Abstract Background: Aged horses make up an important portion of the equine industry in Australia but have not been the subjects of detailed research. Issues relating to aged horse health, management and welfare are still largely unknown. Horses live up to 40 years, but many are retired before reaching twenty years of age thus making a large discrepancy between productive verses unproductive life. Based principally on reviews of veterinary hospital records, there has been a reported increased occurrence and severity of a range of diseases in aged horses. The increased prevalence of disease, potential for reduced perceived value and lack of regular riding may contribute to reduction in the type and quality of management practices utilised in this population resulting in compromised welfare of aged horses. Aims: By way of an owner-based survey, the first aim was to examine the demographics of aged horses, their management, the prevalence of clinical signs of disease and owner reported health or welfare issues. Using a detailed veterinary clinical examination and appropriate laboratory tests, the second aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of more common health disorders, prevention or management of these disorders and how diseases or other factors affect survival. Further, this study aimed to determine owners’ opinions relating to euthanasia of aged horses and to correlate these opinions with the personalities of the owners themselves. Methods: Owners of horses aged 15 years and older were contacted via equestrian organisations in Queensland, Australia and asked to complete a questionnaire on key information about the horse (e.g. age, breed, sex, and colour), use, management strategies, use of equine health care providers, clinical signs that the horse may be demonstrating, known diseases that the horse may have experienced or be experiencing, and identify any health or welfare issues they believed were important for horses aged 15 years or greater. From this population, a subsample was selected with these horses subjected to a thorough clinical examination, dental and ocular examination and blood tests for routine haematology, serum biochemistry, ACTH, α-MSH and insulin concentrations. Owners of the subsample of horses were asked to complete a questionnaire on their opinions of euthanasia of aged horses as well as complete a self assessment personality test. One to four years after the original survey, owners were contacted to gather additional information about the horses’ survival/death and if death had occurred the events and causes related to it. Analysis: Data was managed in Microsoft Access and Excel. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS, Minitab and Stata. Univariable and multivariable regression modelling and survival analysis were performed where appropriate. Results: Horses aged 15 years or greater in Queensland represented ⅓rd of the total horses owned in the population. The median age of the horses was 20.7 years (IQ range 17-23, min 15, max 44). Owners were able to identify many clinical signs exhibited by their horses, with 83% of horses having at least one reported clinical sign of disease. But, many signs had apparently been overlooked, with only 35.2% of horses reported by the owners to have a known disease or disorder. Further, there was a large disparity between the prevalence of disease by owner reports compared to veterinary examination. For example, owner reported dental disease was 0.5% while moderate to severe dental disease occurred in 46% horses examined. Univariable and multivariable analysis identified many associations between disease and horse factors, management factors and clinical signs, with many diseases significantly related to increasing age. There was considerable variation in the level of owner reported professional and other health care strategies. In the preceding 12 months, 90% had received hoof care, 67% had received dental care, and 50% were vaccinated, while only 39% had received veterinary care. Despite this owners expressed concern about the health and welfare of their horses. The majority of owners, 91.6% (491/536), responded with at least one reply to a question about which they thought were the most important health issues in aged horses. Owners were most concerned about weight loss (maintaining the horse’s condition), arthritis/lameness and teeth and dental care. The major influences on the decision to euthanase involved animal welfare and quality of life and owners were cognizant and concerned about these factors relative to their horses. Of the 766 horses that were followed for survival, 13.2% had died. The median survival time was 777days. Age, breed of horse, region of residence, diagnosis of equine Cushing’s syndrome, being owned by Riding for the Disabled and reported history of difficulty eating were all significantly associated with decreased survival. Conclusions: This is the first major population study of aged horses in Australia. The aged horse population is a large sub population of the Australian horse population. This study has highlighted many aged related diseases and their specific risk factors. Owners demonstrated concern for the health and welfare of aged horses, but a lack of appropriate identification of many diseases by owners and limited veterinary care suggest a need for increased client communication and veterinarian-client interaction.

