Advice, treatment,opinions re arthritis of coffin joint...

weob

weob

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Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

I'll try and keep this as brief as I can!

In 2005 my mare developed a bone spavin in her off-hind. Worked her gently on a low dose of bute and (touches wood) has been okay on it ever since.

In 2006, she developed a splint and had further time off to allow them to settle. (touches wood) that has been okay ever since.

In 2007, she had toxic laminitis from too much selenium -possibly a batch of feed she had but cannot prove anything.
2008 she had a re-occurence of the laminitis probably caused by haylage as she is now highly easily prone to lammi.

This year she has decided to come up with something new! (takes a deep breath!) After Bickenhall ODE she was slightly pottery but not outright lame. Gave her some time off, got farrier to have a look (excellent farrier who I trust implicitly) and could not find anything. Took her for nerve-blocks and X-rays which showed that she had minor arthritic changes to her coffin joints.

She had cortizone injections into her coffin joints last week and her shoes changed to bar shoes with a slight wedge on them as she is quite low on her heel anyway. She has been on Cortaflex since developing her spavin.

You still with me?
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Sooo, my question is/are: should I change her joint supplement? If so for what - Newmarket joint supp, cosequin, synoquin? Does anyone know if Tildren can be used for coffin joint arthritis or just spavins? Any other treatment you can think of?

Huge congratulations if you have got this far!

Any advice, opinions GREATLY received.

Thank you, W.
 
hi double-u
my horse has got mild arthritic changes to both his coffin joints due to damaging his collateral ligaments - one in each foot. he is now back in work after very careful rehab and is successfully competing in showing and dressage, he will never jump again - i won't risk it and consider myself lucky to get this far with him as some on this forum have not been so lucky. he has been on a joint supplement ever since i bought him (equiflex) like to think it helped in damage limitation - who knows !! anyway i have kept him on it but also now give him a herbal product called boswellia and another called herbal movement from a e-bay shop called natural horse supplies ( would post a link if i knew how !!) who knows if they work i like to think they do and in his last dressage test the judge commented on his lovely flowing paces. as i say don't know if any of these work but i wouldn't dare take him off any of them. i have him shod every 4 weeks as correct foot balance is very important, mine has tb feet, prone to long toes low heels, but with this regime his has good feet for a tb. think we must remember that arthritis is a natural progression in all of us !! good luck x
 
I'm one of the unlucky ones blackned referred to. Jesper's x-rays showed mild arthritic changes in his coffin joint. He was x-rayed after having shortened his stride and losing performance. He was less willing to go forward but never overly lame. We treated with steroid injections in to the coffin joint. He came sound for about four months but then went 'odd' again. We had him MRI'ed as the x-rays did not show enough changes to warrant him being lame again. MRI confirmed collateral ligament damage. He had nine months off and returned to work as a light hack and dressage horse. About a year later, (this Feb), he retired. He's 11yrs old. He however does have a multitude of injuries which have all contributed to his retirement.
So in answer to your question. Joint supplement wise everyone will have their own opinion. We used pernamax (google it or maxivita and it should come up) and the vet was impressed with the results. How old is your mare? If she is young and the insurance will pay an MRI is worth considering. X-rays often only show half the story.
 
Hi Marchtime & Blackned

We have had several e mails between us in the past. My mare has never come sound enough to compete after her cl injury despite months and months of slowly bringing her back to work. A visiting AI vet came out for routine vacs and she saw her passport and her excellent blood line and said to put her in foal this year and see what a year out brings . So please cross everything for her as she is being scanned next week to see if she has taken. It would be lovely to have a foal from her. I am looking to put her on a joint supplement to help but if she is in foal not sure what to go for.
 
Thanks for your replies.

Marchtime - she is 14 now and not insured for vets fees only for total loss...

I have to be quite careful as to what supplements etc she can have as she is extremely susceptible to laminitis. In an ideal world it would be lovely to be able to just chuck her out in the field and let her become a broodmare but with the lammi this really isn't an option. (She can only go out for an hour each day with a muzzle on, it really is that bad!)

Horses don't you just love 'em?
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W
 
my horse went lame 12 months ago he has very bad collatral ligament damage and was told to put him down even by newmarket but my own vet said try irap which i did five injections now sound and in work after a month after last injection and the supplement i feed recovery eq from amercia i wont jump him ever again my choice but he alive thats all that matters
 
Loads of experience with coffin joint issues
In the last 12 months,Jacob has had steroid, Adequan and Cartrophen (which really helped for about 6 months)injections, specialist shoeing, IRAP and 5 weeks ago had a £1800 arthroscopy operation which found a bone chip and torn cartilage which hadn't shown up in any of his xrays or scans. The vet assures me that she investigated all ligaments and tendons and they are ok. He is still very lame and has just had shoes put back on. Keeping fingers crossed but feeling quite pessimistic...
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ETA spelling correction
 
I've no idea about supplements and no experience with these types of arthritic problems BUT I did go to a seminar by a man called Robert Bowker, who is an American who has done a lot of research into navicular horses. It might be of interest for you to look at his stuff - he is very into barefoot and has some interesting theories on hoof trimming and management of problem horses. I've been trimming my horses in line with his ideas for a year or so now and it all seems very sensible - about allowing them to use the sole much more than traditional trimming and shoeing allow, which helps to strengthen the digital cushion and allow the frog to develop, leading to a more stable and supported foot. He said that most navicular horses that he comes across have very squishy balls-of-the-heel, and horse with healthy hooves have solid heels. It goes on but I'm sure it's better from the horses mouth so to speak so I'll stop.
 
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