Compaction, Resistance, And Cushioning

Yesterday's Personal Ensign race video (NTRA website) nicely shows the tremendous cumulative concussive effect on the front lead legs as those fillies gallop all out to the wire. Some videos show it, and this one does. Ginger Punch, Lemon Drop Mom and a horse that sold for $4000 as a yearling finishing third. There is hope!

For our single bone cell in this situation I'm imagining what's left of the organic collagen cell(after mineralization) and encasing bone glue proteins undergo some squeezing and compaction that cushion the blow while simultaneously the mineral matrix of the individual cell that is also part of the larger mineral matrix of the whole bone resists and pushes back against the force according to some mathematical formula for inorganic solids from mechanical engineering similar to E=mc2 which proves the solid matrix resists and pushes back until the applied force becomes overbearing and commences to break or fracture the matrix.

This resistance is further aided by the organization of multiple bone cells in close proximity which further buttress, cushion and resist the force. You may see in the photo below, a microscopic image of contiguous bone cells, how few gaps or spaces appear in the material and the probable degree of cushion thus provided. Note -lower right -this is taken at 50 nm as opposed to Hansma's 5nm.
Under what conditions does this hold up? Next post.

Training:
Fri. 8/22 Horses are off. Vet day. Teeth, Shots, Coggins. Rod's tiny wolf teeth were removed. It turned out Art was without Wolfs. Must have removed them last year, but in the teeth right next to the Wolfs in the upper mouth Art had very sharp long prongs. I never got around to calling the vet in the spring, so this is what you have, and we're theorizing the prongs on these two teeth may have caused some gum laceration that caused him pain on application of the bit at the fast gallop. We'll see next gallop which will be after tonight since for the zillionth time this year we've had another .6 inches of rain this morning.