Tag: Horse Care

A study spearheaded by Dr. Sarah Freeman, of the University of Nottingham, found that large intestinal impactions, those of the cecum or large or small colon, are easier to resolve than blockages of the small intestine, though they can be difficult to diagnose, reports EQUUS magazine.

Large intestine impactions are often less painful and not as complex as small-intestine impactions, as there is more room for intestine distention. The mild, subtle pain a horse experiences can be difficult to discern, however, and might delay the procurance of a veterinarian.

Freeman and graduate student Kyra Jennings reviewed the records of 120 horses with large intestine impactions seen by vets in the field. They found that most cases (42.1 percent) occurred in the winter or after a management change (59 percent). 

Though these figures were not especially surprising, one statistic was: 43 percent of the horses were not being ridden regularly at the time they colicked, either from an acute injury or because they had retired from work. 

The tests performed most often to diagnose large-intestine impaction were nasogastric intubation and rectal exams. Treatment of the colicking horses varied, but most vets utilized an NSAID and oral fluids. Many vets also gave the horse a sedative and/or gut relaxer when rectally examining the horse. 

The impactions resolved in 53 percent of the horses after the initial treatment, indicating that if large-intestine impactions can be caught early, they can be treated easily on the farm. 

Read more at EQUUS magazine. 

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One of the overarching themes from the 10th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit at the Keeneland sales pavilion on Wednesday, July 22, was that prevention and early monitoring are going to be the key to reducing racetrack fatalities and injuries in the future.

“If you're only looking at horses on race day, you are missing the boat at this point,” said Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director and chief operating officer of the Racing Medication & Testing Consortium. “We know these are cumulative injuries; anybody who says the horse took a bad step is in for a really wicked glance from me. If we're not looking at these horses at other times, we are missing an opportunity to help protect them.”

Dr. Mathieu Spriet, an associate professor of surgical and radiological sciences at the University of California, Davis, gave a fascinating presentation during the summit discussing the results of over 1,000 PET scans of racehorse fetlocks.

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test that can help reveal abnormal metabolic activity in the bones of a racehorse's fetlock. Across multiple studies, Spriet was able to demonstrate not only that the PET findings can be more helpful and accurate than other methodologies at identifying potential issues, but he was also able to create a grading system for the lesions found on PET scans that can fairly reliably indicate the necessary healing/layup time.

The Stronach Group installed the first equine PET scan machine which did not require a horse to undergo general anesthesia at Santa Anita in 2019, and there have been four more of the machines installed across the United States. By the end of this year, Spriet said, that number will double.

By pairing the PET scans with other imaging methods, like CT scans (basically a three-dimensional x-ray), Spriet was able to improve his ability to identify at-risk horses.

One of the studies commissioned using the PET scanners was a 72-horse study of horses not showing clinical signs of lameness. Horses were selected at three different locations: Golden Gate Fields (specifically, only horses both training and racing on the Tapeta synthetic surface), Santa Anita, and Fair Hill Training Center. Each horse had all four fetlocks scanned within a week of finishing in the top half of a race.

Three of the 72 showed findings severe enough to require a layoff, while another 15 percent demonstrated findings which convinced Spriet to recommend that trainers modify the horse's training. Interestingly, the horses at Golden Gate showed less evidence of lesions than those racing at Santa Anita or from Fair Hill.

In total, the non-clinical horses demonstrated far fewer PET scan findings than their clinically lame counterparts.

In an additional study of 2-year-olds at Golden Gate, which included six normal and six clinically lame horses, the normal horses again showed less severe findings than their clinical counterparts.

While these findings have improved Spriet's confidence in the technology's ability to one day be used as a preventative, he cautioned that the current best use of PET scanners is in longitudinal studies, i.e. over time, in terms of monitoring horses' healing from bone lesions.

In examining longitudinal cases, in which a horse was scanned multiple times over a period of several months, Spriet determined that the most important time to scan a horse to check for recurrence of an issue is three to four months after beginning training, around its first five-furlong workout.

Those cases allowed Spriet to create a grading system for the initial size and severity of the remodeling, which indicates the approximate amount of time a horse will need to be laid off to recover.

From the total of more than 1,000 fetlock PET scans, Spriet was able to determine the most common locations of issues which may be related to later breakdowns. However, he cautioned that approximately 20 percent of horses with no clinical abnormalities will show evidence of lesions on a PET scan, so the technology is not yet ready to screen horses for racing soundness.

“We have some very specific localization of findings,” Spriet said. “When we see uptake in sites related to breakdown we have concern, and the severity of the uptake is related to that.”

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The 10th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit – conducted on Wednesday, June 22, at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. – included a presentation on “Equine Wearable Technology,” which moderator Joe Appelbaum of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association likened to the popular Fitbit devices seeing widespread use in the fitness and health technology realms.

