dr. patty hogan | Horse Racing Free Tips

The following press release was distributed to media on behalf of the bill's supporters Wednesday.

Leading U.S. horse racing professionals have joined in solidarity to support a U.S. House amendment that would ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses across state lines and over the borders for butchering abroad. Led by U.S. Representatives Troy Carter (D-La), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn), and John Katko (R-N.Y.), the amendment will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST) Act, H.R.3684, which is slated to be on the House floor in the next few weeks.

There are no horse slaughter facilities currently operating within the United States. However, every year over 30,000 American horses are live-exported over the borders to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered — thousands of them being former racehorses and breeding stock. In addition to anti-slaughter policies at the majority of U.S. racetracks, there are numerous aftercare programs and sanctuaries across the nation to help safeguard racehorses from ending up in the slaughter pipeline. Despite these policies and programs, racehorses are slipping through the cracks and find themselves at auction houses that make them vulnerable to being acquired by kill-buyers, the middlemen who send the horses to a grisly death at slaughterhouses. The only way to ensure that every U.S. equine is protected is to pass federal legislation that would make it illegal for any horse to be transported or sold to slaughter.

Last month the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, H.R.3355, was introduced in the U.S. House. If passed into law it would prohibit horse slaughter facilities from opening on U.S. soil and ban the export of horses across the borders. Similar legislation has been introduced in Congress over the last two decades, but has always been thwarted by industries and legislators that want the practice of slaughtering American horses to continue. While efforts to advance the SAFE Act rightly continue, the bipartisan Carter, Fitzpatrick, Katko amendment is being offered as an alternative pathway. The amendment garnered the support of nearly 150 U.S. House members on the day it was announced, and that number is expected to increase exponentially.

“After years of pressing for a ban on the slaughter of our American horses, I am thrilled with this latest development and applaud our leadership in Washington for their commitment to the issue. Stopping the transport of slaughter-bound horses will be a game changer,” said Staci Hancock, whose Stone Farm has raised three Kentucky Derby winners. “It is time to end this brutal practice in the U.S. once and for all. Horses are bred for sport, competition, and companionship, not to be part of the food chain. As owners and breeders we must be the stewards of our horses' safety and welfare. They look to us for their care and protection and to allow them to go to a horrific slaughter is unconscionable.”

“We had a close call this year getting our Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner The Deputy released from a kill pen. And this was far from our first rodeo,” said Barry Irwin, owner of Team Valor whose Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby in 2011. “I support any initiative that will end this cycle.”

Trainer Graham Motion, who conditioned Animal Kingdom said: “It is high time that we end the transport of American slaughter bound horses across state lines and over the borders. We at Herringswell are committed to finding other careers for Thoroughbreds once their racing days are over. The practice of transporting horses for slaughter is abhorrent and it must come to an end.”

“Now that the state legislators of New York have done the right thing, I would hope that the federal government will join and ensure that our racehorses are provided a fitting home when their careers are over.” said Jeff Gural, proprietor of Allerage Farm and owner of the racetracks, Meadowlands, Tioga Downs, and Vernon Downs. “Allowing them to be sold for slaughter should have been eliminated years ago.”

“As a multiple Kentucky Derby winning jockey and a person who has enjoyed a Hall Of Fame career, my passion for my outstanding equine athletes has never wavered,” said former jockey Gary Stevens. “The Carter, Fitzpatrick, Katko amendment to the INVEST Act that will stop interstate travel across state and international borders for horse slaughter is a must. There is always a place for our beautiful friends to retire and live out the life they all deserve.”

“Everyone in racing should support the Carter, Fitzpatrick, Katko amendment—and every effort to end the slaughter of our horses,” said Victoria Keith, President of the National Thoroughbred Welfare Organization. “Aftercare organizations work tirelessly and at great expense but the slaughter of our horses, or the extortion of our horses under threat of slaughter, will never end until slaughter is stopped at the federal level. We urge every racing entity to step up now and make this push together to stop this profound injustice to our horses and public relations nightmare for racing.”

