Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Slew — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:15:01 GMT

Sceptre: Not actively racing means they are not anywhere near a track, and not in training. It takes months for a sprain to actually heal...that's what meant by not actively racing. Withholding medication a few days before a race is not the same thing. The horse is considered actively racing once he goes into training. And I'm certain a practiced Vet can spot a possible lame horse more easily if no medication is used.

Kat: I am aware there were more than 3 foundation sires, but 3 are the major family lines. The rest are considered minor. Excellent point on steroids and NSAIDs.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Jeff Carle — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:43:53 GMT

Kat, I understand your point, do you realize that many horseman and vets are going into joints of 2yr. olds that haven't even run yet? and it's done continuously throughout their career.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Kat — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:55:25 GMT

NSAIDs have been shown to slow/impede bone repair. Steroids (in particular, prednisone, which is most often used for joint injections) actually are destructive to joints over the long term. They do provide immediate relief. Much better to use IRAP for joint injections.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Pedigree Ann — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:47:10 GMT

There were many more than three Oriental stallions used; only three have male lines anymore, but Alcock's Arabian, the Brownlow Turk and numerous others sired sons and daughters who have descendants in the current day. Some of the mares used were Oriental imports, too, like Layton's Natural Barb mare, while others were not. Those that weren't, however, included the Royal mares, who already had a couple of crosses of imported stallions from the Royal Stud whose names are unknown, since the records were lost when Parliament broke it up (over Cromwell's objections, I might add. He was a cavalry man, after all). The end of the usefulness of heavy armor on horseback had led to the creation of the TB, a lighter, faster, more maneuverable cavalry horse, and the lighter, faster and more maneuverable Oriental horses were the key.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Kat — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:36:38 GMT

Actually there were more than 4 foundation sires, those 3 you have sited are just the most widely known.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Jeff Carle — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:07:02 GMT

As a former jockey and trainer for 25 years, I'm well aware that there are some trainers that over use Bute. But, I don't believe that the amount of Bute allowed on raceday will make an 'unsound' horse 'sound'. When there is some type of regulation regarding the number of times a horse gets his joints injected, then I'll know there is REAL change. It's become commonplace among horseman and it's a huge windfall for the vets.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

william — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:23:22 GMT

very good too many ideas but drugs always going to be the key of this industry, sorry be on the owners position and you guys will think the way they do

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Rachel — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:49:27 GMT

Kat, the 2008 USA Olympic Event team top 4 included OTTB's Courageous Comet & Poggio II, as well as Northern Spy (ENG TB). The 5 replacement teams included Woodburn, American TB (I think he was OTT) as well as BallyNoe Castle RM & Mandiba(Irish TB's).

The TB has indeed begun to claim its rightful place as a top Olympic horse and evendessage, show jumping as well!

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Giddyup — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:53:16 GMT

I don't pretend to have any special medical knowledge but to me common sense dictates that if a horse is suspected of being in pain, you conduct tests. If those tests prove positive then you give it medication to ease that pain and rest the animal while monitoring its health...same as you would do with a human. Giving a horse pain killers simply because you think it could be hurting makes about as much sense as me taking Tylenol because I think I may have a headache later in the day.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Slew — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:12:14 GMT

Convene, The Byerley Turk has been described as an Arabian with elegance. That dominant feature of the arched tail comes from the Turk. In between the blurred lines of history and legend, he was captured in Hungary by Colonel Byerley and was a war horse with a fiery personality, usually a dark bay or black, and was captured from the Turks (Ottoman Empire), then brought to England for breeding. (Hence the name Turk instead of Arab)

