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New Study Will Help Determine Exercise Effects On Bone Health

Researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) are investigating whether mile-long trot sets might protect foals from leg fractures later in life. Leg fractures can happen in any horse, but lower leg fractures are of more concern in horses that race or jump competitively. Most fractures occur in horses that are between two and 10 years old.

Dr. Annette McCoy, Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery at the UIUC College of Veterinary Medicine and member of the research team, notes that mild exercise early in life stimulates bone growth in horses – particularly in areas prone to fracture — though how is not completely understood. McCoy will see if parallels can be drawn from human medical studies, which have shown that kids who exercise are less prone to injury as adolescents and adults. The bone changes the human subjects experience from exercise seem to be sustained over time.

McCoy and her team will study 12 Standardbred foals housed on the university farm beginning when they are eight weeks old. The scientists will perform a baseline CT exam to measure bone density and volume on the forelegs of each foal. The foals will then be split into two groups: one group will complete an eight-week exercise plan where they trot rapidly over 1,500 yards once a day, five days per week; the second group will serve as the control and will not be exercised. In a previous study, McCoy found that foals living outside were relatively inactive nearly 85 percent of the time.

At 16 weeks old, the foal's forelegs will be scanned again to compare bone development. At 12 months old, a final CT scan will be performed. A computer model will predict the effects of exercise interventions on bone properties.

Melbourne Cup: Anthony Van Dyck Tragedy Leads To New CT Scan Requirement, Other Safety Benchmarks

Racing Victoria (RV), together with the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), have announced the industry's plan to set a new global safety benchmark for horses competing in the Spring Racing Carnival. The new safety measures, to be introduced this year, follow an extensive review into the rate of injuries sustained by international horses during the Spring Racing Carnival over the past decade, with a primary focus on Australia's greatest race, the Melbourne Cup.

The process involved the review group covering four key areas: the higher rate of injuries among visiting and imported horses over the past decade; pre- and post-travel veterinary and diagnostic requirements; training facilities both internationally and upon arrival in Melbourne; and the conditions of the Melbourne Cup.

The review group also considered a fatality report compiled by RV following the injury and subsequent euthanasia of Aidan O'Brien trainee Anthony Van Dyck in the 2020 Melbourne Cup.

The report details that, following his arrival in Australia, Anthony Van Dyck's private veterinarian diagnosed Proximal Suspensory Desmitis (PSD) in all four limbs, a condition that is common in athletic horses and is considered low risk for serious injury. The diagnostic procedures used by the stable's private veterinarian included nerve blocks, a highly common practice used by veterinarians to temporarily desensitize localized areas when examining the soundness of equine athletes.

The diagnosis of PSD was consistent with the findings of Anthony Van Dyck's post mortem and is considered unrelated to the fatal fractures sustained by the horse in the Melbourne Cup. Having reasonably accepted the diagnosis of PSD and in the absence of other clinical signs, further diagnostic examination was not sought by the stable or RV.

The fatality report found that, whilst current veterinary processes were followed, had mandatory precautionary diagnostic imaging been in place, it may have identified the potential for Anthony Van Dyck to incur a more serious racing injury.

The review group ultimately determined that there are multiple contributing factors to injuries in horses, particularly among international horses travelling to Australia, and thus a combination of recommendations, each contributing to reduce the risk of injury, was required.

The headline initiatives being implemented with the aim of reducing injuries among international horses during the Spring Racing Carnival and among all horses competing in the Melbourne Cup are as follows:

Pre-Travel

An enhanced pre-travel veterinary examination process will ensure an unprecedented level of scrutiny on horses wishing to travel with additional compulsory diagnostic imaging and examinations to be conducted;
All international horses wishing to enter WIHC must undergo full body scintigraphy and CT/MRI of their distal limbs at the expense of their connections two to six weeks prior to entering pre-export quarantine;
Horses that have had a previous major fracture or orthopaedic surgery will be excluded from travelling and entering WIHC regardless of their current health and soundness; and
An RV appointed veterinarian will conduct a pre-travel veterinary examination in pre-export quarantine within a week of travelling to Australia to ensure the ongoing suitability of horses to travel.

Post-Arrival in Australia

All international horses that arrive at WIHC must also undergo a CT scan of their distal limbs prior to each start in Victoria during the Spring Racing Carnival before being permitted to compete, with the costs to be met by RV;
Dedicated RV appointed veterinary staff will provide and/or oversee veterinary clinical services for international horses at WIHC instead of stables appointing their own private veterinarians; and
Enhanced oversight will include new trackwork monitoring processes and systems along with the world-first introduction of cortisol analysis to monitor stress levels in international horses based at WIHC.

