Tom Noonan blog

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

They are bigger than the sport for the most part. They are our "too big to fail" banks.

The essential issue here is that very few people have any clue as to what health issues are for racehorses or what options exist for their treatment. How people can come to conclusions about what should be done without any real understanding of the issue at hand, just the preception of the issue, seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Ok Baffert was giving his horses thyroid powder and he stopped and they stopped croaking. Must be indiscriminate use of thyroid powder right? Well why don't any other trainers horses die form this? I have used thyroid powder on hundreds of horses and none died. I don't know another trainer or vet who has ever had horse die due to thyroid powder. I do know that if I was using something that I believed potentially was causing my horses to die I'd much rather have something relatively innocuous like thyrol-L take the blame rather than the real culprit. The conclusion drawn is that he was giving thyroid powder to all his horses and it caused 7 to die because Rick Arthur mentioned it as unusual but he did so in releasing a report stating that there was no smoking gun.

The "17 shots" the Pletcher horse got over the period of time are also hardly something that a vet wouldn't prescribe or directly caused any issues.

-1 of the shots was for Adequan which is preventative medicine
-3 of the shots were for Hylauronic acid in the stifles. This is a single procedure done 5-7 days before the race and three shots are required because the joint is large and splitting the does into three areas works better so that the entire joint is lubricated. Horses dont die from broken stifles.
-2 of the shots were sedatives used to calm the horse to allow the vet to do the procedure on the stifles safely.
-2 of the shots were for banamine which is an anti-inflammatory medications. -1 of these banamine shots would be given when doing the procedure on the stifles to lessen the potential of inflammation in the area where the needle goes into the joint. The other was given 48 hours before.
-2 of the shots given were lasix and based on another medication given prerace it appears that the horse had a history of bleeding as 1 was given a week out when the horse presumably had his last work before the race.
-1 was dexamethasone/cortisone also an anti-inflammatory given when work was done on the stifles.
-1 was Estrone which is a hormone given 48 hours before race to help prevent bleeding.
-2 the last 2 shots were for vitamin B-1 and for Calcium which help calm a horse before the race.

So I'm sure that some will be aghast at all those shots being given but they all have a viable reason for being used and the vast majority of them were given during one procedure. The horse appeared to have stifle issues and bled. Often stifle issues are due to conformation issues and dont just go away with rest. The idea that a vet was somehow forced into doing these treatments is simply not reality. There is this misconception that horses are either sound or unsound like a black and white deal. Truth is that they all deal with unsoundness of some degree at some point. It may be as simple as a grabbed quarter but when they arent sound they need treatment. Horses with not so great conformation will need more help as the concussion absorbed by their legs is distributed through the leg in a less than ideal manner.

My son went to the Dr. for a check up.. 4 injections as part of standard vaccination program. He is 60lbs. The issue is people do not understand that caring for a 1200 pound animal is different then a human being. That said CJ is a million percent correct its all about perception.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by freddymo

My son went to the Dr. for a check up.. 4 injections as part of standard vaccination program. He is 60lbs. The issue is people do not understand that caring for a 1200 pound animal is different then a human being. That said CJ is a million percent correct its all about perception.

sad but true. probably explains why you have people like jenny mccarthy ranting against vaccinations.

people are lazy and don't like to scratch the surface of a topic. you tell them 'horse got 17 shots' and they're horrified.
you tell them it's akin to going to your doctor and getting a shot for your shoulder, knee or back and they'd get it. i think.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Danzig

sad but true. probably explains why you have people like jenny mccarthy ranting against vaccinations.

people are lazy and don't like to scratch the surface of a topic. you tell them 'horse got 17 shots' and they're horrified.
you tell them it's akin to going to your doctor and getting a shot for your shoulder, knee or back and they'd get it. i think.

And that is the trick about perception. You just have to treat whatever it is you are "against" as though it is some horrible occurrence and most people will go along with it. It isnt a accident that politicians are involved. This is how they operate.

[dellinger63]

Curious, what's the cost of those 17 shots?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Curious, what's the cost of those 17 shots?

NY prices might be higher than these
Adequan is $75-90
B1 and Calcium $20
Hylaronic acid is expensive. Probably $125-150 a shot.
I dont recall the sedatives used but common ones Acepromazine is $20/ Dormosadan is $40-50
Banamine $20-30
Lasix $20-30
Dexamethasone is $30
Estrone $30-40

[Roc525]

You can never compare humans using PED's, and ever compare that to an animal getting any type of drug. Even if it's beneficial to the animal. To people who don't follow racing like most of us here do, they will never understand and always consider it cheating as long as the animals are administered any sort of drug. I've argued about this to a lot of my friends and family who don't follow racing on a daily basis. They don't understand it and never will. As far as they are concerned, horses should race without the use of any type of drug. When I ask why, they say that humans make a choice about what they put in their body, and we are injecting helpless animals with drugs they don't need. And even when I try to explain, they cant understand why horses just cant race straight up and drug free. Perception is everything, and at least everyone I’ve tried to bring into the sport, will never understand a horse getting a shot of anything. Not to mention, a lot of people still believe that when that screen goes up at the track when the most unfortunate happens, that a gun still isn’t used.

Most of us got into this game and it hooked us and we read up and sought information about most aspects of everything that has to do with racing. We had a passion for it. I’ve never introduced racing to anyone who suddenly grew a passion for this game. Its sad, but most just don't look at racing or care about it like most of us here do. Most arent willing to put in the time or get to know how to read PP’s anymore. Its too much effort.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Roc525

You can never compare humans using PED's, and ever compare that to an animal getting any type of drug. Even if it's beneficial to the animal. To people who don't follow racing like most of us here do, they will never understand and always consider it cheating as long as the animals are administered any sort of drug. I've argued about this to a lot of my friends and family who don't follow racing on a daily basis. They don't understand it and never will. As far as they are concerned, horses should race without the use of any type of drug. When I ask why, they say that humans make a choice about what they put in their body, and we are injecting helpless animals with drugs they don't need. And even when I try to explain, they cant understand why horses just cant race straight up and drug free. Perception is everything, and at least everyone I’ve tried to bring into the sport, will never understand a horse getting a shot of anything. Not to mention, a lot of people still believe that when that screen goes up at the track when the most unfortunate happens, that a gun still isn’t used.

Most of us got into this game and it hooked us and we read up and sought information about most aspects of everything that has to do with racing. We had a passion for it. I’ve never introduced racing to anyone who suddenly grew a passion for this game. Its sad, but most just don't look at racing or care about it like most of us here do. Most arent willing to put in the time or get to know how to read PP’s anymore. Its too much effort.

people don't understand that horses suffer injuries and need medical treatment?
i disagree.
and if people don't really know because they don't follow the sport, i'm not quite sure why we need to worry about their thoughts on the matter. they aren't a fan, aren't a bettor. the sport doesn't lose if they don't come, because they weren't ever coming to the track.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by freddymo

My son went to the Dr. for a check up.. 4 injections as part of standard vaccination program. He is 60lbs. The issue is people do not understand that caring for a 1200 pound animal is different then a human being. That said CJ is a million percent correct its all about perception.

If it is about perception (and I dont disagree) than there is almost no possible way of doing this worse than the way this topic has been handled by racing.