>From an article on The Horse: >>>Adult onset spavin (typically referred to as bone spavin) is probably the >>>most common form of spavin and is associated with "wear and tear" or >>>repetitive trauma due to performance demands in mature or older horses, >>>Dechant states. "In addition to the factors associated with tarsitis and >>>juvenile spavin, other risk factors include performance events that >>>stress the hind limbs (Western performance/ rodeo events, jumping, >>>dressage, pulling events), some shoeing practices (trailers, calks, hoof >>>imbalance), poor conformation (post-legged, cow-hocked, sickle-hocked), >>>and injury to the small tarsal bones from infection, fracture, luxation >>>(complete dislocation), or crushing/collapse. Breed disposition would be >>>associated with conformation and breed-prevalent performance >>>demands."<<<<
The Icelandic Horse allegedly has a predisposition to spavin. Bones of the horse, found from centuries ago, show spavin. As a breed, the Icelandic Horse does not do athletically challenging work such as barrel racing, jumping, or dressage. Basically it's movement, historically, is straight and fast. Yet the predisposition is still there; at least in horses born in Iceland. Could it be the nutrition? the breeding? stress on the joints due to terrain? Note that juvenile Icelandics also show higher incidence of spavin (these are unstarted, unridden horses). Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