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

sceptre — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:17:40 GMT

Convene-

Inflammation (itself) can cause joint damage. Antiinflammatories can often prevent this. Read up on it, or ask a physician or vet.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

sceptre — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 17:12:06 GMT

Slew-

Firstly,

Many, in fact, do propose that no NSAID's, steroids, etc. be available to the racehorse at any time. They would maintain (as do I) that withholding these meds only as race day approaches ("should not be actively racing") is insufficient to curtail appreciably breakdowns. And, what of all the breakdowns, etc. that occur during training? Needless to say, these same meds can mask and thus inhibit trainers, vets, etc. from appreciating valuable symptoms...More importantly, the lack of lameness, edema, etc. is far from a guarantee that the horse is indeed sound-note Dr. Arthur's point re-90% of fatal breakdowns had preexisting pathology at site. A preexisting pathology often doesn't evidence an obvious lameness or edema. That's why day to day scrutiny by those with an "educated eye" together with more sophisticated screening protocols is so vital. A quick vet look (of an unmedicated runner) at the gate is far from sufficient.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Convene — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:58:30 GMT

Foundation sires were Godolphin Arabian, Darley Arabian and Byerly Turk (Turk's ancestry is still debated: turk or arabian) all used on "native" mares (Don't you love that term - native mares?).

Ole Railbird - thanks for the laugh! Ain't it the truth! But today, you see, people need "therapy" (to tell 'em character flaws are really mental disorders) and children must NEVER be punished (or else they'll end up in therapy). Sometimes, a well-timed, appropriate crack of the whip (or the flat of the hand to the seat of the matter) is needed to get their attention. Ask the mares; they give their foals a good nip as needed and the horses don't end up in therapy!

Sceptre: inflammation does cause physiological changes that, in most instances, result in healing. But inflammation is a sign that SOMETING AIN'T RIGHT! And if it ain't right, let's give it time to heal instead of medicating that warning sign with Bute.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Slew — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:59:30 GMT

Kat: "All modern Thoroughbreds can trace their pedigrees to three stallions originally imported into England in the 17th century and 18th century, and to 74 foundation mares of English and Oriental (Arabian, Turkoman or Barb) blood."

Godolphin Arabian, Darley Arabian, and Byerly Turk.

Chrystal: 1975-Ruffian. One of our most tragic and nationally covered break downs. Go For Wand. 1990. Eight Bells 2008...

identical to Ruffian's break. Barbaro 2007. Horses have broken down...these, however, received national coverage.

Sceptre: I don't believe folks meant horses should not receive treatment. The point is that horses should not be actively racing during treatment. The problem with the meds is that they mask symptoms that should be attended to sooner. Steroids relieve symptomatic pain, but they slow the healing process. NSAID's ease the pain, making a horse appear more fit than they actually are. Vet's have to do their checks at the gate. They can spot a horse with faults sooner if no meds were given.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

ThomasMc — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 13:17:47 GMT

Hay oat,s and water sounds great but why should race horses not be allowed the same level of modern advanced medication as people? Racing horses exposes them to wear and tear, always has and always will.The breakdown rate from 40 years ago is vertually unchanged from today.Bute is an anti inflamatory, not a pain killer.The horses are better off racing with it than without it.Humans are not capable of stopping every breakdown before hand.I wish that it were so.Common sense indicates that we use therapeutic medications for the safety and well being of horse and rider.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

sceptre — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:37:24 GMT

For me, the most telling statement is Dr. Arthur's contention that 90% of fatal breakdowns had a preexisting pathology at the breakdown site. We, however, should be wary of jumping to the conclusion that the banning of nearly all analgesics/antiinflammatories will appreciably "cure" this situation. Meds, or no meds, the training and racing of racehorses exposes them to great risk. Most, if not all racehorses are managed (trainers,vets, etc.) by those ill equipped (expertise, technology, etc.) to adequately protect them from serious injury. Certainly, far better oversight (and rules which demand it) would be a step in the right direction. The potential banning of drugs would play only a small part in improving their safety-far from a quick fix. We should also remember that inflammation, in and of itself, can cause greater damage. There may, in fact, be a place for certain nsaid's as some can be potent antiinflammatories. Perhaps they can be permitted under specific criteria-administered only by veterinarian-documented rationale to authority-horse then restricted to all but minimal exercise for specified period-and then reevaluated post dc meds.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Chrystal — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:18:26 GMT

Some people here are arguing that trainers have always used drugs & all sorts of "treatments" and performance enhancers on their horses. True, but how often did their horses break down?

