How R Things @ The King Ranch?

As you may know, the King Ranch in Texas is one of the oldest and largest cattle
ranches in the United States. More recently though, they have diversified their
interests and have entered into the TB horse-racing / breeding arena, so thought
it important to post this info here;

King Ranch Horses Under Quarantine

http://madcowhorses.blogspot.com/2010/01/equine-piroplasmosis-usa-02-texas.html

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, EQUINE (Persian Gulf)

BAHRAIN: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
*************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Fri 16 Apr 2010
Source: The Horse.com [edited]



An as-yet unidentified illness has killed 2 horses and sickened 10
others in Bahrain, reports the Gulf Daily News [see at
].
Authorities began investigating the situation on 15 Apr 2010, and
blood tests have been sent to a specialized laboratory in the United
Arab Emirates.

Because it had not yet been determined whether the illness is viral
or bacterial or how it spreads, horse and stable owners in the area
have been warned not to move their animals. Authorities are also
recommending that owners do not take part in equine sporting events
until more information is forthcoming.

"Two horses have already been put down since they had very severe
infection," Dr Salman Abdul Nabi, Director of Animal Wealth
Directorate, Ministry of Municipality Affairs and Agriculture, told
the Gulf Daily News. Abdul Nabi is Bahrain's Municipalities and
Agriculture Ministry livestock director.

Abdul Nabi reportedly said that he does not feel the illness is
contagious and noted that only a few of the country's 6500 horses
were afflicted.

Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, assistant professor of clinical
studies at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College, in
reporting about the situation on Guelph's EquID Blog, said that it is
probably premature to make assessments about whether the illness is
contagious.

"There are many potential causes for an outbreak like this," wrote
Weese. "Not all of them, in fact, are infectious disease, since
toxin-mediated disease must also be considered. If multiple horses
are being affected, the cause is more likely viral than bacterial,
but bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic diseases must be
considered."

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Persian
Gulf off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and is about 4 times the
size of Washington, DC.

[Byline: Tracy Gantz]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[The available information does not specify the clinical signs and PM
findings of the mentioned cases. Excluding infectious diseases,
particularly the 2, non-zoonotic equine orbiviruses, African horse
sickness and equine encephalosis, is urgently required. - Mod.AS]

[Maps of Bahrain can be seen at
and
. - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]

[see also:
2009
----
Equine encephalosis - Israel (03) 20091026.3709
Equine encephalosis - Ethiopia: serological evidence, RFI 20090509.1734
Equine encephalosis - Israel (02): OIE 20090501.1645
Equine encephalosis - Israel: 2008 20090401.1254
2008
----
African horse sickness - Ethiopia (02): serotype 2, update 20080930.3087
African horse sickness - Ethiopia: serotype 2, RFI 20080916.2898
2007
----
Equine encephalosis - South Africa (W Cape) 20070509.1495
1999
----
Equine encephalosis - S. Africa (Port Elizabeth) 19990428.0708]
...................................arn/mj/lm

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Learning Equine Anatomy / Legs

Click on title above to see excellent learning vid whether you are just into horse anatomy, lameness issues or blacksmithing, barefoot trimming, etc.

I am trying to learn to do my own equines. It pays to start from the inside out.

Jockey Club Releases Fatality Reports

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Contact: Bob Curran Jr. (212 ) 521-5326
Equine Injury Database Statistic Released by The Jockey Club

The Jockey Club today released a North American fatality rate for Thoroughbreds based on a preliminary analysis of data collected over a one-year period in the Equine Injury Database™, the North American database for racing injuries.

The Equine Injury Database, which grew out of a need identified at the first Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in Lexington, Ky., in October 2006, was launched in July 2008. It is part of an industry-wide emphasis on the protection of the health and welfare of its equine athletes, and the collection of data is the first step in the process of examining and preventing athletic injuries in the racehorse.

Based upon a year’s worth of data beginning November 1, 2008, from 378,864 total starts in Thoroughbred flat races at 73 racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database, 2.04 fatal injuries were recorded per 1,000 starts.

The analysis was performed by Dr. Tim Parkin, a veterinarian and epidemiologist from the University of Glasgow, who serves as a consultant on the project.

