Kentucky's ongoing attempt to end racing in state proceeds..

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

I wasn't talking about microscopic bleeding. It may very well be true that 93% of racehorses have evidence of microscopic bleeding. Microscopic bleeding is not a big deal. We don't need lasix for microscopic bleeding. Microscopic bleeding isn't going to affect a horse's performance in the least bit.

Whoa, wrong, no, yes, it does. Microscopic bleeding is indeed the big deal. It causes small airway and alveoli scarring, impedes their breathing, sets them up for lung infections, pneumonia, fear of running. This is precisely why we use lasix in most horses! Not just to keep from looking at massive, uncontrolled bleeding which is only visible in the larger airways.

There are about 18 branching divisions looking down into the lungs, and the bronchoscope only goes down a few. If there is so much bleeding down in the lungs that it's bubbling up to be visible, that's not good!

Yes, it's true the horses are not approved for lasix use on the track until they have a visible episode of bleeding (bleeding so significant it's literally coming up out of their lungs into their bronchi), but we know that 93% have bleeding that isn't severe enough to see grossly on a scope. Yes, we want to protect their lungs, too! If your distal airways at the tiny microscopic aveolar sacs are filled with blood cells, you can't get oxygen exchange and you start to suffocate. A horse can and will pull up with this, and the horse can get scoped, and you might not see bleeding grossly in the larger airways. But if you do bronchoalveolar lavage (not done stallside at the track commonly to diagnose EIPH) yes, you find the cause.

This is why the AVMA and AAEP support lasix use in race horses.

Remember that 30 years ago, we didn't even have common stallside bronchoscopy right after races to diagnose bleeding. We only diagnosed it if blood came out the nostrils. Now, we know better, as more horses that don't bleed visibly out their nostrils still have blood in the larger airways. And we know that horses that still don't have blood in the larger airways still show evidence of EIPH by blood down in the smaller airways and alveoli (air sacs that exchange oxygen with the tiny blood capillaries). 93% of them do.

The end point is: we use lasix in the United States and South America, and it's a good thing for race horse lungs. We could eliminate our lasix use on race day, but it would still be used in the morning to prevent injury to horse lungs when they work at speed (just like other countries do now). Why? Because it protects horse lungs. Even if a race isn't on the line.