S_N
Well-Known Member
Meant to post this last night, but kept having power cuts and I gave up trying...
Anyway, I have coppied and pasted this article - makes for some very interesting reading, whether you breed racehorses or sportshorses. Also in the breeding section.
[ QUOTE ]
Australian study shows most common defects no barrier
to success
Rachel Pagones reports from the International Breeders' Meeting
in Melbourne
.
Yearling x-ray study
Most common bone abnormalities revealed in x-rays taken from sales yearlings have no effect on subsequent racing performance, based on number of wins and prize-money earned, a study conducted by the University of Melbourne has found.
The researchers looked at more than 80,000 radiographs taken from more than 2,400 yearlings and followed the horses through their two- and three-year-old careersbefore drawing their conclusions.
The bottom line is, radiographic lesions at yearling sales have no or limited effect on future performance, Dr Chris Whitton told the veterinary session of the International Breeders' Meeting in Melbourne last week.
The x-rays the researchers used were those held in the repositories at eight sales conducted by Magic Millions and William Inglis & Son, Australia's two major auction houses, in 2003. That was the year repositories, which house radiographs to be examined byvets hired by potential buyers, were introduced in Australia. Defects found on these x-rays can kill a sale as their presence, depending on size and severity, has been thought to signal future unsoundness.
However, the University of Melbourne study did not support that belief. Having analysed the x-rays, which included 34 different views of each yearling, the researchers tracked the horses' racing performance through their two- and three-year-old seasons. They included results of both domestic and foreign races.
Among the most common bone abnormalities in young horses are osteochondrosis and OCD (osteochondritis dissecans) lesions. Although frequent, the presence of these lesions often discourages a sale. Thirty per cent of horses in the studyhad osteochondrosis on the sagittal ridge, a bony prominence of the front fetlock, while the incidence varied from two to four per cent in other joints.
One-fifth of the horses had bone cysts in the knee. Bone cysts were less common in the sesamoid, in which 12 per cent of hind limbs and ten per cent of forelimbs were affected, and still less so in the stifle, which had five per cent prevalence. Bone chips loose fragments of the fetlock were found in a smaller number of yearlings.
There were four types of lesions the researchers found that had a notable effect on performance. Horses with more severe sagittal ridge OCDs in their hind fetlocks were ten times less likely to start as a two- or three-year-old, and they tended to make their debuts later and have slightly fewer starts. However, the researchers found no difference in the number of wins and prize-money earned by these horses.
My reading is that these horses are slower to mature, explained Whitton.
Horses with any OCD lesion of the stifle, including relatively mild ones, performed at a slightly lower rate. So did horses with a bone formation on their front sesamoid.
However, the effect was small enough that it's hard to get excited about them, said Whitton.
There were eight types of lesion that had no effect on performance, including bony fragments in the fetlock and sesamoid fractures.
Whitton concluded: If you see changes in yearlings, they don't seem to affect performance.
He added it was likely that year-lings with more serious problems were either treated before the sale or not entered, reducing the likelihood of career-threatening defects appearing at auction.
The study, financed by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, an industry-funded body, is the largest project of its kind, said Whitton.
It also produced a less welcome conclusion: in looking at prize-money earned, the researchers found that only five per cent of the horses in the study earned back their purchase price plus training costs for the two years, with horses bought in the A$50,000-100,000 range the most likely to pay their way.
On the positive side, 80 per cent of the 2,773 horses sold started in a race, and 62 per cent earned some prize-money.
[/ QUOTE ]
Anyway, I have coppied and pasted this article - makes for some very interesting reading, whether you breed racehorses or sportshorses. Also in the breeding section.
[ QUOTE ]
Australian study shows most common defects no barrier
to success
Rachel Pagones reports from the International Breeders' Meeting
in Melbourne
.
Yearling x-ray study
Most common bone abnormalities revealed in x-rays taken from sales yearlings have no effect on subsequent racing performance, based on number of wins and prize-money earned, a study conducted by the University of Melbourne has found.
The researchers looked at more than 80,000 radiographs taken from more than 2,400 yearlings and followed the horses through their two- and three-year-old careersbefore drawing their conclusions.
The bottom line is, radiographic lesions at yearling sales have no or limited effect on future performance, Dr Chris Whitton told the veterinary session of the International Breeders' Meeting in Melbourne last week.
The x-rays the researchers used were those held in the repositories at eight sales conducted by Magic Millions and William Inglis & Son, Australia's two major auction houses, in 2003. That was the year repositories, which house radiographs to be examined byvets hired by potential buyers, were introduced in Australia. Defects found on these x-rays can kill a sale as their presence, depending on size and severity, has been thought to signal future unsoundness.
However, the University of Melbourne study did not support that belief. Having analysed the x-rays, which included 34 different views of each yearling, the researchers tracked the horses' racing performance through their two- and three-year-old seasons. They included results of both domestic and foreign races.
Among the most common bone abnormalities in young horses are osteochondrosis and OCD (osteochondritis dissecans) lesions. Although frequent, the presence of these lesions often discourages a sale. Thirty per cent of horses in the studyhad osteochondrosis on the sagittal ridge, a bony prominence of the front fetlock, while the incidence varied from two to four per cent in other joints.
One-fifth of the horses had bone cysts in the knee. Bone cysts were less common in the sesamoid, in which 12 per cent of hind limbs and ten per cent of forelimbs were affected, and still less so in the stifle, which had five per cent prevalence. Bone chips loose fragments of the fetlock were found in a smaller number of yearlings.
There were four types of lesions the researchers found that had a notable effect on performance. Horses with more severe sagittal ridge OCDs in their hind fetlocks were ten times less likely to start as a two- or three-year-old, and they tended to make their debuts later and have slightly fewer starts. However, the researchers found no difference in the number of wins and prize-money earned by these horses.
My reading is that these horses are slower to mature, explained Whitton.
Horses with any OCD lesion of the stifle, including relatively mild ones, performed at a slightly lower rate. So did horses with a bone formation on their front sesamoid.
However, the effect was small enough that it's hard to get excited about them, said Whitton.
There were eight types of lesion that had no effect on performance, including bony fragments in the fetlock and sesamoid fractures.
Whitton concluded: If you see changes in yearlings, they don't seem to affect performance.
He added it was likely that year-lings with more serious problems were either treated before the sale or not entered, reducing the likelihood of career-threatening defects appearing at auction.
The study, financed by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, an industry-funded body, is the largest project of its kind, said Whitton.
It also produced a less welcome conclusion: in looking at prize-money earned, the researchers found that only five per cent of the horses in the study earned back their purchase price plus training costs for the two years, with horses bought in the A$50,000-100,000 range the most likely to pay their way.
On the positive side, 80 per cent of the 2,773 horses sold started in a race, and 62 per cent earned some prize-money.
[/ QUOTE ]