“Data collected from a broad cross-section of racetracks in the United States and Canada will serve as an important tool for racetracks seeking benchmarks concerning the safety of racehorses,” said Parkin. “Over time, as data continues to be added, the database should yield numerous trends and factors associated with racing injuries and lead to strategies for their prevention.”

Racetracks currently have tools provided by InCompass Solutions Inc. to analyze data collected at their respective facilities. In early April, InCompass will make available an enhanced module that automates selected reports.

“Analysis of data in the Equine Injury Database is ongoing,” explained Matt Iuliano, executive vice president and executive director of The Jockey Club. “Dr. Parkin is scheduled to report additional analysis and insights on the matter at the third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit on June 28 and 29 at Keeneland.”

The Jockey Club, through two of its for-profit subsidiary companies, InCompass and The Jockey Club Technology Services Inc., has underwritten the cost to develop and operate the database as a service to the industry. By agreement with the participating racetracks, from time to time The Jockey Club may publish certain summary statistics from the Equine Injury Database, but will not provide statistics that identify specific participants, including racetracks, horses or persons.

Eighty-one racetracks and the National Steeplechase Association participate in the Equine Injury Database, representing 86 percent of the flat racing days in North America. A list of racetracks participating in the Equine Injury Database can be found at jockeyclub.com/initiatives.asp.

The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans and farms, among others.

InCompass is a technology solutions company formed in 2001 to centralize the software applications and systems that serve North American racetracks and simulcast outlets, thereby helping these facilities achieve operational efficiencies, reduce costs and increase revenue.

The Jockey Club Technology Services is a technology company formed in 2002 to maximize the benefits of state-of-the-art communications and data management technology in support of The Jockey Club and its affiliated companies and other customers.

Jockey, Author, Dick Francis Dies at 89

—From the Times of London

Had he remained in the racing world as a trainer or thoroughbred expert after retiring from riding in 1957, Dick Francis would have been remembered as one of the most successful jockeys of his era.

Mr. Francis, who died Sunday at age 89, would also be remembered as the jockey who spectacularly managed to lose in the 1956 Grand National, Great Britain's most famous steeplechase. A photograph of him within a whisker of the finish line, aboard Queen Elizabeth's horse Devon Loch, flat on its belly with four legs helplessly splayed out, is one of racing's strangest images. To "do a Devon Loch" is a still a byword for losing a race from a seemingly unassailable position.

But the disaster actually helped launch Mr. Francis's subsequent career as a journalist and then as horse racing's most eloquent writer of thrillers. Almost all his books became international best-sellers, and they made Mr. Francis a wealthy man.

Raised in a village in Pembrokeshire in southwest Wales, Mr. Francis was the son of a horse-dealer, steeplechaser and farmer. Mr. Francis learned to ride when he was 5 and won his first race at age 8. His father felt that a day hunting or show-jumping was much more valuable to a growing boy than a day at school, and allowed Mr. Francis to drop out at age 15.

In 1939, Mr. Francis joined the Royal Air Force and was later commissioned as a pilot, flying fighters and bombers during World War II. In 1947, he married a university-educated and highly literate schoolmistress, Mary Margaret Brenchley, despite opposition from both families on the ground that they had so little in common. He arrived at their wedding with his arm in a sling, having fallen from a horse.

Mr. Francis turned professional in 1948, and was for four seasons in the 1950s Queen Elizabeth's No. 1 jockey. By the time of the Devon Loch debacle he had broken so many bones that he was advised to give up racing. His autobiography, "The Sport of Queens," was published in 1957, and Britain's Sunday Express used him as a racing correspondent for the next 16 years.

Mr. Francis approached the task of writing with little confidence. But journalism didn't pay as well as racing, and realizing that their two sons' school fees had to be paid, his wife suggested that he try a novel. Drawing on his own expertise, he wrote "Dead Cert." It was extremely well received, and, from then on, he produced a book a year.

Horses, in training or racing or being sold or put to stud, are featured in all his books. Mr. Francis's heroes tend to be lonely men, often widowed or divorced; they are frequently beaten up or injured, but they strive doggedly in their pursuit of the villains and in their personal lives, proving more resourceful and resilient than their melancholy natures permitted them to expect.

The books were set in exotic locales, from South Africa to Norway to Russia. Mary Francis explored whatever specialized fields were needed, learning to paint for "In the Frame" and about the wine trade for "Proof." "Flying Finish" involved the transport of horses, so Mrs. Francis learned to fly, an experience she enjoyed so much that she started an air-taxi service conveying people to racecourses.

