Preemies, Bone Development, and Eventual Racing Performance

Though the overall prognosis isn’t great, some foals with incomplete ossification can race if managed properly.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Racehorses need strong bones and stable joints to remain healthy throughout their careers. But some premature foals are born with just the opposite: soft bones and joints at risk of collapse. Can these at-risk newborns with so-called incomplete ossification beat the odds and turn into successful racehorses?

Lillian M.B. Haywood, VMD, recently completed a study aiming to answer that question and presented the results at the 2015 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Convention, held Dec. 5-9 in Las Vegas. Haywood is an ambulatory practitioner at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Haywood said that incomplete ossification (essentially, cartilage hasn’t completely hardened into bone before birth) of the cuboidal bones, located in the tarsus (hock) and carpus (knee), can potentially have lifelong consequences. If those bones are incompletely formed, the joints cannot hold up to the foal’s weight or movement. This can lead to joint damage, especially crushing and wedging of the bones in the tarsus, and predispose the foal to unsoundness as he ages.

Haywood and colleagues hypothesized that foals with a shorter gestation length and incomplete cuboidal bone ossification would be less likely to race and would earn less than their maternal siblings. To find out, the team conducted a retrospective study in which they evaluated medical records from 1994 to 2011 of foals younger than 90 days of age with tarsal radiographs. They reviewed those radiographs and graded the ossification based on the Adams Skeletal Ossification Index (a four-point scale where Grade 1 reflects no evidence of ossification and Grade 4 reflects normal ossification), and also made note of the length of each foal’s gestation. Then, the team compared each foal’s race records to those of their maternal siblings

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Erica Larson, former news editor for The Horse, holds a degree in journalism with an external specialty in equine science from Michigan State University in East Lansing. A Massachusetts native, she grew up in the saddle and has dabbled in a variety of disciplines including foxhunting, saddle seat, and mounted games. Currently, Erica competes in eventing with her OTTB, Dorado.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
439 votes · 439 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!