Soundness Issues & Prevention

Here is a radiograph of an almost two year old horse. It is that time of year when people get excited about getting their two year olds to a trainer to get started under saddle. Here is a perfect example of why not to be in such a hurry. This horse will be two in May and when we sent these radiographs of his knees/carpus to a specialist at a university. We were told this horse should not be started in a training program for another 10-12 months because his growth plates in his knees were not closed enough. Starting a horse that is not physically mature enough can have long term effects like osteoarthritis and chronic lameness issues. If you have any doubt, you can always have radiographs done to see if the growth plates are closed enough for the work required by a training program.