going the Distance

Dr. Hank Jann, CVHS associate professor of surgery, specializes in equine tendon injury and repair but moonlights as a long distance horse racer. In both his career and avocation, Jann is prepared to cover the distance with as much speed as possible.

Horse racing is a recent interest, but he’s been studying how tendons heal and how to best repair tendon injuries in performance horses for some 23 years.

The most common injuries, which are as career- or life-threatening as a fracture, are either a strain suffered on the race track or a cut to the leg that severs the tendon.

“A tendon injury is more challenging than a fracture in terms of returning the horse to competition,” he says. “If a person cuts a hand deep enough to cut the tendon, the surgeon can repair and bandage it so the person can’t use it. You can’t do that with a horse.”

Through multiple research projects and clinical cases, Jann has made real progress in refining repair techniques and rehabilitation protocols. “We have defined suture patterns that are more effective,” he says. “And we have outlined the healing patterns on how horse tendons heal. Now we are seeking National Institutes of Health funding for stem cell research.”

Jann believes stem cell research would really improve the diagnosis and is the next step in finding a cure for tendon injuries.

“We have done all we can do,” he says. “Stem cell research is the direction future research is going, and it’s expensive. With NIH funding, we would be able to seek the solution to making horses heal faster.”

Jann says he had no particular reason for taking up long distance horse racing.

He rides a purebred Spanish mustang named Copperhead, who’s a direct descendent of Hidalgo, the titular horse from Disney’s 2005 film Hidalgo.

Jann purchased Copperhead and another mustang, Tomahawk, from Bryant Rickman, who has a passion for the horses he inherited from Gilbert Jones, who dedicated his life to preserving the Spanish Mustang of which less than 5,000 remain.

Jones was raised by Frank T. Hopkins, the main character of the Disney film along with Hidalgo. Hopkins was at one time a dispatch rider for General Custer and competed in many long-distance horse races. These races continue today, though they are not as long and are strictly regulated.

“It’s one of the few equine competitions where the animal is examined by vets before he competes,” says Jann. “If there’s any kind of health problem, he’s not allowed to compete. And he has to be healthy at the end of the ride.”

So far, Jann has only ridden Copperhead in 25-mile races, one of which he won. “We went 25 miles in 2 hours and 38 minutes and won best-conditioned horse,” says Jann. The next closest competitor finished more than 20 minutes behind him.

“You try to go as fast as you can across rough terrain and have the animal not get injured and not be exhausted,” says Jann. “But you still want to get there before everyone else does.”

Long-distance horse racing events are held across the country. Most are organized through the American Endurance Ride Conference. Jann hopes to compete in the Tevis Cup in 2007.

“It’s the toughest one. It’s out in Nevada and California. You have to be tough just to show up for it,” says Jann. “It’s 100 miles across the desert and mountains. It’s like the Kentucky Derby of endurance racing.”