KER Nutrition Conference - management of gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has maintained a prominent international presence in the nutrition research community for the past 20 years. Research trials have been conducted at the company’s research farm since the late 1980s, and results of this research have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of scientific conferences.

More importantly, findings from these studies have been put to use in the formulation of feeds for KER’s global network of feed manufacturers. The KER Nutrition Conference, held on the 16th and 17th of April in Lexington, Kentucky was attended by 130 guests, including feed manufacturers, sales representatives, veterinarians, nutritionists, and academics from 16 countries.

This year’s conference focused on the management of gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. Founder and President Dr. Joe Pagan began by introducing Dr. Larry Lawrence, senior nutritionist at KER, who presented an in-depth review of the development of the gastrointestinal system. Dr. Lawrence addressed the changes that occur as a foetus grows within the womb and as the foal matures and begins to digest a diet of forages and concentrates.

A thorough explanation of the physical, enzymatic, and fermentative changes that occur to the gastrointestinal tract during gestation and growth gave conference attendees a better understanding of the importance of proper feeding. Colic, the most pervasive disease of the gastrointestinal tract in horses, was the next topic of discussion.

Dr. Nathaniel White, the Jean Ellen Shehan Professor and Director at Virginia Tech’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center and a world-renowned expert on equine gastrointestinal disorders, reviewed the prevalence of colic in today’s equine population.

He mentioned several risk factors: breed and gender predilection, dietary management, and other environmental and management practices. Additional risk factors such as previous colic episodes, parasitism, cribbing, gestation, transport, and anesthesia were touched on as well. In addition, he chronicled measures to prevent the syndrome. In a related lecture given later in the day, Dr. White addressed standard treatment protocols for colic including decompression of the stomach or intestine, use of systemic analgesics, strategies to promote gut motility and hydration, and treatment of impactions.

He then discussed proper nutrition of the horse after an episode of colic. A review of enteral (traditional) and parenteral (intravenous) nutrition followed. The speaker noted that although enteral nutrition is preferred, parenteral nutrition can provide long-term nutritional support, and stated that horses have been kept on complete parenteral nutrition for up to a month and have been able to maintain or gain weight. Dr. Frank Andrews, section chief of the department of large animal clinical sciences at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, spoke about the diagnosis and treatment of gastric and colonic ulcers in horses.

Gastric ulcers have been studied for several years and their prevalence among horses is well documented. Though colonic ulcers occur less frequently than gastric ulcers, Dr. Andrews listed several nonspecific signs including mild intermittent or recurring colic, lethargy, and partial anorexia that may hint at a problem.

As the problem worsens, so do the signs with complete anorexia, fever, diarrhoea and associated dehydration, and weight loss is common. Dr. Peter Huntington, the director of nutrition for KER’s Australasian branch, spoke to conference attendees about recent advances in laminitis research.

Despite the fact that a complete understanding of laminitis and its complex pathophysiologic processes remains elusive, laminitis seems to occur as a consequence of inflammatory, vascular, and enzymatic interactions. Dr. Huntington explained that a trend in laminitis research involves interest in metabolic or endocrine events that lead to laminitis. In regard to prevention, Huntington pointed out that genetic research could identify at-risk horses, and therapies such as intracecal buffering are helpful in preventing the shifts in cecal pH that can lead to laminitis.

In closing the first day of presentations, Dr. Joe Pagan spoke about gastrointestinal health, the foundation of which, he made clear, is good-quality forage. He identified four primary factors that affect forage quality: plant species, stage of maturity at time of grazing or baling, latitudinal effects (tropical versus temperate forages), and inhibitory substances that reduce digestibility of fibre and minerals.

The buffering capacity of certain forages is a burgeoning area of interest among equine nutritionists. Pagan explained that certain feeds and forages can counteract changes in gastric pH, thereby playing an important role in the prevention of gastric ulcers in horses. This ability to resist changes in pH is called buffering capacity.

Alfalfa hay has been shown to be effective in reducing the severity of gastric ulcers by providing superior buffering capacity when compared to grass hay. The second day of the conference featured several topics related to metabolic conditions. Dr. Anna Firshman, a large animal internist at Oregon State University, began the day with a thorough overview of insulin resistance, a problem that has been receiving much attention recently as it is thought to be closely associated with other diseases such as equine metabolic syndrome, equine Cushing’s disease, laminitis, hyperlipedemia, and osteochondritis.

Firshman reviewed the mechanisms of glucose transport in muscle and fat, and then described the tests that are currently available to assess insulin resistance in horses. Firshman concluded that though tests may become useful clinical means to assess the degree of insulin resistance and responses to treatments, there is no one ideal test that is both practical and accurate. Dr. Frank Andrews then settled onto the stage for a second presentation.

He presented a detailed outline of the metabolic-related conditions that most commonly affect horses: equine Cushing’s disease and equine metabolic syndrome. For each condition, he methodically outlined the clinical signs, diagnosis, course of treatment, and management goals.

For equine Cushing’s disease, Andrews stated that diagnostic tests, when coupled with clinical signs, will confirm the presence of advanced disease but may not be sensitive enough to detect early stages of the disease. KER has been instrumental in developing ideal growth curves for equine athletes. Dr. Clarissa Brown-Douglas reviewed the research compiled by KER over the last two decades, stressing the importance of properly feeding young, growing horses.

To fuel maximum growth, breeders often feed young horses large amounts of grain. However, rapid growth achieved by overfeeding energy has been implicated in developmental orthopedic disease (DOD). The source of energy may be important for many young horses. Those that experience an exaggerated and sustained increase in circulating glucose or insulin in response to a grain meal might be predisposed to osteochondritis dissecans (OCD).

Research conducted by KER suggests that hyperinsulinemia may influence the incidence of OCD. Based on the results of this research, young horses should be fed concentrates that produce low glycemic responses such as feeds in which energy is provided by fat and fermentable fibre sources (beet pulp and soy hulls). Once the audience had an understanding of the metabolic disorders that affect horses, Dr. Joe Pagan identified a commonality among them.

All of the problems are either triggered or aggravated by excessive starch and sugar intake. After a brief review of carbohydrates in horse feeds, Pagan gave general feeding recommendations for each disorder, noting that high-fat, low-starch feeds are appropriate for certain disorders such as tying-up but may not be recommended for others such as equine metabolic syndrome.

Once a horse has been diagnosed with a metabolic disease, an equine nutritionist and veterinarian should team up to formulate a suitable diet. Maintaining appropriate body condition is usually a trick for those who own horses diagnosed with a metabolic condition. These horses are often too thin or too fat. Dr. Laurie Lawrence, a professor at the University of Kentucky, addressed energy balance and methods to increase or decrease body condition.

She presented reasonable timelines for weight gain and emphasised management programs that allow ample time for weight gain so horses are not fed extremely high levels of concentrate. Lawrence also noted that as a horse is adapted to a diet with increased feed intake, there may be a fairly immediate increase in body weight due to changes in gut fill and/or gastrointestinal tissue mass, followed by a period of slower body weight change. Change in condition score will frequently lag behind change in body weight. Lawrence classified obese horses into two groups: those that have become fat temporarily because of a change in management or food availability, and those that have been fat for a long time.

Adjusting the body weight of the first group, Lawrence explained, is usually much less complicated than reducing the body weight of the latter group, and she gave a step-by-step approach to helping these horses lose weight. Kathryn Watts of Rocky Mountain Research and Consulting in Colorado gave the final presentation of the conference. She explained differences in the nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) content in various forages, and how stage of growth and environmental factors might significantly alter the amount of NSC present. Watts advised that all of the most commonly recommended varieties of grass have the potential to contain high levels of NSC under certain conditions, but stands of these grasses can be managed for lower NSC concentration.

This year’s Kentucky Equine Research Nutrition Conference offered valuable information about gastrointestinal and metabolic problems affecting horses today. For those individuals unable to attend the KER conference, proceedings are available by logging on to www.shop.ker.com. This 150-page booklet contains a detailed paper for each of the lectures presented. As part of its dedication to world-class nutrition, KER has been recruited to help formulate and distribute feeds for the equine athletes of several international competitions.

In 2004, KER was named the official nutritionist of the United States Equestrian Federation. In this capacity, KER nutritionists use their knowledge to sort out nutritional challenges encountered by the world’s most elite equine athletes, those that represent the United States in international competition. For more information on KER, visit www.ker.com.

Feed Contaminants - how big a risk are they?

For all professionals associated with the training and competition of horses under the rules and regulations of racing the choice of which feed products to use has never been greater, and the range appears to grow on a daily basis. This is especially true of the plethora of dietary supplements (otherwise known officially as complementary feeds) available. Feeds and other contemporary nutritional supplements are not pure products in the same manner that veterinary pharmaceuticals are and thus they will, in a traditional sense, contain foreign substances, even though this is commonly only at trace levels that will have no discernable effect on the horse.

Numerous harmful or undesirable substances can potentially contaminate the equine diet, whether manufactured feeds and supplements, or grazing and preserved forages. These dietary contaminants can be divided into groups including heavy metals, non-metallic toxic elements, pesticides, mycotoxins, plant toxins, and pharmacologically/physiologically active substances that are considered prohibited substances under racing rules and regulations.

There is some cross-over between plant toxins and prohibited substances, but it is the latter category that concerns us within this article. Prohibited substances Under the rules of racing commonly applied across Europe, a prohibited substance is defined as - a substance originating externally, whether or not it is endogenous to the horse, which falls into one of the following categories :

1. Substances capable at any time of acting on one or more mammalian body systems

2. Endocrine secretions and their synthetic counterparts

3. Masking agents Substance includes the metabolites of the substance and the isomers of the substance and metabolites. In broad and simple terms, a prohibited substance can be described as any substance (usually but not exclusively drugs/medicines) that has been given to a horse in its feed, or by any other means, that can exert an effect upon the horse.

Certain factors make the presence of prohibited substances as contaminants in the production of equine feedstuffs almost inevitable. Analytical techniques employed are increasingly sophisticated and sensitive and this latter fact serves to increase the likelihood of the detection of contaminants at levels that have been historically unattainable. Furthermore, the increasing diversity of dietary supplements leads to the introduction of unusual components into the equine diet.

This is particularly the case with products that contain herbs or plant derivatives or extracts. Additionally, there is increased sourcing of feedstuff raw materials from previously unaccessed regions of the world where quality control measures may be below the desirable standard and where novel crop infesting plants may be found. Contamination in compounded equine feeds and raw materials is varied, but the major sources can be categorised as follows:

Endogenous, natural feed constituents Salicylates, DMSO Ubiquitous environmental contaminants Arsenic Transport contamination of raw materials Caffeine, theobromine Manufacturing cross-contamination Antibiotics Crop contamination by invasive plants Morphine, atropine Racing yard feed contamination Veterinary medication The most commonly encountered prohibited substances in equine feedstuffs include salicylates, dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO), caffeine and theobromine, morphine, hyoscine, atropine and hordenine.

There are however, a considerable number of pharmacologically active compounds potentially present in manufactured feeds, grazing and preserved forages that will be viewed as prohibited substances. Examples of these are listed in the table below, however the list is indicative rather than exhaustive. Prohibited substances potentially present in feedstuffs and grazing: Prohibited substance Feedstuff Salicylic acid Alfalfa (Lucerne), willow Dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) Alfalfa, others Caffeine Coffee Theobromine Cocoa Theophylline Coffee, Cocoa Morphine Poppy Codeine Poppy Hordenine Germinating barley, Phalaris grasses Hyoscine Belladonna plant species Atropine Belladonna plant species Lupanine Lupin seed Bufotenine Phalaris grasses Valerenic acid Valerian Dicoumarol Spoiled sweet clover Borneol Carrots, wood shavings Camphor Rosemary In the UK, the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory (HFL) offers an equine feed testing service that screens for the presence of six commonly recognised contaminants, whereas in France a similar service provided by the Laboratoire Des Courses Hippique (LCH) includes an additional four contaminants in its testing procedure: Morphine UK/France Hyoscine UK/France Atropine UK/France Hordenine UK/France Caffeine UK/France Theobromine UK/France Theophylline France Bufotenine France Methylbufotenine France Dimethyltryptamine France Natural feed constituents Salicylates and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) are present in numerous feed ingredients and pasture species. Salicylates are particularly abundant in grazing and forage legumes, such as clover and alfalfa respectively, and in willow-containing herbal supplements. Plant salicylates are metabolised in the body to salicylic acid, a mild pain killer (analgesic) and anti-inflammatory. Salicylic acid is a metabolite of Aspirin.

DMSO occurs at high levels in alfalfa and is also a weak analgesic and anti-inflammatory. DMSO can be used to enable other drugs to penetrate the skin. Owing to their widespread occurrence and pharmacological properties, international racing jurisdictions have established thresholds for their presence in post-competition urine and blood samples. In itself it is unlikely that feed-related salicylate load will cause testing thresholds to be exceeded and feed products are not tested to identify the presence of these substances. Hordenine and bufotenine are recognised as occasional contaminants of equine feedstuffs. Both substances are constituents in Phalaris grass species (Reed Canary grass), and hordenine also occurs in germinating barley and other cereal grains.

Hordenine and bufotenine affect the central nervous system (CNS) of horses and are thus are regarded as prohibited substances under racing rules. They have both been detected in post-race urine samples across Europe and Australia. Feed crop contaminants Morphine and codeine present a less common but significant feed contamination issue. Their presence in post-race samples is a breach of prohibited substance rules as they can exert a significant stimulatory effect in the CNS of horses even at low doses. Feed contamination with material from opium poppies (Papaver somniferum ssp. somniferum), wild poppies (P. somniferum ssp setigerum) or Oriental poppies (P. Orientale), resulting in post-race urine samples testing positive for opiates occurred in Australia in the 1990s and the UK and Ireland in 2002.

The spate of morphine positives in the UK and Ireland arose through the importation of contaminated raw materials; however it is possible that a home-grown problem could evolve in the near future as recent research has shown that the opium poppy grows quite widely in the wild in Ireland. The alkaloids hyoscine (scopolamine) and atropine are also known contaminants of horse feed that derive from contamination of growing cereal crops by Solanaceous plants including Deadly Nightshade, Henbane and Jimson Weed. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) contains predominantly atropine, whereas Henbane (Hyoscyamous niger) contains primarily hyoscine.

Owing to their potent pharmacological effects within the central nervous system and cardiovascular system, the presence of hyoscine or atropine in post-competition urine samples is regarded as a breach of the rules relating to prohibited substances. Manufacturing and shipping contamination Caffeine and theobromine are recognised contaminants of feeds and numerous instances of feed contamination and post-race positives occurred globally during the 1980s and 1990s.

In the past, cocoa husk was used as a bulking agent in feed manufacture however, more recently its presence in feeds is believed to have arisen from contamination from other feed residues, such as biscuit meal or from contamination of raw materials, usually grains, during transport. We are all aware of caffeine as a constituent of coffee and tea, whereas its chemically similar cousin theobromine is found naturally in tea and cocoa (chocolate). When ingested, both substances can act as stimulants to the heart, lungs and brain, and may also exert some degree of diuretic action (increased urination).

