Good Bute Article and Discussion at the BYRH Forum

re the recent LSU study, a good comment about bute in the BYRH Forum.

I believe that it does more harm than good. Inflammation can be
really important to ours and our horses' health. Low level inflammation in
the healing process is also very important and should not be feared. Plus
the masking potential of this type of medication can really be dangerous.

I was like all of the other trainers before my thought renaissance on
health thinking: "WHY NOT USE BUTE?" Everyone else is doing it and it could give my horse an edge. Maybe? I did not take the time to consider that
inflammation is an important healing modality in the natural health of all
of us and when it is circumvented, bad things happen. It should never be
interfered with. I did back then appreciate how bute could mask symptoms,
but I brushed this off as well by saying bute is not that powerful of an
anti-inflammatory and that truly sore horses would even show through a bute application. I was deluding myself. I now know better.

What Doug mentions is pretty much consistent with what we've found and what Mom has to say about bute in the book.

Backyard Trainers Are Probably Never Going to be Leading Trainers at a Track

I don't say that to discourage anyone. Quite the opposite. In the course setting all of this up, I googled around and came across an online comment in which the guy said something along the lines of,"Well, I haven't read her book, but I do live in Tampa, near where she trains, and she does not do very well here..."
Anyone with a bit of backside experience understands the numbers game involved with being a leading trainer. And anyone who read the book knows that sometimes you run a horse in a race for which he is overmatched or not perfectly suited as a work. If you don't care about stats, the experience is good, and you never know. Besides, depending on the state and track, some make it worthwhile just to fill the race.

IE's Shins Four Days after the Breeze

This is 4 days after the breeze that Irish Eagle did at OBS. The legs show more response after two or three days. That is why I give the horses a day or two off after being ridden. Sometimes we don't know that they worked too hard. Their body tells us by these physical reactions.











If you expand this photo the protrusion is more apparent.















This angle gives a better view. The body is reacting to the stress of a tearing of the periostium sheath. As the bone rebuilds the leg becomes tighter and the bone stronger. Time to heal and turn out will be the solution.
If there is any doubt about leg I can xray in a few months.

A Setback for Irish Eagle

Irish two days after his first good breeze. He has come up with sore shins. If you expand the photo you will see the protrusions on the front of his shins. Both his shins show this though predictably, the left a little more than the right.








Here is another view. I will turn this horse out for the summer. In a month or so I may start having him walk or trot on the eurocizer but that will be all as he is very young and needs time to grow. Around Sept I will start more serious training-looking to Tampa in the Fall for him. Since this is part of my experiment with the two year olds, he is the first one to make me stop and wait.
We will see what happens with the other two!
I may yet take the summer off!







Another view of Irish Eagle's shin.

What is going on here...

Is that our story thus far is contained in a number of photo albums on the BYRH Facebook fan page. As time permits I am manually rebuilding them here and hope to have everything caught up in a few days. If you don't want to wait, just go here and browse (need to be a Facebook member, but you need to be anyway these days, so just sign up ;-).

After OBS- Spitfire's Nose

June 11th, 2009:



Spitfire's nose-remember he had a little mucus yesterday when we went to OBS. I told rider not to push if he felt bad. Horse went on track and tried to run away with him -he had not gone to track last week because of mucus . So he was very much on the muscle this week. We got a lot done with gate work and gallop. This AM he had a little crusty mucus. Seems bright and good and ate well .
Irish also had more mucus than Spitfire yesterday and got the cold a few days behind him. So he was a little runnier in the nose today.
The filly has yet to show any sign of anything...maybe she has a better immuno system or maybe because she went through a sale she already went through the baby "snots".
I have not given any medications and of they heal uneventfully I will look like a smart person and if they get worse I will be blamed.
All we can do is what we think is okay at that moment.
Hindsight is 20-20!

More OBS

June 10, 2009: Gates and Breeze.






We are at the OBS track and it is much busier as the two year sale is next week . we are waiting for the riders.











We went back and brought Spitfire ,Irish,and TS Faye. The two boys had a little bit of mucus so I told the riders not to push them if they did not feel well.










This time I had horses stand in gates and they were flopped out and galloped out .
They then came back and stood again and broke out well when the gate was sprung automatically. They are progressing well.









This is the second break and they broke very well this time!












Spitfire fought most of the way with the rider and didn't settle down until they galloped a half a mile but he needs to work with the rider.
They broke off at three eights and breezed to finish line.
TS Faye finished out front in 38 seconds with Irish second at 39 seconds and spitfire behind having fought too much with rider.