Study: Long Distance Shipping Puts Horses at Risk

Catalina · Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:52 pm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-05/s ... el/7066898

sweettalk · Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:01 pm

in an article that surprises no one but coolmore...

Northport · Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:27 pm

I know that shuttling has been going on for a while (who was the first major shuttler? Danehill?), but it seems like it has only really taken off in popularity in the last 8 or so years (to me at least).

It will be interesting to see in the coming years how the shuttlers of today age vs. current and past stallions who never shuttled.

arkle · Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:33 am

Sure would be a shame if horses stopped flying around world.
No one going to Dubai.
No Aussies going to Royal Ascot and back.
No Euros going to the BC.
Ouija Board racing on almost every continent and multiple countries.
The top showjumpers in the world, jumping in Florida in the winter, onto places like Dubai, maybe Malaysia or Las Vegas for the World Cup, then back to Europe, come to Spruce Meadows in Calgary for the big show in Sep, then back the Europe, and in an Olympic year maybe a trip to some place like Hong Kong or Rio de Janiero.

Shuttle stallions have it easy by comparison with their two flights a year.

Katewerk · Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:07 pm

Published this month in the Journal of the Blindingly Obvious.

Rainyday · Wed Jan 20, 2016 4:04 pm

I thought I replied to this yesterday, but, er, apparently I didn't hit 'submit.'

This study (there's a link in the article that leads to more details and the study itself) has nothing to do with shuttling, unless the stallions are shipping long distances within Australia. It was a study of long haul ground travel within Australia, specifically the 4000km route between Perth and Sydney. Some of the stuff mentioned is applicable to travel in general (ie, the risk of injury from bad handling and respiratory issues from head position), but it's mostly a study of Australian hauling, and it advises changes to equine hauling regulations, which are laxer in Australia than they are in Europe. (I have no idea how they compare to North American ones.)

It has nothing to do with long term effects of travel on health, flying, international travel, or travel in non-Australia-like climates. It also found 97% of horses traveling were fine. It's an interesting study, but it's pretty narrow.

(And I'm with Arkle--when there are complaints about racehorses traveling, I think about top level show jumpers who are all over the world several times a year!)

Treve · Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:34 pm

Yeah reading the article and the study my impression was "In other news, driving on the highway is riskier to people than walking down a sidewalk" - duh!

You're inherently at higher risk of getting injured on long distances, horses are no different, so if regulations can help make it safer that is good. I think it is pretty tight when it comes to air travel so I do not think shuttling as we understand it for stallions is any riskier to them than taking the plane is to us (more or less).

And yeah show jumpers and dressage horses in particular can be shipping to a new country every other weekend.

Catalina · Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:47 pm

Treve wrote:Yeah reading the article and the study my impression was "In other news, driving on the highway is riskier to people than walking down a sidewalk" - duh!

You're inherently at higher risk of getting injured on long distances, horses are no different, so if regulations can help make it safer that is good. I think it is pretty tight when it comes to air travel so I do not think shuttling as we understand it for stallions is any riskier to them than taking the plane is to us (more or less).

And yeah show jumpers and dressage horses in particular can be shipping to a new country every other weekend.

Ah, but it is. We may be catching bugs during air travel just like horses, or have problems with blood clots, but I can't recall the last time I heard of any human dying of colic following air travel, nor of any passenger going ballistic to the point of needing to be euthanized for the safety of the airplane. Both of which seem to be significantly beyond your assessment of "more or less".

Treve · Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:15 am

Catalina wrote:
Treve wrote:Yeah reading the article and the study my impression was "In other news, driving on the highway is riskier to people than walking down a sidewalk" - duh!

You're inherently at higher risk of getting injured on long distances, horses are no different, so if regulations can help make it safer that is good. I think it is pretty tight when it comes to air travel so I do not think shuttling as we understand it for stallions is any riskier to them than taking the plane is to us (more or less).

And yeah show jumpers and dressage horses in particular can be shipping to a new country every other weekend.
Ah, but it is. We may be catching bugs during air travel just like horses, or have problems with blood clots, but I can't recall the last time I heard of any human dying of colic following air travel, nor of any passenger going ballistic to the point of needing to be euthanized for the safety of the airplane. Both of which seem to be significantly beyond your assessment of "more or less".

I do consider that in "more or less" given the context here was fatalities/risk. Especially if you want to factor in other conditions in humans, definitely have actually been on a flight where an individual had such a severe meltdown (from anxiety) that he had to be sedated for the safety of the staff and other passengers. Then there's of course any medical condition that gets exposed from the pressure change or exacerbated, and if you don't have a doctor on board you're screwed.

Colic is a bad example as it is pretty much a given with horses. I don't know if there are any stats showing whether air travel increases the risk of colic or not or if it is simply something that happens to occur on a flight where not much can be done to palliate it (It would be interesting actually since for example riding in a van is said to help with some cases of colic). I mean for goodness' sake there's a school horse at my stable who colicked because he doesn't drink enough water, in fact even during the hottest days of Summer he can be real prissy. He was refusing water, apple juice... got a whiff of my pink lemonade though and suddenly he was thirsty. Little bugger, now gets all of his feed thoroughly soaked.