Werribee International Horse Centre

The WIHC will be retained as the industry's quarantine facility and international training center with further enhancements to be made to the two training tracks and veterinary examination facilities;
The depth of the profile of the sand-fibre track will be increased and track preparation modified to increase the depth and frequency of harrowing, while the crossing will be upgraded on the turf track;
The number of international horses permitted to enter the WIHC for the Spring Racing Carnival will be capped at 24 – down from an uncapped peak of 42 in 2018; and
Imported international horses ('one-way tickets'), whilst in training, will be required to remain at the WIHC until at least the conclusion of Melbourne Cup week before being permitted to transfer to different training facilities.

Melbourne Cup

In what is believed to be a world-first initiative, all horses – international and local – must undergo a CT scan of their distal limbs before being permitted to compete in the Melbourne Cup, with the costs to be met by RV;
That diagnostic imaging must be performed after the date of the Caulfield Cup and prior to Melbourne Cup final acceptances, with local horses permitted to start between their imaging and the Melbourne Cup;
These scans will be reviewed by a panel of three RV-appointed international experts in equine surgery and veterinary diagnostic imaging to determine the horse's suitability to race;
International horses that travel to Australia via the WIHC will be permitted to have a maximum of one start only in Australia prior to contesting the Melbourne Cup; and
An additional pre-race veterinary inspection of all starters will be conducted by a panel of RV veterinarians on the day prior to the Melbourne Cup, in addition to that already conducted on the Thursday/Friday prior to the race.

To facilitate the implementation of the plan, RV, the VRC and the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) have today also announced that nominations for the 2021 Melbourne Cup and 2021 Caulfield Cup will be brought forward to Aug. 3 to allow sufficient time for extensive veterinary examinations of international entries. The final race conditions of the 2021 Melbourne Cup will be published in June.

Additional information about the new initiatives is available here.

The post Melbourne Cup: Anthony Van Dyck Tragedy Leads To New CT Scan Requirement, Other Safety Benchmarks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Update: Mineralization Of Neck Ligament Not Related To Headshaking

Headshaking in horses remains a frustrating mystery for the most part, with little relief for the horses it affects. One recent hypothesis was that headshaking was caused by the mineralization of the longitudinal odontoid ligament, a fan-shaped ligament in the neck. In a study published in 2020, three headshaking horses showed mineralization of this ligament in CT scans.

Much remains unknown about headshaking other than it is assumed that trigeminal neuralgia is the underlying cause. Other veterinarians and scientists suggest that musculoskeletal pain may also cause head shaking.

Imaging a horse's cervical spine used to be difficult, but diagnostic equipment has improved to the point where imaging this portion of a horse's spine is now possible. Drs. Alison Talbot, Miguel Rodrigues and Thomas Maddox re-examined CT scans of 97 horses that came through the Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital, a part of the University of Liverpool.

They looked for records to indicate any relationship between the mineralization of that ligament and the primary issue, as well as breed, age, sex and use. They also looked for any association with neck pain, head shaking or restricted range of motion in the neck.

They team found that 25 of the 96 horses (26 percent) had some mineralization of the ligament, but they found no association between mineralization and either idiopathic head shaking or any other clinical signs. They did discover that increasing mineralization was linked to age and sex: it primarily affected mares.

They determined that the mineralization of the ligament had nothing to do with head shaking or neck pain. They recommended that the significance of the mineralization be interpreted cautiously.

Reade the study here.

CT Scan Best Modality To ID Foreign Bodies In Equine Feet

Drs. Nadine Ogden, Peter Milner, John Stack and Alison Talbot from the University of Liverpool created a study that compared diagnostic modalities to determine which was the best for identifying foreign bodies in horses' feet. Even when an injury is obvious, it isn't always clear if any foreign material remains within the wound.

The research team buried two foreign bodies into cadaver equine legs: one at the sole and one at the coronary band. The materials included dry wood, soaked wood, glass, slate and plastic. They then asked three equine veterinarians to examine the images produced by computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and digital X-rays.

They determined that there was minimal variation between the vet's findings on all the images. CT was found to be the most useful imaging modality. CT was able to detect all materials; it was able to pick out slate, glass and dry wood better than the other imaging modalities.

The foreign bodies were able to be seen on MRI, but these images were not clear enough for the vets to determine what type of material it was. Plastic and wood were difficult to determine on digital X-rays.

The team notes that though it is not traditionally necessary to determine what material is involved, it is important to use an appropriate imaging technique to make sure the foreign body can be detected.

Read the full investigation here.