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Thoroughbred Charities Of America To Honor Jen Roytz, Our Mims Retirement Haven

Thoroughbred Charities of America will honor Jen Roytz with the Allaire du Pont Leadership Award and Our Mims Retirement Haven with the Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award at the 32nd Annual Stallion Season Auction 'Tis the Season Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, at Grand Reserve in Lexington, Ky.

The Allaire du Pont Leadership Award is presented annually to an organization or individual whose philanthropic endeavors are consistent with TCA's mission. Past award winners include LNJ Foxwoods, Dan Rosenberg, Barbara Banke, Bourbon Lane Stable, Graham and Anita Motion, Frank Stronach, Fasig-Tipton, Darley, Todd Pletcher, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, and Madeline Auerbach.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Jen Roytz is a marketing and communications specialist based in Central Kentucky with a professional background in Thoroughbred racing, breeding and aftercare. Over the past 10 years, Roytz served in the capacities of board member, marketing consultant, and executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project. Roytz is a partner in Topline Communications and was previously marketing director for Three Chimneys Farm. Roytz is a passionate advocate for Thoroughbred aftercare and regularly speaks on the topic at both the national and local levels. She and her husband, Dr. Stuart Brown, own and operate Brownstead Farm, a breeding, sales, racing and sport horse facility in Versailles, KY. Her dedication to the well-being of Thoroughbreds during and after their racing careers exemplify the spirit of the Allaire du Pont Leadership Award.

The Ellen and Herb Moelis Industry Service Award is presented annually to an organization that works to uphold TCA's mission. Past award winners include the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program, Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.), The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Incentive Program, CANTER USA, Retired Racehorse Project, Belmont Child Care Association, Old Friends, and New York Race Track Chaplaincy.

Founded in 2007 by Jeanne Mirabito, Our Mims Retirement Haven is the only Thoroughbred aftercare organization in the U.S. dedicated solely to caring for retired broodmares. The organization's namesake is the 1977 Champion Three-Year Old filly who Mirabito adopted in 1997. As a tribute to the mare, Our Mims Retirement Haven was created to help many more broodmares at the conclusion of their breeding careers. Sadly, in 2020, Mirabito passed away however her husband, Pete Mirabito, and the organization's board of directors proudly carry on the organization's vision and mission.

The Stallion Season Auction opens with an online auction of stallion seasons at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, January 5 and continues through 4:30 p.m. EST on Friday, January 7. Over 150 seasons will be available in the online auction including Audible, Basin, Candy Ride, McKinzie, More Than Ready, Speightstown, and Volatile. A full list of seasons is available here.

Most of the seasons will sell during the online auction however select seasons to Bolt d'Oro, Charlatan, City of Light, Constitution, Liam's Map, Maxfield (with 2023 breed back), Nyquist (with 2023 breed back), Quality Road, and Yaupon (with 2023 breed back) will be sold at the 'Tis the Seasons Celebration on Sunday, January 9. Bidders or their authorized agents may bid on select seasons by attending the event in-person or they may email ecrady@tca.org to register to bid online. Non-season items including a John Deere Gator, accommodations at the Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa “tree house”, a wall box and stall webbing from Charlie Whittingham's barn, and more will also be offered in the live auction. Tickets can be purchased here.

An online silent auction of non-season items including halters worn by Life is Good, Curlin, Charlatan, Tapit, Knicks Go and more will be offered. A list of silent auction items is available here. More items will be added.

The auction is generously sponsored by Limestone Bank, Coolmore America, Equine Medical Associates, Bourbon Lane Stable, L.V. Harkness & Co., BloodHorse, Paulick Report, and Thoroughbred Daily News. For further information regarding the TCA Stallion Season Auction please visit tca.org or call (859) 276-4989.

