Joe Harper's ferry

[Clockerbob]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/sport ... .html?_r=1
On two occasions, veterinarians have testified, I Want Revenge’s ankle was injected with what amounted to new transmission fluid........

There is a growing concern within the veterinary community that overmedication — with drugs like corticosteroids, anti-inflammatories that can have dangerous consequences — and lax oversight are part of the reason the United States has the world’s worst mortality rate for thoroughbreds.......

On April 10, the colt’s right front fetlock was X-rayed, and on April 14 an ultrasound was conducted on it, according to testimony and veterinarian bills. The next day, I Want Revenge was injected in his right front digital sheath with hyaluronic acid and Vetalog, a corticosteroid.

“Vetalog is a steroid and, again, potent anti-inflammatory,” Northrop testified. “It’s used to decrease inflammation rapidly.”

Corticosteroids can be injected into joints and have therapeutic value. They also are prevalent at American tracks, and often given within days of a race, especially in the sport’s lower levels where sore horses must make it to the starting gate....

Still, there is a consensus among equine researchers and surgeons that legal medications and cortisone shots, over time, leave a horse vulnerable to a catastrophic breakdown.

[PrivateSmiles]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/sports/06horse.html?_r=1
On two occasions, veterinarians have testified, I Want Revenge’s ankle was injected with what amounted to new transmission fluid........

There is a growing concern within the veterinary community that overmedication — with drugs like corticosteroids, anti-inflammatories that can have dangerous consequences — and lax oversight are part of the reason the United States has the world’s worst mortality rate for thoroughbreds.......

On April 10, the colt’s right front fetlock was X-rayed, and on April 14 an ultrasound was conducted on it, according to testimony and veterinarian bills. The next day, I Want Revenge was injected in his right front digital sheath with hyaluronic acid and Vetalog, a corticosteroid.

“Vetalog is a steroid and, again, potent anti-inflammatory,” Northrop testified. “It’s used to decrease inflammation rapidly.”

Corticosteroids can be injected into joints and have therapeutic value. They also are prevalent at American tracks, and often given within days of a race, especially in the sport’s lower levels where sore horses must make it to the starting gate....

Still, there is a consensus among equine researchers and surgeons that legal medications and cortisone shots, over time, leave a horse vulnerable to a catastrophic breakdown.

Corticosteroids & hyaluronic acid are natural substances, produced by our own bodies. I really doubt that a corticosteroid injected into soft tissue (it doesn't get injected into bone, it wouldn't penetrate) would be the cause of a castrophic breakdown. I get those steroid injections in the muscles around my hip because I always have sciatica due to persistent inflammation of the piriformis muscle (commonly known as an athlete's ailment). They make the pain lessen but I certainly don't feel like I want to do anything above & beyond what my normal physical activities are. I have also had it injected into a shoulder joint where the cartilage had worn anway, due to workplace repetitive motions injuries. It didn't make me feel stronger nor make me feel like I could play raquetball or volleyball. It took away some of the unbearable pain but it gives no desire to overextend - the body instinctively knows to not do that

If there is going to be a breakdown then the problem is already present, in the form of a micro-fracture, a genetic crookedness, worn-away cartilage, something like that. Corticosteroids don't cause those.

Hyaluronic acid is the synovial fluid that keeps our joints lubricated. We produce less & less as we age. It can be purchased in any health store, grocery store or drugstore in the supplements section. It does not enhance performance in any way!

[Clockerbob]

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/blog.ph ... -the-game/
racefan says:
03 Dec 2008 at 01:51 pm | #
I am a former (recent) thoroughbred horse trainer, and about a year or so age when the industry and public began to view steroids as the big enemy, I began wondering why nobody says anything about all the sore horses, some probably with tiny fractures the don’t radiograph, having their joints injected with acid and cortisone, often time within 48 hours of a race, after entries are drawn. These are the horses that are running and breaking down...................

abe lincoln says:
03 Dec 2008 at 01:59 pm | #
I trained thoroughbreds briefly in the late 80s/early 1990s and still work in the industry, but not on the backside.
I also owned and claimed horses for myself.
I used h-acid/cortisone combinations back then for various joint ailments, used steroids to keep fillies eating, and never gave either one a second thought.
Why?
Because when the horses got sore and didnt respond to the therapeutic use of both substances the horses were given time off. Not run sore, not heel nerved, not cobra venomed.......

[Tuxtin]

also linked to in that article under Related were two vet bills http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/p ... cument.pdf

[Clockerbob]

groundbreaking:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/sport ... .html?_r=1

Still, when IEAH’s lawyer, Andre Regard, asked, “What do you think about the fact that one of the advertised issues of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is greater transparency and disclosure?”

“I’m all for it,” he answered.

“Do you think that a horse that’s the favorite for the Kentucky Derby deserves more transparency and disclosure of treatments?” Regard asked.

“To the owners, yes,” Northrop said.

“What about the public who is betting on it?” Regard asked.

“No,” he replied.

[Goofonroof]

Corticosteroids & hyaluronic acid are natural substances, produced by our own bodies. I really doubt that a corticosteroid injected into soft tissue (it doesn't get injected into bone, it wouldn't penetrate) would be the cause of a castrophic breakdown. I get those steroid injections in the muscles around my hip because I always have sciatica due to persistent inflammation of the piriformis muscle (commonly known as an athlete's ailment). They make the pain lessen but I certainly don't feel like I want to do anything above & beyond what my normal physical activities are. I have also had it injected into a shoulder joint where the cartilage had worn anway, due to workplace repetitive motions injuries. It didn't make me feel stronger nor make me feel like I could play raquetball or volleyball. It took away some of the unbearable pain but it gives no desire to overextend - the body instinctively knows to not do that

If there is going to be a breakdown then the problem is already present, in the form of a micro-fracture, a genetic crookedness, worn-away cartilage, something like that. Corticosteroids don't cause those.

Hyaluronic acid is the synovial fluid that keeps our joints lubricated. We produce less & less as we age. It can be purchased in any health store, grocery store or drugstore in the supplements section. It does not enhance performance in any way

Perhaps the best post I've ever read on DMTC.

[TurfRuler]

Corticosteroids & hyaluronic acid are natural substances, produced by our own bodies. I really doubt that a corticosteroid injected into soft tissue (it doesn't get injected into bone, it wouldn't penetrate) would be the cause of a castrophic breakdown. I get those steroid injections in the muscles around my hip because I always have sciatica due to persistent inflammation of the piriformis muscle (commonly known as an athlete's ailment). They make the pain lessen but I certainly don't feel like I want to do anything above & beyond what my normal physical activities are. I have also had it injected into a shoulder joint where the cartilage had worn anway, due to workplace repetitive motions injuries. It didn't make me feel stronger nor make me feel like I could play raquetball or volleyball. It took away some of the unbearable pain but it gives no desire to overextend - the body instinctively knows to not do that

If there is going to be a breakdown then the problem is already present, in the form of a micro-fracture, a genetic crookedness, worn-away cartilage, something like that. Corticosteroids don't cause those.

Hyaluronic acid is the synovial fluid that keeps our joints lubricated. We produce less & less as we age. It can be purchased in any health store, grocery store or drugstore in the supplements section. It does not enhance performance in any way

Perhaps the best post I've ever read on DMTC.

Yea; I follow you. One menance to people who used illegal drugs in the 80's was the elephant tranquilizer that was called PCP and the street name Angel Dust, it did not cause any enhancement in performance either, but the police were calling the ones who fliped supermen.