Page 57 - 17 February 2012

Louisiana Senate Strikes Down Emergency Racing Commission Rule
On Jan. 20, the Louisiana State Senate Commerce Committee struck down an emergency rule passed by the Louisiana Racing Commission in November 2011 to lower that state’s threshold for phenylbutazone from 5.0 to 2.0 micrograms. The Commission must now conduct a hearing and allow input from horse- men. A provision of the Association of Racing Commissioners International model rules
is that racing jurisdictions must lower their threshold level for phenylbutazone to no more that 2.0 micrograms by Jan. 1, 2012 in order for races that run in that jurisdiction to qualify for graded stakes status.
Ontario-Owned Foals Eligible For AQHA Racing Challenge
The Ontario Quarter Horse Racing Industry Development Program (the Program) is working with the Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario, Inc. and the American Quarter Horse Association to encourage owners of 2010 and 2011 Ontario foals to enroll them in the AQHA Racing Challenge, with the AQHA agreeing to a one-time reduced enrollment rate. The Program, in turn, will fund 2012 enrollments up to $300 per horse. Foals enrolled in the Challenge are eligible for lifetime nomination into AQHA Challenge races. For more information, call (905) 426-7050 or email qrooiheadoffice@gmail.com.
Equine Guelph Announces Biosecurity e-Session
With the goal of raising awareness concerning the importance of biosecurity to stop the spread of disease, Equine Guelph in Ontario, Canada, is offering an e-Session to educate horse owners on how they can protect their horses from infec- tious disease. Equine Guelph’s “Beat the Bugs with Biosecurity” program has been developed with the assistance of 11 partners, including the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation, Colorado State University, Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, and the Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners. The two-week Equine Biosecurity e-Session will run from April 16–29. Contact Susan Raymond at slraymon@uoguelph. ca or call (519) 824-4120 for more information.
Oklahoma Drops PIRO Testing Requirement
The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission on Jan. 26 voted to discontinue the require- ment for a negative Equine Piroplasmosis test based largely on extremely low incidences of positives over the past 18 months. An estimated 10,000 horses were tested during that period at a cost of nearly $1 million to owners, with only seven positive horses.
APHA Executive Director Billy Smith.
Smith To Head APHA
Billy Smith has been named Executive Director of the American Paint Horse Association and will begin his duties in February. Smith was a journalism-advertising professor at West Texas A&M University, and earned a Doctor of Education and Master’s in Mass Communications from Texas Tech. He has spent 13 years with the American Quarter Horse Association, most recently as the Executive Director of Information Technology.
Brazilian Horsemen Urged Not To Use Coffee Husk Bedding
Coffee husks are often recycled into animal bedding in Brazil, but should not be used
for horses because of the risk of poisoning. According to a recent study of Quarter Horses, researchers found that horses who ingested the husks began to show toxic signs 36-56 hours after exposure. Signs included excitability, rest- lessness, involuntary muscle tremors, chewing movements and tremors of the lips and tongue, excessive sweating, and increased respiration and heart rates. Toxicity took between 12-40 hours to wear off, but heart rates returned
to normal only 60 hours after husk removal. Caffeine levels after 56 hours were, on average, nearly 4,000 times greater in the blood and 1,300 times greater in the urine.
Correction
On page 15 of the Feb. 3 issue, Miss Racy Jess (Mr Jess Perry-Miss Racy Vike, Racin Free) is actually the AQHA 2011 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, not the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly as reported. She sold in the 2009 Heritage Place Yearling Sale.
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SPEEDHORSE, February 17, 2012 55
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