During the presentation, Dr. Scott Palmer, the equine medical director of the New York State Gaming Commission, discussed the results of a prospective study utilizing this technology over the past year at New York Racing Association tracks.

Beginning last summer at Saratoga, every horse in one race per day was fitted with a StrideSafe device in its saddle cloth. The technology measures acceleration in three dimensions, including concussive forces on both the front and the hind limbs. Each horse, Palmer explained, has a different pattern or “fingerprint” at high speeds that would be described as normal; the data becomes most useful when it can be compared to both a horse's normal pattern as well as a standard of horses racing across the same surface.

Palmer explained that significant deviations from the mean are a caution sign to indicate that a horse has modified its stride. Those “red alert” signs have then been used to initiate a discussion with a trainer and suggest additional diagnostics; Palmer said the data is able to demonstrate issues that “trainers can't see, that jockeys can't feel, that's not obvious at all.”

That prospective study at Saratoga created 131 data collections, of which 15 were found to be “red alert” horses and 25 “yellow alert” (based on different standard deviations from the mean). The rest were considered “green,” or with data points within a single standard deviation from the mean.

Only 40 percent of those “red alert” horses raced again in the next four months, whereas 78 percent of the “green” horses returned to race in the next four months.

Continuing with every horse in every race through the Belmont Fall and Aqueduct Winter meets, the data collected was paired with artificial intelligence to continue improving the database. The project now includes 6,500 recordings of over 2,500 horses.

Palmer said the technology can “reliably detect subtle gait abnormalities, which is a way to detect lameness in the early stages and provide for more timely intervention than is currently possible.”

In one specific instance, a horse raced five times wearing the StrideSafe device, but in its fifth race, a major deviation occurred around the 50 to 55-second mark of the race. When Palmer collected the data and presented it to the trainer the next morning, he learned that the horse had walked off the track sound, but cooled out lame, and was later discovered to have a knee fracture.

“All of the success we've had so far (in terms of reducing the equine fatality rate) has been based upon subjective data gathered by veterinarians examining horses,” Palmer said. “I think we are bottomed out pretty well in our ability to do that. I think that we really need to use advanced technology to take another step forward to help us identify these horses that are at risk of injury.

“Right now I can say that I want a sensor on every horse… I think our fatality rates will drop way down, and I think our attrition rates will go way down.”

What the data does not do, Palmer cautioned, is tell a trainer or veterinarian where the soundness issue may be coming from. He stressed that the conversation with a trainer not become adversarial, but instead be focused on education and prevention.

Palmer explained: “You have to tell the trainer, 'Your horse had a red-alert performance. This is what that means. This is what that doesn't mean. And this is what you need to do about it.' Because that's actionable intelligence, right now.”

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Recently, two horses died at the four-star Bramham International Horse Trials on cross-country day and two riders were admitted to a hospital. Cross-country course designer Ian Stark talked with Eventing Nation at the conclusion of the event, discussing the design of the cross-country track and the bigger issues facing the sport of eventing. 

The cross-country track at Bramham is notoriously difficult, a challenge for both horse and rider. Riding at the event is often an end unto itself but it is also used as a stepping stone for riders looking to move up to the five-star event level. 

Reflecting on how the course rode, with three people falling off at one fence (which was ultimately removed), Stark opined that eventing competition needs standardization in order for horses and riders to progress up the levels safely. 

Stark noted he must decide between dumbing down the jumping questions, ensuring all riders competing at the level are safe, or if he should expect that riders be competent at the level in which they are competing. The decision is not one he takes lightly; Stark is unsure whether he will continue course designing at the upper levels. 

There is a difference between being qualified to ride in a specific division and being truly prepared to ride at that level, Stark noted. He suggested that a greater distinction and progression between competition levels is necessary. While riders can compete to garner qualifications to move up a level, Stark notes that the riders are not necessarily gaining an education while competing – they're simply checking a box to move up to a more difficult level of competition. 

To whom the onus of determining “qualification” belongs is still in question. Is it the rider's responsibility to learn how to ride at that level? Or is it the course designer and show manager's responsibility to design a track and show at which riders can perform well, but one which strays from the original point of eventing: riding out on open land, asking questions of horses that test their responsiveness to rider and athleticism?

Stark has an illustrious career, in which he has asked a multitude questions of riders competing on his courses. Thus far, the riders have continually risen to his challenges.

Introspective to the core, Stark noted that he must take the time to look at himself to decide whether continuing with the sport is in his best interest. His piece in Eventing Nation concludes powerfully: 

“I feel vulnerable, and I think the sport's vulnerable.”

Read more at Eventing Nation. 

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