Bone Spavin (Osteoarthritis of the Tarsal Joints)

Veterinary care required

This condition belongs in veterinary diagnosis and treatment. Compounds are at most supportive.

Priority · vet & management

Diagnosis (lameness exam, flexion tests, radiography) and therapy, plus adapted hoof care and exercise management, belong in veterinary and farrier hands; controlled, regular movement instead of abrupt load peaks is central. Compounds are only adjunctive.

Possible causes

• · years of strain on the hock joints (jumping, dressage, hard ground)
• · limb deviations and unfavourable limb axes
• · age-related joint wear
• · genetic predisposition and conformation

Supportive compounds · supplementary feed, not medication

Prevention

Correct, regular hoof trimming, even warming up, balanced training load and avoiding hard ground relieve the hock joints.

Equiterna's take

Equiterna views bone spavin in the interplay of limb stance, hoof trimming, training control and joint metabolism — the diagnostics remain strictly veterinary.