MEDICATIONS AT THE RACETRACK

Introduction cont'd...

I will not train a horse that I know is in pain. Nor will I train a horse that is unaware of the pain he has. If the owner feels otherwise, the horse goes to another trainer. But I prefer losing an owner to the fear of someone being harmed or the horse breaking down. Obviously, I have lost owners and am not considered a sharp trainer when I refuse to use the "best" medical science has to offer. I'm in this business for the long run. I spend the time necessary to properly prepare the horse to run. That extra three to six months in the training program is costly, but worth it if the horse has talent.

This is why we need new people in the business who can do much of the early work themselves. Their horses will hold up better, and if they don't have talent, they will have another life as a hunter or riding horse. Horses are not disposable items. I will not turn them over quickly in search of the good one. Now I train one or two a year hoping they will pay off, but recognizing the odds against it. I am happy and I can live with myself.

Back to medications. Anytime you give a horse a painkiller so he can run, you are in trouble. Pain is a warning sign. Being over forty, I have a lot of aches and pains. I know that aspirin helps when my bones ache. Bute is probably the same for horses, helpful for slight problems. This doesn't mean mega doses. Some trainers say, "I love running that track. There are no limits on Bute." Too much of anything can be dangerous. Vets see many horses with perforated stomachs caused by Bute abuse.

One filly suddenly died on me two weeks after arriving from the track. The necropsy disclosed purple discolorations on the wall of the stomach... ulcers... where large amounts of Bute had eaten away the lining. Other horses on long-term Bute develop anemia or other blood disorders.

Many people don't worry about this, because the horses go to the killers when they're finished at the track anyway. Again, I can't, knowingly, set up animals for a short life. But in the racing business, where the owners pay a lot of money and want quick results, some trainers push horses until they produce or break down. There are always more horses coming along. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to rest the horse a few days and race many years?

Beware any time a trainer says to you, "He had a little filling in his left ankle, but he isn't lame." Next comes, "I don't understand. He never took a lame step." Could be true, but if you are astute, the horse generally tells you that problems are coming. He gets filling or heat in a leg, favors it, paws and digs holes in his stall, or he stands and holds his feet in a particular way to alleviate pain. The way he walks out after he has been stationary tells you something. Observe the signs. Figure out the reason for his actions. Don't simply mask the signs with drugs and carry on. When the horse is off, turn him out every day and observe. When he starts frolicking and feeling sound, go back to galloping. No vet bills and, if you are observant, you should not have catastrophic breakdowns. This is the basis of my methods.

Race day, for most owners, is very expensive. The vet gives most horses a "cocktail" the day of the race. Usually it consists of a combination of vitamins (B-12 or multi-vitamins), and possibly various kinds of corticosteroids such as Azium or Vetalog that are supposed to help with inflammation. If allowed, nervous horses may be given SoluDeltaCortef. This is supposed to help a hyper horse. It is also a steroid. Many trainers swear by these injections. I now avoid their use and only capitulated in the past under duress from an owner. At the time, I didn't realize they were corticosteroids. I have never seen them produce dramatic results on my horses. But then, my horses were always sound. One hyper filly dropped her head when given SoluDeltaCortef and almost snoozed in the gate. She didn't run well half asleep. On the other hand, Lois had a brood mare down from undetermined causes, probably acute shock and colic triggered by an abscess. When given a shot of SoluDeltaCortef, she literally arose from the dead like Lazarus. The vet still calls her the "Miracle Mare". Every medication affects every horse differently. Do your homework and make your own informed decisions.

Certain medications definitely make a dramatic difference on sore horses. Banamine is sometimes used a few days before a race. One owner claimed a horse from a very aggressive leading trainer... famous for how hard he was on a horse. Indeed, the horse won the race the day we claimed him, and I went to the spit box to pick him up. As he cooled out after the race he got progressively more lame. By the time I took him to my barn, he could scarcely walk, he was in such pain. When the owner came back to admire his horse, I said, "Watch," and led him out. The horse was very sore. The owner agreed for me to take the horse home, turn him out and observe how well he walked out of his stiffness.

At home he was turned out in a grassy paddock. It should have been heaven to a horse just off the track. Most animals frolic and trot around from the sheer joy of being able to roll and have free movement after the confinement of track life. This horse just stood in the middle of the pasture and didn't move. When he did walk, it was very painfully. I watched him for days, waiting to see any desire on his part to move without being prodded. He never had any. I called a friend who worked in the barn where the horse had been claimed and asked if there was anything they did with this horse to get him to train. He said that the horse never went to the track without Bute every night. I tried it and he at least moved, but did not appear to be free of pain. He still seemed quite sore when he galloped.

Another phone call revealed that if I wanted a good gallop, he would need to have 10ccs of Banamine... a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It acts like a super Bute and is a potent pain killer. The vet who treated the horse at the track advised me to give this medication two days before running or working him. This horse could only move with Bute. He could not move at all without help. I was so uncomfortable with the situation that I tried swimming him, but there was no way he could perform without the medications. He would go into races walking sound but come out lame. We had the vet try to pinpoint the problem but we were never successful. The owner tried acupuncture and massage without much luck. He wanted to see his horse run.

It became more and more frustrating. I hated using medications, but knew he couldn't move without them. I was acutely aware that the owner figured since he claimed the horse when he won, why couldn't he win with me? The vet tried injecting stifles which seemed to make matters worse. At the same time, the owner decided to send the horse to Maryland. He became very sore on the trip as standing in a van right after getting his stifles injected is contraindicated. The owner and trainer both complained about his condition when he arrived. We had no way of knowing the horse was going through substance withdrawal. I vowed never to accommodate an owner against my own principles. Trying for results because the owner spent money and wanted action with the horse, not lay up, was not my game. After the trip, this horse was laid up for six months and then started to run without much success. Horses trained my way don't have these problems. They run frequently, and I don¹t ache because I¹m asking a sore horse to run.

I can't leave this subject without mentioning anabolic steroids. A friend of mine, an orthopedic surgeon, has seen the results of using these kinds of steroids on human athletes. He sees a lot of tearing of the muscle insertion on the bone, because a muscle that develops beyond the size it is meant to be is too powerful for the connective framework. It is like putting a huge engine on a small chassis. Nature has devised a beautiful balance with form and function. If larger muscle were needed, stronger insertion ligaments and tendons would develop, along with the framework.

We come along and hyper develop one component (the muscle) while disregarding the rest of the system. This is very dangerous. Many horses are on anabolic steroids. These drugs are not illegal. They tend to create very "pissy" personalities. Fillies appear to be in a permanent "PMS" syndrome. Anabolic steroids can make some horses dangerously aggressive! It is questionable if anabolic steroids do enable a horse to run faster. There is no proof that larger muscle mass enhances intrinsic speed. Many gifted runners are not heavily muscled. Imagine the stress on a system when anabolic steroids which increase muscle are coupled with corticosteroids which weaken tendons and ligaments. Heart, lungs, conformation and every other component must blend together to have a great horse.

My lovely mare ran four years without any kind of chemical enhancement. She ran on solid training against some super stars. She came back again and again and was clean legged. If you have a talented horse, you can run without all the junk. If the horse isn't talented, nothing will help. Since most of you are doing proper training with good foundation, remember my mare. She was born with a little more speed than average and she ran and won. No cheap shot, no gimmicks. Try to run and win the right way. You will feel good about what you are doing with your animals. I've had many other horses not nearly as talented as First Prediction, but they ran persistently for years because they had time to grow and develop.