Musculoskeletal injuries in Standardbred racehorses on Prince Edward Island

A study of musculoskeletal injuries in Standardbred racehorses on Prince Edward Island was conducted to determine the incidence and risk factors for injury. Monthly information was collected from 10 trainers and 153 Standardbred horses over a 12-month period. Seventeen new injuries were identified in pacers, representing a horse level incidence risk of 23% and an incidence rate of injury of 2.19 per horse-month at risk. Forty-one percent of the injuries occurred during a race, 53% during training and 6% during jogging. Fourteen horses had experienced a previous injury and 3 of these horses experienced a new injury during the study period. Potential risk factors for injury were the speed at which the horse was trained, previous injury, and the conformational fault of offset knees.