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Bit-Related Injuries In Harness Racehorses

Selecting and fitting a bit to an individual horse and then using it skillfully and sympathetically serve as hallmarks of nuanced horsemanship, no matter the discipline. When mouth injuries directly related to bitting occur, even the most conscientious of horsemen are often baffled by their appearance. Researchers attempted to pinpoint the root cause of these injuries in a recent study of harness racehorses.^* Should the blame be assigned to specific bits, other pieces of common equipment, or race performance?

Researchers examined the mouths of 261 trotters, including 151 Standardbreds, 78 Finnhorses (a native lightweight draft), and 32 ponies, for bruises and wounds immediately following a race. They looked at specific bit-contact areas: the inner and outer corners of the lips, bars of the lower jaw, cheek tissue near the second premolar tooth, tongue, and roof of the mouth.

The researchers then collected information about the type of bit used for each horse, making special note of the thickness and composition of the mouthpiece. Details of other equipment were taken, when applicable, including the use of an overcheck, jaw strap, or tongue-tie. Past racing history was mined from a reliable online database.

Injuries were observed in 84 percent of the horses in the study, regardless of the type of bit worn, and half of those were classified as moderate or severe. Five horses (2 percent) had visual blood outside of the mouth from the wounds.

Compared with horses wearing a single-jointed, half-cheek snaffle, trotters that wore a Crescendo bit, Mullen-mouth regulator bit, or a straight plastic bit had a greater likelihood of moderate or severe injury to the mouth. Bar lesions were more common in horses outfitted with unjointed bits. Other tack and race performance did not factor into risk for oral lesions, according to the researchers.

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“While this study serves to highlight the physical injuries caused by bits among specific high-performance horses, it is important to note that lesions may be severe enough to hinder comfortable chewing of forages, especially if hay or chaff is stemmy,” said Catherine Whitehouse, a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research. This in turn could affect forage consumption, leading to diminished body condition, onset of gastric ulcers, and loss of performance.

Further, mouth pain can be a source of worry or stress for horses, even while resting. “Racehorses have a high incidence of gastric ulceration, the effects of which can be assuaged by conscientious management, which may include the use of research-proven digestive supplements,” Whitehouse said.

^*Tuomola, K., N. Mäki-Kihniä, A. Valros, and A. Mykkänen. 2021. Risk factors for bit-related lesions in Finnish trotting horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 53:1132-1140.

Take A Look Under The Hood: An Unusual New Type Of Endoscope

Scoping a horse's upper respiratory tract can be an expensive, but necessary procedure. Endoscopy uses a flexible tube with a camera to provide a view of the upper airway, larynx and guttural pouches. A closer look at these structures is often needed to determine why a horse is making a noise (roaring) or to examine the guttural pouches for infection.

Endoscopes have been in use for more than 40 years, but a cheaper alternative is now being investigated: a borescope. Often used to inspect the insides of engines and other small areas, a wide variety of borescopes are available and are often considerably cheaper than medical-grade endoscopes.

Dr. Zoe Neuchermans from Ghent University investigated the use of a borescope connected to a smartphone to examine the upper respiratory tract of horses. Neuchermans and her research team first inspected horses using a borescope and then with a flexible endoscope.

The team made digital recordings using both devices and showed them to an observer who didn't know which device made the recording. The scientists reported that borescope and endoscope grading scores for pharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia, recurrent laryngeal neuropathy, and tracheal mucus were identical in nearly all cases. The only issue the team reported was the need to replace the borescope after 45 exams when the steering mechanism began failing and limiting the field of view.

The team concluded that a flexible, steerable borescope connected to a smartphone is a viable alternative for upper respiratory tract scoping in horses.

Ramey: ‘Performance Horse Needs’ Are More About Us Than Them

I get that some horses cost more to buy than others. In fact, I wrote about it – CLICK HERE to read “On the Value of Horses.”

Over my career, I've been fortunate enough to see and to take care of some pretty great horses. I have a picture that I took of Secretariat in my family room, taken when I worked at Claiborne Farms for a couple of days as a senior veterinary student. I'm still taking care of Richard Spooner's great horse, Robinson (and his best friend Nanny II, the goat). Cristallo, the number one jumping horse in the world in 2012, retired last year. And I've also taken care of too-many-horses-to-mention that you have never heard of, but that meant the world to their owners.

