Use of tongue ties in thoroughbred racehorses in the United Kingdom, and its association with surgery for dorsal displacement of the soft palate.
Authors: Barakzai S Z, Finnegan C, Dixon P M, Hillyer M H, Boden L A
Journal: The Veterinary record
Summary
# Editorial Summary Between 2001 and 2003, researchers observed tongue tie usage across 60 UK racecourse meetings and tracked individual horses' racing patterns, finding that approximately 5% of racehorses competed in tongue ties at any given time—though horses newly fitted with them wore them in 77% of races during the first year, declining to 55% thereafter. The study examined whether this equipment correlated with dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP), a common upper airway obstruction requiring surgical correction, and found that 39% of horses undergoing surgery for DDSP had raced in tongue ties beforehand, with 41% continuing to do so postoperatively. These figures suggest that whilst tongue ties remain a relatively uncommon intervention in racing populations, their persistent use in horses with documented palatal dysfunction raises questions about their therapeutic efficacy—particularly given that nearly four in ten surgical cases wore them both before and after corrective surgery. For practitioners involved in performance horses, this data underscores the importance of distinguishing between apparent short-term performance gains and underlying airway pathology, and highlights the need for thorough upper airway endoscopic examination in any horse where tongue tie use is contemplated, rather than relying on the device as a substitute for surgical intervention where indicated.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Tongue ties remain a relatively uncommon device in UK racing (5% prevalence), but are used frequently once adopted on individual horses, suggesting trainers perceive performance benefits
- •The persistence of tongue tie use after soft palate surgery (41% postoperatively vs 39% preoperatively) indicates this intervention may be considered independent of or complementary to surgical correction
- •High initial adoption rate (77% in first 12 months) followed by decline to 55% suggests trainers may discontinue tongue ties if expected performance improvements are not sustained
Key Findings
- •Tongue tie prevalence was 5.0% across 60 UK race meetings during 2001-2003
- •After initial tongue tie use, 77% of horses wore ties in their first 12 months of racing, declining to 55% thereafter
- •39% of horses undergoing dorsal displacement of the soft palate surgery wore tongue ties preoperatively, and 41% wore them postoperatively