Fast Track Horse Healing

WRITTEN BY DEBORAH A. MILES | PHOTOS PROVIDED

The sound of beating hoofs on the Oklahoma Training Track with Thoroughbreds whinnying in the barns signals the widely anticipated 2022 Saratoga racing season.

In July and August, fans will flock to Saratoga’s historic race track, while trainers and owners exist in the barn areas, making sure their horses are healthy and ready to race.

One concern is how to treat horses who are prone to an Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH) without Lasix. Last year, the New York Racing Association, Inc.

NYRA implemented a regulation prohibiting the use of Lasix within 48-hours of stakes races. Lasix, the brand name for furosemide, helps to prevent bleeding and has been routinely used by trainers. Without Lasix, trainers are turning to alternative therapies to help their equine athletes.

A natural therapy is placing a horse in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. A recent case has shown how Inhaling pure oxygen makes a huge difference in the health of horses who suffer from EIPH and other issues.

Rick Schosberg, Clear Stars Stable (CSS) trainer and president of Take the Lead, a New York retirement program for Thoroughbreds, has been recognized by his peers for his dedication to the welfare of horses. He followed the NYRA regulation when Unique Unions, a handsome bay gelding, raced in The Rego Park, a $100,000 stakes race at Aqueduct on January 9.

“Unions,” his barn name, led most of the field during the race but came in fourth. Afterwards, Schosberg and a veterinarian discovered through an endoscopic exam that this promising three-year-old suffered an EIPH.

Informed of Unions’ diagnosis, Michael Sternklar, CSS managing partner, said, “We not only want to get Unions’ lungs 100 percent sound, but find a way for him to run in a future stakes race, without Lasix. For a horse of this quality (Curlin’s grandson), we should do everything we can to get him into top form. He has speed and determination. If the damage to his lungs from the bleeding is not healed, it will recur.”

Schosberg added, “The most effective treatment for moderate to severe bleeding episodes is the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.”

Unions was shipped to Clermont Farm, the New York Equine Fitness Center, on a frosty January day to receive oxygen therapy.

Clermont Farm, a sprawling160 acres in the Hudson Valley, has the only equine hyperbaric oxygen chamber in New York, and possibly throughout New England.

Unique Unions receives oxygen therapy.

IT’S BEGINNINGS

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has a long history in human medicine. It dates back to 1834 when an airtight case was developed to help treat pulmonary infections. It was designed by Victor Junod and James Watt, a French surgeon and a steam-engine inventor, respectively.

Fast forward to 1964 when the first institution to use oxygen therapy was the Fujian Medical University Union Hospital in China. Since then, the chamber has experienced nearly 50 years of rapid development for human treatment. Currently, there are more than 5,000 hyperbaric oxygen chambers in China, and approximately 1,300 U.S. hospitals have hyperbaric facilities.

Today, professional athletes in the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLS have benefited from oxygen therapy for soft-tissue injuries, burns and deep infections. Around 2005, equine athletes joined the group.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a relative newcomer to equine medicine. KESMARC, LLC, a Kentucky equine and rehabilitation center, pioneered equine hyperbaric oxygen therapy. It paved the way for its use during the last 20 years with protocols and results from more than 30,000 treatments.

A HEFTY PRICE TAG

Equine hyperbaric oxygen chambers range from $250,000 to $400,000.

Tom Cunningham, owner of Clermont Farm, said he purchased his equine chamber in 2011. When asked about the cost, Cunningham said, “It was very, very expensive. I did not buy it new, and it took a while to negotiate a price. The former owners had no place to put it. Our chamber accommodates two horses at one time, and that was a major consideration in our purchase.

“I had attended a conference in Oklahoma where the chamber was featured, and I was immensely impressed by its ability to accelerate the healing process in both humans and equines. Doctors and nurses attended from around the globe, and they all raved about it.

“I thought, if you are in this (racing) business to make money and help horses, you need a chamber. It simply accelerates the healing process and reduces the downtime between races. That’s an enormous benefit in the highly competitive world of horse racing.”

