Vet Bills
Does anyone really understand them?
by TERE ALBANESE
As medical technology has increased so have the amounts of medications the veterinarians use on horses. An owner will sometimes receive a $200 - $300 vet bill every month for an average horse in training. Many times owners don’t have any idea what they’re paying for or what the philosophy is behind the medications and procedures that are listed on the bill.
The above statement is an example of one month’s worth of medication on a particular horse.
The following are definitions of medications in the statement and explanations of how they are used. The horse in our example probably ran on 2/14 and 2/28. Note the three day pattern of medication that has been repeated for each race.
BUTAZOLIDIN
This is an anti-inflammatory medication. Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory medication. Basically, it reduces swelling or liquid around an inflamed or irritated area. An anti-inflammatory medication works on the histamine release in the body. The body has a histamine release generally to injury or infection. The histamine release causes inflammation to the area, or the whole body. The anti-inflammatory medications just work against letting the histamines release. In essence, histamines are the way the body knows it’s been injured, or has a problem. For example, if you have a cold, the excess mucus in your nose is caused by a histamine release. Hence, antihistamine cold medications. By reducing the inflammation, some pain and discomfort are also relieved. In other words, this drug is not exactly a pain-killer in the true sense of the word. A true pain-killer would be something like morphine, which is illegal. These types of drugs work on the central nervous system. They will cause some tranquilization along with anesthetizing the pain. Most trainers will train on Butazolidin in the pill form. It is less expensive and also more potent this way. This horse was given an injection on 2/13. It was then given Lasix and Premarin on the following day, indicating that it probably ran on that day. The Butazolidin injection would be used the day before the race as a pre-race treatment. The rules state that it can be administered 24 hours before the race.
VITAMIN C AND K INJECTION
This horse is obviously a bleeder. Vitamin C in conjunction with vitamin K is an old fashioned way of treating a bleeder. The vitamin K acts as a coagulant. The vitamin C is used to repair the blood vessels and circulation. In people this was used for the treatment of scurvy, which is caused by a lack of Vitamin C. If a person does not have enough vitamin C in their body they will bleed easily. This same thinking was applied to horses. If the vessels in the lungs are bleeding it may be due to a lack of vitamin C. Used together with the Vitamin K that would help coagulate the blood, it was thought to help control the bleeding. Does it work in horses that bleed? Not really, certainly not as effectively as Lasix and Premarin, but this vet and this trainer decided to do as much as they could to prevent this horse from bleeding. They used this as a pre-race treatment followed with Lasix and Premarin the day of the race.
CONCENTRATED ELECTROLYTES WITH POTASSIUM
When using Lasix and Premarin a horse will become dehydrated. The electrolytes with the potassium are another pre-race treatment given to prevent dehydration when administered the Lasix and Premarin. Electrolytes are very necessary in the body to keep fluid in the body.
LASIX
This is a treatment for horses that will bleed through the lungs when they are running. It is a diuretic, which eliminates fluid from the body. Hence, it lowers the blood pressure and it is for this reason that medical authorities postulate that it helps in the prevention of bleeding.
PREMARIN
This is also a treatment for bleeders. It is actually the female hormone, estrogen. It is sometimes given the day before a race or it can be given the same day. It is a blood coagulant. It is used in conjunction with Lasix and is for horses when Lasix doesn’t do enough to control the bleeding. By using both medications you are attacking the problem from two different ways: lowering the blood pressure and coagulating the blood.
Do these bleeder treatments help? In 75% of the cases they do help to control bleeding. However, if a horse is a really bad bleeder, there’s really nothing you can do.
VITAMINS - IRON, MINERALS, LIVER, FOLIC ACID, B12
This is an excessive amount of vitamins to give at one time. But, if a horse is anemic, and you want to build him up, a trainer will try this. Does it help a horse that is already doing fine? No. A horse should be getting everything he needs nutritionally from his feed. If he doesn’t need the vitamins they will simply pass through his system and be eliminated through his urine.
EQUIPOISE
This is a male hormone used to stimulate appetite, put on weight and change a horse’s attitude. It will usually make a horse more aggressive. It is usually used on geldings. Does it work? It does do all the things listed. Will it make a horse win a race? In a roundabout way, maybe. If a horse is sluggish and/or not eating, Equipoise may help him train better, which will certainly help him to run better. But it will not increase a horse’s natural ability.
ESE
This is vitamin E combined with selenium, a trace mineral. They are used together because they seem to achieve the desired effect in combination. It adds oxygen to the muscles, which relaxes them. A lot of trainers will use this medication for a horse that is body sore from training. It is very commonly used, but it can be very dangerous because there are some horses that have fatal reactions to it. According to Dr. John P. Araujo, about one horse in 1000 will have a fatal reaction to this medication. A vet should tell the trainer of the risks involved before administering this.
KETOFEN INJECTION
This is also an anti-inflammatory medication. It is in the same family as Motrin and works the same way as the above definition of Butazolidin.
Here are some other medications that may be used that are not included on our statement:
CALCIUM
This is a natural mineral, but it is used to calm a horse down. It will work in some horses, although it has not really been explained why it works. It won’t do a horse any harm. A deficiency in calcium is not something that horses usually have, so what they don’t need will pass through the body.
FOLIC ACID
A supplement that is sometimes used in conjunction with iron to help anemia.
WINSTROL
An anabolic hormone or steroid much the same as Equipoise. Winstrol is a milder, more purified form of anabolic steroid. It doesn’t have the side effects of aggression that Equipoise can. It will increase the appetite and put weight on. Probably used more on fillies so as not to make them as aggressive as colts.
