Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Can Foals With Septic Arthritis Go On To Successful Racing Careers?

Drs. Thomas O'Brien, Sarah Rosanowski, Keith Mitchell, Joan Carrick, Troy Butt and Angus Adkins completed a retrospective study of 114 Thoroughbred foals that had septic arthritis and compared them to their maternal siblings.

Foals involved with the study had undergone treatments for septic arthritis over a 6-year period. These treatments included arthroscopic, cannulae or through-and-through needle lavage. The stifle joint was the most affected (35 percent of foals), with hocks (20 percent affected) not far behind.

In total, 130 synovial fluid samples were cultured; bacterial growth was detected in 80 percent of samples. Thirty-nine of the foals needed repeat lavage of the synovial joint structure to clear the infection.

Overall, 90 foals were discharged alive (78 percent). Foals that were less than 26 days old when they were admitted were five times less likely to be discharged alive. Foals that were also afflicted with multisystemic disease were six times less likely to be discharged alive.

The researchers found that 67 percent of foals discharged alive started in one or more races; there was no difference in the proportion of foals that started or in racing performance between foals that had been treated for septic arthritis and their maternal siblings.

The scientists conclude that the prognosis for the survival of foals with septic arthritis is good and that future racing performance does not seem to be affected by this infection.

Read the published piece here.

Laparoscopic Surgery May Prevent Recurrence of Nephrosplenic Entrapment

Nephrosplenic entrapment is a type of colic that occurs when a horse's colon shifts and settles over the nephrosplenic ligament, trapping the colon and its contents, which causes distention and pain. Nearly 9 percent of colic cases seen in equine clinics are caused by nephrosplenic entrapment.

Though it's unclear what makes some horses more prone to the condition, it's suspected that a large abdomen, abnormalities in how a horse's colon moves and the shape of the nephrosplenic space may play a role.

There are several treatments for nephrosplenic entrapment, including administering medication to shrink the spleen and then working the horse to try to get the colon back to a normal position. Anesthetizing a horse and rolling him back and forth to try to free the colon can also be done. Finally, surgery may be performed to manually free to the colon.

Though most horses with nephrosplenic entrapment recover, nearly 21 percent of survivors will experience another entrapment. The University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center found that a surgical procedure to close the nephrosplenic space can prevent the entrapment from occurring again.

Veterinarians can tack surgical mesh over the top of the spleen, which keeps the colon from slipping into the space. This can be done laparoscopically in about 30 minutes and has no risk of failure. Veterinarians looked at the records of 26 horses that had experienced nephrosplenic entrapment that had the space closed with mesh: not one horse had a recurrence during the follow-up period, which was up to seven years.

Horses That Pass In-Hand Inspection May Not Complete XC Phase Of Eventing

A recent study has used a horse-behavior scale to identify high-level event horses at risk of poor cross-country performance. Drs. Sue Dyson and Andrea Ellis completed two studies: one was a preliminary study that used 35 horses competing on the second day of dressage at the 2018 Burghley CCI 4*. The main study used 70 horses warming up for dressage at the 2019 Badminton CCI 5* horse trials and 67 horses warming up for dressage at the 2019 Burghley horse trials.

Each horse was observed for between 10 and 12 minutes by Dr. Sue Dyson while they warmed up. She then she applied the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) to determine if the horse was pain-free and recorded her findings. The RHpE uses 24 behaviors to determine if a horse is experiencing musculoskeletal discomfort.

The behaviors include tilting the head, swishing the tail, staring for more than five seconds, spooking, rearing, bucking, exposing the tongue, moving the ears back for more than five seconds, clamping the tail or opening the mouth and separating the teeth for more than 10 seconds.

A horse that exhibits at least eight of the behaviors is believed to have a musculoskeletal issue. The more behaviors he shows, the more pain he is most likely experiencing. The most frequent score a non-lame horse garners is 2 out of 24; the study shows that a score of seven or more in four- and five-star equine competitors was more reliable to identify horses whose performance may be impaired because of pain.

The duo then compared RHpE scores for the competition horses to final results in terms of dressage penalties, cross-country performance, showjumping penalties and final placings. They found a moderate correlation between dressage penalty scores and the RHpE score; the correlation was much more pronounced in the cross-country phase: 10 of the 17 horses (59 percent) with an RHpE score of 7 or more failed to finish the cross-country phase; 39 out of 117 horses (33 percent) with a score below 7 failed to finish.

The team found no relationship between the RHpE score and showjumping performance. However, there was a significant relationship between total RHpE score and final horse placings, with horses having higher RHpE scores being placed lower than horses with low RHpE scores.

The scientists concluded that top-level competition horses at three-day events can pass the preliminary in-hand horse inspection, but show signs of lameness when ridden and demonstrate the behavioral changes assessed with the RHpE. Though there are many reasons a horse-and-rider team may not complete the cross-country phase of eventing competition, there is a strong correlation between horses that exhibit behaviors on the RHpE and a failure to complete. This indicates that underlying musculoskeletal discomfort may be a contributory cause to not finishing the cross-country phase of eventing.

Read the article here.

Stall-Side Test Can Help Determine If A Cough Is Contagious

A coughing horse isn't always an immediate concern, but sometimes his cough can be caused by more than just inhaled dust. A new stall-side blood test can help determine if his cough is caused by a chronic inflammatory condition or infectious disease. If the cough is caused by an infectious disease, it's important to take immediate steps to protect other horses on the farm.

Drs. Molly Vinera, Melissa Mazan, Daniela Bedenice, Samantha Mapes and Nicola Pusterla created a study to test for the significance of the protein serum amyloid (SAA) in the blood of horse's with various respiratory conditions. The presence of SAA is indicative of inflammation; it has been used to evaluate and monitor colic and joint disease treatment.

The research team reviewed records of 167 horses that were sent to clinics for respiratory issues; they then analyzed stored serum samples related to each case. The scientists divided the horses into four groups: horses with equine influenza virus (EIV), horses with equine herpesvirus-4 (EHV-4), horses with strangles and horses with heaves. Serum samples from an additional 40 healthy horses served as controls.

They then used an available stall-side test to determine SAA levels in the stored samples. The results of the test showed that all horses with respiratory issues had higher SAA levels then the control horses. Horses that had equine influenza or other infectious respiratory diseases had significantly higher SAA levels than the horses that had heaves or other noninfectious inflammatory conditions.

The team concludes that these findings suggest that stall-side SAA tests can be a useful first step in diagnosing the cause of equine coughs: It allows for the differentiation between infectious and non-infectious respiratory problems, which can help veterinarians make better treatment and management recommendations.

Read the full study here.