Racing performance of Swedish Standardbred trotting horses with proximal palmar/plantar first phalangeal (Birkeland) fragments compared to fragment free controls.

The research article examines the racing performance of Swedish Standardbred trotting horses that had a certain type of osteochondral fracture (proximal palmar/plantar first phalangeal or POF) and had undergone surgery, comparing them to horses without this condition. The findings suggest that the presence of POF and subsequent surgery do not affect the racing speed or career longevity of the horses, hinting at a reassessment of the purported benefits of surgical intervention.

Methodology

• The study employs a retrospective cohort design that included 174 Swedish Standardbred trotting horses with POF, and 613 horses without any radiographic sign of the same condition. These horses without POF were presented for prepurchase examinations.
• The team evaluated medical records and radiographs for every horse. Racing data was gathered from online records of Swedish Standardbred harness races.

Data Analysis

• To evaluate the influence of POF on horse speed in comparison to control horses, the study employed generalised estimating equations.
• Multivariable regression was used to investigate possible disparities in earnings and career longevity.
• In total, the horses raced 16,448 times.

Findings

• The researchers found that racehorse speed increased as a function of the number of races.
• The speed of the horses with POF who raced before their surgery was no different from that of the control horses.
• Interestingly, horses did not slow down before or speed up following the surgery.
• There was no significant difference in the count of days between their final race before visiting the hospital or their first race after the visit, when comparing POF horses to the control group.
• Lastly, lifetime starts and career earnings did not demonstrate any notable difference between the two groups.

Implications

• The outcomes hint at the necessity to reevaluate the widely reported benefits of surgical intervention for POF.
• The results contradicted the common expectation that fractures such as POF and subsequent surgery would adversely affect a horse’s racing career.