Morris Animal Foundation | Horse Racing Free Tips

Can Exercise Protect Foals From Injuries Later In Life? Tune In To Find Out

Does exercise help young horses avoid injury? That's the topic of this month's episode of Morris Animal Foundation's “Fresh Scoop” podcast, available now for streaming and download. Host Dr. Kelly Diehl, the Foundation's Senior Director of Science and Communications, interviews Dr. Annette McCoy, Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine.

McCoy discusses leg fractures in horses and her new Foundation-funded study, which is evaluating the long-term effects of a moderately strenuous exercise plan on bone development in foals. Her team is collecting data for an algorithm they hope to use to design exercise programs for foals to reduce risk of injuries later in life.

Dr. McCoy is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

“Fresh Scoop” is Morris Animal Foundation's monthly veterinary science podcast designed to appeal to practicing veterinarians, veterinary technicians or students, as well as animal-loving science geeks. Episodes are available on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher, as well as the Foundation's podcast page.

Questionnaire May Help Arthritic Equines Get Help Earlier

Osteoarthritis can be a painful condition in horses but, unlike people, horses can't talk with their veterinarians about where and how much it hurts. Now, a newly funded study from Morris Animal Foundation is testing to see if a simple questionnaire can help horse owners recognize and monitor signs of chronic osteoarthritis (OA) pain in their horses – helping their equine charges get earlier, more effective treatment and improving their quality of life.

Dr. Janny de Grauw, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and Diane Howard, PhD, MSc., Equine Science Master graduate from the University of Edinburgh, in the United Kingdom, are the recipients of the Donor-Inspired Study grant, funded by Dr. Wendy Koch, a veterinarian who has supported the Foundation for nearly 30 years. Dr. Koch has closely followed equine behavior and welfare research over the years and wanted to increase the amount of funding available for studies in these fields.

To effectively treat pain, caregivers and clinicians need a way of monitoring and quantifying the amount of discomfort felt. However, a survey of horse owners in the United Kingdom found that owners have limited ability to identify pain and disease in their horses, underlining the need for a simple way of helping people to recognize chronic pain in their equine companions.

“As veterinarians, we want to treat horses with painful and debilitating conditions like OA as effectively as possible,” said de Grauw. “How well we can manage their condition critically relies on recognition of subtle signs of (worsening) pain by owners and caregivers, who can then seek help.”

Under Dr. de Grauw's supervision, Howard developed the 15-item questionnaire based on changes in horse behavior through interviews with owners of horses diagnosed with osteoarthritis. The questions cover posture, facial expressions, movement and behavior.

She will validate the questionnaire by having 60 owners of horses with chronic OA pain and 20 owners of horses without OA complete it. The owners with OA horses will complete the questionnaire twice in two days while their horse's pain does not fluctuate, to evaluate how robust and reproducible the scoring instrument is.

The research team hopes the easy-to-use questionnaire will help horse owners recognize when their animals are in pain and contact a veterinarian for appropriate treatment. The instrument also may help owners monitor treatment effectiveness and pain progression over time, and guide owners and veterinarians in making quality-of-life decisions.

“Many horses may deal with pain that is not recognized, particularly in its early stages,” said Dr. Janet Patterson-Kane, Morris Animal Foundation Chief Scientific Officer. “Giving their caregivers effective tools for detection, monitoring and decision-making has the potential for significant animal welfare impact.”

Osteoarthritis is a major cause of chronic pain in horses but is an underrecognized and undertreated condition. Though often associated with advanced age, it can also occur in young horses. In addition to being painful, OA can severely curtail a horse's athletic career, and impact the bond between horse and owner if the condition limits a horse's ability to be ridden.

The Foundation's Donor-Inspired Study program allows individual donors and foundations to directly support research topics for which they have a passion and there is a pressing need. Applications for this grant were reviewed and rated, based on impact and scientific rigor, by a scientific advisory board, made up of equine behavior and welfare experts.

Morris Animal Foundation is one of the largest nonprofit organizations worldwide that funds health studies benefiting cats, dogs, horses, llamas, alpacas and wildlife. The Foundation currently is funding 150 studies encompassing a broad spectrum of species and diseases.

Flying High: New Study To Develop Guidelines For Horses Traveling By Air

Horses are one of the most frequently transported domestic species in the world; they are frequently moved by vans, ships and planes. Horses that travel between locations are at risk for disease, injury and welfare issues. Many studies have been done on how to alleviate the stresses caused by traveling by road, but little is known on how horses handle traveling by air.

A new study funded by Morris Animal Foundation and spearheaded by Dr. Barbara Padalino, an associate professor of animal science at Italy's Università di Bologna, will investigate what factors increase or decrease the risk of health and behavior issues.

The findings of the study, which involves both stakeholders and researchers, will be used to develop protocols for flight associations like the International Air Transportation Association (IATA). Currently, protocols focus on air safety and cargo requirements, not on equine welfare issues; they are based on experience, with little scientific backing.

It is estimated that nearly 30,000 horses are flown each year. A recent study used 81 flights to Hong Kong and found that for every 100 horses flown, about 11 percent got pneumonia from the flight and 60 percent of flights had at least one horse affected; horses flown in the spring were particularly at risk. That study concluded that flight duration and time of year were risk factors for horses getting sick.

Padalino and her research team hope to use 2,000 horses in their study; these horses will be flying between the United States, Europe, Japan, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia and New. The study will involve asking questions regarding horse's welfare before, during and up to five days after the flight. This will include questions about heart rate, alertness and body condition scores, among others.

Padalino hypothesizes that horses with less transport experience and training will be more at risk of transport-related problems, as will those horses who have different temperaments. She is hopeful that the study will assist in the creation of protocol to increase the welfare of horses shipping by air, as well as provide an economic benefit to horse owners by reducing health complications.