Any Farriers/Farriers OH /Vets out there...Help if Poss

[Chavhorse]

Hi can anyone help please,

I have recently had my horse vetted in the Netherlands and he has come back with a failure due to "kraakbeen" my vet can not find the english translation of the condition in his medical books.

Rough translation is the calcification of the cartilage/soft tissue in the hoof.

He is presenting with it in the rear of the left fore and it can be felt in a semi circle at the top of the foot.

I had assumed it was Ringbone but am now not so sure.

Horse is showing unevenness when lunged in a small circle on concrete on on the right side, perfectly sound when walked, trotted and cantered on soft ground. Vet is saying horse may remain sound for years or be dead lame in a year so anyones guess.

Anyone have any idea at all what this could be as I am madly googling and coming up with Navicular, Sidebone and god knows what else.

Can anyone tell me what it actually is, best way of treating and shoeing options, my YO is saying that he ought to have an airbag fitted below the shoe to cushion the foot and the toe trimmed short to ensure to help him roll over and this should be done ASAP to help the condition from deteriorating further.

Any info so I at least know what I am dealing with would be fantasitc, I am sending him over to the UK, as we are planning on moving back there in two years time and the thought of traveling a lame horse is not a good one.

Thanks for anything you can give me

Lindy x
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[Birker2020]

It believe it means articular cartilage damage which roughly translated means DJD.

I don't understand from your post who actually owns the horse. Have you had a potential purchase vetted? In which case from my own personal point of view considering the result of the vetting I'm afraid I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Is it your horse and you have had to have it vetted for insurance reasons? Or are you selling the horse? Total confusion I'm afraid.

Your yard owners suggestions sound very expensive to me. Any remedial shoeing is very expensive. You need to consider carefuly if you have the money to be able to afford to have a horse that may need considerable money spending on his shoeing most probably for the rest of his life and the care that you will need to take with regards to which surfaces you do your chosen discipline on, your horse will most likely require steroid injections throughout his life to keep him sound, and supplements in the form of glucosamine/msm and HA to help protect his joints and lubricate them.

I would think long and hard about this horse in terms of expenditure and decide if you will be able to afford his likely care in the future.

i wish you luck x

From Wikipedia about articular cartilage disease:

Cartilage has limited repair capabilities: Because chondrocytes are bound in lacunae, they cannot migrate to damaged areas. Therefore if damaged, it is difficult to heal. Also, because hyaline cartilage does not have a blood supply, the deposition of new matrix is slow. Damaged hyaline cartilage is usually replaced by fibrocartilage scar tissue. Over the last years, surgeons and scientists have elaborated a series of cartilage repair procedures that help to postpone the need for joint replacement.

Here is a link to articular cartilage damage in horses, if you scroll down you will find further information.

http://www.dclahdvm.com/Articles/EquineJointDisease/EquineJointDisease.htm

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

I have 2 with ringbone and neither can be felt, only seen on xray. I *thought* the same applied for navicular.. Now sidebone does seem to be a candidate for his problem in which case careful foot balance and reducing concussion would give a reasonably good long term prognosis for ridden work. There is a sticky of sharing ailments,with some excellent pictures, at the top of the vet section.

 

[Rowreach]

Applecart14 it is the OPs horse, she was planning on selling him and now can't as a result of the vetting

 

[Tnavas]

From what you are describing I would guess it to be Sidebone, Ossification of the lateral cartilage.

 

[threeponies]

I also thought calcification of the lateral cartilage was sidebone.

 

[glenruby]

What you are describing is sidebone - NOT degenerative joint disease.
how was it "diagnosed" as the cause of lameness? I ask because it is not a common cause of lameness. Was pain ellicited by palpation of the lump above the hoof? Were x rays taken? Was the affected side (only!) x rayed? Quite often horses that are lame and have sidebone aare also found to have navicular - this is the caue of the lameness in most cases. X -rays are useful from the POV that while sidebone rarely causes lameness, fractures of the cartilage ARE painful.