Ariella
Active Member
Here is the link for a page I just did up on our site to show off just what happens to a joint that is affected by Joint Ill........
Joint Ill is NOT hereditary, it is an infection that gets in to foals - its considered that the normal method of it getting in is via the navel - however it CAN get in through broken skin on rare occasions too.......
This CAN happen even if ALL care is taken - umbilical stumps washed and iodined, mare washed down immediately after birth, udder and legs cleaned etc before the foal stands and sucks.......
It is a most unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone in the breeding game.
Quite often it results in the foal being put down. There are some cases who fully recover, and there are some cases who recover enough to be 'paddock sound' and future breeding prospects......
This is what happened with our TB stallion we had until May 2006 when he suddenly went sore on his 'bad' leg and we made the decision to put him to sleep rather than let him continue in pain.
http://www.geocities.com/cmsporthorses/JointIll.html
We bought him in 2004 at a sale........ the only other person bidding on him was a friend of ours - who didnt realise that I was the person he was bidding against. lol..... He realised and said "Oh, do you want him?" I said "Yep!" so he stopped!
We saw past his fused fetlock and saw what a lovely looking horse he really was, and liked his temperament for what it appeared to be in the yard - it was worth taking a chance on him.
We got him home, he got off the truck and saw the girls two paddocks away and jumped the 5 ft fence around the stallion paddock like it wasnt even there - keep in mind it was 53*C in the shade at 10am ...... we were LESS than impressed about having to separate horses.... we decided it was easier on such a hot day to just separate out the ones who WERENT the ones we wanted in foal to him! Obviously the leg didnt stop him jumping! lol
So once we got horses sorted out it was all good.
We fell in love with his easy going temperament and he was such a good boy.... so easy to handle.....
He got kicked in the face by one of the mares who had a bug up her butt and was obviously NOT going to say yes at that very moment - oops! Poor bugger..... he got a crack in his jaw as a result so had another lump to add to his collection!
He was never a 'fat' horse, always just a touch on the lean side of what I am used to having our horses, but not 'skinny' by any means either!
His leg never bothered him at all until 3 weeks before we put him down. He was still able to serve his girls, run around the paddock and prance around showing off at times without any sign of pain - just a slightly funny gait because that fetlock was fused and he didnt have the movement in it.... his leg kind of swung out.......
As soon as he went sore, we made the decision to put him down...... there is no way in heck I would ever leave a horse in pain in our paddocks..... its not fair on them at all........
So, if you hear of a horse who has had Joint Ill as a foal and they have a thickened joint, theres a damn good chance that the kind of thing thats going on in the joint in our photos is whats happened to the horse in question......
If you take on a mare as a broodmare prospect that has had joint ill, dont expect to have a long life out of it - if you get one or two foals before she goes 'sore' then you have done well.
There is no going back once it has calcified...... you can only hope to get a few good years out of them.
Dont even consider one that hasnt fully recovered and been cleared with Xrays by a vet as a riding prospect.
Anyhow, thought you guys might be interested in just what goes on inside the joint of a horse who had joint ill!
Oh, eventually we will get around to putting a comparison set of photos up there next to that joint..... just so you can see a 'good' joint..... but the only one we have that is good is in the freezer completely intact still......
Joint Ill is NOT hereditary, it is an infection that gets in to foals - its considered that the normal method of it getting in is via the navel - however it CAN get in through broken skin on rare occasions too.......
This CAN happen even if ALL care is taken - umbilical stumps washed and iodined, mare washed down immediately after birth, udder and legs cleaned etc before the foal stands and sucks.......
It is a most unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone in the breeding game.
Quite often it results in the foal being put down. There are some cases who fully recover, and there are some cases who recover enough to be 'paddock sound' and future breeding prospects......
This is what happened with our TB stallion we had until May 2006 when he suddenly went sore on his 'bad' leg and we made the decision to put him to sleep rather than let him continue in pain.
http://www.geocities.com/cmsporthorses/JointIll.html
We bought him in 2004 at a sale........ the only other person bidding on him was a friend of ours - who didnt realise that I was the person he was bidding against. lol..... He realised and said "Oh, do you want him?" I said "Yep!" so he stopped!
We saw past his fused fetlock and saw what a lovely looking horse he really was, and liked his temperament for what it appeared to be in the yard - it was worth taking a chance on him.
We got him home, he got off the truck and saw the girls two paddocks away and jumped the 5 ft fence around the stallion paddock like it wasnt even there - keep in mind it was 53*C in the shade at 10am ...... we were LESS than impressed about having to separate horses.... we decided it was easier on such a hot day to just separate out the ones who WERENT the ones we wanted in foal to him! Obviously the leg didnt stop him jumping! lol
So once we got horses sorted out it was all good.
We fell in love with his easy going temperament and he was such a good boy.... so easy to handle.....
He got kicked in the face by one of the mares who had a bug up her butt and was obviously NOT going to say yes at that very moment - oops! Poor bugger..... he got a crack in his jaw as a result so had another lump to add to his collection!
He was never a 'fat' horse, always just a touch on the lean side of what I am used to having our horses, but not 'skinny' by any means either!
His leg never bothered him at all until 3 weeks before we put him down. He was still able to serve his girls, run around the paddock and prance around showing off at times without any sign of pain - just a slightly funny gait because that fetlock was fused and he didnt have the movement in it.... his leg kind of swung out.......
As soon as he went sore, we made the decision to put him down...... there is no way in heck I would ever leave a horse in pain in our paddocks..... its not fair on them at all........
So, if you hear of a horse who has had Joint Ill as a foal and they have a thickened joint, theres a damn good chance that the kind of thing thats going on in the joint in our photos is whats happened to the horse in question......
If you take on a mare as a broodmare prospect that has had joint ill, dont expect to have a long life out of it - if you get one or two foals before she goes 'sore' then you have done well.
There is no going back once it has calcified...... you can only hope to get a few good years out of them.
Dont even consider one that hasnt fully recovered and been cleared with Xrays by a vet as a riding prospect.
Anyhow, thought you guys might be interested in just what goes on inside the joint of a horse who had joint ill!
Oh, eventually we will get around to putting a comparison set of photos up there next to that joint..... just so you can see a 'good' joint..... but the only one we have that is good is in the freezer completely intact still......
