This, from a friend who was there - the filly was not being beaten... she
was actually slowing down when one ankle fractured, and the other fractured as
she was trying to right herself. This situation is already bad enough without
bringing abuse into it. She was slowing when the injury occurred. What they
know so far was that a concussive-related stress fracture in one ankle brought
her down and the other front could not sustain the body. That speaks of bone
substance/density issues. This needs to be addressed just as much as the age
of racing - the breeding of fast horses at the expense of appropriate physical
attributes.
I think there is no question that age and
bone substance density issues are important, but there is a method (heart rate
variability) for determining in advance whether a horse might break
down. This method works for horses of all ages and riding
disciplines. It could save horse owners thousands of dollars, but we
aren't really addressing prevention at all.
