Racehorse safety is paramount both on and off the track. As such, the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) has released a new special collection on racehorse safety, sponsored by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The virtual collection provides free access to science-based and data-driven research presented at last year’s IFHA summit, aimed at improving the welfare of racehorses globally.
EVJ also released a free podcast alongside the virtual issue, which highlights a compelling discussion between Jamie Stier (chair of the IFHA horse welfare committee), Chris Riggs (Director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Equine Welfare Research Foundation and fracture workshop organizer for the IFHA Summit), and Celia Marr (editor of the EVJ and EASD workshop organizer for the IFHA Summit).
The IFHA Global Summit on Equine Safety & Technology, held in Toronto in June 2024, brought together world-leading research scientists, clinicians, veterinarians, and racing regulators from around the globe to discuss how to use science and technology to help minimize the risk of fractures and exercise-associated sudden death in racehorses.
The EVJ’s special collection, guest edited by Chris Riggs and edited by Celia Marr, contains four editorials based on the summit, along with 22 papers from world-leading researchers.
The introductory section identifies concerns surrounding racing, what the industry expects from science, what veterinary scientists want from racing, and the risk factors for fatality in jump racing.
Exercise-associated sudden death (defined as a fatal collapse in a closely monitored and previously presumed clinically healthy horse that occurs during exercise or within approximately one hour after exercise) accounts for 10–25% of racecourse deaths. Understanding exercise-associated sudden death includes six papers covering risk factors, the latest work on reducing the risk, post-mortem findings, the heritability of sudden cardiac death, the morphological characteristics of the myocardial sleeves in the vena cava and the validation of an equine fitness tracker.
Severe fractures are the cause of most other racecourse fatalities. Although the incidence of these injuries is relatively low, the impact on the welfare of individual animals and humans is profound. With most racehorse fractures occurring as acute manifestations of chronic repetitive overuse injuries, there is significant potential for timely intervention and prevention.
Predicting and preventing catastrophic fracture comprises 17 papers comprehensively examining how current research can be advanced and translated into action. The section covers the development of realistic screening programs to identify high-risk horses, including training practices, exercise history, and diagnostic risk evaluation, with the ultimate goal of predicting and preventing catastrophic fractures.
“It is critical for racing that future research, and scientific and technological developments, translate into real benefits in equine safety,” said Marr. “This substantial special collection provides easy access to the latest international research; by understanding identifiable risks, we can help to mitigate them, advance welfare, and enhance public perception of the sport to secure a safer future for racing.”
The EVJ special collection on racehorse safety is available here. You can download the podcast at https://evj.podbean.com.
Related Reading
- Disease Du Jour: AAEP’s Wearable Biometric Sensor Research Project
- Ambient Air Pollution’s Effects on Racehorse Performance
- Heritability of Sudden Cardiac Death in Thoroughbred Racehorses
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