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.
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27 August 2015 THE HORSE TheHorse.com as (lower-level) dressage, hunter under saddle, or trail, where there isn't as much strain or demand on the injured area." Burke also says a club foot— especially one caused by an injury—can potentially limit a horse's athletic ability, but many affected horses can be maintained for soundness and at least low-impact riding with proper farriery and veterinary care. Racehorses retire with a varying number of starts under their belts. And while it's a useful statistic to know going forward, you shouldn't base your decision solely on it. "A horse's number of starts is irrelevant to its future soundness," explains Steuart L. Pittman Jr., president of the Retired Racehorse Project and an upper-level three-day eventer based in Davidsonville, Maryland. "Horses that are proven to be sound in racing tend to stay sounder longer than untested horses whose bone density and ligament strength were not enhanced as young horses. What we call 'war horses'—the ones with over 50 races—are hot commodities because they have proven soundness and have years of experience. Think of all the professional training these horses have gotten—they tend to be unflappable." What to Look For "A well-proportioned horse with good conformation and a willing attitude will make an asset to any program," Burke says. Every rider looks for something differ- ent in their ideal mounts, based on their chosen discipline and preferences, when shopping for a retired racehorse. Newton shared his top three things he watches for in an OTTB prospect, regardless of which direction you want to take him: Joint condition Ideally, you'll want to look for a horse with clean joints (no evidence of damage on radiographs). This gives you, essentially, a clean slate as your horse progresses in his new career. But don't automatically turn down a horse with minor issues. As we've noted, minor wear and tear doesn't always mean a horse can't have a successful second career. However, avoid horses with serious joint pathology—including severe, chronic arthritis or extensive cartilage damage—if you're looking for a competition horse. These horses not only have short second careers but also end up costing a lot of money; maintaining joints for comfort can be expensive. Attitude A good attitude will go a long way in turning a racehorse into a sport horse. Newton says it's crucial to carefully evaluate a potential purchase's mental aptitude. "I think this is incredibly important," he says. "Racehorses are bred to be explosive. And they're trained to be explosive. The loudspeakers and goings on at all types of horse shows significant- ly resemble the racetrack to these horses, so they will manifest that behavior." Over time, he says, some horses will settle and become less high-strung. But there's no guarantee this will happen: "Sometimes it is nearly impossible to remove that explosiveness from females that come off the racetrack. Males are a little easier, but oftentimes it'll take you a year or two." Be honest with yourself. Decide in ad- vance whether you're capable of handling a hot horse, and if not, keep looking until you find one more suited to your needs. Way of going The third thing Newton says to look for is a horse with light move- ment. "There can be (minor) conformational problems," he says. "But if the horse moves like a butterfly, so to speak—re- ally light and floaty across the ground—those horses go on to compete for long periods of time in spite of having physical limitations." Conversely, Newton says horses that are built with long backs and a flat pelvis have a harder time carrying themselves and often become heavy on their front end: "They rarely can deal very well with conformational faults or injuries that have affected them while racing." Pittman agrees. "Conformation flaws are something to consider in all breeds, but they are only a part of the story," he says. "A horse with a crooked front leg that has run 30 races, has clean radiographs, and no sign of injury is more likely to stay sound than a horse with a straight leg that has never been tested." He also recommends taking a good look at an ex-racehorse's feet. "Thor- oughbreds tend to have thin soles, and racehorses tend to be shod with longer toes, often leading to underrun heels," Pittman says. "Some horses are born with better feet than others, and a good farrier and good nutrition can improve what is there, somewhat." What to be Wary of It's clear that horses recover and bounce back with more success from cer- tain types of injuries than others. Those that can be challenging to rehabilitate include damage to the suspensory attach- ment at the sesamoids or to articular car- tilage in the front fetlock, Newton says. "There are a lot of horses that will have very active (or inflamed) and unhappy fetlock joints that if you give them a year, the range of motion in that fetlock joint will reduce and then they'll be sound and static," he says. "The problem with that is they have a certain number of reinju- ries or a certain number of times it can reinflame before they often become per- manently lame. So I think you have to be Racehorses of all types often retire from the track with soft tissue injuries such as bowed tendons, which occur when the fber ten- dons rupture, swell, and bow outward (shown in a hind limb at left, fore- at right). These injuries can be particularly career-limiting. DUSTY PERIN; DR. ROBIN PETERSON l a l g r t o t i m l i m t h a f c a r b e c " T w i i n j w h P i t f l a w s a r e b r e e d s , b u s t o r y , " h e f r o n t l e g t r a d i o g r a p m o r e l i k e e s o f t e n r e t i r e f t t i s s u e d t e n d o n s , f b e r t e n - n d b o w h i n d g h t ) . A horse's number of starts is irrelevant to its future soundness." STEUART L. PITTMAN JR.