equine welfare | Horse Racing Free Tips

Saliva Testing Trial Under Way at UK Racecourses

A saliva testing trial, a screening method for cocaine and some other banned substances, is now under way at UK racecourses, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Wednesday.

Utilising oral swabs, the testing method results are provided near-instantly indicating whether substances are present in a rider's system above existing thresholds. If the trial is successful, British racing will become the first major sport in Britain to utilise on-the-day screening for banned substances through oral swabs. If a jockey does not test negative during the trial, they would be stood down from riding that day, which brings with it added benefits in safeguarding human and equine welfare on raceday.

At this time, all jockeys have tested negative-at Kempton on Monday and Lingfield on Tuesday. The pilot will continue for a two-month period. Saliva testing is highly cost effective and, if the pilot is successful, it is likely that there would be an increase in raceday testing, which would be further supported by an increased budget for more testing.

Brant Dunshea, Chief Regulatory Officer for the BHA, said, “Saliva testing is a progressive next step for our testing and surveillance of prohibited substances. In particular, the fact that it provides near-instant results means that we are now able to screen for the substance on the day of race.

“The fact that it is a more cost-effective methodology will also allow us to significantly ramp up our testing capacity–something that we are supporting further through the allocation of an enhanced testing budget. This should serve to act both as a deterrent to those who might consider using prohibited substances and provide reassurance to those who are competing on raceday.

“We are grateful to the Professional Jockeys Association for working alongside us in developing this methodology. It is important that it is assessed through a substantive trial period before we commit to it in the longer term, but this trial period is the final step in what has been an extensive process.”

“We see the introduction of saliva testing as a tremendously important development, and it is supported by our members,” said Paul Struthers, Chief Executive of the Professional Jockeys Association, who assisted with the development of the pilot.

“An effective deterrent against the use of prohibited substances is an essential piece of the jigsaw in terms of keeping our jockeys healthy and safe. The increased testing which this methodology will allow, alongside the ability for on-the-day screening, represents a significant step towards that ambition.”

The post Saliva Testing Trial Under Way at UK Racecourses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

IFAR Conference Concludes With Optimism For Racehorse Aftercare

The 2021 IFAR Conference, held virtually this year for the first time, closed April 27 with praise for the progress that racing has made in the realm of aftercare while acknowledging that continued work is necessary to address animal welfare concerns. Tuesday's webinar was the last of four sessions that were held each Tuesday in April.

The final panel, “Aftercare for Racing Industry Participants: Owners, Breeders, and Trainers,” was moderated by media personality and aftercare advocate Francesca Cumani, who expertly led the discussion and provided rich insights based on her many years of training and handling horses.

Presenters were Dr. Mark Fisher, Kotare Bioethics Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand; Dr. Eliot Forbes, member, IFAR Steering Committee; Tom Reilly, chief executive officer, Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Aushorse; and Dr. Christopher Riggs, director, Equine Welfare Research Foundation, and chief advisor, Veterinary Science, The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Reilly talked about horse racing's respected status in Australia but that the industry is still subject to intense criticism, as evidenced by the fallout of a 2019 investigative journalism piece that showed former racehorses being treated inhumanely at an abattoir. The Thoroughbred Aftercare Welfare Working Group was established with the support of industry stakeholders following that video, and the group will soon be releasing recommendations for the industry.

Reilly warned that while “Racing is well-accepted in society, there is a small subset in parliament that is opposed to it. The animal welfare lobby has proved to be incredibly effective.”

Fisher discussed the complexity of the animal welfare debate and that different people view an animal's lived experience differently. He highlighted that perhaps the most important parts of animal welfare are enabling animals to be in their natural environment and ensuring that they are treated with dignity and respect.

Fisher cited that two ways of losing the animal welfare argument with the public are to be reactive rather than proactive and to shy away from building coalitions that include consumers and the public. Keys to public support are being transparent about welfare practices.

“Get your house in order and show it,” he said. “What sort of life do your animals have? How do we know? Can we trust you?”

Riggs' presentation focused on the “one last race syndrome” – to squeeze one more race into a horse before retirement – and the risks associated with that mentality. He also warned of the impact of legal therapeutic medications because they can create a false sense of security as to the state of a horse's joints and should be used judiciously. Riggs called for horsemen to consider all of these factors when contemplating that “one last start.”

Forbes spoke on the aftercare toolkit developed by IFAR, including supply- and demand-based strategies for promoting Thoroughbreds beyond the racetrack. He stressed that aftercare should be a priority for all stakeholders, and a comprehensive aftercare plan includes transition strategies, effective traceability measures, community engagement, advocacy of the Thoroughbred breed, and networking.

“We want to see aftercare structurally embedded in the racing business model of every country and in the heart of every racing participant,” said Forbes. “A caring industry will be a sustainable industry.”

Di Arbuthnot, chair of IFAR, closed the conference.

“We are delighted by the global reception to this year's IFAR Conference,” said Arbuthnot. “All of our speakers and moderators offered valuable insights to share with our audience, and we are thankful for their participation and commitment to aftercare.

“The wide range of viewers who tuned into each of IFAR's sessions indicates the interest from the Thoroughbred industry in prioritizing aftercare on a global scale, and the IFAR team is here to assist jurisdictions who wish to develop or enhance their programs.”

