Frequency of musculoskeletal injuries and risk factors associated with injuries incurred in Quarter horses during races

摘要

97 Quarter horses that sustained a musculoskeletal injury during races and 291 horses from the same races that were not injured were used to determine the frequency and anatomic location of musculoskeletal injuries. Incidence of a catastrophic injury among Quarter horses during races was approximately 0.8 per 1000 race starts, whereas incidence of musculoskeletal injury during racing was approximately 2.2 per 1000 race starts. Probability of musculoskeletal injury was approximately 8 times greateramong horses assessed to be at increased risk of injury on the basis of results of pre-race physical inspection than for horses not considered to be at increased risk of injury. Evidence was lacking that 2-year-old horses were at increased risk of injuryor that sex influenced the risk of injury among Quarter horses during races. It is concluded that the incidence of racing injury among Quarter horses appears to be lower than that observed among Thoroughbreds. Regulatory veterinarians can identify horses at increased risk of injury on the basis of pre-race physical inspection, indicating that these inspections could be used to reduce the risk of injury during races.