Morgane Schambourg: A veterinarian dedicated to advancing equine medicine

Morgane Schambourg has always loved animals, especially horses. An avid rider, she remembers telling everyone she wanted to be an animal doctor and take care of horses when she grew up. That childhood dream came true.

Now Schaumbourg is joining UdeM’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor specializing in equine surgery and sports medicine. She brings with her a long list of accomplishments in equine medicine, including the development of an anti-doping test for endurance racehorses now used around the world.

From Nantes to Saint-Hyacinthe

Schambourg trained as a vet in France, earning her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the École nationale vétérinaire de Nantes in 1998. Finishing in the top three of her graduating class in the equine option, she was selected for a three-week practicum at UdeM’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Saint-Hyacinthe, near Montreal.

“I discovered a very advanced level of training when I started my practicum,” said Schambourg. “In France, the equine option was still a poor second cousin in the veterinary program, with only 40 hours of instruction which then had to be supplemented with a lot of additional training.”

That three-week practicum quickly turned into five weeks, then an internship and then a residency. Schambourg’s Canadian experience ended up lasting seven years!

Contributions to equine research

During her internship, Schambourg carried out a retrospective study under the supervision of Sheila Laverty on rib fractures sustained by foals at birth, based on post-mortems from Ireland and UdeM’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Schambourg’s analysis showed the fractures were often in the third to eight ribs and were caused by compression of the foal’s chest cavity by its elbows during passage through the pelvic canal. This was a significant finding with practical applications.

“It was a fairly exciting introduction to research because we started with something pretty common and got to the root of the problem,” said Schambourg. “It started with little details that we then connected. That’s the beauty of this profession. Our scope of practice gives us a broad overview and a useful perspective, unlike doctors of human medicine who are forced to specialize. Because we perform ultrasounds, X-rays, surgery, and a bit of internal medicine, we see the big picture and that helps us come up with innovative ideas.”

A case in point was a stallion suffering from cryptorchidism, a condition in which one or both testicles fail to descend into the scrotum. Schambourg had to decide whether the horse should undergo conventional surgery or laparoscopy, a less invasive procedure in which a tiny camera is inserted into the abdominal cavity, along with elongated instruments that the surgeon manipulates from outside the body through cannulas.

Schambourg realized it would be possible to localize the undescended testicle using ultrasound and thus avoid the use of transrectal palpation, which can cause rectal tears. Her prospective study confirmed this: ultrasound accurately localized the undescended testicle in over 90 per cent of cases.

During her residency, Schambourg also developed a laparoscopic technique for intestinal biopsies. To practice, she built a model of a horse’s abdomen using a wooden barrel with holes through which to insert instruments. “I hung small pieces of intestine inside so I could practice my suturing,” she explained. Her pilot study on live horses confirmed the technique’s feasibility.

Caring for racehorses in the United Arab Emirates

Schambourg then worked as an equine veterinarian in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while also serving as an official veterinarian for the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

“I was involved in endurance racing, a very popular sport in the UAE. I served as official veterinarian, but also competed, mentored other competitors and took care of the horses before and after races,” she said. “This gave me a very comprehensive view of the issues facing the sport.”

Schambourg observed a disturbing increase in fractures among endurance racehorses, which are subjected to intensive training and pushed to race at ever-increasing speeds.

“It takes hours of daily training to reach the level of exceptional performance demanded by these competitions,” she noted. “The long distances—100 to 160 km—and high speeds put enormous pressure on their bodies and many cannot withstand the stress. This leads to fractures.”

Schambourg also suspected that some horses were being doped with neuroleptics to mask their pain and keep them running despite injuries. “These horses passed the vet checks, started the race, and then two kilometres in had a fracture,” she said.

This alarmed her employer, the brother of the UAE’s president, who asked her why so many horses were having fractures and what could be done about it.

Schambourg scoured the scientific literature and discovered nociceptive tests, which are often used to assess sensitivity to pain in the presence of pain medication.

“I had to find a test that could be used during competitions and allow us to regularly test the horses without frightening them or changing their response,” she explained. There were many variables to consider, such as the horse’s habituation to pain and level of fatigue, individual variations in sensitivity, and climatic conditions.

Schambourg contacted Polly Taylor, a renowned veterinary researcher in the field. Taylor brought her expertise and equipment to the UAE and they collaborated on a complex pilot project to assess the effectiveness of a pain sensitivity test.

Their findings were published in a top peer-reviewed journal and their test was adopted by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports as a standard anti-doping test for endurance horse racing. It is now used in international competitions around the world, including Europe, Australia, South America and the Middle East. Thanks to this innovation, the number of endurance racehorses suffering fractures has decreased significantly.

Expertise in race camels

While in the UAE, Schambourg also discovered the world of camel racing, a popular sport in the Middle East. She developed special expertise in sports medicine for camels, particularly in the relatively unexplored area of orthopedic injuries. She noticed that racing camels exhibit certain pathologies comparable to those of racehorses, even though their anatomy and locomotion are somewhat different.

“When a camel moves, it transfers part of its weight toward the rear,” she explained. “Their bodies are built for endurance, not speed, so sprinting causes trauma to their carpal bones, fractures in their humerus and tarsus bones, and osteoarthritis.”

Return to Saint-Hyacinthe as a professor

These research experiences motivated Schambourg to seek a career more focused on research and teaching. “After years in private practice, I decided I could contribute on a larger scale by doing more practical research,” she said. “I’ve worked a lot with individual animals but now I want to share my expertise and leave a lasting mark.”

When Schambourg learned there was an opening at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Saint-Hyacinthe, she jumped at the chance. “There was a great atmosphere there, a sense of collegiality, a high level of expertise and a dynamism and team spirit that I really enjoyed.”

The position involves a range of responsibilities: overseeing the veterinary clinic, caring for clients’ horses and training students at the clinic, teaching theory and practice classes, doing research, and enhancing the university’s visibility and leadership in the field.

“This creates a good balance between practice, which keeps us grounded in the realities of the field, and research, which pushes us to delve deeper into subjects and enrich our students’ education,” she said.

Schambourg and her surgical colleagues plan to merge the surgery and sports medicine departments in order to develop these specialties. Schambourg will continue her research on equine orthopedic issues and perfect her pain assessment technique.