Tag: Horse Care

No animal cruelty charges will be filed in the death of Thoroughbred stallion Laoban due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, according to the Courier-Journal.

The Courier-Journal's Tim Sullivan reported in April that court documents in an insurance lawsuit had revealed that an injectable vitamin treatment given to Laoban could be to blame for the stallion's death. According to those reports, Laoban died minutes after getting an intravenous shot from veterinarian Dr. Heather Wharton of a vitamin cocktail designed to boost his waning libido. A document authored by attorney Harvey Feintuch in August noted that expired B12 was given at five times the recommended dosage, and that iron dextran, one of the vitamin components, had expired in 2012. One or more of the vitamins were supposed to be given intramuscularly but instead were given intravenously.

According to Sullivan's reading of Feintuch's report, Laoban's death was captured on video and the horse could be seen going into distress 58 seconds after receiving the shot from Wharton. (It is not unusual for larger breeding operations to have cameras in stallion barns.) Wharton returned to the stall and attempted to treat the stallion but was unsuccessful. A necropsy report later revealed a “presumptive diagnosis of anaphylactic shock can be made with a reasonable degree of medico-legal certainty.”

Woodford County Animal Control Supervisor Susan Jones told Sullivan this week that due to a lack of time and no cooperation from the insurance company, she was unable to file misdemeanor animal cruelty charges against Wharton before the statute of limitations ran out.

“This one just slipped through our fingers,” Jones told the Courier-Journal. “We didn't get to do our normal time of investigation there. We did not get to speak to the veterinarian because she had lawyered up, and her lawyer wouldn't allow us to speak to her.”

However, the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners is still expected to conduct an investigation into Wharton's actions.

Read more at the Courier-Journal.

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Acacia Clement has loved horses for as long as she can remember. She fondly recalls her mother, Sherrie, passing on her own love of horses to her as she encouraged her through riding lessons as a child.

Clement gained a particular admiration for Thoroughbreds at 8-years-old when she was placed atop a retired racehorse named Siren. That admiration would later lead her to establish Racing for Home, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the retirement and rehoming of racehorses.

“We had always loved Thoroughbreds as far as a breed,” Clement said of her family's equine background. “No one wanted to ride Siren because she went so fast, but I loved it. She was my favorite of all the horses in the program and it felt like we were a team. And so, I always loved Thoroughbreds.”

As Clement entered her teenage years and began to explore other interests in pageantry and dancing, her affinity for horses never wavered. Thinking back to Siren and the camaraderie she felt working in tandem with the spirited mare, Clement decided to explore the possibility of adopting a Thoroughbred of her own.

Clement was drawn to visit the now defunct Suffolk Downs when she was 17 on the recommendation of the racehorse retirement organization CANTER, who informed her of the needs on the track's backstretch. It was there that she found Palace Diva, a Lido Palace mare who raced five times in 2009. The bay mare's best finish was a fifth-place effort on debut at Tampa Bay Downs. Her last race was in a maiden claimer on July 20, 2009 at Suffolk Downs where she finished sixth-of-8.

“We went to Suffolk Downs and picked out Palace Diva, who is still with our family,” said Clement.

When Clement returned from Suffolk Downs two months later with two more retirees, the family made a decision to launch Racing for Home, Inc., which was officially established in 2011 and operates out of DeCarli Equestrian Center in Ellington, Connecticut.

“We came back with two more horses and my family said, 'If you're going to do this, do it right,'” Clement said. “I went and did all the paperwork, which was a huge undertaking for someone right out of high school. We got 501(c)(3) and we've grown since then.”

The organization carefully evaluates each retiree it welcomes, giving them time to unwind from their racing schedules and to figure out what new career will work best for them.

“We do sanctuary, rehab and retraining,” Clement said. “It's very individualized and they usually need about six months of let-down time. It's very expensive to operate that way, but that's why we have a limited number. You want to give them some time to adapt and then see where their talents are. You start slow with some groundwork and eventually, you can start them under saddle and see if they're a candidate to adopt out. Obviously, they are individuals and some relax a little sooner than others or take to different types of training.”

Racing for Home, Inc. currently cares for 13 horses and has provided aftercare to 40 horses since 2011. The retirees' goals vary from being turned out as a pasture pet to being retrained for other disciplines of riding such as jumping and dressage. One of the farm's most famous alumni is permanent resident Celtic Chaos, a multiple stakes winner on the NYRA circuit who retired to the farm in 2021 after 47 lifetime starts.

“Celtic was known for having an attitude on the racetrack,” Clement said. “He was a tricky horse and he has really settled into his life as an OTTB. Celtic and my dad have an amazing bond, which is great to see.”