As a consequence of the prevalence of caffeine and theobromine in the feed production chain and the difficulty in removing them, racing's regulatory authorities ultimately implemented a threshold for theobromine in post-race urine samples. In the recent past in the US mepyramine, an antihistamine, has been identified in post-race samples and its appearance on these occasions was attributed to contaminated vitamin preparations. Procaine, a local anaesthetic, has also been implicated in post-race positives on a number of occasions where on further investigation the source was discovered to be horse feed cross-contaminated at the mill with pig feed containing the antibiotic procaine penicillin. Environmental contamination Arsenic is a prohibited substance under equine competition rules, but as it is a ubiquitous environmental substance, a threshold level has been established for its presence in post-competition samples.

Additionally, arsenic levels in the racing environment can be increased by contamination from the use of pesticidal arsenic compounds, the most commonly encountered being wood preservatives used to treat construction timber and fencing materials. Cross-contamination Many veterinary drugs used therapeutically in a racing environment are formulated as powders so they can be administered mixed in with normal feeds. Although this is a convenient method in contrast to a reliance on injections for example, it can present a significant risk of dietary contamination to horses other than the animal under treatment if shared feeding equipment is not kept scrupulously clean. Dusts from some drug formulations can contaminate and linger on surfaces in feed rooms, mangers or stables. Certain drug formulations including isoxsuprine, clenbuterol and flunixin, can present a particular problem in this regard. Dietary supplements Racing is first and foremost a business, with the end-point being to maximise race wins and prize money and hence hopefully to increase future income from training fees.

It is consequently understandable that any legitimate dietary approach which might benefit race performance and training capacity, or reduce the incidence of illness and injury, and accelerate recovery both from racing and ill health, might at the very least be evaluated. This search for an edge' is common to business and sport. Indeed, the perceived beneficial effects of dietary supplements in human sports have been to some extent translated to equine sports including racing. The increased availability of dietary supplements for horses can often be supported by sophisticated technical marketing and detailed scientific research.

But, whatever the motivation for the use of such products might be, whether backed by rigorous evidence of efficacy or not, the reality is that complementary feedstuffs are also potentially at risk of contamination. Although there has been no comprehensive survey of contamination in equine feed supplements, three such surveys have been conducted on human sports supplements, the results of which indicated that up to 20% of supplements tested contained prohibited substances (under IOC rules), principally anabolic steroids including nandrolone and testosterone. As the levels of contaminants found were generally low and variable it was assumed that their presence arose through poor manufacturing practice on the part of the manufacturer or the ingredient supplier(s). Undeclared stimulants, such as caffeine and ephedrine, have also been identified in human sports supplements and these findings suggest deliberate adulteration to improve efficacy.

A recent doping case suggests that equine supplement contamination may become an issue for the feed and supplement industry and regulatory authorities, but on this occasion this post-race positive for the presence of the anabolic nandrolone seems to have arisen through the use of a human sports supplement in the horse, rather than a contaminated equine product. The use of dietary supplements in racing is becoming commonplace. Products containing herbal or other plant based or nutraceutical ingredients are increasingly popular, possibly through a belief that these are not drugs and thus do not infringe the rules relating to prohibited substances.

A useful example here would be products containing Devil's Claw powder or extracts. Devil's Claw is a plant related to Sesame and is native to southern Africa. It has recognised pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties in people and has been offered as an alternative to established over-the-counter pain relief medicines, such as Aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen, for many years, and is currently undergoing clinical trials. Widespread promotion of Devil's Claw as an herbal alternative to phenylbutazone for horses began at a time when the continued approval for the use of this veterinary pain-relieving drug was in doubt.

It is worth pointing out that the French racing laboratory, Laboratoire Des Courses Hippiques, have recently published methods for the detection of harpagosides, the active components in Devil's Claw, in equine post-race samples, and thus is it reasonable to assume that the regulatory laboratories will be screening for these substances on a pan-European basis. The irony here is that when viewed within the strictures of the rules and regulations of racing if a supplement, or more accurately one or more of its constituents, has efficacy, by extrapolation it must affect one of the horse's body systems and is therefore prohibited, whether or not the laboratory is able to test for it. Trainer protection We should not be complacent on this issue and it would be prudent for trainers, wherever practical, to retain representative samples of all batches of feeds and supplements that they use, indeed the regulatory authorities proffer just such advice. This is certainly a worthwhile exercise, as in the event of a failed post-race test a defence of feed contamination will be strengthened by such physical evidence which can be subjected to analytical scrutiny. In practice, a successful demonstration of contaminated feed or supplement will not exonerate the horse's connections from a regulatory offence, but may well be a persuasive argument in mitigation concerning subsequent sanctions.

In addition, being fully aware of the ingredients within feeds or supplements and of the nature and extent of any pre-sale quality assurance analysis by a manufacturer for the common contaminants (prohibited substances) should afford trainers some further protection and allow them to make informed purchases. Chris Gordon, Chair of the Feed Committee at the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA), states that, BETA is at an advanced stage of discussion with individual feed manufacturers, the National Trainers Federation and the British Horseracing Authority in seeking to establish a Code of Practice for the production of feeds intended to be used in racing. It is anticipated that this will take the form of an appendix to existing accreditation through the UFAS feed safety system. Furthermore, in conjunction with our French and Irish counterparts, the CNEF and the Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA) and the European Horseracing Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) we are attempting to establish a harmonised approach to feed testing for common contaminants across the major European horseracing jurisdictions. Within this framework we are hoping to establish common reporting levels or thresholds. 

Sir Mark Prescott - a racehorse trainer completely comfortable in his own skin

Love him or hate him - odds are against indifference - trainer Sir Mark Prescott needs little introduction. The unapologetic Prescott isn't bothered whichever the sentiment, as he is very much his own man and comfortable - some might say all too much so - in his own skin.

Frances Karon (European Trainer - issue 22 - Summer 2008)

A day in the life of Todd Pletcher

THIS IS A SCANNED IN ARTICLE - FROM OUR PRE DIGITAL DAYS!

This article first appeared in North American Trainer - May 2008 - issue 8

Pilates for horses - enhancing performance and reducing injuries

By Nicole Rossa

Pilates is increasingly used amongst professional athletes as a method to enhance athletic performance and to reduce injuries. It is also used frequently as part of a post-injury rehabilitation program, as the exercises are performed in a slow and controlled manner, targeting specific muscle groups - the core stability muscles.

An important aspect of fitness training is ‘cross-training' – so as not to only concentrate on developing the key muscles used for the sport, but also in developing the stability muscles required for postural strength. The Pilates Method was established more than 50 years ago by Joseph Pilates (1880-1967) and was designed to help the quality of movement.  One of the key principles of Pilates is ‘centering,' which refers to the concept that all movement of the human body originates from the center or core of the body.  The Pilates method endeavors to strengthen the core muscles.  Research in human athletes has shown that strengthening these muscles enhances athletic performance and reduces the incidence of injury.  It has also been shown to be a very effective exercise program in accelerating the post-injury rehabilitation process in humans.
 The principles of Pilates exercises are relaxation, body alignment, coordination, centering, concentration, breathing and good quality of movement.  It is therefore, strictly speaking, not possible to apply the word ‘Pilates' to any equine exercises.  More correctly, when referring to horses, it is more appropriate to equate Pilates to exercises to improve ‘core stability,' ‘flexibility' and ‘coordination.' 
 The presence of incorrect movement techniques can result in the inability to undertake a movement with maximum efficiency or with the least expenditure of energy. 
Muscles can be categorized by their role either as stabilizers or mobilizers.  Muscles with a stabilizing function are usually mono-articular (moving one joint), have broad insertions, provide leverage for static holding and joint compression, and with a postural role.  Muscles with a mobilizing function are usually bi-articular or multi-segmental (moving two or more joints), superficial, have tendinous insertions, provide leverage for range and speed and joint distraction, and have a repetitive or rapid movement role.

Form follows function, and horses in their natural environment travel long distances, often sustaining a trot for hours.  The horse's spine is designed to aid efficient locomotion.  So while trotting is a very efficient gait with minimum movement through the back, much more flexion of the back is required in canter and gallop.  This demand, especially if over a distance, can sometimes strain the system.
 The spine or vertebral column forms the core structure of the horse.  It consists of cervical vertebra (7), thoracic vertebra (18), lumbar vertebra (6), sacrum (5 fused vertebrae) and the coccygeal vertebra (18 to 20).  The horse's spine acts like a suspension bridge, a connective structure between the uprights of the front and the hind legs, rigid but somewhat flexible.  At the front is a highly mobile neck, and at the rear a highly mobile tail.  The horse's spine operates like a ‘bow string.'

A substantial portion of the neck musculature is located above or next to the cervical spine and includes splenius, serratus ventralis cervicis and trapezius.  These muscles act to raise or extend the neck.  The muscles of the lower neck, located beneath the cervical spine, are the brachiocephalic and sternocephalic. 

 Overdevelopment of these muscles is undesirable and will result in an ‘upside down' neck.  Neck movements affect the horse's balance and weight distribution, and its position and length directly affects the biomechanics of the back.
 In the front of the horse the forelimb is attached to the vertebral column, ribs and sternum by way of a muscular thoracic sling.  The muscles of the thoracic sling suspend the trunk between the shoulder blades.  These muscles include the pectoral muscles, serratus ventralis, trapezius and subclavius.  
 The pelvis is attached to the vertebral column at the sacrum (at the sacroiliac joint), with the stability of the pelvis and hip being controlled by the pelvic stabilizing muscles.  The hindlimb attaches to the pelvis at the coxofemoral joint.  The pelvic stabilizing muscles are the powerful hindquarter muscles – biceps femoris, middle gluteal, superficial gluteal and tensor fascia latae.  The hindquarters are an area of great propulsion, and any instability in the pelvic region will result in a loss of power and balance to the hindquarters.
 

The spinal musculature is important for movement, posture and flexibility.  The superficial spinal muscles are usually more dynamic and play a role during regional vertebral motion, energy storage and force redistribution during locomotion.  Deep, short spinal muscles have more of a static function and are active in segmental stabilization, proprioception and posture.
 There are numerous muscles that provide stability and flexibility to the spine.  They are divided into superficial and deep muscles.  The longissimus dorsi and the iliocostalis (long back muscles) are the most superficial of the epaxial muscles (the muscles that lie dorsal to the transverse processes of the vertebrae).  The superficial muscles span large regions of the spine and ensure coordinated back movements.  They produce spinal extension and lateral flexion.  The deepest of the epaxial muscles is multifidus.  It has short fibers that span two to four vertebrae and act to align or stabilize each individual vertebra.  
 The hypaxial or sublumbar muscles lie ventral to the transverse processes, attaching to the front of the pelvis and the femur.  They produce spinal flexion and lateral flexion, and also assist in flexing the hip and stabilizing the spine and pelvis.  They include the iliopsoas muscle and the psoas minor.  
 The abdominal muscles stabilize the trunk. When actively contracting, the abdominal muscles also lift the back.  The abdominal muscles include rectus abdominis, tranverse abdominals, internal obliques and external obliques. The function of these muscles is to protect and stabilize the spine.  These muscles together with the sublumbar muscles control the posture of the horse.

Core stabilization exercises help to stimulate and strengthen the postural muscles and to stabilize the spine and pelvis.  
 Withers or thoracic lift – by applying pressure with your finger starting at the sternum, sliding back over the pectoral muscles to an area to behind the girth.  The horse will respond by lifting through the withers.  This will activate the thoracic sling and the abdominal muscles.  The lift should be held for about 5 seconds, then released.  Can be repeated 3 to 5 times.  
 Lumbar or lumbosacral lift – by applying downward pressure along the horse's center line, starting immediately above the tail, continuing forward towards the tuber sacrale.  This will stimulate flexion of the abdominal and sublumbar muscles, causing lifting of the lumbosacral joint and through the lumbar spine.
 Again the lift should be held for about 5 seconds to give a sustained isometric contraction.  Can be repeated 3 to 5 times.
 The above static exercises can be compared with going to the gym and doing abdominal curls in a Pilates session.
 

Neck flexibility exercises can be carried out with simple carrot stretches to facilitate the neck musculature.  This would include neck extension and lateral bending of the neck.  These mobilizations activate the deeper neck muscles.
 Exercises on the lunge, especially with the aid of a Pessoa lunging aid, can also help to stimulate collection and abdominal strength. 
 During ridden exercise the use of transitions (walk to trot, trot to canter, canter to trot, trot to walk) can also be effective in strengthening the abdominal and back muscles.  If these ridden exercises are to be effective, then the horse must be ridden with normal to low neck positioning.  
 A Thera-Band can also be applied in a loop or figure of eight pattern from the girth to behind the hind legs.  The stimulus to the back of the thighs (compare with the Pessoa while lunging) helps to stimulate collection and abdominal strength.
 Hill work carried out in a collected gait will also strengthen the abdominal and back muscles.  
 If exercises are to be carried out as part of a post-injury rehabilitation program then it is important that these should be approved by your vet or your physiotherapist.

Research into back pain in humans by Moseley-Hodges (2002) identified that the multifidus muscle plays a key role in the stability of the lumbar spine.  Hides et al (1994) showed a reduction in size of multifidus in back pain patients, and also an alteration in functional activation patterns.  Restoration of multifidus function and muscle bulk is an important factor in the prevention of recurrence of back pain in people with acute back injuries (Hides et al, 1996).
 Back pain in horses and associated epaxial/hypaxial muscle dysfunction, imbalance and atrophy often results in loss of performance.  However, back pain syndromes are difficult to diagnose in horses due to the variability of signs – pain on palpation, lameness, gait alterations and behaviour changes.  Chronic back pain can prevent proper use and development of both the abdominal and back muscles, and recent studies using ultrasonographic measurement have shown asymmetry of the epaxial muscles in horses with back pain (Stubbs et al, 2006). 
 The use of ‘Pilates' type exercises for horses to strengthen the core stabilizing muscles can therefore not only be used as part of a regular training program to enhance performance and reduce injury, but may also help to prevent the recurrence of back pain in some horses.

From Synthetic prep race to the Kentucky Derby dirt

By Bill Heller

Street Sense’s dramatic, decisive victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby restructured a lot of perceptions about winning the Run for the Roses. Not only could a Breeders'Cup Juvenile winner return the following spring to capture the first leg of the Triple Crown, but he could make his final prep for Churchill Downs' dirt track on a synthetic one.

Street Sense wasn’t alone in switching from synthetic to dirt. Six Derby starters last year had their final preps on synthetic surfaces: the top five finishers in the Blue Grass Stakes on Keeneland’s Polytrack - Dominican, Street Sense, Zanjero, Teuflesberg and Great Hunter - as well as Hard Spun, who won the Lane’s End Stakes on Turfway Park’s Polytrack.

Trainer Carl Nafzger had no reservations about using Polytrack as Street Sense’s springboard to the Derby because he’d done exactly that the year before when Street Sense followed a third in the Lane’s End Breeders'Futurity at Keeneland with a resounding 10-length victory in the Breeders'Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

Nafzger, however, said he would not have used the Blue Grass as Street Sense’s final Derby prep if Street Sense hadn’t already raced on dirt. "Even if he had worked on dirt, there’s a lot of difference between working and running,"Nafzger said. "I would definitely want to see my horse in a dirt race first. I don’t care if it was an allowance race; I’d want to see him in a race.”

Sedgefield did not have that luxury, finishing fifth last year as the first North American-based starter since at least 1955 to run in the Kentucky Derby without a previous dirt race.
He won’t be the last.