Abstract Background: Aged horses make up an important portion of the equine industry in Australia but have not been the subjects of detailed research. Issues relating to aged horse health, management and welfare are still largely unknown. Horses live up to 40 years, but many are retired before reaching twenty years of age thus making a large discrepancy between productive verses unproductive life. Based principally on reviews of veterinary hospital records, there has been a reported increased occurrence and severity of a range of diseases in aged horses. The increased prevalence of disease, potential for reduced perceived value and lack of regular riding may contribute to reduction in the type and quality of management practices utilised in this population resulting in compromised welfare of aged horses. Aims: By way of an owner-based survey, the first aim was to examine the demographics of aged horses, their management, the prevalence of clinical signs of disease and owner reported health or welfare issues. Using a detailed veterinary clinical examination and appropriate laboratory tests, the second aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of more common health disorders, prevention or management of these disorders and how diseases or other factors affect survival. Further, this study aimed to determine owners’ opinions relating to euthanasia of aged horses and to correlate these opinions with the personalities of the owners themselves. Methods: Owners of horses aged 15 years and older were contacted via equestrian organisations in Queensland, Australia and asked to complete a questionnaire on key information about the horse (e.g. age, breed, sex, and colour), use, management strategies, use of equine health care providers, clinical signs that the horse may be demonstrating, known diseases that the horse may have experienced or be experiencing, and identify any health or welfare issues they believed were important for horses aged 15 years or greater. From this population, a subsample was selected with these horses subjected to a thorough clinical examination, dental and ocular examination and blood tests for routine haematology, serum biochemistry, ACTH, α-MSH and insulin concentrations. Owners of the subsample of horses were asked to complete a questionnaire on their opinions of euthanasia of aged horses as well as complete a self assessment personality test. One to four years after the original survey, owners were contacted to gather additional information about the horses’ survival/death and if death had occurred the events and causes related to it. Analysis: Data was managed in Microsoft Access and Excel. Descriptive, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS, Minitab and Stata. Univariable and multivariable regression modelling and survival analysis were performed where appropriate. Results: Horses aged 15 years or greater in Queensland represented ⅓rd of the total horses owned in the population. The median age of the horses was 20.7 years (IQ range 17-23, min 15, max 44). Owners were able to identify many clinical signs exhibited by their horses, with 83% of horses having at least one reported clinical sign of disease. But, many signs had apparently been overlooked, with only 35.2% of horses reported by the owners to have a known disease or disorder. Further, there was a large disparity between the prevalence of disease by owner reports compared to veterinary examination. For example, owner reported dental disease was 0.5% while moderate to severe dental disease occurred in 46% horses examined. Univariable and multivariable analysis identified many associations between disease and horse factors, management factors and clinical signs, with many diseases significantly related to increasing age. There was considerable variation in the level of owner reported professional and other health care strategies. In the preceding 12 months, 90% had received hoof care, 67% had received dental care, and 50% were vaccinated, while only 39% had received veterinary care. Despite this owners expressed concern about the health and welfare of their horses. The majority of owners, 91.6% (491/536), responded with at least one reply to a question about which they thought were the most important health issues in aged horses. Owners were most concerned about weight loss (maintaining the horse’s condition), arthritis/lameness and teeth and dental care. The major influences on the decision to euthanase involved animal welfare and quality of life and owners were cognizant and concerned about these factors relative to their horses. Of the 766 horses that were followed for survival, 13.2% had died. The median survival time was 777days. Age, breed of horse, region of residence, diagnosis of equine Cushing’s syndrome, being owned by Riding for the Disabled and reported history of difficulty eating were all significantly associated with decreased survival. Conclusions: This is the first major population study of aged horses in Australia. The aged horse population is a large sub population of the Australian horse population. This study has highlighted many aged related diseases and their specific risk factors. Owners demonstrated concern for the health and welfare of aged horses, but a lack of appropriate identification of many diseases by owners and limited veterinary care suggest a need for increased client communication and veterinarian-client interaction.

