Lasix

[cmorioles]

I'm just curious why they need lasix without ever having raced. About 99% of them get lasix first time out now. Those that don't get it are at a competitive disadvantage, plain and simple.

There is very little doubt in my mind that lasix enables horses to run faster whether they bleed or not, thus everyone uses it.

As for why I would care, I happen to like the sport. Horses ran a lot more and broke down a lot less before lasix and other drugs were legalized. I'd like to see that happen again someday, though I know I won't.

[philcski]

Here's the problem with his claim that Lasix is the cause for declining field size- bleeding has NOT caused reduced fields, trainers seduced by the completely BOGUS Ragozin idea that significant time off between races is required for optimal performance (see: Denis of Cork); not to mention hundreds of years of inbreeding for speed which has made the breed more fragile.

Horses used to run 30+ times a year. Now it's 15 for even the "hardest knocking" types. Multiply the number of races run and reduce the number of starts per year, even with a siginficant increase in total registered foals per year, and you have reduced fields.

[MisterB]

You don't see this across the POND, because they don't want to breed bleeders. Easy that way

Bustin Stones ran 1st time L, just because he showed some indication of blood, and Bruce played the safe side. Can't blame for 20.00 bucks, and his 1st G1

[Riot]

You don't see this across the POND, because they don't want to breed bleeders. Easy that way

The same number of Thoroughbred horses seem to bleed in England, France, Japan, Australia as bleed in the US. Check the research (google, PubMed, etc)

We in the US are allowed to try and prevent bleeding by administering medication before a race, the other countries do not allow that (the horse is allowed to bleed while racing)

Here's the AAEP general comment on EIPH:

Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH) or bleeding

This occupational disease is a major lower respiratory problem of athletic horses. Horses with EIPH bleed from the lungs during intensive exercise. Usually the hemorrhage is minor but can at times be profuse. Fatalities are extremely rare.

The cause of EIPH is unclear but several factors are evident. There is a definite relationship between small airway disease (bronchitis), alterations in the vasculature of the lung in the dorsal-caudal (upper back) tip of the lung field, and EIPH.

Until about 20 years ago, the condition was termed epistaxis (nosebleed) and the hemorrhage was thought to originate somewhere in the head. The introduction of the fiberoptic endoscope to equine veterinary practice in the early 1970s allowed the safe and effective visualization of the upper respiratory tract of horses for the first time. It showed that the blood actually originated from the lungs. Furthermore, less than one horse in 20 which has EIPH has blood at the nostrils.

University studies indicate a significant percentage of racehorses, as high as 85% in one study, experience EIPH to some degree at one time or another.

There are no indications to suggest that the incidence of EIPH has increased in recent times as the incidence of epistaxis (bleeding from the nostrils) has remained essentially constant over the last century. Only the diagnostic capabilities have improved.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

I'm just curious why they need lasix without ever having raced. About 99% of them get lasix first time out now. Those that don't get it are at a competitive disadvantage, plain and simple.

There is very little doubt in my mind that lasix enables horses to run faster whether they bleed or not, thus everyone uses it.

As for why I would care, I happen to like the sport. Horses ran a lot more and broke down a lot less before lasix and other drugs were legalized. I'd like to see that happen again someday, though I know I won't.

This is simply not true. Do you or anyone else have any evidence that horses brokedown less? They only started collecting the data recently on breakdowns and horses making fewer starts has been a trend since 1960 which is long before lasix.