ENGLISH TEXTS be my favourite is Algan . People didn ’ t realise what a horse he was . He ran 77 races , compared to 65 for Al Capone II and 54 for The Fellow . I calculated that he had covered 300km in races , from 3 to 12 years old , over ten seasons . He won the Grand Prix d ’ Automne Hurdle and the King George Chase . That day , Barton Bank was leading when he fell at the last fence , but Algan knew how to finish his races and maybe he would have won anyway . David Nicholson , Barton Bank ’ s trainer , was furious . He was never very welcoming , whereas his colleagues were ( and he rode for Fulke Walwyn when he was a jockey , editor ’ s note ). Algan lived to be 29 years old , in 2017 , near Alençon , where he was born , at François Halgand ’ s , the co-breeder to whom he owed his name .
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If we are thinking of building an all-weather track at Auteuil , it ’ s because there is a good reason , which I imagine is linked to the revenue that this project would generate . But beyond the significant investment that this would represent , I wonder if we would know how to organize an event likely to be as successful as the Longchamp Thursdays . It seems to me that we should first see what it would entail in terms of organization for horsemen . Is it worth the effort ?
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It was a very open Arc and as often in these cases , we end up with a finish that does not seem to be top-notch . Open races rarely reveal great champions . To be continued !
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PEDAGO
� PAGE 72 by Céline Gualde
THE SHARP PROGNOSES OF FRENCH VETS
Veterinary medicine has made tremendous progress in recent decades , and horses that were once condemned are now being saved . Throughout France , very large structures bringing together leading veterinarians are attracting the clientele of the sport horse .
Some areas of Normandy are akin to medical deserts . You call a dentist ? They are not taking on new patients . You want an appointment with a dermatologist ? The waiting time can be close to a year . But if , on the other hand , it is a horse that needs treatment , Normandy becomes the place to be . Excellent specialists in all equine pathologies - from eyes to intestines , including locomotion and neonatology - are gathered there in several very important care centres , illustrating the enormous progress made by veterinary medicine in a few decades .
Jean-Marc Betsch is one of the partners at the Méheudin clinic in Orne , which now has twenty-eight vets and as many assistants . In the late 1980s , this surgeon completed his internship at the University of Pennsylvania , a benchmark in teaching and research . “ There , I saw everything that was possible , they were decades ahead of France ! In our country , forty years ago , no one was doing tendon ultrasounds . Being able to put an ultrasound machine in the car was a huge step forward in terms of diagnosis .“
The evolution of techniques has almost made the general equine vet disappear , at least for the ultimate treatment of the sport horse in the broad sense . The specialisation of practitioners developed from the 2000s onwards . Sébastien Caure , a pillar of the Livet Equine Veterinary Hospital Centre ( CHVE ), which brings together thirty-one practitioners in Calvados , explains : “ What has really changed in the last thirty years is that we are bringing together a lot of different skills in the same place . The omniscient vet is over . The principle is to identify the horse ’ s pathology as precisely as possible , and if we know what it has , we know how to treat it and make a prognosis for its career . So we need vets who are experts in their field and excellent technical facilities .“ This includes tools such as scanners , MRI , scintigraphy ... all three of which are available at Livet , which also boasts a cutting-edge neonatology unit , led by the brilliant vet Valérie Picandet .
Dr Bruno Baup , who practices at the CHVE in Grenade-sur-Garonne , Haute-Garonne , confirms this need for “ a precise response to each request , which means having the most qualified and diversified team possible in terms of skills “. In this equine clinic , which has the label of equine hospital , they are developing orthopaedic shoes born from 3D printers as well as diathermy , a treatment technique based on an electric current that transfers energy deep into the tissues and has a biostimulating effect .
The improvement of treatment protocols and equipment makes it possible to save - in terms of life as
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