And when they were sound, how often did they run? I recall reading about horses who ran twice a day - and won both times.

Man O War won his first start, and then won again 3 days later. Some horses have won a quadruple crown! Not one of them broke down and died on the track.certainly, horses back then were much more durable.

but mainly I'm just wondering if anyone has some kind of statistics for horses "back in the day". I realize no one probably kept exact stats back then, but for people who frequented the races 40 or more years ago, how often did you see/hear/read about a horse suffering a catastrophic injury?

I've been wondering about this for some time.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Kat — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:33:13 GMT

Slew - The foundation sires (4) were Arabians (Turk), the mares were not.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

an ole rail bird — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:18:51 GMT

my observetion of running sore horses begain when i was 10 years old. it was shortly after the match race of swaps,& nashusa. rex ellsworth cut back his stable, & my uncle was layed off. he was paid his back wages with a 5 year old gelding, that had a bowed tendon. uncle ,as he was called, brought this broke down horse home ,& interduced me to a term seldom heard in the racing world today. that term, "sitting under a horse". sitting under a horse ment ,endless hours of sitting underhim & rubbin& messageing not only the infected area, but his other legs also. uncles theroy, when this leg hurts the others are used more& will sore up from more use. sore horses were stood in running water , creeks ,gutters , the bay or what ever was there. in those days more sore horses were run than sound ones. i suppose we had bute then, but it wasnt readlly avilible. in that part of the world there was 1 vet. & he didnt have time for a crippled horse. his theroy was shoot him & go get you another. since those days i have had a lot of experince in the race horse industry. worked under a lot of the better trainers. always oberserving the ones that i didnt work for. the industry begain to change, when the cat & mouse games between the trainers & the test barn. the trainers used the vets as a cloak to protect them selves from the ever changeing technology of the spit box. as in a lot of otherways technology has been our enemy in the rescept that due to modern transpertation has allowed trainers to train& race 100 horses each(or more ) all over the world. those trainers & the asstiants have long forgotten the terms of rubbing a sore horse. while the trainers are flying from part of the globe to the other raceing, horses are being trained by asstants& grooms whos experince begain at the movie theater watching the horse whisper. ( dont blame redford, he ment well). in the absents of the trainer the horses are trained more by the barn help & the pill rolling vet. enter the scrutiny of the press & the common race fan who spend more trying to physic analyze a horse, than they do tending his physcal needs, such as aches & pain of ever day racing. not to mention the fact that most of these making the critical judgements, can not even lead a horse, much less get one ready to race. point in case, the woman who said rachel alexandra was standing in her stall ,having fond memories of the days before calvin borel gave her that much needed whipping ,in the stretch, of her last race. sumation ? even in horse racing we live in a make believe world. its the modern world !

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Convene — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:54:01 GMT

ExTB Trainer: I have to agree it would be cruel not to help bleeders. And yes, I'm sure we always did have 'em. In fact, one theory I read suggested ALL athletes (equine and other) have small lung-bleeds during exertion, which the body deals with so that most don't show up or significantly affect performance. My problem is that we have so many MORE of 'em today with serious enough bleeding to show up at the nostrils. Lasix, like most drugs, is a tool to be used when needed. However, seeing every horse in a race going to post on Lasix just doesn't cut it for me. It never was necessary and I'm not convinced it's necessary today. If it is, we need to be considering what factors have made this change. In regard to part of Slew's post (thanks for the human testimonial; I wondered about that!) - as someone who wishes she had the bucks to go into arabian racing (they're very special; I've owned a few non-racing ones), do you know if these meds are permitted in arabian racing? Just curious. I hope we're not mismanaging this treasure handed down from the desert where it was so lovingly nurtured.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Pamale — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:49:05 GMT

