House Subcommittee Hearings

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by kagbr

I recall some of the testimony from the researcher from the University Of Colorado. He is collaborating with a researcher from the U. of Maine to determine the best conditions for any type of track surface, how to maintain that condition and how to evaluate surfaces.

I believe he also stated that there is blood testing that is 90% accurate in indicating a horse has a minor injury that may progress to a fracture. His research indicates that catostrophic injuries are often the result of a progression of a minor injury evolving into a catostrophic injury over time. The implication is this : the data seems to indicate that if a horse blood test shows the beginning of what might become a fracture, the horse needs rest, not medication to mask the injury. Once the horse's blood test shows he is sound he can resume training.

He is more than just a researcher. Dr. McIllwraith is a world renowned surgeon. Many consider him to be the best surgeon in the country. He even flies to Europe to do surgeries on horses over there. He does almost all of our surgeries. He has done arthroscopic surgery on at least 3-4 of our horses.