Mr. Francis always acknowledged his debt to his wife, although he denied one biographer's claim that she was the primary author. After she died in 2000, he was helped by his son Felix. Mr. Francis's latest book, "Crossfire" is due to be published in August.

He would prefer, Mr. Francis sometimes said, to be remembered as a jockey rather than as a writer, but then admitted that, if that were the case, he would be remembered only as the man whose horse stopped in the Grand National.

—From the Times of London —Email remembrances@wsj.com


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431404575067671970533114.html

Thorofan Fundraiser in NY

THOROFAN HONORS RACHEL ALEXANDRA AS HORSE OF THE YEAR AT HER 4TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Raising Funds for Bobby Frankel Division of Old Friends at Cabin Creek

FREE ADMISSION

Date: Sunday Jan 31, 2010 Place: Union Grille, Saratoga Hilton 534 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY

Time: Seating 12-5pm

50% of tab will be donated to Old Friends at Cabin Creek by Andy Brindisi RSVP to be eligible for fab door prizes

Union Grille 518-682-2600

HILTON HOTEL HAS SPECIAL PRICING ON ROOMS AND SUITES More info? Contact: Bambii Rae (518) 695-3605 bambiirae@nycap.rr.com

GREAT FOOD, FUN PEOPLE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUNG TO RACHEL IN NEW ORLEANS See famed equine artist Frankie Flores create “Rachel”,
Hear infamous Artie Rigileto Vendors: pictures, jewelry, hats & clothes
DON'T MISS THE EXCITEMENT



--------

Member of: www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Penn Temporarily Bans Horses Owned by Gill

By Claire Novak

Updated: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 12:55 PM
Posted: Monday, January 25, 2010 7:40 PM


Horses entered in the name of Michael Gill, North America’s leading owner by races won and purses earned in 2009, will not be accepted for entry at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course effective immediately.
Chris McErlean, vice president of racing for track owner Penn National Gaming Inc., said Jan. 25 the temporary restriction has been put in place pending a meeting to review the necropsy results of two runners owned by Gill that recently broke down at the Pennsylvania track.

Several other runners owned by Gill have ralso eportedly suffered fatal breakdowns on the track since Oct. 1, although exact numbers have not been confirmed.

Gill, the leading owner in North America by purses earned and races won in 2003, 2004, and 2009—he led by wins and was second by earnings in 2005, the year he won an Eclipse Award—had taken a break from racing in 2006 but returned in 2008. He has 49 stalls at Penn National and stables the remainder of his 120 horses at his private training center, Elk Creek Ranch in Oxford, Pa.

Last year, 2,247 horses raced under his silks to 370 wins and earnings of $6,670,490.

“To my knowledge, regarding further entries at this point, we are going to wait until we have a scheduled meeting with Mr. Gill and his trainers once we get those reports from the most recent breakdowns,” McErlean said. “We want the ability to speak with him and his trainers to find out what’s going on and get some more information at that time.”

The practice of running and reviewing a necropsy exam on horses that suffer fatal injuries at Penn National is one instituted by the track at the start of the year in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission.

“We’ve set up a process between ourselves and the commission to do an informal review of the report, to allow the trainer to tell us of any issues they were aware of, and through looking at vet records to try to piece together any reasons why the breakdown could have occurred,” McErlean said.

McErlean said results of the necropsies should be available by Jan. 27, and a meeting could be scheduled by the end of the week.

The restriction follows a threatened boycott of Penn National’s Jan. 23 card by jockeys that were concerned over a second spill involving one of Gill’s entries in a three-day period. The Darrel Delahoussaye-trained Laughing Moon broke down after the wire under jockey Ricky Frazier in the fifth race Jan. 23. A previous incident occurred Jan. 21, when Melodeeman, trained by Anthony Adamo, suffered a catastrophic breakdown in the second race on the card.

After a lengthy delay, Adamo scratched Justin M, Gill’s only other entry on the card, from the sixth race. Trainers subsequently withdrew horses owned by Gill from ensuing race cards; horses were entered through Jan 28.

Anthony Black, a veteran Pennsylvania rider who was active in forming the Philadelphia Park Jockeys organization, said he spoke to several riders involved in the situation. Black also approached stewards at Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack to inform them of local riders’ concerns.

