Heat In The Cannon Bones

Let's say the horse has just completed 6f in 1:12 carrying our pinhead in blue jeans and cowboy boot, cell phone clipped on belt, can of chewing tobacco in pocket, 9 lbs exercise saddle + misc. equipment comes to about 140 lbs in all on the morning track that carries more concussion that the fluffed up surface of the afternoons.

Our athlete stands at left post workout with the foreleg photo showing the primary area of our concern. I will be using the palms of my hands to feel for heat up and down these legs to both gage the amount of heat that is present, and for any unusual heat in a particular area. I'd much prefer, whatever the quantity and quality of the heat I'm feeling, that it be evenly distributed, for in this instance I'm likely at this point mostly feeling exercise heat produced systemically by the workout.

This horse, if he's mine, after a brief cool down period, goes directly to the ice tub, ice to above the knees, for 20 minutes precisely, and then another foreleg check for heat to see what remains after the 20 minute icing. I'll do another foreleg check in about an hour and then at 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours post workout.

What I expect to find in these checks varies with the fitness of the horse. Let's assume that we've previously brought the horse gradually and reasonably to the point that we can perform 6f in 1:12 safely and without any undo concern. Our foreleg checks thus (hopefully) merely monitor bone remodeling as for purposes here we'll assume this horse survived the workout without injury. What may we expect to find in terms of even cannon bone heat distribution in the 12/24/36/48 hour foreleg checks?

The answer will depend on the degree of bone fitness of this racehorse. Here is roughly my experiences with horses from the time of their first on-track 6f in 1:12 breeze on through racing:

1st breeze--there will be significant cannon bone heat remaining at 12 hours, less at 24, very mild heat at 36 and completely gone in 48 hours. Again, this is for an animal that we have brought to this point logically without skipping steps.

2nd breeze--significant heat at 12 hrs. but hopefully of slightly lesser intensity than after the first breeze. We should be able to feel a subtle difference. At 24 hours will still feel some heat but a significant drop. Very very mild heat at 36 and cold in 48.

In terms of cannon bone heat, these two breezes were the nail biters. Our horse survived because 1. with each check we feel reduction in heat, and 2. in 48 hours we have cold legs.

3rd breeze--at 12 hours we have only mild heat. This is the break through indicating that the horse is probably ready to race in terms of bone development. By the next morning, 24 hours, we feel almost cold legs.

An over abundance of caution might call for another 6f breeze, but probably we can safely race this horse with the caveat that we run an easy race.

1st race: The race is far more strenuous than the breezes and we'll get significant heat at 12 hrs, BUT if our horse is bone fit we'll feel very little heat at 24 hours and cold legs at 36.

It will take to the 3rd race (assuming logical breezing in the interim) before we get cold legs 24 hours post race.

The reason for the above exercise is to illustrate what I believe happens in terms of bone remodeling as we progress through the program. The colder the legs and the sooner post exercise, the farther we're along.

Training:
Tues. 4/8: 1/2 inch of rain. Took a second day off with Rod. I'm comfortable with that at Rod's stage of immaturity. He'll be 2 next month. Art yet to be ready with his chest.