I'll Have Another - Pattern Question

[Beau]

Kenny McPeek was just asked about I\'ll Have Another\'s issue on twitter and he replied shockwave is used for bone growth and healing. He said he does not use it, he gives them time.

[PonyBologna]

Update:

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/i-ll-have-another-on-vet-s-list-after-undergoing-shockwave-therapy-o-neill-says-it-won-t-affect-derby-training/

[alm]

Beau Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kenny McPeek was just asked about I\'ll Have
> Another\'s issue on twitter and he replied
> shockwave is used for bone growth and healing. He
> said he does not use it, he gives them time.


Beau, I don\'t know you and I don\'t want this to sound like a wise guy.  That statement is utter bull.  Bone growth and healing? It\'s used to deaden nerves. There\'s no telling just what is wrong with this horse.  It sounds like it\'s not the most serious thing, not if he can race with some success.  But this isn\'t some kind hearted therapy...what surprises me is that the trainer actually lets anyone know he\'s doing it.  Some trainers have their own machine and do it in secret.  There are very powerful versions of this machine that mask the pain from terrible injuries. Fortunately, they can\'t bring them into receiving barns so you are protected at a race like the Derby, for the most part.

[TreadHead]

I wonder how all of this discussion ties into the \"move-up\" trainer theories.

[sighthound]

I have shockwaved horses and am very familiar with it.

There are types of shockwave therapy that can help stimulate cortical bone growth, for example with shin splints.

Yes, there are applications which can deaden nerves temporarily - which can be very helpful for horses with navicular or coffin joint pain.

And there\'s applications which are basically a glorified deep massage.

There are two different types of \"shockwave\" therapy. Radial pressure wave therapy, and extracorporeal shockwave therapy.  Some uses are effective, some are not.  Some have been well-researched and scientifically proven, and are very useful in both human and animal medicine, others are magic dust.

Here\'s a good short summation article on ESWT in horses intended for owners: http://www.aaep.org/health_articles_view.php?id=220

[sighthound]

Good article.  Accurate. Thorough.  Thanks for the link.

[Beau]

alm,

This statement was not mine, I was just relaying the message. Not sure what your saying when you say the statement is utterly bull. Kenny McPeek was asked a question and he answered it.

I have no idea what shock wave is or what it is used for, but after this discussion I now know a little about it.

Beau

[alm]

I appreciate Sightsound\'s insight and am not questioning it.  But I suspect that trainers put this stuff into their routine primarily for ONE reason...to deaden pain in order to train and/or race.  It\'s my guess that this horse had some problem, maybe it was shins, and needed the help to get through training that was significant enough to prepare him for the SA Derby.

Look, you can train on illegal drugs as long as they clear the body by race day.  Why would a trainer do that?  In order to get the horse\'s level of fitness up to raceworthy.  With this therapy you can do the same thing as long as you take the horse off it at the allowable time.

I really question the 10 day stuff, because I know some people who have the equipment in their barn and don\'t need some vet to administer it.  That way they can administer it on the day of a race if they want to.  If anyone here thinks I am overstating this, fine.  But I\'m not.

[miff]

As Cov mentioned, you can bet that IHA is not the only horse going to the Derby that is getting some extra \"preventive maintenance\"


Bloodhorse:
I\'ll Have Another Has Shock Wave Therapy
By Steve Haskin

Paul Reddam's I\'ll Have Another, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and Robert Lewis Stakes (gr. II), has been automatically placed on the vet's list in California after undergoing shock wave therapy on his back, which has a tendency to tighten up a little.

"It's just a pulse that brings blood to an area," Reddam said. "The horse had absolutely nothing wrong with him. Doug (trainer Doug O'Neill) just did it because he could do it, and his owner will pay for it. He's just leaving no stone unturned. In California, you can't use it within 10 days of an upcoming race, so you have to report it and go on the vet's list.

 

"The horse worked six furlongs in 1:13 and change last Thursday and Doug was doing a jig afterwards. Everything is going along like clockwork and he's going to work again on Friday and then ship to Kentucky on Saturday. After the Santa Anita Derby, Doug debated with himself whether to ship in early and work the horse at Churchill. He decided he wanted to be with him the whole time, so he'll leave on Friday and stay there until the Derby."

 

I\'ll Have Another, who was a $35,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale, has won three of his five career starts, including a second-place finish to Creative Cause in last year's Best Pal Stakes (gr. II).

 

In the Santa Anita Derby, he won by a nose in hard-fought battle with Creative Cause, who will be his traveling companion to Kentucky

[sighthound]

What Alm says is true, some trainers do it themselves.  By law (yes, law) it is a veterinary practice, and also by race track rules vets only are supposed to administer it and yes, paperwork and 10 day withdrawal.

I can only hope those trainers are doing the \"typical cheating trainer\" trick  of using it wrong.  Alot of them have cheap machines that really don\'t do much.

But, I love shockwave therapy on sore backs and muscles, necks, it\'s terrific, like a deep massage.  

I have done it to myself, both shockwave and radial pulse, over my shins (bone), large muscle groups, wrist, etc. to try and see possible range of effects.  It\'s really hard to deaden pain to any appreciable extent to my own experience on myself.  You can do damage (bruising, superficial and deep) with it and cause pain if used incorrectly.