Kentucky's ongoing attempt to end racing in state proceeds..

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

is there a way to know beforehand whether a horse will bleed at any given time? are there warnings, advanced notice? any way to know if it'll be a minor or a major episode?

Unfortunately, no.

since i've read that major bleeding can cause permanent damage that can lesser a horses ability in future, is there a way to know ahead of time what horses need lasix?

Bleeding into the lungs is detectable in all race horse horses post-exercise:

5% of the time by waiting for blood to bubble up out of the lungs, up through the trachea, and gush from nostrils

75% of the time by using an endoscope to look for evidence of frank blood in the trachea

93% of the time by doing a transtracheal wash or broncheoalvelar lavage and seeing blood cells that have ruptured into the alveoli (air sacs).

The location of scarring is the capillary-aveolar sac interface.

On the track, horses don't get approved for lasix use until a vet documents a bleeding episode via endoscopy.