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Pensioned Sire Broken Vow Dies

Broken Vow (Unbridled–Wedding Vow, by Nijinsky II) passed away from natural causes Sept. 3 at his birthplace and longtime home, Pin Oak Stud. He was 25 years old.

The Pin Oak homebred won nine of 14 career starts, and won or placed in six graded stakes, earning $725,296. Trained by Graham Motion, Broken Vow won the GII Philip H. Iselin H. and GIII Ben Ali S. and placed in the GI Gulfstream Park H., GIII Fayette S., and the GII Meadowlands Cup H. before retiring to start his career at stud.

“He was an incredibly influential horse on my career and was probably my first 'big' horse,” commented Motion. “I'm so glad that I got to visit him in his field this past Spring. He was a happy horse enjoying his retirement. This truly is the end of an era.”

The stallion, who stood two decades at Pin Oak, was among the top 15 active sires, with 15% black-type horses from starters. He is the sire of 159 black-type horses in total, 80 of those black-type winners and 27 graded scorers. He also is responsible for six champions. Included among his six Grade I winners: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and Eclipse Champion Champagne Room, the co-topweight female sprinter of her year Sassy Image, as well as Cotton Blossom, Unbridled Belle, and Rosalind. As a broodmare sire, his daughters have already produced three champions and approximately 100 black-type horses, including Eclipse Champion Runhappy.

“Words cannot express the loss of Broken Vow to everyone here at Pin Oak,” said long time manager Clifford Barry. “We had been with him from birth to breaking, his races and his stud career.”

Barry continued, “As we reflect on the many great memories he provided, how we cheered for him in the royal blue and gray silks of Pin Oak, and we cheered even louder for his offspring as if they were ours and for the loyal breeders that supported him. He was a very special horse to be around–smart, classy and a huge will to succeed. And if he could speak, he would have said thank you to the vets and grooms that cared for him throughout his life. It's testament to Ms. [Josephine] Abercrombie's program that he spent his whole life here at the farm. I know she's getting to feed him sugar again.”

Broken Vow will be buried alongside other former Pin Oak stallions Sky Classic, Peaks and Valleys, and Maria's Mon.

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Storage A Concern When Feeding Corn On The Cob

Question: A fellow boarder was feeding her horse ears of field corn one evening. The kernels were hard and a deep golden color. I asked her if this was from this year's planting, and she said it was from an old corncrib that was on a relative's farm. Is this a safe practice?

Kentucky Equine Research responds: Feeding corn to the horse is not an issue, as it is often an ingredient in high-quality, well-formulated feeds. The concern involves where the corn was stored and for what duration it was there.

Corncribs are relics on most farms these days. Usually fashioned from wood, they were once commonplace on farms. The walls of the corncribs were typically not entire, purposely left open to allow air to circulate throughout. While ventilating the corncribs was essential for keeping the corn dry, the openness often allowed rodents and other vermin to gain access.

If ear corn becomes wet during storage in a corncrib, there is a chance that mold will develop. Unlike cattle, horses are extremely sensitive to mold. This is evident in the difference in hay that can be fed to the two species; generally cattle can tolerate more dust and mold than horses can.

If a horse consumes corn contaminated with toxins produced by Fusarium spp., it might be at risk for moldy corn poisoning, also known as equine leukoencephalomalacia. This disease progresses quickly in most animals with death occurring within a few days. Clinical signs of the disease include anorexia, lethargy, and a roster of neurological deficits: staggering, circling, head-pressing, and inability to swallow.

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Though this is not a common disease, it is a deadly one and there have been numerous outbreaks recorded throughout the United States. Cases seem to pop up in late fall through early spring and are especially prevalent when a dry growing season is followed by a rainy fall.

While contaminated kernels might be off-colored, there is no definitive way to tell if corn is infected with the disease-causing fungus by visual inspection. Corn screenings, a by-product of corn handling and processing that contain, among other things, whole and partial kernels of corn, are another likely source of contamination.

The best way to prevent a case of moldy corn poisoning is to provide horses with a professionally formulated and manufactured concentrate that is appropriate for age and lifestyle. When fed by itself as a concentrate, corn does not supply adequate nutrients for optimal health.

The temptation to give horses treats is a great one, but I'd stick with more traditional ones: apples, carrots, or an occasional alfalfa cube.

Study: Racetrack Fatalities In Sweden, Norway Often Result Of Sudden Collapse

A new study reveals that the main cause of racetrack fatalities in horses racing in Norway and Sweden is sudden collapse, not catastrophic injury, as was previously suspected.