One of the newest retirees is Fish Trappe Road, who won the Grade 3 Dwyer over Big Sandy in 2017. He recently returned to the mainland after racing for the past two years in Puerto Rico. The grey gelding found himself in the organization's care after he finished ninth in his last race at Camarero and had his retirement secured by Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare.

Clement said she is hopeful that Fish Trappe Road will settle in as nicely as his former foe Celtic Chaos. The retirees met on three occasions on the racetrack, including the 2015 Sleepy Hollow at Belmont where Fish Trappe Road finished a close second 10 lengths the better of Celtic Chaos in fifth. The two would meet again two years later at Saratoga Race Course in the John Morrissey, which was won by Celtic Chaos with Fish Trappe Road in eighth, and in an allowance one start later.

“Fish Trappe Road has only been with us a little over a month, but he's put on a lot of weight and has settled in really well,” Clement said of the popular gelding. “We're really excited about him and he's going to do well. He's very relaxed since he got to the farm.

“The two actually raced against each other, and now they're in paddocks right next to each other,” Clement added, with a laugh.

Racing for Home, Inc.'s successes are thanks in great part to the dedication of Clement's mother, Sherrie Courtney, who Clement said spends countless hours overseeing the care and development of each retiree.

“My mom is amazing. I give so much credit to her; she is on the farm every day,” said Clement. “She gets on these ex-racehorses and she just has so much love, patience and empathy and really cares so deeply. I admire her so much in what she's been able to do and the success she's had with the horses she's worked with. Her kind heart comes through in their attitude and how they progress. She's been the biggest cheerleader of the program right from the start and now she's the heart and soul behind it.”

Clement reflected on the way aftercare cultivated a passion for horse racing that steered her down the path that led to a full-time position with NYRA this year as a television host and reporter on America's Day at the Races.

“Aftercare got me into the game in the first place. I always grew up watching the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders' Cup and big races like that and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really know anything about it,” said Clement. “So when I ended up getting our first horse, the Suffolk track kitchen was the first place I ever read a racing form.”

Clement also expressed her gratitude for the ways her position at NYRA provide a platform for the discussion of aftercare.

“It's been awesome to see on America's Day at the Races that we put an emphasis on aftercare and promoting events and the work aftercare groups are doing right here in New York,” Clement said. “I'm really proud to work for a company that puts aftercare at the forefront. NYRA realizes we need to focus on aftercare and they continue to ensure that that's at the forefront of the conversation.”

NYRA's commitments to aftercare include a $10 per start pledge to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), an accrediting body that inspects and awards grants to aftercare facilities. NYRA also supports the New York Thoroughbred Horseman's Association's (NYTHA) retirement program Take The Lead, which provides veterinary exams, treatments and other costs associated with retraining racehorses. These efforts are supported by an aftercare assessment fee of 1.5 percent of the claiming price of horses haltered on the NYRA circuit.

The lasting impression Thoroughbreds have had on Clement is that they are a breed as versatile and willing as they are athletic and competitive.

“Thoroughbreds can adapt to anything. They can be eventers, they can do dressage, be jumpers or ponies on the racetrack,” said Clement. “We had one horse who turned out to be a riding horse in a therapeutic program and was teaching children with autism. They're athletes, but they're also intelligent and sensitive. I think that willingness to please shows how well they can adapt.”

Clement said she is grateful not just for the way horses have shaped the trajectory of her life, but for the opportunity to give back as well.

“The most rewarding part of it is that we are fulfilling a need in the industry,” said Clement. “They are incredible animals and are so much more adaptable than people give them credit for. I'm really proud of how far we've come with aftercare and I'm proud my mom and our family can be a part of that.”

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More than 99 percent of 474 veterinarians surveyed said they'd encountered useless or nonbeneficial veterinary care in their careers, according to a new Cornell-led study that documents the prevalence of futile care for the first time.

The authors use a working definition of futile care as continuing treatment when relevant goals can no longer be reached.

“Before Cornell, I was in private practice in Los Angeles for 11 years. When faced with a dilemma like this, I had an obligation to advocate for what I thought was in the best interest of the pet,” said Dr. Nathan Peterson, associate clinical professor with the section of emergency and critical care and lead author of “Medical Futility is Commonly Encountered in Small Animal Clinical Practice,” published May 18 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“But I also had an obligation to the owner,” Peterson said. “I couldn't just do what I thought was right. It's really quite distressing for the veterinarian and for the technicians and nurses who have to carry out the care.”

The study, co-authored by researchers at Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics, also found that 89 percent of veterinarians said they had administered futile care, and 42 percent said it occurs frequently, more than six times per year.

