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Making a retirement decision on an arthritic horse after he had been rested. In hind sight, this could not have been more ill-advised.

I ride or lunge my horse 5 days a week. After a dicey start, this last week he has noticeable improved in real time.

First he can't negotiate a downhill at walk, then he can by the end of the week.

Second, he can't do a normal trot without first cantering a few days ago. Today he can.

Third, just a week ago, he did not want to stay in trot and would either break to canter or walk. Today he is willing to trot until I tell him to stop (before canter).

Fourth, he is sound on a 15-m circle both directions. If I rode 7 days a week or twice a day I think he would be sound on an 8-m volte.

I have been thinking about where and why my thinking jumped the rails. I think when the vet told me no more circles and to lease him as a trail horse, I immediately reacted to the thought of letting him go to anyone else. Then AFTER A BREAK in work to sort this out, I trot him on a straight line and he limped. So not only can't we do circles but we can't do straight lines! I hopped off and retired him then.

It took only 2 weeks of being in a herd 24/7 for him to come sound.

I think I over-reacted to the ringbone diagnosis. It is OA. It can respond to exercise and equioxx and in my horse's case, did.

What I still don't know is why he started and continued to limp when I was riding him 5 days a week. I am working him 5 days a week and he doesn't limp like that now. I guess the condition flairs. Or I was doing something to make it flair which I am not doing now. I was doing a lot counter canter in addition to two hill days when that happened. Maybe that is related. Who knows. Ring bone is not the death sentence I thought it was.

I just saw this recent article pertaining to ringbone - it might interest you.

https://thehorse.com/110328/equine-ring ... prognosis/

It sounds like you may have found the right management routine for your guy. I would do whatever works best for your horse as each responds is individual IMO.

Josette wrote:I just saw this recent article pertaining to ringbone - it might interest you.

https://thehorse.com/110328/equine-ring ... prognosis/

It sounds like you may have found the right management routine for your guy. I would do whatever works best for your horse as each responds is individual IMO.

Josette, thank you very much for posting that. I didn't know some of that stuff.

Based on that info, I will be considering IRAP and alcohol fusion if my horse doesn't stay sound with work and equioxx.

I was a little floored over he statement about horses still competing up to a 2...

Ringbone will affect your horse’s ability to work. Dryden says that on a scale of one to five in severity, horses can be managed and compete up to about a two.

My horse never got to a 2 but I still retired him. I just can't grok tolerating uneveness in this sport. Now, knowing I had to work my horse out of lameness, I tolerate it but if it didn't resolve, I am not sure I would have continued. No in fact I know I would not have continued.

The other thing that must not be forgotten is that my horse was probably bilaterally lame up front from this and it was just worse in the left. The evidence is his reluctance to trot whether even or not. Now he is willing to trot large and even until I ask him to stop. When he does that I think he is probably bilaterally sound.

I joke that my horse was quadrilaterally lame when I was rehabbing him. While he have have been that, I can prove he was lame on three legs at least on some days. And I didn't need a Lameness Locator but I would have loved to have it!

I thought your horse was a two in the past.

AAEP Lameness Scale
0: Lameness not perceptible under any circumstances
1: Lameness is difficult to observe and is not consistently apparent, regardless of circumstances (e.g. under saddle, circling, inclines, hard surface, etc.)
2: Lameness is difficult to observe at a walk or when trotting in a straight line but consistently apparent under certain circumstances (e.g. weight-carrying, circling, inclines, hard surface, etc.)
3: Lameness is consistently observable at a trot under all circumstances
4: Lameness is obvious at a walk
5: Lameness produces minimal weight bearing in motion and/or at rest or a complete inability to move

musical comedy wrote:I thought your horse was a two in the past.

AAEP Lameness Scale
0: Lameness not perceptible under any circumstances
1: Lameness is difficult to observe and is not consistently apparent, regardless of circumstances (e.g. under saddle, circling, inclines, hard surface, etc.)
2: Lameness is difficult to observe at a walk or when trotting in a straight line but consistently apparent under certain circumstances (e.g. weight-carrying, circling, inclines, hard surface, etc.)
3: Lameness is consistently observable at a trot under all circumstances
4: Lameness is obvious at a walk
5: Lameness produces minimal weight bearing in motion and/or at rest or a complete inability to move

That rings a bell. I was misrememebring that. He must have been a 2 because he consistently limped on the LF going right. Also, per that list, when he was limping on a straight line he would have been a 2.5 on that day... limp on a straight line but not to the left on a circle.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2404&p=37359&hilit=vet#p37317

Recheck today.

A. LF lameness is improved over two months ago but is still there intermittently on a circle. He graded it 1.5 (original a 2 when going clockwise). Here is the scale... The AAEP guidelines explain the grading system this way:

My brain wanted me to remember the 1.5 and not the 2 obviously. LOL

Here's another 1.5...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2441&p=37970&hilit=vet#p37970

It's been a month since the coffin joint injection. We are where we were... 1.5/5 on LF when going right.

It is hard to keep track of all this stuff.