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Beloved Son Of Secretariat Passes At 30

The great Secretariat had just four of his progeny alive and well in the beginning of 2020. That number would be down to three by 2021. The youngest of his offspring, Secret of the Sea (later dubbed “Strider”), was one of the last foals born in Secretariat's final crop in 1990. Bred by Darley Stud, Strider wasn't destined for the greatness of his father, finishing his career with just one win in nine starts.

Strider was retired by trainer Clint Goodrich and kept as his personal horse, living in Montana and then Colorado, where he came to be owned by racing fans Linda and Scott Riba in 2011.

The couple enjoyed nearly nine years with Strider, but in 2019 his health began to fail. The gelding was diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome, a condition common in older horses that causes hormonal imbalances, which affect every facet of their lives, from their hair coat quality to their hooves.

Though Cushing's disease is sometimes manageable, it is incurable. Strider developed other problems after his Cushing's diagnosis and was euthanized on Dec. 12 due to struggles with his hoof health. He was 30 years old.

Read more at Thoroughbred Racing Commentary.

The post Beloved Son Of Secretariat Passes At 30 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Like Humans, Dominant Horses Usually Found In Group’s Center

It's been recognized for decades that wild horse herds have a distinct hierarchy, typically with one dominant stallion that fathers all the offspring and one dominant mare that leads the herd to grazing ground. However, new research shows that there is actually a multilevel social structure to feral herds.

Drs. Tamao Maeda, Sakiho Ochi, Monamie Ringhofer, Sebastian Sosa, Cédric Sueur, Satoshi Hirata and Shinya Yamamoto used a drone to study 200 feral horses that lived in Serra D'Arga, Portugal. The study team took aerial images of the horses at 30-minute interval from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 30 days. They were able to identify more than 100 of the horses from the air using ground observation to determined color, markings and body shape.

The team then studied the patterns of interactions between the horses in the images to better understand their social structure. They concluded that there are multiple smaller social “units” within the larger herd. Each unit is comprised of two types of social groups: a harem of one or two adult males and several females and immature individuals; or an all-male unit of bachelors that could not attract any females.

The team discovered that these units all operate together to form a herd. In the herd the team studied, large mixed-sex units were typically at the center of the group of horses, with smaller mixed-sex and all-male units on the periphery. Their findings are consistent with the hierarchical strata of other social animals in which the more-dominant animals often occupy the center of the group, pushing subordinates to the periphery.

Read the full report here.

Is Cold Weather Hoof Pain Laminitis? Not Necessarily

Though cooler weather energizes most horses, dropping temperatures can be a pain—literally—for horses that develop hoof pain as temperatures drop. Though what is considered “too cold” can vary by horse, some horses become painful in temperatures just above freezing: 40 degrees F. Pain generally disappears as soon as the temperature rises above this threshold.

Though it's sometimes called “winter laminitis,” there's no evidence of inflammation and often no changes that can be discerned on an X-ray. The cause is a failure of the hoof to effectively respond to changes in circulation caused by the cold. This cold-induced pain is temporary, but can be significant.

In a healthy horse, cold temperatures will cause the blood flow to limbs and hooves to be reduced. Cold temperatures cause the arteriovenous shunts in the hooves to open and divert blood back to the horse's core to preserve body heat. This mechanism will also periodically close the shunts and send blood to the tissues so that oxygen and nutrient levels don't get too low.

This system doesn't work in horses that have cold-induced hoof pain; the tissues don't receive shunts open, but don't occasionally send adequate blood flow to the hooves.

Horses with cold-induced hoof pain can be assisted by blanketing them to help conserve body heat. Wrapping their legs can also help; lined shipping boots work well as they cover the heels and coronary band, preventing rain and snow from getting into the boots. Adding Jiaogulan, a Chinese herb, to an affected horse's diet may also help. Jiaogulan stimulates the production of nitric acid, which is turned into a potent vasodilator in the body.

Though painful, cold-weather hoof pain is temporary and can be managed to keep a horse more comfortable.

Cry Wolf: Are Domesticated Horses Less Fearful Of Predators?

A study out of Poland sought to determine if domesticated horses responded to predators they have never encountered the same way their wild ancestors did: by fleeing. The research team hypothesized that horses would express anxiety when exposed to vocalizations of predators and that horses with Thoroughbred breeding would be more responsive to the cues as they are known for their sensitive nature.

Drs. Iwona Janczarek, Anna Stachurska, Witold Kędzierski, Anna Wiśniewska, Magdalena Ryżak and Agata Kozioł used 19 Polish horses in the study and concluded that the horses reacted more strongly to the growl of a leopard than the howl of a wolf, though they were unfamiliar with either predator. The scientists report that this may indicate that the horse is more afraid of a sound from an unknown predator that one known to their ancestors. The behavioral responses of the horses were less distinct then the physiological changes, the team noted.

The horses used in the study were between 6 and 10 years old; they were divided into three groups based on the amount of Thoroughbred in their pedigree: Six horses were 75 percent Thoroughbred; seven were half-Thoroughbred; and six were 25 percent Thoroughbred.

Individually, the horses listened to recordings of the gray wolf howling and a leopard growling for five minutes. The study team monitored salivary cortisol levels of the horses 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the conclusion of the vocalizations. Each horse's heart rate was continually monitored through the test.

The study team hypothesized that the horses with more Thoroughbred in their breeding would react more strongly to the vocalizations since Thoroughbreds are known for their sensitivity. They were correct: the horses with more Thoroughbreds in their pedigree had stronger internal reaction to the predator's vocalizations. This suggests that the response is partially genetically coded and that the horses were more interested in the sounds rather than frightened by them.

This may also indicate that horses that are handled and trained by humans may be able to manage their emotions. Domesticated animals may not be able to coexist with predators like wolves being reintroduced into their environment and care should be taken to protect them.

Read the article here.