American Association of Equine Practitioners

Dr. Tracy Turner, partner in Turner Wilson Equine Consulting in Stillwater, Minnesota, was installed as president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) during the President's Luncheon Dec. 10 at the AAEP's 70th Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, the organization said via a press release Tuesday. Retired from private practice late in 2023, Dr. Turner concentrated exclusively on equine sports medicine, lameness and surgery at Turner Equine. He established the practice in 2016 following 12 years with Anoka Equine Veterinary Services in Elk River, and he was in academia...

Ten Thoroughbred industry and charitable organizations have pledged funding for the American Association of Equine Practitioners' wearable biometric sensor research project. Six sensor manufacturers have been selected to participate in the year-long study. Wearable biometric sensors, which have shown promise as an early warning system for identifying racehorses at increased risk of musculoskeletal injury, are designed to capture data on a horse's movement patterns during high-speed events. The following organizations have contributed a total of $785,000 to fund the research project, which will run Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025:...

Edited Press Release The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) requests participation from Thoroughbred trainers and owners in the research phase of the AAEP's initiative to assist with the implementation of wearable biometric sensors to improve early detection of musculoskeletal injuries. In November 2023, the AAEP Racing Committee released a Request for Proposal (RFP) soliciting proposals from applicants for a joint project involving the development and application of wearable biometric sensor technologies that would be employed on all Thoroughbreds for all races and recorded workouts in the U.S. From 12...

Edited Press Release The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has released a Request for Proposal (RFP) soliciting proposals from applicants for a joint project that will involve the development and application of wearable biometric sensor technologies to improve early detection of musculoskeletal injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States. Wearable biometric sensors have shown promise in the identification of sub-clinically affected racehorses or those at risk of musculoskeletal injury. Any proposed system that monitors musculoskeletal parameters related to gait needs to have data transmission capabilities that interface with...

Trainer Tom Amoss is serving 15 days of a 60-day suspension and has been fined $5,000 after reaching a settlement agreement with the Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) for a positive post-race equine drug test that turned up the Class 3/Penalty Level B substance sotalol in one of his winning trainees at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Oct. 17, 2022. The Paulick Report first reported the penalties Tuesday, with Amoss declining to comment. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, sotalol in its oral form "is increasingly being used in equine...

Elizabeth Snellings has been named Director of Sales at Denali Stud. Snellings, who previously served as farm office manager at Indian Creek, replaces Sarah Fishback, who held the position for the last seven years. "We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth onto the team at Denali Stud. She brings a large skillset that will benefit us, as well as our clients," said Conrad Bandoroff. "Elizabeth has always felt like part of the Denali family, so we're happy and very excited to make that official." Snellings has held positions at American Association...

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) has awarded $14,000 to the Foundation for the Horse, the charitable arm of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), to be used for research entitled: "direct and indirect effects of platelet rich plasma on neutrophil stimulation." The Foundation for the Horse's mission is to improve the health and welfare of the horse, to further the professional development of its members, and to provide resources and leadership for the benefit of the equine industry. These principles have guided the AAEP for more than...

The American Association of Equine Practitioners has presented Scott Palmer, VMD, its 2020 Sage Kester "Beyond the Call" Award. The award is named in honor of its first recipient, the late Wayne O. "Sage" Kester, DVM, and recognizes a current or former AAEP member who has made significant and long-lasting contributions to equine veterinary medicine and the community. A past president of the AAEP, Palmer worked in clinical practice as a staff surgeon and hospital director of the New Jersey Equine Clinic for 38 years. He was appointed equine medical...

Last week, a Santa Anita press release had the misfortune of arriving amid the squall of a busy news cycle. In a nutshell, the release shared this not insignificant titbit: The track had wrapped a 16-day race meet, and a one month and 20-day training period, with zero fatalities. Since the beginning of the winter/spring meet last December, there have been five racing fatalities--zero on the main dirt track--from 5,069 individual starts. The resulting ratio for the year of an average of 0.98 fatalities per 1,000 starters made Santa Anita...

In light of the bombshell indictments brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York against numerous Thoroughbred veterinarians and trainers for an array of drug offenses, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) has circulated a memo among the state's licensed racetrack veterinarians reminding them of the rules surrounding non FDA-approved products. Dated Mar. 10, the memo states that, "Veterinarians are expected to only use drugs and substances that meet all state and federal laws and regulations. Otherwise, it should not be in your possession or...