Scoping” or equine endoscopy has been somewhat prevalent in the racing press this year, so we took the chance to chat with Jack from Baker McVeigh Vets in Lambourn, on his latest visit to the yard.
Routine scoping allows the team to assess the overall health of a horse’s respiratory tract and is normally performed after working as part of a regular health screening or prior to declarations.The outcome will fall into 2 broad categories: A "clean scope" means the horse's respiratory is tract healthy.A "dirty scope" signals potential issues, such as mucus, inflammation, ulcers, or growths, requiring further investigation and possibly intervention.
Scoping isn’t painful for humans or horses, but it can be uncomfortable. Unlike in human endoscopy it is safer for the horse and the team for a sedative measure to be applied. A sedative medication would not be suitable as it is too long lasting and would not clear the system in time to race so a twitch is used.People use the lip twitch method as it has been shown to decrease a horse’s heart rate in the presence of uncomfortable stimuli. It is thought to release beta-endorphins that subdue the horses into a relaxed state. It is a short term method of sedation, as these effects only last up to 5 minutes, and after that their heart rate will return to normal.
Thanks to the team at Baker McVeigh for their participation and information.
Note: Each procedure takes roughly 5 minutes and therefore the video is edited down to include key information.
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