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Angela McLeod Equine Veterinarian

Phone: +61 429 384 976

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24.01.2022 Last weekend I gave a lesson to Rachael on her lovely Standardbred 'Louie'. Louie had been vetted out from a couple of endurance rides due to an apparent lamen...ess. Rachael reported that her vets could find nothing wrong with the horse and I suspected the lameness was a biomechanical problem due to the horse not working correctly with a raised back. Standardbred racehorses are trained to do exactly the opposite of this, and the way they are bred means they have difficulty engaging their very straight hindlimbs underneath their body and rather tend to push their bodyweight forward with the limbs stretched out behind them. The good thing about Standardbreds is they tend to be quiet with a kind disposition and Louie was definitely trying very hard for his rider. I was impressed with them both as Rachael has had no real riding experience other than riding trackwork. In the first video they are already improving but the unevenness is quite obvious still. In the second video it has all but disappeared. As with muscle building in any species it will take months of work to create a lasting change but as Rachael loves her horse she is willing to take the time and effort required to make him a happier and healthier athlete. See more

23.01.2022 I think this is a much better idea than the bands that go around the hindquarters and attach to the saddle as this does nothing for the riders awareness.

13.01.2022 As promised, my opinion re: the horse racing debate Horses have been the best animal ally to humans for thousands of years. They were first domesticated in 300...0BC and were originally used as a source of meat. This was until man discovered he had a means of transport at his disposal which improved his ability to move out of all recognition. The world was transformed. Distance travel became possible and cultures and languages spread around the world. Horses won wars for civilisations. Only 100 years ago, the greater part of the world’s transportation was by horse. It is only in the last seventy years that the horse has ceased to be a necessity and has become primarily a vehicle of sport. Horse racing is the of most ancient of all sports, being practiced in civilisations across the world since ancient times. Horse racing is one of the few sports that has continued throughout the COVID-19 crisis, helping to keep the economy afloat. In Australia horse racing is an industry that provides full or part-time employment for almost 250 000 people. Around the time of the Melbourne Cup there is always an outcry from ‘animal activists’ claiming that the sport is cruel and should be abolished. I would like to share my thoughts on this. As an equine vet I see cases of horse cruelty and neglect but these occur far more frequently with non-professionals (sometimes even self-proclaimed rescuers) who take on horses that they don’t have the knowledge or the finances to care for. Anyone who has ever trained for a sport or long distance race will understand the feeling that comes with being physically fit the energy, confidence and strength you acquire makes you feel amazing. Racehorses are trained to peak fitness - if you attend a racetrack during morning work and see them dancing on the end of their strapper’s lead ropes ‘jumping out of their skin’ you will see how well they feel in themselves. It is in the best interest of the trainer to do all they possibly can to keep their horses in top health. Racehorses receive the best nutrition, their feet trimmed regularly, they are wormed, have regular dental care and often acupuncture, massage and other physical therapies as well. No expense is spared to keep them feeling their best. Most trainer’s and their staff are horse lovers and care deeply for the horses in their care. I know a trainer who sacks staff on the spot if they reflexively hit a horse that has just bitten them. The racing industry provides many people with employment and also a way of life. Interaction with horses is so beneficial for people’s mental health. This is why there are many equine-assisted therapy centres set up to help people with depression, anxiety, PTSD etc. One thing I do think could be improved in racing is the education of all involved in some aspects of horsemanship. I think a programme that ensured the trainers and riders had a basic understanding of riding theory and biomechanics would be very beneficial. Racehorses are, after all, athletes just like human athletes. If a human athlete runs with poor form they will become injured. This is why most serious athletes go to a physiotherapist to analyse the way they are using themselves and give them exercises to improve their biomechanics. To help a horse use himself in the correct way the rider needs to understand a bit about equine biomechanics. They need to understand a bit about natural crookedness and its effect on uneven loading of the limbs and what to do to correct this. It would be very difficult to school a horse to use himself better on the racetrack during trackwork (I am speaking from experience here as I rode trackwork for 15 years) but I think some kind of flatwork schooling should be included in the horses work. This could start at the breakers and pre-trainers if they took the importance of this into consideration, rather than just ensuring the horse will go out and canter two laps of a large track before they send them to the trainer. I visited and rode at a racing stable in Germany once where every set of horses was ridden at a walk and trot in each direction in a large round pen for 20 mins before going out onto the canter track. This ensures the horses muscles are warmed up and relaxed in a safe environment before they are taken outside. Many of the horses I rode at one particular track in Australia, either jig-jogged or dawdled lazily along the laneway until they got onto the track, and then took off the moment they hit the sand. When horses are worked in this way their muscles aren’t warmed up and they are not relaxed starting work meaning their muscles aren’t supple and they will be crooked and hence put more strain on one of their front legs. Over time, this leads to wear and tear injury in this limb and also sore back muscles (due to not being supple the muscles don’t receive a good blood supply, fill up with lactic acid and become stiff). This starts a vicious cycle as a stiff back doesn’t provide any cushioning action for the joints and they jar up, causing the horse to move in an uneven way. They are then presented to the vet who will likely inject the joint/s. This will provide some relief but it is treating the symptom and not the cause so the issue will come back. It is not just the racing industry that doesn’t understand the importance of correct biomechanics. There is a lack of understanding in equestrian sport too. I believe it is important for anyone who rides or trains horses to understand the way their musculoskeletal system needs to be developed to ensure they remain sound and become more athletic through their association with humans, rather than broken down. It is one of the frustrating parts of my job, when I am asked to patch up a horse with anti-inflammatories/painkillers or joint injections, when the issue could have been prevented through education. One of the main issues that people have with the racing industry is the amount of wastage. The horses that don’t make it to the track (due to lack of ability) and the ones that are retired with or without an injury and rather than re-homed are sent to an abbatoir. I wrote an article on the benefits of an ex-racehorse for equestrian riders. Many top eventers get their best horses off the track and more find homes with pleasure riders. I think if early (correct) flatwork training was included in the work of racehorses, not only would they have less injuries but they would be easier to re-home on retirement. However, there will still be horses that are not this lucky. I am a horse lover if there ever was one but I believe HUMANE euthanasia to be preferable over horses being neglected by people who don’t have the knowledge or desire to give them a comfortable life. Surely a shorter life where the horse has been well-cared for and then is humanely destroyed is better than living out their days in suffering. Or having no life at all? You don’t see too many of the general public up in arms about the short life span of the cattle and sheep they put on their table. Recent footage from abbatoirs has shocked horselovers as the treatment is clearly far from humane. THIS NEEDS TO BE URGENTLY ADDRESSED. There is an autistic woman called Temple Grandin who has worked for decades making slaughterhouses more humane for cattle, sheep and pigs. She has published books and papers outlining the ways slaughterhouses can be made humane. This research should be taken into account to re-design existing abbatoirs and the staff trained appropriately. There needs to be sufficient auditing of each plant and removal of staff who don’t adhere to the correct protocol. I could go on about all the other issues that people really should be more up in arms about such as domestic violence, bullying, actual neglect of horses and other animals. I also wonder what these ‘animal activists’ who potentially have never touched a horse in their life, have in mind for the equine race? If they have a problem with racing ‘the horse didn’t ask to race’ (I didn’t ask to work either) Do they also have a problem with equestrian sport? With pleasure riding? Where does it end? (Is dog agility ok?) Do they think the horses should be running wild and free like the brumbies? Because that’s going so well In conclusion, I think it would be a terrible shame to abolish an industry that helps so many people, psychologically as well as economically, and to deprive them of a lifetime spent with these wonderful creatures that give so many people a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure.

