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California Veterinary Medical Board Taking Aim At Three Northern California Track Vets For Prescription Practices

It seems the accusations filed by the California Veterinary Medical Board against Drs. Vince Baker, Jeff Blea and Sarah Graybill Jones were not the first the board made in 2021 based on racetrack practice. In February, the board filed accusation documents against a trio of veterinarians associated with San Francisco Equine. The board claimed it received a complaint in 2017 from the CHRB about Drs. Kim Lewis Kuhlmann, Steven Lee Boyer, and Kenneth Carl Allison prescribing medications to equine patients “per the trainer's instructions, without an examination or medical necessity.”

“The complaint alleged the SFE veterinarians prescribed the medications because the equine patients were entered to race – not to treat any specific condition diagnosed by the veterinarians,” read one accusation document. “The complaint included CHRB veterinarian reports completed by the SFE veterinarians, dated June 2017 through August 2017. The reports showed that the trainers of SFE's equine patients, rather than the SFE veterinarians, made the decisions to prescribe and administer the medications.”

Boyer is accused by the board of negligence, dispensing dangerous drugs without medical necessity, failure to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship, failure to keep adequate written records, failure to maintain a prescriber's record in the case of controlled medication, and prohibited veterinary practices. Allison is facing similar charges, with the exception of the controlled medication violation.

Kuhlmann's causes for discipline include negligence, dispensing dangerous drugs without medical necessity, failure to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship, prohibited veterinary practices, and purchasing or transferring expired drugs.

Kuhlmann is also alleged to have “manufactured, sold, delivered, held, or offered for sale, drugs that were imitations of commercially available drugs, and therefore misbranded.”

“An extremely large number of compounded drugs were found during the Board inspection,” the document read. “Many of the compounded drugs were commercially obtainable at the same concentrations as ketoprofen, glycopyrrolate, and others.” Kuhlmann also had misbranded drugs and expired drugs, many of which were compounded, according to the board. Those compounds came from Buy-Rite Drugs, Wedgewood Pharmacy, Precision Compounding, US Compounding, Pharmacy Resources Inc., UC Davis, and others.

She's also accused of failing to maintain adequate records for Schedule IV drugs, keeping adequate drug logs, ensuring drugs and biologics were maintained and dispensed legally, or insuring standards for medical waste. Kuhlmann is listed as the licensee manager for the practice, and as such is on the hook for additional requirements regarding overseeing recordkeeping for patients in the practice's care.

The names of the equine patients or human clients were not revealed in the public-facing accusation documents, as is typical in the case of veterinary medical board disciplinary actions.

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While many drugs named in the documents were commonly-recognized, legal therapeutic medication, the documents also called into question the legality of some of the substances the veterinarians allegedly administered or prescribed. Some were not FDA-approved, while others are marketed as supplements but considered by California legal definition to be “dangerous drugs.”

Kuhlmann's document also mentioned the use of Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid sold under the brand name of Winstrol. Unlike testosterone, boldenone, and nandrolone, stanozolol does not naturally occur in horses. Stanozolol is not permitted in a horse's system on race day at any level. At the time of the alleged violations, reported stanozolol administration resulted in a horse being placed on the veterinarian's list for 60 days before being permitted to enter races.

All three could face suspension or revocation of their license, requirement to pay the board's expenses for investigation, and fines of not more than $5,000 per violation.

Settlement conferences are on the books for all three veterinarians for April 29, with pre-hearing conference and hearing dates scheduled afterwards.

According to a spokesman for California's Department of Consumer Affairs, hearing dates for Baker and Graybill Jones have not yet been scheduled.

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How’d He Do That? Large Animal Rescue Training Courses Are There To Help Emergency Responders Help Horses

When a horse finds itself in a tough spot – stuck in a sinkhole, trapped in an overturned trailer, or running down the highway – it very often makes the news, especially if the horse is successfully rescued. But when a horse owner or passerby calls emergency services for help, the chances are good that in many places, those first responders have never touched a horse before, and may have no idea how to safely approach whatever pickle the horse has gotten themselves into.

One Central Kentucky event seeks to make those calls less panic-inducing, for horses and humans alike.

Every year the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) holds a large animal rescue training course that spans over three days at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. The course is designed to educate emergency responders, veterinary professionals, animal control officers, horse industry professionals and other interested parties on the rescue and emergency protocol for horses.

“Dr. Rocky Mason [KHC board member] basically is the proponent behind it,” said Sarah Coleman, executive director of the KHC. “He does a majority of the fundraising for it. He located the teachers who bring their helpers and their trailer and all their equipment. He had already known of them so he knew with all of the horses and other large animals that we have here in Kentucky, there was this really strong need for that education and training.”

The large animal rescue training course is taught by Tori and Justin Mcleod, owners of 4Hooves Large Animal Services (4HLAS) in Biscoe, N.C. The 4HLAS team offers a wide variety of services outside of large animal rescue training courses, including large animal emergency response, equine transport, emergency and specialized equine transport, equestrian event emergency standby, end of life services, large animal rescue equipment sales, and assistance with equine cruelty investigations. Some of these services are only offered to certain locations based on distance from 4HLAS, but the Mcleods are eager to help in any way they possibly can, no matter what the location is.

