A U.K.-based researcher investigating lameness under saddle discovered one type of fracture believed to be unique to racehorses.
Claire Wylie, BVM&S, MSc, PhD, MRCVS, is a clinical research resident at Rossdales Equine Hospital, in Newmarket, U.K., which sees a large number of Thoroughbred performance and racehorses. She reviewed 11 years’ worth of digital records and found 50 rib fracture cases, not including foals.
Sixty per cent of the cases involved Thoroughbreds, or Thoroughbred crosses, with 42 per cent being racehorses. Racehorses were the only ones to receive rib fractures to the first rib. Wylie noted five cases in racing Thoroughbreds between the ages of two and seven, all causing lameness on the same side as the injury. Wylie hypothesized that these fractures likely represent fatigue fracture pathology – meaning repeated stress to the area over time.
Wylie presented her findings at the 2016 British Equine Veterinary Association Congress, held in September in Birmingham, U.K. To learn more about this study, read Rib Fractures: A Surprising Cause of Horse Lameness.
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