Fight, just a little.

2017 has been a bit of a mixed year to be quite honest. It's definitely been a war of attrition at times.

Highlights;

1. Graduating from my MRes

2. Getting a job that I enjoy straight out of university

3. Adopting another bunny

4. The opportunity to ride a pony for someone

5. Meeting some fabulous new friends

Lows;

1. Struggling with both my physical and mental health

2. Losing one of bunnies very suddenly overnight

3. Family problems

Racecourses visited;

1. Cheltenham (x2)

2. Southwell (x3)

3. York

4. Nottingham

Events visited;

1. The 20th anniversary tour of RENT

2. The Women in Racing AGM

3. Olympia International Horse Show

I volunteered to do it as I work in their class throughout the week and they know me. But now I'm doubting my ability to handle the sheer number of challenging students in that one classroom.

I'm thinking about using the pomodoro (?) approach since it's a 90 minute class and they'll struggle to remain focused for that length of time. I'm thinking 20-25 minutes of work then a 5 minute break. Plus a slight seating plan for certain students.

Attempting to lunge before work tomorrow morning - wish me luck. It's going to be cold (considering the weather we've had) so I imagine he's going to be super fresh.

Heya, so sorry for the delay in replying to this. 

Personally I created a schedule of when I knew things had to be handed in. For example I had to submit my lit review in the final week before Christmas. So I had to prioritize that over other aspects of my project. 

Also it depends on whether you nee to collect your data or not? You need to ensure that you plan in enough time to get the data you require. Plus you need to have breaks otherwise it’ll get to the point where it affects your motivation, especially if it is really monotonous. If you’ve done the data already, then review how your going to analyse it. If you need to talk to a lecturer about data analysis then I suggest you get in there quickly otherwise they will be overrun with students who all need stats help at the same time.   

Keeping a project diary is a great way of staying organised. It means that you’ll have a record of everything you’ve done or read in the course of your study. On my undergrad, we had to complete a research diary as part of our dissertation as it counted towards our grade. But I’ve keep one for every research project since and its great as otherwise you’ll end up forgetting details of things that you did months ago. In my undergrad final year, I did a dissertation (for the whole year) and in semester 2, I also did another research project. So having a diary for each stopped me getting the two projects confused. 

The other tip is to make sure you have enough time dedicated to your other modules, its easy to get distracted by your project but remember the other modules are vital for your grade too!

It’s seriously creepy - not the rats, but the scraping down the walls when its silent at night. 

Risk factors for injuries in National Hunt (jump) racehorses.

Epidemiology is the branch of science involved in quantifying risk of health problems. Epidemiologists work in the world of advanced mathematics, which may seem a long way from racehorse health but for epidemiologists, determining whether the presence of a potential risk factor results in an increased risk of injury is a mathematical task.  Here’s a simple example in humans: From 100 people followed through their entire lives, say there are 50 who smoke cigarettes and 30 of them develop lung cancer, and the other 50 don’t smoke and only three of them develop lung cancer. From this example it would seem likely that smoking cigarettes is a risk factor for lung cancer and it appears that smoking cigarettes makes you 10 times more likely to develop lung cancer than if you don’t smoke.

Risk factors can be grouped into those associated with the horse; the racecourse; the trainer; the jockey; and the individual race. Within and between these categories there is considerable interconnection; for example, going is related to season of the year and weather which in turn might influence the pace of the race. Specific jockey restrictions in a specific race might in turn be connected to the weight and experience of the jockey.

These interconnections between multiple different factors create challenges in risk factor analysis, such as the risk of lower limb fracture increasing with age. But specific age groups run in specific types of races and horses in steeplechase racing are typically older than most of those running in flat racing.  If we analysed the association between type of racing (steeplechase compared to flat) and lower limb fracture without taking into account horse age, we might incorrectly conclude that that type of racing is a risk factor for lower limb fracture. Fortunately, with modern computers epidemiologists can account for multiple interconnecting factors to identify true associations. In this example, there was no link between type of racing and lower limb fracture, and it was age that was the risk factor for that specific injury type.

RISK DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSE

A risk factor is simply something that makes injury more or less likely. It can be associated with an adverse outcome (i.e. increase the risk of injury) but specific factors can also be protective (i.e. decrease the risk of injury). It is important to understand that when scientists talk of risk factors, they mean there is an association or link between the factor and the outcome they are studying, but they do not mean that the risk factor is necessarily the specific cause. For example, age and race type are associated but one does not directly cause the other.

If anyone is interested in the type of research that I conduct, this is it. Really great summary and I highly recommend reading the rest of the article (link in the title). 

Very much looking forward to having an owners badge for this guy’s race tomorrow!

Mercian King (Robin Des Pres (FR) - Mariah Rollins (IRE)) is a 6 year old gelding who is leased by The Thoroughbred Club. I’m a member and I’ve managed to get an owners badge for his race.

Since moving to Amy Murphy’s yard in October last year, he has never been out of the top three. He won last time out at Fontwell so hopefully he can repeat it again tomorrow at Stratford. He’s running in the 1.55, which is a class 4 handicap steeplechase over 2 miles, 1 furlong. 

There were six equine fatalities during the summer meeting that began July 19—four during racing, one during training, and one a "sudden death" in the barn area, according to California Horse Racing Board equine medical director Rick Arthur—after a 2016 summer season that saw 17 deaths.

"The one that we were really concerned about—No. 1 on our list—was to get the injuries down and they've really went down," said Del Mar Thoroughbred Club president Joe Harper. "I just want to thank (track superintendent) Dennis Moore and his crew for doing an amazing job of getting this track into shape and keeping it there."