The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ring-Bone

RING-BONE, a bony excrescence on the pastern of a horse. It is a morbid growth, callus or exostosis, commonly due to inflammation, and in some cases extending to toe-joints with disabling effort. It is one of the more frequent ailments of horses and, although ordinarily affecting animals of inferior condition or injured by overwork, it sometimes appears in very young colts. While not always visibly impairing the serviceableness of a horse, ring-bone usually deprecates the market value of animals affected with it, and as cure is practically impossible it is a defect which calls for particular preventive methods in the care and breeding of horses and for cautious scrutiny in the purchase of them.