This is definitely worth reading.

[Insider 4,520]

Wednesday

I’m talking horse manure in today’s column. What’s new, I hear you cry. Well, this time the subject is actual faecal matter, not my usual whiffy opinions. This is serious business, so to speak. You might have recently seen on the BBC news and other outlets that a study had measured the levels of bacteria in the digestive systems of more than 50 thoroughbred foals over the first three years of their lives. It found that the type and abundance of gut microbe that were present in a foal at four weeks old directly correlated with the foal's future health and success on the track. The research was led by Chris Proudman, a professor of clinical veterinary science at the University of Surrey, and published in a subsidiary of the journal Nature.    The team of scientists regularly collected faecal samples from each of the 52 horses involved in the study, while their owners recorded their performance in terms of ratings achieved and prize-money earned. The study also found that foals treated with antibiotics had fewer types of bacteria in their guts and went on to less successful careers compared with those who hadn’t received such drugs. Andrew and Jane Black’s Chasemore Farm in Cobham, Surrey – whose homebred filly Breege won the City of York Stakes last month – participated in the study, which was funded by the Alborada Trust. Pat Sells, a long-term friend of Good Morning Bloodstock who runs his Orbital Veterinary Services from Chasemore Farm, was one of four collaborating veterinary surgeons on the Alborada Well Foal Study, as it was officially titled. “The results were quite startling,” he says. “We found that the composition of gut bacteria at one month old can accurately predict their future athletic performance. “The higher the faecal bacterial diversity at one month old, the better they did on the track, based on official ratings and earnings. Conversely, we found that foals who received antibiotics in their first 28 days of life had lower faecal bacterial diversity at four weeks old, won significantly lower prize-money, and had an increased risk of developing respiratory disease. “The importance of the microbiome in systemic health has been highlighted by research in many species over the past decade, and it appears the thoroughbred is no different.” Pat does wonder whether the most important message from the research was buried a little in the avalanche of press it received, though. “The paper went viral on mainstream media – the BBC, The Times, New Scientist and so on – but all the stories seemed to miss the golden nugget,” he says. “The headlines were about racetrack performance, but for me the most interesting association was between gut bacterial diversity at four weeks old and a reduced risk of musculoskeletal injury as adults. “If they are staying sounder for longer, then of course they will accumulate more prize-money and hit higher ratings. Since the stories were published, the phone has been red hot with people from our industry asking ‘so what probiotics can we give these foals to boost future performance?’ “It’s way too early for that. These are exciting findings, but to extrapolate interventions would be premature. The beauty of research like this is that it gives more questions than answers, and we should embrace that. “One finding that we can act on, though, is the association between foals that received antibiotics – for any problem, including contracted tendons – with increased likelihood of contracting respiratory disease as adults, and poorer racetrack performance.” Regular Good Morning Bloodstock readers might remember that Chasemore Farm takes preventative action against infection by taking antibody-rich plasma from its resident teaser Rerouted, freezing it and later giving it to new-born foals on the stud. “The study re-emphasised the importance of our prophylactic programme at Chasemore: harvesting hyperimmune plasma and giving it both intravenously and orally to neonates as a matter of course,” says Pat. “When I was an intern in Newmarket 16 years ago, the job I dreaded most was going from farm to farm giving antibiotic injections to newborns for their first three days of life. Thankfully those days are long gone, and most stud managers and vets now employ better antibiotic stewardship with foals. “Habits in reproductive medicine have been slower to change, though. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the routine post-service treatment of mares’ uteruses is still widespread, particularly in the US. “There is a perception that it improves conception rates – which is poorly grounded, anyway – but what impact does it have on the environment that the foetus develops in? Or the resulting foal’s microbiome? These are questions that we will try to address in the next phase of the Alborada Well Foal Study.” Pat can state objectively that fertility rates for mares in his care have not been adversely affected since he put an embargo on all intra-uterine antibiotics on the farms that he looks after, even when an intra-uterine bacterial infection is identified and cultured. “There are plenty of non-antibiotic, intra-uterine alternatives that not only effectively kill the bacteria, but also strip out the mucus, or biofilm, that they like to hide in,” he says. Further research as part of the Alborada Well Foal Study will investigate how foal gut bacteria diversity and abundance can be maximised; whether antibiotic use in foals can be reduced; and how the negative impact of antibiotics on gut bacteria can be mitigated in cases where they have to be used. The results will be fascinating for antibiotic stewardship in humans as well as horses, not just because of the negative impact of antibiotic medicine on the microbiome, but also due to the well publicised emergence of resistant bacterial strains.

