A recent study has left researchers with data that could change the way racehorses are trained all around the world. According to Science Magazine, authors of a new study believe that their approach could be used to identify customized pacing plans that could optimize individual horses' chances of winning.
Dr. Amandine Aftalion, a mathematician at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, has been analyzing the performance of world champion runners since 2013. Together with colleague Quentin Mercier she recently decided to try to apply her research methods to racehorses through the use of a new GPS tracking tool embedded in French racing saddles. These GPS trackers are typically used for fans, but ended up giving Aftalion and Mercier access to valuable speed and position data during races at the Chantilly racetracks north of Paris.
Aftalion and Mercier were able to use the GPS tracking technology to quantify the success of running styles from dozens of races at Chantilly to see if one racing style was more effective than others. Afterwards the two researchers were able to develop a model for different winning strategies for three specific race distances – 1,300 meters, 1,900 meters, and 2,100 meters. Aftalion and Mercier came to the conclusion that the most success came from a quick start followed by a more relaxed speed until the closing kick. Different cruising or closing speeds have different aerobic requirements of a horse, which could explain why one style is easier for one individual going a particular distance. In theory, this model could allow trainers to plug in certain information about their horses to get custom racing strategies that best fit that horse's aerobic capabilities.
At first glance, this seems like a great expansion of technology into a very traditional part of the sport. However, Dr. Peter Knight, a veterinarian at the University of Sydney, pointed out that trainers may be slow to adopt such a statistical model, as these models can not account for every horse's unique behavior. At the end of the day, horses are still living animals with a mind of their own that can be rather unpredictable sometimes. These results could also vary amongst different countries the same way typical racing styles do.
“We can't truly model performance,” Knight said to Science Magazine's Christa Lesté-Lasserre. “But perhaps the fundamental question is: Do we really want to? For people who love horse racing, the uncertainty provides the excitement, and the actual running of the horses provides the spectacle and the beauty.”
For several years now, researchers have studied various aspects of horse health and owner perception, hoping to understand — how good is the average owner, really, at noticing when something is wrong with a horse? A study published last month in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science suggests that even experienced horse owners may not be all that good at detecting lameness in their horses, but that conclusion comes with quite a few caveats.
Horse owners in Switzerland were recruited for study participation by a survey where they were asked about their horse's soundness and their own ability to assess that soundness. Then, horses were jogged on a hard surface for a conventional lameness exam. They evaluated by two veterinarians specializing in orthopedics and had front, hind and overall lameness rated on a scale between zero and five, with five being the most severe. Horses then had their gaits analyzed digitally while they jogged on a treadmill. The gait analysis was intended to pick up on asymmetries in leg, head, pelvic, and spine movement as well as weight-bearing asymmetries. Veterinarians also watched horses on the treadmill and graded horses' lameness there, too.
Most of the owners participating in the study reported they had regularly attended informational events about equine topics, and had been riding for 25 years on average. Nearly 43 percent of them held a license with the Swiss Equestrian Sport Federation.
Researchers found that owners sometimes missed lamenesses detected by the veterinarians, and veterinarians sometimes came to different conclusions from gait analysis software — but the study's authors say the results aren't as straightforward as saying, “The computer is always right.”
While a quarter of owners reported occasional lameness in their horse, only half of those horses actually showed lameness above a two. On the other extreme, about half the horses owners considered sound were assessed by veterinarians having a lameness equal to or greater than 2/5. Two horses scored a 3/5. Researchers cautioned however that horses in the first group — those that owners thought had a soundness problem that didn't really manifest on examination — may have issues that become apparent only when the horse is ridden, which isn't part of the standard veterinary lameness exam. It's also worth noting that owners who correctly assessed their horse had a more serious soundness problem might not have been included in the study because their horses didn't meet age- or workload-related requirements for study participation.
Veterinarians scored 55 percent of horses as 2/5 lame or greater in their conventional exam, and 74 percent of horses as 2/5 lame or greater when watching them on the treadmill. Computer measurements of asymmetry found movement asymmetry in 57 percent of horses and weight-bearing asymmetry in 58 percent of horses.
While those numbers may sound high, study authors say the conclusion isn't as simple as assuming that the majority of the horse population is lame; owners were given the choice about whether to bring their horse in for veterinary examination, and again allowed to choose whether they wanted the horse to undergo gait analysis. This may have resulted in more horses with previous orthopedic problems being selected by their owners for further analysis.
It's also important to note that people simply don't see asymmetry all that easily. The study pointed to previous research which showed that at least 20 percent asymmetry between limbs is needed before even an experienced person will be able to visually identify it.
The study also raised questions about the sensitivity of digital gait analysis, which as become a popular tool in academic research.
