Via TD Thornton
After news broke that seven horses racing at facilities under the jurisdiction of the California Horse Racing Commission (CHRB) died in March, several commissioners and staff at Thursday's monthly board meeting raised their hands. the verbal equivalent of a yellow flag with the goal of preventing future deaths. that would be equivalent to a spike into red alert territory.
“Our injury rates, our mortality rates are going up,” President Gregory Ferraro, DVM, said after CHRB equine medical director Jeff Blea released the statistics in his report. “Do you have any solutions, reasons, comments about that?” he asks.
“Solution, no. The reasons, each reason is unique,” Blea replied.
“For example, in March, there were two tibias, one shoulder in a quarter horse, and two femurs,” Blea said, describing the underlying causes of death and what led to the four Musculoskeletal injuries occurred during training and one injury occurred during racing.
Blea said the remaining two deaths were “non-exercise-related medical deaths.”
“When I look at the autopsy reports and when I participate in the autopsy process, each report is unique,” Blea continued. The solution, I think what we need to continue to do is what we have been doing. We need to continue the educational stance on welfare, racing and safety programs that CHRB has established, coach [continuing education]. We need to continue to educate through autopsy review. And we need to continue to spread that message.
“We need to continue to remind our stakeholders not to be complacent,” Blea said. “It's easy to be complacent. These are difficult times not only for the industry but especially in California. I think the horsemen feel it, the management feels it, everyone feels it. So I think that's it [important] to keep doing what we're doing and keep doing it better than we've been doing it.
“There has been some discussion in some circles about the penalties for the deaths,” Blea said. “I think it was a conversation that was passed down from a few years ago. That would require quite a bit of discussion and insight into how that kind of process works.
“In other words, if you have more than one death, two deaths, three deaths [you’d face penalization]“, Blea said. “Some people have echoed that sentiment, but I think the knights are acutely aware that the last thing they want is a death. But I think to help reduce those numbers, we just need to keep our foot on the pedal.”
Ferraro then wanted to know how many trainers might have experienced more than one musculoskeletal fatality in their stable over a 12-month period.
Scott Chaney, CHRB executive director, didn't have exact numbers in front of him, but he said that based on the most recent annual report the CHRB issued, he believes there were about 66 deaths statewide. state. , “in an area of 10 coaches there is more than one.”
Chaney clarifies that, “So the vast majority clearly does [just] one. And then I think there might be a coach with four, one with three and a few with two.”
CHRB Vice Chairman Oscar Gonzales said it is important for the board to remain vigilant in monitoring horse training and racing with extended layoffs, adding that he is aware that General supervision can be difficult at a time when the industry is short on veterinarians.
Chaney agrees that horses that have been laid off deserve closer oversight from the CHRB.
“Those things [injuries] Particularly troublesome because they are preventable,” Chaney said, noting that the CHRB requires additional testing for horses that are about to be put down.
Widening the lens further, Chaney added, “Sudden deaths, I still think we're still trying to wrap our arms around. But major bone injuries we can prevent.”
Gonzales summarized the discussion by reminding stakeholders “The last thing we need is more rules and regulations, or even for state legislatures to act in cases where they feel do enough.”
Blea puts it this way: “The success of regulation lies in its silence. It's there – you just don't hear or see it. Honestly, I'm glad we don't hear or see it, because the goal is to reduce those numbers. But success is there.”
