Mid pastern, Right front, hard enlargements on either side. Three year old large pony. No heat or sensitivity on palpation. No apparent lack of range of motion. Pony trots sound. Pony is otherwise suitable, but I’m on a strict budget and can’t decide whether or not to spring for further investigation.
High ringbone, maybe?
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Is pony for resale or you plan on keeping a lifetime?
If resale I’d pass and if for personal I’d pass without X-rays at least. If you do more diagnostic work, I’d consider for personal.
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It’s ringbone. But if the pony is sound, it is either a fully fused high ringbone or not in the joint at all- a “false” ringbone.
As a teenager, our family friend was a local race trainer. When I was away at camp, he contacted my parents about a horse who needed a home, and the horse was known to be a “nice” horse at the track, and sound. But nobody wanted him because he had a pastern that looked like that one. So he was going to go for dog food. It was a pity, and a waste of a good horse, he felt- everyone at the track liked this horse, exercise riders, and jockeys. So when I got home from camp, there was a new horse at our place. We had it xrayed. It was clear of the joint, and the horse was sound until his death at 28. The horse had done the injury as a yearling, it turned out, had gone through the yearling sale with it, had raced on it for 4 years, no problem. But it looked scary to those who didn’t know him. He was, indeed, a lovely horse.
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Ringbone doesn’t have to be in the joint (articular) to still be ringbone.
In addition to high (lower end of P1 long pastern or any of P2 short pastern) and low (P3/coffin bone) ringbone, there is articular (within joint space) and non-articular (outside the joint space). It’s still ringbone.
Yes, “false” rinbone is not in the joint- non articular. Perhaps it’s a local term.
That’s too bad, because it’s still all ringbone. High or low, articular or non-. Still ringbone 
