The deaths of four horses in less than a week at Churchill Downs have some wondering about the safety of horse racing. Three died after races this week; another, Wild On Ice, was Derby-bound before it was euthanized after a training injury last week. Dr. Alan Ruggles, a veterinarian with Lexington’s Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, said the Equine Industry Database shows injuries dropped significantly last year.
“It's down 37% over that time, in a great part to regulatory veterinary medicine, you know, increasing their surveillance of horses, improvements in technology to try to identify potential injuries before they occur.”
Ruggles said it’s tragic whenever a horse is badly injured, but there have been advances in a variety of methods used to save them when they’re hurt.
“We've also learned not to necessarily rush into surgery after an injury, we try to let the horse acclimate, usually overnight, and we have protective splints and other and other ways we use. We use some medications that are transdermal that are very helpful in providing pain relief.”
Ruggles said some injured Thoroughbreds don’t make it back to the track, but can live a full life anyway.
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