Recordings of all four sessions of the 2021 IFAR Conference can be viewed at internationalracehorseaftercare.com/help-resources/conference-resources/ifar-conference-2021/.

IFAR has previously been held in conjunction with the Asian Racing Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, in February 2020; the European & Mediterranean Horseracing Federation's General Assembly in Oslo, Norway, in May 2019; the Asian Racing Conference in Seoul, South Korea, in May 2018; and the Pan American Conference in Washington, D.C., in May 2017.

IFAR is an independent forum that recognizes geographical and industry differences among racing countries and is designed to enhance Thoroughbred aftercare worldwide. Working with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, IFAR will raise awareness of the importance of welfare for Thoroughbreds, improve education on lifetime care, and help increase demand for former racehorses in other equestrian sports. For more information on IFAR, click here.

The post IFAR Conference Concludes With Optimism For Racehorse Aftercare appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Study: Your Horse’s Mood Affects His Way Of Going

A new study shows that observing how a horse acts in his stall could offer clues to how a ride might go: A horse that's angry or unhappy in his stall will most likely carry that negative attitude into the arena.

Lead researcher Alice Ruet used 43 lesson horses to test her theory. The study horses were kept in stalls and turned out for one hour a week in individual paddocks. They were used by advanced riders six hours a week for dressage, eventing or jumping lessons.

The study team watched the stalled horses for six weeks, noting their behavior several times each day. The scientists were specifically looking for clues that the horse was in a negative mental state—that he may be experiencing “compromised welfare” from being in a stall. The behaviors they were looking for included aggression toward people, cribbing or other stereotypies, hypervigilance, or a withdrawn posture, which indicated a depressed state.

The researchers then asked the head instructor three questions about each horse's way of going under saddle, including whether he was anxious or fearful, if he seemed uncomfortable, or if he was unwilling to go forward.

The final phase of the study had one rider who was unfamiliar with the horses ride each horse using the same tack. The rider was equipped with inertial sensors on her head and back. The horse wore a sensor on his girth. The ride was recorded, and an independent assessor noted behaviors that may indicate a negative attitude, like head shaking, tail swishing or bolting, as well as the horse's overall demeanor.

The scientists found a correlation between behavior in the stall and how a horse moved under saddle: Horses that were aggressive to humans while in their stalls had choppier gaits while being ridden. They also found that horses that were withdrawn in their stall were more reluctant to go forward when asked. The scientists conclude that a horse in a poor state of welfare is likely to be more unhappy when being ridden, linking welfare to performance.

Ruet suggests additional studies could be done to investigate whether management changes could influence a horse's mood and under-saddle movement.

Quest Continues For A Blood Test To Identify Horses At Risk For Injury

A multi-part study by the University of Kentucky to help identify at-risk horses before racing will soon move into its third phase. Gluck Equine Research Center's Dr. Allen Page provided an update on the ongoing research to the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council last week.

The EDRC was key in funding the first two phases of the study, which has yielded promising results. In the first phase, Page and fellow researcher Dr. David Horohov took blood samples from horses suffering fatal injuries in races and compared them with blood samples from competitors in the same races who did not suffer injuries. The researchers looked for messenger RNA (mRNA) markers that were present in the injured horses but not the uninjured ones. Messenger RNA is responsible for carrying instructions from genes leading to the production of proteins. The number of these instructions, or gene copies, change if the body is increasing or decreasing inflammation somewhere.

Initially, the research identified 21 markers and determined that three of them were present in 88 percent of horses suffering injuries. The tests developed by the research had a 76 percent sensitivity rate, meaning they could practically identify an at-risk horse 76 percent of the time. Page said he wants to get that sensitivity rate higher, as it's important to minimize false positives that would keep healthy horses out of races.

The study's second phase is in progress now and will sequence RNA from the phase one samples, which will help researchers look at a total of 22,000 markers. So far, about 150 markers are promising enough to merit additional research to see if they could be combined with the results from the first phase findings for more accurate and sensitive testing.

Page is now preparing to launch the third phase of the study. In this phase, researchers want to take pre-race blood samples (rather than post-race samples) to validate that the markers could be used effectively as predictors in a practical application. The team will collect blood samples taken at the time of furosemide administration or pre-race TCO2 testing and bank those samples. If a horse is fatally injured in a race, the team will go back and analyze that pre-race sample to see whether it showed the same indicators they've seen in post-race analysis.

In this phase, the relative infrequency of fatal racing breakdowns means the team will have to cast their net wide.

“Obviously, the rate of catastrophic injury is quite low,” said Page. “So if we want to look at pre-race samples, it requires a large number of samples be collected.”

Page projects the team will need to collect 10,000 blood samples, expecting that will result in about 12 or 13 samples related to fatal orthopedic breakdowns (sudden deaths or accidental deaths will not be included). Those samples will then be stored for future research, so the process will not have to be repeated or funded again for subsequent projects.

“We're really happy and encouraged by the results we've got so far and fully anticipate that by using these pre-race samples, we'll be able to validate what we've done and potentially come up with a commercially viable and useful test that we can use in the racing industry to help further decrease the catastrophic injury rates,” said Page.

The sample collection for the project's third phase will take about a year to complete.

The post Quest Continues For A Blood Test To Identify Horses At Risk For Injury appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post