Anyone have a horse sound after spavin?

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ChristineCorp

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Is there anyone out there whose horse has come sound after waiting for the lower hock joints to fuse?

We're all getting very frustrated after 2 yrs of waiting. Last years xrays showed quite advanced fusion so our mare was not suitable for any treatment.

She works beautifully in walk and trot the problem only exists in canter and then only when the affected leg is on the outside. There's no problem with weight bearing it's the extra bit of stretch that causes trouble..

Has anyone had the tendons cut ?(cuneal tenectomy).

I suppose we all know it's a question of time and every horse is different but it's very frustrating. We're going to have a fresh xray taken to assess progress but it would be great to hear from someone who's been through this and ended up with a sound horse.

Anyone able to give some reassurance?
 
Two years is a looooong time! I know a horse who was "iffy" in canter for about a year. We thought it was a schooling problem until she went lame, it turned out the "iffiness" was spavins in both hocks. One had fused and one was nearly there. The only reason the horse went lame was because she has strained her check ligament in her front leg too! She was a tough old boot
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She is now sound and hacking, the check ligament meant she can't be schooled much any more and never jumped again, the spavins weren't her biggest problem despite them taking about two years to fuse.
I also know another horse who only took about six/nine months to fuse. He is back out doing intro BE
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I sold a pony once to someone who promised him a 'home for life' cos her horse had spavins & wasn't rideable. To cut a long story short, her horse recovered & went back to full work & my pony ended up in Cambridge Sales.
 
Yes me
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Pidge diagnosed 8.5.07. back in full work Aug 07. Had cortisteroid injections in his hock and then a week off work. Month of walk and trot on a surface and then a month with canter introduced.
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Good luck
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Aran has spavin thats fused.
I have just done a post on here my horse had surgery in jan there are a few of us going through same treatment.Maybe we need to set up our own site as a self help group.Very frustrating waiting my horse has just gone really lame on front leg and Im not sure if its related as its not the diagonal leg another visit from vet tomorrow arghhhhhhhhhh
 
A self help group would be fantastic. It just seems we all need some support through the interminable wait.

It's great to see such a lovely horse sound and back in competition but hard to cope not knowing when yours will be. I spoke to the veterinary clinic that diagnosed our mare last year and the vet concerned has now changed his mind about giving some corticosteroid injections.

He's given info for our own vet and has said that the mare went sound after a local anaesthetic in one particular joint and that injections into that joint might work.

There's also the possibility that the tendon running over the joint can become inflamed and scarred. Horses can have a simple operation under local anaesthetic to cut the tendon and remove the scarred piece. Soundness returns with the bonus that the tendon regenerates after a while so the horse is not permanently without it. Cutting it just removes the tension in the joint.

Apparently you can find out if it's the tendon either by a scan to see if it's inflamed or by applying some local anaesthetic and seeing if the horse becomes sound. It's a reasonably priced op at about £400 with most of the cost being for the local anaesthetic.

I'm waiting to hear back from our own vet after he's looked at her xrays. Think we'll try an injection first and see what happens. At least we're lucky enough that it's only one leg. It's quite common for both hocks to be involved and you don't find out about the less painful one until something is done about the really bad one.

I'm gutted at how easily this happened. They reckon she probably caught herself with a front shoe when she was getting up from lying down. She damaged the periosteum (covering of the bone) and it became inflamed. If she'd knocked any other part of her leg she'd have had just a small lump and still been sound.
 
I opted for surgery jan this year.Apparently they have to cut a hole through the tendon to do the operation thats one of the reasons why they need box rest after surgery to enable the tendon to recover .We have had a set back this last 2 weeks he was making great progress then stood on a 4 inch nail and had to be rested for the puncture wound .He was too mad and excitable to due road work and I used the school a few times to settle him down I think the extra work has inflammed the joint and hes really regressed.
 
My horse had spavin and it took us 18months before i was on again riding happily.
To be fair - your issue may be that she only had spavin in one leg. once the joint has fused the horse is no longer in pain but movement will be slightly restricted compared to normal (as you no longer have the lower joints) - therefore if you have fused spavin in both legs you dont notice the restriction as its the same in both. however you may be able to notice it when only one joint is affected. getting he extra stretch may never be as possible in that leg as the other.

My horse is sound now - but i have to remember that his hocks will never be the same again. engaging behind and certain lateral work will always be harder for him as he has restricted movement (thats not to say that he can't do it - its just harder for him) - but he is equal behind. if your horse is not equally restricted behind you may always slightly notice it (whether or not shes actually lame).

On flexion test and joint blocks does she improve? that will show you how much better she can get.

Steroid or HA injections may help. Some horses do not respond to either, some do in the short term, a few it works for the long term - you only know once you try. For aran steriods worked in the short term (couple of months).

Hope this made some sense!
 
My mare did come sound from hock spavin, diagnosed Feb/March 08, in full work now and had tildren/steroid treatment. Seemed to do the trick, although she did only have a mild case of spavin.....typical tho she is now lame again but this time on her front!!!
 
The strange action behind is like severe stringhalt. The little mare suddenly pulled up on it one day and was hopping like a dog on 3 legs with a rider on board. That was what resulted in the original diagnosis of a pulled muscle.

The vet is adamant that the pain is in the tarsal/metatarsal joint because she went sound as soon as he injected the anaesthetic there. He doesn't think we have a tendon problem.

The mare is superb in walk and trot and she can weight bear on the leg in canter, it's just when the leg is on the outside , ie when she is cantering left. As the vet said, get rid of the pain and the problem disappears and the spavin is in such a place that they can virtually guarantee total soundness when fusion is complete. That's good news. The problem is how long it's going to take.

I'm a bit sick that he know thinks it's worth trying steroids to speed up the fusion when he was adamant it would have been a waste of time before. It makes me feel that we might have been able to help the little mare and the guilt is often the worst.

I must remember that the only time she's in any pain is in canter so that I don't feel too guilty. as with all things she can canter and gallop around the field with no discomfort. Makes you mad doesn't it.
 
touch wood just the one so far but I'm sure he will need more in the future hence keeping a good check on how he is going. From memory it wasn't that expensive having his hock injected, don't think the post is on here anymore but I'll dig out the vets bill and post it later.
 
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