Cleo is a beautiful, 19 -year old thoroughbred mare that was raised and rigorously trained for the racing industry. At a young age, Cleo suffered a permanent knee injury while on the track, and bone chips lodged in her knee. This injury affected her ability to run comfortably, which ended a potentially profitable racing career.

Because of this injury, her owners sold Cleo to a testing facility where she was used as a CEM (Contagious Equine Metritis)1 test mare. 

CEM testing2 is utilized to determine if foreign-bred and domestic stallions and mares carry CEM, which is a contagious bacterial venereal equine infection, whose impact is restricted to the reproductive system of mares. It is not a fatal or systemic disease, but it will adversely affect the fertility of a mare and her ability to carry a pregnancy to term.3  Stallions and mares can both be carriers of the disease. It is most often transmitted to a mare during actual breeding, or it can be transmitted indirectly during artificial insemination or by using contaminated materials or instruments near the animal’s genitals. Almost unheard of for almost twenty-five years, several outbreaks of CEM were documents in 2008, thus requiring the industry in the United States to implement more rigorous and controlled testing sites. The impact of CEM on the horse-breeding industry could, in the long view, be quite devastating if unchecked and prevented. 4

Live-mare CEM testing involves breeding the suspected stallion with two separate test mares4 who are in their estrous cycles (or whose cycles have been induced) in order to make a certain determination that the stallion is disease-free. The mare’s inability to conceive is a strong indication that the stallion is a carrier of CEM bacteria.5 While mares can be tested effectively by using a simple swab test, stallions by necessity of their anatomy require repeated, live-mare testing over a period of time. 6 Once detected, CEM can be treated with antibiotics and other medications. It may, due to its invasive nature, require repeated pharmaceutical treatments in order to eliminate it from the animal.7

CEM-designated mares are often horses that are ultimately destined for slaughter, or horses like Cleo that can no longer fulfill their original purpose such as racing, commercial riding, as family pets, or the like, and are clearly unwanted. Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact numbers of mares that are forced to participate in CEM testing, we have no reason to believe that it has been abandoned in favor of other testing procedures.8  Under guidelines promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture, the initial testing of mares employs a simple swabbing procedure; this is not a feasible procedure, however, when testing stallions. They must, by necessity, be tested by use of live-mare insemination. 9

When Cleo was sold to this testing facility she was between two and four years of age. While there, eyewitnesses observed that Cleo, who already had balance issues due to her knee injury, became even more damaged physically and mentally from the CEM process. During the testing procedure, she was “ear twitched” (e.g., a rope is twisted onto an ear instead of the animal’s muzzle), hobbled and sedated. Cleo was used at the test site for a short time only. While there, she was branded with a “T” on her neck and was without proper shelter and subjected to brutally hot summer weather. Cleo also become foot-sore from the hard surfaces of the facility , because like most racing horses she was used to soft surfaces such as soft stalls, soft grass, and the softer surface of racetracks. At the time, she was only the fourth test mare that the facility had used.

After a short while, the head of the testing facility contacted Mylestone to inquire if they would purchase some of their mares, including Cleo, that were no longer being used for CEM testing. Mylestone Equine Rescue purchased Cleo for nearly $600 in 1995.

            Is it any wonder that Cleo initially was timid and not trusting of people in general? She is head-shy, does not like her ears touched, and needs a halter in order to be caught. However after being cared for
by the kind people at Mylestone the past 16 years, Cleo has come a long way from the frightened mare she once was. Her demeanor has improved considerably and she had bonded with several of the volunteers. She is now housed in a comfortable facility and has two acres in which to frolic. Cleo is fed four times daily. She loves the company of the other mares, Melody and Sand Dune, with whom she resides. Her past injury, however, precludes Cleo’s ability to carry riders or to ever race again. It is doubtful that anyone will ever adopt Cleo, except perhaps as a companion animal, but Mylestone Equine Rescue is committed to providing a comfortable, safe home for Cleo for the rest of her natural life.

We at peace4paws in partnership with Juluka Yoga support Mylestone’s commitment to providing a safe and comfortable place for Cleo and other rescued horses through our various fundraising efforts such as musical events and community yoga classes. We care about horses like Cleo. That is why we advocate for safe, alternative ways to test for CEM that do not involve the forced participation of uninfected American mares.

Footnotes:

1)http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/111004.htm&word=CEM%2ctestig

2) http://www.thehorse.com/pdf/factsheets/cem/cem.pdf

3) http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/cem/

4) http://www.thehorse.com/Video.aspx?vID=153

5) Ibid.

6) Ibid.

7) http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/contagious_equine_metritis.pdf

8) See footnote 4 above.

9) http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/cem/

For further reading, please follow the links below:

Article on bone chips: prevalence and effect on a racing career:

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17521

History, description, ramifications of CEM testing and statement on using “two test mares for test breeding:

 http://www.thehorse.com/Video.aspx?vID=159&src=RC

Preparing the stallion before testing on two test mares:

http://www.thehorse.com/Video.aspx?vID=158

Comprehensive list of articles on CEM testing: http://www.thehorse.com/TopicSearch/Default.aspx?n=Contagious+Equine+Metritis+(CEM)&nID=6&ID=66f