I SO agree with you.  I know you weren't sure on the lasix issue - but it seems that its better for them if they don't use it.

Yes alot of horses won't run if they can't run on lasix - but to me - if they can't run without it - they shouldn't be running!

XOXO

ThoroEdge references the drf atricle you posted and gives his take on the subject...

EIPH: If You’re not Breezing, You’re Bleeding

  >>the recent attention paid to the future of Lasix in US racing begs us to take a more detailed look at the role of conditioning and its effects on bleeding/EIPH. One point of this post is that every drug in the history of the world has negative side effects, some that take years to be discovered. Lasix is no exception. Drugs are shortcuts, meant to make things easier on the trainer and owner, often at the expense of the horse itself.

http://thoroedge.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/eiph-if-youre-not-breezing-youre-bleeding/

Lasix would help if they are bleeding but I have been reading that they can be conditioned with longer gallops as babies.  So far so good with the boys. They were scoped and there was nothing in the throat so we are doing well with them. And if they are really bad bleeders they should not be racing at all I think.  I read that horses years ago like Seabiscuit had so many more starts. Man O War ran 4 times in a month, running back in a few days and was OK. Horses do run after all . They are raised like hot house flowers as babies..mine go to a farm and run around like crazy with other babies. If they are sore, they rest, if they have a cough, they rest, no needles in the knees to pull out fluid and then stuff to dull the pain. I had to retire my Boro Kid rather than torture her and she is fit and happy upstate but will be good to go in the spring to be a jumper and show horse in the area. But you as an  owner have the set down the rules and I do think trainers will be on board. They are under pressure to get the horses to run.  I was so happy with the 2 colts I have. We let them get race fit, they are learning and telling us how they like to race--I think long and of the pace. We do not start them until the late fall or later when they are babies.  They will do their best for you and they deserve the best.

I read here that people are worried about joint injections. They can be done but then the horse needs a time out..not inject and race.  They are athletes and can have physical problems but also can be taken care of.  Getting on top  of  problems before they get bad, treating them and then being conservative about when the horse gets back in training and then the hard decision to retire a horse--even a young one- rather than go forward and risk their health or life.  Again an owner has to work with the trainer.  

I agree it is the longer gallops as 2 year olds and even as they mature that are the substance they need to not bleed. THese horses that go out and jog a half mile and then gallop a mile or a mile and a quarter are not fit horses, I love the trainers who sen out the horses for good 2 mile gallops and a few times a week they are at a 2 minute lick. Baffert does this and so do some of the others, but so many others do not and it is the horse that suffers, either by bleeding or getting injured.

I have no problem with joint injections as long as it is inject and then rest a bit then back in training. Our show horses had to have help with their joints every now and then and it worked!

We have a wonderful women in FLorida who takes care of our babies and does what she says is laying down a foundation. Our trainer is from CHile and he  does  long gallops and then intermittent breezes.  He breezed the colts 7 f before their second race. Again, they did not blow hard after the race, came out fit , and we hope this will work for them. Their coats look great and they have good appetites and attitudes right now. They will go in the longer races . They can sit off the pace and relax and then come on in the end. It is less taxing than a full out run out of the gate. Our turf filly races the same way and I am struck by how I see older turf horses still doing well-including fillies-who can be tough after three.  You do have to be patient and let the horse become race fit , let them tell you how they want to race, let them learn what it is all about.  But then you can enjoy them for a few years and watch them grow up..as long as they stay sound. 

That is all great for the horses, you do pick good trainers who put good foundation on their horses, that is a great thing!!

 

GOOD for CASNER!!!!  He even did his own study - tons of info here:

Casner ‘weighs’ the consequences of Salix

Casner believes race-day use of Salix (furosemide, often referred to by its previous brand name, Lasix) should end because its side effects are causing North American Thoroughbreds to make fewer starts each year.

...Salix has proven effective at treating the symptoms of EIPH, but the diuretic does not cure the malady and causes significant fluid loss. Casner believes these dehydrating effects tax racehorses, causing the downward trend in seasonal and career starts.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/12/06/casner-weighs-the-consequences-of-salix.aspx

 

 

Yeah Casner!!