Category: Soundness

Ultrasound-based scoring system predicts horses’ recovery from tendon injury

A new technique that uses ultrasound findings to predict a racehorseโ€™s likelihood of returning to racing after a tendon injury has been described by researchers. The study team say the new system will significantly improve racehorse welfare in both the short and long term. It will enable vets and racehorse trainers to make early and informed decisions on a horseโ€™s future โ€“ whether to prescribe rest and recovery before racing again, rehabilitation for another career, or immediate retirement. The ultrasound technique was developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham and Oakham Equine Hospital, both in England,

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The Frustrations of White Line Disease

The term white line disease is actually a misnomer; the white line (the soft, fibrous inner layer of the hoof wall) itself is not affected. Rather, the infection takes hold in the area just in front of the epidermal laminae (the sensitive tissues that attach to the hoof wall and help suspend the coffin bone within the hoof capsule).

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The Importance of Limb Conformation

Conformation standards provide the closest thing to such a blueprint; conventional wisdom holds that conformation faultsโ€”deviations from the ideal proportions of the horseโ€™s limbs and body and relationship of these parts to one anotherโ€”can increase risk of injury and decrease performance ability.ย 

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Corticosteroid Clearance Following Joint Injections

The current ARCI (Association of Racing Commissioners International) recommended withdrawal times for intra-articular (IA) administration of corticosteroids as seven days for triamcinolone acetonide (TA), betamethasone and isoflupredone, and 21 days for methylprednisolone acetate.

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