Welcome to the CBA's quarterly newsletter!

A Note from our President:

Dear CBA Member, The sales season is over and the breeding season begins. The pulse of the commercial horse industry never takes a break. The 2017 sales results were overall very positive last year: Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton and OBS all realized increases in gross sales, average and median prices; and a drop in their buyback rates. In short, it was a good year to be in the horse business. And we at the CBA are optimistic that it should continue. Recent tax law changes enacted by Congress were very favorable to equine investment; please see the attached flyer from the NTRA highlighting the tax changes for 2018. The most important change is that 100% of equine and equipment purchases, new or used, are now 100% depreciable. This is a big boost for the industry! For our veterinary topic this quarter we are learning about eye abnormalities and how they relate to our horses and the sales ring. Eye issues can be a daunting subject at sales time and these articles should help answer some of those questions. On the global racing front, US Breds are off to a great start already this year: American-bred Comicus (by Distorted Humor) recently won the G3 Dubawi Stakes at Meydan. We’re hoping that US Breds pick up where they left off from last season and continue to compete at the highest level across the globe. Best of luck with the breeding season; see you at the sales this summer! Best Regards,

Joe Seitz President

CBA Member of the Month: Carrie Brogden - Machmer Hall Farm

How long has Machmer Hall existed? Since 2001 What’s your favorite part of the year with regard to the farm (breeding season, prep, etc.)? Yearling prep/sales Who’s your favorite horse that’s come off your farm and why? Join in the Dance. He never passed a vet a day in his life and he ran 7th in the Ky Derby. Closest we have ever come to winning it as a breeder. I asked them to give him to me after his race career and they chose to give him to a LA farm instead where he died of colic. Still makes me sad Favorite restaurant in Lexington? Buddha Lounge  What are your interests outside of the horse industry?   My kids, my fur babies (Ascot and Sox my dogs), my family  How many horses currently reside at Machmer Hall?   My husband would say WAY too many!!!! over 200 You are a big advocate of aftercare and rehoming, and 2014 Kentucky Derby runner Vinceremos recently arrived at Machmer Hall to begin his new career. Can you touch on that process a little and the success you’ve had with rehoming? I am sure glad to have him back. We do everything at no charge. My Mom allows us to pay for the shipping and feed for any that come to Machmer Hall . A lot of the horses we get just need feed and mother nature to heal their minds and their bodies from the rigors of race training and/or tougher homes right off the track. A vast majority of the horses I re-home never set foot on Machmer Hall. It is a networking thing and since I have a show hunter background, I can usually understand that movement and type that different disciplines are looking for. I love that part of what I do and my favorite things are to get the updated photos.  Read more about Vinceremos' story here

Originally from Virginia, Carrie moved to Kentucky in 2001 along with her mother and husband and started their own farm. The farm was named for her great grandfather Dean Machmer, who was dean of the University of Massachusetts. To this day, there is a building on the Amherst campus named in his honor, Machmer Hall, which became the name of Carrie’s family's farm. To date their graduates include: Tepin (G1), Premium Tap (G1), Black Seventeen (G1), Meadow Breeze (G1), Vyjack (G2), Stonetastic (G2), Intense Holiday (G2), Accredit (G2), Sweet Whiskey (G3), and Vinceremos (G3) among others. Carrie and her Australian- born husband Craig live on the farm with their three great kids, Reece, Isabelle and Layne, along with four dogs and one cat.  Carrie is also a partner in Select Sales, keeping her plenty busy consigning at the major yearling and breeding stock sales year round. Above: Join in the Dance at Churchill Downs Below: Carrie and Viceremos at Machmer Hall

Vet Topic of the Quarter: Eye Certs at Sales/Corneal Ulcers One topic often overlooked in the sales process is ailments of the equine eye. Sales companies require eye certificates to be turned into the repository for any deviation or defect of the eye on all horses going through public auction. Generally, eye certificates need to be turned into sale companies by the end of the day of horses shipping onto the sales grounds. Eye certificates submitted after this date will often need to be announced as the horse enters the sales ring. For this quarter's vet topic, we decided to touch one of the most common eye defects seen at the sales, corneal opacities/ulcers. Below we have outlined the causes, treatment, and effects of corneal ulcers. For more information on issues associated with the eye, please follow the links at the bottom of this section. Corneal ulcers : Corneal ulcers are one of the most common acquired ocular diseases in the horse. A corneal ulcer is a break in the surface layer of the cornea. Ulcers usually develop secondary to trauma, often from plant material; for example, tree branches or straw scratching the eye. Signs of a corneal ulcer include redness of the eye, tearing, squinting, opacities in the cornea, and roughened or irregular areas on the corneal surface (cloudiness).  Simple ulcers are acute, superficial breaks in the surface layer of the cornea. These are treated with antibiotic drops to prevent infection and often heal uneventfully. Congenital leukomas (corneal opacities) can develop from a variety of causes; however, because they are nonprogressive, affected horses are generally considered suitable for purchase by an informed owner.   A healthy cornea is only about 1 millimeter thick so it doesn't take much to cause serious damage to the eye. Treatment: Practitioners usually apply topical antibiotics to the eye to prevent infection, accompanied by non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as phenylbutazone (Bute) or flunixin meglamine (Banamine) to control the pain. Ulcers should not be treated with steroids (dexamethasone and prednisolone) because they decrease the body's immune response and allow infection to set in. Most corneal ulcers in an otherwise healthy horse will heal completely in three to seven days. Depending on the severity of the ulceration, a scar will be present as a white opaque area on the cornea once healing is complete. Eye Evaluation in Equine Prepurchase Exams Understanding Equine Vision and Eye Disease Corneal Ulcers: An Eye for an Eye

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#USBRED horses are running and winning all over the world! Check out some of the latest success:

#USBRED COMICAS (Distorted Humor) added a G3 victory to his resume when storming home to win the $175,000 Dubawi S. (G3) at Meydan Racecourse on 1/18/18. The 5 year old Godolphin homebred punched his first graded stakes win after finishing 2nd in last years Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1), which he points to again this year. Fellow #USBRED REYNALDOTHEWIZARD (Speightstown) was third. Check out the video replay to the right.

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