In mid-March, it appeared that at least three of California’s top Kentucky Derby prospects – Colonel John and El Gato Malo, the 1-2 finishers in the Sham Stakes, and San Vicente and San Felipe victor Georgie Boy – will also be making their first dirt start at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May.
"I don’t think it’s going to be a problem for the California horses,"said Darrin Miller, who trains both Sedgefield and Dominican. "I don’t think it’s a disadvantage at all.”

Obviously, the California trainers of those three Derby hopefuls – whose final race before the Derby figures to be the Santa Anita Derby – agree, as will other trainers who use the Blue Grass or the Lane’s End for their horses' final Derby prep.

"My concern is just getting to the race,"El Gato Malo’s trainer Craig Dollase said laughing. "That’s the objective of the synthetic track. The whole point is to keep your horse sound. We just want a healthy, sound horse going into the first Saturday of May. So be it if it’s on dirt.”

That’s the approach Miller took with Sedgefield. The 36-year-old native of Verona, Missouri, began training at Canterbury Park in Minnesota in 1995, and splits his year between Florida and Kentucky. He did an admirable job of getting both Sedgefield and Dominican to the Derby for Tommy and Bonnie Hamilton’s Silverton Hill Farm in Springfield, Kentucky.

Silverton Hill purchased Sedgefield, who is a full brother to 2007 Turf Champion English Channel, for $300,000 at Keeneland’s Two-Year-Olds-In-Training Sale in April, 2006. A month earlier, the Hamiltons purchased Dominican at the Ocala Two-Year-Olds-In-Training Sale for $150,000.

Sedgefield began his career late in his two-year-old season, finishing seventh on Polytrack at Keeneland on October 27, 2006. After running fifth on grass at Churchill Downs, he won a maiden race easily on Turfway Park’s Polytrack.

Miller asked a lot of Sedgefield in his next start, the Grade 3 Tropical Park Derby at Calder on grass, and Sedgefield fought it out on the lead the whole way, finishing second by three-quarters of a length to Soldier Dancer. "After the Tropical Park Derby, we decided that the Kentucky Derby was an option for him," Miller said. "The plan was this: we run in the Hallandale Beach (on grass) and the Lane’s End.”

First, though, Miller gave Sedgefield a confidence builder. Dropped to allowance company on grass at Gulfstream Park, Sedgefield won handily. Then, in the Hallandale Beach, Sedgefield again displayed his grittiness, finishing second by half a length to Twilight Meteor despite breaking from the 10 post. Sedgefield drew even worse in the Lane’s End: the outside post in a field of 12. Regardless, he finished second by 3 ½ lengths to Hard Spun.

Trainer Larry Jones chose not to give Hard Spun another race before the Kentucky Derby because Hard Spun’s graded stakes earnings were already enough to ensure he’d start in the Derby. Sedgefield’s weren’t.
So Miller, after considering the Blue Grass Stakes, sent Sedgefield back to turf instead in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland just 13 days after the Lane’s End. Sedgefield again battled on the lead, but this time he tired late to fourth as the 7-5 favorite. 

"I messed up,"Miller said. "I raced him back too quick. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. We thought it was an easy spot and it would give him the earnings he needed. We were right on the cusp there.”
With the fourth-place finish, though, Sedgefield did have enough earnings to break into the Derby field of 20. And Miller wasn’t worried about the switch to dirt. "He’d been on dirt as a two-year-old,"Miller said. "We didn’t see dirt as a problem for him at all.”

To prepare him for his first dirt race, Miller, who was stabled at Keeneland, worked Sedgefield four furlongs twice at Churchill Downs. Sedgefield breezed in: 49 (15th fastest of 35) 13 days before the Derby and in :48 2/5 (11th of 52) four days before. "After the first week, we moved the two horses to Churchill Downs,"Miller said. "He trained really well when he went there. He really stepped up to the plate. He was doing everything right. Then we had a lot of rain that week. He relished it. He trained very well on it.”

Dominican, who had two thirds from four previous races on dirt, including a fourth in an allowance race and a third in a Grade 2 stakes at Churchill Downs, worked just once after his gutsy victory in the Blue Grass. Five days before the Derby, Dominican breezed a bullet five furlongs in :59 2/5, fastest of 26 that morning.
Miller had both Sedgefield and Dominican primed for top efforts, but their preparation was seriously compromised the morning the selection order for post positions was drawn for the 20 Derby starters. "Our picks were 17th and 19th,"Miller said. "It was a pretty bad go. It left us in a pretty tough spot."Miller chose the rail for Sedgefield and the 19 post for Dominican, who finished 11th after a rough trip. The lack of a previous dirt start didn’t impact Sedgefield, who was dispatched at 58-1 from the highly disadvantageous rail.

Forwardly placed from the outset under Julien Leparoux, Sedgefield worked his way up to second midway through the mile-and-a-quarter classic. "I was just hoping he’d keep coming,"said Miller, who had never started a horse in the Derby before. Sedgefield tired late to fifth, nine lengths behind Street Sense, but just a length off third-place finisher Curlin, who subsequently was Horse of the Year and Three-Year-Old Champion.
Miller was proud of Sedgefield’s effort: "He gave us everything that day. He put it all out there.”

Some 10 months later, Miller said of his first experience in the Kentucky Derby: "It’s life-changing, for sure. It’s certainly a special opportunity and I’m grateful for it. It makes you want to do it again, searching for the next one."

Colonel John’s trainer, Eoin Harty, knows the feeling – kind of. The 45-year-old native of Dublin, who began his career as an assistant trainer for John Russell, was an assistant to trainer Bob Baffert when he nearly won three consecutive Kentucky Derbies. Cavonnier lost the ’96 Derby by a nose to Grindstone, then Silver Charm and Real Quiet took back-to-back Derbies. "It’s going to be my name on the program this time,"Harty said. "I’m going to bear full responsibility for the action of myself and my horse.”

He is perfectly comfortable with his decision to not give Colonel John a dirt start prior to the Derby. "I won’t because I’m a firm believer in training on synthetic courses,"Harty said. "I just think they’re so much kinder to the horse. You avoid the constant pounding, the bone on bone. The carnage rate of horses [on dirt] is unacceptable.”

Harty has had success training his horses on synthetic surfaces and then racing them on dirt. "From my own experience, I had a very good year at Churchill Downs last year, and my horses had worked on synthetic,"he said. "I did it with quite a few. I brought horses over [from Keeneland] the morning of the race at Churchill Downs, and that was it. It’s better for your horse. They stay sounder. If they’re sounder, they’re around to race longer and it’s good for the sport.”

Harty says he’s frequently asked about the difference between training horses on dirt vs. synthetic surfaces. "These are my opinions; they’re not facts,"he said. "From my own experience and from watching other trainers training on synthetic tracks, I wouldn’t say that training on synthetic is an advantage, but it gives a horse a different level of fitness. Every horse I’ve worked on a synthetic track who had been training on a dirt track, the first work is terrible. The second and the third are better. When I was at Santa Anita before they put in the synthetic track, and took them to Hollywood on synthetic for the first time, the horses seemed to be at a major disadvantage. When you look at synthetic tracks, they don’t have to work as hard to cover ground.”
Colonel John has been covering ground just fine on synthetic tracks. His victory in the Sham Stakes was his third in five starts. He was second in the other two races, one of them a Grade 1 stakes.

If he goes into the starting gate at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May, it will be his first dirt race, but not be his first time on dirt. "I’ll probably work him and gallop him at Churchill Downs,"Harty said. "It probably won’t hurt.”

Like Harty, Dollase, whose El Gato Malo had won his first three starts, including the Grade 3 San Rafael Stakes, before finishing second in the Sham, will also work his horse on Churchill Downs'dirt track before he starts in the Derby. Dollase’s only previous Derby starter, Wilko, finished sixth in 2005.

"My routine is usually to get a work over the track,"said the 37-year-old Dollase. Unlike Harty, Dollase has a different opinion regarding training on synthetic vs. dirt tracks. "I think you get a lot more fitness out of the synthetic,"he said. "You have to work harder. I used to train at Hollywood Park when it was the only cushion track, then run on Santa Anita when it was dirt, and what an advantage I had. I had a good meet a year and a half ago. So did a lot of the guys who trained at Hollywood Park. We were the guinea pigs starting out. Our horses trained on it, and I trained them hard at Hollywood Park and they ran well on Santa Anita’s dirt track. It might be harder the other way. A lot of guys who trained at Santa Anita didn’t do that well at Hollywood Park.”
Will a horse who has never raced on dirt win this year’s Kentucky Derby? "I think ultimately it comes down to the best horse wins the Kentucky Derby,"Harty said. "Look over the past 133 Derbies; usually the best horse wins. I think if the horse is good enough, he’ll overcome not racing on dirt.”

And if Harty’s horse doesn’t overcome that? "It would be a convenient excuse,"he said. "Based on my own experiences and the feelings of my owners, this is the route I take.”

Undoubtedly, as synthetic tracks grow in popularity, more trainers will take that route. Ultimately, the question won’t be can horses who have raced exclusively on synthetic surfaces win the Derby, rather which synthetic surface - Polytrack, Cushion or Tapeta - is more conducive to making that transition. 

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.

Nuclear scintigraphy works via the highly ingenious idea of linking a mildly radioactive substance to bone turnover so that it can be measured.  A radioactive substance called technetium is joined together with a phosphorous compound and then injected intravenously into the horse. The bones of the horse use this phosphorous compound to make more bone cells at different rates depending on what is going on in each individual bone. A ‘normal' bone in an adult horse will therefore only take up a small amount of the phosphorous compound and thus only emit a small amount of radiation.  However, a bone with a stress fracture in it will take up lots of the phosphorous compound and therefore emit a large amount of radiation as it attempts to make lots of new bone cells to try and ‘fix' itself.  As a result, the amount of bony remodeling taking place in the equine skeleton can be measured by the amount of radiation emitted from a particular site using a sophisticated radioactivity measurement device called a gamma camera.
After the intravenous injection, providing that the horse is not too lame, it is exercised gently to distribute the compound evenly before its radiation is measured.  Thirty minutes later, the injection leaves the blood and soft tissue and heads for bone, therefore radioactivity readings are taken two to five hours after administration.  Horses must stand still long enough to obtain good readings and so they receive a standing sedation but no general anesthetic is required.  Although simple handheld ‘point' radioactivity scanners can be used to measure the radioactivity, large expensive gamma cameras are much better as they are situated on a steady crane, move all around the horse smoothly and take more accurate readings in a shorter period of time, thus reducing the risk of movement errors.  Bone scans can easily be carried out and analyzed in a day, although horses must remain in controlled areas overnight as they remain slightly radioactive until the next day. This does lead to slight practical disadvantages of nuclear scintigraphy – the safety precautions required when working with radiation and the necessity to stop the horse's work whilst it resides at a nuclear facility.
Nuclear scintigraphy allows for the evaluation of the entire equine skeleton, although specific regions can be imaged as required.  A computer then processes the information from the gamma camera and generates an image of the horse's bones.  Areas of increased radioactivity, which reflect increased bony remodeling, are represented as ‘hot spots.' Although these can simply reflect a normal area of increased bone turnover such as a growth plate in a young horse, a large uptake in a certain place may signify a ‘stress fracture.' A stress fracture is simply a very early fracture that is not displaced in any way.  The bone turnover is high because the bone is trying to ‘fix' itself.  Once a ‘hot spot' has identified where the problem is, x-rays and ultrasound scans can be brought in to further investigate the specific area.
Due to the expense of the equipment and the practical safety issues associated with bone scanning, it is not the sort of equipment that is found at every training center or racetrack.  Even though the radioactivity of the substance is very short-lived, many safety precautions have to be taken. The syringe containing the radioactive injection is protected from the veterinarian administering it by way of a lead shield.  All those coming into contact with the horse from that point onwards wear protective clothing, and the horse's dirty bedding is stored and then disposed of in accordance with strict radiation regulations.
Although many veterinary centers may own a handheld point scanner, the superior gamma cameras are generally found at universities and large veterinary hospitals.  The result is that bone scans are not carried out as routinely as some other less expensive, more readily available imaging techniques.  However, when ‘conventional' imaging techniques such as x-rays and ultrasound scans either fail to find abnormalities or more serious fractures are feared but not seen, then horses should undergo a bone scan.  They are most useful in young horses with severe, acute lameness and they have a number of important uses.
Firstly, their most common use is in the case of a lame horse whose specific problem has not been found by conventional veterinary medicine.  For example, ‘nerve blocks,' which ‘freeze' the leg in specific locations, may have found the area of pain but x-rays and ultrasound scans have not revealed a specific problem. If the bone scan reveals a hot spot in, for example, the lower cannon bone, then the horse is likely to have a stress fracture here. Stress fractures can be so small that in the initial stages they are not visible on x-ray and it is only when the bone has remodeled around the small fracture line that some changes can be seen.  In fact, sometimes a fracture line is never seen at all on x-ray and so nuclear scintigraphy really is the only method by which it can be diagnosed.
Nuclear scintigraphy is also useful in horses with suspected spinal or pelvic pain where x-rays and ultrasound images are inconclusive.  A bone scan can reveal a hot spot that proves the activity of the bone at the suspected location, thus confirming it as the source of pain.  The horse's back is a very difficult area to assess both clinically and using x-rays and ultrasound scans, hence the gap in the market for an influx of miraculous ‘back manipulators' and chiropractors, many of whom have very little scientific basis behind their technique.  A bone scan can prove whether there really is any bony problem behind the horse's pain, for example, a ‘kissing spine' where a horse's back vertebrae ‘rub' together or a pelvic stress fracture.
Trainers also send horses that are moving and performing poorly for full body bone scans as these animals can have multiple sites of pain.  Rather than freezing joints one by one with nerve blocks to try and ascertain which joints hurt most, the bone scan can highlight several mild hot spots, which might be troubling that particular horse.  Following assessment of these areas either clinically or using x-rays and ultrasound scans, some trainers may then choose to have several joints ‘medicated' with anti-inflammatories, lubricants and substances to increase joint health in an attempt to make the horse move more fluently and win more races.
The only drawback with using scintigraphy in this way is that bone turnover does not necessarily correlate perfectly with painful joints. Nuclear scintigraphy has a tendency to over-diagnose problems and label ‘normal' bony remodeling as injuries.  Some joints have lots of bony changes in them but actually cause very little pain or reduction in performance, whilst some very painful joints are actually caused by inflammation of the joint capsule, joint fluid and joint ligaments and thus bony turnover may not actually be increased. Therefore, proving the site of pain by nerve blocking may have in fact been more effective.  When a horse is diagnosed with two sore knees and a sore hind fetlock, we will probably believe it.  However, when horses are diagnosed with three sore joints and four stress fractures, I personally find it hard to believe.
The final important asset of nuclear scintigraphy is the speed with which it can diagnose a fracture.  Sometimes it is urgent to find out immediately whether or not a horse has a fracture. The veterinarian dealing with the horse suspects a fracture but cannot see one on x-ray. Whilst it would be possible to wait and re-x-ray the horse in a few days or weeks, the bone scan gives an instant answer and thus connections know what the problem is with their horse and how it should be treated – as a mild lameness or a fracture that must be rested in order to prevent a catastrophic injury.
At this point, readers are probably wondering why there are not more bone scanning facilities and why they are not used more regularly. This again brings us back to the fact that nuclear scintigraphy measures bone turnover and unfortunately this does not always correlate with fractures.  Whilst a bone scan is highly unlikely to miss a fracture, it may diagnose one when there is not one there. Examples of this include areas of ‘normally' high bone turnover such as growth plates in young horses (bone remodeling associated with growing), ‘bucked' shins that are remodeling but should not be treated as fractures, and some changes associated with large bones such as the radius and the tibia.  The tibia is the equivalent of the human shinbone and in the same way as we can get sore shins, horses can get sore tibias.  When horses begin training, tibias may be remodeling at quite a high rate (and thus will be picked up by a bone scan) but they should not always be treated as fractures. If I were to start road running tomorrow, my shins might become slightly sore after a few days and start to remodel to the increased work. However, rather than stopping, it would actually be better for me to carry on with my running until my shins adapt to their new work. Similarly, bone scans can make us stop training some horses fearing a fracture when they are actually at no higher a risk of fracturing than the horse in the next stall, and in fact, we are just making their bones ‘softer' for when we recommence their training.
In summary, nuclear scintigraphy may be hard for many of us to pronounce but by measuring bone turnover in the equine skeleton, it has become a very useful tool in equine lameness diagnosis. As legendary Breeders' Cup winning trainer Michael Dickinson (my uncle) says: "the phrase that sums up bone scanning is ‘peace of mind.'" There are numerous examples of horses that have had potentially fatal fractures prevented by undergoing a bone scan, which revealed that a minor lameness was actually being caused by a potentially catastrophic fracture.
Thanks to the late Dolly Green, the Southern California Equine Foundation was able to build a nuclear scintigraphy facility at Santa Anita racetrack.  It was this facility that enabled 2007 Kentucky Derby hopeful Ravel to be diagnosed with a stress fracture that could not be found on x-ray.  As trainer Todd Pletcher said, "…it would have turned into a condylar fracture if we had breezed him." Similarly, Halfbridled, the Champion two-year-old filly of 2003, was diagnosed with a stress fracture in a cannon bone and is now safely undertaking her new role as a broodmare.  Nevertheless, bone scans are not perfect.  They can over-diagnose stress fractures, they do come with certain practical safety disadvantages and they are perhaps not one hundred percent accurate at diagnosing joint pain. However, despite these limitations, they have been a great addition to veterinary medicine. They may prevent one or two horses from being trained when they are actually fit to work, but they also prevent great horses like Johar, Ouija Board, Ravel and Halfbridled from fracturing on the racetrack and for this we should be grateful. 


