Sidebone

[Snipper]

After some time off, my horse had some x-rays to see what was going on. We thought it was his hocks, but they aren't actually too bad and are only showing mild changes. However, on one of his front feet, he has really bad sidebone, which was a real surprise. As usual, I can home from the vets with 20 questions I didn't think to ask at the time! Does anyone else have a horse with sidebone and how does it affect them? My horse doesn't appear to be very lame on it at the moment – luckily!!

[Dingbat]

Have you tried calling your vet to discuss it with them? I'm sure they'd be happy to explain it to you - mine even gave me the video of my horse's hock joint! Some time ago I had a horse whose hock changes were absolutely minimal, but the vets said he must just be particularly sensitive to pain so there wasn't much they could do. I guess they're just like people.

[horse_girl]

Or why not ask a vet in the 'Ask an Expert' thread on the forum? I find them really useful

[angelica fernandes]

Although these two types of conditions are often referred to be the one in the same, they are actually quite different. Let's start with how they are similar. They both affect the foot of the horse and both are a calcification of the bones or the joint area of the feet. That is about where the similarities do end. How they are different now comes into play. In most cases "Ringbone" is a condition that can appear at the top of the hoof, in the area of the hairline, and is usually caused from an injury, excessive concussion and can be from improper conformation. It can happen due to an injury, excessive shock and concussion, it is a natural occurrence in older horses and in some cases some horses have a tendency to inherent the condition.

[Kaliska]

Definitely worth a quick call to your vet who can then answer questions in a way specifically relating to your horse