by Jeff Lowe

The California Horse Racing Board approved a rule on Thursday that will ban horses who have undergone a posterior digital surgical neurectomy from racing in the state or being offered for sale at a facility under the board’s supervision.

The surgery, also known as heel nerving, deadens the nerve to take feeling away from the back of a horse’s foot. Most racing jurisdictions in the United States allow horses who have undergone the procedure, which is primarily used for wing fractures of the coffin bone, navicular disease, and other chronic conditions of the foot.

The rule will be grandfathered to exempt horses who are listed by June 1 on the state veterinarian’s list as having undergone the surgery.

“I’m not clear that there is absolute scientific evidence that [the surgery] does any harm, but there is probably enough perception of harm…that I think we should ban it,” said John Harris, the board’s vice chairman.
 
Rick Arthur, D.V.M., the CHRB’s equine medical director, voiced his opposition to the regulation, referring to the rule “as unnecessary, unwarranted, and unenforceable.” 

“There is no objective information to indicate the procedure is a risk to horse or rider,” Arthur wrote in a letter to the board.

Arthur said nine horses are currently listed in Southern California as having undergone a heel nerve procedure. He did not have statistics for horses in Northern California.

The board has been reduced to six members with the recent resignation of Marie Moretti of Sacramento. She had been on the board since 1999.

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer