What Options Do Lasix-Dependent Horses Have?

[clicknow]

Originally Posted by pandy

They race without lasix all over the world and people still buy and breed racehorses. We raced for a very long time without lasix in North America and people still owned and bred racehorses.

This.


But I'm not entirely sure what "lasix dependent" means.

It could mean that unlike many successful trainers (esp. abroad) that their trainers do not know how to train w/out it --- so is the horse biologically dependent (by breeding) or are they being made so?

Because low level bleeding can be well managed.

It could mean they are high level bleeders. (In which case they should not be on the track in the first place....and should certainly not breed/reproduce ).


Glad to hear you are feeling better. May take a few months to get full energy back w/good food, lots of rest, hydration.

[The_Turf_Monster]

No horse is lasix dependent. Owners and trainers are

[mountainman]

"Lasix dependent" is terminology that's tuff to define. Some research indicates that most horses bleed, often not visibly-not even a trickle, but enough to compromise performance.

Nor will all trainers obediently stop using lasix where prohibited. And some, you can be assured, will solve how to sneak it past the test barn. So in one sense, banning lasix will simply launch a new round of chemistry wars. And some old-school methods of "holding" a horse (from bleeding) truly add to the animal's discomfort, while others require deep knowledge of what makes a racehorse tick-not just physically, but mentally, as well.

I've known plenty of sharp horsemen who believe bleeding stems from nerves and equine-insecurity. If a horse stood shaking and washing out while being saddled, that horse got TRANQUED next start. (So, yes, in a roundabout way, tranquilizer can be a performance enhancer.).

Some veteran horsemen even take measures bordering on superstition to prevent bleeding. The most mysterious involves tightly binding the base of a horse's tail.

I can't profess to anticipate all the ramifications of banning, or sharply curtailing the use of lasix, but I do think some of them will be detrimental to racing and shove players even further into the dark concerning what the pre-racing procedure entails.

And I further suspect that more honest (if unskilled) trainers would sink beneath the waves than would horses that need lasix, as the gulf between successful trainers and their out-matched brethren only widens.

On a final note: I strongly disapprove of piling weight onto bleeders. Since it's a measurable factor , trainers place extreme emphasis on impost carried, thus some will forgo lasix in favor of weight. And that can only result, short term, at least, in equine suffering and murky "alternative" measures being taken to "treat" chronic bleeders.

[dilanesp]

How about putting weight on the vast majority of lasix users, who are using it as a PED, not to treat bleeding?

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

How about putting weight on the vast majority of lasix users, who are using it as a PED, not to treat bleeding?

And how about 10 lbs for banamine? 20 for clenbuterol?

Taken literally within its own parameters, which (hopefully) was not your intention, your post fashions its own bullet-proof case against piling weight onto lasix users.

[Afleet]

a horse bled pretty badly this summer at Cd or KEE at low odds never finishing the race. Whole chest covered in blood. Don't think the fans will like seeing that if they are ever allowed back at the tracks

[Onesome]

Originally Posted by Afleet

a horse bled pretty badly this summer at Cd or KEE at low odds never finishing the race. Whole chest covered in blood. Don't think the fans will like seeing that if they are ever allowed back at the tracks

Like this?



It was his 2nd incident so he's banned from racing in Hong Kong now. I think they'll try Australia but he hasn't reappeared yet afaik

[The_Turf_Monster]

It’s almost like the owners shouldn’t get involved in running an animal for entertainment when they can’t afford to let it rest and the trainer wants the day rate. Turn the horse out and bring it along as the horse is ready and you won’t see a mouthful of blood. It’s not rocket science

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by mountainman

And how about 10 lbs for banamine? 20 for clenbuterol?

Taken literally within its own parameters, which (hopefully) was not your intention, your post fashions its own bullet-proof case against piling weight onto lasix users.

I think you missed the Swiftian aspect of this.

Lasix, a performance enhancing drug administered under a cover story involving bleeding, is going away. Which is a very good thing. The weight thing is just a mechanism people use to point out that this is a PED.

Other PED's should be banned too.

[cj]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

How about putting weight on the vast majority of lasix users, who are using it as a PED, not to treat bleeding?

Unfortunately, whether a horse needs it or not, it still gives a performance boost which is how we got where we are now in the first place. If you don't penalize ALL the horses using Lasix you are giving the actual bleeders an advantage.