ring bone/ side bone help ?? :-(

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VickyH

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My mare has either ring bone or side bone - a previous owner told me the vet diagnosed one but my farrier thinks the other :-/ Either way once the ground is hard she suffers on and off lameness, all the time we had soft ground she was fine but with this glorious weather bringing hard ground she has gone lame again :-( Can anyone recommend a supplement that may help please? I don't wantt o give up on her but also don't want her to suffer :-( She is a 15.3 l/w cob type mare, about 16 years old.
 
sorry should have added she is lame in front and has front shoes only, farrier advised not to barefoot completely as she is a bit flat footed in front.
 
Have xrays been taken? Balance feet and the correct shoes for the problem. Sidebone does Take a while to settle down. I don't known much about ringbone. Talk to your vet. Hope it gets sorted out soon.
 
Thank you xx She was quite pigeon toed one of her previous homes apparently and her feet were pretty rubbish when I got her but they look great now. She also has an old tendon sheath injury but the vet has said it's not this causing the lameness as it is quite sporadic lameness not consistent enough, also there is no heat or swelling around the old injury sight.
 
I'd consider X-rays too.. The inside positions of her bones might not match the great looking outside.. Particularly if she has gone from pigeon toe to not..

As far as I am aware the whole bone conformation might be twisted causing the previous pigeon toe or it might have been capsule rotation with a normal conformation.. Couldn't it cause some issues if a horse has abnormal weight bearing through the leg bones even though the hoof might look normal outside?? I'd appreciate the input of hoof care professionals or vets on this suggestion..

If her feet are flat it can help check up on sole depth etc too..
 
I also think x-rays would be a good idea - then you'll have a better idea of what is going on. If it is ringbone or sidebone (or possibly even pedal osteitis) then there's not really anything you can do besides making sure she is comfortable. She may need bute when she is sore and sometimes altering the foot balance can help but that's something you'd need to discuss with your vet + farrier once you have a definite diagnosis.
 
If the feet are Stil being work on and if its sidebone every shoeing will change the way the Sidebone is. Hope this makes sense. So more room for sidebone to form. Mine got both pedal ossetist and sidebone. With a fab team of vets and farrier we are now happy!!
 
Sorry to hijack the thread a little, but I just had a quick question maybe Bojangles could answer (you sound as though you know more about this than I do!). My understanding of sidebone is that the ossification often doesn't cause lameness and that when it does it's usually due to the shape of the foot, for example with narrow feet, in which case a good farrier can help e.g. by encouraging expansion of the quarters. Is this why you say that every shoeing will change things - because it can alter the shape of the foot and therefore the amount of pressure/pain? Or is lameness actually more normal in sidebone than I thought and the corrective shoeing is just standard treatment? Just wanted to clarify as it's not something I know much about. Thanks!
 
From what I have experience with mine is that when it is stil forming there's lameness. Mine had unbalanced feet and was wearing egg bar shoes so it wasn't allowing the foot to do what it needed. He is now on corret shoes. Once sidebone is form shouldn't be a problem. Every horse is different. Whist changing balanced he went a bit short nothing to worry about.
 
VickyH said:
My mare has either ring bone or side bone - a previous owner told me the vet diagnosed one but my farrier thinks the other :-/
Click to expand...
So which is it? To be blunt, side bone once formed and hard rarely causes a problem, so I think you must be dealing with ring bone which is degenerative and difficult to manage. :(
 
Side bone is on the lateral cartlidge at back.of foot, feels nobboly.ring bone is on tge bones. Side bone and ring bone that is not on a growth plate can improve with correct trimming and balancing (my mares side bone has completely gone). Ring bone on a growth plate (so end of bone where meets next bone) is degenerative, is my understanding. Flat footedness can be changed over time if foot is allowed to work correctly and is balanced and diet is correct.
Second comment about pigeon toe. Can be conformational or rotated hoof capsules (or the later could have caused the second). Hoof capsules can b moved back with time and correct trim.
Good luck. X
 
i can defnately feel it, it's on the outside of her pastern, roughly were an over reach boot would sit if that makes sense.

