Arthritis | Horse Racing Free Tips

Last Two Living Descendants Of Secretariat Celebrate Birthdays

Secretariat had more than 650 registered foals when he died, the last group born in 1990. Today, there are two living Secretariat offspring: 34-year-old Border Run and 33-year-old Trusted Company, both of whom celebrated birthdays on Jan. 1, reports Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.

Border Run is out of Crimson Saint and a full brother to Terlingua, the dam of Storm Cat. He sold for $650,000 as a yearling in 1988. He raced 41 times.

Now owned by Curtis Wright, Border Run spends his time turned out at a Washington Farm and is spoiled with bananas, mints, carrots and cookies. Though the gelding has some issues getting up from naps, he still eats with gusto.

Trusted Company resides at Bright Futures Farm, a Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA)-accredited sanctuary. The mare, out of Star Snoop, was born in 1989 and is the dam of Shatzi, who raced and was a broodmare in Peru. She had two foals of note: Pacatan and Lady Shatzi; both of whom won stakes races in Peru. Lady Shatzi was Peru's 2009 Horse of the Year.

Though Company battles arthritis, she is still able to run in the pasture and boss around her field mate, Catch This T, a 29-year-old gelding. “Company” receives twice weekly PEMF (pulsing electromagnetic field) treatments and an anti-inflammatory tablet each day to ease her aching joints.

The post Last Two Living Descendants Of Secretariat Celebrate Birthdays appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Arthritis: Early Detection, Prompt Treatment The Keys To Long-Term Management

Though the term “arthritis” can be intimidating to horse owners, the diagnosis doesn't mean retirement is inevitable. Arthritis simply means inflammation in a joint, and can be caused by either an acute trauma or by chronic overuse.

A healthy joint boasts smooth bones as well as healthy cartilage and synovial fluid. Arthritis occurs when one of these is compromised, damaging the cartilage or bone. “Osteoarthritis” is degenerative joint disease; it is often more severe and can have long-term effects on a horse's soundness and comfort.

An injury that causes arthritis can be managed so that its long-term effects are minimal. A horse with arthritis will have pain and swelling, as well as a reduced range of motion from the joint inflammation. If this condition isn't caught quickly, the body may lay down rough new bone with no cartilage, causing a constant loop of joint damage, regeneration and swelling.

The best way to prevent arthritis from becoming a long-term issue is to identify and treat inflammation as soon after injury as possible. Ultrasound images are often the best way to diagnose a soft-tissue or cartilage injury early; X-rays are more helpful if the injury wasn't caught soon after onset, as they show bone formation.

The best way to prevent long-term damage from arthritis is to utilize stall rest and patience. Modalities designed to increase circulation, like shockwave therapy, can also be used.

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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often given to minimize pain and swelling. Joint injections can also be considered. These injections may include corticosteroids, which are anti-inflammatories that suppress the horse's natural immune response and reduce the development of rough bone, or hyaluronic acid (HA) injections, which can replace or supplement existing HA.

Questionnaire May Help Arthritic Equines Get Help Earlier

Osteoarthritis can be a painful condition in horses but, unlike people, horses can't talk with their veterinarians about where and how much it hurts. Now, a newly funded study from Morris Animal Foundation is testing to see if a simple questionnaire can help horse owners recognize and monitor signs of chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain in their horses – helping their equine charges get earlier, more effective treatment and improving their quality of life.

Dr. Janny de Grauw, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and Diane Howard, PhD, MSc., Equine Science Master graduate from the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom, are the recipients of the Donor-Inspired Study grant, funded by Dr. Wendy Koch, a veterinarian who has supported the Foundation for nearly 30 years. Dr. Koch has closely followed equine behavior and welfare research over the years and wanted to increase the amount of funding available for studies in these fields.

To effectively treat pain, caregivers and clinicians need a way of monitoring and quantifying the amount of discomfort felt. However, a survey of horse owners in the United Kingdom found that owners have limited ability to identify pain and disease in their horses, underlining the need for a simple way of helping people to recognize chronic pain in their equine companions.

