ex-race horse

Question
Hi-
   While retraining an ex-racehorse I ran into something that I have questions about. I will admit that I am a novice to the sport of horse racing so this may be common knowledge unknown to me. I was working with a four-year-old Thoroughbred and noticed that she had rows of symmetrical black dots that ran between her fetlocks and her knees on both front legs. They were so small that, at first, I thought they were natural.  The barn owner told me that she had been "fire-branded.?She then went on to explain a process where small hot metal rods were inserted into the bones of the leg to make the bones stronger.  Are you familiar with this process? Is this standard procedure and what are the possible complications?
 Thanks.


Answer
That is not correct information that you were given. This process is also known as pin firing. The vet will use a hot iron rod and simply burn through the skin to promote healing of a "bucked shin". The thought behind this process is that more blood is drawn to this area to speed up the healing process. This is now a controversal technique that is left up to opinion, whether this actually speeds the shin healing proccess. No rods are actually inserted in to any bone. A new techinque caled freeze firing has taken the place of the hot iron. Another common method is called blistering. This is done by rubbing an irritant on the area to create something like a chemical burn which is believed to cause a similar reaction by drawing blood to the shin area. It is widely thought now that giving the horse time away from any speed work is the best treatment for a "bucked shin".

Christopher Crocker

http://CrockerRacingStable.com