In a preliminary study of the effects of diet on the amino acid concentrations in mare’s milk, the diurnal variations in the milk amino acid concentrations were investigated. In this study, the milk amino acid concentrations were measured every 2 hr during a day (00:00, 02:00, 04:00, 06:00, 08:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00 hr) in two lactating brood mares. It was found that the ratio of the difference between the maximum and minimum concentrations to the averaged value was 20% or more for all the amino acids, although no statistically significant influence of the sampling time on the amino acid concentrations was observed. The value at each sampling time was in most cases not within the confidence interval (95%) to the mean population of 12 sampling times in a day. On the other hand, the values averaged at three time points, at intervals of 8 hr (04:00, 12:00 and 20:00 hr, or 6:00, 14:00 and 22:00 hr) were within the confidence interval (95%) to that. Therefore, when investigating the milk amino acid concentrations in mares, it is important to conduct measurements in milk samples obtained at several different time-points in the day.

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We developed the TaqMan based real-time EZ RT-PCR assay for the detection of equine-2 influenza viruses (H3N8). Specificity was tested for various wild strains of equine influenza viruses. Our TaqMan EZ RT-PCR could detect all recent European and American strains isolated after 1989, and historical strains except a variant A/equine/Tokyo/71 strain isolated in 1971. Sensitivity was evaluated to detect 10 EID₅₀ viral RNA using the RNA extracted from hen’s egg allantoic fluid infected with A/equine/La Plata/93 (LP93) strain. Detection sensitivity of TaqMan EZ RT-PCR method from the 180 nasal swab samples collected from horses experimentally infected with LP93 strain was compared with the RT-PCR and egg isolation methods. The results suggested that the TaqMan EZ RT-PCR would be the more sensitive method to detect the equine-2 influenza virus than the egg isolation method and as sensitive as RT-PCR method.

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The digestibility of nutrients and nutritive values of cereals (barley, corn, naked oat, oat and quinor), oil meals (cotton seed meal, linseed meal and soybean meal), brans (defatted rice bran, wheat bran and wheat bran with flour) and hays (Italian ryegrass and orchardgrass) were determined by the chromic oxide index method in adult male Thoroughbreds. Because the nutritive values of feedstuffs are affected by the processing and producing countries, the effect of processing of feedstuffs, flaking corn, expanding quinor, extruding soybean meal, and chopping hays and countries producing oats were examined. The digestibility of CP in oats was higher, but that of gross energy was lower than that of other cereals. Among oil meals and brans, the digestibility of all nutrients in soybean meal and wheat bran with flour was higher. When long hays were supplied, the digestibility of all nutrients in Italian ryegrass was lower, but when chopped hays were supplied, that in Italian ryegrass hay was similar to that in orchardgrass hay. By flaking corn and expanding quinor, the digestibility of all nutrients except ether extract in corn and CP in quinor was improved. By extruding soybean meal, the digestibility of nitrogen free extract was improved, but the digestibility of CP was not improved. By chopping hays, the digestibility of all nutrients in Italian ryegrass hay was improved, but the digestibility in orchardgrass hay was not affected. Australian oat contained the highest ether extracts and gross energy. Compared to Australian oat, Canadian oat contained the same amount of CP and lower crude fiber, and Hokkaido oat contained lower CP.

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Periodical changes in movements of both horses and riders were analyzed as rhythms on 5 Thoroughbred horses (TH1 to 5), 3 Hokkaido native horses (HH1 to 3), and 3 riders on TH1 and HH1 in walking and trotting on a treadmill from still pictures of video taped records (VTR). Rhythms of vertical and forward-backward movements of the markers attached to the horses and riders were obtained from sequential still pictures of VTR. By means of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), the rhythms of movements in the horse and the rider were characterized by 2 indices, the frequency and amplitude. On the horse without a rider, the vertical amplitude (V-Amp) was greater in caudal parts than cranial parts of the trunk. The forward-backward amplitude (FB-Amp) was significantly greater in caudal parts than cranial pars at a walk both in TH (P<0.01) and in HH (P<0.05), and it was greater in cranial parts than caudal parts at a trot in both breeds (P<0.01). The movement rhythm of the rider on HH was characterized by higher frequency and smaller amplitude than that on TH. The stride length of HH with a rider was smaller than that without a rider.

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