"The more people mess with their horses, the more they need their vet."

This observation was made by a friend and colleague who practices in Minnesota, and he noticed that the number of calls he gets in a day is directly related to the weather. When it's cold out, people just throw hay at their horses and run inside, not noticing the big laceration inside the hind leg. Then, when the weather warms up for a few days, folks want to start riding a bit, and then they notice that laceration all of a sudden, or how their horse feels lame.

To change behavior, you need to change the incentives that lead to the behavior.

There’s been a lot of stir caused by a recent New York Times article that was strategically published the week before the Kentucky Derby. 

The Times suggests that the increased number of breakdowns this winter at Aqueduct (N.Y.) were due to two factors: