An experimental study with 22 ponies was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding a diet high in nonstructural carbohydrates (starch) on the laminae of lean ponies compared with obese ponies. The ponies were sorted into lean (body condition ≤4) and obese (body condition ≥7) groups and half of each group was fed either a low starch hay diet or a high starch diet with added sweet feed and plant sugars. After 7 days, laminar tissue samples were collected and analyzed to measure the activity of naturally occurring substances that trigger inflammation (inflammatory mediators) and the expression of genes that control inflammation.

An experimental study using 6 normal horses was conducted to determine how much local anesthetic agents used for diagnostic nerve blocks might diffuse away from a point of injection on the lower limb. Also examined was the influence that hand walking on injection diffusion.