Abstract: Medical research on the effects of thermal mud in the human medical field already retrospect for many years (Gyarmati és Kulisch 2008). As a result, the thermal sludge product is successfully applied more widely, especially in the rehabilitation of rheumatic diseases (Gyarmati és mtsai., 2012). Research results related to the management of horses for the time being, however, are not available.
The aim of our study was to investigate how a mud treatment from Heviz Spa Lake affects the movement quality and flexibility of certain joints in horses. An experiment was carried out with 10 male and female school and sport horses. All of the horses had been ridden longer period than 3 years and had correct and healthy movement. Horses were treated with mud ten times, respectively, daily in the evenings. Wet sludge was blamed on the knee, hock, elbow, shoulder, back, stifle, front and hind cannons and fetlock joints. The sludge used for treatments was washed off in the morning. At the beginning of the experiment, after the treatment and 8 weeks following the average stride length and the longest distance between the print of hind and front foot during walking and trotting, maximal flexibility of knee, hock and fetlock joints were measured. To calculate the number of steps horses were lead straight during walking and trotting on 30 m flat distance. Following this the stride length was determined. To determine the longest distance between the print of hind and front foot on flat, sandy soil, the distance between hind and front prints was measured three times. The maximal flexibility of each joint was measured with a joint protractor. Statistical analysis was carried out with one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS 7.0 program.
According to the results (table 1.), the horses responded positively to the treatments. The most positive results were detected by the average stride lenght during walking, maximal flexibility of the front fetlock, knee and hock. This is partly explicable with the beneficial effects of sulphur on the joints, which is well-known in human field (Kovács és mtsai., 2012). The stride length and longest distance between the print of hind and front foot were lower but positively influenced by the mud treatment. Eight weeks after the treatments, most of the parameters similar to human therapeutic results (Kulisch és mtsai., 2012), compared to directly after the mud baths completion values ​​were further improved, a slight negative effect was observed only for a few test values, but the results obtained here were more favourable, as at the beginning of the experiment. The results seem to confirm that the treatment effects can be considered long term. This is also explained by the slurry preparation from which absorbed elemental sulphur and sulphur oxidizing hydrogen sulfide absorbed in the body may be another source of hydrogen sulphide formation at the skin (Gyarmati,1982).
Our results show, that the mud treatment from Heviz Spa Lake may have benifical effects on the joints, playing an important role in the locomotion of horses.
The results are remarkable as well, also because of the evidence of the chemical impact of mud also can help. Such modes of action are still under research and only partly demonstrated in human medicine (Odabasi és mtsai., 2008). Further veterinarian research has to be carried out to confirm the results. The results of the present experiment and the prospect of further research could be pioneer, as the Heviz mud, as well as the thermal effect of water even before in the equine medicine has not been demonstrated experimentally, only individual observations are aviable. So the veterinary use of Heviz mud, which has been proven many times in human medicine, seems to be a new research field.
Key words: mud treatment, Heviz Spa Lake, maximal flexibility of joints, locomotion activities
References
Gyarmati, J. (1982): Experiences of Heviz mud treatments. FITEC Congress, Budapest
Gyarmati N, Ms. – Kulisch Á., Ms. (2008): History and description of héviz spa with special emphasis on weight-bath. La Presse thermale et climatique 2008;145:233-242.
Gyarmati N., Ms. – Mándó Zs., Ms. – Bergmann A., Ms. – Mózes M., Ms. (2012.): The role of mud treatment int he rehabilitation of reumatic illnesses. XXXI: Conference of The Hungarian Society for Medical Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine 6-8. september. Szombathely, Hungary
Kovács C, – Pecze M, – Tihanyi Á, – Kovács L, – Balogh S, – Bender T. (2012): The effect of sulphurous water in patients with osteoarthritis of hand. Double-blind, randomized, controlled follow-up study. Clinical Rheumatology Oct;31(10):1437-42.
Kulisch Á. and her medical team (2012): Survey of Heviz thermal-mineralwater on patienten suffering from primer knee-arthrosis. As medicinal declaration of human research.
Essay, Saint Andrew Hospital for Reumatic Diseases, Heviz, Hungary
Odabasi, Ersin; Turan, Mustafa; Erdem, Hakan; Tekbas, Faruk (2008): Does Mud Pack Treatment Have Any Chemical Effect? A Randomized Controlled Clinical Study. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine; Jun, Vol. 14 Issue 5, p559

