Another Kentucky Derby, another quarter crack

From Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog here's an image of how a quarter crack can be laced up.

Quality Road, one of the favorites for the upcoming Kentucky Derby was withdrawn yesterday because of residual soreness from a quarter crack. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Whenever hoof issues become headline news I always turn to Fran Jurga’s Hoof Blog as she always has the inside story from the farriers treating the problem. Today is no exception.

Quality Road’s Withdrawal: What Did Others Do? puts the quarter crack in historical perspective. I had no idea how many other racehorses have been cursed by quarter cracks: In addition to Big Brown, quarter cracks plagued some of racing’s greats including, A.P. Indy, Unbridled’s Song, Buckpasser and Northern Dancer.

Read the article — it’s facinating!

Selenium likely caused death of polo ponies

The Associated Press reported today that the 21 polo ponies that died in Wellington, Fla., were killed by an overdose of selenium.

Florida’s top veterinarian on Tuesday blamed the deaths of 21 elite polo horses on an overdose of a common mineral that helps muscles recover from fatigue.

Florida’s state veterinarian, Dr. Thomas J. Holt, said toxicology tests on the dead horses showed significantly increased selenium levels.

The horses from the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza Caracas team began collapsing April 19 as they were unloaded from trailers at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington before a championship match. Some died at the scene, others hours later.

“Signs exhibited by the horses and their rapid deaths were consistent with toxic doses of selenium,” Holt said.

Dr Holt said that the findings obtained at the department’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Kissimmee were confirmed by independent testing conducted at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, the University of California Davis Animal Health and Food Safety laboratory, and at testing facilities at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Kingpin’s cause of death revealed

Kingpin and Mike Winter

Kingpin, the 13-year old Irish Sport Horse who died at Rolex was killed by an abdominal hemorrhage, an extremely rare condition, according to reports in both thehorse.com and horsetalk.co.nz.

Dr Christiana Ober, the Canadian Eventing Team veterinarian, said King Pin suffered a hemorrhage of the large vessels in the abdomen, unrelated to any jumping effort or trauma. “This is a very rare condition and the actual cause is unknown,” she said.

Having looked at a brief snippet of video showing Kingpin’s approach to the last fence, it’s apparent that something is wrong and that Mike Winter is trying his best to stop him. This was not a rider error problem.  This was a rare medical problem.

I know from my own experience that learning your horse died from a medical issue that had no solution (my own horse had a “vascular accident”) gives you closure. Until I found out the results of the necropsy, I second guessed every decision that I’d made during the 10 days between when he started showing symptoms and when he died.  My vets had no answers. But I felt terribly guilty. When the necropsy results finally came in, the vet told me it was a very rare occurance and was just damn bad luck.

Knowing that you couldn’t have saved your horse certainly removes the guilt, but it doesn’t assuage the grief. My heart goes out to Mike Winter and the rest of Kingpin’s team and owners.

Equestrians make poor patients

Research conducted in Canada reveals that equestrians don't rehab themselves properly.

Recently I read an article in www.thehorse.com, Injury Rehabilitation Underutilized by Equestrians, Researchers Say. Doctors at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Alberta, reviewed the records of patients over 16 years of age that were admitted to the Level 1 trauma center from 1995 to 2005. Basically, they found that many equestrians are bad patients who do not follow doctors’ recommendations in terms of recovery.

Of the study respondents who underwent therapy, 46% underwent physical and 18% underwent occupational therapy. Victims most likely to undergo therapy were those who sustained severe injuries to an extremity (73% of those in therapy), had pelvic (80%) and spinal fractures (70%), and spinal cord trauma (100%).

Those who had sustained injuries from horseback riding (47% of the study population) prior to the current injuries were less likely to receive therapy.

“This is likely a result of riders sustaining previous injuries, perhaps not as severe, and recovering fully from them on their own,” Ball explained. “This reinforced to riders the belief they could recover at their own pace, on their own time. However, the types of injuries sustained in the riding population that we contacted included major trauma. With these more severe injuries, chronic physical difficulties are more likely to result, and would therefore benefit from therapy early on in the recovery process.

“Our respondents often commented that they had been riding for years, they had been thrown or stepped on before, and that they just got back on their horses again,” Ball said. “They often regarded injury as just part of the risk involved with being around horses, so they were less likely to ask for, or accept, help when it was offered.”

