Non-fatal injury occurrence in Southern California Thoroughbred racehorses 2009-2010.

This research article focuses on studying the non-fatal injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses in southern California using data collected by private-practice racetrack veterinarians over a year. The study highlights the need for an accurate and comprehensive system for recording non-fatal injuries in horses.

Overview of the Study

The research was carried out in southern California over one year where non-fatal injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses were recorded by private-practice racetrack veterinarians. The study only considered injuries that met a certain defined criteria:

• The injury incident rate was observed to be 2.29 injury events per 100 horse-months, which is lower compared to previous studies where the injury data was provided by the trainers of the horses.
• Out of 477 recorded injuries, 72.1% were acute and 27.9% were chronic.

Common Non-fatal Injuries

The type of injuries were varied but certain injuries were found to be more prevalent than others:

• Fractures accounted for 47.6% of the injuries, with stress fractures accounting for 14% of the total injuries.
• Superficial digital flexor tendonitis accounted for another 15.3% and suspensory ligament desmitis comprised 11.5% of the injuries.

Need for Better Recording Systems

The study found that the agreement between the non-fatal injuries recorded in this study and those recorded by an existing regulatory system, known as the Equine Injury Database was poor. This has highlighted the need for:

• A better and more accurate system to record these injuries.
• The new system must be comprehensive and able to capture all types of injuries.

Non-fatal Injuries vs Fatal Injuries

An interesting observation from this study was the comparison of non-fatal injuries to fatal injuries.

• Non-fatal injuries were found to be occurring 17 to 29 times more often than fatal injuries.
• This highlights the ongoing issue of non-fatal musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses.

In conclusion, this study makes a strong case for the development of a more efficient system for identifying and recording non-fatal injuries in thoroughbred racehorses, in order to improve their care and management.