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Thoroughbred Incentive Program Announces Non-Competition Award Winners

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) today announced the recipients of its two non-competition awards, the T.I.P. Thoroughbred of the Year Award and the T.I.P. Young Rider of the Year Award, for 2021.

The Thoroughbred of the Year Award recognizes a Thoroughbred that has excelled in a non-competitive career, such as equine-assisted therapy or police work, and includes a $5,000 grant to the non-profit organization associated with the horse or, if no organization is associated with the horse, to a horse-related charity chosen by The Jockey Club.

This year's winner is Fahey, registered with The Jockey Club as Rock the Mountain, a 26-year-old gelding who assists with riding lessons and therapeutic programs at New Beginnings Therapeutic Riding Foundation in Palos Hills, Illinois. He raced 35 times, winning two races and earning $23,077. Before joining New Beginnings, Fahey was a member of the Chicago Police Department Mounted Patrol Unit. He was named after William Fahey, a Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty.

“Fahey is a trusted horse for our riders, as he has a kind temperament and calm demeanor,” said Mary Hensley of New Beginnings. “He has an affinity for those with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Thus, he is well-suited to participate in the New Beginnings 'One Good Day' clinics that are offered to veterans and first responders as well. In this new day of COVID-19, he is also a respite and a friend to those who are in need of a confidant.”

The young rider award, which recognizes riders 18 or younger who own or lease a Thoroughbred for use in 4-H, Pony Club, or other activities, has been awarded to Victoria Klapper, Dafna Heule, and Kaylynn Berry.

Victoria Klapper, 17, owns three off-the-track Thoroughbreds and has competed in jumpers. She plans to use her award funds to help pay for college.

“Before I owned my personal horses, I rode a variety of school horses,” Klapper said. “The variety of horses I was exposed to gave me the opportunity to discover what kind of horses I worked best with. Thoroughbreds stood out to me. They are versatile, athletic, loyal, intelligent, and highly underrated.”

Dafna Heule, 18, leases Ahh Ahh Chew, also known as Chewie, and they compete in eventing. Heule would like to put her award funds toward training a new off-the-track Thoroughbred once her lease with Chewie ends.

“Two summers before my time at the Equest Center, I lived in the Netherlands where I horseback rode frequently,” Heule said. “One day, I asked my trainer his favorite breed and he responded with 'Thoroughbred.' In a world where many well-established riders only value warmbloods, his answer stuck with me. So as I worked with the horses at the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding, I remembered his words and my thoughts began to evolve. I began to think of Thoroughbreds as not only a warm sentiment of my childhood, but as athletes filled with potential that I hoped to ride for the rest of my life.”

Kaylynn Berry, 15, owns New Blane, also known as Unsolved Mystery (barn name: Myst), and they compete in jumpers. Berry is a T.I.P. Youth Ambassador. Berry would like to use her award toward competing in rated shows and college tuition.

“Myst and I do so good together because we have a really good connection, like we can read each other's minds,” Berry said. “He is my absolute heart horse.”

Created and announced in October 2011, The Jockey Club T.I.P. recognizes and rewards the versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at sanctioned horse shows, year-end performance awards, a recreational riding program, and non-competition awards. Additional information about T.I.P. is available at tjctip.com and on the T.I.P. Facebook page at facebook.com/tjctip.

The post Thoroughbred Incentive Program Announces Non-Competition Award Winners appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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New Pathogen Discovery Diagnostic Laboratory Under Construction At UKVDL

The University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is excited to announce the opening of a New Pathogens Discovery Diagnostic Laboratory this fall. The laboratory will serve as an extension to the existing UKVDL Molecular Biology, Virology and Bacteriology laboratories to help identify potential pathogens, both endemic and emerging, that may can cause morbidity and mortality in animals.

Pathogen detection will be done using cutting-edge Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, metagenomics and bioinformatics methods. The Gluck Equine Research Center has plans for a similar laboratory, primarily for infectious disease discovery research.

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Traditionally, the identification of infectious disease agents in specimens/animals submitted to the UKVDL has been done through microscopic observation (morphology and Gram stain), bacterial media culture, viral cell culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other traditional diagnostic methods.

Reliable cultivation of bacteria was first done by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in the late 19th century, and both were named the Fathers of Microbiology for their contributions.

The first virus (vaccinia) was grown in cell culture in 1913. The PCR method was discovered in 1985 by Kary Mullis, an industrial chemist. Unfortunately, conventional bacterial and viral cultures can take days, weeks and even months to lead to pathogen identification and sometimes grow nothing at all. Unlike culture, PCR can only identify specific agents that might be suspected.

In 2015, the UKVDL acquired a MALDI-TOF instrument (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight) for identification of culturable bacteria and fungi by using mass spectrometry and laser technology. The instrument can identify most agents within minutes, improving the turn-around time by about 24 hours. However, the organism must first be cultured, which still requires about 24 hours or more depending on the microorganism.

The implementation of NGS and leading-edge bioinformatics systems in the new UKVDL laboratory will assist UKVDL pathologists and microbiologists and Gluck scientists in the discovery of new pathogens and identify known pathogens more precisely than traditional methods. It will also enable innovative disease surveillance methods for endemic and emerging animal diseases.

Metagenomics is a method to study organisms that are difficult or impossible to culture, some of which may be potential pathogens. We are happy to announce that Litty Paul, PhD, an experienced investigational biologist, has been recruited to the UKVDL to design and launch the new NGS laboratory.

