Age related degeneration

[SO1]

My 19 year old pony is now on his 2nd round of box rest and rehab following a soft tissue injury in the last 18 months.

Last year he had a hind suspensory injury in March 2020 recovered, back in full work and herd turn out Sept 2020 and now has tendon injury in his fore and back on box rest and rehab.

Vet said this injury is partly trauma after tripping over but also partly age related degeneration. I do need to have a proper conversation with the vet to better understand the prognosis and how his age impacts on recovering and possible further injuries. However vets are busy and sometimes takes a while to be able to fit in a conversation around all their appointments so have to wait for him to have some time to call me back. It is always the way after the initial diagnosis that I have questions after reflecting on the situation.

I need to speak to the vet to better understand what he means about age related degeneration and if there is going to be a big risk of this happening every year how best to manage it - I don't mind retiring but because of his weight I would need to move him out of the area to find a track livery or retirement livery with very little grass. He is already on soaked hay and has a grazing muzzle which he get gets off quite a lot so I can't rely on that for weight control. I would be incredibly sad not because I could not ride but because I could not see him very often but realistically I cannot spend thousands of pounds on rehabbing him every year on top of my normal part livery fees -(working long hours and living in London so not very near the yard mean I do need a lot of help). Even if money was no object I don't want him to be spending most of his time in his stable on rehab for the rest of his life, also if increased exercise is wearing his tendons and ligaments out I also don't want to shorten his life span. I have no plans to get another horse so would not mind paying what I currently d for part livery to get him a decent retirement. He is sound in walk and looks fine in trot on the hard but was very lame in the school on the soft.

I had not really planned for retirement or thought about it as I had presumed he would be able to carry on at least in enough work to control his weight even if he had to take it a bit easy and therefore remain near enough for me to spend time with him for a good many more years. I have had him since he was 5 so the thought of him being far away makes me so sad.

Can anyone help me understand age related degeneration and what this might mean for the next few years until I can speak to my vet.

 

[Mule]

I don't think you need to worry about these types of injuries happening frequently. Soft tissue injuries are naturally slower to heal with age but I wouldn't assume he will be more prone to them. It may just be bad luck.
As you said yourself, you need to talk to your vet. I don't think you should plan to make any changes beforehand.

 

[milliepops]

One of mine did 4 in a row (different legs, different circumstances, different soft tissue) and when she did the 4th I asked the vets what they thought was going on and they replied similar, that she seems to have hit a point in her life where her soft tissues are just more prone to injury and there's nothing we can particularly do about it.

she reinjured one of them and at that point i decided I'd had enough heartache, although she had recovered well each time and returned to competition it's a lot of work and a lot of mental pain, even though I was able to do her rest in a pen in the field so she was happy enough I couldn't take any more disappointment, and tbh horse owes me *nothing*, she's been amazing.

Mine was a similar age to yours when this started happening. she's been retired to the field for a few years and looks great considering all her past injuries, I decided at the point of retirement that if she did anything else serious that I would PTS, and she's had the odd doddery day where I've been ready to call time but it's always resolved quickly so far.

So I can't help from a clinical understanding POV, just wanted to share my experiences.

 

[shergar]

Has your horse ever been tested for Cushings , with this condition ligaments / tendons loose elasticity but tend to improve with treatment .

 

[SO1]

Thanks for your responses very useful.

I have now spoken to my vet. He said the risk of soft tissue injury increases in any horse over the age of 7 but prognosis for recovery for my pony is good.

I don't jump him anymore since his injury last year and take it fairly easy with hacking and veteran classes and a bit of intro dressage. He did say the less he does the less likely he is to get reinjured. If I retire him he will be less likely to get reinjured but vet thinks it would be a shame to retire him if he can still do light work.

I am also going to get him tested for Cushings although vet said he did not think Cushings has any impact on their tendons and ligaments but said it was a good idea at his age as then if he has does have it we can treat him before any major symptoms arise.

This is the first time I have had an elderly pony so learning how to manage him is important.