>Tom , beta blockers ,1 st discovered around the early 70's or late
60's [ I was a young med student then ] and useful for treatment of people
>with hypertension and coronary problem .It is essentially a chemical that
block the beta-receptor sites of the sympathethic neuron[ nerve cell]
>endings in the large and small blood vessels of man and mammals [ horse
included !] , and also the heart muscles ...
>
>A great way to present your horse at 2 minite during vetgate time and
beat your much faster opponents who breeze thru you 10 minutes
>earlier .Does not add an iota to performance and may be even
dangerous from the view point of possibly camouflaging a
potentially >cardiovascular collapse in a tired horse.
Do Beta-blockers "kick in" immediately? Many drugs that work by
blocking
receptors take noticeable time, even weeks, to build up sufficiently
in
the body to work (many anti-depressants, for example). How long
does
it take the beta-blockers to start blocking? Is the few minutes at
the
end of race before the final vet-in long enough? Would it have had
to
have been done at the previous vet check? The evening before the
race?
(Where the negative effects would hinder the horse throughout the