“I talked to three older riders who are based there, and they’re having second thoughts when it comes to riding races with his horses,” Black said. “They’ve not ridden good races, and they realize they haven’t, because they wouldn’t tuck in behind those horses in the blue and white Gill colors—and it makes good sense not to tuck in behind them when they’re breaking down like that.”

Gill, reached Jan. 25, said his horses did not break down at a higher rate than usual for lower-level claimers. He said he has always maintained a practice of complete transparency with racing authorities.

“They can go through all my horses at my farm, at the barn, unannounced, uninvited,” Gill said. “They can take any blood test, jog the horses, look at everything. I’ve always been that way. You find something illegal with these horses, I’ll quit.

“We ran 2,247 horses last year and did we have a bad test? Not one. How many trainers do you think can claim that?”

Gill said he believes his practice of running large numbers of horses and claiming from smaller operations has angered horsemen on circuits from Delaware to Florida. In 2003, he was involved in a similar controversy stemming from the fatal breakdown of the Mark Shuman-trained Casual Conflict, but was exonerated along with his trainer of all wrongdoing in the situation.

“The people that we’re claiming from who happen to have been in that community for the past 20-30 years are unhappy,” Gill said “It’s not new. We’re claiming an inordinate amount of horses and taking too much money off the table. I take grief because I own a lot of claiming horses, but how many people spend millions of dollars on horses that never even make it to the racetrack?”

According to Gill, in 2009 he had two horses that suffered fatal injuries at Penn National for the entire year.

“The horse that broke down (Jan. 23) was sound; he had just won the race before," Gill said. "I’ll show you his vet records. He'd never been ‘tapped.' Maybe the track was a little hard; that’s part of winter racing when you’re running at a track in January where it’s raining, snowing, and freezing, too.”

BLOGGERS NOTE: We shall await the results of the testing before entering Gill as the latest inductee into The Horse Racing Hall of Shame...as we firmly belive in the theory of innocent until proven guilty...it is the American Way.



http://ow.ly/11rZC

Pletcher fined, suspended by CHRB

By Steve Andersen
Daily Racing Form


The California Horse Racing Board fined trainer Todd Pletcher $25,000 and suspended him at least 10 days for a positive test for the anesthetic procaine by Wait a While following a third-place finish in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita in 2008.


The board adopted the recommendation of hearing officer Steffan Imhoff in a closed-door session at its monthly meeting on Jan. 15. Imhoff recommended a 60-day suspension with 50 days of the penalty stayed in the event that Pletcher does not have a positive for medications in classes 1, 2, or 3 during for a year.


Pletcher did not return a phone call Friday seeking comment.


Procaine is a class 3 medication that is commonly used with penicillin, an antiobiotic.


Pletcher, who has a small stable in California this winter, must begin his suspension and pay the fine by Feb. 20, according to racing board executive director Kirk Breed.


In his decision, Imhoff said he gave Pletcher the maximum suspension allowed under racing board rules because the positive occurred after a Breeders' Cup race. He said a majority of the suspension was stayed because Wait a While was treated with procaine at the advice of Pletcher's veterinarian and was not treated with the medication in the 18 days before the race.


Imhoff wrote, "If, as we believe, another procaine injection was given shortly before the race, there is no evidence to suggest this was done by Pletcher, or on his behalf."


Imhoff said the attorney general's recommendation for a $50,000 fine was "too high," but that a drug violation in a $2 million race demands a "substantial" fine.



http://ow.ly/ZKUv

Cincinnati Horse Trainer Charged with Cruelty, Abandonment

by: Pat Raia
January 08 2010, Article # 15610

Thoroughbred horse trainer Chad Moore faces multiple animal cruelty charges in connection with the alleged abandonment and maltreatment of horses at his Ohio farm.

Clermont County animal control officials removed six allegedly malnourished Thoroughbred horses, one pony, and one donkey from Moore's Bethel Farm last month. The carcasses of at least 10 horses were also found on the property, said Clermont County Communications Director Kathy Lehr.

Moore was arrested on unrelated charges shortly after the animals' removal.

On Thursday, he was charged with two counts of animal abandonment and two counts of animal cruelty. Additional charges are pending, Lehr said. Moore remains in the Clermont County jail.