Abstract: For human athletes, any physical performance classically begins with a warm-up including a phase of cardio-respiratory activation as well as a phase of neuro-muscular mobilization. For the equine athletes similar routines are widely followed despite limited scientific studies addressing its effectiveness. Although physiological bases are of a similar nature in humans and horses, the latter are showing a different “telos” related to their status of prey. Indeed, their survival depends on their ability to detect any predator or potential danger in their environment and to estimate the need to run away. Therefore warm-up techniques should be adapted to this specificity and we added a walk phase preceding the usual warm-up during which the horse was allowed to visually assess its environment without constraint imposed by its rider, reins being long. We assumed that this walk phase would allow a more relaxed mental state and then a decrease in cognitive resources involved in environmental monitoring. Consequently this would release cognitive resources then available for the communication between the horse and the rider.
The autonomous nervous system (ANS) regulates the heart rate via the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathovagal balance and the heart rate variability are considered as good indicators of an acute stress state as well as emotional states. These measures are frequently used to estimate well-being in animals. During the walk phase, we observed a significant decrease of the heart rate (HR), a significant increase of its variability and a significant modification of the sympathovagal balance in favour of a higher contribution of the parasympathetic control. We also measured the non-linear correlation dimension which reflects the degree of freedom of a system. To the best of our knowledge, this method was used until now only in humans to whom it was shown that its decrease is related to stressful events and is associated with a bad prognosis for survival. During the walk phase in horses, the dimension of correlation of cardiac activity was increased.
From a behavioural point of view, we observed a significant decrease of side movements related to head orientation as well as significant changes in ears position, the latter being preferentially directed forwards at the beginning of the walk phase and laterally at the end. As previous research suggests that ears position and head orientation can be involved in attentional mechanisms in horses, our results suggest a decrease of the attention focused on the environment. Furthermore, a significant lowering of the neck was observed as well as a significant decrease of behaviours related to stress.
To conclude our results suggest that a walk phase preceding the usual warm-up of horses would contribute to improve their mental state in favour of more relaxation and of a decrease of the attentional resources invested in environmental monitoring.

Abstract: Die soziale Fellpflege wurde bei Equiden intensiv erforscht. Es stellte sich heraus, dass diverse Faktoren das Grooming-Verhalten beeinflussen können. Neben saisonalen Gegebenheiten sind dies vor allem soziale Faktoren, wie das Alter und Geschlecht der Tiere, die Hierarchie und Gruppenzusammensetzung sowie die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der Tiere untereinander. Diese Faktoren können sowohl bei der Häufigkeit der sozialen Fellpflege, als auch bei der Wahl des Partners eine entscheidende Rolle spielen. Zudem konnte gezeigt werden, dass auch das Aggressivitätslevel in einer Gruppe Einfluss auf das soziale Verhalten und die soziale Fellpflege nehmen kann. Inwiefern zwei Individuen, die sich häufig groomen, auch bevorzugt beieinander stehen, konnte bislang noch nicht eindeutig gezeigt werden, da es hierzu diverse Studien mit konträren Ergebnisse gibt. Dieser Aspekt sollte zukünftig dringend untersucht werden, da die beiden Datensätze häufig gemeinsam verwendet werden, um soziale Bindungen zu berechnen, ohne dass bislang ein eindeutiger Zusammenhang zwischen ihnen ermittelt werden konnte.
[Summary
Social grooming has been investigated intensively in Equids during the last years and several factors are known to influence the grooming behaviour. Beside seasonal conditions these are especially social factors as age and sex, hierarchy and group composition as well as kinship. These factors can affect the grooming frequencies and influence the choice of the grooming partner. Moreover, it could be demonstrated that the groups’
aggression level can influence the social behaviour and the grooming intensity. If individuals which show an increased grooming frequency often stand in close proximity as well, has not been affirmed, as, so far, no distinct correlation has been demonstrated. This aspect has to be investigated urgently, as both data sets are often used in combination for calculating social bonds.]

Abstract: <p>Although previous studies of horses have investigated their facial expressions in specific contexts, e.g. pain, until now there has been no methodology available that documents all the possible facial movements of the horse and provides a way to record all potential facial configurations. This is essential for an objective description of horse facial expressions across a range of contexts that reflect different emotional states. Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS) provide a systematic methodology of identifying and coding facial expressions on the basis of underlying facial musculature and muscle movement. FACS are anatomically based and document all possible facial movements rather than a configuration of movements associated with a particular situation. Consequently, FACS can be applied as a tool for a wide range of research questions. We developed FACS for the domestic horse (<italic>Equus caballus</italic>) through anatomical investigation of the underlying musculature and subsequent analysis of naturally occurring behaviour captured on high quality video. Discrete facial movements were identified and described in terms of the underlying muscle contractions, in correspondence with previous FACS systems. The reliability of others to be able to learn this system (EquiFACS) and consistently code behavioural sequences was high?and this included people with no previous experience of horses. A wide range of facial movements were identified, including many that are also seen in primates and other domestic animals (dogs and cats). EquiFACS provides a method that can now be used to document the facial movements associated with different social contexts and thus to address questions relevant to understanding social cognition and comparative psychology, as well as informing current veterinary and animal welfare practices.</p>

Abstract: We developed a biorhythmical method to assess behaviour patterns and to evaluate living conditions of animals. All kinds of continuous and equidistant long-term recordings of behaviour are suitable for this method. As simple behavioural parameters, such as motor activity, can be conveniently recorded by telemetry from wild animals now, it is possible to investigate stressors by analysing its biorhythmic structure. It is the purpose of this report to describe the basic idea, and the procedure, and to give some examples of application measured on Przewalski horses in an Semireserve.