# Calcium buildup on the knee



## Common Tator

We have been offered an 8-10 year old quarter horse gelding that is broke, and currently occasionally ridden by kids. Before this family got him, he belonged to a dude ranch that has gone out of business. He has a bulge on one knee that the current owner says is a calcium buildup (according to his vet). Has anyone seen this or dealt with it before?

I advertised on craigslist this morning for a free companion horse that can be gently and occasionally ridden by hubby and I. This boy sounds like a winner, if the knee won't get too much in the way.


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## malinda

Do they mean arthritis?


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## Common Tator

No, I have been trying to read up on this (with the help of google) and it seems that arthritis is different. The owner says it is not arthritic, and I am reading from other horse owners that this isn't arthritis, but the joint could become arthritic in the future.


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## Common Tator

I want to explain a little more. The horse would only be ridden at a walk around our 42 acre ranch, and only occasionally. I'm in my 50's and have a very bad back. I won't be barrel racing again in this lifetime (did as a teenager).

We had a companion horse that has been ill for quite some time, and this morning was in pain and couldn't get up. So we put him down. I am still very upset about that, and cried my eyes out. I'm not half as upset as our mare, who was given the opportunity to spend time with him before we buried him. She sniffed him good, and had about half an hour with the body. But she is going crazy now searching for him high and low and whinnying like crazy. I don't think she understands that he is dead.

I advertised for a companion horse on craigslist, hoping that we could get one that could occasionally be ridden.

There was an old thoroughbred mare offered for free on Craigslist that was skin and bones in the picture. We are at an elevation in the mountains that gets very cold in the winter, and we do get snow. Sometimes a lot of snow. I don't want a horse that is too thin going into winter. I want one with sufficient body weight to be able to properly acclimate to the cold. I received another call offering me another thin thoroughbred mare, that is skin and bones. I turned her down for the same reason, and explained my reason. She said that her husband says they have too many horses, and she had this quarter horse gelding with the calcium buildup on the knee, so here we are.


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## jill.costello

Without x-rays, you will not know. If the calcium is not interfering with the fluid motion of the joint, then it really is nothing to worry about. If it is _still laying down calcium_ and *might* grow to a size to interfere with the joint, then it could be a heartbreak when the critter eventually goes lame.

I had a good crack on my shin bone many years ago; it "offended" the bone and a lump of calcium formed. Does it slow me down or bother me at all? Heck no! But, I do have a traumatic injury in my shoulder. I have a "spur" of calcium threatening to interfere with my joint.....that's going to be a surgery _someday_....

.


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## beccachow

My old fellow had this, he was a champion roper out west and they kept injecting him to keep him winning . The knee was awful looking and swollen, but he rarely limped on it. He did duty teaching young girls to ride, no real problems. His real problem was his back end, and that is a story for a different thread. He got relief from DMSO rubbed on it, and a good quality joint supplement helped him all over.

I am sooooo sorry about your gelding . It hurts so badly, and it hurts the ones they leave behind as well.


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## Common Tator

Thank you Jill. Most of the horses with this problem that I am reading about are still being ridden. I do think an x-ray is a good idea.


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## Common Tator

beccachow said:


> My old fellow had this, he was a champion roper out west and they kept injecting him to keep him winning . The knee was awful looking and swollen, but he rarely limped on it. He did duty teaching young girls to ride, no real problems. His real problem was his back end, and that is a story for a different thread. He got relief from DMSO rubbed on it, and a good quality joint supplement helped him all over.
> 
> I am sooooo sorry about your gelding . It hurts so badly, and it hurts the ones they leave behind as well.


Thank you Becca! Where do you get DMSO? If we get him, I do plan on including a joint suppliment.


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## southerngurl

Like a bone spur? If so, this would likely indicate some kind of mineral imbalance/deficiency and if alleviated, the bump could probably reabsorb.


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## beccachow

I am betting this is calcification from the work he was doing. It is kind of sad what can happen to our equine athletes .

DMSO can be gotten at any tractor supply, southern states, online, etc. It is like a really super strong horsey bengay. It is the strangest stuff, it starts to freeze at like 40 degrees! One warning, always wear a rubber glove to apply it, it is s.t.r.o.n.g. stuff. But my horse melted with relief.


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## jill.costello

Be very careful with DMSO. It is a "driving agent", and can _carry_ anything with it into the skin and the blood supply. If you mix it with aspirin, it carries the aspirin into the body. If you mix it with cortizone, it carries the cortizone, etc, etc. IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL, it will also "carry" anything you have on your applicator, your gloves or already on the horse's skin, too!

DMSO is actually an industrial solvent, but it has this amazing capability of driving straight through cell walls _without injuring them_. It is a miraculous, albeit somewhat dangerous anti-inflammatory.

Used correctly, I have seen truely amazing healing and therapy. Just do your research on it and ask your vet the proper handling techniques for your particular horse's situation.


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## beccachow

Jill, thank you for that warning, you are correct. It is some very interesting stuff, for sure, well worth it but do your research. In fact, we used to "paint it" on my old fellows hips with a paint brush, to lessen our own contact. Commontater, don't be overly scared by this, just do your research. It is a wonderful and useful therapy but some research (or vet's advice, he was the one that suggested a paintbrush to me) will go a long way into your understanding of it. 

I had a human friend who swore by using it on his own back (do not try this at home, he was looney to start with)!!!!


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## southerngurl

Yes, weird stuff. If you get it on your skin, you taste it very quickly!


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## wr

Common Tator, I've seen the calcium deposit go either way. I've been told by guys who've been around horses a lot longer than me that if the calcification is above or below the joint, the problem usually remains cosmetic. If the problem lays on the joint, it will probably have a negative impact on the joint and the horse will either develop a stiff joint or become gimpy. Their train of thought seems to be that if it is on the joint, the regular movement will irritate the deposit and the horse stands a very good chance of ending up lame. 

I have only dealt with a calcium deposit twice and both seemed to advance fairly fast. We had a super steer wrestling horse that developed a calcium deposit over his eye and it was enough of a problem that it had to be surgically removed ever second spring to save his eye. 

The second was a young reining horse that was sent to me for a bit more polish and it simply could't be done because he came to me stiff and any amount of use made it worse. 

If you're sure this horse is otherwise a good match, it would be a very good idea to have a vet look at the knee.


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## Common Tator

Thank you WR, it would be a good idea to have a vet check him out.


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## fetch33

Sounds like he 'popped a splint', really it is a fracture of the splint bone that runs down the side of the cannon bone. My daughter's horse has a horrible splint that showed up after he shed out this spring (he was so hairy it looked like he was wearing pants). It has been injected once with cortisone because he keeps re-injuring it. You might want to get xrays or a vet opinion on this calcium deposit.


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