Mo's Frequent Flyer Miles

[TJ]

Uncle Mo and other's are still due to arrive today at CD. Once again a problem, only this time in route, when a warning light came on in the cockpit of the Tex Sutton transport plane. All was found to be OK and he will still arrive at CD today after a precautionary landing at Dulles. Maybe it's the flying that upset his stomach:>) TJ
http://www.drf.com/blogs/churchill-down ... val-update

[Bast]

Uncle Mo and other's are still due to arrive today at CD. Once again a problem, only this time in route, when a warning light came on in the cockpit of the Tex Sutton transport plane. All was found to be OK and he will still arrive at CD today after a precautionary landing at Dulles. Maybe it's the flying that upset his stomach:>) TJ
http://www.drf.com/blogs/churchill-down ... val-update

Or maybe he was just short.

Remember the horror story of Canonero's attempts to fly from Venezuela?

And consider the story of Bold Arrangement, who was flown from the UK in time for a 3rd in the Blue Grass Stakes (when it was still run 2 Thursdays before the Derby) and a 2nd in the Kentucky Derby (1986) behind Ferdinand.

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/27/sports/sp-horsecol27/2

Uncle Mo's traveling adventures don't compare to these.

[TJ]

Uncle Mo and other's are still due to arrive today at CD. Once again a problem, only this time in route, when a warning light came on in the cockpit of the Tex Sutton transport plane. All was found to be OK and he will still arrive at CD today after a precautionary landing at Dulles. Maybe it's the flying that upset his stomach:>) TJ
http://www.drf.com/blogs/churchill-down ... val-update

Or maybe he was just short.

Remember the horror story of Canonero's attempts to fly from Venezuela?

And consider the story of Bold Arrangement, who was flown from the UK in time for a 3rd in the Blue Grass Stakes (when it was still run 2 Thursdays before the Derby) and a 2nd in the Kentucky Derby (1986) behind Ferdinand.

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/27/sports/sp-horsecol27/2

Uncle Mo's traveling adventures don't compare to these.

Hi Bast,
I certainly agree with you.....but in my opinion Mo never should have left Florida.....he had everything he needed right here in sunny Florida. I hope you're right about him being short....Pletcher didn't think he was. The Derby should be quite an interesting puzzle this year....lot's of upsets and disappointments so far.....can't wait to handicap the field:>) TJ

[TJ]

Uncle Mo arrived safe and sound at CD.....what a fickled bunch, the 2YO champ was met with little fanfare......what one loss can do to a contender. "What have you done for me lately" has always been horse racing's mantra:>) TJ

[Bast]

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/does-racing-need-mo-disclosure/

Racing has a lot of charming traditions, but the barbarism of pin-firing isn't among the charmers:


Uncle Mo's forelegs.

Where else in the world is pin-firing practiced?

[gmj828]

I am not a horseman but I've ridden, love racing, and have an affection for these majestic, regal, beings. What the hell is that all about? Why would they continue to run this horse? (other than the obvious-money)
Pardon my ignorance but I would love to hear what the gurus on this board think.

[Bast]

I am not a horseman but I've ridden, love racing, and have an affection for these majestic, regal, beings. What the hell is that all about? Why would they continue to run this horse? (other than the obvious-money)
Pardon my ignorance but I would love to hear what the gurus on this board think.

This is "traditional" horse training as practiced in the US, soaking horses in liniments, swathing them in standing bandages, locking them in stalls 23 hours a day to go crazy, and actually working them at speed hardly at all.

This isn't the way it must be done.

[TJ]

I am not a horseman but I've ridden, love racing, and have an affection for these majestic, regal, beings. What the hell is that all about? Why would they continue to run this horse? (other than the obvious-money)
Pardon my ignorance but I would love to hear what the gurus on this board think.

Hi gmj,
Most everyone I've come in contact with working in the backstretch share that same love you describe for horses. Of course you have the bad apples just like you do in every sport.....but when you consider the number of race tracks, trainers, vets, horses and employee's that are engaged in racing it is a very low percentage of unscrupulous, desperate people that are willing to destroy a horse for the all mighty dollar. I take issue with those that do....but in reality these are bottom feeders that have never been involved with the top rung of racing, usually sour jealous individuals that have never made it to the top, yet feel they have the qualifications to condemn the dedicated 24/7 group of hard working licensed professional's.....these are the very same people that would do anything to win a race at the expense of the horse. When a horse gets an injury that would require pin firing, it is the vet that usually recommends it.....I agree with Bast....it is a barbaric way to deal with the likes of bucked shins and other ailments, but yet it is still one of the recommended procedures. Blistering and firing are crude ways of increasing blood circulating to the affected area while forcing you to give the horse time off while you tend the wounds created by the pin firing that are responsible for the increased blood flow to that area. This certainly isn't the only way to handle this and it is most common in young horses......from the looks of that picture of Mo's front legs it is obvious he was pin fired a long time ago. The shaved area is possibly due to a procedure rendered either a test or possibly something else, although I don't know what would be in that area......it is in a peculiar spot, only thing that could be there is a break of some sort? Paulick, mentioned a splint and we read this bunk...absolutely wrong, no indication of a splint shows in the picture, which would be on the side of the leg.....inside or outside, not the front of the cannon as the shaved area appears to be. Yet that one has me concerned and perplexed, does anyone know what it may be? I've had similar issues and I came up years ago when blistering and firing was the only way to do things....today there are so many other therapy's, yet there are times when a Vet tells you that pin firing is the best method in a particular case....at which point you go with that or get a second opinion. I stopped blistering and firing a long time ago.....I use laser and shock wave treatments as an alternate treatment. I don't use the shock wave to mask an injury as many were doing, I use it as a viable treatment method readily increasing blood circulation to the area which speeds up healing without the uncomfort of pin firing.....similar to what the laser does. When push comes to shove and the treatments aren't getting to bottom of the ailment, I will stop on the horse all together and give him 5-6 months to heal naturally....while continuing treatments as well. I have one getting ready now in Ocala that just had his first breeze after 7 months of rest and rehab. In my opinion, time is the best healer.....yet today time is money and many, even those that have more money then they need....aren't willing to do it until all other speedier options fail.
I use a knowledgeably group of vet's here in South Florida and here is a concise article concerning ailments written by the group. TJ