Dr. Ingunn Risnes Hellings and a research team looked at fatalities recorded by the Norwegian and Swedish Trotting Associations from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2019; 48 horses died during this period—38 Standardbreds and 10 Norwegian-Swedish Coldblooded Trotters. The scientists looked at breed, age, sex, frequency of starts, time of year, and racing distance in an attempt to identify risk factors. They also noted whether the horse competed in a trotting race under saddle or in harness.

Fatalities were included in the study if the horse was euthanized after becoming injured immediately before the race, during the race, or within an hour of racing.

The researchers found that 14.5 percent of fatalities were from traumatic or orthopedic injuries, while the rest were considered “sudden athletic death.” This is a distinct difference from the primary cause of racetrack fatalities in Thoroughbred racehorses, in which most suffer catastrophic orthopedic injuries. Sudden athletic death in Thoroughbreds occurs at a rate of between 9 and 19 percent.

The team also found:

A higher number of starts in the last 30 days increased risk of sudden death
30 horses died of acute circulatory collapse due to cardiac or pulmonary failure
10 horses died from hemorrhaging after blood vessel rupture
Seven of the 48 study horses were euthanized because of catastrophic injury
70 percent of the 40 horses in the sudden athletic death category had marked bleeding in the lungs
The rate of sudden athletic death was similar between both breeds

The scientists determined that the rate of catastrophic injury fatalities was comparatively low and that suspected or confirmed cardiopulmonary causes of death were similar to previous studies. They note that additional investigation into the pathologies causing the cardiopulmonary events is warranted.

Read the full study here.

Study: Colic The Primary Cause Of Death For Geriatric Horses In Retirement Centers

The primary causes of death among horses at a retirement facility include colic, lameness, neurological deficits, and the cumulative effects of old age, according to new research from the Netherlands.

Using records from a private equine retirement center gathered over an eight-year period, researchers aimed to pinpoint the most common causes of death in aged horses and, more specifically, to determine the effects of pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) on mortality.^*

For this study, any horse 15 years of age or older was considered geriatric.

After an exhaustive review of records, researchers created fourteen categories for the cause of death: colic, lameness excluding laminitis, laminitis, down in the field, neurological deficit, sudden death, acute illness, chronic weight loss, tumor, fracture or trauma, behavior, financial, and old age. A “financial” cause of death indicated euthanasia occurred because of an owner's inability to pay for care, and “old age” designated a horse with multiple problems that cumulatively decreased welfare and whose life ended by planned euthanasia.

All horses at the facility were overseen by professional horsemen and veterinarians and were provided with routine care. Testing for PPID occurred if there were any clinical indications of the disease (cresty neck, history of laminitis, chronic infections, weight loss).

Of the 194 horses that resided at the facility, 80 geriatric horses died during the eight-year period. Twelve were between the ages of 15 and 19 years old, 25 were between 21 and 25 years old, 32 were between 25 and 30 years old, and 11 were 31 or older. The average age of those horses that died was 26 years old. All were euthanized or died of natural causes.

The most common cause of death among this population of geriatric horses was colic (20% of cases) followed by old age (15%) and lameness that did not involve laminitis (12%). Neurologic problems and an inability to rise after lying down rounded out the top five causes of death.

“For those of us that live and breathe horses, that spend time each day with horses, that study horses, these causes of death come as no surprise,” said Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research. “The interesting aspect of this study is that this data was all mined from the records of horses housed at a single facility under similar management conditions. Because of this, there was less variation in care than there would have been if horses had been managed at multiple farms.”

With regard to PPID, of the 194 horses that resided at the facility, 125 (63%) were tested at least once for PPID. During the eight-year-study period, 62 horses of the 125 tested died, and 47 of those 62 (76%) had tested positive for PPID at an average age of 27 years old.

According to the study, horses were maintained on a diet of free-choice haylage with and were offered supplemental feed if necessary. The teeth of all horses were examined regularly and those with missing or problematic teeth were given mashes when necessary. Weight was monitored monthly using scales. “The horses at this facility appeared to be given top-flight care, especially when it came to provision of adequate feed, dental care, and regular deworming, all of which is important when it comes to lifespan,” Whitehouse said. “Old horses sometimes require more management, but the extra investment may pay off in added years at the end of a life.”

Aged horses often benefit from targeted supplementation. High-quality joint supplements can help ease the discomfort associated with the effects of a lifetime of service, and a research-proven hindgut buffer, like EquiShure, can help stabilize the pH of the hindgut so microbes can efficiently ferment forages.

^*Van Proosdij, R., and S. Frietman. 2021. Retrospective analysis of cause-of-death at an equine retirement center in the Netherlands over an eight-year period. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 110:103824.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

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