“If at the very least, you care about horses, and at the very most, you make your living working with horses, then providing support to the Carter, Fitzpatrick, Katko amendment is so obvious that one should not have to think twice about it.” said Dr. Patty Hogan, of Hogan Equine. “Welfare issues are at the absolute forefront of public concern for any sport or industry associated with horses in this country, and to ignore that fact is to do so at your own peril and demise. Getting this amendment passed will finally close the dangerous loopholes that still exist out there for our most vulnerable members of the U.S. equine population.”

According to national polls, over 80 percent of Americans oppose the slaughter of horses and want to see them protected from such a fate. Additional horse racing professionals who endorse the amendment include; Claiborne Farm, Cobra Farm, Crawford Farms, Equine Advocates, Fawn Leap Farm, Foxie G Foundation, Gainesway Farm, Jack Knowlton-Sackatoga Stable, Lael Stable, Machmer Hall Thoroughbreds, NP Zito Racing Stable, Neil Drysdale, Pin Oak Stud, R.A.C.E. Fund, Shadowlawn Farm, Shaun Dugan Agent, Tranquility Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, and numerous others.

Individuals can help pass the Carter, Fitzpatrick, Katko amendment by urging their U.S. Representative to support the measure. The amendment is expected to be offered to the House floor before the August recess, so time is of the essence.

The post Racing Industry Figures Announce Support For Federal Bill Amendment Aimed At Stoping Horse Slaughter Exports appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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One morning at Saratoga last summer, a 2-year-old colt lost his rider on the way to the track. After a jaunt around the barn area, he was caught and apparently seemed none the worse for wear, so the pair of them continued on with the work that had been planned for them by the colt's trainer. Both came back to the barn, and for a while, all seemed well. It was until late morning the staff began suspecting something was wrong.

“With some fractures, horses can be sound immediately after they fracture – it's when the adrenaline calms down and they cool out that they can be lame at the walk,” said Dr. Luis Castro of Tiegland, Franklin and Brokken. “We've seen horses come back from racing, even win, and cool out and become lame.”

(Castro requested we keep the trainer and the horse's Jockey Club registered name confidential.)

Dr. April Downey, a fellow veterinarian at Teigland, Franklin and Brokken, was called to take a look at the horse. She noticed a lameness in one leg – the other seemed a little abnormal, but not worrisome – and suggested a set of radiographs. Even she wasn't prepared for what she saw in the films.

“The horse had two medial condylar fractures that were spiraling up the leg – left and right front,” said Castro. “I've been doing this a while and I can't remember ever seeing that, to be honest. Condylar fractures are pretty common; medial condylar fractures are less common but not unusual. To see both [legs] at the same time is very unusual.”

“The spiraling fractures that happen medially are in danger of breaking apart pretty easily. They end up going all the way up to the knee and just kind of unraveling. The lateral condylar fractures really don't do that, and that's the one you see more commonly.”

'Medial' refers to the inside of the leg, meaning the horse's fractures started around the ankles and traveled up the insides of each front leg. Spiral fractures are so named because they're the result of a twisting force or impact. In this horse's case, the spiral fractures travelled up the center of the bony column of the cannon bone.

At the time, Castro said he would have given the horse less than a 50 percent chance of survival. The fact the horse had fractures in both legs that could easily worsen was one problem. The horse would have be moved to an equine hospital in order to undergo surgery, inviting more risk. Then there was the risk involved in that surgery – these fractures do best with a plate and sometimes as many as eight screws, but unlike other types of fractures, the biomechanics of the leg can mean the fractures are at risk for further separating if the horse were to take an awkward step when recovering from anesthesia. Then there would be a long recovery with a lot of stall rest, with no room for a misplaced hop of enthusiasm from the young horse.

It wasn't one mountain, but an entire range he would need to get over to survive.

The horse's owner looked at the odds and the expense and wasn't convinced, requesting the horse be euthanized. Castro said he hesitated.

“This horse was kind and he was quiet,” he said. “The best thing about the entire story is that he was the perfect patient. He took care of himself and knew what was going on. I was trying not to euthanize the horse and to give him a chance.”

