b'2019 AAEP CONVENTION WRAP-UPin racehorses. Cyclic loading leads to structural damage in any materialits like the laws of physics, we cant avoid it, said Whitton.Detecting the bone fatigue in time to prevent injury, however, has proven chal-lenging, as no imaging device can predict-ably detect microdamage, he said.Therefore, he hypothesized that monitoring horses stride parameters and looking for key changes in them could help identify horses at risk of impending injury.In human sports athletes use GPS and accelerometers to monitor their work-outs, especially at high speeds. The ben-efits of doing this in horses is to educate trainers, inform decision-making, provide cost-effective constant monitoring, and detect injury risk early, said Whitton.ISTOCK.COMIn his initial study Whitton used a Stride Master device to collect data from 25,260 starts over five years (2011 toMonitoring speed, distance, and stride data might help predict and prevent racing injuries.2016) in Tasmanian racehorses. In general, he noted that the faster aWhitton also assessed risk factors andand could it be contributing to inflamma-horse runs, the fewer strides he takes.stride changes prior to events such astory airway disease (IAD)? Stride length and speed both decrease asinjury, forced layoff, and retirement andEmmanuelle van Erck, DVM, PhD, a race progresses. Factors associated withfound: Dipl. EBVS, ECEIM, and her team at stride include: An increased injury risk among horsesEquine Sports Medicine Practice in Weight carried.that had completed either many or veryWaterloo, Belgium, sought to find out. Age. few races. They included in the study 731 Euro-Number of starts.I njury risk increased 2.17 times forpean racehorses, Warmbloods, andSpeed. each unit decrease in speed in the finalleisure horses that had been referred to Finishing position. 200 meters of a race. Before injury, af- her clinic from 2013 to 2016 for signs ofTrack type and firmness. Heavier (turf)fected horses speeds dropped off muchrespiratory disease or poor performance. tracks were associated with shorterfaster than a horses normal decline inAs her team does with all respiratory stride length and greater stride fre- performance, said Whitton. cases, they noted clinical signs such as quency, said Whitton. Injury risk increased 2.9 times for eachcoughing and nasal discharge; per- Sex. Female horses had shorter strideunit decrease in stride length. formed an airway endoscopy, tracheal lengths, greater stride frequency, andNo association between injury risk andwash, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL); lower catastrophic injuryprobablystride frequency.and evaluated each horses environment due to their smaller size, he said. In summary, he said, constantly moni- (bedding, forage, pasture access, etc.). He identified longer races, firmer sur- toring speed, distance, and stride dataThey found that:faces, and heavier weights as risk factorsmight help predict injuries.88% of the horses had IAD (mild for injury. Further, collecting speed and strideasthma).Reduced load has a greater effect ondata can allow researchers to create Nearly all horses (721) lived primarily bone fatigue than a reduced number ofequations for determining training andindoors.strides, said Whitton. Each stride isracings effects on horses skeletons. 81% were positive for fungal elements a cycle of load. To reduce the numberAlexandra Beckstett on tracheal wash.of cycles of load, you need to reduce 55% had positive fungal cultures, main-the number of strides. Generally, this isRESPIRATORY TOPICS ly Aspergillus and Penicillium species.achieved by reducing distance, whereasInhaling Fungi Increases HorsesHorses with fungal elements were load is more associated with speed. SoRisk of Inflammatory Airway Disease twice as likely to have IAD than those if you increase speed, you decrease theWe know the ubiquitous dust and pol- without.number of strides over a set distance, butlen present in horses forage and bedding Horses with positive cultures were you increase the load. Because load has acan trigger equine asthma and respiratorytwice as likely to also have positive greater effect, then going faster increasesallergies. What about fungi, thoughhowbacterial culturesperhaps due to a stress on the skeleton. prevalent is it in horses environments,high environmental burden, a stressed 38March 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comAAEPWrapUp.indd 38 2/5/20 2:54 PM'