The semi tractor-trailer came along in the 1950s, making it easier to move horses to racetracks around the country.

A MORE MOBILE POPULATION

The life of a modern-day racehorse includes extensive travel. This wasn’t always the case, and that change had a ripple effect on the sport and the health care of the horses in it.

“You didn’t ship horses that much in the early days of the Triple Crown,” says Bramlage. “Horses moved principally by railcar and not all that often. They tended to stay in one place for an entire racing season.” The weight handicapping system of Thoroughbred racing was developed of necessity to keep up bettor interest in a static population of horses.

“For instance,” says Bramlage, “you’d have a group of horses who went to Chicago to race for the summer, and they spent the entire summer there as a group, with few new horses coming in. It was likely that one of those horses was going to be the best and consistently beat the other horses. That would make for a very boring and predictable summer for all the bettors. So they would handicap the better horses by having them carry more weight. That way the other horses had a shot at beating them, and the races were more interesting.”

Less transport back then meant more time for horses to rest. “Racing wasn’t year-round and the horses had planned breaks, which in some ways was good for the horse, but also had drawbacks,” says Bramlage. “Two months doesn’t cause much concern for a fit horse’s skeleton. But, a horse can lose a lot of fitness once you go beyond three months of total break, and you have to work to bring him back to that level to race again. Prolonged breaks with no exercise lead to more injuries and illness. In some ways you could argue that it’s better to keep a horse in some level of fitness throughout his career.”

The semi tractor-trailer came along in the 1950s, making it easier to move horses to tracks around the country. “I took my first load of horses from Kentucky to Virginia in 1963,” says Cowles. “The development and evolution of the gooseneck since then has revolutionized a lot of horse shipping, making it much easier on the hauler, and in some cases the horses, particularly for small loads.” By the 1980s, shipping horses via airplane became practical.

“Today, the ease of transportation for the elite racehorses assures that if you are the best horse in Chicago and a big race comes up, horses are going to be flown in from around the country and Canada to run against you prize,” says Bramlage. “Handicapping is still done, but the span of the weights has narrowed considerably with the ability to move horses easily and create competitive fields.”

As far as the health of the highly traveled modern racehorses is concerned, Cowles says a focus on preventive medicine is key. “Horsemen across the board today have an increased awareness and desire to prevent problems and not just treat them. I’ve seen this increase over the course of my career. We are more attentive as far as husbandry is concerned and the horses, on and off the track, are better off for it.”

IMPROVEMENTS BIG AND SMALL

You don’t have to look far to find even more positive advances in the care of elite equine athletes of any sport.

“One of the most dramatic changes in veterinary care over the last 40 years, I think, is advances in anesthesia,” says Cowles. “Four decade ago horses didn’t recover very well at all. The development of inhalation anesthesia and other agents have allowed surgeons to do dramatically better work. Procedures that would have been very tough on horses