ridecamp@endurance.net: Cannon Alignment

Cannon Alignment

lindavan.eqath@juno.com
Wed, 23 Apr 1997 03:03:07 PST

On Tue, 22 Apr 1997 18:05:35 -0700 "dli-adf" <dli-adf@transport.com>
writes:
>Linda,
>
>After your last note, I went out and really checked over Istys' legs.
>Uhoh, hard bump just below the right knee, vet book says "splint", a
>trip
>to the vet and it is confirmed. He (the vet) says it's old, probably
>pre
>'97 but no way to age it. It's not huring the horse and she moves
>freely
>without favoring the leg...cool. His only down grade on her is that
>her
>cannon bones (ea. side) are 2-3 mm to the outside of the knee.
>Devastation....now what do I do? He says endurance is iffy, she may
>not
>hold up under repeated long distances (Is this true? Is he guessing?
>What
>about other endurance horses).
>

Hi Alan,

Yep, a slint would make sense in the case of the misalignment you just
explained. However, I can't really visualize the condition with way you
explained it. Is the cannon bone offset from the forarm by 2-3mm or
actually outside the knee? In other words, if you were to drop a plumb
line from the center of the front of each forearm, it should pass ~
through the center of the cannon. So what I think you are saying is the
cannon is offset to the outside of that plumbline. Does your horse wing
it's front leg(s) laterally when it travels? This is what one would
usually see with this type of flaw. Is it just one leg or both? I've
heard of horses' cannon bone remodeling (laying down bone on the weaker
area) to try to correct a problem like this. However, that would take a
lot of time and you might have lameness layups anyway.

Is the splint on the inside or the outside of the leg? My guess is the
outside. If the horse wings out, even just a little, it can whack its
front outside cannon with it's hind foot. If the splint is old and not
currently sore, it probably is not happening often.

As for your decision whether to continue with this horse or trade her in,
I'd say you need to have someone in the sport look at her and watch her
move. Preferably an endurance RIDER with lots of miles or a Vet who
also endurance rides. There are probably several folks in your area who
can give you a good honest opinion. Then, it's your call. It's best, of
course, to start with as near perfect conformation as you can get,
especially in the legs.

Before you jump to any hasty decisions, get a second opinion.

Good Luck?

Linda VanCeylon & crew
Buhni, Sunny, Rabbit, & Fiddler
lindavan.eqath@juno.com

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