BENEFITING ALL HORSES

Thomas Masterson, an experienced horseman, has operated the Clermont chamber since 2013 and supervises the farm’s crew. He recalled a standardbred with a bleeding issue was the first to receive oxygen therapy.

During the following years, hundreds of horses have entered the 27-foot-long chamber. The oxygen therapy has been successful for equines of all disciplines, ranging from sport to backyard horses, who suffered from various conditions.

“One horse, who we nicknamed “Junior,” arrived with an open wound on his leg. We soon discovered he had a severe case of MRSA (an infection from sickness or an injury). He was treated with the chamber and a cold-water spa,” Masterson said. “Another horse ate red maple leaves which are poisonous to equines. We also treated a mare who couldn’t get pregnant. She went into the chamber the night before she was placed with the stallion, and we got her back in the chamber afterwards. Approximately eleven months later, she produced a nice foal. Oxygen also enhances the delivery of medications.”

After a horse is securely and comfortably tethered with a canvass strap in the sealed chamber, the atmospheric pressure is increased. Chamber air is replaced with oxygen, which causes the hemoglobin in the horse’s red blood cells to become 100 percent saturated with the oxygen. The bloodstream then flows across cell membranes and allows the oxygen to reach damaged tissues, which helps to destroy bacteria and heal injuries.

“For Unions, the key was to let the tiny blood vessels in the lungs heal without infection,” Schosberg said.

Thomas Masterson operates the control panel of the equine hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Clermont Farm.

SAFETY BEHIND-THE-SCENES

Masterson learned to operate the chamber gages, some in Chinese. He credited the faculty at the University of Tennessee for a wealth of chamber-operating information, and other chamber owners.

At Clermont, everything revolves around safety. Prior to entering the chamber, any metal is totally covered or removed from a horse, such as shoes and halters. That’s because metal-on-metal contact in a pure oxygen environment will result in combustion.

A tragic, but rare, 2012 accident occurred in a Florida chamber. A six-year-old Thoroughbred was wearing uncovered steel shoes. He kicked through the protective padding and scratched the interior steel-chamber wall.

According to a report by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the horse’s shoes created sparks against the wall and triggered a horrific explosion. It resulted in the death of the Thoroughbred, and 28-year-old Erica Marshall, the chamber operator and the horse’s owner.

Along with ensuring that no metal contact will occur, additional precautions are taken at Clermont. Any horse running a fever does not get the treatment, as it could cause convulsions. Each horse is bathed or hosed down, so there is no oil-based product on his coat to avoid any static electricity.

Masterson said leading a horse into the chamber is similar to entering a trailer. Horses may be a little nervous the first time, but appear eager to enter the chamber for subsequent treatments.

“They seem to know they will feel better,” he said.

It takes approximately a half-hour for Masterson to replace the chamber air with oxygen. Once it reaches the maximum level, a horse inhales the pure oxygen for one hour, and then the chamber is slowly depressurized.

During this time frame, Masterson continually monitors all the gages, and observes the horse with surveillance cameras.

“It can be stressful,” he said. “But when a horse comes out, you can see how the oxygen in the chamber really perked him up. You can see he feels good. It’s also very satisfying to get positive feedback from veterinarians, trainers and owners after the horse has completed the treatment.

“The chamber is not a cure-all. It is another tool to use to help resolve problems,” Masterson said.

Cunningham added, “We’ve had a lot of good success. We also have post-surgical stalls for veterinarians who want monitoring of the horse, which we are able to do.

“We essentially closed down during the pandemic because we knew people wouldn’t spend money. Most people spent their money feeding their horses and going broke. We are starting fresh.”

As for Unions, he is also getting a fresh start.

Schosberg said, “Unions has come back from his hyperbaric treatment in fantastic shape. He looks very healthy and happy. We have galloped him several times, and his lungs are clean.

“I highly recommend this therapy for any EIPH occurrences or other ailments that require expedited healing.”

And yes, look for Unique Unions this summer in Saratoga.

For more information on Clermont Farm, the New York Equine Fitness Center, visit www.clermontnyef.com