BARRELHORSE USA - 2013-11-21 2:25 AM

I hate it when vets and experts at colleges that have never owned a horse use textbook words and descriptions to describe a problem .. EXCELLENT PICTURES but advice is weak and text booked .... https://www.acvs.org/large-animal/osteochondritis-dissecans-horses

OCD .. is simply a lack of calcifying spots in the cartilage of growing bones mainly due to lack of proper mineral absorption and lack of good old fashioned running in the pasture exercise ..

The bones that grow in young horses are usually the ends at a joint ... the bone is cartilage and must harden to turn to calcium .... young horses running, playing and constantly walking in a pasture adds density to their bone structure ..... those that are penned up, over fed and are obese are like couch potato kids compared to the kids that are active on a farm or playing outside all day long...

I also cannot believe the marketing spiels on OCD tablets and joint supplements that people spend lots of $$$$'s on. Once an OCD spot is formed .. there is no changing it other than to grind a hole in the bone like you would a bad tooth and activate the area around the hole to harden up to support the weak spot. Or if it is floating debris ... surgery...... but that does not do away with the problem the joint will always have because the treatment took away the cushion affect of some of the necessary cartilage.

The problem with fad supplements is ... they do a big marketing bash to sell a jillion bottles to fill shelves across the nation on a one big money making bash to your pocket book and then you never hear about them again ... other than them changing the product name and distributors name and doing the same thing over and over again. Think back over the past 5 years of the big pushes for different supplements that are no where to be found now... ... It is like buying a water hose with a 7 year guarantee on it and trying to return it for a new one 2 years later ... lol

VETERICYN is a recent fad product that has bitten the dust .... while old reliables like Wonder Dust, iodine and FuraZone remain as major cut medicines ...

I am a fan of ADM GroStrong Minerals due to the fact they have added the correct vitamins with the correct method to chelate the minerals that enables the horse to absorb the minerals if needed. Also to feeding oats, alfalfa and corn in the correct portions instead of major brand feeds that show nothing but human food/ethanol waste products in their ingredients .... go read your ingredients on your feed sack ...

IMO.... forced exercise in a round pen ... especially free styling ... is a major human cause if you have OCD problems in your young horses and the lack of understanding what closing the knees means at 25-30 months old. .. And trying to blend two completely different specialized conformation styles (race and cutter/reiner) together thinking you can get a faster more turny horse .... instead you get a skeletal wreck ... with big vet bills ..

If you look at race horse training ... it is straight ahead, walking, trotting, rated loping with proper cool downs on an every other day basis with walker or turnout on off days. And the exercise rider usually weighs less than 130 lbs. ...... The bones get density from the leg work and the muscles get rebuilt with a day off in between ... there is no rollbacks or other forced reining maneuvers presented to the young 2 year olds like we do to barrel and other horses ... so take your young horses pasture and trail riding and stop being a maniac in the arena and round pens ... lol ..