Abstract
BackgroundOsteochondrosis (OC) is a common, clinically important joint disorder in which endochondral ossification is focally disturbed. Reduced blood supply to growing cartilage is considered an important cause of the condition, which has both genetic and environmental origins. Housing conditions can influence cartilage injury through peak-pressure changes during limb sliding. Additionally, circulatory perturbation can cause the avascular necrosis of cartilage. In this study, we evaluated the type and frequency of limb sliding during standing up and the occurrence of OC in foals aged up to 12 months on different farms.MethodsStanding-up behavior was observed in 50 weaned, group-housed, Dutch Warmblood foals aged 6–9 months at five farms using black-and-white surveillance cameras, and their standing-up behavior was scored using a predetermined ethogram. OC was scored using a categorical scale between 6 and 12 months of age in 50 foals in the weanling period, and in 48 from the weanling to yearling periods because two foals died in this time.ResultsAt both 6 and 12 months of age, the total prevalence of OC differed between the farms: the lowest prevalence was observed on a farm with no sliding, and the highest prevalence was evident on a farm with a higher sliding frequency. The mean ratio of sliding versus normal standing-up behavior was 29% (range: 0–50%); i.e., foals experienced limb sliding during around 29% of standing-up maneuvres. The frequency of sliding instead of normal standing-up behavior differed significantly between the farms (range: 0–50%; P < 0.05), but significantly decreased when foals could better prepare themselves to stand, e.g., when there was an obvious provocation such as the announced approach of another foal (P < 0.05).ConclusionsSmall but significant differences exist between farms in the sliding frequency and total OC incidence in Warmblood foals, but whether environmental factors are causally related to these differences requires further elucidation.
Highlights
Osteochondrosis (OC) is a common, clinically important joint disorder in which endochondral ossification is focally disturbed
The most frequently described etiologic factors are heredity, rapid growth, trauma, and dietary imbalances, its etiology remains incompletely understood [1,2,3]. It was shown in foals [4], pigs [5] and horses [6] that biomechanical damage to the juvenile blood supply plays an important role in the pathogenesis of OC [7]
Dik et al [10] showed that OC lesions become permanent from approximately 5 months of age in the tarsocrural (TC) joint, disease stability is reached at a later stage; OC lesions become permanent from the age of approximately 8 months in the femoropatellar (FP) joint
Summary
Osteochondrosis (OC) is a common, clinically important joint disorder in which endochondral ossification is focally disturbed. Osteochondrosis (OC) is a clinically important joint disorder that occurs in many animal species, including dogs, horses, pigs, and humans. It is defined as a focal disturbance of endochondral ossification and is believed to be a multifactorial disease. The most frequently described etiologic factors are heredity, rapid growth, trauma, and dietary imbalances, its etiology remains incompletely understood [1,2,3] It was shown in foals [4], pigs [5] and horses [6] that biomechanical damage to the juvenile blood supply plays an important role in the pathogenesis of OC [7]. Dik et al [10] showed that OC lesions become permanent from approximately 5 months of age in the tarsocrural (TC) joint, disease stability is reached at a later stage; OC lesions become permanent from the age of approximately 8 months in the femoropatellar (FP) joint
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