http://www.aaep.org/qa_veterinarycare.htm

[Bast]

My cousin the Pathologist with a Dry Sense of Humor says that there are guys in his graduating class from medical school who haven't cracked open a book since they left school. No doubt there are DVMs of the same ilk.

Pin firing does not promote circulation. Pin firing does leave behind scarred, damaged tissue that is not as strong as it was before.

And it is banned in Europe.

Politically, I am a Goldwater conservative and I want the government out of my light bulb sockets, toilet tank, and a lot of other places where I am capable of thinking for myself--nobody has to threaten me with a cash fine to use a seat belt because I believe physics. But I think the Europeans are correct to ban pin-firing and the declawing of cats (another painful process done to preserve furniture--my cats only leave the house in a carrier, but they are fully armed in all 4 paws)

Anyone persisting in this disproven, cruel, destructive procedure deserves to be pin-fired in Hell.

These animals trust us. We should deserve that trust.

[TJ]

Pin firing does not promote circulation. Pin firing does leave behind scarred, damaged tissue that is not as strong as it was before.

Hi Bast,
I agree 100% about pin firing being cruel and inhumane and everything else you said in that post, but I have to disagree with you concerning blood flow/circulation when being pin fired. When I was coming up some of the best Vets in NY told me the reason for pin firing was to force us to give the horses time off and to increase the blood supply to the area to promote more rapid healing. So through that I gathered, the open wounds inflicted due to pin firing create an increased blood flow to the area which in turn secretes the blood serum and other anti-bodies which will heal the area. I was under the impression, without blood circulation, healing could not occur....and increased blood circulation creates increased and faster healing...the good news is, if I was taught the wrong theory behind it, seeing it done kept me from ever ordering a horse of mine or in my charge to be pin fired. The principle behind the laser and extracorpereal shock wave therapy is to increase blood supply, therby increasing healing time.....and so much more humane than firing.....add time off to that equation and you have a chance to bring one back as good as new:>) TJ

[Terlingua]

Here's the latest post on Uncle Mo that appeared on the Paulick Report this morning:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/tripl ... -appetite/

(Follow the link back to the original story)

Hard to know what to think, especially after the Pletcher & company fiasco @ the Breeders Cup with Life At Ten.....

[TJ]

Here's the latest post on Uncle Mo that appeared on the Paulick Report this morning:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/tripl ... -appetite/

(Follow the link back to the original story)

Hard to know what to think, especially after the Pletcher & company fiasco @ the Breeders Cup with Life At Ten.....

Hi T,
Yes, that is a big concern.....Pletcher said he attributed Mo's loss of appetite to his infection. Personally I've always held Pletcher in higher regard then what I'm hearing lately. If Mo was my horse and I'm down to 17 days of training with two serious moves thrown in while he is recovering from an infection, not eating properly and still on antibiotics.....I all ready would have announced Mo was no longer considering the Derby. Not only that, the Preakness just two weeks later would also be in jeapordy if they continue to push him while on antbiotics and off his feed?? If they stop training now and heal Mo without the stress of continued training they could have a chance to mend him properly and make the Preakness....this is starting to get bizarre? Either that or it's a buildup to the coming let down when it's annonced he won't run in the Derby? TJ

[Bast]

Here's the latest post on Uncle Mo that appeared on the Paulick Report this morning:
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/tripl ... -appetite/

(Follow the link back to the original story)

Hard to know what to think, especially after the Pletcher & company fiasco @ the Breeders Cup with Life At Ten.....

The horse is trying to tell us something. Human vanity is confusing the message.

[BenB]

Overhere the trainer, the vet and the owner would receive a lifetime ban.

The last time I have seen a pinfired horse was in the early eighties.

In dutch:

http://www.echoconsult.nl/images/Peesbl ... idatie.pdf