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[RC] Sidebone and Lameness - k s swigartKaren Standefer said: Sidebone can be non-articular and articular. As long as it is non-articular it shouldn't cause any pain. Articular means it has begun/is articulating with the joints nearby. Since sidebone is, by definition, on the side of a horse's foot, and since horse's do not have joints in their feet/pasterns that articulate sideways, calcification in that area that interferes with the articulation (front to back movement, since that is the only way those joints move) of the joints is not properly called side bone, it is called ringbone, which can, indeed cause pretty severe lameness. It is possible that the calcification of side bone may predispose a horse to ringbone (there are certainly plenty of horses that have both); however, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case (since there are also plenty of horses with ringbone that don't have sidebone). There are some vets who are of the opinion that horses in sports with lots of high stress lateral movement (which, incidentally does not include endurance, but rather those like cutting and reining where the horse is moving side to side rather than just forward) are more likely to show signs of lameness due to sidebone, but there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case either. The fact is, horses in sports with lots of high stress lateral movement are more likely to show lameness whether they have side bone or not, since the joints of a horse's leg are not very well designed to handle such stresses. Joints in a horse's leg just don't have very much lateral stability (although I suppose it is possible that side bone, by making the collateral cartilege more rigid, may actually increase the lateral stability of the foot....making it less likely that the horse will go lame???? But there isn't any evidence to support this either:)). If a horse isn't already showing lame, sidebone is unlikely to matter; and if it is already showing lame, it isn't what I would consider an endurance prospect....whether it has sidebone or not. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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