Because horses are animals of flight, bone fractures in the horses' limbs are quite common. When foals fracture a bone in their leg, the healthy leg is often compromised. During convalescence, the animal tends to overstress the healthy leg in an attempt to relieve the stress on the injured leg. This results in angular limb deformities, lax tendons, laminitis, and similar problems. These problems could possibly be avoided through a load-bearing device that would relieve the additional weight from the foal's limbs. In order to allow for in-vitro testing of such a load-bearing device, this thesis describes the design, analysis, and procedure of construction of a robotic replica of a foal's limb. In particular, the robotic replica has been designed to replicate all of the anticipated motion of a foal's limb, including walking, shifting weight from one leg to the other, and kicking, for example, using gait-analysis data from an actual horse's gait. From such data, the robotic replica has been designed in IDEAS and analyzed using multibody dynamics simulations code and the finite-element-analysis software ANSYS. To evaluate the function of the robotic replica, a control system was developed to reproduce observed gait characteristics. Comparison of the computer-simulated gait with the observed gait showed that a linear feedback control algorithm resulted in a response adequate for the proposed function. The proposed robotic replica has the potential for aiding in the development of several other bioassistive devices. With minor modifications, the robotic replica could be used to test a device design to transfer load from the cannon bone to the ground for an animal inflicted with laminitis (founder). These possibilities should be investigated in the future. / Master of Science

There are approximately 375 million people that suffer from mental disorders or mental illnesses in the world, which can cause severe psychological problems and mental illnesses in general. it is, however, an unfortunate fact that many of these patients go undiagnosed and untreated as a result of the stigma that surrounds mental illness and prevents them from seeking help. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, mental illness is not considered to be a serious problem by the majority of people. Since the stigma associated with mental illness in Saudi Arabia is high, there are no accurate statistics on the number of people diagnosed with mental illness there. Mental illness in this country is stigmatized by many people, which causes many people to avoid seeking treatment from psychiatrists. The research found that stigma was the most common reason delaying psychiatric visits since 96% of the population believes that people who suffer from illnesses of the mind are mad and therefore have weak personalities as a result of such illnesses and psychological problems. This underlines the crucial importance of raising awareness and educating the public about mental health. In this thesis, I want to shed light on the stigma surrounding mental health and to emphasize the need to minimize stigmatization and decriminalization of mental health. King Salman Park, a new development project, aims to provide a beautiful park for the Saudi community, by linking it to a variety of roads to make it accessible to everyone. By using a small portion of this park, we can construct an equine therapy centre that provides safe, supportive surroundings for our visitors. As a part of incorporating Saudi Arabian culture and therapy, an Arabian horse has been used, which has been cherished and loved by Saudi Arabians since ancient times as a great companion. Hopefully this unobtrusive move will bring awareness to Saudi Arabians and encourage them to seek more serious assistance in the future. / Master of Architecture / Mental illnesses are often referred to as psychiatric disorders and they affect approximately 375 million people all over the world. In spite of this, a large number of these patients go undiagnosed and untreated because mental illness carries a stigma that prevents them from seeking help. Growing up in Saudi Arabia, mental illness is not considered to be a serious problem by the majority of people. There are no accurate statistics on the number of people in Saudi Arabia who are diagnosed with mental illness because many patients do not seek assistance from psychiatrists due to the stigma associated with mental illness in the country. Researchers found that stigma was the most common reason delaying psychiatric visits, since 96.9% of the population believed that patients with mental illness were mad and had weak personalities as a result of mental illness and psychological problems. This underscores the importance of public education and raising awareness regarding mental health. The main goal of this thesis is to reduce the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health. A supportive environment can be created through integrating Saudi Arabian culture and therapy by using an Arabian horse, which Saudi Arabians have loved and cherished as a great companion since ancient times.

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