Letter to the Editor: Opposing Is Easy

As the legal saga that is HISA continues to be bantered around the courts horse racing fans have heard some common themes develop from those in support of and in opposition of the legislation and regulations. Those in opposition have raised many points they have repeated used as arguments for what is wrong with the entire idea and process. One of the themes that has been made as part of every opposition argument is that there is a better way to go about this, and a better set of uniform rules and regulations can be made if the proper players were brought to the table to create them.

As a racing fan for the last 30 plus years I can say we all desire both uniform rules and a disciplinary set- up that provides for fair due process but quick resolution of issues with proper penalties.  As a veterinarian and animal welfare advocate, I have fought for proper rules to ensure the welfare of these majestic equine athletes. As someone who has been involved in process of creating regulations on the state level for dog kennels in PA, I know all too well how hard it can be to reach consensus and have everyone agree on everything proposed. It is the nature of the process and human nature itself. However, I also have learned through all these areas that when something is not liked or desired, a counter plan or counter offer is usually made to provide an alternative to what is being objected to. The lack of any type of counterproposal or set of rules/regulations being set forth by the people in opposition certainly is puzzling.

All the key players that are claiming to be excluded in this process of creating uniform regs could easily have come together and formed a committee, group, or whatever you want to call it of their own and work on crafting a competing set of rules and how they are to be implemented throughout the country that would alleviate any constitutionality concerns. I have yet to see even an outline proposed from any of these opposition groups on what should be done instead. Continuing with the status quo is not one that will be accepted by anyone as it has shown to be woefully lacking in many areas.

The National HBPA Convention is happening soon. Will any kind of update be given then? Will a new committee be announced? Will we finally see this “better plan” that all opposed to HISA claim can be created? Or…will we merely see the same old statements of HISA being unconstitutional and it needs to be done away with?

It is always easy to be the party in opposition to something. It is much harder to be the ones to craft a plan that will work.

Bryan Langlois, DVM, Racing Fan and Vice-President ThoroFan

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Travelogue: Southeast Asia, Day 2

Editor's note: Jockey and veterinarian Ferrin Peterson is traveling in Southeast Asia to help refugee groups with the veterinary care their animals need, helping humans to survive the refugee crisis in a war-torn area. Click here to read yesterday's blog post.

Once we reach the village, we set up camp which means successfully tying up your hammock between two sturdy trees to sleep in overnight. We bathe and wash our clothes in the river, and the pack animal team roams freely like a herd of wild horses. They always return at feed time, of course. The villagers cook for us, which consists of a rice dish with meat from one of their village animals and a vegetable. My past two trips were during my Christmas breaks from school, and on Christmas Day the villagers offered us their delicacy: cooked chicken feet. Thankfully there were always enough people around that I could nonchalantly pass that dish on to the next person.

I have an exciting, yet testing journey ahead of me. Veterinary medicine is challenging enough, working with patients who do not speak and amongst species that are so different from one another. A sedative that can relax one species can cause euphoria in another species. Each species has their unique Achilles heel: it is not always their feet and gut.

The pack team currently consists of seven mules and nine Mongolian ponies. I plan to vaccinate the pack animal team against rabies and Japanese encephalitis. I attempted this on my last trip, but when we reached our destination and I retrieved the vaccines from the transport cooler, I saw they had frozen, which ruined their efficacy. That was disheartening after packing them all that way and wondering when the next opportunity would arise for someone to vaccinate the herd. Hopefully I improve with temperature regulation this go-around.

Some of the training sessions I have planned for the pack animal handlers include: basic observations of a healthy versus a sick animal, checking vital parameters, body condition scoring, hoof care, wound care and bandaging, medication routes, nasogastric intubation for choke, and fecal flotation to detect parasites (the medical facility is equipped with a microscope).

Another important aspect I wish to address is selecting for their pack team. One or two of the village leaders travel to the city to select the Mongolian ponies and mules. In the past, they had introduced a gray mare with very poor conformation who could not stand up to the demands of her new job, and as a result she slowed down the entire team. They told me that in the city there is a Monkhood ceremony where the young monk rides in on a “white” horse. When the village leader saw this gray mare for sale, he assumed she must be a good deal. I just spent weeks looking at top Thoroughbreds going through the sales ring in Kentucky. I will have to readjust my lens for the type of horses best equipped to trek through mountains and thrive in jungles.

I also plan to teach the villagers to pass an orogastric tube down a water buffalo's esophagus and into its stomach to relieve bloat. I taught a village this technique on a past trip despite only learning it from a YouTube video. The entire village came to watch me do this crazy “magic trick.” To my relief, I successfully passed it into the rumen and then watched several villagers do it, too!

I have learned to go in with a plan but to be adaptable and always ready to rise to the occasion. I believe it is important to give back and share the knowledge a person has acquired, but to never underestimate the importance of local understanding about someone's culture and environment. Most importantly, I am going in with an open mind to see how the villagers and I can learn from and help each other.

