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FOOTBRIDGE LODGE,
Chamberlain Road,
Bombay Hills,
Auckland 1850,
New Zealand.
PO Box 27,
Bombay,
Auckland 1730
Phone/Fax:
64-9-2360510

EQUINE

DURABILITY AND ATTRITION OF OUR HORSES

The question of durability of our thoroughbreds now has to be asked. The attrition rate is becoming a real concern. This statistical evidence has been slow coming in NZ for a variety of reasons; unlike some of the data coming from research papers published on the Australian RIRDC website.

Has the lack of toughness of the NZ thoroughbred come about because of the adoption by breeders of different management systems?

The yearlings in the back hill paddock on a dairy farm are a thing of the past.

If you accept that this is the type of yearlings that enter the market place surely some responsibility must be undertaken to develop practical methods to ensure that they remain as injury free as possible and the better ones go on to an extended career.

It is becoming obvious the current training methods fall short in extending the racing careers of most of our better horses.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW?

This is where the development of technologies suitable for at least 50% of the training of these youngsters, reducing their exposure to unsuitable track conditions, has been pursued by the Japanese and some trainers in Australia and Kentucky.

Injury and re-injury can be avoided by following the David Hayes and Prof Allan Davie’s approach with the greater use of modern treadmill technology in pre training and rehabilitation after injury.

This stuff is now becoming cost affective and eliminates the use of ‘drugged out’ track riders for a great deal of the preliminary work. This is often when the injury pattern first occurs.

The late Tom Ivers was very critical of trainers who allocated this very important period of a thoroughbred’s career to the most inexperienced track riders.

Tom Ivers was extremely helpful and supportive in pointing us in the right direction at the beginning of our research and development.

INJURY AND FATIGUE ARE BEDMATES!

Modern research techniques have allowed the scientists to assess fatigue and its relationship to injury.

Two recent examples
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18065313?ordinalpos=14&itool=
EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17975973?ordinalpos=1&itool=
EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

An exciting area capable of giving clues to fatigue is now being pursued in human sports medicine. The Finns have developed prize-winning technology based on what is called HRV or heart rate variation.

This is a method of tuning into the brain neuroreceptors via the autonomic nervous system mainly by the development of high tech sensors becoming freely available in the market place.

What this is capable of doing is to define accumulated fatigue. The horse, unlike the human, is unable to communicate to the trainer the early stages of this process and if it continues enters into the overtraining area where it is believed that most injuries occur.

The implications for the equine industry are huge if this technology is fully developed.

We have been aware of HRV work for a number of years and its likely implications for the industry but the technology was cumbersome and expensive.

We have been observing it for two years in our laboratory at Footbridge and invested in the technology some time ago to observe the phenomenon. However it was the work of the Finns with their sophisticated algorithms who have opened up a whole lot of possibilities.

With the help of a Finnish University we now have the research software for appraisal of data coming off our own electronic equipment.

This breakthrough may give the means to tell us when enough is enough. The Australians are starting to wake up to this technology and we are communicating with a scientist in Melbourne who wants to collaborate on our software and what we have achieved at Footbridge

COMMUNICATION TRAINER/OWNER INTERFACE.
DO YOU WANT CHANGE?

If you feel you are not getting enough information from your trainer on the progress and welfare of your horses remember that this is the 21st century.

For a preview of an example of software undergoing development go to
http://mail.systemcontrols.co.nz/footbridge/

HIGH-SPEED TREADMILLS

The high-speed treadmill originally was not designed to be a training tool. It was to be a research aid. In this role it has been an outstanding success, enabling researchers to study physiological systems in a way unobtainable in the past. At many veterinary institutions around the world, the high-speed treadmill is considered a necessary piece of equipment.