The veterinarians' sense of obligation to pet owners was reflected in the data, with 60 percent of respondents agreeing that every treatment option be presented to owners, 76.3 percent agreeing that futile care benefited owners in some way, and 56.6 percent saying they sympathized with the owners' feelings and wishes.

Paradoxically, the owner-centered approach, the authors write, can exacerbate moral distress for veterinarians and care teams. Previous research by co-authors showed that futile veterinary care was responsible for frequent and severe moral distress in the veterinary community, which they said occurs when a clinician believes they know the right thing to do but are prevented from doing it.

“We're in the midst of a mental health crisis in our profession, and we're very interested in whether futile care contributes to that, which I suspect it does,” Peterson said. “We felt that a first step is documenting that it happens. My hope for the research is that it opens conversations around futile care, and hopefully professional organizations can take a leadership role and try to provide some guidance for how to resolve these conflicts.”

Factors that influenced veterinarians' decisions to provide futile care included allowing time for owners to arrive to be present for euthanasia, satisfying an owner's request that all treatment options be exhausted, and responding to the owners' failure to understand the severity of the pet's condition.

Peterson said these dilemmas have become more prevalent in recent years, as medical advances used for humans have become available in veterinary care. “Now that we have dialysis, mechanical ventilation, a lot of technologies to keep patients alive – that's really stretching the line about what kind of limits we are going to set around what's in the best interest of the patient,” Peterson said.

To bring clarity to these gray areas, the authors suggest establishing a definition for futile care in the profession – respondents were not in total consensus about what futile care means – as well as guidance around how decisions for care are made. A shared decision-making paradigm, where all stakeholders can agree on goals for treatment and whether or not they can be reached, could help, as well as a transparent, systematic approach to evaluating an owner's ability to discuss and understand a diagnosis. Guidance and discussions are also needed around positive autonomy – the right to demand treatment.

“I think as a profession we have focused for so long on alleviating suffering by continuing treatment and making animals healthier,” Peterson said. “And we're not as prepared to strongly advocate for euthanasia, to have those conversations, even when we think that's the best way to alleviate suffering.”

In future research, Peterson hopes to investigate the impact of futile care on support staff. “That feeling of powerlessness for the veterinarian is certainly magnified for the technicians who are often not involved in the decisions and who are directly responsible for providing care,” he said. “That really motivates me to look at the toll this is taking on them.”

Read more at the Cornell Chronicle.

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The field of genetics has enabled us to predict susceptibility to heritable diseases and map the genome of many species. Now, modern genetics and the birth of a unique foal in New Zealand has provided a successful example of tracking a mutation at its origin.

Today, the journal Animal Genetics, released a paper demonstrating how the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine determined that a white pattern in a Standardbred foal is a de novo, or novel mutation, meaning that it was not inherited by its sire or dam but instead occurred during the development of the foal.

Should the foal eventually be bred, then this coat color can be selected for in subsequent generations.

“Discovering a de novo mutation is always exciting as most of the time as geneticists we are trying to trace the history of genetic variation, not identifying the variation in the generation in which they occur,” said Dr. Rebecca Bellone, director of the laboratory. “This discovery shows how breeding remains relevant today for helping us to understand the way that mutations occur and their effects on the living world.”

The Standardbred filly, not yet officially named, was born at Wai Eyre Farm in Canterbury, New Zealand, with a sabino-like white spotting pattern. She was tested for parentage through Harness Racing New Zealand by InfogeneNZ at Massey University. InfogeneNZ then recommended coat color testing at the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) to determine the cause of white patterning.

The breed's most common coat color is bay, but they can also be born with black, chestnut, or gray coats.

VGL, which conducts scientific research and also provides commercial genetic analysis services, has unique expertise and technology to determine the novel origin of the filly's coat. The laboratory partnered with InfogeneNZ to confirm parentage, utilizing the International Society for Animal Genetics primary and backup panels.

VGL then conducted genetic analysis using allele-specific PCR with products resolved on the Applied Biosystems 3730XL DNA Analyzer (Thermo Fisher Scientific), a custom-designed MassARRAY genotyping assay (Agena Bioscience), and Ion Torrent S5 amplicon sequencing (Thermo Fishier Scientific) to investigate known mutations. Ultimately, the Ion Torrent S5 amplicon sequencing experiment is what allowed for the discovery of the novel variant.

This is the third de novo white coat color variant identified in Standardbreds. VGL intends to track the generational lineage of the filly's novel coat color, should she be bred.

The full article can be accessed at: http://doi.org/10.1111/age.13222

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