“As veterinarians, we want to treat horses with painful and debilitating conditions like OA as effectively as possible,” said de Grauw. “How well we can manage their condition critically relies on recognition of subtle signs of (worsening) pain by owners and caregivers, who can then seek help.”

Under Dr. de Grauw's supervision, Howard developed the 15-item questionnaire based on changes in horse behavior through interviews with owners of horses diagnosed with osteoarthritis. The questions cover posture, facial expressions, movement and behavior.

She will validate the questionnaire by having 60 owners of horses with chronic OA pain and 20 owners of horses without OA complete it. The owners with OA horses will complete the questionnaire twice in two days while their horse's pain does not fluctuate, to evaluate how robust and reproducible the scoring instrument is.

The research team hopes the easy-to-use questionnaire will help horse owners recognize when their animals are in pain and contact a veterinarian for appropriate treatment. The instrument also may help owners monitor treatment effectiveness and pain progression over time, and guide owners and veterinarians in making quality-of-life decisions.

“Many horses may deal with pain that is not recognized, particularly in its early stages,” said Dr. Janet Patterson-Kane, Morris Animal Foundation Chief Scientific Officer. “Giving their caregivers effective tools for detection, monitoring and decision-making has the potential for significant animal welfare impact.”

Osteoarthritis is a major cause of chronic pain in horses but is an underrecognized and undertreated condition. Though often associated with advanced age, it can also occur in young horses. In addition to being painful, OA can severely curtail a horse's athletic career, and impact the bond between horse and owner if the condition limits a horse's ability to be ridden.

The Foundation's Donor-Inspired Study program allows individual donors and foundations to directly support research topics for which they have a passion and there is a pressing need. Applications for this grant were reviewed and rated, based on impact and scientific rigor, by a scientific advisory board, made up of equine behavior and welfare experts.

Morris Animal Foundation is one of the largest nonprofit organizations worldwide that funds health studies benefiting cats, dogs, horses, llamas, alpacas and wildlife. The Foundation currently is funding 150 studies encompassing a broad spectrum of species and diseases.

Sidewinder Gait: A Poor Prognosis No Matter The Cause

Sidewinder gait in horses looks as odd as its name: An affected horse walks with his body and pelvis drifting out to one side; a severely affected horse may spin or circle with their hind legs moving in one direction and their thoracic limbs moving differently to compensate.

The disease is poorly understood, in part because it's difficult for the horse to stand in one place or symmetrically load his hind limbs. Sidewinder gait can come on gradually or suddenly.

Drs. Monica Aleman, Emily Berryhill, Kevin Woolard, Charlotte Easton‐Jones, Tania Kozikowski‐Nicholas, Sue Dyson and Isabelle Kilcoyne hypothesized that the gait might be caused by neurologic or musculoskeletal issues. They completed a retrospective study of 37 horses that were seen for sidewinder gait at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis, and the Centre for Equine Studies at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, England, between 2000 and 2019.

Some horses were excluded from the study for a variety of reasons; the scientists used a total 24 horses for the study. They found that the average age of the affected horses was 18.9 years old and that sidewinder gait came on suddenly in 10 of the cases.

In total, 16 cases were caused by neurologic issues, including dynamic thoracolumbar spinal cord compression (five cases), equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (four cases), thoracic myelopathy (four cases), gliosis (two cases) and thrombosis of thoracic spinal cord segments (one case).

Eight cases of sidewinder gait were caused by non-neurologic reasons: osteoarthritis of the hip (four cases), multiple displaced pelvic fractures (two cases), rupture of the ligament at the femoral head (one case) and severe necrotic damage of pelvic muscles (one case).

The scientists reported that though short-term improvement was reported, the sidewinder gait remained unresolved in all horses. The fatality rate was nearly 80 percent (19 of the 24 horses). Of the horses that lived, not one resumed the level of previous activity.

The researchers determined that sidewinder gait is normally seen in older horses of any breed or sex and can have neurologic or musculoskeletal origins. The condition has a poor prognosis for function and life.

Read the study here.