 2 provided clinical and management information about each horse evidencing behavioural problems. Twenty-eight horses (5.5%) showed stereotypic behaviours: 17 crib biting (3.4%), 8 weaving (1.6%), 3 box circling (0.6%). These percentages are lower than findings in other studies. In 8 cases the stereotypy appeared during a period of inactivity after an incident. The results showed trends in accordance with other studies: higher incidence of behavioural anomalies was evidenced when horses were individually housed in box with internal window compared to horses in box with external window; feeding 3 meals/day caused more anticipation anxiety, expressed especially by weaving, than 2 meals/day. All stereotypic horses were fed 6-8 kg of concentrate, with a low hay/concentrate rate (1:1 - 1.5:1): this was confirmed a risk factor especially for crib biting. The use of horse-walker and individual paddocks of small dimensions seems to cause more frustration, expressed equally by crib biting or weaving, than distraction.
Training sessions on short distances at fast canter cause an increase, even if not significant, of the incidence of behavioural anomalies than sessions on long distances at slow canter, performed in national hunter racing (4.1% vs 3.1%, P=0.345). Nevertheless in two cases weaving appears after daily heavy work on short distances. In one case box circling disappeared after changing training from short to long distances.
These management aspects are considered of concern for poor welfare by scientists, but often these notions aren’t applied into practice in the farms. Moreover, the complexity and interconnection of factors affecting horse welfare suggest that evaluation is necessary for each horse: in two cases after management changes the stereotypy disappeared
Education in Equine Science in Mediterranean Countries (Italy – Spain - Portugal – Greece) Main Report.
No full textProceedings Workshop “Education in Equine Science – New prospects” Satellite of the 59th EAAP Congress Vilnius, August 23rd , 2008 (CD
Cani mordaci in Italia: Indagine sulle razze di appartenenza e considerazioni sulla normativa vigente - breed frequencies in biting dogs in Italy and consideration about breed-oriented legislation
No full textDuring the last few years, it was conducted in Italy as in the rest of Europe, a campaign against some dogs’ breeds supposed
to be aggressive, as the guard and defence dogs and some herding dogs. The Italian government has created a list with the
most dangerous breeds. We do not believe that the list was confirmed with any studies demonstrating that these breeds are
more dangerous than others excluded from it. The objective of this study is to verify if there is a different predisposition to bite
a person in one breed or another. We compared the number of bites with the density of the population of each breed. The
study considered 662 clinical bites cases collected between some Italian behaviour veterinaries. The results of the study disagree
with the aggressive dogs’ list of the Italian legislation.
Negli ultimi anni è stata compiuta in Italia, come nel resto dell’Europa, un’opera diffamatoria nei confronti di alcune razze canine individuate dai legislatori come potenzialmente pericolose per l’incolumità pubblica. Queste razze sono state scelte tra quelle
con maggiore prestanza fisica, tra quelle storicamente impiegate nelle lotte tra cani o tra i cani di grande taglia da guardia e difesa.