Tissue samples from sick or deceased animals are sent to a diagnostic laboratory by a veterinarian or an owner curious about the cause (etiology) of an illness or death loss. Once this new method is validated, the laboratory will extract and sequence the genetic material from the samples and store them in databases. The databases will then be analyzed by state-of-the-art bioinformatics software that can identify and classify the community of microorganisms present in the samples, which can aid in disease diagnosis. Even more powerful is the ability to compare analyses from sick and healthy animals to help identify and characterize new and emerging pathogens.

Several of the 60-member veterinary diagnostics laboratories (VDLs) of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) are already utilizing this technology.

This past spring, many Bluegrass horse farms were experiencing outbreaks of severe diarrhea in very young foals, and traditional diagnostic tests were not useful in providing the answers. Samples were gathered systematically from many local Thoroughbred farms by Emma Adam, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVS, assistant professor, research and industry liaison at the Gluck Equine Research Center, and brought to the UKVDL for testing in the microbiology laboratory of Erdal Erol, DVM, MSc, PhD, head of diagnostic microbiology and professor at the UKVDL.

He then forwarded select samples to the Texas A&M VDL and the University of Missouri for electron microscopy (EM) for testing. Both labs identified rotavirus on EM. Oddly, all PCR tests for rotavirus group A run at UKVDL had been negative. Feng Li, DVM, PhD, professor and William Robert Mills Chair in Equine Infectious Disease at the Gluck Center, sent fecal specimens to the South Dakota State University VDL for NGS and metagenomics analysis. This collaborative effort identified a novel group B rotavirus in the foal specimens. Until this time, only group A rotavirus was targeted by the UKVDL PCR test.

This is a prime example of the outstanding collaborative diagnostic effort among the UKVDL, Gluck Center and other institutions, and demonstrates how these new methods can rapidly identify a new, emerging pathogen.

This data enabled Erol and Li to swiftly develop and validate a new PCR that can now identify the new group B rotavirus in about four hours. This test is now offered by UKVDL. The good news is the UKVDL is now prepared to detect the new virus in upcoming foaling seasons.

Once NGS technology is in place at the UKVDL and the Gluck Center, new and emerging pathogens in horses and other animals will be detected faster and easier than ever before.

Erdal Erol, DVM, MSc, PhD, head of diagnostic microbiology and professor, and Litty Paul, PhD, both from the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, provided this information.

Can A Mechanical Device Improve Equine Lung Function?

Humans who have chronic lung or heart disease often breathe through a device that resists inhalation to increase muscle strength. Called inspiratory muscle training (IMT), this therapeutic technique trains both the diaphragm and the upper airway muscles to become stronger, improving respiratory strength, according to EQUUS magazine.

Dr. Kate Allen of the University of Bristol wanted to see if the technique could be applied to horses. In people, respiratory performance is limited by cardiovascular capacity; in horses, athletic performance is limited by respiratory function. Using IMT to improve the fitness and function of the respiratory muscles allows them to work more efficiently.

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Allen and a study team acclimated 10 Thoroughbreds in steeplechase training to wearing a mask fitted with valves that control the level of resistance to each inhalation. The horses underwent IMT training five days a week for nine weeks. During each session, the horse took 30 resistant breaths, was rested for two minutes, then took 30 more resisted breaths, all while standing still. The resistance was increased every four days, but the trial allowed for an increase or decrease in resistance depending on how the horse tolerated the change. The horses continued normal racing and training schedules during the study, and tests of each horse's respiratory strength were made before and after the IMT.

The scientists found that horses had no issues adapting to IMT training and that it can be used on horses in competition. The next study will look at IMT training and its impacts on physiologic and performance changes in the horses.

Is A Happy Horse Or A Needy Horse More Inventive?

Horses are goal-driven innovators when seeking out food, but they're also innovators when it comes to playing and developing comfort behaviors.

There is ongoing debate among behaviorists about whether horses invent solutions in response to needs, or if they innovate more when their needs are met. Dr. Konstanz Krueger and a team of scientists contacted horse owners and caretakers directly and through web postings to find horses that exhibited unusual behaviors and also scoured the internet for videos of horses doing unusual things. In total, the team found 746 cases of horses that had developed an innovative behavior, like opening doors or gates.

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The team then investigated the behavior to see if there was a need or an opportunity for the different innovations. They also looked at the frequency of the behavior and the sex, age, and breed of the horse, as well as the influence of management factors like access to pasture, social contact and housing condition.

The study team had so many responses relating to horses, mules or donkeys opening doors and gates that a more specific questionnaire had to be developed. In total, 632 reports described 1,011 innovative behaviors. They were from 427 horses, four donkeys and three mules.

One equine science professor and two people with bachelor's degrees in equine science rated the behaviors to determine if they were truly “novel.” The actions not deemed “novel” were excluded from the study.

The team found that the innovations were not affected by age, sex, breed, or specie. Though both groups of horses were innovative, horses housed in groups and those that were turned out 24/7 developed a wider variety of innovative behaviors because they had the opportunity – they were not seeking relief from environmental pressures.

The team concluded that equids that experience social conflict, those that are stalled, or those that are hungry produce a restricted amount of goal-driven innovations they repeated often to try to address their needs, such as escaping or foraging.

Read the study here.