Medical Question..

Do you guys know what "ring bone" is?

Yes, what would you like to know about it?

what it is lol..Ozzy has it i guess..

Well, you can have high ring bone, low ring bone, articular ring bone, or peri-articular ring bone. Here is the definition of each. Ring bone, in general, is a calcium build up.

Articular Ring Bone is the worse type of ring bone because this means that there is a calcium build up within the joint. Most horses with this experience a great deal of pain at some point because the calcium build up (think of it as tiny sharp crystal edges) is going to put some pressure on any number of soft tissues and the more that it tears the joint up, arthritis will develop and you will be dealing with more than one problem.

Peri-articular Ring Bone is not nearly as severe. This is a calcium build up AROUND the joint. The problem with this is that calcium, over time, just continues to build up and can actually cause mild to severe joint fusion on the outside of the joint. This is by far more treatable than articular type.

Low ring bone involves the coffin joint (Distal / Third Phalanx), pastern joint (Middle / Second Phalanx)

High Ring Bone involves the fetlock joint (Proximal / First Phalanx) and the upper part of the pastern joint.

A good picture of the leg is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Equine-dist-forelimb-bones.png

Any questions, just ask

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure the vet didn't know what the heck she was talking about..pretty sure there is NOTHING wrong with that horse lol...i don't think he would be out winning 10 grand every weekend if he had ring bone. lol

Actually, a lot of horses with peri-articular ring bone remain perfectly sound for nearly, if not all, of their lives. It's the articular one that gets you...

o really, well that makes sense then because Wendy came over today to talk to my parents about high school rodeo and she said that it would affect him way later in his life.

Yes, as long as it is currently not in his joint and not causing him pain, you should be good. AZ High School Rodeo is a blast and SUPER competitive, if you come down my way to compete I'll come watch!

sweet! Well if were here i'll be doing in next year..

its in buckeye this weekend and we were supposed to go watch but i'm not going, my sister is though, a lot of our friends are in it. I'm soo excited to be able to do it if i can!!