In seguito ad uno studio approfondito della bibliografia sull’argomento, appare evidente che queste scelte non sono state dettate da ricerche scientifiche o suffragate da studi documentati. Con la presente ricerca si è cercato di verificare, con metodo scientifico, da parte di quali razze canine si siano verificati con maggiore frequenza episodi di morsicature nei confronti dell’uomo in Italia, in una finestra temporale di 11 anni di studio, dal 1994 al 2004. I casi di morsicatura da parte di cani di razza documentati sono 662. Le razze che appaiono con almeno un episodio di morsicatura sono 75. Si sono messi in relazione il numero di episodi di morsicatura a carico di ogni razza con la densità di popolazione canina presente in Italia. I risultati del seguente lavoro divergono sensibilmente dalle posizioni espresse nella legislazione corrente. Lo studio è stato compiuto dagli autori in stretta collaborazione con i Medici Veterinari Comportamentalisti* che operano sul territorio nazionale, i quali hanno messo a disposizione, oltre alla propria esperienza e conoscenza dell’argomento, anche le loro schede cliniche di raccolta dati
Education in Equine Science in Italy
No full textProceedings Workshop “Education in Equine Science – New prospects” Satellite of the 59th EAAP Congress Vilnius, August 23rd , 2008 (CD
Characteristics of horse meat consumption and production in Italy
No full textAnnali Fac. Med. Vet. Parm
Advances on equine milk and derivatives for human consumption
No full textRecent advances in research concerning mare’s milk are reviewed. It is estimated that around 30 million people consume equine milk regularly throughout the world. In many Countries of Asia and East Europe mare’s milk is consumed as koumiss, airag or chigee, alcoholic dairy products obtained by means of a mixed culture of fermenting yeasts and bacteria. A considerable variability in the microorganisms isolated from fermented mare’s milk is observed. Isolation and characterization of Lactobacillus spp. from koumiss are addressed in numerous publications from East Asia: 240 strains have been identified since 2004. Several studies take in account mare’s milk potential probiotic aspects. Many biologically active factors are present in equine colostrum and milk, in particular lysozyme in high amount. Especially the tissue repair function of some bioactive molecules has been tested on patients with several pathologies and positive responses were documented in clinical studies. Equine milk has a whey protein:casein ratio close to 50:50 and while biochemistry and structure of whey proteins are well known, characterization of the casein fraction is quite recent and considered in some studies with different methodological approaches. Some researches are aimed to study alternative milk for children with cow milk protein allergy. Mare’s milk immunoblottings obtained with anti-beta-lactoglobulin and anti-total casein polyclonal antibodies, produced against cow milk proteins, showed very mild immunoreactivity, while both antibodies strongly react with proteins from other dairy species. Fat content in equine milk is lower if compared to other species, ranging between 10-20 g/kg. Recent studies confirmed that fat composition is characterized by high content in polyunsaturated fatty acids: linoleic and alfa-linolenic fatty acids, essential for human nutrition, are present in very variable proportion that can exceed 20%, while conjugated linoleic acid content is around 0.1%, much lower than in cow or ewe milk
Mare milk composition: recent findings about protein fractions and mineral content.
No full textThis review deals with the most recent studies about mare milk composition regarding protein and mineral content and some of their causes of variations. Mare milk is studied for two main purposes: human consumption and nutrition for foals. In particular the studies about milk proteins characterization are summarized. Other studies considered: differences and similarities between human and mare milk regarding main protein fractions, differences in colostrum and milk composition or in milk components trends during lactation in several horse breeds, effects of protein and mineral supplementation of the lactating mare on milk composition. The results of recent trials regarding the effects of mare milk use in the treatment of some health problems in adults are presented. A wide variability appears in milk protein quality, especially where whey protein concentrations are concerned. The considered studies regarding mineral elements in milk confirmed what observed in previous research: supplementing a lactating mare’s diet with minerals will have scarce effect on the macro- and microelements levels in her milk
A Psychophysical Approach to Test: "The Bignetti Model"
No full textThe cognitive “Bignetti Model” (TBM) thoroughly discussed elsewhere, shares a strong analogy with “learning through experience” (LTE) and Bayesian Learning Process (BLP). Here, TBM's theory is challenged by means of a psychophysical press/no-press decision task (DT). Participants must press a computer key in response to sweet food image (SWEET) or refrain from doing it with a salted food image (SALTED) (24 trials each, mixed at random in a 48-trial DT). Reaction times (RT) plotted as a function of trials decrease exponentially according to a well-known "intertrial priming" effect. When 1 SWEET is repeated 24 times per DT, RTs tend to a minimal value that corresponds to the fastest, instinctive RT the participant can exhibit when engaged in a traffic light-based task. Interestingly, the more we change SWEET images, the greater are the final RTs in a DT (this disturbance is not seen by changing SALTED images). It is proposed that the increase of motivational incentives along the task may foster the learning process. In the presence of SWEET distractors this process is impaired due to a short-term memory mismatch between increasing targets of similar semantics. These results are compatible both with the current literature and TBM
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