Maintaining Ringbone
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of research into ringbone, because that is what Chincoteague Minnow was diagnosed with in 2008, and is the reason he was retired from competition and riding in general.
For anyone that doesn’t know, Ringbone is a bone growth in the pastern or coffin joint of a horse. In severe cases, the growth can encircle the bones, giving ringbone its name. Essentially ringbone is a form of equine arthritis. There are several reasons why horses can develop ringbone, I’m fairly certain that Minnow developed it due to poor confirmation (he has fairly upright pasterns) and the fact that for 4 years I competed him in a speed sport, Mounted Games. Although Minnow did develop ringbone in his left front, which is sort of contradictory to our sport, because the majority of the time we always make right hand turns – putting most of the strain on the right front leg. So I think that even though Minnow was involved with a physically demanding sport, he likely would have developed ringbone either way.
Magnetic Therapy for Ringbone
Some horses can continue to be ridden with proper maintenance, and there are several treatment options, although none can cure ringbone. One such option is joint injections, which I did try on Minnow at the suggestion of several vets. The pastern joint can be injected directly, typically with a form of corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid. For several months Minnow was on stall rest, and although I did see improvement it was never enough to continue riding him like I had hoped.
Personally I didn’t think it was right to continue to ride Minnow (by drugging him up) simply for my enjoyment. So now the only “maintenance” Minnow gets is proper barefoot shoeing and the occasional dose of bute (sort of like aspirin for horses) if he’s going to be doing something a little more strenuous like performing with me.
But as Minnow gets older (he turns 17 this year) I’ve begun to wonder if I’m doing enough to alleviate his pain? But at the same time I don’t want to dose him like crazy with supplements that he really doesn’t need. I’m sort of torn in both directions. He’s a hearty pony that was born wild, maybe less is better? I also read somewhere that light exercise is better for ringbone than letting the horse stand in one area a lot. Minnow is turned out daily, but maybe he needs more, perhaps I should be taking him on walking trail rides once a week or more?
So as I contemplate and research what is best for him I’m posting this question to all of my readers (or passerby’s) of this blog….Any Suggestions? Perhaps you’ve had/know a horse with ringbone…has anything worked for them?
As soon as I figure out this Ringbone dilemma I’ll have to move onto Equine Cushings – as my retired Dressage horse, Niatross, has been diagnoised with this illness. He’s not the first experience I’ve had with cushings though, my childhood pony, Oopsie Daisy, also had cushings in his later years.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I wish I knew something that could help you, but I’ve never dealt with it before so I can’t. I hope you can figure something out for him. My instincts lean toward a little bit of exercise, but I’m thinking more like hand walking or ponying, not riding. Again I have no idea. Just speculation. I hope someone else has a good suggestion for you.
I have an Appendix gelding w/ringbone. . . I confered w/Doc Evans. . he was a retired track vet from Pennsylvania (deceased, now), but he read Plenti’s xray’s & determined he had ringbone.. .8 years ago. He told me not to ride him at all for the first 6 mos. . .so, I didn’t & still don’t ride him alot. He’s just the extra horse for working cows, now. I try to keep him as quiet as I can. Doc recommended not putting shoes on him. . .so I have him trimmed for ringbone (the farrier trims him so he’ll have less pressure on the ringbone growth). And, I have him trimmed every 2 mos., faithfully. Plenti’s a gentle giant. . . good cow horse, I’ve ponied @ the racetrack off of him & he’s just got that good look in his eye. . .one of a kind.
Hello there, I realize this post was made 4 years ago.. However recently my 10 year old gelding has been diagnosed with ringbone in hind legs and arthrits of the hind hocks. He does ropewalk with his hind legs so his issues are from conformation problems. He has been used as a barrel horse just for fun but mostly trails. I never had a problem with him until I tried jumping him and he showed up lame. This is what lead me into having the vet out to check him and she said he could have arthritis of hocks and rinbone, although xrays were never done. He is doing great now, but i havent decided any kind of treatment either. I hear that Apple Cider Vinegar is great for ringbone and thatll be what i try first to help him. I also need to figure out how to trim his hooves to best alleviate pain. I am interested in knowing what you have found out through the past 4 years of your research with ringbone.
Supplements were never very helpful to Minnow nor was the correct trimming. I think it may all depend on the horse and the specific issue though, so certainly it never hurts to try. You might want to read through our archives to learn more about what I have done for Minnow per the years: http://www.paintingpony.com/blog/?s=ringbone&x=-1149&y=-839 Most recently last year Minnow was injected with ethyl alcohol to help his joint fuse. We had a lot of success with this and while he still limps some he is in much less pain. Hope that helps, and good luck with your gelding!