August 2003

Watch The Knees

Hold off on starting two-year-olds until the knees have closed.

It’s a battle getting young horses ready for the halter ring and keeping stress off their knees.

The term “open knees” is misleading. The process a young horse goes through as his bones develop and his knees “close” actually involves the growth plate, not the knee joint.

The growth plates, which are above and below the joint, are modified forms of cartilage that calcify and lengthen the bone. The lower growth plate closes early in life, so it’s the top one you’re really concerned with. …