Another key question inextricably linked to antibiotics is the involvement of Vitamin D with bone strength. “A good rule of thumb on whether you're able to synthesise enough Vitamin D from sunlight is by looking at your shadow,” explains Pat. “If it’s longer than your height, which in the UK accounts for most of the year, then you’re not getting any Vitamin D from the sun, and dietary intake must account for 100 per cent. “Given that there is little to no Vitamin D in a vegetarian diet, as most plants can’t synthesise it, horses must rely on supplemental Vitamin D in their hard feed, or from their mother’s milk. “But we know that absorption of Vitamin D in the mammalian gut is heavily influenced by the gut bacterial population. Could that be why we’re seeing differing injury rates linked to early gut bacterial diversity? “Human studies show that Vitamin D blood levels are significantly implicated in the risk of stress fracture in early-adult, military recruits. This could be a paradigm analogous to young thoroughbreds in training.” Thanks to funding from the Hong Kong Jockey Club for another study headed by Prof Chris Proudman, Chasemore Farm is exploring those questions using a state-of-the-art scanner that accurately measures bone strength, tied in with the sampling of blood and dietary intake to measure the foals’ Vitamin D levels. Pat is hoping the work will lead to a PhD in future. The stud is not only a blue-chip nursery but also something of a laboratory, as it continually explores the best way to raise healthy, and therefore high-achieving, horses. It has also taken part in several studies with parasitology experts at the University of Bristol, looking at the emergence of drug-resistant worms in UK thoroughbreds, and how those problems can be tackled as an industry. In an echo of antibiotic issues, the blanket use of antiparasitic drugs over the past few decades has led to the evolution of multi-resistant strains of tapeworms, redworms and ascarids. “Much of this work has been funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board [HBLB], which gives around £2.5 million per year – £40 million since 2002 – to veterinary science for the improvement of welfare in the thoroughbred, in all its guises,” says Pat. “Obviously that money comes directly from the betting public, and I think that’s something that isn’t always communicated to the average punter. A portion of every bet goes to advancing horse welfare, so keep punting!” Another HBLB-funded study that Chasemore Farm participated in recently was conducted by the Royal Veterinary College. This was also a longitudinal study that followed cohorts of foals from stud farms into their racing careers, in order to discover risk factors and indicators for future soundness and performance. Among other things, it showed that turning foals out in larger paddocks was protective against injury in later life. “This fits the growing body of evidence that confinement has a negative impact on musculoskeletal development,” says Pat. “Loading of equine limbs from an early age gives essential strength and conditioning, which maximises future soundness and longevity. “Population studies consistently show that Flat horses who race at two have fewer days out of training and a later retirement date than those that start at three. “When Justify won the US Triple Crown in 2018 without having run at the age of two, social media was filled with opinions that this was ‘evidence’ we should be delaying the onset of racing in thoroughbreds. “He was in fact the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, never mind the Triple Crown, without having had a two-year-old start since Apollo in 1882. Just the 136-year gap, then. Science wins again.” As ever, Pat has provided us with plenty of food for thought. Punters should be thanked for their contribution to horse health; don’t listen to the naysayers, juvenile racing is good; and, most importantly of all, look after your gut. I’m off to buy some kefir.

[elvis 50]

Excellent 

[nomates 4,512]

Doesn't surprise me in the least , would like to see a study over a longer period and with a much larger number of foals to reinforce the results . 

I have often been amazed by the number of times I have seen someone buy a weanling , or a yearling for that matter , and say that they had great grass at home and that was all they needed .

I bought a lot of weanlings and from day one at my place they went on 2 feeds a day , with additives . If nothing else it became a habit for them to eat the feeds they got . Never had a bad eater later as a racehorse , nor shin soreness . 

[Pam Robson 1,740]

20 hours ago, nomates said:

Doesn't surprise me in the least , would like to see a study over a longer period and with a much larger number of foals to reinforce the results . 

