Veterinary Articles

Tibial stress fractures - a more common injury in racehorses than you might think

 Tibial stress fractures are generally perceived to be serious injuries that occur infrequently and require lengthy recovery times. However, this article will suggest that these injuries are in fact much more common than most people think and are often misdiagnosed as pulled muscles. In addition, they may not be as serious as previously thought and with the help of sequential x-rays monitoring the injury, young horses can be returned to training surprisingly quickly.

Why do horses lug? Common problems and how to treat them

 Lugging is a common problem. In some horses it occurs as a one-off event due to a new injury while in other horses it can become a ‘normal’ trait. There are many possible causes of lugging but these can be broadly grouped into mouth problems, front and hind limb pain, other musculoskeletal problems, temperament/vision problems and cardiovascular or respiratory problems.

Condylar Fractures - a common injury in racehorses, and how to treat them

Condylar fractures are arguably the most common type of fracture suffered by the Thoroughbred racehorse. However, veterinarians have given them a slightly cryptic ‘pet-name’ so that many do not understand them quite as well as they would like.

Stem Cells: are they the future in treating injuries in racehorses?

I was asked to write this article the day before a child on a bicycle plowed into me, writes Niki Luciani (née Sweetnam), severing the tendon in my right leg. While human beings can be encased in plaster and given a set of crutches to hobble about on for a few months, horses cannot.

If Lasix is the answer...what is the question?

Some of the statements attributed to leading vets and scientists around the world in the last few months would probably lead anyone involved in horseracing to believe that it is only a matter of months or even weeks before the diuretic furosemide (or frusemide), often referred to by the brand name Lasix® or Salix®, becomes permitted raceday medication in the jurisdictions that currently do not allow it (including most of Europe, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan).  

Ten common skin conditions in racehorses, and how to treat them

“He’s come into his summer coat and you can see your face in it.” “She looks very well in her skin.” These typical comments from TV racing pundits underline the link most horsemen make between the sleek, shiny coat of the finely-tuned equine athlete and the general wellbeing of the animal that this reflects.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - the increasingly popular therapy for horses

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a relatively modern practice in medicine which involves the administration of oxygen in an environment where the ambient pressure has been increased (Ronald and Larry, 1994) to two-to-three times the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level. Here, we explore this therapy which is experiencing significant expansion, particularly in the US, though it is still somewhat unknown in Europe.

Equine Neurology - neurological disease doesn't always mean the end of a racing career

Do you have to be a brain surgeon to understand it?
This article covers the complex topic in a straightforward manner to aid the reader’s understanding of some of the most common neurological conditions of the racehorse, such as the ‘wobbler syndrome’, Equine Protozoal Myelitis (EPM), ‘stringhalt’ and the neurological consequences of head and neck trauma.

Equine Vision - how it works, and how it can affect a horse's career

In the wild, the horse is a ‘prey’ or ‘flight’ animal and so is designed to have a wide field of vision to see its predators early and outrun them. As a result, the horse has two large eyes each placed on the widest part of its head giving it almost a 360-degree field of vision. 

Ligament Injuries - how to diagnose and treat them

Ligament injuries have led to the retirement of many of horseracing’s great heroes. The list of equine superstars who were forced into quitting the track include Champion two-year-old male of 2002, Vindication; the ever-popular grey Evening Attire; Champion older female of 2006 Fleet Indian; as well as Grade One winners Heatseeker, Zaftig (below) and Dance Smartly. Ligament injuries do not always lead to retirement but they are serious and must always be treated with extreme caution.

Shockwave Therapy - stimulating the healing process

Shockwaves stimulate the healing process, although it is still unknown how. It is widely used on thoroughbreds across the globe, but the problem for trainers is that the rules of racing vary around the world on it’s use prior to racing.

High-Speed Treadmill Testing – Under Threat

High-speed treadmills have been used for performance testing horses for the past two decades and as a result can be found around the world in many of the major equine hospitals.

Heart Monitors and Lactate Analysis - how they can help train horses

Eight days after winning the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes,Swale died of a heart attack.  Was this great champion pushing himself so far to the limit that his heart could not cope?

The Equine Larynx – on a Knife Edge!

