68% of deaths associated with racing or training resulted from musculoskeletal injury. | Photo: Photos.com

Veterinarians and researchers are on an ongoing mission to reduce the number of racehorse injuries and deaths during racing and training. Key to achieving that is documenting and scrutinizing the incidents that do occur to look for trends that could lead to answers.

Researchers in Ontario, Canada, recently completed a retrospective study of racehorse post-mortem reports submitted to the Ontario Racing Commission (now the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) Death Registry over a 13-year period.

“It is important to document the exact numbers of horses that succumb to these conditions in order to target further research to identify preventive measures,” said Josepha DeLay, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVP, a veterinary pathologist at the University of Guelph’s Animal Health Laboratory