How early should we consider bone health?

It is never too early to start thinking about optimising the quality and strength of the young equine skeletal system as playing catch up with any aspect of development is not ideal. When in-utero, the skeleton develops as cartilage and is converted to bone gradually throughout pregnancy and also after the foal is born. In order to optimise bone development, it is important to consider how we can affect bone health through providing the correct nutrients to pregnant mares and also feeding our foals on the ground appropriately. Feeding adequate levels of vital nutrients is essential for bone development in any horse. However, one of the biggest challenges for breeders is trying to manage diet plans to avoid common problems associated with bone development in youngsters.

Two commonly seen DOD conditions affecting youngstock are:

• Physitis or epiphysitis: effusion around the knee and/or fetlocks, with or without associated pain, radiographs may be necessary. Treatment is often conservative and nutrition will play a key role
• Osteochondrosis Dessicans (OCD): means the process of ossification is disrupted and damage to the cartilage occurs, the underlying bone is then vulnerable to further injury. Flaps of cartilage can become loose (dissected) and these will cause pain and inflammation around the affected joint as a result of excess fluid in the synovial space

Nutritional management is particularly important for any youngsters prone to or suffering with DODs. It is vital that these horses receive elevated levels of essential vitamins and minerals to aid their bone health.

Supplement to support bone health:

Cal-Gro is a pelleted supplement designed to support skeletal development in-utero and throughout growth. Therefore, Cal-Gro can be fed to either the pregnant mare, foal at foot or growing weanling/yearlings.  Cal-Gro contains specific ingredients to suit the needs of foals and youngsters in order to support that all-important bone development that everyone talks about so much.

Copper and Zinc are also important mineral for bone, joint and connective tissue development. Feeding inadequate copper to the pregnant mare has been shown to increase the risk of DOD in the offspring, and unfortunately, supplementation of the foal after it is born does not mitigate this risk. Manganese is another mineral that has shown to be beneficial for bone health in horses as it is responsible for the synthesis of chondroitin sulphate, vital for healthy joints. Copper, zinc and manganese levels in forage, even lush spring grazing, are often inadequate to meet the young, growing horse’s requirements. Therefore, these minerals can be provided in the form of a suitable supplement such as Cal- Gro as it contains highly bioavailable sources of chelated copper, zinc and manganese.

Vitamin K plays a role in bone and cartilage metabolism and it is thought that deficiencies may affect bone metabolism. Whilst dietary requirements for vitamin K have not been fully established, there is evidence that vitamin K supplementation can be helpful for young horses, as it is necessary for the production of osteocalcin; the hormone responsible for facilitating bone metabolism and mineralisation.