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21-Day Vet’s List Stint Recommended for Clenbuterol in KY

The Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council (EDRC), which serves as an advisory board to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), advanced a Dec. 1 recommendation to that full board that would require any horse who receives clenbuterol to be restricted via the veterinarian’s list for 21 days and then test clear of that substance prior to being removed from the list and allowed to compete.

Kentucky’s current clenbuterol regulation requires a prescription that must be filed with the KHRC within 24 hours of dispensing the drug and a withdrawal time of 14 days, according to Bruce Howard, DVM, who serves as the equine medical director for the KHRC.

Howard explained prior to the vote that the switch would align Kentucky with a clenbuterol model rule enacted by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium on Aug. 24.

Within the past year, a number of racing jurisdictions have tightened clenbuterol restrictions based on evidence showing the medication has been widely abused for its repartitioning effect that promotes lean muscle mass. Originally, clenbuterol was developed and is still prescribed as a potent bronchodilator that effectively treats respiratory issues.

On Jan. 1, the California Horse Racing Board enacted a clenbuterol rule that requires a prescription for appropriate usage plus a stint on the vet’s list until the drug clears. On May 1, the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency started banning clenbuterol 28 days out from race day at tracks country-wide. On Oct. 22, the Maryland Racing Commission advanced a rule proposal similar to California’s, and the New York State Gaming Commission did the same Nov. 30.

In addition, more restrictive “house rules” will be in effect at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park during their race meets, and racing commissions in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia are also expected to clamp down on clenbuterol abuse by changing or writing new regulations.

“The KHRC office has received concerns and comments from numerous trainers and owners who feel that clenbuterol is being misused,” Howard said. “They’re concerned that clenbuterol is being used for the anabolic-type [steroid] effect rather than the therapeutic effect prescribed. There have been instances where veterinary records show clenbuterol is being dispensed to numerous horses in a barn, and in some cases the entire stable.

“The KHRC staff would propose that horses being prescribed clenbuterol for medically therapeutic purposes be placed on the veterinarian’s list for 21 days, with blood and urine testing negative for clenbuterol required for being removed from the veterinarian’s list,” Howard continued.

The clenbuterol proposal was the only item on Tuesday’s EDRC agenda, and it drew little discussion among board members, who had already broached the subject during a September meeting.

However, Andy Roberts, DVM, who represents Standardbred interests on the EDRC, again voiced concerns he raised in September about the need to treat harness horses differently than Thoroughbreds when it comes to clenbuterol because of how frequently Standardbreds race.

“I don’t want to diminish the concerns about clenbuterol because I think that it’s not illegitimate to want to control its administration to legitimate therapeutic purposes,” Roberts said. “However, I think the Standardbreds are taking it really quite strongly in the shorts on this one, because our horses race almost every week. There’s almost no opportunity to put the horses on clenbuterol already.”

Roberts noted that several states have shorter withdrawal times for Standardbreds on clenbuterol, and he said that Kentucky’s current 14-day standard backed by out-of-competition (OOC) testing protocols should be enough to catch abusers. He added that recent OOC testing at The Red Mile did not result in any clenbuterol positives

“That’s because you’ve taken the drug out of my hands on a therapeutic basis,” Roberts added.

Howard disagreed that tightening clenbuterol further would be harmful to Standardbreds.

“If a horse is severely ill enough that you feel you need to prescribe this drug, we’re trying not to take this out of your hands for therapeutic purposes,” Howard said. “I think this is a compromise to try and get away from the anabolic effect but still leave it in the hands of the private veterinarians…. I think it’s the perception of this anabolic-type effect or repartitioning effect that is what’s got everyone up in arms. When trainers are looking for that type of effect, that’s where the misuse or abuse of this drug takes place.”

Roberts countered: “First of all, it’s not an anabolic effect. It’s a repartitioning effect. And I know that’s splitting hairs, but it is not the same. Second, that repartitioning effect [has been shown in published studies] to last 11 days. So [the repartitioning effect] is gone before the drug is gone.”

Roberts warned fellow EDRC members about the danger of recommending rules based largely upon speculation that wrongdoing is occurring, adding that he already believes Standardbred trainers are withholding legitimate clenbuterol administration out of fears of triggering a positive.

“People would rather leave horses sick and end up with pleuropneumonia than treat them with clenbuterol. That means we are over-regulating,” Roberts said.

The board briefly debated a suggestion to have different rules for each breed, but KHRC executive director Marc Guilfoil said that was not how the KHRC operates on issues like this one.

“No, this is an all-encompassing rule in Kentucky. One racing commission, [all] breeds. It would encompass the Standardbred horses the same as it would Thoroughbreds,” Guilfoil said.

The EDRC passed the measure by voice vote, with Roberts the lone dissenter.

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