In reviewing the data, the researchers communicated that the equestrian–particularly the Western-riding–culture of self-reliance necessitates a change in tactics for individuals working with these patients. They found that an emphasis on the benefits of rehabilitation therapy while the patient was hospitalized brought results–25% of patients willingly sought out further assistance as outpatients.

I read this with some chagrin because I have to plead guilty. I am currently riding with a sprained ankle, injured when a friend’s horse kicked out at mine and hit my stirrup iron. It hurts after I ride. It particularly hurts after a long fox hunt. However, the spring season is so short that I have been riding through the pain figuring that it will heal over the summer.

I will also admit that two years ago after a horse charged through a stall door, breaking a rib and causing contusions to my liver, at my first check up with my doctor my first question was to ask how soon I could start hunting again. I did wait maybe three weeks. I just didn’t ask after the first negative response.

And yes, when I broke my hand I did ask the orthopedic surgeon if I could ride with my hand in the cast. As someone who had dealt with equestrians he shrugged his shoulders and said sure, that he had a past girlfriend who had ridden with her leg in a full cast.

Ironically, as horse owners we are much better at following our vets’ recommendations on rehabbing our horses than we are at taking care of ourselves.

Perhaps this is a strategy that I need to reconsider!

R.I.P. Kingpin

Sadly, King Pin, ridden by Canadian Mike Winters, died on course at Rolex. Vets believe the horse died of natural causes, despite a fall after fence 10. Winters was taken to a nearby hospital but is apparently alright.

How much is too much of a “good” thing?

Speculation on the death of the polo ponies in Wellington today has centered on the selenium content in the “supplement” given to the ponies.

The Palm Beach Post reports in the article, “High selenium in drug mix could be to blame in death of 21 polo ponies“:

Citing anonymous sources, the Argentine newspaper La Nacion reported today that the horses’ lab-made supplements included 5 milligrams per milliliter of sodium selenite instead of the prescribed 0.5 milligrams.

If this is indeed the cause, it begs the question, why would you give your horse a supplement where a mere 10x increase in the concentration of an ingredient might kill it?

Many of us (myself included) give supplements to our horses. Most of them have dubious and mostly anecdotal claims of actually improving a horse’s condition or some how enhancing its performance. Yet we feed the supplements hoping that the magic ingredient will make a difference. Many supplements and treatments are used “off label” , often at the advice of our vets. Yet the tragic deaths of these horses show that supplementation can have more serious consequences.

Certainly it’s given me pause.

Polo ponies killed by pharmacy error

Flowers were left to commemorate the death of the polo ponies

It’s horrifyingly sad to consider that a pharmaceutical error caused the death of the polo ponies in Wellington, but a report issued by the Associated Press, Pharmacy error linked to polo horse deaths, supports that theory. Thanks to reader Emily Greene for calling this — and another article — to my attention.

An official at a Florida pharmacy said April 23 the business incorrectly prepared a supplement given to 21 polo horses that died over the weekend while preparing to play in a championship match.

Jennifer Beckett of Franck’s Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., told The Associated Press in a statement that the business conducted an internal investigation that found “the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect.” The statement did not identify the ingredient.

In another article it was reported:

Lechuza also issued a statement to AP acknowledging that a Florida veterinarian wrote the prescription for the pharmacy to create a compound similar to Biodyl, a French-made supplement that includes vitamins and minerals and is not approved for use in the United States.

How very sad for everyone involved, including the person at the pharmacy. Imagine knowing that you were responsible for the death of all those horses.

My takeaway from this? Be darned sure about what you inject into your horses. When you treat them with a “supplement” because you think it will improve the health or performance of your horse, make sure you aren’t inadvertantly harming them.

Paragon Carousel leading the race toward $100,000 grant!

The Paragon Carousel is up for a $100,000 restoration grant.

Keep on voting!

The Paragon Carousel in Hull, Mass., is currently tied for first place with Old Salem Town Hall, in the competition to win a $100,000 restoration grant.

As previously noted, Partners in Preservation will award ten $100,000 restoration grants. They’ve asked the general public to vote on which sites are the most deserving. Right now, the Carousel has 11% of the votes along with Old Salem Town Hall.

But don’t let this early surge in support die out. The competition for the grants runs through May 17th. Vote early and vote often!