Paynter Recovery from Colitis and Laminitis Voted 2012 Moment of the Year; Owner Designates Veterinarian to Accept Award

Stakes winner Paynter was taken ill in August while training at Saratoga in New York. A month of life-and-death struggles with colitis and acute laminitis followed. Many horses don't survive this type of medical insult but Paynter clung to life and is now back in training at Santa Anita in California. His story was publicly broadcast via the Twitter social media network by his owners, Zayat Racing. Racing fans adopted the horse's struggle and cheered "Power Up, Paynter" at every turn.

A racehorse's recovery from colitis and laminitis was chronicled on the Hoof Blog in September 2012 and was voted today the "Moment of the Year" in American horseracing. Paynter's battle gripped everyone's attention--and amazed everyone who thought he'd never survive.

Paynter battled laminitis and colitis with the help of a corps of skilled and dedicated veterinarians and farriers; the horse was transferred to a small vet hospital near Saratoga, New York following his victory in the 2012 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. His struggle has been voted the 2012 National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Moment of the Year.

Paynter Watch: Surgery at University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center Next Option for Ill Zayat Colt, Laminitis Under Control

 Paulick Report flashed the news today that champion three-year-old Thoroughbred colt Paynter will be transferred tomorrow from Upstate Equine Medical Center in Schuylerville, New York to the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, outside Philadelphia.

Owner Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Racing has been announcing his horse's medical condition on Twitter since the colt was admitted to the clinic near Saratoga over Labor Day Weekend. Zayat's tweets informed his fans that the colt was suffering from severe colitis and, later, laminitis.

Today Zayat turned over the responsibility of announcing his colt's next move to The Paulick Report, who released the story to the public.

Dr. Southwood (Penn Vet
web site photo)

Paynter's medical condition may require some form of surgery; colon surgery for colitis treatment is a specialty of Louise Southwood Parente, DVM, MS, PhD at New Bolton Center, according to The Paulick Report.  

Background

As is so often the case, acute laminitis in three of the horse's four feet was diagnosed after a particularly severe extended period of fever and diarrhea. Dr. Bryan Fraley, a laminitis specialist farrier-veterinarian from Lexington, Kentucky applied foot casts and, from Zayat's reports, helped the colt avoid entering the chronic phase of the disease, during which coffin bone rotation or sinking would have compromised his athletic future.

The foot casts have been removed, according to Zayat's tweets, and the horse is wearing Soft-Ride boots for support and comfort.

Many horses do not survive colitis or the laminitis that follows. Paynter's story has been a great inspiration to people who follow racing and are concerned with horse health. The colt has been in the care of Laura H. Javsicas, VMD, DACVIM, of the Upstate Equine Medical Center.

To read much more about Paynter's medical condition, The Hoof Blog directs you to the Paulick Report's Paynter to New Bolton Center Special Report, published late this afternoon.

Thumbs up photo for title graphic provided by Kristian Niemi.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Paynter Laminitis Watch: Podiatry-Vet Fraley Amazed at Progress Since Hoof Casts Applied

Paynter's Hoof-Specialist Veterinarian Fraley "Amazed At His Progress"

Paynter models his hoof casts: The colt is almost as big a star on Twitter as he was on the racetrack. This photo was tweeted by owner Justin Zayat yesterday and shows the three-year-old Thoroughbred colt outside the Upstate Equine Medical Center in Schuylerville, New York where he has been a patient since late August. He is wearing hoof casts to stabilize his feet after being diagnosed with laminitis in three of four hooves. (Justin Zayat Twitter image)

The Thoroughbred world has been enraptured by the cryptic Twitter messages chronicling the condition of 2012 Haskell Invitational winner Paynter. The three-year-old colt is recovering from colitis at the Upstate Equine Medical Center in Schuylerville, New York after becoming ill while training at nearby Saratoga Racecourse.

Colitis is an acute inflammation of the bowel and/or gastrointestinal tract, generally associated with a bacterial infection. According to Robinson's Current Therapies in Equine Medicine (2009), 90 percent of horses stricken by colitis will die if they are not treated.

Each Twitter message is like a cyber-message in a bottle. The air inside the bottle has inflated and deflated as the horse's illness waxed and waned. Hundreds of tweets and re-tweets punctuated with the hashtag "#Poweruppaynter" flooded Twitter over Labor Day weekend.

Unfortunately, the aftermath of colitis is often laminitis, and Paynter's case was no exception. The diagnosis tweeted by the owner stated that the horse had laminitis in three legs. The Twitterverse shuddered.

Bryan Fraley DVM

Kentucky veterinarian Bryan Fraley is serving as equine podiatry consultant on the case and attended to the colt, including applying casts to the affected hooves. Fraley heads a consulting equine podiatry practice in Lexington, Kentucky; his firm is an affiliate of Hagyard Equine Medical Center there.

Within a few days, optimistic reports started to chirp out of the owner's Twitter account. Apparently, Paynter liked the hoof casts.

Zayat posted--in short bursts via Twitter--that he had sent Paynter's radiographs to Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky for a second opinion.

"He confirmed to us what other vets have told us," Zayat tweeted. "That he believed, based on what he saw, that if the colt continues to improve, there is no reason why he shouldn't return to a full recovery as a racehorse...in his opinion that he has all chances to race again at top notch level."

Zayat's quote sent a surge of enthusiastic rapture through his fans. But if you've ever danced with the dreaded disease of laminitis, you know that the song is far from over yet.

Sometimes, life imitates Twitter. Dr. Fraley attempted to report on the horse's condition, but had to make three or four calls. His report is scattered across phone message sheets on the desk, much as the owner's tweets break each report into short bursts.

A blog post to follow will explain more about this type of laminitis, but first, the good news.

Dr. Fraley on September 12: "The colt’s out grazing in hand this morning...He continues to do well and (has) overcome some pretty amazing obstacles recently...

"From a foot standpoint, he appears to be quite stable at this moment. He is due for a foot cast change at the end of next week and I’ll have another report for you then.

"We’re just continuing to be amazed at his progress and hope for the best."

Note to readers: Dr. Fraley will be the featured speaker at a full-day "Standards of Hoofcare" seminar co-hosted by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the Southern New England Farriers Association on Sunday, November 18, 2012 in North Grafton, Massachusetts. His scheduled topics include his work on laminitis.

To learn more:

Paynter Watch: Top Thoroughbred Colt Diagnosed with Post-Colitis Laminitis in New York

Fraley Equine Podiatry web site

How to apply a (plaster) cast in case of acute laminitis by Hans Castelijn

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© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.