Prevalence and risk factors in serous arthritis in the carpal joint of Norwegian coldblooded trotters.

Abstract

Of 508 four-year-old coldblooded trotters examined for carpitis, 135 (27%) had the condition. Thirty horses had unilateral carpitis on the left frontlimb, 52 on the right frontlimb and 53 had bilateral carpitis. Of these horses, 105 were stallions, 135 were geldings and 269 were mares. The prevalence of carpitis in these three groups was 25%, 25% and 28%, respectively. Information was obtained on the training regimes in four periods of the life of 378 horses. The odds ratios for the training variables were of the same order in all four periods. In logistic regression analyses on the training variables for the first period for the variable percentage of carpitis within each progeny group (sire index), the odds ratio corresponding to a 10% increase in sire index was 1.7 (1.4, 2.1) (95% confidence interval of the odds ratio). The odds ratios for leaving the horses out in a paddock, walking in a jogcart and fast training, or not in each case, were 0.4 (0.2, 0.9), 2.5 (1.2, 5.3) and 2.0 (0.9, 4.4), respectively. This implies a decreased risk of developing carpitis for horses left out in a paddock as a two-year-old, and a 2.5 and 2.0 times increased risk of carpitis occuring in horses exposed to walking in a jogcart and fast training, respectively. Information on the feeding regimes during the first, second and third year collected by a questionnaire revealed no association with carpitis beyond that which could be ascribed to chance. The rations offered were within normal ranges except for calcium, which was below recommended levels.