I agree with all those who urge a ban on race-day medications. In my opinion lasix does as much harm as bute. Among other things, it leaches out electrolytes, lengthening time between races, not a situation faced by countries where race-day drugs are banned. Also lasix masks illegal drugs, so allowing it is simply playing into the hands of the snake venom crowd (and worse). Getting control of drugs seems beyond of current authorities. Most of them don't have the courage to force change. the Jockey Club could engineer that change overnight simply by borrowing the German example and specifying that say, beginning with the foal crop of 2011, no horse which ran on bute or lasix or any race-day medication at all would be admitted to the stud book for breeding purposes. That would be a good place to start. Alas, we have seen little leadership on this issue from the Jockey Club and other power authorities.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

ExTBTrainer — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 01:50:11 GMT

I knew trainers that gave every horse bute every day-go figure! They never knew who was really sore and who wasn't. I finally figured it out,they didn't want to know!I gave horses bute in my day too but I liked to know where I was with a horse so I didn't just give every horse bute every day.I had my experience with bleeding ulcers in a horse on bute and it really woke me up to the side effects! That was 25 years ago when there had not been any warnings really about that side effect. I can say from my years of training I would like to see all meds banned except lasix because I feel it would be cruel to not be able to help bleeders. Not all bleed out the nose- some just bleed enough inside to hamper them and the only sign is their coughing after the race.Before we could scope horses after a race, if one coughed afterwards we just thought they sucked sand or dirt in threw their nostrils.My point is I feel,unlike some, that we had bleeders back then too -we just didn't know it if they didn't bleed out the nostrils.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Liz — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:06:32 GMT

Thanks for this great article. Bute has no place in racing. NO MEDS. Either the horse is well and can race without 'help' or he is unsound and needs to be rested.

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Slew — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:52:39 GMT

Ghosttown: I was pointing out that Acetaminophen was not an NSAID but aspirin is. The Doctor should have known better.

For those who wonder what old-time trainers used, don't guess it was steroids...they're fairly recent and probably not produced before the 70's. A common treatment back them might have been DMSO. It was a lineament commonly used on muscles back then.

Convene: excellent point. Since I've been on a diuretic, my bone loss has significantly increased. I wish they would study this side effect more. And then they wonder why osteoporosis is an issue with the aging...it's the medicine!

All TB's are descendants of the Arabian horse...one of the most durable breeds. They're used in endurance trials. The horse most definitely has an image of durability...it's our own mismanagement that makes TB's fragile.

Fuzzycorgi: Opium is made from poppies. You would also have a positive drug test if you ate anything with poppy seeds on it...even a bagel.

It seems to me, so much $$ is spent campaigning to keep kids off drugs. The slogan "Just Say NO!" is used every where. Perhaps the owners, trainers, and Vets need the same approach to horses and medication...just say no. Don't wait for the Jockey Club to mandate it. Just say No!

re: Bute Not in Racing's Best Interest - By Dr. Rick Arthur

Edgred — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:10:45 GMT

Great comments from everybody. But, where does that leave us? Is a track, is a state willing to run a meet drug free? No bute, no lasix, no milkshaking levels of any kind. If you built it would they come? If a Mamouth Park ran a meet next year, with a simular purse structure with a no drug policy, would they get the entries they did this year? Or, would trainers go elsewhere knowing they can't train an horse, much less run a horse drug free?

I can't even go see my horse workout in the morning and ask if he was given bute last night. Why? #1, my trainer can just lie and say no. Or #2 I take the chance of insulting him by ascusing him he needs to train on bute.

By the way, as time goes by, I hope people appreciate how durable Zenyatta is/ was. The train and run and these California synthetic tracks and well as dirt and forge a record as she has done, I hope will be appreciated. Ture she didn't run 50 races, but she ain't no little mare either.