From: Dave
Dear Jessica, thanks for answering all our questions! You're the best.
I'm looking to buy a horse for my daughter (she's 15 and a good rider), and I've been offered a nice TB off the track. He's been off for two years and has had some good training, he's a real friendly horse and she's ridden him twice and they got along real well. He's five years old and seems like a real sensible horse for a TB. Anyway she likes him and I do too except for one problem he has. Bucked shins. Can you tell me just what this is and how much of a problem it will be? My daughter wants to train this horse to jump, and I won't buy him if bucked shins means that he isn't going to be able to jump.
Dave
Of all the lumps and bumps that an ex-racehorse can bring with it, I'd say that bucked shins are the single LEAST important, LEAST worrisome blemishes.
The covering of bones is called the periosteum, and a horse with "bucked shins" is a horse that has, or has had, an inflammation of this bone covering in the front of the cannon bones. It's usually the result of working a young, developing horse fast, on hard ground.
The bad news: the inflammation and the micro-fractures that often accompany it, make the front of the cannons hot and painful, and make the horse very lame.
The good news: it's a temporary condition. Rest alone will often effect a complete healing, and rest combined with medical treatment will take care of those individual horses that aren't "fixed" with rest alone. This horse has already been through that entire process, from injury to healing.
What you're looking at is just a scar. When the pain and swelling of bucked shins are gone, and the microfractures are healed, the horse will often have a permanent souvenir in the form of a slight enlargement on the front of the cannon bones. It may be quite noticeable or barely noticeable or anywhere in between, and it won't interfere with the horse's comfort or soundness or training program. A vet or trainer would classify this feature as a BLEMISH, which means exactly that -- the appearance of the cannons may no longer be perfect, but the effect on the horse for the rest of his working life should be exactly nothing at all. Don't worry, your vet will NOT flunk a sound five-year-old horse on his soundness exam because of bucked shins. ;-)
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.