James Tate (26 June 2008 - Issue 6)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Judi Hicklin

The TRM trainer of the quarter award has been won by Judi Hicklin. Judi and her team will receive a TRM product portfolio worth in excess of $1,500.  
The portfolio will consist of TRM tack bags and saddle pads as well as a large selection of the world famous TRM product range.

Two months after her 94-year-old mother died, trainer Judi Hicklin saddled the star of her 14-horse stable, Wayzata Bay, for his third start in the $295,000 Grade 2 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Breeders' Cup Handicap June 28th. The six-year-old had finished eighth and fifth in the stakes the two previous years, results the 54-year-old Hicklin didn't regret. She has a deep appreciation for racing in Nebraska. "I can remember when I was a little kid going over to Ak-Sar-Ben to watch the races," she said June 30th. "We had to go to the Kiddies Corral. That's where the kids had to stay. I was six. The Cornhusker has always been the premier race in the Midwest. Even to be in the race was exciting."
Hicklin, a 54-year-old native of Des Moines, Iowa, showed horses initially before getting involved with Thoroughbreds. "Then Prairie Meadows opened (March 1st, 1989)," she said. "I bought a race horse, Clusterplan. I had a friend of mine train her. She won a race and she was third in a stakes. It was pretty amazing. It wasn't like show horses. You got paid instead of a ribbon."

Hicklin quickly acquired her trainer's license and has been racing at Prairie Meadows ever since, spending her winters at Tampa Bay Downs. Before Wayzata Bay, Hicklin's best horse was Madam Riley, a two-year-old filly who won a few minor stakes.

Wayzata Bay's fondness for Prairie Meadows is documented. His record before the 2008 Cornhusker was seven-for-15 at Prairie Meadows and three-for-26 everywhere else. But his owner, Gene Phelps, who named Wayzata Bay after his hometown in Minnesota, decided to attend the Cornhusker. He hadn't seen Wayzata Bay race live since he won the Prairie Mile three years earlier.
 
Bettors weren't impressed and sent Wayzata Bay off the longest shot in the field at 38-1. Perhaps they knew no local horse had ever captured the Cornhusker, whose previous winners include Star de Naskra, Gate Dancer, Black Tie Affair, Sir Bear and Roses in May. Hicklin, however, thought Wayzata Bay was sitting on a top effort. "He was going into it as good as he possibly could," she said.

Then, after an anxious moment, the race unfolded beautifully for her deep closer. "He stumbled at the start; I wanted to throw up," Hicklin said. "He recovered. Then two horses (Temporary Saint and Encaustic) hooked up in front and he laid third down the backside. Usually, he comes from way back. I thought, `Wow! He's laying real close.'"
Then jockey Israel Ocampo moved his hands and Wayzata Bay shot past the dueling leaders. "He was in front at the eighth pole, and I was screaming," Hicklin said. "And he just widened."

Wayzata Bay won by 3 ½ lengths in 1:48 47 and was greeted by a tearful Hicklin when he came back to the winner's circle. "I still can't believe it," she said two days later. "I can't stop crying about it. It was amazing. To win the Cornhusker is unbelievable, unbelievable."
Wayzata Bay's victory pushed him past half a million dollars in career earnings. His next start will likely be in the Prairie Meadows Handicap at the end of July. He's won it the past two years.

Would another victory tempt Hicklin to try and up the ante in a major stakes? "Wayzata is going to tell us where we want to go," she said. "Everybody else in our stable will follow him."

They should. He's the leader of the pack in Nebraska and he has given Hicklin a moment she'll treasure the rest of her life, forever validating her ability to train Thoroughbreds.

She is quick to point out that she's been helped the past 10 years by her assistant trainer Rafael Sanchez. Maybe somebody else was helping her the night of the Cornhusker. "I know she was watching, and screaming as loud as we were for him to win," Hicklin said of her mom. "She loved the races."  



By: Bill Heller
 (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - John Balding

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter goes to John Balding. The success at the Meydan Stakes was remarkable on many different levels, not least because it was the first British victory of the 2008 Dubai International Racing Carnival at the 53rd attempt.

James Crispe (European Trainer - Issue 21 / Spring 2008)

Alec Head & Criquette Head Maarek - we talk to the extraordinarily successful father and daughter

The Head family has a history steeped in horseracing, just as horseracing has a history steeped in Heads. Their dominance began in France in the late 1800’s with Alec’s jockey-turned-trainer grandfather Willie, a British expatriot. Alec’s father, also Willie, was a highly successful jumps jockey and dual purpose trainer in France. Willie trained six individual classic winners as well as Le Paillon who won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and was second in the 1947 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham when ridden by Alec. Alec stopped race riding that same year and transitioned into five-time leading trainer, breeder and owner extraordinaire. Say what you will: the clichés are plentiful, the headlines unoriginal, but the claim that the family is “at the head of the class” has been consistently accurate for over a century.

Their story is inextricably connected to the land on their idyllic Haras du Quesnay near Deauville, France, which has equally been at the epicentre of racing for many generations. During the tenure of W.K. Vanderbilt, the undefeated Prestige was France’s leading sire in 1914. An influential resident when the stud was owned by Kingsley Macomber was Rose Prince, the sire of Belgian Triple Crown winner Prince Rose who was in turn the sire of Princequillo.
World War II interrupted the tranquility of Normandy, and the Germans seized Quesnay only to flee when the Allies landed. To put it into context, Rose Prince’s son Prince Rose was killed 75 miles up the road from Deauville in the 1944 bombings. Although Deauville was spared from the fighting, Quesnay bore signs of occupation, so its American owner abandoned it and the property remained vacant until after his death. Chantilly-based Alec Head, with the eye that later enabled him to spot the potential in Lyphard and Riverman, found Quesnay and, with his parents, bought and restored it to beyond its former glories. The list of horses bred, raised at and/or retired to Quesnay is extensive – among the first was French Derby winner Le Fabuleux, trained by Willie Jr. – but Alec and Ghislaine Head (a member of the van de Poele racing family) also reared their four children in the idyllic 16th Century chateau. Three of them – champion trainer Criquette; champion jockey Freddy, now a trainer; and Quesnay’s manager Martine, who oversees the stud careers of Anabaa and Bering, among others – went into the family business.
At the conclusion of the 2007 French racing season, the Head’s homebred colt Full of Gold, sired by Quesnay’s stallion Gold Away and trained by Criquette, won the Group I Criterium de Saint-Cloud, in a now-typical display of family unity: when Criquette was a fledgling trainer, she conditioned her mother’s filly Three Troikas to win the 1979 Arc under Freddy. That was Freddy’s second Arc, after Ivanjica, trained by Alec, in 1976. Alec-trained Beaugency lost the 1969 Prix du Jockey Club by (what else?) a head to Goodly, trained by Willie and ridden by Freddy. With this family, there is a myriad of these examples.
From racing as well as historical perspectives, sitting down with the father-daughter team of Alec Head and Criquette Head-Maarek at Quesnay is a humbling yet singular experience.

Criquette, what kind of difficulties have you met in becoming the most successful woman flat racehorse trainer in the world?
Criquette: Well I’ve never had any problem. I was born with all my background so it was easier for me. Even after I started training for the Arabs, you know, being a woman, it’s unusual. I still train for Prince Khaled Abdullah, who is a fantastic owner, and until the death of Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum I had horses for him and it was the same, it was absolutely fantastic for me. I think they see you as a trainer and not as a woman if you win races, and I was lucky to have good horses. So, that’s all. But I was the first licensed female trainer in France.

And the first to win a classic race in France, and officially in England, and the first to win the Arc…
Criquette: Of course, because I started before the others. You need horses in this job. If you have good horses it helps you a lot. I had good teachers in front of me. My father, my grandfather – they taught me everything I know and that I’m doing today.

After returning home to France from Spain you started in bloodstock and bought Three Troikas, who you trained to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, as a yearling in 1977. Was that a big turning point for you?
Criquette: I came back because I was missing horses, and then I was a bloodstock agent for a while and I started training when I bought Three Troikas at Newmarket, that’s the year I started training. It was lucky. It’s like the link of a chain. If everything goes together it’s easy. So that’s how I started. At the beginning I won’t say they didn’t say, “Ah, it’s the daughter of Alec Head and he’ll be behind her all the time,” so I just plugged my ears. I didn’t want to listen to them. I knew what I was doing. I knew that I was training my horses and whatever people would say I didn’t mind, so it didn’t bother me.

Either way, it’s not a bad thing to have Alec Head there behind you.
Criquette: Exactly. Yeah, that was a big help. On top of that, when I was making a mistake they wouldn’t say anything to me because they thought Papa was making the mistake. You need time when you start training. You can’t be a super trainer in one or two years even if you have good horses so you need a bit of time, and it did help me to get through everything because people were thinking that my father was the trainer. So for me, it was easy.

And you’ve probably reached the point now that when something goes wrong they don’t look at your father anymore.
Criquette: Well no, no, they still look at my dad. In November when I won the Group I, with Full of Gold, we won on Sunday and Papa had come back on Friday. He’d been away for nearly six months because my mother was sick. And people said, “Ah, we can see you’re back,” you know, like they were saying that was why we won…I don’t mind. For me, I am so pleased when I win races for him or for any client of mine of course, but when I win races for Papa and my mother it’s something special for me, absolutely. When I see my brother, or [son-in-law] Carlos [Laffon-Parias] winning, it’s rewarding.

I think it’s fair to say the Heads have had quite a monopoly in the French horseracing ranks for many, many years.
Criquette: Well, I’m not sure, but we’ve been very close together and we’ve worked together for a long time because Freddy was a jockey. He was the jockey for my grandfather – he started with my grandfather, then my father, then me. It’s a big help when the family is all close together.

How does winning the Criterium de Saint-Cloud with homebred Full of Gold last year compare with Three Troikas in the Arc?
Alec: That was nice. I was delighted. So was Criquette! But he is not Three Troikas yet. You couldn’t compare because Three Troikas, she didn’t run much as a two-year-old.
Criquette: She won just a maiden, by a nose at St Cloud.

Not so much the horses themselves, but as proud moments in Head racing lore.
Criquette: Oh but you are always proud when you have horses like that. To win with a horse that you raised is fantastic. I think it’s better than to buy it.
Alec: Of course. It’s your baby. It is your baby. It’s like your children.

Full of Gold brings everything full circle, in a sense. Criquette trained his sire Gold Away who now stands at Quesnay, and Alec, you trained his grandsire Goldneyev and won the Arc with Goldneyev’s dam Gold River in 1981. Your family also bred and raced his broodmare sire Sillery and was involved with Full of Gold’s first five dams spanning 50 years. Full of Gold is 4x4 to Riverman and his dam is 4x3 to Lyphard, probably the two best horses you bought. Just about the only horses in the pedigree you weren’t involved with were Nureyev and Blushing Groom!
Alec: I was underbidder on Blushing Groom when he was a yearling.

Ouch!
Criquette: As you say, ouch. And Vaguely Noble, and Arazi – Arazi as a foal and as a yearling. Remember, Papa?

Has training changed much since the days of your grandfather?
Alec: I don’t think so. Maybe a little bit in the way of feeding horses. I don’t think there’s been much change in the training. There may be a lot of changes in the veterinary world. That’s improved quite a lot, but the training itself is more or less the same I would say.

And the horses?
Criquette: Maybe they’re more fragile than before, Papa, no?
Alec: Yes, possibly. The cross of the American breeders brought us more fragile horses, that’s for sure.
Criquette: And maybe because of the medication they can use over there.
Alec: Yeah of course. You get unsound horses that go to stud because of medication and they will produce their problems.
(Watching as a horse sells for a big price at the ARQANA sale)
Alec: I’m getting to know less and less in this business. I suppose that at one age, the thing is, you go up, up, and then when you get to a certain age you start going down. And I’m halfway down – not completely. I wouldn’t give 300,000 euros for that. I understand less and less!

I wonder if, since you’ve been breeding your families for so many generations, you have less of these problems, the fragility, unsoundness?
Alec: It’s difficult to know where the lightning is going to strike, in every way. I know I’m lucky. If you’re not lucky in life you’re in trouble. You need a bit of luck, but you’d better help it. We’ve all got a bit of it, but some pick it up more than others. And that’s the point.

So I gather you’re anti-medication.
Criquette: Ah yes, that’s terrible. That’s one thing that we have to fight in this country. You can’t give any medication, and that’s very good. Nothing.

And when you do get a bleeder you have to send it somewhere like America, where it can race and will usually go to stud afterwards.
Criquette: Yes, it’s like that. It’s terrible for all the matings. Here in this country we’ve got less stallions maybe, but they’re all sound. We’ve got much more sound horses than they do in the States. I think they should be stricter on medication. Mind you, they race on dirt, and it’s hard on horses to train on dirt. Without any medication they would have no runners. But me, I’m in favour of no medication. I think a trainer should train. The trainer shouldn’t be a chemist. I’m against everything. A lame horse shouldn’t run. A sick horse shouldn’t go on the racecourse. It’s so simple – those horses should not run.

