Arthiritis in the hocks?

[Oaksflight]

If a horse has arthiritis in the hocks, does it mean there is no chance of it jumping again? Or is it possible to jump one after they've fused? Don't really know much about arthiritis as have never had a horse that has had it, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Sophie x

 

[aran]

hello. if the arthritis in the hock (bone spavin) is in the lower hock joints (tarsometatarsal or intertarsal) and they fuse then horses can return to full competitive life. If the joint doesn't fuse naturally then you can try to make it with chemical or surgical arthrodesis. Some will not though. About 70% of horses with bone spavin can be ridden. Some fully competitive, others will have good and bad days.
If the arthritis is in the high motion joint (tarsocrural) then things are more bleak.

Has your horse been diagnosed with bone spavin then?

 

[Super_Kat]

My old mare was diagnosed with arthritis in both hocks and she still continued doing things normally (which included jumping)

Kat
xx

 

[Oaksflight]

Nope. Had physio out today, she's treated him in hope that it's his muscles on his back end, namely his back right. I'll see how he is after he's had his two days off, if he's worse there's a chance it could be arthiritis, he's 13 this month and has done a fair bit of eventing in the past. I had my thoughts that it might be arthiritis as he improves, but just want to be prepared incase worst comes to worst! Thanks

 

[lizzie_liz]

My mare was diagnosed with bone spavin in her right hock about 4 years ago along with Navicular in her front feet.

She had steriods injected into the hock when she was diagnosed.

To cut a long story short we claimed LOU, i got a new horse, so she didn't do muc work but we have gradually increased the workload.

She had her first summer competing this year since she was first diagnosed and is jumping 85cm and 95cm tracks, prelim and novice dressage tests and been to Trailblazer SJ finals. We will be affliating her at xmas.

She has not had a days lameness in 4 years and on no supplement

 

[aran]

if syptoms have been developing for a while and include things such are he drags his right toe, tracks shorter with the right limb, finds left canter harder, lacks impulsion, and doesnt like to cross over behind then its more likely to be hock. A vet lameness work up with xrays would conclude either way. They like to rule out suspensory problems too.
Good luck with the physio

 

[Oaksflight]

He's slightly lame, does improve as work goes on. For example was dropping his shoulder etc when first got on, after I'd ridden for 20 mins, and then OH had had a lesson in mainly just walk and trot, circling and doing shallow loops, he was practically sound again. He is choppy with his strides in trot, very numb to the leg when leg yielding but will do it. Does lack impulsion and far easier to get him to canter and keep it going on right rein than left.

Oh and he does drag from behind, especially his right.

 

[Oaksflight]

Good to see success stories! Don't want to start thinking the worst, but I'm definately leaning towards arthiritis. We'll see if he's worse on Friday. Thanks you two. x

 

[brighteyes]

Mine has spavin in his off hind and has good days and slightly less good days. He had steroid injections and went totally sound for a fortnight. He is still capable of everything he could do before and gallops about like a lunatic. All I notice is an occasional mis-step behind and stiffness on softer going now and again. Warm up slowly and cool down well is his rule - as for any horse, but definitely now. Rarely do I give him bute - sometimes if he's very stiff, or after work which I feel may make him a bit more likely to feel sore the day after. It shouldn't be the end of the world if it is spavin (of the lower hock joint).

 

[Oaksflight]

I always make sure I warm up properly as it is, through fears of him getting arthiritis with him getting on a bit. Obviously it hasn't helped! Doesn't sound as bad as I thought though. I guess we'll see how he is when I can bring him back into work on Friday. I'm praying he's sound after physio.

 

[kerrylou123]

My tb mare has a spavin in her right hock (diagnosed about 18 months ago before i had her), and she's as sound as a pound (confirmed by vet) Obviously ill have to keep an eye on her as im sure she'll have good days and bad days especially over the winter, but fingers crossed all is well, and we've even started to learn to jump, so there is hope!

 

[Weezy]

Deffo loads of hope - Cercs has had arthritis in his hocks for years and I was still jumping L classes with him - he is still going now and is in his late 20s!

