My Heroes: NYS Racing and Wagering Board

On October 12, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board acted like heroes for all of us worried about the drugging of racehorses. Richard Dutrow Jr. was finally barred from New York's racetracks for 10 years. His name is well known in racing circles for almost 70 violations at 15 racetracks in 9 states. Consider this: Dutrow hid illegal workouts of his horses, used strong painkillers including butorphanol found in winnning horse Fastus Cactus, kept 3 syringes in his desk loaded with xyzaline, a muscle-relaxant. John Sabini, chairman of the Board, said: "His [Dutrow] repeated violations and disregard of the rules of racing has eroded confidence in the betting pubic and caused an embarrassment throughout the industry." It is hoped that Dutrow will not be licensed in other states to race. Those who drug horses to win are not only guilty of greed. Veterinarians believe that using both legal and illegal drugs on race horses is account partly for the fact that the United States has the world's highest rate of thoroughbred mortality.
But Dutrow has the right to counsel, and they managed a win when at a hearing, Judge Richard Giardino upheld the stay. If he hadn't, Dutrow would have been refused entrance to all New York tracks right away. One wonders how much the judge knows about the years on end of drugging horses and how many people have tried to get rid of this widespread horse abuse. With this stay, Dutrow can go on training horses until his appeal is heard; lawyers can delay this process easily. Dutrow said of Giardino's ruling, "I'm glad I still get to go to the barn. I got a very positive attitude here, no negativism at all. It's easy for me to get up in the morning and go to the barn. Everything else comes so naturally for me there." Unfortunately we all know what comes naturally. We congratulate the Board, and wish that Dutrow had been barred for life.

Equine Herpes May be Spread by Stressed Show Horses

When horses like those beauties above leave their peaceful pasture and are taken to the show ring to compete, the equine herpes virus most adult horses carry can spread due to the stress of competition. In an article by Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News, we read that Dr. Philip Johnson, who teaches equine internal medicine at the University of Missouri points out that "most adult horses are infected with the virus....[That] infection leads to a life-long association between the virus and its host. In most healthy horses most of the time, the host's immune system prevents the virus from going active and being especially contagious." But, he goes on, there are times when the virus overcomes the immune system and becomes active. An example is the April/May National Cutting Horse Association's Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah: 32 cases of infectious equine herpes resulted, with those infected spreading the disease to other horses. Dr. Johnson says, "Congregated horses coming together to compete are stressed, adversely affecting the immune system's function." Dr. Johnson adds that it may be that show horses, that are commonly exposed to intense confinement and a lot of transport between shows, neither of which they may be used to, may become carriers of an activated virus. And the grouping of show horses closely together in temporary, strange stabling, is another factor. Once the virus is active, formerly unaffected horses can breathe in the virus, and are infected by horse workers' hands, equipment, tack, and food.

The virus appears in two strains. One is more likely to cause neurological problems. The symptoms of the latter are fever of 102 degrees F or even higher; nasal discharge; fatigue; weakness; urine dribbling; leaning; tail loss of tone; and problems with standing. Dr. Bruce King, state veterinarian of Utah, says that an infected horse should be isolated, his temperature taken and recorded twice a day. Dr. John Hunt, Acting Arizona State Veterinarian, says further that this procedure should continue for 28 days after the initial symptoms are seen. If the sick horse has secondary infections, doctors may use anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, and anti-viral drugs. If the horse can't stand up, body padding and slings may be used; intravenous feeding and a catheter may also prove useful.

Viegas concludes that "some vaccines provide protection against the less debilitating form of the virus, but they do not appear to protect against the neurological syndrome."

Read the Prologue to My New Book Now

If you would like to read the Prologue to my new book, He Trots the Air, go to my web site at www.mmfisher.com, and click on the very small image of the book's cover. There you'll also find me musing about writing the book and what I wanted to accomplish.