Blood samples were used to look at specific markers in the blood, such as the hormone oxytocin, which is frequently described as the love or happiness hormone. “To our knowledge, this is the first report of the measurement of oxytocin in horses used in EAAT programs” stated Malinowski. “If the concentration of this hormone increased during the trial, we would be able to suggest a positive effect on the horses.”

“Horses can have neurologic deficits, they can have neck pain, they can have lameness. These are the three things we see often. Sometimes arthritis is the cause, sometimes it’s not. But it’s often the default diagnosis because the disease is so hard to accurately diagnose.”

Unlike the normal process of in-vitro fertilization (which generally doesn’t work with horses), ICSI involves injecting a single sperm into an egg extracted from a mare. The embryo then develops in a lab for a week before being implanted in the mare.