18 yr old with arthritis and lame on front left, continue remedial shoeing? What do i do !

[rosiexo]

Hi all!

I'm new here but feeling completely lost so need some advice.

I have an 18 yr old connemara gelding. Had no issues till osteoarthritis in 2021, had steroid treatment, was good till 2023. Took him to a diff yard up north for a year and he got mudfever for the 1st time, was kicked, then was on box rest multiple times, then went lame on his fronts (not hopping, just not right). Had the vets out, did x-rays and administered arthimed to fronts and at another point had steroid treatment to hocks. Due to another kick and boxrest I did not see a noticeable difference from the arthrimed. That's not to say there wasn't one. Both were considered a failed treatment by vets. He had remedial shoeing on his fronts with gels and barefoot on back.

Not right for the next 6 months, took him to a different yard with kinder horses and gave him 4 months off to move around in the field and see if his hocks would fuse. Brought him back into very light work, still not right. Took him to vets, looked off on all four. They said no point doing more steroids if they failed before and to give it our all with remedial shoeing (he has very thin soles, small hooves and a flat pedal bone) to lift his heels and give more support. He has very expensive shoes on currently with gels and all sorts. I was to start walking work for 5 weeks for 30 mins and increase by 10 mins a week. He has been very willing in the walk and loose. He did a few strides of trot as was excited and is lame on front left.

I don't want to continue to walk him if he is lame as what help is that going to do? I don't want to force him to do anything that isn't comfortable, but at the same time he is only 18 and loves hacking and going on days out (we don't do anything strenuous).

I have requested another vet call to see if this is what they expected. I don't know enough about remedial shoeing to know how effective it can be, i was just at my wits end and wanted to try something new. What would you do? Would you put him on something like Equioxx indefinitely? Or danilon? I'm not inclined to go straight to bute but I want him comfortable. Would you continue with the walking and the shoeing? I just want him to be happy and he loses a lot of condition when out of work so i think it would be great for him if he can continue ridden work. OR do i try arthrimed again?

NB: he is out 24/7
have tested for cushings and negative
does not have laminitis
He is on Science supplements flexability professional (at quite an expense haha!)

Thank you in advance!! I'll try anything at this point.

 

[ester]

To me, once they have issues in multiple locations it’s only fair to provide systemic pain relief. Where was the OA dx in 2021?

when did he last do hacking/days out given lame now/how many weeks into the walk work were you?

If mine the shoes would be off and I’d be booting with pads to transition the fronts with bute if necessary for comfort then see what I had

 

[AmyMay]

Well for starters I’d be giving pain relief. And then taking out the incidents of being kicked etc I’d try and stand back to make an impassioned decision.

From what you’ve written I’d probably be looking to pts. But appreciate that that may seem a bit ‘quick’ for some.

 

[rosiexo]

Hi Ester, thanks so much for prompt reply. Hock OA in 2021. Was given steroid injections and responded well. Was fine on fronts at that point.

Hasn't been hacked since Jan but has been ridden round large field with a track (no menage) every day for 2.5 weeks now. At 40 mins walk now. He has been off for 2 days since realised he is lame (If i hadn't let him do a few strides of trot I wouldn't have known). 3 weeks since remedial shoeing.

Would you transition the fronts to barefoot eventually then? The vets initially thought that with the gels his soles would thicken but they did not. Without shoes he is very uncomfortable (to be expected) but even prior to OA he was reluctant to walk on hard surfaces (now I know this is due to thin soles).

 

[rosiexo]

To me, once they have issues in multiple locations it’s only fair to provide systemic pain relief. Where was the OA dx in 2021?

when did he last do hacking/days out given lame now/how many weeks into the walk work were you?

If mine the shoes would be off and I’d be booting with pads to transition the fronts with bute if necessary for comfort then see what I had

Hi Ester, thanks so much for prompt reply. Hock OA in 2021. Was given steroid injections and responded well. Was fine on fronts at that point.

Hasn't been hacked since Jan but has been ridden round large field with a track (no menage) every day for 2.5 weeks now. At 40 mins walk now. He has been off for 2 days since realised he is lame (If i hadn't let him do a few strides of trot I wouldn't have known). 3 weeks since remedial shoeing.

Would you transition the fronts to barefoot eventually then? The vets initially thought that with the gels his soles would thicken but they did not. Without shoes he is very uncomfortable (to be expected) but even prior to OA he was reluctant to walk on hard surfaces (now I know this is due to thin soles).

 

[rosiexo]

Well for starters I’d be giving pain relief. And then taking out the incidents of being kicked etc I’d try and stand back to make an impassioned decision.

From what you’ve written I’d probably be looking to pts. But appreciate that that may seem a bit ‘quick’ for some.

The only reason he is not on Equioxx anymore is due to the vets wanting to see what we had once we looked at remedial shoeing. He is not hopping lame and until recently has a good quality of life (as far as I can measure given i am not him) so to PTS would be very irrational. Not to mention given what I wrote, you are suggesting that all horses with arthritis who are slightly off in trot at 18 with no pain relief should be PTS? That's a lot of horses!

 

[ester]

Yes, feet sounds pretty dysfunctional atm but given the comfort level you are very much going to have to take it slowly and with suitable boots/pads/wedging

Fwiw mine went lame in front at 19, nothing much to see other than flat palmar angle, feet looked great after remedial shoeing and coffin joint injection- horse still lame.
post transition didn’t retire from ridden work until 26 and wasn’t lame in front then either really.