CARISIPRODOL
This is a skeletal muscle relaxant. It is also used a lot for horses that tend to tie up.
ROBOXAN
This is also a skeletal muscle relaxant.
ALBUTERAL, ATROVENT & AZMACORT INHALERS
Albuteral is a bronco dilator as is the Atrovent. The Azmacort is a strong steroid. These medications are used in humans if they have an asthmatic condition and can be helpful in horses if they have the same condition.
HYALURONIC ACID
This is injected into an injured joint for lubrication and to fill in the injury. It is a very thick lubricant which acts as a Band Aid remedy. It does not do any healing to the joint. It is usually combined with a small amount of Cortisone, also an anti-inflammatory, to cut down on the inflammation. This will allow a horse to keep going, for awhile.
BANAMINE
Another anti-inflammatory.
ENZYMES
Usually these are used for a bowed tendon. The thinking is that the enzymes will break up the blood that has coagulated in the tendon, hence bringing it down in size.
ADEQUAN
Used to stimulate cartilage repair. Does it work? This is a claim that the manufacturer makes.
Does all this help?
"Only to get a horse to a race. That’s the key right there," said Araujo. "In the long-run these things are not going to help. In the short-run they will."
The most important thing for an owner to understand is that the competition is very stiff on the racetrack, not only to win races, but to just get a horse to a race. All these remedies are Band-Aid cures. Does that mean that they are bad? No. What it means is that if one trainer is using these medications, all of them are going to use them.
"Actually, even the trainers that don’t want to do this - if they don’t, they figure they’re missing out," said Araujo.
"There are things, like Adequan, that are not essential, but I think they are certainly a help," said Eoin Harty, assistant trainer for Bob Baffert. "Not every horse needs it, but the ones that do I think it’s a necessary expense. They (trainers) think they’re helping the horse, where as maybe a little time instead would work. Things like a lot of unnecessary vitamin shots, those sort of things can add up."
Is $200 - $300 a month for an average horse in training normal?
"Yes, I think it is," said Harty
Millard Archuleta, an owner with horses in training on the racetrack and at farms agrees, "$200 - $300 is about right," said Archuleta. "Eight hundred to $1,000 a month, that’s going to drive owners out of the business. It’s been my experience that vet bills at the farms are very reasonable, which is a big contrast to some of the vets that practice at the tracks."
Will it put a trainer at a disadvantage if he or she doesn’t use these medications?
"In some aspects, yes," said Araujo. "That trainer probably wouldn’t be able to get a horse ready as fast as another trainer would. But the first trainer’s horse would probably last longer. All everyone is trying to do is keep their horse running."
"Most of the vets do the same things," continued Araujo. "Mainly because if we don’t do it, another vet’s going to do it anyway. The trainer wants it done - the trainer is the one that’s employing us."
"I think that a lot of vets don’t want to do all the vet work they do," said Harty. "But the trainer thinks, well, I have to do all this to be competitive."
"Every trainer should own a racehorse and pay the vet bills", said Trainer Caesar Dominguez. "This way he knows how much the owners have to pay. I own most of my horses, so I know how high the vet bills are. An owner will ask, ‘Why is the vet charging me so much for a vitamin shot?’ What the owners need to realize is that medical expenses for horses are about the same as they are for people. They think that a vet should charge less than a doctor. But if you have a kid that’s an athlete and he’s got problems, you take him to the doctor. If you have a horse that’s running, that’s like having a kid that’s an athlete."
To some, these horses are like kids. To others, they’re simply a business. Economics plays a large role in this whole scenario and how each individual horse is looked at. Does it make more economic sense to turn a horse out and give him time, or keep him in training and pay for the medication that most of them need just to keep up with the next guy? The answer to that question is in direct correlation to how much the horse runs for. A good stakes horse that goes out and wins 60% of a $100,000 pot can afford a long time between races. A cheap claimer that wins 60% of a $14,000 pot can’t - not when they all cost the same amount to keep per day at the track. These decisions are always, ultimately, left up to the owner, but they can be influenced by a trainer who wants to keep his barn full.
"The owners don’t think this medication is necessary, but the trainers do," continued Araujo. "We work for the trainers. We administer the medications and then when the owners get mad, some trainers will turn and say the veterinarian did it. But the veterinarian can’t do anything unless the trainer okays it and that’s where we’re caught in the middle. We get to be the scapegoat."
"I think the owner is at the mercy of his or her trainer," said Harty. "I think that an owner needs to discuss things like vet bills with the trainer up front when he decides to send a trainer his horse."
On the flip side of that Harty had this to say:
"I think that a trainer ought to make the owner aware when he is going to do something. In a barn like ours it’s hard for Bob (Baffert) to take the time everyday to call every owner, but that would be the ideal situation."
Hopefully, the information imparted here has given an example of the use and the philosophy behind the most common medications administered at the racetrack or training center. The medications and the thinking behind them are all things that owners should keep in mind when looking at their vet bill. The bottom line is that $200 - $300 a month for a vet bill on a particular horse in training is, by all standards discussed here, normal; and, to most people’s way of thinking, necessary to stay on a competitive level.
If you’re receiving bills that are much greater then that, then you might want to question your trainer about that particular horse’s condition. If a horse needs that much medication to stay in training, maybe that horse should be turned out.
Ultimately, the responsibility falls upon the owner. The more knowledge and understanding an owner can acquire, and the better communication lines that he or she can establish with his or her trainer will result in a better situation for everyone involved.