Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Blea’s License Suspension Upheld; CHRB Equine Medical Director Remains On Leave

Judge Nana Chin has upheld the veterinary license suspension of California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director Jeff Blea, reports the Los Angeles Times. The news follows last Friday's formal hearing of the California Veterinary Medical Board's petition for his interim suspension, and Blea remains on leave from his position with the CHRB.

Blea is facing eight causes for discipline, according to formal “accusation” documents issued in late December. Blea's veterinary license was suspended at an emergency meeting held on Christmas Eve. He has not been operating his racetrack practice since taking the job of equine medical director last summer.

Blea was placed on administrative leave in mid-January. Drs. Heather Knych and Ashley Hill have been named acting equine medical directors and will perform the statutory functions of the Equine Medical Director.

“The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is aware the interim order of suspension of Dr. Jeff Blea's veterinary license has been upheld and is monitoring the situation as the legal process moves forward,” Amy Quinton, a UC Davis spokesperson, told the LA TImes. “At this time, Dr. Blea remains on administrative leave. The School of Veterinary Medicine continues to fulfill its duties to provide equine medical director services for the CHRB.”

Blea has also been removed from his role overseeing the investigation into the death of Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who dropped dead after completing a workout at Santa Anita. The equine medical director is not responsible for actually performing necropsies or testing biological samples on horses who die in racing or training in California or elsewhere. Those responsibilities go to veterinary pathologists and toxicologists — in California, those duties are contracted to UC-Davis, though some samples have been shipped outside California in this particular case. The equine medical director would be responsible for gathering reports and interpreting them for presentation to the board and to the public.

No date has been set for a hearing into the eight charges, but the LA Times suggests that normal circumstances could see the CHRB without an equine medical director for up to a year.

The CHRB remains steadfast in it's support of Blea, releasing the following statement after it's Jan. 20 meeting.

“The commissioners of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) unanimously agreed in closed session Jan. 20 on their support and confidence in Dr. Jeff Blea to continue in his role as the CHRB's Equine Medical Director (EMD) as he deals with the accusation filed against him by the California Veterinary Medical Board (CVMB), which has resulted in an emergency temporary suspension of his veterinary license.

“The commissioners and Executive Director Scott Chaney are optimistic that the interim suspension hearing held on Jan. 21 will overturn this initial decision. However, regardless of the outcome, Dr. Blea has their full support and confidence to continue in his role as EMD throughout the full adjudication process.

“The commissioners are further committed to pursue appropriate legal avenues to protect the authority of the board, as well as preserve the contract with UC Davis, which appointed Dr. Blea as the Equine Medical Director for the CHRB.”

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Announces Renewal Of Photo Contest

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation announced today that it will again be hosting its online photo contest for horse lovers to celebrate their equine companions.

The contest opens February 1, and entries will be accepted through February 28. Horse enthusiasts are encouraged to submit original photos of horses representing all breeds, backgrounds, and disciplines on Grayson's website at grayson-jockeyclub.org/default.asp?section=2&area=PHOTOINFO.

Finalists will be selected by the Grayson team, and the winning photo will be chosen by votes from the public on Grayson's Facebook page. The winner will receive a Grayson “swag bag,” and each finalist will also receive a prize. Selected photos submitted to the contest will be shared on Grayson's social media accounts using the hashtag #ilovehealthyhorses.

“Our photo contest has proved to be a popular way for horse lovers to spread awareness of the importance of equine veterinary research,” said Jamie Haydon, president of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

For the contest's official rules, please visit grayson-jockeyclub.org/default.asp?section=2&area=PHOTORULES&menu=1.

Source of original post

Colic Survival Scoring System In Horses

Colic, defined as any acute abdominal pain, is an important sign of gastrointestinal disease in horses. Because colic may stem from many causes, predicting survival is challenging, if not impossible, at times. Could a scoring system reliably predict colic survival based on certain clinical evidence? A group of researchers thought so, and here's how they went about it.*

The researchers took a two-pronged approach to the question. First, they designed a retrospective study to determine the clinical parameters described in horses that survived colic and used them to formulate a survival scoring system. Second, a prospective study used horses presented for colic at two different veterinary clinics to determine the validity of the scoring system.

In the retrospective study, 658 horses with colic signs were identified. At the end of their review, the researchers settled on six health variables to use in the scoring system based on their strong predictive value for outcome at discharge: heart rate, respiratory rate, total calcium, blood lactate, abnormal abdominal ultrasound, and abnormal rectal examination. A total assessment score of 0 to 12 was possible, with a range of 0 to 2 points for each of the six variables.

As for the prospective study, data from 95 horses with colic were collected to assess the validity of the colic scoring system. Those that received a score equal to or less than 7 were predicted to survive, while those that received a score greater than 7 were predicted to die.

Researchers concluded that the scoring system “developed in this study is applicable for clinicians in a hospital setting with a clinical caseload of horses with colic signs using data available in most equine practices.”

Sound feeding management is one way to keep colic at bay, according to Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist at Kentucky Equine Research.

“Many of the nutritional strategies that horse owners follow daily, sometimes subconsciously, evolved with gastrointestinal health in mind: near constant availability of forage, whether it's pasture or hay; small concentrate meals; access to potable water; and the provision of clean, or hygienic, feedstuffs,” she said. Everyday awareness of these and other management practices fosters gastrointestinal health.

[Story Continues Below]

“More recently, we have begun to understand the importance of balancing all-forage diets with vitamins and minerals, and augmenting diets with nutritional supplements that target specific problems,” she explained. “Kentucky Equine Research has developed ways to support gastrointestinal health on many fronts, such as protecting the stomach from ulceration and maintaining a healthy hindgut microbiome.”

*Farrell, A., K. Kersh, R. Liepman, and K.A. Dembek. 2021. Development of a colic scoring system to predict outcome in horses. Frontiers in Veterinary Science:697589.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

Source of original post

Use Of Dental Products In Horses Necessitates Extra Caution

While it can be tempting to apply human products to horses, many don't work the same way across species – and some can even cause harm. Some potentially harmful products to horses are those used in human oral care. Though human and equine teeth have similar structures, they differ drastically in form and function.

One main difference is that equine teeth continually erupt, reports EQUUS magazine. Because of this, the tissue that surrounds the tooth, the periodontium, is responsible for both tooth attachment and tooth eruption.

German researchers tested four materials used in human dentistry on equine periodontium: a paste developed specifically for filling pockets in gums, a temporary cement that affixes crowns and bridges to teeth, a paste used for endodontic (soft pulp tissue inside the tooth) treatments, and an impression material used to prepare implants.

Periodontium cells were collected from a healthy yearling and placed in four petri dishes. The test materials were added to each dish and after 24 hours the cells were examined for any change in appearance. The scientists also tested the cells for signs of inflammation and viability.

The results showed that the impression material and the paste for endodontic treatments damaged or killed the periodontic cells. The researchers concluded that these two products would most likely harm a living horse. The other two materials had no adverse effects on the cells.

Though products used in human dentistry must be used on the horses since there are no equine-specific materials, the team reiterated that the products should first be tested on equine tissues to ensure they cause no harm.