Where does the breeding industry stand today?
Alec: I’m a bit sad at the moment to see these two big operations. That’s what Miss Kirsten Rausing said the other day in a speech. In my opinion she was right, because it’s not good when you have too big a monopoly. There’s a lot of other breeders that would like to buy a stallion and try to make a living. They cut them off, and they don’t have a chance.
Criquette: That’s why there’s less and less breeders.
Alec: Luckily, for the moment in America, it’s such a strong country you have other people. You need people to spend and buy. That’s our problem today in France, we don’t have many young new breeders to come in. We used to have quite a number. Now you can count them on one hand. It’s like breeding those stallions to 200 mares. It stops other horses from having a chance to make it.
Criquette: And it’s bad for racing. It’s no good.
Alec: Everybody criticised [Rausing]. I congratulated her. I said, “You had the courage to say what you thought.” She didn’t say anything bad. It’s not because you say that it’s not good that you’re saying anything bad.
Criquette: It’s like me saying the bookies are bad for racing. It’s true. The bookies, they won’t agree with me. I had a call from England saying, “How dare you say things like that?” and I said, “I’m going to say it again and again and again.” I can have that opinion, that I think they kill racing. But Rausing said what she felt.

As the newly elected Chair of the European Trainers Federation you will have to deal with many touchy agendas. I know the bookie situation you just referenced is very important to you.
Criquette: I’m very against the bookmakers and I’ll do everything I can to stop them. The system that we’ve got in France, the pari-mutuel, is very well organised and it gives a lot of money back to racing so it helps a lot of the people who work in racing. We don’t want to see the bookies taking all the money from us and not giving anything back.

So what can you do?
Criquette: I don’t know, but we’re going to fight. I’ve seen things, where the bookies have a big horse with a lot of money on his back and you find that horse doesn’t run exactly to what was expected, and you could always think that something was funny. In Germany there’s no racing because of them, in Italy racing’s gone down, in Belgium there’s no more racing – all because of the bookies. They came in very nicely saying they would help, and then after time they took everything from them, so I think it would be unfair to force a country to change. It’s unfair to try to put everyone on the same level. There are 34,000 people working directly from racing and 162,000 people working around racing. So that’s a huge amount of people, a huge amount of money goes into your country for your country. You’ve got the proof all around that every country who has them went down, and we’re not going to let the country go down because, the EU internal market commissioner, Mr McCreevy wants to have everyone on the same level. It’s impossible.

And the tie-in with the prize money?
Criquette: In England the prize money’s going down, it’s getting worse and worse. In France we’re going up, and they’re going down and down, and we don’t want to see that. In France we haven’t got all those sponsors who put money in. In England they’re better off because they’ve got big sponsors, and that’s not our case; here the money goes back because the pari-mutuel is organised like that and it puts all the money in. We’ve got premiums for breeders, for French owners, for French horses even if the owner is from America or wherever. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have the money, and the day the bookies come in it’s over, there won’t be any more money. We won’t drop in one year. It’ll take time, but it will decline completely and we’ll be like all those other countries. Look at America: they’ve got the pari-mutuel. That’s why it’s working.

What about other problems, like home-grown staffing shortages?
Criquette: We’re not allowed in this country to bring people in like they do in England. It’s hard to find people. Our government is trying to make us employ French people who haven’t got any jobs, but it’s difficult to find people who are good enough to work with horses, so it’s quite complicated. We’re going to ask the government to let us import people from countries where they like horses. So far in France we’re not allowed to employ them. It will change, I suppose, in 2008. They’ll open something to let us bring people to work in France.

Alec, you yourself have overseen some major changes or improvements during your time as a trainer.
Alec: My jockey was the first one to wear goggles in Europe. There were big headlines in all the papers about the French jockey wearing goggles. I think in the States they were already wearing them. It’s like the helmet. That came gradually. I used to ride with a helmet over jumps in my day, but we didn’t used to have them on the flat. I was one of the ones who got the French to use the starting stalls. I pushed very much for that. We used to have a couple of jockeys that were better than the others at the start, so it was important to bring the stalls in. It was a big fight because lots of trainers found excuses, they were against them. There’s always somebody.

This year marks 50 years since you bought Quesnay. How did you acquire it?
Alec: I bought the farm with my dad. He was away because he used to go down to the south of France with his horses in the winter, and I bought the farm in December or January. I did the whole deal, and he said, “Okay, I’ll go in with you.” So we bought it together and he came back from the south in February. And of course the first thing he said was, “Let’s go and see that farm we’ve bought.” We opened the gates, drove in and he said, “You must be crazy. We’re going to ruin ourselves in this place.”

So you didn’t tell him the extent of how what bad condition it was in when you asked him to go in on it with you?
Alec: No, no. No! My mother was a lovely lady, and when I asked him, she said, “Listen, if he buys it, let’s go, it must be okay.” I told them when we bought it, “It’s in bad shape. We’re going to have a lot of work to put it back to being a good looking place.” So he said okay but he didn’t realise it was that bad. Imagine a farm untouched for ten years, the roof, trees, broken fences.
Criquette: Since the war, Papa, there was no one there.
Alec: In 1940 the war broke out. We bought it in ’58. It was in a terrible state, my God.
Criquette: Going up the main alley the grass, the weeds were very tall. It was incredible.

How did the farm survive its Nazi occupation duing World War II?
Alec: We didn’t have any fighting in this area because the Allies went straight to Paris. And when the Germans started retreating they had to get out quickly, because they were all going to be trapped. That was very lucky because the German general commanding the whole of Normandy used to live in the house. It was camouflaged, the whole place, the yard, everything. In the boxes you can still see some of that green stuff. We found the bunkers that they built. I blew up quite a number of small ones, but there’s three big ones we couldn’t. We’d blow the whole place up. They’ve got walls as wide as this table.
Criquette: And they’re very close to the house.
Alec: It was lucky because behind what Vanderbilt built there were still a lot of good things that the Germans couldn’t break up.

What has been your greatest success?
Alec: On the racecourse, the greatest success was Three Troikas, because she was owned by us, trained by my daughter, ridden by my son. You can’t do much better than that, unless the stable boy that looks after it is your grandson or something. That was a great thing.

The biggest challenge?
Alec: To try to keep on top in this business. That’s a big challenge, because it’s tough to be always near the top. I’ve had my bad days and my problems. I had a great jockey who died in my arms. That was a very sad moment. Terrible. On top of it all he was a nice fellow. I had to call his wife to tell him that her husband had been killed on the racecourse. And that’s no fun. That was one of the worst times of my life. I sold the horse straight away, and I changed my colours. They were my grandfather’s colours.
Criquette: You wouldn’t like to see those colours again on someone.

And you Criquette, your biggest challenge? The cancer?
Criquette: Yes, yes of course.

Another battle you won.
Criquette: Yes, I hope so. You never know if you win it really. But anyhow, that could be one but let’s think about things nicer than that.

Your greatest success, then.
Criquette: I don’t know which one. There’s a few. Let’s say the first horse you win a Group I with. That was Sigy in the Prix de l’Abbayé. She was very, very fast. When she won the Abbayé she was a two-year-old [against older horses]. I think the first Group I is something that you remember always. And the Arc of course, and then all my wins, I would say, all the wins I can get. It’s a big achievement, whatever you win, a small race, a big race. You remember the big ones, but it’s hard to bring a bad horse to the racecourse and win with it.
Alec: You know what I say, a winner a day keeps the doctor away.

How do you stay so young?
Criquette: He works hard, that’s why.
Alec: No, not these days I don’t work very hard. I don’t know. Good genes.

What do you want to be your lasting legacy?

Alec: The one thing I’d like to be remembered for? That I raised a nice family. I mean, that’s the best thing in the long run, all the family – the children, the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren, because I’ve got quite a number of them.

TRM Trainer of Quarter - Steve Hobby

Steve Hobby's breakout meet at Oaklawn Park this spring may not include a training title, but Hobby was conceding nothing in late March when he trailed defending Oaklawn champion Steve Asmussen, the runaway national leader in both victories and earnings, by just two wins, 21-19.

"I would love to be leading trainer, but realistically, he's just so powerful right now," Hobby said with 2 ½ weeks left in the Oaklawn meet. "I'm going to try to beat him."
Even if he doesn't, Hobby's Oaklawn meet was dazzling right from the start when he posted five wins, 11 seconds and four thirds in the first 11 days, validating his decision to nearly double his stable size from 25 to 40.
"This is home for us," the 51-year-old trainer said. "A lot of our clients live in this area. They're in the stands every day. So it's a big deal for us to do good. We gear up for this meet."
It shows. On March 15th Isabull finished third in the $300,000 Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, stamping his ticket to the $1 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby for Hobby's biggest client, Alex Lieblong, the president of a financial advisory firm in Little Rock. Lieblong and his wife Joann continue to purchase well-bred yearlings and two-year-olds hoping to latch onto a Kentucky Derby starter.
The very next afternoon, Hobby recorded his first training triple at Oaklawn Park, winning with Real Officer and Wolf Branch for the Lieblongs and with Mama's Lil'Mon, one of five horses Hobby claimed at the meet for Bill Hardin, a retired FBI agent, and his wife, Jane.
Hobby's other major owner is Carol Ricks, who campaigned the retired million-dollar earner Chindi and now concentrates on breeding, though she also races. "Right now, I've got a nice situation," Hobby said. "Alex is a high-end buyer, Bill Hardin likes claiming and Carol is a breeder."
Chindi, who retired three years ago at the age of 11, has discovered a second career as Hobby's stable pony. "He likes that," Hobby said. "He's really happy. He raced for nine years. It's the only thing he knows."
Hobby, too. He grew up in Englewood, Colorado, where he learned the horse business from his dad, Gerald, a trainer who became a steward. Hobby worked for his dad, then rode for four years before turning to training in 1976. He started out with Quarter Horses in the late 1970s in Colorado and New Mexico, then transitioned to Thoroughbreds thanks to Ricks'late husband, Ran. "I got fortunate and hooked up with Ran Ricks," Hobby said. "He got me out of New Mexico and into this part of the world."
 
Hobby ran Ricks'farm and trained his stable for several years before adding on new clients. After training at Oaklawn Park from 1985 through 1988, Hobby raced at Remington Park in Oklahoma when it opened in 1988 and returned to Hot Springs in the early ‘90s. He and his wife, Metzie bought a house in Hot Springs seven years ago.
Hobby has trained multiple major stakes winners Brush With Pride and Belle of Cozzene, and hopes to add Isabull to the list. "He's still very immature; he's still learning," Hobby said. "I think he's got a lot of room for improvement."
If he improves enough to make an impact in the Arkansas Derby, Hobby could have a starter in this year's Kentucky Derby. "I hope I have that decision to make," he said.
He is not weighing a decision to move away from Oaklawn Park. "I love it here," he said.
When Oaklawn closes in mid-April, Hobby shifts his stable to Arlington, then to Churchill Downs and Prairie Meadows.
If his stable continues to prosper, he may be moving to higher-profile meets. "When you win, people notice you," he said. "My wife and I can go anywhere. We'll go anywhere our horses take us."

By: Bill Heller- (26 June 2008 - Issue Number 6)

Eco-trainers - turning a profit from manure

Chantilly trainers have gone green and are soon to be the envy of their contemporaries around the world with a ground-breaking manure-disposal project. Faced with piles of manure, the bane of all trainers’ lives, Chantilly professionals are working together to launch a pioneering scheme which looks set to solve all their problems and at the same time reap both environmental and financial rewards.

The 10-million euro project, which should be operational towards the end of 2009, is at the cutting edge of technology and consists of using a process of methanisation to convert the waste into electricity which will then be sold to the EDF (French Electricity Board), and into heat which will be used locally.

CHANTILLY TRAINERS LEAD THE WAY

With some 2500 thoroughbreds currently in training in and around the towns of Chantilly, Gouvieux and Lamorlaye, the region is France’s leading training centre and among the most prestigious sites for preparing racehorses in the world. A further 700 polo ponies and 800 riding horses are stabled in the area to make a grand total of 4,000 equine inhabitants. Slightly less glamorous than the haul of Group 1 victories which the four-legged stars of Chantilly bring home each season is the waste they produce. Each horse creates one tonne of manure per month. The muckheaps of Chantilly are overflowing and a solution is urgently needed.

Dual-purpose handler Richard Crépon was one of the first to react to the issue, and in early 2006 he became president of the Lamorlaye Bio-Resources Association. “We started to research ways to deal with our large quantities of manure and initially came up with the idea of converting it into compost, or incineration. Local farmers made a small contribution by spreading shavings-based manure on their land. But none of these systems were perfect and we realised that we needed to take control of the situation ourselves”. It was then that the current CUMA (Co-operative for the Utilization of Agricultural Material) was born, again under the presidency of Crépon.

All of Chantilly and the surrounding area’s hundred or so licence holders, as well as the towns’ riding school, livery and polo proprietors, have been invited to invest the modest sum of 100 euros to join the co-operative which, as Crépon explains, “needs manure in order for our project to be feasible”. The CUMA’S methanisation project offers a mutually-beneficial solution to a relatively new problem.

Until recently trainers had been able to rely on the abundance of mushroom producers in Chantilly to dispose of their troublesome “by-product”. The farmers had chosen Chantilly for its combination of an unending supply of the horse manure necessary for their fungus to grow, and the geological characteristics of the surrounding area. Chantilly is built on valuable limestone which has been excavated over the centuries, notably to construct the spectacular Grandes Ecuries and Chateau which give such charm to France’s Classic racecourse. The quarrying left vast underground caves perfect for mushroom cultivation and thirty years ago the area was home to around 25 mushroom farms. “They used to pay us to take away our manure. Nowadays, the industry has largely moved to Eastern Europe, leaving only 4 mushroom producers in Chantilly. We have trouble to get anyone to empty our manure pits and it costs more and more”. In Chantilly it now costs 15 euros per tonne for trainers to dispose of their organic waste.

TRAINERS WARY OF CURRENT POLLUTION RISK

Aside from the purely practical inconvenience of evacuating the tonnes of waste produced weekly, fellow trainer Tony Clout, making a regretful gesture towards a steaming skip full of manure, comments, “we don’t realise it, but we contribute to the greenhouse effect every day with all this manure”. Clout is another board member of the French Trainers’ Association who is an active player in the CUMA. Like all his trainer colleagues, he is primarily concerned by another form of pollution. “Horse manure is officially considered as a waste product and we are responsible for it until it has been completely destroyed. At the moment we have no control over where it ends up. In the current crazy situation, our manure is transported the length and breadth of France. It is always worrying to see piles of manure left standing in fields across the countryside, as they could easily have originated in our stables. There is a real risk that effluent from the waste will pollute the ground water in these instances and the trainer will be held liable and fined”.

PERFECT MOMENT TO ‘GO GREEN’

The increased environmental awareness on the part of the authorities, aside from making them more likely to take trainers to task for inadequate disposal of their waste, has another more beneficial side for the CUMA. “The timing has been ideal for us”, explains Crépon. “We started to think about environmentally-friendly ways to recycle our manure at the same time as the government was creating grants and finance schemes for exactly this type of project”. One such policy is that proposed by EDF, who pay a special tariff of 140 euros per megawatt hour (compared to usual rate 60 euros MW/h) for electricity produced by renewable sources. This price operates on the basis of a 15 year contract, which the CUMA has secured. “All this is possible thanks to our contract with EDF”, states Clout.