 

[selina25]

I used cortaflex on my cob and as long I kept up the dose once daily he was fine if I missed it for more than a day though he would be stiff and slightly lame after jumping
its about £55 a tub I found the liquid better than the powder

good luck

 

[monstermunch]

My boy has arthritis in both hocks and is happy as larry. We SJ and evebt with no problems. He does get stiff so needs a good warm up and cool down and I don't generally jump him any higher than 3.9ft anymore. He is on a good joint supplememnt and oil which has made the biggest difference to his mobility!

 

[Oaksflight]

He used to be on oil, but he's not at the moment (purely as I keep forgotting to buy more), so might have to buy him some more if that'll help? I presume you mean just vegetable oil type?

 

[Weezy]

Veg oil is useful, as is Cider Vinegar (stick them in with the weekly shop!)

 

[samesy]

My mare was diagnosed with hock lameness about 18 months ago, she has good days & bad days, she is on bute every day & a Glucosamine supplement. & I have stopped riding her as I feel if my joints ached I wouldnt want to run around & jump things, so she is now happily retired. We tried steroid injections but although they settled things down they weren't long term and the effects were short lived!

 

[Oaksflight]

We've got some cider viniger here already, will start putting that in his feed then!

 

[monstermunch]

The most important thing to do is to put him on a glucosamine supplement. This will prevent further damage, repair existing damage, and reduce pain and inflammation. You can get info on exactly what they do and why they should be fed on the riaflex website.
Any oil with cod liver oil or omega oils in are generally better than your standard corn or vegetable oil. Couldn't comment on the cider vinegar - havn't used it myself.

 

[lizzie_liz]

having said earlier that I don't use a supplement, i have had a rethink and think my mare would benefit from a joint supplement, as she is now working harder doing prelim/novice dressage and will be going BSJA from sbout xmas time.

So any advice on good supplements, but not cortaflex, she was on it before and made her worse, strange i know!

sorry to hijack

 

[Oaksflight]

It's ok! Hal is a lot better since physio has been, still a bit stiff with his back legs, but I've started putting cider vinegar in his feed so hopefully that'll help!

 

[emma_lg]

My horse has arthritis in her lower hock joints. She was diagnosed 2 years ago. She went very lame behind, as if she didn't have any energy in moving her back legs. After x-rays etc. we went for the steroid injections (the strongest possible) and she had a course of 2 in each hock. It worked brilliantly for her and she actually bounced afterwards. She has Newmarket Joint Supplement which is the purest form of glucosamine (sp?!) as this was thought the best for her and she has cider vinegar too.
I have been told she will probably need more injections but in the meantime people think she is a youngster (she is 18) and comment on how nicely she moves. I am always careful when doing certain work because of her hocks but then I need to be careful with her other legs too!!

 

[monstermunch]

Hi there,
Definately a good idea to go with a joint supplememnt if you are in higher end competition. However you have to be careful as feeding a supplement at low level will not have a significant impact on the joints. If you think about the dose a human takes (2000mg glucosmaine, 2000mg MSM, 1000mg chondroitin daily) an equine product should be considerably higher than this, though many are in fact shockingly lower than this. You would basically be paying for not much. I can only reccomend one product that I 100% know is high strength, good quality, and affordable for the triple combination: glucosmaine, MSM, and chondroitin.
They are formulated and produced by a therapsit in my area who set it up because they found no joint supplement good enough to reccomend to equine clients. The full story and all the info is on the website.
www.riaflex-equine.co.uk
There's some really useful info on there that will help you understand all about the use of joint products etc
It's worth having a look as it explains it better than I can.
Hope this is of some help lizzie!

 

[KE123]

Hi, I tried pernamax from maxavita? Bill has been taking the tablets now for about six weeks and I'm really impressed at how quickly he is back up, happy and cantering about after months of painful swollen joints, I've even taken him off his Bute this week and he still seems really well. It seems to be a new product but I was wondering whether anybody knew about the company and if anybody else had had a similar experience?

 

[KE123]

Hi. I don't know what you know about green shell mussels but Bill has been taking a supplement (in little tablet form) called pernamax from www.maxavita.com and he's had quite a quick response from it, up and cantering about again and seems really happy after months of pain and awful swelling. I've spoken to one other lady about it on Horse & Hound and she's having good results too.