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Luis Saez Nearing Return

Injured an in Aug. 23 spill at Saratoga in the John's Call S. in which he fractured left wrist and dislocated his right collar bone, jockey Luis Saez has made rapid progress and will be ready to ride on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet on Oct. 6, reports his agent Kiaran McLaughlin.

“He's doing real well,” McLaughlin said. “There's no pain and he's doing physical therapy. He will be X-rayed in a few days. He'll be back for sure for beginning of Keeneland, if not a week before. He might ride a couple in Florida because he's down there.”

With 30 winners already at the meet, Saez was injured just three days before he was to ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Travers S. Saez was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center. According to McLaughlin, the doctors there told him he would not need surgery. The next day, Saez went to the Bone & Joint Center in Saratoga for a second opinion and was advised to have surgery.

“The night we went to the Albany Medical Center, three doctors were there and they told me surgery was not required,” McLaughlin said. “They said he had a hairline fracture that would heal in a few weeks and his collarbone will go back in place. It was dislocated but will settle back down. That's when I told people he didn't need surgery. The next morning we went to the Bone & and Joint Center at Saratoga and they said that he was a professional athlete and, therefore, they decided to put a little screw in his wrist and button back his collar bone to put it back in place. They put a button on top and on the bottom. All three things stayed there. They'll never come out.”

Original estimates were that he would be out three to five weeks.

During his downtime, Saez spent time at his home in Florida with his family.

“His mental outlook has been great,” he said. “He's at home with his wife and three daughters and he loves that, loves being with them.”

Saez won last year's Keeneland fall meet by a 21-20 margin over Tyler Gaffalione. McLaughlin is optimistic that his client will have another big meet.

“He's in good shape,” McLaughlin said. “His weight is good. He's very strong. Everything has gone well so far. Can we pick up where we left off? A lot of that falls on the agent. Hopefully, we will have some nice mounts starting back and good support from the people in Kentucky. We already have some stakes mounts.”

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Scientists Confirm Horseback Riding A Viable Mobility Treatment For Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) affects around two out of every 1000 children born worldwide. Physical therapy is the foremost way of improving movement, balance and posture in children with CP. Research has shown that hippotherapy, a form of physical therapy involving horseback riding, is effective for treating CP. But how exactly does it help? In a recent study, researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in South Korea explored this question and provided insightful answers as well as a baseline for future research.

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a common disability among children, characterized by abnormal gait patterns and the inability to maintain posture and balance. While the condition is incurable, physical therapy treatments can go a long way in improving movement and balance. One such treatment approach is hippotherapy (HPOT), which uses horseback riding to improve functional mobility in children with CP. Although supported by scientific studies as an effective treatment approach for (CP), there is, unfortunately, little data concerning how HPOT results in improvement.

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Recently, a team of researchers from Korea and the United States addressed this question, investigating physical interaction metrics between horses and children with CP during HPOT. “My original research interests lie in the rehabilitation of people with neurological impairment, specifically gait and balance. However, I did not know about hippotherapy until 2016. After realizing how effective it is in treating children with CP, I was motivated to explore it further,” explains Dr. Pilwon Hur, who headed the study. This paper was made available online on September 6, 2021, and was published in Volume 18 Issue 132 of the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

The research team studied four children with CP over the course of eight physical therapy sessions. They placed sensors on the horses and children to record their movements and track their acceleration and angular velocity. They found that the data from the horses and children began to resemble each other as time progressed, indicating a synchronization between the horse and the rider. They also gave the children mobility tests after each session and observed improvement in their motor skills at the end of the experiment.

“We found that physical interaction between the children with CP and the horses, characterized by the children adapting to the horse's movement and vice versa, is extremely important for the rehabilitation to be effective,” says Dr. Hur.

Excited by these findings, the team hopes their work will provide a baseline for further research on HPOT. “To the best of my knowledge, ours is the first study to quantify these interactions and relate them to effectiveness,” says Dr. Hur. “Such an understanding would help us optimize physical therapy programs, improving the quality of life for children with CP.”

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Physical Therapy Returns Horses To Competition Ring More Rapidly

A horse that requires surgical intervention for a bout of colic isn't out of the woods as soon as he come out of anesthesia. His recovery period can be fraught with complications as his abdominal muscles have been damaged: the surgeon must cut through them to access the origin of the pain. This incision will alter the function of the skeletal muscles.

Drs. Hillary Clayton and Narelle Stubbs of Michigan State University have developed a series of physical therapy exercises that can be completed after the horse's surgery is complete to help strengthen the horse's core and back muscles. Dubbed the core abdominal rehabilitation exercise (CARE) program, the rehabilitation begins 30 days post-surgery and recommends four weeks of in-hand strengthening exercises. These exercises include lumbar lifts and limbering exercises that ask the horse to move his chin to his withers, chest, knees and fetlocks.

A study was done to determine if the CARE program allowed horses to return to work or to competition more rapidly than not implementing rehabilitation exercises post-surgery. Owners of horses that had had colic surgery between 2008 and 2017 were given the option of taking part in the CARE program. Those owners who chose to engage their horse in the program received a manual, DVD and schedule to follow. Horses that were alive one year after the colic surgery were able to be included in the study.

There were 62 total horses used for the study; 11 horses had completed the CARE protocol and 51 did not complete the program. Researchers reviewed each horse's medical records and sent out surveys asking about the horse's post-op care and progress. Questions included for how long the horse was on stall rest after surgery as well as the timeline on surgery, the beginning of work and the return to full training and competition. They were also asked how the horse was performing one year after the surgery.

Results showed that horses that participated in the CARE rehab program returned to work more quickly: On average within 60 days while the control horses returned to work in 90 days. CARE horses returned to full work in 75 days, versus the control horse's 120 days it took to return to full work.

The researchers concluded that the CARE protocol is beneficial post-surgery, but that it may also be helpful during any recovery that includes long periods of rest for the horse.

Injured Jockey Rico Flores Diagnosed With Cervical Spine Injury, Begins ‘Long Road’ To Recovery

Jockey Rico Flores was injured in a spill on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at Louisiana Downs. He was transported to the hospital, and was diagnosed with a cervical spine injury and underwent surgery earlier this week.

His companion, Sally Warne, stopped by the Harrah's Louisiana Downs racing office on Tuesday and gave an update that Flores was able to move his legs and feet fine; lift his head, shoulders, and elbows, but still not able to move his fingers. He will begin physical therapy today. She added that it will be a “long road” to recovery.

According to statistics on Equibase. Flores has won 366 races and purses of $5.9 million since he began riding in 1994.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist Flores in his recovery. If you are able to make a donation, please visit: GoFundMe.com.RicoFlores.

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