Although the finer details have yet to be settled, the principle behind the Chantilly project is the same as that used in Germany by around 4,000 methanisation plants for pig slurry. Nevertheless this will be the first time the technology has been used for horse manure. Bruno Battistini, consultant to the Lamorlaye Bio-Resource Association, explains, “We are setting a European and worldwide precedent. The pig manure operations are common in Germany and function in the same way as sewage processing plants as the slurry is highly-concentrated and in liquid form. However this is the first time anyone has attempted the process with dry matter, although it is similar to that used for household waste”. In France there are two such plants, in Calais and Lille, for recycling household waste but there remain a number of unknowns concerning Chantilly’s innovative project and the CUMA is still conducting research in conjunction with the INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) of Narbonne. “Our primary concern is to verify that our horse manure is compatible with the anaerobic breakdown process. We must also be sure of the levels and composition of the biogases produced, and finally that the equipment will stand the test of time”. At the current time, around 18 months before the project is due to leave the starting stalls, Battistini and the trainers are certain that the process will work with straw-based manure and are expecting confirmation from the INRA that shavings will be able to be recycled in the same conditions.

WHAT IS METHANISATION?

Methanisation is an anaerobic fermentation process through which the waste is decomposed by bacteria in an air-free environment. The manure will therefore be collected in giant sealed silos, where it will ferment to give off biogas consisting largely of methane and carbon dioxide. These gases will in turn be used to drive turbines which produce the electricity destined for EDF. “While EDF is our guarantee of income”, explains Battistini, “we have a legal obligation towards them according to which, in order to benefit from their favourable rates, we must not waste potential energy”. The latent heat generated during the methanisation process therefore becomes a secondary resource. In addition to its utility in heating the plant’s reactors, which need to be maintained at an operational temperature of 55°C, it will also be sold locally for heating purposes. A 1 ½ hectare site has been chosen for the plant, on land owned by the Institut de France and subsidised by France Galop. Its central location at Mont de Po, between the training centres of Chantilly and Lamorlaye, while being practical for trainers, is of vital logistical importance for the sale of the heat. Within just a few hundred metres of the site are the AFASEC jockeys’ school and the Bois Larris Red Cross Hospital, the two major clients whose heating systems are to be supplied by the warmth created by the turbines. Their proximity means that a minimal amount of heat will be lost during transfer. Another bonus with the location is that there is already a 20,000 volt cable running underground across the site to cater for the hospital, which means that no unsightly pylons will be required.

VALUABLE WASTE IS LEFT OVER FROM METHANISATION PROCESS

After the three-to-four-week methanisation process has been completed, around 60% of the initial volume will remain as biologically stable residue. “Our profitability is also dependent upon the use we make of this residue”, says Battistini. “The heat we sell to the hospital and the AFASEC will be running at 100% of its potential in December and January, however that will be reduced to 10% in the summer months. This seasonal issue will affect our global efficiency and in order to qualify for the subsidies on offer, we need to prove that we utilize at least 75% of the energy produced”. The solution to this final conundrum is to recycle the residue a second time to create fuel briquettes. The latent heat which is surplus to requirements over the summer will be used to dry, and then carbonise, the waste from the digestors at temperatures of up to 400°C. The resulting matter will be compressed into briquettes for use either in households or possibly by the AFASEC or the hospital if their boilers could be converted to use this type of fuel. The CUMA are also keen not to leave the remaining mushroom-growers in the lurch and are working together to determine whether the farms can make use of the residue.

A WELL SUPPORTED SCHEME

The project is expected to cost in the region of 10 million euros. “We have yet to finalize a finance plan as we are still awaiting the various technical validations from the INRA. When we have these we will be able to make an accurate evaluation of the cost of the plant and then source funding for our operation”. However Battistini does not have any concerns on this score. In addition to the EDF contract, a whole range of grants and support dedicated to the development of biomass projects and the recycling of waste are proposed on regional, national and European levels, including Grenelle Environment and Brussels. The scheme is supported by the government ministries of agriculture and environment as well as by Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service Eric Woerth, who is Mayor of the prestigious racing town.

Indeed the town of Chantilly itself, thanks to its status as a Pole d’Excellence Rurale (Centre of Rural Excellence), is eligible for European money dedicated to this type of project. Another source of income could quite simply be a bank loan. This may be more simple than it first appears, as Battistini confirms, “According to a law which was passed five or six years ago, all the major French high-street banks offer loans called ‘Sofergies’ which are dedicated to the financing of this type of equipment. The interest rate is negotiable but the real advantage of the idea is that banks must give priority to innovative projects such as ours which will produce renewable energy”. In the future, carbon credits may be recuperated by the CUMA, although there is still work to do on this front as they are currently only available for porcine and bovine schemes. Battistini intends to change this state of affairs. “We are lobbying the CITEPA (Technical Interprofessional Centre for the Study of Atmospheric Pollution) to convince them to change this ruling and hope to benefit from carbon credits within a year or two”.

OUTLAY WILL BE REPAID WITHIN A DECADE

Richard Crépon and Tony Clout aim to have written off the cost of the factory within seven or eight years, whereas Battistini offers the slightly more conservative estimate of ten years. Whoever is right on this minor issue, the CUMA seems assured of success on both economic and ecological levels. “Once we have repaid the cost of the plant, the trainers, who are the shareholders in the CUMA, will reap the financial benefits”, says Clout. “In the future we should be able to return to a situation in which trainers are paid for the removal of their manure, and not vice versa”. While the renewable energy supplied to EDF and local services will make a small impact on country-wide electricity production, the project is also advantageous in cutting down on primary pollution which currently originates from the currently steaming muckheaps of Chantilly.

The CUMA will seek to standardize manure storage for all the region’s trainers so that all waste is kept in covered pits or containers prior to transportation to the plant’s closed fermentors, thereby considerably reducing current methane emissions. While the project is far from completion, the ensemble of favourable circumstances mean that the members of Chantilly’s CUMA can be confident of a cleaner, cheaper future in which they will be in control of the manure their horses produce. Their progress will be followed with interest by trainers around Europe and the world.

Stabling and health specifically for racehorses

In looking at this subject, it is important to see the needs of the racehorse as being different from horses kept for any other sporting purpose. Its management, feeding, training and stabling are all critical and unique. For racing, all body organs must function efficiently and, in so much as these can be affected by stabling conditions, it might pay to take a critical look at the elements involved. Our discussion is particularly about the way stabling and stable management influence lowgrade or ‘sub-clinical’ disease. It is not about major diseases like flu or strangles, although aspects of stabling can affect the degree of illness as well as recovery times in these conditions too.

VARYING NEEDS Stabling standards differ from country to country and from season to season. Horses racing in a UK winter, for example, face more climatic fluctuations than in summer or than others might in warmer places, like Dubai, or Florida. Yet the principles of management are similar for all. The horse’s needs vary with prevailing conditions and change has to be recognised and accounted for. To limit infection, it is necessary to understand how organisms set up disease as well as how horses resist infection. In my lifetime, there has been a seachange in stabling ideas generally and it is appropriate to ask why and with what degree of logic. 1 An increased racehorse population from the Sixties onwards meant bigger yards, a movement towards barn-type buildings on economic grounds. The importance (and difficulty) of controlling temperatures and airflows was overlooked until problems arose and these were reflected in results on the track. 2 Condensation in old damp buildings, where water ran from walls and ceilings, was resolved by radically increasing ventilation. This reduced dampness – but the negative consequences brought an increase in lowgrade infection. 3 Vets treating horses with severe respiratory disease, like COPD, saw a need for more air. Bigger holes were made in stable walls, even between individual stables. No one asked if the fit racehorse, not being ill, might be unique in not tolerating this.

DEFENCE AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT It is essential to the health of racehorses that their stables are clean, warm and draft-free. The defences against infection operate best when environmental conditions are stable and unchanging, when there is warmth to maintain body temperature without a need to burn-off stored energy to combat the cold. Consider that the stabled horse cannot generate heat from movement and cannot remove itself from unhealthy or unpleasant conditions. In fact, with certain variations, the horse’s resistance to infection runs very close to that of humans in similar conditions. Having a thick skin and hairy coat does not prevent disease; besides, we are obliged to clip coats, automatically reducing the insulating influences of fat through the training programme. Furthermore, warm clothing cannot compensate for drafty airflows and a cold horse loses weight as well as the fuel it needs for work. It also loses some of its ability to resist infection at a cellular level. Add to this how intensive training affects fluid balance and demands fine tuning of all body systems, and disease at even a sub-clinical level is easier to understand.

RESISTANCE Natural resistance in otherwise healthy horses decides the length of time from infection to recovery and this, with most known organisms, is never open-ended. Resistance is, in fact, a measure of normal health that can be lost through disease, malnutrition or age. While recovery from debilitating conditions may be slow, sub-clinical infections should be overcome in days rather than weeks. Where this is not the case, external influences are likely to be involved. Stabling factors are a common cause. In recent times, all sorts of ‘medicines’ have been used to bolster resistance, but with little effect – because the answer frequently lies in the stable, not the horse.

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE In horse management generally, many ideas and accepted facts are anecdotal and always have been. That is, they have come by word of mouth, from the trial and error investigations of individuals rather than through scientific research. Racing history suggests our ancestors knew as much about the horse as we do today, that despite talk of new levels of fitness, modern training methods are superior to those of the past. Many old ideas came from people who relied on their horses for work, transport and enjoyment. They were never backed by science because it was never possible to do so. But poor science, based on assumption, is no better than anecdote and there has been much of that. Technology hasn’t helped either and we should never dismiss knowledge as ‘unscientific’ unless there is solid evidence against it. For example, some today keep their horses in Arctic-cold conditions while others speak of heating stables. Both cannot be right.

SUB-CLINICAL DISEASE The term ‘sub-clinical’ describes any disease condition where the symptoms are obscure, whatever the cause. In the main, it refers to viral and bacterial conditions where the affected animal is not obviously ill, but racing performance suffers. The organism, when isolated, might not be thought capable of causing disease. That it becomes so is a reflection of stress, something in the horse’s management that favours infection. There have been numerous examples in modern times. One reason acceptable research is lacking is because medicine has no fool-proof way of identifying sub-clinical infections, especially when the final measure is the racecourse. A negative laboratory finding is worthless if the horse runs badly and, in fact, no research into performance-related problems can ever be fruitful if lowgrade conditions are not accounted for. In the absence of science, of course, anecdotal evidence is all there is. But, to be acceptable, it must come from informed sources, from volume experience and the studied observation of people educated to see and know. It won’t come from those who interpret tests and machines, or from the experiences of those in non-racing areas.

DECISIONS ON BUILDING Stables are often built with cost a first priority, even with the comfort of humans put before horses. Then, when disease appears, questions are raised about whether or not building design might be a cause. Opinions have often been provided by individuals with no understanding of the elements involved. ‘Experts’ emerged from areas like pig management, which was novel. The needs of sedentary animals reared to produce fat are not the same as those in whom fat is distinctly unwanted. Ultimately, disease has to be dealt with by professionals. Any infection needs to be investigated to provide understanding and control. In an ideal world, organisms are isolated and identified. But, as we know, unexplained outbreaks – loosely described as ‘the virus’ - have ruined the careers of both horses and trainers. Their true cause might never have been defined, but a list of the victims contains some distinguished names as well as many who never got off the ground.

‘THE VIRUS’ In relating health and stabling then, we are addressing a problem that has plagued UK racing for years. Inevitably, busy yards are exposed to organisms that arrive from different sources and can cause disease at any time, sometimes leading to outbreaks that last long periods, belying accepted patterns. Mixed or sequential infections are a feature of this and one organism may simply follow another, or become re-activated, as appears to happen in herpes infections. Actually, the term ‘the virus’ means nothing specific. It can represent infection by a single virus, but more commonly reflects a lowering of resistance that gives opportunity to any organism going the rounds. The distinction between debilitating conditions and ‘the virus’ lies in the clinical effect. In a serious infection, a horse is sick and evidently so. With ‘the virus’, animals look healthy but are unable to show their form. A range of mild symptoms may be seen, but observers comment on how insignificant they are. Most eat and drink normally, look ‘big’ and well; others have dry coats, lose condition and seem to lack energy. The general view is that they are not sick, as trainers regularly insist. Some, that appear to work well, are only found wanting when raced. Looked at more closely, the lining membranes may be inflamed, lymph glands enlarged, there may be watery, or thicker, discharges from nose and eye. However mild, these are signs of disease. Lowgrade liver involvement may occur and is a serious impediment to racing. The horse will not return to form for months rather than weeks. Bleeding from the lungs is also more common in the presence of infection. It is likely to become chronic where the aggravating factors are not removed.

MEASURING FITNESS As a practising vet, I cut my diagnostic teeth on viral outbreaks that initially involved stud farms, then moved to racing with a view to defining the parameters of infection and monitoring horses as they returned from illness to full training. The task was to relate this to form on the course and, ultimately, to see if it was possible to diagnose with certainty and predict with any degree of accuracy. To do this, it was necessary to find a simple way of measuring health in a fully fit horse and to pit this against expectation, or effort on the track. An effective method had to give instant information, prove reliable and be consistent. It, ideally, needed to be effective the day before a race and would prove worthless if not accurate to a high degree. It was necessary, too, to recognise that a horse with no identifiable infection might have other physical problems, be unwilling or temperamental. So the exercise was complex and movement, for a racing animal, is as important as heart-beat or lung expansion. THE HEART An idea came after Roberto, an Irish Derby favourite trained by M. V. O’Brien, ran down the field; and the belief that such a performance had to be predictable through the heart’s action, which it would have been. While the technique doesn’t have a wide use, because of the complexity of issues and the difficulties of interpretation, it has proved extremely useful in evaluating management factors that influence health and stabling. The heart of a healthy racing animal is obliged to operate with ease and strength during work, the ability for which is best judged when at rest in the stable, preferably some hours after exercise. As training progresses, it adapts to its greater workload and strengthens; the resting beat-per-minute (bpm) rate also reduces. The sounds in a healthy horse are consistent and reliable, although there are many normal variations as well as changes that verge towards the clinical. They can, with experience, be interpreted to provide a reliable measure of health in a fit horse. There is a whole range of factors that might influence heart sounds, not just illness or infection, and the predictability of peformance relies as much on precisely how fit an animal is as on its state of health. The task of evaluating sounds is complex, too, and the variety of changes from normality is extensive. Any imposition on the heart’s working capacity (by infection, dehydration, anaemia) brings changes that are recognisable with a stethoscope, therefore open to interpretation; they can be related to performance capacity once all necessary information is included in the opinion. The extremes of heart function are heard in serious clinical infection (when the beat is usually loud and the bpm elevated) and with the least intrusive organisms (when changes are more subtle). The likely influence on peformance is often a fine judgment, especially so where infection is slight and the horse is overcoming it.

RESEARCH All this, of course, is subjective, therefore unlikely to satisfy scientists, but it works in the field and makes it possible to understand and differentiate between causes in a way that other systems cannot. Infection is probably the most common cause of performance disappointment. By using this kind of monitoring, it is possible to move affected animals from one stable to another and evaluate how they react and how quickly infection is overcome, the racecourse being a critical test of the decisions made. Thousands of horses in a variety of management conditions have provided private research facilities with material and are the basis of the opinions expressed here. Many horses were monitored on a daily basis, even through the course of a racing season. There are, sadly, no records, but the opinions have come from many years of working with both Flat and National Hunt animals, in yards that varied in size from a handful to a hundred-plus. As a general rule, no attempt was made to isolate organisms – mainly because of past problems with isolation and interpretation. At times, organisms were isolated which, on all the evidence, looked responsible for disease yet were considered at laboratory level to be insignificant. While this situation may have changed, the necessity clinically is to assess the situation and act; there is no time for delay. In most of my work, the diagnosis of infection was based purely on symptoms. Old and new yards were involved, old and young horses, old and modern buildings, barns as well as single-stable units. It proved possible to relate performance to specific conditions and origins. Once the complexity of the exercise was overcome, it was simple to assess infection and follow it through its course from start to return of full performance expression.