“It depends on the nature of the emergency, our response time, and all of the limiting factors,” Tori Mcleoud explained. “More often than not, we have resources that we have trained over the years that we'll call who are closer to that area to see if they can respond to help. If that is not an option we can also help them on the phone through facetime or texting with pictures back and forth. We've done several rescues just helping out over the phone.”

The large animal rescue training course at the Kentucky Horse Park consists of three days of classroom instruction as well as hands on training for a wide variety of scenarios and topics. These include animal behavior, handling and restraint, containment, motor vehicle accidents and overturned trailers, entrapments, barn fires and wildfires, unstable ground incidents, natural disaster preparation and response, hazardous materials decontamination, and more. The training course is open for auditing to anyone who is interested in learning more about large animal rescue techniques, but only around 40 spots are available for hands-on training participation.

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A big part of what these attendees take away from the training course can go far beyond the in-class and hands-on instruction provided by the Mcleods as well.

“We'll find that a lot of our student base in the classes are usually from the local area so it also becomes a networking opportunity for everybody,” Mcleod said. “The fire department members that may not have known an equine vet in their response area now know one because of the class. Now there's that face-to-face relationship. Not only do they know each other now face to face, but they also have seen each other in a training environment while figuring out rescue scenarios so if there was a real emergency, there's more of a grasp on how somebody would behave during that rescue operation. It's a lot easier for them to work together as a cohesive team instead of just being complete strangers meeting for the first time at an overturned trailer with 10 horses in it.”

It is also important to note that these courses are not isolated to the state of Kentucky or North Carolina.

This training in Rocky Mount, Va., helped first responders learn how to safely use heavy equipment to lift a horse if necessary. (They are practicing on a mannequin).

“We'll go anywhere someone wants to pay us to go. We've had invitations out to Colorado to do classes there,” Mcleod said. “There are other teams, sort of our colleagues, that do training courses so we kind of refer them to areas where it wouldn't be financially reasonable for us to go. We usually go on the East Coast. We've done classes annually in Kentucky and numerous classes throughout North Carolina and Virginia. We've done a couple of classes up north, but predominantly it's North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia so far. Wherever the need is we'll go.”

With the very high quantity of horses and large animal livestock in not only Kentucky, but the entire Southeast, training like what the Mcleods offer can make a huge difference in the face of natural disasters like the tornadoes that ripped through the Southeastern portion of the United States in December. The chief of the Marshall County, Kentucky rescue team, Charles Pratt, and the rest of his team are some of the many people who have been able to put the large animal rescue training to use.

“We had a couple horses that were on the ground tangled up in some barbed wire,” Pratt explained about the aftermath of the tornado. “We had to go up there and get them calm and protect their faces the way they taught us in the animal rescue class. Because of the training, we were able to get some grants and buy the equipment that we needed. It would've been very hard for us to do what we were doing without having the proper equipment and knowing how to use it.”

Outside of natural disasters, there are endless possibilities and situations where horses and other large animals get into dangerous situations and need to be rescued. Most importantly the people that rescue them need to be able to do so in a way that doesn't compromise the animal's safety or their own. This can seldom be accomplished without knowledge and proper training, which is not offered to most general emergency responders.

“My biggest thing is for any emergency service or rescue squads to try to seek that training because when you least expect it you're going to have to do it,” Pratt concluded.

Learn more about 4Hooves Large Animal Services here.

Learn more about attending the KHC large animal emergency rescue training course here.

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Thoroughbred Makeover To Include Expanded T.I.P. Championships

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) announced Tuesday that it has approved more than 7,000 awards and classes at more than 1,400 shows in 46 states and six Canadian provinces in 2022.

Awards are available for multiple disciplines, including eventing, dressage, Western and English pleasure, hunter/jumper, endurance, barrel racing, and polocrosse. A full calendar of shows offering awards is available at tjctip.com/CalendarOfEvents and will be updated as show dates are confirmed.

In addition, T.I.P. will be splitting its T.I.P. Championships horse show into multiple events in 2022 and is announcing the dates and locations of two of the events at this time. After a successful Barrel Racing Championships in 2021, T.I.P. and the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) are partnering to offer an expanded Western Championships and a Central Region Dressage Championships during the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, which will be held Oct. 12-15, 2022, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. The Western Championships will include divisions in barrel racing, Western pleasure, Western halter, ranch riding, Western dressage, and competitive trail. Dressage Championships will be offered in levels from Introductory through FEI Test of Choice.

The championships' being held with the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover is being announced to assist those considering an application for the Makeover by the Jan. 21, 2022, deadline. Additional dates and locations for the T.I.P. Championships will be announced later this month, and prize lists will be made available for the events in the spring.

