A Review

"(it) does well, but, how does it do well?
It does well to those that do to it."
--Mr. S in Hamlet

S.W. Research Institute uses Bone fracture toughness" to describe the quality or characteristic of bone material that resists breakage and holds up under stress. For our horses I have termed this FR or "fracture resistance", which has presumable significance considering such as 8Belles, Mi Rey, Bonnie Brown Eyes, et. al. When we send our horse out there, is their FR??? For, without it, we risk anything from loss of our racer to unmitigated disaster.

For horse people--owners and trainers--there is the vague general notion that speed work and training will increase "density and strength". If you ask 10 different trainers how this happens and at what point in training FR is achieved, they will either look at you like you're crazy or you will get 10 different answers. Does anyone on the back stretch really have a clue, which serves as the explanation why every animal there will in general be permanently retired within two years, and most much earlier.

We blaze on, and try to get some answers. But first a confession that due (in part) to the complexities involved, but mostly because of distractions and diversions, yours truly has got to get back into this and figure where this was. And so, a post or two to summarize and get back on course.

SW Research summarizes the various complexities in the microstructure of bone (see post of 12/7/09) summarizing FR as an amalgam of everything in bone microstructure, including:

fibril constituents
micro structure
orientation
distribution
mineral content %
mineral platelet shape and size
arrangement, direction, density, and content of fibril arrays

Each of the above has its own chapter, and hopefully, as I look back, much of this has been covered on the blog. I will stop here today and hope to produce a short coherent review next.

Training: will be posted a bit later.