Question

My Thoroughbred colt has been given high-quality forage and concentrate since birth. He is three years old now (4+ body condition; 1,100 lb or 500 kg), and he has spent the last five months at the training center stalled at all times except when he’s out on the track in the morning. He arrived at the racetrack two days ago. He was taken on an easy gallop on the first day and was lame by the second day. Radiographs showed bone demineralization. He will be given some time off and hand-walked. Along with this hay and concentrate, he is fed 2 lb (0.9 kg) of a balancer pellet. What can I do about bone demineralization?

Answer

If your colt is going to be on stall rest or restricted to light exercise, I suggest giving him DuraPlex, a proprietary mixture of nutrients designed to improve bone density in horses. DuraPlex contains a source of milk proteins that has been shown to stimulate bone formation and inhibit bone destruction when horses are confined for extended periods of time. The higher serving rate of DuraPlex, 120 g per day, is recommended for at least 30 to 60 days. (Australian horse owners should look for Bone Food Plus.)

Once the horse is ready to go back into training, I recommend maintaining him on a bone and digestive health supplement called Triacton. Triacton was developed to support bone density in exercising horses, and research performed on young Thoroughbreds in training showed positive improvements in dorsal cortical bone density compared to horses receiving the placebo. An added benefit of Triacton as a daily supplement is the ability of the novel calcium source to act as a buffer throughout the digestive tract. Triacton is recommended as a daily supplement to maintain bone and digestive health in performance horses.