“The definition of thresholds above which objectively measured movement asymmetries are classified as lameness needs careful consideration as it remains unclear to what extent asymmetries are related to pain, mechanical abnormalities, or laterality,” authors wrote. “This leads to potential welfare problems: if threshold values are too high, lame horses might go unnoticed, whereas low threshold values could result in many orthopedically healthy horses being categorized as lame. False-positive identification of lame limb(s) can have wide-ranging effects when the horse is subjected to unnecessary and expensive procedures, for example, nerve-block anesthesia or diagnostic imaging.”
Previous research has shown that subjective lameness analysis, like conventional lameness exams, aren't perfect either. If anything, authors conclude, the differences in owner, veterinary, and digital analysis of horses' movement may suggest that horses benefit most when more than one assessment is applied.
“With regard to animal welfare and to avoid misleading treatment, the highest priority of a lameness assessment should be to prevent false identification of the affected limb. Considering that the inter-rater reliability of equine veterinarians in subjective lameness evaluation is 76.6%, applying only one assessment method in mildly lame horses appears insufficient. Whenever possible, more than one diagnostic method should be applied to double check if the presumably affected limb is identified correctly, to minimize treatment errors.”
See the full study, which was part of a collaborative effort led by Dr. Jasmin Müller-Quirin at the University of Zurich, here.
Despite its use by trainers looking for an edge since the 1980s, a new study has suggested that the process of “milkshaking” a horse may in fact do nothing to enhance performance. A study published in September in the Journal of Equine Science rounded up previous research trials looking at the use of sodium bicarbonate in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses.
The research team looked at seven randomized and controlled trials that spanned 74 horses and had been published in peer-reviewed journals. Horses were given sodium bicarbonate between two and a half and five hours ahead of exercise and had their results compared to control horses who did not get sodium bicarbonate. Exercise took different forms in different trials; sometimes the two groups of horses were put on a treadmill while in others they worked over the track. Both the time to exhaustion and performance were measured, and researchers could not find that the administration of the “milkshake” improved either factor in a statistically significant way. In fact, for treadmill exercises where time to exhaustion was measured, milkshaked horses actually performed slightly worse than their controls.
Sodium bicarbonate, usually given in the form of baking soda mixed with some sort of liquid, is typically given through nasogastric tube within hours of race time. It has long been believed by horsemen that the baking soda acts as a neutralizer of lactic acid, which is responsible for the feeling of achey or tired muscles during exertion.
For lead author Dr. Joshua Denham, lecturer in exercise science at RMIT University, the findings were not a surprise.
“Some recent reviews on the influence of sodium bicarbonate on endurance performance in humans have emphasized equivocal findings,” said Denham. “Given we know humans are prone to placebos, I was always skeptical about its utility as an ergogenic aid.”
Milkshaking has been banned within 24 hours of a race by most racing authorities, but the study suggests it “remains an issue in modern horse racing.” TCO2 tests, designed to pick up on the administration of sodium bicarbonate, are part of the standard pre-race testing procedures in most states, though not all horses in all races are tested in some places.
Besides being an uncomfortable and apparently unnecessary procedure, milkshaking can be dangerous if it goes wrong. In addition to potential gastric upset and possible injury to the nose and throat that can happen during tubing, an inexperienced practitioner can also send the tube down the trachea rather than the esophagus, sending the sludgy solution into the horse's lungs instead of the stomach.
It's not totally clear why people first began milkshaking horses, except that sodium bicarbonate ingestion was at one time thought to improve human athletic performance. The study authors note however that previous research shows this improvement at exercise periods of around four minutes in people, while flat races are significantly shorter. Of course, it's also possible human test subjects may have been influenced by a placebo effect.
“Although it's certainly not my area of expertise, I'm tempted to speculate that early positive findings in humans prompted trials in racehorses,” said Denham. “Some positive results may have occurred by chance or because the trials were always going to show positive results – whether it was on purpose or not. It reminds me of the church bell fallacy: Although one church bell rings at noon and another a block over rings one minute later, the first bell ringing did not cause the second one to chime. Once someone believes in something, it can be easy for them to pass on that information – whether it is accurate or not.”
The School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis is taking one of the lead roles in the university's new $2 billion fundraising campaign, “Expect Greater: From UC Davis, For the World.” This marks the largest philanthropic endeavor in the university's history, and the school's 25% portion of the goal is also its largest fundraising challenge. This bold goal will help create the future Veterinary Medical Center, where clinical innovation, transformational research, and compassionate healing come together.
The school's portion of the $2 billion goal includes a decade-long campaign to raise more than $500 million to create a new veterinary hospital that sets the gold standard of care while defining advanced clinical research and education. The school's existing Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital opened in 1970 and was built to see 3,000 patients per year. While there have been additions to the facility over the years—increasing the square footage by about 60%—the hospital's caseload has increased more than 1,600% to more than 50,000 cases per year.
“This caseload increase is stretching our personnel and resources to an extreme extent,” said Dr. Karl Jandrey, associate dean of Admissions and Student Programs and a critical care specialist in the hospital's Emergency Room. “Our large and diverse caseload provides a tremendous learning environment for our students and house officers, but we have to ensure those opportunities are not jeopardized by the limited footprint in which we train them.”