I have often been amazed by the number of times I have seen someone buy a weanling , or a yearling for that matter , and say that they had great grass at home and that was all they needed .

I bought a lot of weanlings and from day one at my place they went on 2 feeds a day , with additives . If nothing else it became a habit for them to eat the feeds they got . Never had a bad eater later as a racehorse , nor shin soreness . 

Absolutely.     From my modest perspective, the spelling/rearing arrangement I was very fortunate to have access to, proved the point, albeit in a small way.

Well fed, with appropriate minerals, large paddocks with company to run and play, and develop bone density and tendon integrity - and excellent parasite control.  All the youngsters I had from that background were great eaters and remained pretty healthy - very much so compared some others from different backgrounds.

I had dealings over the years with a family of horses sourced from their breeders - who were lovely people - and had some success with them too.  But every one had skeletal issues, sadly - despite some having the ability and class to be very good indeed.  But never made it.  They believed that 'mother's milk' was all the babies needed...and kept in small, horse-sick paddocks, they had no show of realising their potential.

Dave Kerr flatly refused any veterinary intervention with his broodmares. [ 'Dopey' may recall this ] He refused to pay the bill and removed the mare if his instructions weren't followed.  If the uterine environment was compromised, he would insist on irrigating with kerosene.  Might raise a few eyebrows, but he bred some quality horses from very small numbers of breeding stock.

[nomates 4,512]

2 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

Absolutely.     From my modest perspective, the spelling/rearing arrangement I was very fortunate to have access to, proved the point, albeit in a small way.

Well fed, with appropriate minerals, large paddocks with company to run and play, and develop bone density and tendon integrity - and excellent parasite control.  All the youngsters I had from that background were great eaters and remained pretty healthy - very much so compared some others from different backgrounds.

I had dealings over the years with a family of horses sourced from their breeders - who were lovely people - and had some success with them too.  But every one had skeletal issues, sadly - despite some having the ability and class to be very good indeed.  But never made it.  They believed that 'mother's milk' was all the babies needed...and kept in small, horse-sick paddocks, they had no show of realising their potential.

Dave Kerr flatly refused any veterinary intervention with his broodmares. [ 'Dopey' may recall this ] He refused to pay the bill and removed the mare if his instructions weren't followed.  If the uterine environment was compromised, he would insist on irrigating with kerosene.  Might raise a few eyebrows, but he bred some quality horses from very small numbers of breeding stock.

A lot of salient points Pam , we are expecting these young horses to become athletes , well feed like such . My go to statement was ," feed them the weetbix , not the cardboard box they came in  . But unfortunately I met so many people who would try to save a bit of money by shortening up the horses feed .

Every young horse got calphos , ironcyclen and a seaweed and mineral mix from the first feed , helps grow muscle , ligaments , tendons , bone , helps hoof strength and great coats , if the feel a million then they might just win a million .

Great topic , I miss soo much not rearing and handling young horses now , ahh those were the days .

[Breeder 619]

The last part of the article about young stock in large paddocks etc., putting their joints and muscle under "stress" due to activity seems obvious. Chris Turner, when educating Veandercross used to walk him as a weanling on a hard drive way (every day, I think) to put his bones under stress and force remodelling of the bone, thereby strengthening them as they grew.

[nomates 4,512]

43 minutes ago, Breeder said:

The last part of the article about young stock in large paddocks etc., putting their joints and muscle under "stress" due to activity seems obvious. Chris Turner, when educating Veandercross used to walk him as a weanling on a hard drive way (every day, I think) to put his bones under stress and force remodelling of the bone, thereby strengthening them as they grew.

All my young horses got a spring prep whether a 2yo type or not , for just that reason , always had people questioning me for doing it . And always worked them on the grasses even if they were firm , they were never doing much . I firmly believe between the feeding and those early preps it was the reason I never had a horse go shin sore that I had from a young age , and prepared them for future preps .

I watched numerous people leave their horses untouched till 3 or 4 because "they needed time" , often ended up having issues once put into work .

[Breeder 619]

Nomates , I remember talking to Bill Stewart ( the very good horse vet from Taranaki) and what he said agrees with your comments about a spring prep, no matter what sort of horse it was.

I should have added above that what the main part of the article was about ---the gut bacteria etc is fascinating  and is new to me. I will be looking out for the results of the follow on research.