The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
Issue link: https://thehorse.epubxp.com/i/475867
11 April 2015 THE HORSE TheHorse.com Conditioning Bones for Wellness, Fracture Prevention More than sterile Òconcrete,Ó bone is a vibrant, vital tissue thatÕs densely packed with specialized cells and supplied with a rich network of blood vessels. One of boneÕs many features is that it can alter its internal structure as loads upon it increase, decrease, or change in nature. However, bone adaptation takes timeÑseveral months, in fact. This is an important consideration when preparing young racehorses: The skeleton must be trained, just as the cardio- vascular system and muscles must. If you rush too quickly, the bones will be overloaded. This is one reason why stress fractures could develop in racehorses. Learn more about how bones function and adapt to external forces at TheHorse.com/35420. ÑChristopher Riggs, BVSc, PhD, DEO, Dipl. ECVS, MRCVS WEVA Board Member Over the years, Quarter Horse breeders have made efforts to develop and build on bloodlines with different specialties, like racing and cutting. But is there any real genetic base to these Òsub- breedsÓ? Brazilian researchers have identified specific genes that distinguish Quarter Horse racehorses from cutting horses. By analyzing the genomes of hundreds of horses, scientists singled out the haplotypesÑDNA classifications based on certain genome segment similaritiesÑthat set the two sub-breeds apart. ÒOur findings could lead to the development of genetic tests that indicate whether an individual has the propensity for sport,Ó said Camila Meira, PhD, of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Science at S‹o Paulo State University. Using a special kind of genomic analysis called relative extended haplotype homozygosity, Meira and her team identified 27 genom ic regions apparently related to separate racing and cutting lines. Within these regions, they further distinguished specific genes that ÒflagÓ the differences in the lines. Their annotation process yielded not only specific numbers of genes but also the specific biological (bodily) aspects related to those genes. Find more study results at TheHorse.com/35345. ÑChrista Lesté-Lasserre, MA Catastrophic Equine Injuries and Jockey Safety C atastrophic injuries clearly have a serious impact on racehorses, but what about the jockeys in the irons? Researchers from the University of California, Davis, recently sought to find out. Peta Hitchens, BAppSc(Equine), MVPHMgt, PhD, and colleagues reviewed falls and injuries in flat-race jockeys in California over a six-year span. The team determined that jockeys fell 601 times and sustained 325 injuries. Those riding a horse that died during a race were significantly more likely to sustain an injury. Further, jockeys were more likely to fall when Thor- oughbreds sustained fetlock injuries and when Quarter Horses experienced knee, cannon bone, and fetlock injuries. Preventing catastrophic injuries and sudden death would be the most effective approach for making racing safer for jockeys, but Hitchens said ac- complishing this is not as simple as it might sound. ÒThere is still a lot we do not yet understand,Ó she said. ÒMy recommendation is for further research into factors that can be modified, for example, training regimes, medication administration, and management of lameness.Ó Hitchens shared additional insight on her study at TheHorse.com/35231. ÑKatie Navarra Feed Young Horses According to Birth Date Tradition in many breed registries holds that all horses have the same birthday: Jan. 1. But just as you wouldnÕt feed every performance horse the exact same diet, you wouldnÕt dole out the same feed for every same-age colt and filly. Rather, researchers deter- mined itÕs better to feed young horses according to each animalÕs birth date. Because foals go through seasonal growth periodsÑslower growth in winter and much faster ÒcompensatoryÓ growth in springÑthey have varying energy needs throughout the year. Takeshi Miyake, PhD (Agric), of the Comparative Agricultural Sciences De- partment at Kyoto University, in Japan, and colleagues developed equations to calculate ThoroughbredsÕ growth curves based on birth dates. Their equa- tions suggested that nutritional needs also vary significantly from one foal to another because the Òmeeting pointÓ (where winterÕs slow growth period ends and springÕs faster growth period begins) is different for each horse, Miyake said. The meeting point always occurs in the winter-to-spring transition, but it occurs at a different point in each horseÕs life. ÒThe individual percentile curves É for each horse based on his/her birthday would be a useful diagnostic tool for careful feeding management of young Japanese Thoroughbred horses during compensatory growth periods,Ó the team concluded. Learn more at TheHorse.com/35225. ÑChrista Lesté-Lasserre, MA Genetic Differences in Racing, Cutting Quarter Horses Identif ed ISTOCK ANNE M. EBERHARDT/THE HORSE CHARLES E. BROOKS Researchers found 27 genomic regions related to separate racing and cutting lines. For additional news items, see TheHorse.com/News