Injuries to the musculoskeletal system remain the number one disease problem facing the racing industry, and therefore a research priority. Some 10 years ago the Horserace Betting Levy Board funded the first of 3 large-scale prospective cohort studiesspecifically aimed at studying the epidemiology of injuries in racehorses in training in the UK. The first of these focused on quantifying, describing and identifying risk factors for fractures occurring in racehorses in flat race training. A total of 1178 horses were monitored prospectively for 2 training/racing seasons (1999 and 2000), with detailed recording of daily exercise regimens. The incidence of fracture was 1.2 per 100 horses per month (Verheyen and Wood 2004), and the balance of canter andhigh-speed exercise in the one or 2 month period prior to injury was found to be highly associated with fracture occurrence (Verheyen ef al. 2006). This study also established that early introduction of small amounts of high-speed exercise may protect against fracture development (Verheyen etal. 2006) as well as dorsometacarpal disease (Verheyen etal. 2005).
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