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Misread Tattoo Causes Confusion In Maryland: Rescued Mare Is Not Saskawea

A recently rescued Thoroughbred mare in Maryland has left quite a few people puzzled over the past few days. According to an article on Canadian Thoroughbred, she was originally believed to be the Canadian earner of over $750,000, Saskawea. When the story started to circulate, racing fans immediately took notice.

The mare now named Quizzical Quartz was saved from a neglectful situation by Days End Horse Rescue in 2019. Due to a mistake when reading her lip tattoo to try to identify her and the fact that the two horses had almost identical markings, they incorrectly came to the conclusion that she was the Ontario-bred 16-year-old stakes winner by Stormy Atlantic, Saskawea. This was quickly checked by Canadian Thoroughbred and proven to be false.

After Canadian Thoroughbred tracked down the last known owner of Saskawea through public auction records, Tommy Wente of St. Simon's Place in Lexington, Ky was not pleased upon hearing of the mistake made in regards to the mare he purchased for $2,500 at the Keeneland January sale in 2017. He went on to mention that she does not have foals anymore, but has had embryos flushed and surrogate mares producing Quarter Horse foals.

Days End Horse Rescue took action within an hour of being notified and apologized for the misunderstanding.

“We so regret there was an impact to Tommy, he was getting calls,” said DeEtte Hillman, Equine Programs Director for Days End, to Canadian Thoroughbred's Jennifer Morrison. “We had supplied all the content for the story, nothing appeared in print and it has since been re-written.”

Quizzical Quartz is now thriving in her next career as a riding horse with her adopter, Devon Griffin.

Study Shows Machines Can Detect Equine Pain From Daily Behavior

Machines may soon play a role in monitoring pain in horses admitted to veterinary clinics. Currently, it can be difficult to find an unbiased, quick way to determine if a horse is in pain. Drs. Nuray Kil, Katrin Ertelt and Ulrike Auer created a study that used an automated video tracker to detect and record daily equine activities. The end goal was to have the tracker create an algorithm that would be able to objectively assess pain and wellbeing of horses in a clinical setting. This ability would remove the guesswork of veterinarians and technicians determining if a horse was in pain.

Pain causes behavior changes in horses; understanding normal and pain-induced behaviors in horses is critical to properly evaluating pain levels. Though horses may work to mask pain in an unfamiliar surrounding like a clinic, even subtle variations become apparent when behavior is thoroughly analyzed.

Though there are multiple pain assessment scales available, they are all scored manually and can be skewed by multiple things, including inexperience and the amount of time spent viewing the horse.

To test their video tracker theory, researchers used 34 horses at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna's teaching hospital. All the horses were housed in box stalls with water and were fed four times a day. The horses were recorded on an action camera and in time-lapse mode. The videos were then processed to look for an automated prediction of three body parts: the tail, nose and withers.

The technology was able to identify the horse's stance with an accuracy and sensitivity of more than 80 percent, meaning that it could more often than not detect when a horse was exhibiting pain behaviors. The research team concluded that this technology will improve the detection of equine pain and provide insight for equine behavioral research.

Read the study here.

Trainer Applications Now Open For 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover

Applications are now open for the 2021 competition year of the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 15, 2021. Accepted trainers will be announced on Feb. 15, 2021.

As the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover was postponed to 2021 due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition of the Retired Racehorse Project's banner event will include competition groups both for horses that would have competed in 2020, as well as those entering for 2021. The two groups will compete separately, including two separate Finales to crown each year's Thoroughbred Makeover Champion. Applications for the 2020 competition year closed earlier this year, though new owners of horses already entered for 2020 may apply to compete.

Entering its seventh year at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., the Thoroughbred Makeover features competition in ten disciplines for recently-retired Thoroughbreds in their first year of retraining for a career after racing. Horses and their trainers may compete in one or two disciplines of their choice, including Barrel Racing, Competitive Trail, Dressage, Eventing, Field Hunter, Polo, Ranch Work, Show Hunter, Show Jumper, and Freestyle (a freeform discipline showcasing skills of the trainer's choosing).