With very little time to figure out a solution, Castro bought the horse for $1 and a promise not to race him. It was not Castro's habit to buy patients in need, and now he had to figure out what to do with his new horse. He got on the phone and started calling anyone he knew in the area – veterinarians, horsemen – who may be able to help.

In an ideal world, he knew the horse could have undergone a procedure to insert a plate, followed by a pool recovery. A water recovery allows a horse to recover from anesthesia in a weightless state, ensuring they are completely awake before they get back on their feet. Not only was that program expensive, the closest one was at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, a five-hour drive away.

Castro reached Dr. Patty Hogan of nearby Hogan Equine, who suggested it may be better to stay close to home and undertake a less complex procedure. Hogan connected Castro with Dr. Katie Dern at Rood and Riddle's Saratoga division and suggested they think about a different type of surgery which could be done standing – meaning, the horse could be heavily sedated and locally anesthetized but not fully unconscious. Dern was game to try what was called a “salvage procedure.”

Rather than inserting a large plate into each leg to stabilize it, the theory was a couple of screws at the base of each cannon bone, combined with a special type of cast up to the knee, could keep everything in place while the top part of the fracture healed.

It was new territory for both Dern and Castro, but they agreed it was the horse's best chance. Castro remembers holding his breath all through the drive from the barn to the clinic and through the procedure.

“It was a bit of a hair-raising situation,” said Castro. “They walk the horse from the stall to the exam room. Dr. Dern is on her knees in front of this tranquilized, blocked horse and she drilled two screws in each leg and he stood there like a champ. Did not move an inch.”

But that didn't mean he was out of the woods yet. Castro knew recovery was contingent on a lot of “ifs.”

“If the two screws hold, if the horse is a calm patient, if no complications occur, you have to put a cast that you cut into a clam shell. You have to create a system where you basically change the bandage underneath and tape it back together, and he's got to stay calm through the whole thing. Oh, and he's got two of them.”

Initial bandage changes went well, and it became clear the horse was ready to leave the hospital, but he also still needed intensive care from the veterinarian team. It made sense to have him back at the track, where Castro and his colleagues could easily check on him frequently, but all horses on the property had to be affiliated with a licensed trainer. Castro again got on the phone and found himself calling longtime client Chad Brown.

“I told one of my clients, Chad Brown, the story and he said, 'Just put him in one of my stalls,'” said Castro. “Chad gave us a stall, a groom, feed, bedding and never batted an eye.”

The veterinary team popped by to check on the horse four or five times a day. Every three days, the team gave him a dose of sedative and walked him carefully to the wash rack for his casts to be untapped, dressings changed, and reattached with self-sticking bandage. And every time, he walked gingerly, quietly, and as if he really had no idea what all the fuss was about.

“Looking back on it, we probably needed [the sedative] more than he did,” joked Castro. “We kept thinking, 'If this horse gets loose, it's all over.' The only thing that wasn't worried was the horse.”

The colt laid down during the day, which Castro was comfortable with since unlike an anesthesia recovery, he could get up with his full sense of balance and alertness.

Gryffin in his new home. Photo courtesy Dr. Luis Castro

It took months of those bandage changes, first at the track and later at Three Ponds Farm in nearby Mechanicville, N.Y. To Castro's amazement, the horse's temper held and his bones slowly healed. When it came time to rehome him, the horse didn't have to look far for his new owner. Paige Montanye, assistant to Castro, had fallen in love with the patient colt and adopted him, renamed him Gryffin, and sent him to Legacy Horse Company in Wyoming, where he now spends his days with a herd of others cantering through open country. Castro said Montanye hasn't yet decided what his future will hold, but it's a bright one.

“This is the crazy thing—that horse is completely sound, and the radiographs are completely normal,” he said. “He doesn't have any arthritic changes in the films that I saw. As far as I'm concerned, he can do anything he wants. Ironically, he could even race, but we have no intention of racing him. He's not just a 'pasture pet' anymore.”

Gryffin's case is one of Castro's most improbable recovery stories in nearly 30 years of practice – and a good reminder that sometimes all a horse needs is a chance.

The post Thanks To Team Effort, OTTB Beats The Odds Against Two Serious Fractures appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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