A lot of things can happen over the many miles of an endurance event. California veterinarians recently tracked the incidence and resolution of equine medical issues encountered during endurance competition.

C. Langdon Fielding, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC, of the Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center in California, and colleagues, looked at the records of 30 horses that required emergency treatment after being removed from endurance competition.

Some of the issues the researchers encountered included colic, esophageal obstruction (choke), poor cardiovascular recovery, myopathy, and synchronous diaphragmatic flutter (thumps). They studied the horses' examination, lab work, age, breed, and other parameters to see if they could spot specific indicators that could help them catch the problem earlier.

They found specific equine health problems tended to occur at different times during the ride. For example, horses with rhabdomyolysis (muscle damage) usually had the problem in the first 30 miles of the competition