“Following the positive reception of the T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships at the Thoroughbred Makeover, we're thrilled to further our working relationship with T.I.P. in 2022,” said Kirsten Green, interim executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project. “Participating in T.I.P. shows and classes is a great complement to Makeover preparation and a natural progression for Makeover graduates, so we're looking forward to hosting the expanded division offerings at the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover and bringing more Thoroughbred lovers together for an amazing week.”

In addition, T.I.P. will be offering year-end or championship awards in association with the American Endurance Ride Conference, American Polocrosse Association, Equine Trail Sports, Interscholastic Equestrian Association, United States Eventing Association, United States Pony Club, and United States Dressage Federation.

“The popularity of and enthusiasm for T.I.P. has enabled us to expand to be larger than ever this year,” said Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and administrator of T.I.P. “T.I.P.'s growth demonstrates the popularity and demand for Thoroughbreds across the country for careers in a variety of disciplines.”

T.I.P. is also announcing its youth ambassadors for the 2022 T.I.P. Youth Ambassador Program. The 13 ambassadors come from nine states and cover multiple disciplines. The following are the 2022 T.I.P. youth ambassadors:

Julia Buytenhuys – Virginia
Lottie Crawford (Returning) – Virginia
Karlie Dennis – Pennsylvania
Brooke Galvin – Florida
Emma Hill – South Carolina
Rylee Koll – Michigan
Savannah Lacey – Maryland
Bella Anne Park – Arkansas
Ashlynn Riley – Iowa
Madeline Rutledge – Virginia
Connor Stegeman – Louisiana
Emilie Stevens – Louisiana
Anna Szefc – Virginia

Additional information about the Youth Ambassador Program is available at tjctip.com/About/TBYPAM.

Created and announced in October 2011, T.I.P. recognizes and rewards the versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at sanctioned horse shows, performance awards, and non-competition awards. In addition to the complete schedule of T.I.P.-sponsored shows, other information about the program is available on the T.I.P. website, tjctip.com. Those interested in T.I.P. can follow the program at facebook.com/tjctip.

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Hay Net Height: Consider Comfort Of Horses

Horsemanship masters and mavens of yesteryear taught their students to hang haynets high and tight. Low-slung haynets invited injury, the experts cautioned. A resurgence in the use of haynets has occurred recently, frequently as an attempt to slow hay consumption among horses on calorie-restricted diets. A high-tied haynet, however, encourages horses to crane their necks and contort their backs over a long period of time. Because habitual, unnatural postures can cause discomfort, even unsoundness, Italian researchers set out to determine the physical effects of haynet height on neck and back shape.^*

“Horses and ponies seem to be quite specific in how they approach eating from a haynet,” said Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research. “Some nibble from them, grasping pieces of hay carefully; some go in for large mouthfuls, aggressively yanking out hay. Others will headbutt the bag, leaving it swinging from its knot.” Whatever their interaction with the haynet, Whitehouse said, changes in body position invariably occur and likely become a matter of routine.

In the study, researchers used geometric morphometrics to evaluate variations in neck and back shape relative to three specific hay-feeding positions. Geometric morphometrics allows scientists to identify and analyze minute postural changes through the use of anatomical landmarks. Specifically, geometric morphometrics eliminates differences based on size and instead focuses on changes in shape of individuals. Hay was fed from three positions:

Control position. The hay was fed from the ground
Low haynet position. The bottom of the haynet was level with the midpoint of the cannon bone
High haynet position. The bottom of the haynet was level with the elbow

Researchers used slow-feed haynets made from high-density polyethylene twine. The openings of the haynet measured about 1.5 in (4 cm), and the haynets were filled with 4.5 lb (2 kg) of the same hay horses were accustomed to prior to the study.

Video recordings were made of six mature Warmbloods as they ate hay from the three different feeding positions. Using a cellphone placed on a tripod, which assured a consistent perspective, horses were recorded for 15 minutes while eating hay at each feeding position.

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Researchers found that feeding positions affected the shape of the neck and back postures during hay consumption, and these changes in shape were well defined for individual horses. With the low haynet position, the back posture more closely resembled that exhibited during the control position, indicating a more natural feeding position, but the same was not true of neck posture. Both neck and back postures were changed considerably when hay was offered in the high position, potentially leading to problems.

“Certain haynets and feeding devices designed to encourage slow consumption have refined the level of management that can be achieved when dealing with challenging horses, such as those that are chronically overweight,” said Whitehouse. “Even though the researchers identified some changes to neck and back shape, the long-term physical effects of feeding from haynets have not been studied. Right now, the benefits seem to outweigh the potential disadvantages.”

Horses on calorie-restricted diets require optimal nutrition, and this scenario calls for a well-formulated vitamin and mineral supplement, according to Whitehouse. “Because these horses are generally fed all-forage diets, they usually miss out on the vitamin and mineral fortification provided in concentrates. An appropriate vitamin and mineral supplement can fill in the nutritional gaps left by forage.”

For safety's sake: in the study described above, haynets were hung low under the watchful eye of professional scientists. In an everyday situation, whether it's in a trailer or stall, haynets should be hung at a height safe for the individual horse. This will decrease the likelihood of a horse pawing and getting its hoof caught in the haynet.