Why give racehorse lasix

What does furosemide really help race horses with? And what are other options for treating horses with bleeding lungs? In this article, we will delve into different harmful effects of Lasix on horse health and better alternatives for treating EIPH. When it comes to horse health and horse supplements, you can trust the team at Vetline Equine. As we already mentioned, Lasix came around as a treatment for bleeding lungs.

Administering Lasix before a race can help reduce bleeding lungs in those horses. You can learn more about bleeding lungs in our post on what to do about bleeding lungs. That's not happening. Supporting his conclusion that Lasix is not that effective in curbing bleeding, Heller points to the study commissioned by the Jockey Club. It found that 32 of 52 known bleeders studied still bled while racing with Lasix and that 62 of horses who were not considered bleeders bled when racing with the drug.

He also found researchers who had drawn the same conclusions. The next day, people figure the blue balloon made a difference, so there are 20 horses running with blue balloons tied to their tails. Here's a drug that doesn't do what it's supposed to do and no one really knows what harm it causes, but everyone uses it. Everyone just wants to feel they're on a level playing field.

But the most damaging evidence against Lasix can be seen every day at a racetrack near you, where five and six-horses fields proliferate the daily programs, which are made up of a bunch of horses who start no more than six or seven times a year. According to Jockey Club statistics, in , the average number of starts per horse in a year was Over the next 31 years, both numbers have fallen dramatically. In , the average number of starts per horse was down to 6.

Can it be a coincidence that is right about the time that Lasix first came on the scene? In , the average start per horse per year was In , the year Lasix enjoyed wide introduction into many jurisdictions, the average start per horse was In , horses started on average 6.

Rather than lean towards genetics to explain the marked drop in starts, New York based trainer Kiaran McLaughlin , one of the 25 signatories on the latest proposal to phase out Lasix, believes horses are simply taking longer to recover from the diuretic effects of Lasix. For the past two years, McLaughlin has cut considerably the number of two-year-olds he runs on Lasix. A ban on Lasix would certainly necessitate an adjustment in the way horses are trained and raced, he said.

And if they are bad bleeders, maybe they need to be stopped on or retired. This leads to another frequently raised comparison: that climate, training facilities and racing programmes make Lasix more necessary in the US than elsewhere. Unlike the US, where the majority of horses are trained during a short window of time in the morning within the tighter confines of the racetrack, racehorses trained in Europe are, by and large, exercised for longer and in quieter surroundings more conducive to keeping horses that bleed settled and calm.

But McLaughlin counters that the facilities used by the majority of American trainers are no different to some jurisdictions that implement a race-day medication ban. He said that with a known bleeder, he would try to replicate the diuretic effect of Lasix by limiting the amount of water that horse was given before a race — a practice known as drawing.

According to Professor Paul Morley, however, the only proven remedy to bleeding is Lasix. Nasal strips are common. You can see those in jurisdictions that allow them. Morley drew attention to the ethical concerns surrounding the practice of drawing a horse to replicate the diuretic effect of Lasix.

Which would you prefer to have? Though Lasix is banned as a race-day medication in the UK, it is permitted for use during training. It also works to reduce extra fluid in the body. The fluid buildup could be caused by heart failure, kidney disease and liver disease, for example. Facebook Twitter Email. What you need to know about the use of Lasix in horse racing. Rana L. Cash , Gentry Estes Courier Journal. Show Caption. Hide Caption.

Horse racing tracks move to phase out Lasix use on race days.