Frequency of musculoskeletal injuries and risk factors associated with injuries incurred in Quarter Horses during races.

This research focuses on the frequency and location of injuries in Quarter Horses during races. It also examines the potential risk factors by comparing data between injured horses and a control group. The study found that horses identified as high risk during pre-race physical inspections were eight times more likely to sustain an injury, suggesting such inspections could be instrumental in preventing injuries.

Overview of the Research

• The study was carried out to understand the frequency and location of injuries in Quarter Horses during races. The aim was also to identify factors that could potentially lead to such injuries.
• It was a matched case-control study involving 97 Quarter Horses that sustained musculoskeletal injuries during races and 291 control horses that did not suffer any injury but participated in the same races.

Methods and Variables

• The researchers examined various data including the horses’ racing history, characteristics of the race entrants, events of the race ascertained through video analysis, and results of prerace physical inspections whenever conducted.
• They compared the data obtained from the injured horses with that of the control horses. Conditional logistic regression was used for this comparative analysis.

Results of the Study

• The study identified that the incidence of a catastrophic injury among Quarter Horses during races was approximately 0.8/1000 race starts. The incidence of musculoskeletal injury during racing was approximately 2.2/1000 race starts.
• Horses that were evaluated as being more susceptible to injury during prerace physical inspection were about eight times more likely to sustain a musculoskeletal injury than those not considered to be at increased risk.
• No evidence was found to suggest that two-year-old horses were at an increased risk of injury or that sex had any impact on the risk of injury among Quarter Horses during races.

Conclusion

• The rate of racing injury among Quarter Horses appears to be lower than that observed in Thoroughbreds.
• The findings indicate that regulatory veterinarians have the ability to identify horses with a higher risk of injury during prerace physical inspections. This suggests that these inspections could be utilized as a preventative measure to reduce the risk of injury during races.