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  Discussion on Advice about breeding mare with recent, severly bowed tendon
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Posted on Tuesday, Jun 11, 2002 - 4:31 am:

I am a novice when it comes to horse care, so I’m looking for OBJECTIVE advice to help me decide how to respond to a situation that I’m aware of. I have read all of the messages/articles related to bowed tendons, but am still not sure about this situation. I can be reached at horses@KamiBrooks.net for anyone wishing to contact me directly, but would like to keep on-line responses as objective as possible. I am trying to decide if a mare is being treated in a cruel manner that should be brought to the attention of authorities.

The situation in short is: (all quotes are from custodian)

A 4 yo thoroughbred mare severely bowed the front off-side tendon during a race. The track vet recommended putting her down. For some reason, the horse was not put down. The track vet’s advice at the time was 6 mo stall rest. The horse was put into the care of a ‘custodian’. The custodian provided 1 mo stall rest in 12x12, dirt floor stall then began allowing some at liberty pasture time. The custodian reasoned that after 6 mo, the horse would re-injure in excitement to be out of stall. At 2.5 mo, the front of near-side knee is swollen and “strange because it is not fluid filled, but hard”. She appears to stand with that knee flexed forward (based on the line at the back of the leg). The custodian began discussing breeding the mare. When I questioned this, the custodian said “it won’t hurt her”. A week ago, the mare was seen by a vet who “all but said she should have been put down”. Last weekend, with the injury at about 3.5 mo old, the mare was sent to be hand-bred to an unproven 2 yo stud. This will be her first foal.

The custodian is a PA resident. The mare is kept in PA, except while at the breeding farm in WV. The following is the PA animal cruelty law:
“(c) Cruelty to animals.--A person commits a summary offense if he wantonly or cruelly illtreats, overloads, beats, otherwise abuses any animal, or neglects any animal as to which he has a duty of care, whether belonging to himself or otherwise, or abandons any animal, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, drink, shelter or veterinary care, or access to clean and sanitary shelter which will protect the animal against inclement weather and preserve the animal's body heat and keep it dry. This subsection shall not apply to activity undertaken in normal agricultural operation.”

Additional symptoms that I’m aware of:
The mare has been kept in a deeply bedded stall. The stall has a 15% slant to it due to where the barn is located and unevenness in the floor. The mare laid down the majority of the time for the first two weeks. The custodian had to get her up to provide medications. When up, she placed NO weight on that leg. She was treated with some spray on stuff used on race horses to reduce swelling for the first 3 weeks. Bute was given, then reduced. By the 4th week, the mare stood most of the time and could move about with much effort. The mare has been given at least 2 rounds of penicillin shots to treat infection where the skin broke from the swelling (it appears to have split at the rear of the leg from just above to just below the fetlock). As far as I know that wound is not yet closed, but is healing. Since the custodian is funding all treatment, and has few resources, it is unlikely that the mare has had any ultra-sound (or sophisticated diagnosis) and has not had any special shoes. The mare will be kept in a 100’x100’ pasture with 2 other mares (and potentially a yearling colt) during gestation. The pasture is bottom land with a winding creek running through it. The creek is narrow and deep, so I suspect the mare will not be able to cross it. The creek will effectively reduce her space to a 30’x100’ sloped space.

My specific concerns are:

(a) The mare may not be receiving adequate care for the injury and is suffering because of it.
(b) The mare’s body will not be able to support both the healing process and producing a foal.
(c) I may be over reacting to the situation considering that a stud owner was willing to breed the mare.

The custodian does not have the papers for this mare and has not paid money for her. The custodian claims ownership of the mare through a convoluted reasoning process. The custodian has said that the mare at one point sold for or was valued at $20,000. This makes me leery about getting involved without support of authorities. The custodian and stud owner are intent on turning the foal over to a trainer to train/race. I think the custodian genuinely believes (or has rationalized that) what is going on is okay for the mare. The custodian claims extensive horse experience, but has a history of poor and short-sighted decision making process.
Options I’m considering:

(a) Contact authorities to examine the situation. – I’m afraid this may cause the destruction of the mare. The custodian claims that she can be sound as a pasture ornament in a year. I'm also not seeking to make the custodian's life any harder than it already is.
(b) Purchase the mare from the custodian, in order to provide proper treatment, and give the foal back to the custodian once born. The horse rescues in the area that I am aware of cannot afford to take on animals that need extensive treatment. I don’t hold high hopes for this option because the custodian is viewing this horse as a continuing brood mare.

If I get the tattoo of this mare, is there a way to determine the contact information for the original owners? I would like to find out if they do or do not have any continuing interest in this mare. The custodian has said: (a) the owner’s promised the papers, but now refuse to send them; (b) off-spring can be registered based on the mare’s tattoo, so papers are not needed; (c) ownership can be claimed, and new papers issued in the custodian’s name, based on having an official come to the pasture and verify the tattoo.

Any advice would be appreciated. As I said, I may be over reacting to this situation. If added specific info is needed, I can try to get it.

Kami

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 12, 2002 - 6:19 am:

Hello Kami,
I read your post yesterday and thought about it during the day. I think the most prudent thing for you to do at this point is to get your veterinarian involved. Many of the points you raise are second hand and require a judgement made that really requires an examination. Have your vet take a look and see what he says about the conditions and the future prospects.

Concerning the tattoo and registeration. It requires a bit more than just the tattoo to get a duplicate registration certificate. To the Jockey Club you must submit:
1) proof of ownership
2) provide enough information that they can identify the horse from there records.

I do not know of any cases where the tattoo alone was accepted. Besides a readable tattoo, a set of pictures of the horse is required that will be compared to the foals pictures, and the horse will require DNA typing. There is generally a lot of paper work and some cost involved (at least a few hundred dollars).
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jun 13, 2002 - 9:52 am:

Thank you for your response. Based on this response and others, I have identified the officials that can make a proper judgement on the situation and have given them what I know about it. I guess I just wanted to be sure that I was not over-reacting.

I really want to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback.

Kami
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