Still, my experience is that if one is lucky enough to own or care for a very valuable horse (value, based on how much it would cost to buy the horse), it tends to make people go a bit crazy. That's OK in a sense – it's important to take care of things that are valuable. But some people who have or keep valuable horses seem to think that also means that they have do all sorts of special things for these horses. And I think that's too bad, because it sets those people up to be taken advantage of. So, based on my experiences, as well as a whole bunch of acquired knowledge and information, I'm here to let you in on the differences between the needs of high-level performance horses and all of the other horses.

What performance horses need in the same amounts as most other horses

Just about anything you can think of. Horses are horses, even if people are willing to pay more for one horse than another. What they do usually doesn't change what they need. For example, requirements for vitamins and minerals don't go up in performance horses (or with any form of exercise). I suppose that heavily working horses may need to drink more than your average backyard pleasure horse – particularly if they sweat a lot – but since exactly no one should ever withhold water from their horses, this is rarely a problem. Healthy performance horses need good foot care, occasional vaccination against some important diseases, the occasional dewormer (check the feces first), and their teeth should get looked at from time to time – and really, that's about it.In a way, you can think of performance horses like performance automotive vehicles. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and the like, all run on gas, have engine coolants, and lubricating oil. Sure, performance cars have bigger engines, but all cars run on the same stuff.
But owners of high performance vehicles – like owners of performance horses – don't just stop at what the car needs. Fancy car owners like to make sure that the cars are waxed, and that they have GPS systems, and leather interiors, and tinted windows and maybe some fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror. Maybe some engine cleaner additive, or special oil additive, too. However, all of that stuff means as much to the car as most of the “necessary” stuff that people spend money on does to performance horses. And none of it means anything if the cars don't get what they really need.

What performance horses may need more of than other horses

Calories. This may seem a bit obvious, but if a horse works really hard, he's going to need more calories than a horse that doesn't work really hard. Exercise takes calories; more calories means more food. How do you know if a performance horse needs more food? Simple – he'll be skinny. Ideal body condition for a horse means that you can feel his ribs, but you can't see them. If your performance horse's sides look like a washboard, he needs more food.By the way, not all performance horses need extra calories. Some show horses that are deemed performance horses really don't work that hard at all. Many of these horses are fat – you couldn't feel their ribs if you got a running start. Like I said, they may need more calories – some folks really overdo it. Fat individuals tend not to perform well – ever see a hefty competitive high jumper in a track and field competition?
Petting and brushing – It just kills me to see folks that don't give their performance horses time and attention. To me, the biggest part of the enjoyment of horses is just hanging out with them. It makes me sad to see folks so caught up in the performance part of horse owning that they forget to give their horses some attention (NOTE: there are plenty of exceptions). It may be convenient to have boots polished, saddles oiled, and a horse that's ready to mount on arrival, and handed off on dismount, but that's really missing out on most of the fun that owning a horse can be. A bit more horse bonding might be good for both performance horse andrider.

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What performance horses probably need less of than other horses

Riding– Horses have amazing memories. You can train them to be ridden, turn them out in a field for a year, and then come back and jump right on. They won't have forgotten a thing.People, on the other hand, seem to benefit from endless repetition. Thus, many horses get jumped/spun/run/slid/piaffed/etc. incessantly in the course of their training. It might be good for the rider; it's probably bad for the horse. All of this riding stresses their limbs in the same way: over and over. Limbs which are repetitively stressed and not given the time to recover respond in the same way that paper clips do if you keep bending it back and forth; they break.
In my opinion, performance horses would hold up a lot better if people would keep their riding and training sessions shorter, and train the horses less often, especially when it comes to movements that stress their legs. For example, in racing horses, injuries largely result from an inability of the biological repair process to keep up with the rate of damage accumulation. The amount of damage accumulation is directly related to the amount of high speed exercise (the number of times that the horse has worked and raced). I think a lot of performance horses are like that.

