Robert Cook (veterinarian)

Robert Cook, FRCVS., PhD., Professor of Surgery Emeritus of Tufts University, Massachusetts, is a veterinarian graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1952. Since then he has been a faculty member of clinical departments at schools of veterinary medicine in the UK and USA.

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Cook has published many papers, mainly on diseases of the horse's mouth, ear, nose and throat both in scientific and horseman's journals, covering both various topics:

• equine diagnostical and surgical endoscopy;
• pulmonary origin of the "nose-bleeds" in racehorses (EIPH: Exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage) and its relation with recurrent airway obstruction
• anatomy and physiology of horse's upper airway;
• guttural pouch diseases
• epiglottic entrapment
• stride and respiration
• recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN)
• dorsal displacement of the soft palate
• laryngo-palatal dislocation
• headshaking syndrome and its relations with bit-related trigeminal neuralgia
• physiological incompatibilities of a bit in the mouth of a working horse
• role of the bit in the soft palate paresis at exercise and in asphyxia-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH)

Since 1997, his main interest is the disadvantages, and problems associated with using a bit in a horse's mouth. He proposes that bit is the direct cause of many behavioural problems and diseases of the horse, and that it exposes both the horse and the rider to serious risk; he concluded that bit is contraindicated, counterproductive and, in the wrong hands, potentially cruel [1]; he studied a new, patented type of bridle without a bit, and he is now collecting more scientific evidence about its use and about related prevention of important horse problems and diseases.

Bibliography

• Specifications for Speed in the Racehorse: The Airflow Factors
• Metal in the Mouth: The Abusive Effects of Bitted Bridles., W. Robert Cook & Hiltrud Strasser, 2002