Two mares were euthanized. The surviving animals are receiving rehabilitative care at a private farm.

Read more: Two Seized Cincinnati Horses Euthanized
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15610

Racing Industry "Catches" Equine Disease

I have got to say, if it wasent for this New Mexican Race-tracks Screening Methods, this disease might never have been detected. Nice catch NM!

EQUINE PIROPLASMOSIS - USA (12): (NEW MEXICO)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: 28 Dec 2009
Source: The Horse.com [edited]



As part of a racetrack screening program, 3 New Mexico horses have
been identified as infected with _Theileria equi_, a causative agent
for equine piroplasmosis. These infections are noteworthy as these
horses are not epidemiologically linked to those involved in a larger
ongoing investigation centered on horses from a South Texas ranch.

Information on the new cases, and an update on the Texas
investigation, was included in a 24 Dec 2009 report issued to the
World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des
Epizooties, or OIE) by John Clifford, DVM, deputy administrator of
the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The positive New Mexico horses did not show any clinical signs of
disease. Preliminary results of the investigation indicate that the
transmission of the organism might have resulted from management
practices (use of shared needles or substances between horses) rather
than by a tick vector, the OIE report noted. More than 1300 New
Mexico horses have been tested via the screening program.

Officials in the United States have screened all imported horses for
piroplasmosis for nearly 30 years. The disease was officially
eradicated from the United States in 1988. It is spread by some
species of ticks, the use of contaminated needles, and possibly
through blood-contaminated semen of infected stallions.

Clinical signs of equine piroplasmosis can include a host of
nonspecific problems, such as fever or anemia, and some infected
horses might appear healthy. Blood tests are needed to diagnosis the
disease. The only treatment is a potent type of chemotherapy that can
have serious side effects in some horses.

The larger piroplasmosis investigation remains underway, with 357
confirmed positive horses. All of the positive horses have direct
links to the index premises in Kleberg County, Texas. The OIE report
stated these include horses that currently or previously lived on the
index premises or live on a premises immediately adjacent, or [near]
other "dangerous contacts" (a positive foal born to an infected mare
was listed as an example of such).

Positive horses have been located in 12 states, with 289 positive
horses on the index ranch in Texas, 41 on other premises in Texas, 2
in Alabama, 2 in California, 5 in Florida, one in Georgia, 2 in
Indiana, 5 in Louisiana, 1 in Minnesota, 2 in North Carolina, 4 in
New Jersey, 1 in Tennessee, 1 in Utah, and 1 in Wisconsin. All known
positive horses are under quarantine.

More than 1500 horses have been tested for equine piroplasmosis as
part of the epidemiological investigation, including 587 horses
exposed to positive horses outside of the index premises. All of
these cohorts have tested negative, the report stated.

As a result of the current investigation, Canada and several U.S.
states have restricted the importation of horses from Texas. Horse
owners and veterinarians shipping horses are urged to check with
animal health officials in your state of destination to ensure the
animals have met all entry requirements.

[Byline: Erin Ryder]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail

[Although the horses do not appear to be epidemiologically linked to
the outbreak that started in Texas, sharing needles between horses
does not give a horse piroplasmosis unless those needles have been in
a horse with piroplasmosis. In other words, the disease had to have
come from somewhere. The question is where. Will New Mexico cast a
surveillance net to detect where the disease really came from? -
Mod.TG]

[see also:
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (11): multi-state 20091203.4128
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (10) 20091117.3963
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (09): (NJ ex TX) 20091111.3912
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (08): (TX) alert 20091030.3749
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (07): (TX) 20091024.3675
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (06): (TX) OIE 20091022.3631
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (05): (TX) 20091021.3617
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (04): (KS, MO) resolved 20090917.3262
Piroplasmosis, equine - USA (03): (KS, MO) 20090729.2662
Equine Piroplasmosis - USA (02): (MO) 20090612.2172
Equine Piroplasmosis - USA: (FL) quarantine lifted 20090225.0771
2008
----
Equine Piroplasmosis - USA (04): (FL) 20080930.3088
Equine Piroplasmosis - USA: (03) (FL) 20080828.2687
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (02): (FL) 20080823.2626
Equine piroplasmosis - USA: (FL) 20080819.2579]
...................................................tg/msp/lm

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