A high-speed direct drive treadmill can be used for the following:
1. Physiological testing of athletic performance, and as a research tool.
2. As a training device for professional trainers, it has several advantages.
• No weather restriction
• Greatly reduced impact to legs
• Strict control at all times
• Control of speed and distance
• Smooth surface, no uneven footing
• Horse is less distracted
• Horses tend to work willingly on a treadmill
• Horse does it’s interval training in a straight line
• Better cardiovascular, respiratory work.
• More horses can be worked in a shorter period of time than by riding.
• Conditioning can be started at 6 months of age
• Observations and filming of horse gait
• As a diagnostic tool
• Direct laryngoscopy for recurrent laryngeal palsy whilst running
• Diagnosis of lameness, in association with pressure plates and video camera recording and the associated use of diagnostic movement software
• Poor performance testing, using physiological equipment.

e.g. Cardiac arrhythmias, lung diffusion problems, and all the reasons associated with a reduction in the estimated VO2 max. Inertial data will be of use in the future.

It is becoming clear the high-speed treadmill has a place in the training of a horse. Youngsters can be safely introduced to the treadmill and in some centres immediately after weaning. Most are yearlings e.g. Starcraft. As they are being conditioned on the treadmill they are also learning to accept a surcingle and bitting ring. As the horse becomes more fit and grows weight in the form of water is introduced in partitioned plastic bags.
Some centres use lead weights however measured volumes of water are easier to use and extremely accurate.
Evidence from Kentucky and our own experience since 2002 shows the aches, pains and unwillingness associated with younger horses is almost eliminated.
It keeps older horses, especially those associated with leg and respiratory problems in work and physically fit. Overseas experience has shown these horses can be shipped back to the track 24 hours before racing and compete successfully.
Weather and time of the day are never a factor as high-speed treadmills are hi-tech and must be housed in a weather tight building.

FOOTBRIDGE HEALTH EQUINE TECHNOLOGY

The training of horses as athletes has been carried out for several hundreds of years. Despite the enormous investment that has taken place over the years, virtually no documented records remain that reliably give a day -by -day account of what is happening. For a number of years the medical profession has developed software to record events that may be important in the future for research purposes and medico-legal reasons.

The development program at Footbridge is based around this principle.

EquINFORM SOFTWARE

Comprehensive notes and recordings are made on individual horses and include all facets of the training program and the horse’s health. The concept has been taken one step further, because of the infancy of technology used in the training of the performance horse, to include the running of a treadmill and recording of GPS data taken during fieldwork.

An area often neglected during the training of performance horses is the part the owner plays. He is often left out of the circuit and is not always fully informed of his investment’s progress. Day reports have been developed using templates that are filled in at the end of each day’s work. A permanent record is transferred to a secure data server and made available to owners through the trainer’s website on a daily basis. A content management system is being developed alongside the secure data bank, so a minimum of effort is required by the trainer to maintain a website, and a modern up to date technical presence in the Industry.
As syndication will play an important part in the future of the Thoroughbred Industry this will lessen the amount of work required by the trainer to keep his syndicates informed and happy.

RENASCENCE TREADMILL

A high-speed treadmill should be viewed as an aid to normal training and it is not practical to expect it to replace more traditional methods.
Reliability, ease of maintenance and adjustable suspension were the areas where we felt further development were required and some time was spent in these areas.
A treadmill should be capable of performing a number of tasks in a modern training establishment. With the arrival of cost effective solutions to drive and control the machine they are gradually making their way into mainstream training. The safety of the high-speed treadmill is now established worldwide.

It should be capable of being used as a conditioning device where long distances can be covered without injury. Its suspension mechanism should protect horses from ‘jarring up’ and allow the rehabilitation of injured horses in a controlled programme.
It should be a platform that accurately records and controls a pre-determined, reproducible program. Comparisons with previous performances can then be made with confidence and would be a good baseline to assess and train from.
All these things have been achieved with our treadmill and it has run 5 hours a day for 6 days a week, with horses, for 12 months without a stoppage.
It has been tested over a wide range of conditions from simple rehabilitative walking to complex interval training. Every piece of information has been recorded in our databank and is easily retrievable. Hard copy can be printed and goes with the horse if it leaves the facility.

The early days of construction of the Renascence Treadmill

Link to Treadmill Construction by NCM Engineering