Distinguishing between the responses of horses kept in different stabling and environmental conditions became routine. Even in infected yards, some were kept racing while others about them were ill, as long as the management elements were understood and permitted it. The very successful jumps trainer Fulke Walwyn achieved great success at a time when very different attitudes pertained to today. Known as ‘a windows man’, it was common for him to be seen adjusting windows in an effort to control airflows as conditions and temperatures changed. His horses ran with great consistency, as did those of Tom Dreaper, who appears to have held similar principles, judged by pictures of Arkle in his stable. Perhaps both knew from instinct things we overlook now, or they may simply have followed the advice of their forebears without giving it too much thought. Finally, it needs to be stressed that this exercise was conducted on fundamentally healthy horses, to interpret and control performance on the track. For it to work, management generally has to be of the highest standard and that applies to everything that surrounds the life of a racing animal

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Pre-race deterrents - how its surroundings can affect a horse's race

It is an ordinary raceday at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse. I am taking my notes by the pre-parade ring. This pre-parade ring is much better than the one over at the July Course, I say to myself. It is a relaxing place for the horses, not least for the young horses. Quite spacious, it is an inviting place. At the July Course, on the other hand, the pre-parade ring is charmingly embraced by tall trees. That, however, makes it a tight and enclosed place, not one for the claustrophobics among us, be it on two or four legs. Trees on all sides and a fence on the one side also mean that the horses cannot see what is making that odd sound, when a trolley is being pushed along on metal wheels on the tarmac just a couple of yards away. Or glass is being smashed into a bottle bank behind the fence.

No, the Rowley Mile is a much nicer place to stretch one’s legs before a race. It must be. Then, as a ten-year-old gelding walks calmly past me, something odd happens. And it makes me think. The old gelding virtually explodes. From having walked around so quietly, getting ready for his 39th race, he swirls round, then kicks out three or four times, hitting the plastic rail again and again. The rail goes to bits, the handler manages to control the horse with one hand, while the animal is still shaking and looking worried. Why with only one hand? Because the other hand is holding a mobile phone.

A couple of weeks later I see another horse who spooks violently from having been seemingly relaxed, as it is being led past a spectator whose mobile phone rings. Do racehorses react to mobile phones? Most people would probably say no, and perhaps these incidents were pure coincidences. However, they do lead us to an interesting thought: what are the most common deterrents in the preliminaries to a race? How can racecourses improve in this department, and how can a trainer best prepare to avoid, or at least minimise, the effects of various deterrents? Another question is, of course, is it in the best interest of safety to let handlers use mobile phones when leading up horses for races? Perhaps there are enough risk factors around them already.

Some trainers are noticeably good at delaying their horses, in particular their juveniles, on the way to the paddock, ensuring that the runner experiences as little stress as possible before the race. What is it that they are trying to avoid? Surely, letting the horse have a little walk, and loosen up, before he canters down to the start is a good move. Still, time and time again one sees horses that are deliberately late entering the paddock, making just one of two laps in front of the public, then leaves the paddock to go down to post. Many trainers also take a dislike to the parades prior to big races, as the walk in front of the stands can upset the horse, and make it nervous. This can be described as another ‘deterrent’ but some have voiced the opinion that a parade is a part of the test for a racehorse. Just like breaking smartly from the stall, travelling with ease through the race, and being able to quicken when it’s needed. What is the main difference here? The main difference is of course that racehorses are being trained to do all these things, they are given plenty of practice at home. But for one thing, they never practice a parade. Not even in the prep races leading up a big race, where a parade is required, offer the chance of practicing a parade.

Horses are animals of habit. Thoroughbred racehorses are much happier, more relaxed, when they know what is going on and what is expected of them, than when they are faced with a new scenario. A racehorse with some experience knows that, when he is led out of the paddock onto the track, he is expected to canter down to the start. Is it then so peculiar that he gets worked up on the day when the handler does not let him go, the jockey takes a hold of the reins and both humans try to make him keep walking. Could this have the same effect as it has on a dog to take a strong, firm grip on the lead when a stranger approaches? To most dogs, this is a bad signal, and they normally assume that the stranger represents a danger. Hence the owner’s strong grip.

Horses are not as intelligent as dogs but it is my guess that many of them do get extra anxious when they are asked to do a parade before a race. It is something new, it is something unexpected, and the horse simply wonders why this is happening. Can we put it on our list of deterrents? Yes, doing a parade can probably be called a deterrent. On a normal raceday, however, there are no parades. There are other phases the horse needs to negotiate, before the race is off and running. From travelling to the racecourse, being saddled, going to the paddock, to eventually being loaded into the starting stalls. When asking a keen paddock watcher which deterrents are observed the most in the preliminaries, we get this short list as a reply: Loud intermittent noise (like car alarms), windy rain, children running towards the paddock screaming and musical bands too close to the paddock area. It is a varied mix, don’t you think? One common denominator is simply, something the horse did not expect.

Yorkshire trainer Mark Johnston has some interesting views. “There will always be deterrents when a horse goes racing”, he says. “In my opinion, the most unnecessary of these are the bands many racecourses have. Often they are far too close to the paddocks, and this causes a risk. Also, the big screens at the racecourses can be a problem. Don’t get me wrong, I think these screens are good, and we all like to have them, but when they put a screen up at Goodwood the horses seemed never to able to take their eyes off them. It is too low. There is also a big screen close to the horses in the paddock at the Newmarket Rowley Mile course, but this one is higher up and does not bother the horses at all. In the pre-parade ring at the same course, there is big statue of Brigadier Gerard in the middle, and some horses get scared by it. There are many things that can be called deterrents. “I think the whole idea of saddling boxes sighted by the public is misplaced, and this can cause problems”, Johnston continues. “It is an attraction for the racegoer but not in the best interest of the horse. It is almost like letting fans into the dressing room at Old Trafford before Manchester United play a match. Of course, everyone would agree that would be ridiculous. All we want is to get the horse to the race in the best possible way, and to saddle in a poor, uninviting saddling box, with lots of people quite close, is not ideal.” Sir Mark Prescott takes the same view: “The one thing you can do to avoid that the horse ‘chucks it away’ before the race is to saddle in the stables, when you can get permission and when it is feasible to do so. I think it is interesting to note that Aidan O’Brien always saddles his horses outside, obviously thinking that they are then less likely to be upset. We all have our little ideas, which may or may not help.” When we talk about paddocks, pre-parade rings and saddling boxes, which are the better courses? “The paddock at Longchamp must be one of the best in the world”, Johnston says. “You know how packed it is on Arc day, and how noisy it can get, yet the horses are always calm and relaxed there. I believe that is because the crowd is higher up, and also because the horses cannot see open spaces. Horses don’t like seeing unfamiliar open spaces. When it comes to saddling arrangements, the best courses in Britain are Haydock and Ayr, where we saddle in the stables right next to the paddock”.

The issue of upsetting factors for horses prior to races are obviously related to young horses, more than older and experienced horses. “Yarmouth, for example, is a good place for a juvenile to make his debut”, Johnston says. “We saddle in the stable, there is no pre-parade ring, the paddock is right next to the course and there is not a walk out to the racecourse.” Yarmouth is 240 miles away from Johnston’s base in Middleham but he often sends juveniles to the seaside course, which is just 70 miles away from Newmarket. It is easy to see why trainers Newmarket trainers like Henry Cecil, Sir Michael Stoute and John Gosden run many of their debutants at Yarmouth. “One bad place for juveniles, however, is the July Course in Newmarket”, Johnston comments. “The pre-parade ring there is dangerous, sooner or later someone will get kicked. It is too tight, there are too many people there and the area is often very noisy.” Johnston is not at all keen on another place either, the much closer to home racecourse at York, where a long walk is required before racing. “This is the worst place”, he says, “we need to walk the horses all the way across the Knavesmire from the stables to get to the paddock. One can get special permission and take them around in the horsebox, but that is not at all practical, with parking problems and so on. Horses often get upset when walked across the track like this”.

When we mention parades, Johnston’s opinion is that they should be “scrapped altogether”. He continues, “cantering the horses down in racecard order should be fine and become the standard”, he says, “but parades are not good. I do not feel it is right to expect a racehorse to parade for big races. They are not used to it and many get stirred up. It can also give you an advantage, though, as I found out when I trained Bijou d’Inde. Nothing fazed him and he was like a big, old police horse. Other horses, like Quick Ransom and Yavana’s Pace, always got upset in a parade.”

Racecourses allow music, crowds quite close to the horses in the saddling areas and pre-parade rings, but virtually every racecard has a warning about flash photography – something they do not allow. “This is quite interesting”, Johnston says, “as I have never seen a horse being bothered by a flash from a camera.” Camera flashes are very quick, probably much quicker than most people would guess. Mostly they light up for only between 1/800 second to 1/20,000 second (though there are some high-speed mode cameras giving out series of flashes, each of about 1/300 sec.). Can horses catch these flashes of light? According to Rayetta Burr, a two-time Eclipse Award winning photographer working for Benoit & Associates at Santa Anita and Hollywood Parks in California, where they stage some twilight meetings, the use of flash is not upsetting horses. She says, “Regarding flash photography in the paddock or winners’ circle, this has never been a problem here on the West Coast”. It seems that racecourse managements are focusing on something that really is no problem, while totally overlooking other risk factors.

Henry Cecil has an interesting comment, when we ask him about deterrents in the preliminaries. “I feel that the most incidents occur due to horses being upset in the paddock by umbrellas”, he says. Of course! An umbrella cannot be a good thing to swing around a racehorse, not least since they are in use on wet, sometimes windy days, when the horse will be a bit on edge anyway. My suspicion of mobile phones, on the other hand, does not get professional support. Mark Johnston is not too concerned. “I have no experience of horses getting upset by phones”, he explains. “Obviously, we are not too happy if the handler is on the phone when leading up the horse, but I do not think the sounds from phones are a risk. Our senior riders always carry a mobile phone”.

So, my theory that the old gelding smashing that rail at Newmarket did so because his handler was answering the phone may not hold much credence. Johnston must have seen thousands of horses close to ringing and active mobile phones. Other than distracting the handler, which can be bad enough, they do not cause a risk. A crowded saddling box, a loud band, the sight of an umbrella, a big screen or the prospect of a rather bouncy parade, are factors far more likely to put the thoroughbred off balance prior to a race. And, different as they are, these factors have one thing in common: unlike wind and rain, they should all be easy to eliminate.

Pilates For Horses - enhancing performance and reducing injuries

Pilates is increasingly used amongst professional athletes as a method to enhance athletic performance and to reduce injuries.

Nicole Rossa (European Trainer - issue 21 - Spring 2008)

Eoin Harty - profile of the former assistant to Bob Baffert

Therewas always an air of levity at Bob Baffert's barn when Eoin Harty worked there. Not that the game they played wasn't serious. It was. Preparing 1,000-pound equine athletes with spindly legs to perform at their peak on the world's stage is not a job for anyone in short pants.

During the seven years Harty was Baffert's assistant, they won the Kentucky Derby twice–with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998–and missed by a heart-breaking nose with Cavonnier in 1996. But in between the regimented tedium, there was always time for a good hoot. Fact is, it was and still is part of Baffert's DNA.
"He's got a sense of humor," Baffert said of Harty. "He has a good disposition and we liked to have a lot of fun, so he fit in well."

But work came first, and Harty had his priorities in order. His foundation was ingrained. Lean and sinewy with chiseled features, Harty hails from a family of Irish horsemen that extends back at least five generations. His grandfather, great grandfather, and great-great grandfather were trainers in their native Ireland. Eoin (pronounced Owen) began to hone his craft under the learned wing of the late John Russell before joining with Baffert, who saw a master in the making.

"Eoin showed up every day," Baffert recalled. "He works hard and he's passionate about what he does, and I like that in all my assistants. He made sacrifices that have to be made in this business. He loves what he does."

Not that Harty doesn't have a touch of rebel in him. In fact, it was his streak of independence and his flair for adventure that brought him to America, not loyalty to convention. His sense of humor, indigenous to the Irish, helped, too. Asked how his clan developed their wit, Harty said it was "a case of poverty and depravation." Still, it was not mandated that he follow in his forebearers' footsteps.

"No, it was not pre-ordained that I would train horses," Harty said. "I left high school and came over here. I can't say I graduated; my time in high school was up, so that's why I ended up here. There was nothing going on in Ireland. Jobs were really hard to find. It was pretty much a third-world economy at the time, and America's the land of opportunity."

Following one year working for the Irish National Stud, Harty came to the United States at the age of 17.
"I had always worked around horses as a kid, so when I came here in 1981, I got a job at the track and worked for John Russell for a long time," Harty said. "He was winding down and Bob was starting up and I was lucky enough to get a job.

"I learned common horsemanship and basic training methods. Both were very good trainers, just different. John trained a lot of European grass horses and was kind of old school. Bob was more into developing 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. They had different philosophies."

Harty struck out on his own in 2000 and was hired by Godolphin to take over the Darley Stud Management arm of Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's racing empire, with emphasis on developing young runners, an undertaking termed Godolphin's "American project."

In his second full season, he saddled Tempera to win the 2001 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She earned an Eclipse Award for her achievement, but in 2002 was euthanized due to colitis and laminitis. Training her was a challenge.

"We tried to work together on Tempera," recalled David Flores, who rode her in the Juvenile Fillies. "She was not an easy filly and Eoin did a great job getting her to settle down, because she was one that wanted to run off. She was kind of flighty, but he got her to relax. I was so pleased when she was ready to go to the Breeders' Cup, and it was mainly due to Eoin's perseverance."

Now, if the fates allow, the clock of destiny will click Harty towards the Kentucky Derby on May 3, thanks to a robust 3-year-old named Colonel John, one of 25 horses Harty has in training at Santa Anita. A bay son of two-time Horse of the Year Tiznow owned by the Versailles, Kentucky-based WinStar Farm of Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner, Colonel John was preparing for the Santa Anita Derby at press time and was a leading Kentucky Derby contender. The colt looked like a million bucks in the post parade for the Sham Stakes on March 1 before winning that race, handing El Gato Malo his first defeat in the process.

In measured terms, Harty discussed the possibility of Colonel John capturing the Run for the Roses, a race in which Harty has never flown solo.

"I think Colonel John is good enough to run well, but I don't know if he's good enough to win," Harty said. "He's certainly good enough to show up and I feel pretty confident that he's a contender."

Winning the Derby would be a crowning achievement, of course, but not necessarily one that would perpetuate the Harty family custom to the next generation. Eddie, the 15-year-old son of Eoin and his wife, Kathleen, is not destined to be a horseman.

"Racing is a 24-7 business, with no days off, no vacations and no benefits," Harty said. "You have to love it and I wouldn't want him to do it unless he wanted to. I wouldn't push him. It's a tough life. There's got to be a better way to make a living."

Not that Eoin Harty is looking for one, especially if he wins the Kentucky Derby.

Then he can laugh all the way to the winner's circle.

