The following letter/blog was sumitted to Harnesslink from Tina Sugarman, author of the novel, Horse Flesh.
A snowy morning saw breeders, owners and trainers gather in Mississauga last week to assess the Fall, 2017 Yearling Sale, co-sponsored for the first time by Standardbred Canada. Breeders expressed relief that after a rocky few years, prices for Ontario breds were improving.
Owners however were not so happy about higher prices, especially in the light of lower purses and fewer stakes events. Some even complained that they had been shut out by the surge in prices because of the high demand for better bred horses.
But paying up didn't guarantee a perfect product, according to one high profile babies trainer. Apparently he had fluoroscoped all his purchases soon after the sale and had discovered that ten of them had OCD chips floating around inside one or more of their joints that required surgery before any training could begin.
"Not surprising," an owner, who was also a veterinarian, chimed in. "The latest statistics suggest that around 25% of standardbred yearlings suffer from undiagnosed OCD chips." A major breeder declared that all their yearling were regularly inspected for visible swellings on joints and that if OCD chips were discovered by X Ray, they were surgically removed.
"The horses I bought looked perfect," the babies trainer shot back, sounding quite annoyed. "No-one could have guessed there was a problem until they were fluoroscoped. I haven't even been able to operate on most of them yet because they're still sick. They'll miss the first two Ontario stakes for sure!"
A prominent owner jumped up. "I've got one I spent $80,000 on that has a chip in her knee. The vet told me if I didn't take it out now, the damage done by training her down could be catastrophic, so I have no choice."
"If we're really serious about attracting new owners to this industry, surely we should be taking steps to safeguard our owners' interests," another trainer declared.
At this, another top breeder spoke up. "We take the integrity of our product very seriously," he said.
"Then why don't you fluoroscope all your yearlings 3 months before the sale and remove any chips then, so we don't have to pick up the pieces?" an owner demanded. There was an awkward silence. A representative from Standardbred Canada stepped in.
"There's obviously a great deal of interest in this subject. Why don't we table another meeting next month? That will give everyone plenty of time to reflect on this question and come up with relevant proposals in plenty of time to implement them. if agreed, for the 2018 sale. . . . . . . . . . .
Yes! Great idea! Then Fake News would become Real News? Surely it would be good for the owners, trainers and the industry to make this change, and let's not forget the welfare of the horses who put on the show. What do you think?
Tina Sugarman.