I testified as part of the "Breeding, Drugs, and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse" Congressional hearing June 19. It was both disillusioning and enlightening. I naïvely thought I was invited along with three other veterinarians to talk about all the issues influencing fatal injuries in racehorses. I expected some tough questions and was looking forward to getting the facts as we know them out in the open, including the use of medication from a veterinarian’s perspective.

However, the positive work taking place wasn’t fully explored that day, and it is important that everyone with a stake in the racing industry understand the key research that is underway to significantly reduce the injury rate in racehorses.

A tremendous amount of study is being done by researchers on the factors that predispose a horse to injury. It is becoming clear that detecting the presence of existing damage to the horse’s musculoskeletal structure through early recognition techniques is critical to fracture prevention.

Our research group at Colorado State University, along with our collaborators, has demonstrated that the presence of "microdamage" in the bone can lead to the catastrophic fractures that we see in the fetlock joint (these include condylar and biaxial sesamoid fractures)