Phalangeal hyperostosis due to nutritional imbalance in three yearlings.

The research deals with the health issues encountered by three young horses due to a diet imbalance, which resulted in a condition known as phalangeal hyperostosis.

Overview of the Study

• This research involved the monitoring of five French standardbred trotter foals from their birth in spring 2003, for 16 months, under a research program focusing on developmental skeletal problems. The study included routine health checks, bodily measurements, blood samples, and radiographic screenings every two to three months.
• The aim was to investigate the impact of nutritional imbalance on the development of the horses’ skeletal structure.

Initial Observations

• In the initial stages, no abnormalities were detected in any of the five foals through radiographic screenings. However, during autumn, one female foal showed signs of incoordination and ataxia. Severe remodelling was discovered on the cervical spine, indicating a compressive cervical myelopathy.
• The other female foal sustained an injury and developed a medical condition known as a capped hock during the winter. The two female foals then had their diets and living conditions adjusted accordingly. The three male foals, on the other hand, were kept in open housing during winter, and a shared pasture during spring and summer.

Later Findings

• Upon completing a year of monitoring, the second radiographic screening revealed osseous proliferation in the middle phalanx of the three male horses. Horse 1 was affected on the left forelimb, horse 2 on both hindlimbs, and horse 3 on all four limbs.
• Horse 3 also showed additional issues: dorsal remodelling of the proximal phalanx in three fetlocks and osteochondrosis of the lateral trochlear ridge of the left femur. Both horses 2 and 3 exhibited a stiff gait at walk and trot. Nothing abnormal was found in the two female yearlings.
• Additionally, a broader scan on a total of 320 yearlings in the program reviewed only two other cases of hyperostosis.
• This study thus highlighted an apparent correlation between the male horses’ health issues and their diet, which was too high in energy and deficient in calcium.