How To Treat Epiphysitis

This joint disease is common in rapidly growing, large-breed foals, and is linked to diet, says Dr Mac. Treatment includes exercise restriction and stable rest.

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Rapidly growing Thoroughbred and Warmblood foals, as well as foals of other breeds, can suffer from a bone disease called epiphysitis. This usually occurs at about five or six months of age, when they are starting to graze and share their dam’s concentrate rations. The joints, particularly the fetlocks, become swollen. The condition is generally not very painful, and foals do not present with lameness. However, epiphysitis is caused by compression of the growth plates in the rapidly growing long bones, which initially results in inflammation, but can lead to alterations in the growth of the bones, with lasting damage, if no action is taken.

Affected foals show a hard swelling on the inside of the fetlock at the level of the growth plate at the end of the cannon bone. In the knee joint, the growth plate above the joint is mainly affected. Sometimes the hocks can also be affected. Characteristically, the joint itself does not swell.