“It is clear that a new hospital is necessary,” said Dean Michael Lairmore. “This campaign, led by donations from our community partners, will enable us to envision a new standard of excellence in veterinary medicine, innovation, and discovery.”
The “Expect Greater” campaign will harness the power of philanthropy to propel the school—already the #1 ranked veterinary school in the world—into a level of veterinary care, research, and advancement that meets the challenges of an increasing caseload; that allows for the adoption of the latest technology in veterinary medicine; and that provides the infrastructure and efficient services to facilitate translational research and breakthroughs.
“Expect Greater” launches at a time of growing philanthropic momentum at UC Davis – the last four years have been the strongest for fundraising in its history. Since the campaign's quiet phase began in July 2016, the university's closest donors and friends have given $1.2 billion toward the goal, with more than $250 million of that raised by the veterinary school. Now UC Davis is reaching out to the entire university community and beyond to help make a greater impact on the world.
Expertise for California and the World
As the global leader in veterinary medicine, UC Davis leads the way in research, innovation, and clinical care breakthroughs. The school is at the forefront of serving California's animals, especially in times of great need.
With the state in turmoil caused by raging wildfires and a global pandemic outbreak, the hospital has remained open to serve animal owners. In just the past two months alone, the school's Veterinary Emergency Response Team has treated thousands of animals at evacuation centers and performed search and rescue missions in the fire zones, while the hospital has treated dozens of some of the most critically burned animals. Additionally, the school recently created the Wildlife Disaster Network to care for wildlife affected by wildfires and other disasters.
Beyond the creation of the Veterinary Medical Center, fundraising efforts will focus on supporting students financially. UC Davis is already a leader in scholarship support, helping to make it the veterinary school with the third-least median debt for its graduates. Low debt makes it easier for new veterinarians to choose options that further benefit society, such as going into public service or pursuing research careers or medical specialties.
The school is also raising efforts to create endowed chairs and professorships, demonstrating support for the diverse, world-class faculty who make UC Davis a premier research and clinical institution. These positions enable the school to recruit and retain the world's top minds in veterinary medicine – faculty who will have the sustained funding to maximize their impact, all while teaching the next generation of veterinarians and veterinary specialists.
Donors are also supporting research and the work of the school's centers and institutes. For example, with a One Health approach to medicine, the university conducts groundbreaking research at the nexus of animal and human medicine – the focus of the school's One Health Institute. With donor support, UC Davis veterinarians and physicians routinely collaborate on research and clinical care projects that cross veterinary and human medicine boundaries to advance the health of both humans and animals.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, veterinary and human health researchers quickly began collaborating on diagnostic and vaccine testing. Meanwhile, PREDICT—One Health Institute's pandemic prevention and response program—is part of an international effort to provide emergency support to collaborating countries in response to coronavirus spread.
The “Expect Greater” campaign will strengthen all of these entities and help UC Davis continue its One Health mission of advancing the health of animals, humans, and the environment.
Future Veterinary Medical Center Goals
Inspired by UC Davis clients' devotion to their animals, the future Veterinary Medical Center will push the limits of veterinary medicine to increase knowledge and provide optimal care. School leadership envisions a comprehensive center for veterinary medicine unlike any in the world: a center of healing where clients trust that their beloved animals will be treated with unparalleled expertise and compassion; a center of innovation where clinicians, scholars, and students collaborate in integrated teams to advance the health of animals, people, and the environment; and a center of discovery where transformational research breaks new ground in areas from stem cell therapies to food safety.
The multi-phased Veterinary Medical Center campaign commenced over the past two years with several Phase I renovation projects in the hospital—including six new examination rooms, a feline-only suite, laundry and support facilities, locker rooms, and restrooms—and the construction of a new Large Animal Support Facility.
In 2021, the school looks to continue Phase I with commencing construction of the All Species Imaging Center, where the world's largest veterinary radiology team will diagnose patients, and train students and residents with the most advanced imaging technologies in medicine – including CTs, MRIs, and PET scanners.
Greater in scope than any previous school expansion, the Veterinary Medical Center campaign will then focus on transforming the Large Animal Clinic into three distinct treatment areas – the Livestock and Field Services Center, the Equine Surgery and Critical Care Center, and the Equine Performance Center.
“The equine specialists at UC Davis have provided the very best care to so many horses, including our own,” stated long-time clients and donors Robert and Colleen Haas. “The Equine Performance Center will take their capacity for assessment, treatment, and clinical research to an even higher level and will be a tremendous resource to horse owners everywhere.”
Plans for an entirely updated Small Animal Hospital will be the final phase of the decade-long project, coming in the late 2020s and more than doubling the size of the current clinical space for small animals.
To learn more about the Veterinary Medical Center, please see the campaign website.
