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Copyright of Equine Veterinary Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Juvenile Thoroughbreds can be expensive to raise and train to race. Part of the economic return in these juveniles are the weanling, yearling and 2‐year‐old in training sales at which major surgeries must be declared. Objectives: To determine if surgically corrected large colon displacements were associated with a reduction of sales price and racing performance. We hypothesised that the surgery would be associated with a reduced sales price but would not be associated with a reduction in race earnings or starts. Study design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: The medical, sales and racing records of horses less than 2 years old that had a surgical diagnosis of large colon displacement were examined (n = 110). Surgical cases were compared with a control group (n = 299) whose sales and racing data were evaluated. Results: There was no significant difference in median sale price overall between the two groups. Horses undergoing surgery had a reduced number of starts in the 2‐year‐old year (1 start; p < 0.001) when compared with control horses (2.32 starts), but no significant difference over the 2‐ to 4‐year‐old period. There was no significant association with surgery on earnings within the 2‐ to 4‐year‐old period of racing when compared with controls. Main limitations: The main limitations for this study were the retrospective design, relatively small number of horses and covering only the 2‐ to 4‐year‐old period of the horses' racing career. Conclusions: Overall, the results of this study suggest that if the juvenile Thoroughbred requires surgery for a large colon displacement, there is minimal association with sales price or race performance compared with their siblings. With this information, it will be easier to make informed decisions to take young horses to surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Equine Veterinary Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: There is persistent concern among some trainers, owners and veterinarians regarding the effect of preoperative laryngeal function grade on the outcome of laryngoplasty and ventriculocordectomy (LPVC). Objectives: To determine the effect of laryngeal function grade prior to LPVC on postoperative performance. Study design: Retrospective case‐series. Methods: Medical and race records of Thoroughbred racehorses diagnosed with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) and treated with LPVC between 1998 and 2013 were reviewed. Horses were placed into three groups based on preoperative laryngeal function grade (grade III.1, grades III.2/III.3, and grade IV). The effect of preoperative laryngeal function grade on postoperative performance was determined by multivariable logistic regression, Cox proportional hazard model and multivariable linear regression analysis. Results: In a multivariable logistic regression, grade III.2/III.3 horses had 1.88 times higher odds (95% CI = 1.03‐3.43) of racing after LPVC than grade IV (P =.04). A multivariable Cox's proportional hazard analysis controlling for race prior to surgery (P <.01) showed that likelihood of racing postoperatively was not different between grade III.1 and grade IV (P =.6), and although not statistically significant, there was a tendency for grades III.2/III.3 to be more likely to race postoperatively than horses with grade IV (P =.07). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that grade IV horses took a longer time to race compared with grade III.1 and grade III.2/III.3. Laryngeal function grade did not influence the mean earnings per start. Main limitations: The small number of horses in the grade III.1 group compared with the III.2/III.3 and IV groups influenced the effect of grade III.1 on outcome. Conclusions: Laryngeal function grade may affect likelihood of racing after LPVC, but not earnings per start. Grade III. 2/III.3 horses were more likely to race postoperatively than grade IV horses, and grade IV horses took a longer time to first race after LPVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]