Thank you waltzing mathilda xx Did you feed any supplement to help your mare?
 
VickyH said:
i can defnately feel it, it's on the outside of her pastern, roughly were an over reach boot would sit if that makes sense.

Thank you waltzing mathilda xx Did you feed any supplement to help your mare?
Click to expand...

Yep that's where sidebone is. Hope your's get better soon. Time is a very good healer once you know what you are for sure dealing with. Sidebone can take well over a year to complety form.
 
Just good diet and a balanced equine podiatry trim with regular gentle exercise. Oh and a new saddle with a chiro check annually. She still gets white lines disease as has probs with shoulders. Think this and side bone was caused by saddle which was far too small when I got her ( medium and she is extra wide), oh and swapped bit for bitless as bit made her swing her shoulders side to side. and then reschooled her. Lots of things reaally but no suppliment I'm afraid. I have tried her on magnesium for various reasons but makes absolutely no dif to her behaviour or feet. She is my exception to the rule!! Lol!!
 
My horse had ringbone and it wasn't a good outcome. He was lame on hard ground and it got
Progressively worse. I had him on Syniquin from the vet but it didn't make a difference. Best to get X-rays done then see what your vet advises, hope you have a better outcome than me.
 
My horse has the exact same on his hind pastern (I'll try and upload a picture). I had the exact same issue. It's all just about managment. The best thing I have found is magnetic boots. I have the equilibrium ones as the magnet is velcored so you can put it directly on to the area that you need it. I have also noticed that when I lunge him he has a tendency to shoot of into canter before warmed up and he will be hopping lame but if I bring him back to walk and give him a good warmup he's fine. If you do a lot of hard work give it a cold hose down for about 10 mins. If the bump is sticking out my vet recommend that I use a sassuage boot around it to stop him nocking it or anything but it is just because of the area his is in and you may not need one. You'll have good days and bad days but don't let it bother you. If you are going to shows ect. and you are cornered the night before if he will be sore you can give him a danalyon but I wouldn't recommend you do this to often.
 
I'll make the point that just because she has one doesn't mean she doesn't have the other. :(

Sidebone is ossification of the lateral cartilage, usually do to some stress down the leg. Quite often it forms without lameness, although that's not always the case. Once it's "cold" the horse is often able to go about its business possibly on a reduced workload.

Ringbone is arthritis involving either the high or low pastern joint and is a much dicier proposition as it involves an articulating, load bearing joint. It can be helped with medication, shoeing, management etc. but it's a mobile joint under a great deal of stress so it's not always a great outcome.

You need a vet and xrays. Don't go on someone else's say so, especially as if they've told you the two conditions are interchangeable they are simply wrong.

If she's meant to be pigeon toed and someone has tried to forcibly correct it for cosmetic reasons, rather than with x-rays and serious consultation in an effort to relieve a serious problem, then she's almost certainly in trouble. If she got pigeon toed through someone else's shoeing efforts, then ditto as that would have caused abnormal stress on her bones.
 
heres a picture. dont know if you can see it that well.
album.php

also at night i ALWAYS keep him stabled. Infact he doesnt get out atol but thats because he fights with everything. So i keep these on - http://www.4dobbin.com/p-Leg-Wraps-Premier-Equine.html. They just stop him from kicking the bump as its not the most comfortable to keep the sasuage boot on all the time.
 
Thanks Nicky, hard to see but Lotties looks to be higher and smaller than your boys :-/

I can't think what else would be causing such random on/off lameness and it does seem a coincidence that as soon as the ground hardened up she went lame again :-(

Thank you all for your help advice, and thank you all for being honest even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear! :-)

Vet it is :-( please keep your fingers crossed for my baby, I couldn't bear to lose her
 
Hi Vicky. I have a horse with ringbone and side bone diagnosed with xrays. Hope your horse is ok, let us know how you get on at the vets xx
 
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