Horses and trainers will compete for more than $100,000 in total prize money per competition year, plus the coveted title of Thoroughbred Makeover Champion at the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 12-17, 2021. The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium includes not just the competition, but educational seminars, a vendor fair, the Makeover Marketplace horse sale, and the Makeover Master Class, featuring demonstrations and insight from leading trainers. The Finale features the top five horses in each discipline and will be live-streamed for viewers at home.

The Thoroughbred Makeover is open to professionals, amateurs, juniors (ages 12 and over), and teams. Applicants are required to provide information about their riding and competition background as well as references, including one from a veterinarian. Applicants are encouraged to provide links to riding video, which is a requirement for first-time competitors. Competitors do not need to have acquired their horse at the time of application, though they must register their horse no later than July 31, 2021.

Approved trainers may acquire eligible Thoroughbreds through whatever source they choose, or can ride under contract from an owner. Eligible horses must have raced or had a published work on or after July 1, 2019 and must not have started retraining for a second career prior to Dec. 1, 2020 other than a maximum of 15 allowable rides, intended to allow for trial rides. The 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Rulebook outlines all rules and information relevant to the competition, with changes for 2021 marked in red and clarifying information marked in blue.

2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Fast Facts:

▪ 660 entries originally registered for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover have remained active for the “mega-Makeover,” whether they intend to compete in the 2020 competition group or roll their entry to the 2021 competition group
▪ Applications for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover are closed; however, new owners of a horse already registered for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover can apply to compete in the 2020 competition group
▪ 581 horses were registered for the 2020 competition group, leveraging approximately $4.6 million invested into their future in health care, training, etc. * An estimated $25.5 million has been invested in Makeover-bound horses by their Makeover trainers since 2013
▪ A total of 3,479 trainers have been accepted since 2013, hailing from 41 states and five Canadian provinces. 3,191 horses have been directly impacted by being registered to compete at the Makeover
▪ High-profile contenders in the 2020 competition group include five Breeders' Cup participants: Term of Art, Expedited Vision, Sheer Talent, Normandy Crossing, and Imperative; and two MGSWs: Imperative and Page McKenney

The post Trainer Applications Now Open For 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Diarrhea: Deadly Or Just A Drag?

Equine enthusiasts are taught early in their foray into horse ownership that any type of abnormal hgorse stool is a concern—whether that means the horse has diarrhea or is not passing manure at all. Though no passing of manure is of great concern, diarrhea can be as well.

Changes in diet are the No. 1 cause of diarrhea; they can also be hardest to identify—and rectify. If a horse's diarrhea is bad enough to call the vet, there are two main possibilities: that the horse has a chronic issue that will be very hard to find and treat or that the horse is very sick and could infect other horses in his barn or pasture.

Diarrhea occurs when the digestive tract is not working properly; in particular, when there is a disruption in the large intestine. The large intestine can absorb as much as 30 gallons of water a day; when it can't absorb the water, it is excreted in manure.

Diarrhea is a symptom, not a disease—it can occur when a horse eats too many carbohydrates or when he has ingested too much sand. Diarrhea can be a symptom of something minor to life-threatening. But how to tell which is which? Questions to help decide if the horse's health is at risk include:

Is he uncomfortable? If the horse is pawing or looking at his flanks and acting colicky, the situation may be serious.
Does the horse have a fever? This could indicate he has an infection, which is more serious.
How long has the horse had diarrhea? Acute-onset diarrhea is more concerning that a low-grade diarrhea that's been present for months.
Has he been around another horse that has diarrhea? This increases his risk of infection.
Does lab work show a low white cell count or a decrease in proteins? These are concerning.

If the vet doesn't feel that his condition is life threatening, she may suggest adjusting the horse's diet. Many vets believe horses are susceptible to orchard grass hay and suggest eliminating it from the horse's diet to see if the diarrhea clears up. Removing NSAIDs and antibiotics from a horse's management can also help (if possible).

Proper parasite control is key, and investigating the use of prebiotics or probiotics won't hurt. Additionally, protecting the tissue of the affiliated horse's intestinal tract is also important: Using products designed sooth tissues, like those that contain smectite clay or bismuth subsalicylate, are worth investigating to try to get his diarrhea under control.