“It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the endoscope came along,” says Larry Bramlage, DVM. This, he says, allowed for investigation of “bleeding” (exerciseinduced pulmonary hemorrhage), the presence of blood in the airways of horses after intense exercise

today’s racehorses. Cowles explains: “Back then you had more dilution of the population, fewer horses and less concentration of them in specific areas. As a result, the spread of infections was not as fast as it is today.”

The approach to another significant respiratory concern of racehorses changed even more recently, thanks to developments in imaging technology. “It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the endoscope came along,” says Bramlage. tiny cameras that transmit images back to a screen in real time, even as the horse is worked. Using these advances, researchers discovered that the blood was coming from deep in the lungs and related to changes in pressure as the horse exerted himself. “We also learned that it’s a fact of life with hardworking horses,” says Bramlage, “but something we need to monitor.”