People used to ask me the secret to keeping Robinson sound. They would ask me how many injections I did, what secret formulas I used, that sort of thing. I had to confess that it wasn't me. I shared his secret, though: “He doesn't get ridden that much, and then it's mostly on trails.”

Robinson's 31 now, and, as far as I know, he doesn't have an arthritic joint in his body.

Injections– I don't think that there is any other athletic species that gets stuff injected into them as often as do performance horses. And it's not just injections; dentistry, surgery, deworming, supplements, etc. are way overdone, too. There's sure no evidence that all of this stuff is good for the horse (CLICK HERE to read about the waste of time and money that is often described as “maintenance” of normal joints). Plus, there is certainly the potential for harm; many of the drugs that get injected into horse joints have the potential to hurt the joint in the long run.In general, a lot of the things that are done to horses in the name of performance share a few things: 1) They aren't proven to be of benefit, 2) They cost the owner a good bit of money, and 3) They increase someone's bottom line. I saw the records from a performance horse the other day that, in one month's time, had had his coffin joints, his fetlocks, his hocks, his stifles, and his sacroiliac joints injected, all with no diagnosis of any problem. I've seen entire barns get their “hocks done.” Can you imagine lining up a team of high school basketball players to get all of their knees injected? In the horse world, this sort of thing happens.

“Specialists” – This gets back to the story that I told at the onset. Horses are horses, and veterinarians are trained to take care of them. Sure, there are veterinarians who specialize in things like surgery, but that's different. There's generally no need for self-proclaimed “specialists” (even if they do come with some sort of obscure “certification”). In fact, in my experience, one big problem with specialists is that they have to try to do things to justify their designation. So, for example, if you enlist the help of a “specialist” who is known for treating horse joints (or backs, or jaws, or whatever), chances are that your horse is going to need his joints treated. Just sayin' – if the only tool that you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail (CLICK HEREto read my article about that).
Fretting over – There's a ranch that I've worked at for a long time that boards, and also takes layups and retirees. The horses live in pretty good sized corrals, and they get to see and hang out with their neighbors. Periodically, a really nice performance horse will get to rest there for a few months, and the owners are genuinely amazed at what happens to their horse(s).”He's like a different horse,” they'll say.
And I'll say, “That's because everyone's not making him nuts.”

To myself, of course.

Performance horses are horses. They love getting fed, they tolerate getting brushed, and most seem to really like human interaction. But I think that it's very important that they get to be horses. Sure, performance horses are valuable, but so is the 26-year-old school horse who safely carries a 4-year-old. At the end of the day, there's really not much difference, and even though one may cost more than another, it's hard to say which one is more valuable. And they pretty much all need the same things, plus a good, healthy dose of TLC.

Dr. David Ramey is a 1983 graduate of the Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation, Dr. Ramey completed an internship in Equine Medicine and Surgery at Iowa State University. He entered private equine practice in Southern California in 1984, and set up his own ambulatory clinical practice, Ramey Equine, in 1987. Dr. Ramey's practice specializes in the care and treatment of sport and pleasure horses. He cares for a diverse group of horses, from top level hunters and jumpers, to pleasure horses and miniature horses.

In addition to being a full-time practitioner, Dr. Ramey is also an internationally recognized researcher, author, lecturer, and blogger. He has written 13 books, 5 book chapters, and has had over 70 papers published in professional journals. He has lectured on various topics in universities, expos, and conventions around the United States, as well as Canada, Australia, and the UK. He has presented at the annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention 10 times.

Dr. Ramey is a vocal advocate for the application of science to medicine, and—as such—for the welfare of the horse. Thus, he has been a frequent critic of practices that lack good science, such as the diverse therapies collectively known as “alternative” medicine, needless nutritional supplementation, or conventional therapies that lack scientific support.

This article original appeared on Dr. Ramey's website, doctorramey.com and is reprinted here with permission.

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