Men have been interfering with the equine larynx for centuries, but so far with only limited success. When a horse is heard to be making a noise for the first time, it is of serious concern. Sometimes the concern is only short lived as the horse may be unfit, have a mild respiratory infection or perhaps a sore throat. However, on other occasions the equine athlete in question is on the verge of being diagnosed with a problem that will limit its performance for the rest of its life.

Treating Joint Degeneration the Drug-Free Way

The Background -

Lameness resulting from joint degeneration or osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting horses and the most common reason that vets are called out to competition horses. OA causes inflammation of the joint lining and progressive destruction of articular cartilage that covers the ends of the bones composing a joint. This destruction decreases both the natural shock-absorbing function and the range of motion of the joint, ultimately resulting in lameness in the affected animal.

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome

Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS) is an increasingly common problem in the Thoroughbred racehorse, causing a range of symptoms from depression to aggression, and often impacting negatively on performance. Diagnosis is sometimes difficult, although there are methods by which they can be swiftly identified and treated. Equine gastric ulcers are graded on a scale of 0 to 4 where 4 is the most severe. A grade of 2 or more is clinically significant and usually warrants treatment. The primary objectives of treatment of equine gastric ulcers are to facilitate healing and relieve symptoms. This can be accomplished by the use of antacids, histamine receptor antagonists or acid pump inhibitors. Ulcers are an issue - especially for racehorses- as they can be a source of chronic pain, leading to reduced appetite, loss of condition and sometimes colic. The clinical signs of the problem are often intermittent, and can vary tremendously depending on the horse and the types of discipline they compete in.

Can fractures be predicted?

While catastrophic fractures are relatively rare - less than 2 percent of all horses racing worldwide sustain them - they account for nearly 80 percent of racing-related fatalities. Even with advances in modern veterinary medicine, fracture diagnosis can often be elusive. What if a simple blood test could reveal a fracture or a predisposition to one before it became a crisis?

Nuclear scanning - the next stage in diagnosing lameness

Nuclear scintigraphy or 'bone scanning' attempts to take lameness diagnosis one stage further by predicting rather than just diagnosing fractures. It is an imaging technique that searches for an increase in bone production and thus can often pinpoint the cuase of minor lameness problems before they become catastrophic injuries.

Strengthening Young Thoroughbreds' Limbs

One of the major challenges in training racehorses is keeping them sound. Not unlike a human athlete, a racehorse's ligaments, tendons, bones and joints are susceptible to injury throughout its career and, at times, it seems impossible to avoid some sort of musculoskeletal mishap.

Increasing Oxygen Concentration in the Blood of the Racehorse

Oxygen is the fuel of life and its efficient use is the key to athletic fitness. The respiratory system of the racehorse must work hard to harvest the 20 percent of oxygen present in the air we all breathe. Observing a horse after his work on a cold morning provides a visual reminder of this, as the breath surges from his nostrils.
 

Colic - how to avoid significant risk factors

The term colic does not do justice to the debilitating nature and potential severity of this condition. Epidemiological studies for many types of colic have identified certain feeding practices, exercise and transport as being significant risk factors.  Racehorses are exposed to many of these critical feeding practices and are obviously subject to both exercise and transport on a regular basis. Whilst the impact of the latter are difficult to diminish, focus on feeding management practices within a yard can often reveal issues that can be addressed.

Shockwave Therapy - uncovering new treatments

Doctors originally used shockwave therapy more than 20 years ago to disintegrate kidney stones in their patients, then learned that the therapy can also treat tendonitis, tennis elbow, heel spurs and other ailments. Equine researchers are still uncovering everything shockwave therapy can do for horses after it was initially and successfully used in Germany in 1996 to treat lameness.

The importance of worming - keeping parasites under control

The use of homespun and herbal remedies may have been superseded by wormers formulated after lengthy research programmes, but the control of worms in the horse remains as important for horsemen today as it was when the significance of these unwanted passengers was first understood.

Dermatologic conditions that affect thoroughbred racehorses

Horses are similar to many other species with the skin being the largest organ in the body.  This is based on overall organ size; just think about the total surface area of a 600 kg horse!  The good news is that it can be easily evaluated by visual inspection and palpation.  Specific tasks for equine skin include protection from trauma, thermoregulation (temperature control; sweating and heat conservation), sensory perception, secretory function and pigmentation.  In addition, it is important to recognize that skin is an important indicator of systemic health since disorders of the skin may actually indicate systemic ill health.