 

[rosiexo]

Yes, feet sounds pretty dysfunctional atm but given the comfort level you are very much going to have to take it slowly and with suitable boots/pads/wedging

Fwiw mine went lame in front at 19, nothing much to see other than flat palmar angle, feet looked great after remedial shoeing and coffin joint injection- horse still lame.
post transition didn’t retire from ridden work until 26 and wasn’t lame in front then either really.

That's reassuring to hear. What happened to the feet once you move to barefoot that would help support? Is it possible that because he's been shod for so long that the feet won't adapt and his pedal bone will still be too flat? As he was barefoot on his backs for so long I would've thought that would have happened then or do they need to be barefoot all round? Sorry If i sound silly!

 

[ester]

Didn’t X-ray afterwards as no point, but no longer bullnosed so extrapolated pedal bone likely back in right place (Mostly due to digital cushion improvement) and that the coffin joint block might not have been totally accurate- he had a DJD diagnosis given on it but given nothin degenerated in the following 10 years I think that it was a misnomer and it was all soft tissue. He was ‘off’ intermittently for a couple of months before he went lame (in hindsight!)
In part if he was retiring he wasn’t keeping shoes on anyway so figured might as well give it a shot though the patience to see if it worked or not was hard! Had presumably been shod all his life, I got him at 12

We took it very slowly, instigated a track at home, started (in the march) 5 min road walking (in hand), increasing 5 min per week, at the 6 week point he went sore and was booted for all road work for a few months (I used to take them off when we hit the grass strip we could go and put them back on to go home).
In the September he had his first canter and November went to dressage.
He was never totally rock crunching but functional and totally sound and rarely in boots. Hooves grew quickly in full work to the point that it became easier to keep them balanced myself .

 

[Zoeypxo]

The only reason he is not on Equioxx anymore is due to the vets wanting to see what we had once we looked at remedial shoeing. He is not hopping lame and until recently has a good quality of life (as far as I can measure given i am not him) so to PTS would be very irrational. Not to mention given what I wrote, you are suggesting that all horses with arthritis who are slightly off in trot at 18 with no pain relief should be PTS? That's a lot of horses!

Is he sound on equioxx?

 

[Caski]

Hi all!

I'm new here but feeling completely lost so need some advice.

I have an 18 yr old connemara gelding. Had no issues till osteoarthritis in 2021, had steroid treatment, was good till 2023. Took him to a diff yard up north for a year and he got mudfever for the 1st time, was kicked, then was on box rest multiple times, then went lame on his fronts (not hopping, just not right). Had the vets out, did x-rays and administered arthimed to fronts and at another point had steroid treatment to hocks. Due to another kick and boxrest I did not see a noticeable difference from the arthrimed. That's not to say there wasn't one. Both were considered a failed treatment by vets. He had remedial shoeing on his fronts with gels and barefoot on back.

Not right for the next 6 months, took him to a different yard with kinder horses and gave him 4 months off to move around in the field and see if his hocks would fuse. Brought him back into very light work, still not right. Took him to vets, looked off on all four. They said no point doing more steroids if they failed before and to give it our all with remedial shoeing (he has very thin soles, small hooves and a flat pedal bone) to lift his heels and give more support. He has very expensive shoes on currently with gels and all sorts. I was to start walking work for 5 weeks for 30 mins and increase by 10 mins a week. He has been very willing in the walk and loose. He did a few strides of trot as was excited and is lame on front left.

I don't want to continue to walk him if he is lame as what help is that going to do? I don't want to force him to do anything that isn't comfortable, but at the same time he is only 18 and loves hacking and going on days out (we don't do anything strenuous).

I have requested another vet call to see if this is what they expected. I don't know enough about remedial shoeing to know how effective it can be, i was just at my wits end and wanted to try something new. What would you do? Would you put him on something like Equioxx indefinitely? Or danilon? I'm not inclined to go straight to bute but I want him comfortable. Would you continue with the walking and the shoeing? I just want him to be happy and he loses a lot of condition when out of work so i think it would be great for him if he can continue ridden work. OR do i try arthrimed again?

NB: he is out 24/7
have tested for cushings and negative
does not have laminitis
He is on Science supplements flexability professional (at quite an expense haha!)

Thank you in advance!! I'll try anything at this point.

OP, I am so sorry to hear that you have these issues with your boy.

I can only comment based on personal experience BUT when my boy showed similar problems we decided that at 19 he should have a summer out with a friend (also getting on a bit) and then pts both before winter/mud arrived.

Both had multiple issues and were not happy in any sort of 'work', the vets did what they could, we ran up horrendous bills but they did not suggest pts, we decided as we knew that both animals could no longer be 'horses'.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I think I would pull the shoes and do a barefoot rehab and see if you can get him comfortable even if he needs a bit of pain killer you may get him sound enough to light hack.

One of my Arab's has coffin joint arthritis and hock arthritis all been treated and he did have front shoes on but he started tripping and wasn't right so I took them off.

His been much better since and I still lightly hack him I did try boots but since the arthritis he trips in those as well so I just use hoof armour on him now.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would be giving Bute or Danilon a pair of normal shoes and leather pads in front I would see what that does if he’s comfy like that turned out
If he is I would see how it went.
If he’s not comfy I would call it a day .
Horses are stoic.

 

[lynz88]

I would pull shoes altogether. The reverberation of shoes on joints is a fair bit. Mine is far comfier barefoot even if he does get footy. I have arthritis in the LF as well due to poor farrier work for years (I'm still very, very angry about it) as well as hocks and boots take a lot of the tension out of his body - literally night and day. I would also be giving a bute a day and see how you get on. A monthly cartrophen also makes a huge difference to mine along with the bute.