26 June 2008 - Issue Number: 6

Ed Halpern's observations on being a horse trainer

Training thoroughbred horses is a wonderful occupation. Many who quit training miss it for the remainder of their life. Why then is it that the community of thoroughbred horse trainers seems so unhappy? Even the most successful of trainers walks around in the morning head down. During training hours, if you engage in conversation with a trainer, it will most likely be a serious conversation. In trackside conversations, trainers can be smiling and engaging, but there is usually a sense that their minds are on other things. I also observe in many an anger that lies just below the surface waiting to reveal itself at the slightest provocation. Sure there is humorous repartee, but it is covered by the shadow of failure. This is a subject I have wanted to look at for a long time, but I have hesitated because it always sounds like whining.

Certainly, we have nothing to whine about. We work in some of the most beautiful settings to be found anywhere: Del Mar, Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Saratoga. We work outdoors. We work with animals. Unlike doctors or judges, our decisions are not life and death. Unlike our young soldiers in Iraq, we don't have to deal with snipers or bombs hidden along our paths. Unlike stockbrokers, our decisions are not likely to bring financial ruin or even great harm to our clients. Unlike criminal lawyers, our mistakes are not likely to end in a jail sentence for a client. The investments made in racing by most of our clients are made with disposable income. If a life is changed because of what we do, most likely it is because someone hits the jackpot or spent unforgettable moments in the winners circle. So, why the long faces?

Training horses successfully is a very difficult pursuit. I once told a friend I was going to become a thoroughbred horse trainer and he observed, "Why would you want to go into a profession that is programmed for failure?" (Some would say I have lived up to his expectations.) He was right. Very few trainers are financially successful. He was right, even that small fraternity of trainers who make a decent living face some kind of failure every day. And he was dead on right because even the superstars lose 5 or 6 times for each time they win. Even Hall of Fame trainers can lose 9 out of 10 times and do it year after year after year.

Training horses is a very demanding pursuit. Once in a great while, a trainer gets to give an owner good news, but most of the time, it is a trainer's fate to convey bad news. It is very hard to get used to doing that. One is required to get up early, work long hours, work seven days a week, forgo vacations, and give up time with one's family. The job requires attention to every detail. Because of the trainer-insurer rule, a trainer without any culpability can find himself on the wrong end of a medication violation and be subject to fines, disqualifications, public ridicule, and humiliation. In addition thereto, a trainer has to depend on the skills and loyalty of grooms, hotwalkers, exercise riders, and jockeys.  In many cases, the program that the trainer has outlined is in the hands of others and totally outside the control of the trainer. The best laid plans for a workout can go totally awry; a well-planned slow workout can go fast, and a well-planned fast workout can go slow. After months of preparation, a race can be a fiasco caused by other horses, other jockeys, or one's own jockey, and all in the course of a few minutes.

Finally, training horses is a heartbreaking pursuit. Some mornings, a shed row will resemble a hospital emergency room. Each morning brings new injuries, new illnesses, and a plethora of other problems. Even if racing or training injuries are avoided, horses have nothing to do all day but find ways to hurt themselves. Sooner or later, they usually do. It matters not if a horse is a superstar or a cheap claimer, a career can end in the blink of an eye. Therefore, it is a trainer's lot to live while always holding his or her breath, at least a little bit.

It is no wonder that, on the surface, so many trainers seem so unhappy or overwhelmed with worry. But few would give it up. Many are octogenarians before they retire. Some breathe their last breath in the barn area. There is no occupation that offers higher highs or lower lows. Ultimately, the moments of joy outweigh the hours of disappointment. There is enough happiness in those moments to make it all worthwhile. For those who dedicate their lives to the training of horses, satisfaction is found in the entire process. Catch a trainer away from the stress of the workplace for a few minutes and you are likely to find that he or she is one of the happiest people you know.


Ed Halpern
 (26 June 2008 - Issue Number: 6)

TRM Trainer of the Quarter - Ian Williams

The TRM Trainer of the Quarter goes to Ian Williams who has been training for over ten years and, having served lengthy apprenticeships with Jenny Pitman, Francois Doumen and Martin Pipe, it comes as no surprise that the Alvechurch handler has landed one of England's most sought-after races.

James Crispe (European Trainer - Issue 22 / Summer 2008) 

Tom Amoss - the secret behind his amazing success rate

THIS IS A SCANNED IN ARTICLE - FROM OUR PRE DIGITAL DAYS!

This article first appeared in North American Trainer - Spring 2008 - issue 7

Pelvic asymmetry in racehorses - increased risk of injury?

By Nicole Rossa

Steeplechase racing in particular is a high risk sport for the horse. There is currently some fairly extensive research into racehorse injuries and fatalities on the racecourse, with previously published scientific reports on the subject being widely available. The racing industry is aware of the need for such reports, as the industry itself is very much in the public eye with regard to injury rates on the racecourse. 

Lameness is one of the main reasons for wastage in the racehorse industry, and was the reported cause of 68% of total horse days lost to training in a study of racehorses in England (Rossdale et al. 1985). This study also suggested that 10% of all diagnosed lameness cases were caused by tendon injury.  Overstrain injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) are amongst the most common injuries observed in the athletic horse (Goodship, 1993).  It is therefore important to determine all possible causative factors of SDFT injury so that methods for preventing injury can be implemented as part of a training programme.

Hindquarter Asymmetry


The hindquarters of the horse provide the propulsion, and the forelimbs support 60% of the horse's weight.  Problems affecting the pelvic structure in the horse can lead not only to poor performance, but also to an unlevel gait and to lameness of the hindlimb.  There are to date very few scientific reports on the frequency of hindquarter asymmetries in the horse, although Bathe (2002) found that most hard working horses were likely to have some degree of pelvic asymmetry.   This factor may not always affect performance, as many successful horses have been found to have asymmetry of the pelvis.

Dalin et al. (1985) investigated the hindquarter asymmetry in Standardbred Trotters for any correlation with poor performance. He measured differences in height between the left and right tuber sacrale when the horse was standing square.  Of the 500 horses measured 39 of them showed marked hindquarter asymmetry.  In 30 horses the tuber sacrale was lower on the left, and in 9 horses it was lower on the right.  The asymmetric horses had significantly inferior performance (measured by total earnings) compared to the symmetrical horses.  All the horses were trained and raced in Sweden on a left handed track. The asymmetrical horses were also of significantly larger body size than the symmetrical horses.

In a recent study undertaken by Stubbs et al. (2006) in conjunction with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a number of racehorses were presented for euthanasia (for injury and/or lameness).  Racing and training details were examined in detail, and a clinical examination was carried out before the horses were euthanased. Following post mortem the thoracolumbar spine and pelvis were dissected out and examined.  Although not part of the study it was noted that asymmetry of the pelvis was prevalent in many of the horses that had been dissected, the reason probably being due to a natural torsion of the pelvis as a result of training and racing on right handed tracks only.

It is suggested that asymmetrical loads on the pelvic structure caused by external factors (such as racetrack), and by internal factors (such as locomotor apparatus pain) may lead to a higher stress being placed on one hindlimb, and as a result lead to the development of pelvic asymmetry which may be apparent as pelvic rotation.  Improper movement patterns of the hindquarters, due to pain caused by overuse or from fatigue, may also result in abnormal alignment of the pelvic structure.  This in turn may then cause overloading on the forelimbs (by off loading the hindquarters) and therefore predisposing the forelimbs to injury.  If this can be proved then surely this would emphasise the importance of correcting pelvic misalignments using manipulation techniques such as chiropractic, osteopathic and myofascial release approaches.  There is some unpublished material available to support the use of McTimoney manipulation methods and other soft tissue manipulation in the correction of pelvic rotation.

Hindquarter asymmetry is often associated with sacroiliac joint lesions or with chronic hindlimb lameness.  The tuber sacrale can appear asymmetrical in clinically normal horses as well as in horses with misalignment of the sacroiliac joint (Dyson, 2004). Horses with longstanding poor performance attributed to chronic sacroiliac damage were investigated by Jeffcott et al. (1985).  The majority of these horses showed some asymmetry of the hindquarters with the tuber coxae and tuber sacrale lower on the same side that the animal was lame on. Hindquarter asymmetry may be due to some tilting or rotation of the pelvis in addition to muscle wastage of one quarter, usually the side the horse is lame on.

Abnormal Alignment 
of the Pelvis


Pelvic rotation or abnormal alignment of the pelvis to the thoracolumbar spine can be measured by the level of the tuber coxae to the ground.  If the horse is unable to produce the propulsion from its hindquarters due to discomfort in the pelvic region, then the forelimbs may be required to provide more horizontal propulsion.  The horse will in effect be pulling himself forward with his forelimbs, rather than pushing from his hindquarters.  This may result in over development of the shoulder muscles, thereby reducing the efficiency of the forelimb movement by adding unnecessary weight.

Unpublished data has suggested a positive relationship between injury to the forelimb stay apparatus and pelvic asymmetry, particularly where the presence of functional asymmetry in the hindquarters was found to be due to pelvic rotation, and not as a result of differences in individual bone lengths of the hindlimb.

Lameness and Compensatory Movement Patterns


The compensatory mechanisms of horses with lameness have been extensively researched and reported.  The potential for secondary injuries resulting from a horse's attempt to compensate for lameness by altering its gait pattern are still unclear.  Clayton (2001) found that when a lame limb is supporting body weight, the horse minimises pain by decreasing the load on that limb, resulting in a compensatory increase in the vertical forces in other limbs.  The compensating limbs are therefore subjected to abnormally high forces, and these may lead to lameness in the compensating limbs.

Uhlir et al. (1997) found that in all cases of diagnosed hindlimb lameness that true lameness of the left hind caused a compensatory lameness of the left fore, and that true stance phase lameness of the left fore caused a compensatory lameness in the right hind.

Tendon Injury
The SDFT is the most frequently injured tendon in horses. 

 In a recent study of steeplechase horses diagnosed with tendon and ligament injuries sustained during training, 89% occurred in the SDFT (Ely et al. 2005).  It has been suggested that an optimum level of exercise is required at an early age for tendon adaptation to training, but with increasing age accumulation of microdamage and localised fatigue, failure to the tendon will occur with increasing exercise (Smith et al. 1999).

The induction of injury to the SDFT occurs when loading overcomes the resistive strength of the tendon. Factors which increase the peak loading of the SDFT, such as weight of rider, ground surface, shoeing, conformation, incoordination, jumping, and speed will act not only to increase the rate of degeneration, but will also increase the risk of the onset of SDFT strain (Smith, 2006).  Therefore the prevention of tendon strain-induced injuries by reducing some of the risk factors that increase loading on the tendon may provide the most satisfactory answer.
Animal Manipulation Techniques
McTimoney Animal Manipulation aims to improve asymmetries through manipulation.  There has been much anecdotal evidence for the benefits of McTimoney Manipulation Techniques on animals (Andrews and Courtney, 1999).  There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that McTimoney and other manipulative therapies can make a difference where veterinary medication has failed (Green, 2006), although the application of manipulation techniques in veterinary medicine may be dependent of further research into the clinical effects of manipulation.

Manipulation techniques are thought to cause muscle relaxation and to correct abnormal motor patterns which may be the result of muscular imbalances and restricted joint motion or altered joint mobility (Haussler, 1999).  There is some unpublished material to support that there are significant changes in the symmetry of the pelvis after the application of McTimoney manipulation techniques, and that there is continued improvement one month after initial treatment.

Current Research into Pelvic Alignment


In a recent unpublished study a group of 40 steeplechase horses in training, all using the same gallop, were measured for pelvic asymmetry. The measurement technique used was a somewhat simple (but reliable) method.  Each horse was measured on flat, level concrete while standing completely square and weight bearing on all four limbs.  Measurements were taken vertically using a horse measuring stick with a spirit level, from the most dorsal aspect of the lateral wing on the ilium (the tuber coxae) to the ground, on the left and right sides.
Various data was collected on each horse, regarding race history, how many races run, whether "bumper" (flat races for steeplechase bred horses), hurdle or steeplechase, prize money earnings, handicap rating, and also brief veterinary history.

The aim of the study was to compare pelvic rotation in 20 sound horses to the incidence and degree of pelvic rotation in a group of 20 horses with SDFT strain in either one or both forelimbs. Both the sound horses and the injured horses were in training with the same trainer, and therefore had used the same gallops, and underwent the same training regime.

Although no significant difference was found in the number of horses with pelvic rotation in sound horses compared with the number of horses with tendon strain, there was a high incidence of pelvic rotation in the group as a whole, with a predominance towards pelvic rotation on the right. This could have been due to training methods or gallops used, and certainly warrants further research.

There was no significant association between side of pelvic rotation and side of forelimb tendon strain, but again warrants further investigation using a larger number of horses.  Due to the prevalence of right side pelvic rotation it would not have been possible to show any significant associations anyway between left and right forelimb injury.

The study did present some trends for age of horse, sex, and race history; showing that the number of horses with pelvic rotation and tendon injury increased with age.  Geldings tended towards a higher incidence of tendon injury, and mares tended towards a higher incidence of pelvic rotation. There were equal numbers of sound and injured horses for each race type, but the degree of pelvic rotation in horses that had fallen was notably larger than in the horses that had not fallen.

Future Studies into Pelvic Asymmetry


The preliminary investigation as described above has formed the basis for further research into abnormal pelvic alignment in racehorses, and whether or not there is any association between side of misalignment and side of forelimb injury.  Further research is due to be carried out with a larger sample of horses, and from different yards, to investigate whether there is any prevalence as to the side of misalignment, or if pelvic alignment is affected by training methods and the use of different gallops and that there is continued improvement one month after initial treatment.

Current Research into Pelvic Alignment


In a recent unpublished study a group of 40 steeplechase horses in training, all using the same gallop, were measured for pelvic asymmetry. The measurement technique used was a somewhat simple (but reliable) method.  Each horse was measured on flat, level concrete while standing completely square and weight bearing on all four limbs.  Measurements were taken vertically using a horse measuring stick with a spirit level, from the most dorsal aspect of the lateral wing on the ilium (the tuber coxae) to the ground, on the left and right sides. Various data was collected on each horse, regarding race history, how many races run, whether "bumper" (flat races for steeplechase bred horses), hurdle or steeplechase, prize money earnings, handicap rating, and also brief veterinary history. The aim of the study was to compare pelvic rotation in 20 sound horses to the incidence and degree of pelvic rotation in a group of 20 horses with SDFT strain in either one or both forelimbs. Both the sound horses and the injured horses were in training with the same trainer, and therefore had used the same gallops, and underwent the same training regime.
Although no significant difference was found in the number of horses with pelvic rotation in sound horses compared with the number of horses with tendon strain, there was a high incidence of pelvic rotation in the group as a whole, with a predominance towards pelvic rotation on the right. This could have been due to training methods or gallops used, and certainly warrants further research.

There was no significant association between side of pelvic rotation and side of forelimb tendon strain, but again warrants further investigation using a larger number of horses.  Due to the prevalence of right side pelvic rotation it would not have been possible to show any significant associations anyway between left and right forelimb injury.

The study did present some trends for age of horse, sex, and race history; showing that the number of horses with pelvic rotation and tendon injury increased with age.  Geldings tended towards a higher incidence of tendon injury, and mares tended towards a higher incidence of pelvic rotation. There were equal numbers of sound and injured horses for each race type, but the degree of pelvic rotation in horses that had fallen was notably larger than in the horses that had not fallen.