Ranch Work...

Well, the guys are up at the ranch again! Tony went up early this morning with Coal to start gathering the cattle. Travis left just as soon as he got off work. He was unable to take Cahlibur. Cahlibur has been diagnosed with articular ringbone. It all started last November when the guys were up on the ranch. While gathering cattle, Cahlibur tripped really hard where he almost went down to his knees. Travis gave Cahlibur a couple of weeks off. Still he kept limping. He was given a couple more weeks off. At this point Travis took Cahlibur in to our Veterinarian. When Cahlibur was x-rayed we found out that he had chipped the end of his left front coffin bone. And to make things worse, in trying to compensate for the first chipped coffin bone, Cahlibur had chipped the right front coffin bone as well. So, Cahlibur was given a lot more time off. He was given special shoes on his front hooves and could only go for short walks to get his exercise. Our farrier found bruising in his front hooves. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago, after checkup x-rays, that we found out that Cahlibur had arthritis. The vet gave him some injections for the pain and he is taking "Bute" once a day. Along with that we are soaking his hooves with cold water at least twice a day. He loves the soakings (and the green grass he gets to munch on!) I found the following article online:

What is Ringbone?

by: Justin Edwards, DVM

May 01 2005 Article # 5513

Ringbone, a lameness disease of the pastern and coffin joints, is a degenerative disorder that has no cure. Once the condition occurs, it's always there and will progressively worsen. Fortunately, with treatment and good management, the disease's progression can be slowed, allowing the horse to remain competitive.
Ringbone causes a circumferential enlargement at the level of the joint. High ringbone refers to the pastern joint and low ringbone refers to the coffin joint. The disease is similar to arthritis, with the affected area showing bone spur formation (additional bone buildup) and degenerative joint disease.

*Full Story: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=5513

*You will need to be registered with TheHorse.com to read archived articles, but registration is free.

Here is a link to another article on ringbone that has a diagram of a horse's hoof and the affected area:

Veterinary Corner 11/00: Ringbone in Horses

by Scott Habegger, DVM
Edgecliff Equine Hospital
S. 1322 Park Road, Spokane, WA 99212 * 509/924-6069

---

Ringbone is a lay term used to describe an osteoarthritis that affects the pastern joints in both the front and hind limbs of horses. Simply put, ringbone is new bone growth on the proximal, middle, or distal phalanx often with degeneration of the joint surface. High ringbone is the term that has been applied to the condition when it affects the proximal interphalangeal joint (pastern joint). Low ringbone is the term that has been applied when the condition affects the distal interphalangeal joint (coffin joint). Please refer to figure 1 for a brief review of the structures of the foot and pastern region.

Full Story: http://www.horse-previews.com/1100articles/vetcorner1100.html


Along with the treatment recommended by our Vet and good management on our part, we will be researching to make Cahlibur as comfortable as possible and to retard this disease. We have heard that Glucosamine Chondroitin with MSM would help with the pain.
For now Travis is riding a ranch horse, a Sorrel Quarter Horse Gelding, and will be completing Oakley's training so that he will have a horse to take up to the ranch, on long trail rides, etc. Oakley is my horse and in no way will replace Cahlibur in Travis' heart. Travis will continue to ride Cahlibur for short rides around the stables and over to our house when he is up to it. (Bareback of course!)

Click Here to Visit BLOG VILLAGE