12.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugqmef7z__w&feature=share

09.01.2022 Lovely comments from a participant in my clinic in Brazil

07.01.2022 What do you think of when you hear the word biomechanics? Or specifically equine biomechanics? I have called my website Biomechanics of the Horse and I advertise clinics in Equine Biomechanics but I think this term is confusing to some people. They are unsure what biomechanics is, or whether it is relevant at all to them as riders. I can assure you that it is.... Biomechanics is the study of mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of a living organism There are different fields of Biomechanics. Some specialist scientists do a lot of detailed experiments using force plates and motion sensors in their study. Other people give demonstrations with painted horses. This is not what I am interested in. I am interested in teaching people the basic biomechanics governing the development of a sound, happy, well-performing riding horse. Biomechanics explains the logic behind the German Training Scale and helps us to understand how to train our horses so that their muscles are built up in the correct way and they can perform well, remain sound and enjoy the process of training. In order to train a horse correctly and so build up the correct muscles required to carry a rider and perform happily and successfully, it is necessary to understand a little about the muscular and skeletal system we are trying to develop. In this way, we can assess whether our training is heading down the right track by observing which muscles increase in size over time. It is possible to tell whether a horse is trained correctly by looking at its muscular development or lack thereof. Biomechanics explains the correct timing and application of the aids to influence the horse at the right moment to get the desired response. A knowledge of biomechanics enables us to think logically about what is going on when we encounter difficulties when training a horse, and the possible reasons for the resistance. It helps us recognise moments of great work and recognise when the horse looks pretty to an observer but is a ‘leg mover’ and not using his back correctly. Without this knowledge we would be lulled into a sense of thinking the training was going well when it is actually not beneficial at all. Knowing this we can continue to strive to train the horse to hold the correct posture and work over the back so he is through, he is responsive to aids from legs, seat and hands, is easy to sit, and puts less stress on his joints as well as improves his paces.