Date: [__date__]

Dear [__name__];

We would like to begin by wishing all our clients and friends a very happy new year! We are pleased to continue our series on the management of athletic horses and begin the new year by bringing our clients the results of a study published in November 2009 in the Equine Veterinary Journal on the use of tongue ties in racing thoroughbreds.

Practice News

Lara was very pleased to be asked back to speak to the Victorian Young Riders Dressage Squad on the fitness and management of the performance horse in November. Lara really enjoyed meeting such an enthusiastic and talented group of young riders and is looking forward to seeing them all out successfully competing this year.

Mike was also pleased to be asked back to examine the final year veterinary students at Melbourne University. Mike was very impressed at the quality of the answers the students gave during their equine oral exams and was pleased to welcome such a dedicated group of young people to our profession.

Tweedie & Associates was proud to sponsor the Treehaven Penninsula Classic Showjumping Show in December. The show was extremely well run and a pleasure to attend. It was great to see so many of our showjumping clients out competing successfully at the competition.

The practice has also been asked to speak during the day program at the Boneo Park Equestrian Festival featuring the German Gold Medallist, Heike Kemmer. The topic we have chosen will be the pre-purchase examination of the performance horse.

Finally, we are very pleased to announce that our remote server is now online and this means our veterinarians can now create accounts and process payments via credit card in the field.

Effect of ‘tongue tie’ use on racing performance of Thoroughbreds in the United Kingdom

Barakzi, S. Z., Finnegan, C. and Boden L.A. (2009) Effect of 'tongue tie' use on racing performance of Thoroughbreds in the United Kingdom. Equine vet. J. 41, 812-816

A very interesting study was recently published in the Equine Veterinary Journal that evaluated the effect of tongue ties on the racing performance of thoroughbred race horses. The two main reasons for using tongue ties are usually to improve the control of the rider on a horse that gets its tongue over the bit and to help horses who suffer from intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (when the soft palate gets stuck on top of the epiglottis and occludes the opening of the trachea).  

The researchers examined the Racing Post Online Database and selected a group of horses that had run in at least five races before they ran in a tongue tie for the first time. The researchers then divided this group into three sub groups. Group 1 included horses that wore a tongue tie at least once (all selected horses were eligible for group 1). Group 2 included horses that ran in a tongue tie for at least three consecutive races after they ran in a tongue tie for the first time (some of the horses in group 1 were eligible for this group). Group 3 included horses that ran in a tongue tie for at least 5  consecutive races after they ran in a tongue tie for the first time (some of the horses in group 2 were also eligible for this group). All of these horses were then compared to a group of horses that never ran in a tongue tie during their entire racing career (control horses). The control group of horses were selected because they were the same gender and of similar ages to the horses that wore the tongue ties.

Overall, this study showed that use of a tongue tie had a beneficial effect on racing performance in horses that were perceived by their trainer to require the use of a tongue tie. Horses in group 1 were 1.85 times more likely than control horses to have improved earnings over 3 races after initial application of a tongue tie. Horses in group 2 were 3.6 times more likely than control horses to have improved earnings in 3 races after initial application of a tongue tie. Horses in group 3 were 4.24 times more likely than control horses to have improved earnings over 3 races after initial application of a tongue tie and 5.05 times more likely to have improved earnings over 5 races after initial application of a tongue tie.

It is important to note, that the researchers did not investigate the reasons for tongue tie use in any of these horses. It is also important to note that the horses in groups 2 and 3 demonstrated the most marked improvement in earnings. It is likely, that the trainers of these horses perceived a improvement in performance and continued to use the tongue tie, whereas the tongue tie would have been dispensed with for horses for which their was no perceived improvement in performance. For example, only 52 of 108 horses in group 1 were eligible to be included in group 3. Therefore, whilst the tongue tie appears to enhance the performance of some horses, the results of this study do not reflect an improvement in the performance of all horses after use of a tongue tie.

These results are very interesting because previous studies have shown that the use of a tongue tie does not improve respiratory function in normal horses. The results of this study suggest that a tongue tie improves performance in horses with intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate and/or in horses where a tongue tie is perceived to improve rider control. Hopefully, future research efforts will focus specifically on the racing performance of horses wearing tongue ties in which intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate has been confirmed.

If you would be interested in reading this study in more detail, please email lara@tevs.com.au .

We hope you have enjoyed the January edition of our newsletter. Please do not hesitate to contact the clinic if you have any questions relating to the above article or any questions relating to the management of upper respiratory conditions in the thoroughbred racehorse.