Epidemiology of Orthopedic Injury and Death in Athletic Horses

Abstract

This chapter discusses the epidemiology of orthopedic injury in Thoroughbred, Standardbred and Quarter Horse racing, as well as in other horse sports such as dressage, show jumping, eventing, endurance, polo and polocrosse, and Western and rodeo. Epidemiological studies have moved away from the identification of risk factors to the identification of the at-risk horse. In Thoroughbred flat racing, an at-risk horse is most likely to be an intact male, older in age, commenced racing at an older age, in a race with more horses, on firmer track conditions, over longer-distance races, with a previous or recurrent injury, recent medication or injection, and has been flagged during prerace examinati..