Arthritic Oldies

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Minnies_Mum

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Just wondering if anyone can give me any advice/share experiences of arthiritic older horses.

My TB has been diagnosed with arthritis in his knees (not officially, we haven't had any work-up, but the vet says it most likely is arthiritis). He'll be 21 this year and raced as a youngster, so I can't say I'm surprised this has happened, just rather sad.

He's not on any bute at the moment and is turned out as much as is possible but we've been advised to only ride him out in walk. Obviously I'm happy with this if it is the best thing for him, but I wondered if anyone had experiences of horses being a lot better in the summer (would like to do more with him still, if he is comfortable) or knows of anything that is helpful.

Sorry it's long, I guess I'm just looking for a bit of comforting news as I'm quite upset about it!
 
My 6 yr old has just been diagnosed with arthritus.The vet has recommended newmarket supplement for his joints but I dont know if they would help your boy mine has it in his hock.Its worth asking your vets opinion about the supplement.Cortavet is the other supplement my vet suggested.I have been using devils claw to reduce inflammation until we go for xrays dont want to give him bute because he will mess about in his field.When I posted my enquiry alot of people said as much turnout as possible with a older horse to keep them moving.Know how your feeling good luck.
 
Hi, sorry about your TB's DX. There are lots of things you can try, in my experience try the cheapest first! Cod Liver Oil, Cider Vinegar, can prove helpful. Also Rhus Tox and Arnica from Boots are worth a try. You can try things like Cortaflex, Synequin or Newmarket Supplement but really, try the cheap stuff first, one at a time. I do feel that a lot of the "mobility" supplements are not really effective unless in the case of very slight stiffness and unfortunately I feel that some supplement manufacturers feed on the owners desperation. I found Magnetic boots very helpful for Sandy, just for an hour or so before exercise. She was ridden for 20 mins a day on flat level ground until the day before she died. She loved going out but in the end I found her to be better on the roads as it was a constant even surface. Bute was the first stage with her followed eventually by Cartrophen. She also wore eggbars on the front and spavin shoes on the rear, which helped tremendously.

She had extensive arthritis when she died, but was sound and happy up until the last half hour of her life when she had a TA.

She was diagnosed at 15 and lasted for another 15 years with a few odd days of lameness/stiffness in between. She was better on a cold dry day, in fact on hot muggy days she was worse and the summer was a problem occasionally.

Also sometimes Arthritis can settle a little with time, so you may find eventually you can do a little more.

Good luck with your boy! There is plenty to try!

Jo x


ETS....Have a read up on Blue Chip Dynamic too, very interesting.
 
My welsh cob is now 21 and started showing signs of arthritis in his hocks when he was about 17; I put him on NoBute (devils claw) and 5 star superflex. It took a few weeks to get into his system & I just kept him hacking for a while but couple of months on he was back to normal, schooling, jumping, xc etc.
He's stayed on both supplements ever since and people often comment on how well he is looking; he is occasionally a bit stiff in one hock but nothing serious. Doesn't jump very big anymore but I think that's allowable for an old man!
grin.gif
 
My 19yr old mare has arthritis in her hocks. She is an ex-racehorse and so I expected it but it came sooner than I thought.
It started 4 years ago. She came unsound behind..had x-rays etc. then a course of 2 steroid injections in to her hocks, remedial shoeing ie. lifts and pads behind to support her hocks and frogs and put on newmarket joint supplement. We carried on doing everything as normal incl. dressage and jumping for 3 years. She had more bounce then before!
I retired her last year, her movement and ability to be comfortable with working had lessened and I wanted her to have a retirement (she was never a workaholic!) - but would be able to take her for a walk out during the summer months if I wanted too. Unfortunately she then had a couple of further injuries which I think hit her hard - one involved an operation.
She is now not shod behind..so she can find her own balance. They do find their own way of walking/moving to compensate for it. She is now on one bute every other day.
Wet weather seems to affect her the most. She goes out every day and in at night during winter and then out at night during summer (but if wet then we have to keep an eye on her as we have learnt now). Everyone says to keep them out moving as much as possible which is fine...but not all horses can manage this in the weather we have...but as natural movement as possible is obviously preferable.
I dont know if it would be very different with knees being afftected as I have mainly known hocks and coffin joints.
I wish you and your horse all the best...
 
My mare has bad knees and she is definitely worse in this weather than in the summer. She has no problem popping a little jump and cantering like a nutter but she only does light hacking and is fine as long as she doesn't do too much. She's only on MSM at the moment though
 
Thanks for the advice. We've got him on ExtraFlex supplement, but I guess it will take a while to see what effect, if any, that is having. Luckily he is quite a rugged TB and prefers to live out, which he does as much as possible, although has been in an night this week because the ground is so wet. But he's not stiff when he comes out of the stable after a night in, so I guess that's a good sign.

It's just nice to know that it's not necessarily the end of his ridden career!
 
My old ILPH pony had arthritis. When we first got her (as a companion) she had been on half a bute a day to keep her in light hacking work. I put her in a copper pastern strap (Forbes Copper), which I had used on another old pony and she was sound without the bute, of course it could have been the fact she wasn't being worked but might be worth a try. This was when she was 19 and managed to keep her bute free for another 10 years, then had to start using it and she was PTS aged 34 when I felt her quality of life was beginning to suffer.
 
That's an idea- do you think a pastern strap would work for arthritic knees, or does it need to be near the affected joint? Not sure how I'd get one to stay around his knees!

Is there anything else I should be doing with him, like drying his legs if they get wet (to reduce the cold?) He lives out though, so I guess this isn't practical- better out with wet legs than indoors.
 
I had vet ay my pony today. She is 24 years old and is retired but only due to lack of a suitable rider. since the start of winter she has been slow and sometimes stiff and reluctant to move with much speed. i suspected she had arthritis and the vet confirmed this. He gave her a good once over and says she would seem to have it in both her her hocks and prob both elbows and is feeling her feet too! Still he says she looks happy enough and she's looking very well and eats drinks and pee's and poo's alrite. he has recomended cod liver oil in her feed one table spoon a day and see how she is in a few weeks time.
My other horse has arthritis in one of her hocks and her coffin joint and navicular in front and she's on cosequin.
I suggested using cosequin on the pony but the vet said to try the cod liver oil first and see how it goes.
 
I have found using magnetic straps which Cairo wears all the time, and feeding MSM and a fairly large amount of instant linseed really helps Cairo.

He is also have a couple of HA injections into the vein to help all joints, though is is expensive.

We thought he had really started to get problems, but the vet said his joints are very flexible still and his problem is rushing around playing too hard with my 3 year old - hence they are now supervised or seperated when turned out.

He is having some bute at the moment as he has a windgall and some inflamation of the tendon sheath due to behaving like a mental youngster in muddy fields.

I also found my with TBs at they got older giving them a bute every other day kept them comfortable and able to hack and lightly compete.
 
I think I will look into the cod liver oil, although he's a bit of a fussy wotsit about his food, so he might not eat it. Will look into the copper wraps too- we found his old magnetic over-reach boots, so have put them on him in the stable, just to see if they do any good. Might be better if they were leg boots, but worth a try.

Thanks for all the replies!
 
My old Pony, Mistletoe is probably now in her 40's (Miracle in itself!) She has arthritis and we have several things that we do with her. We have bought her out of full retirement as this was making things worse. She now does only really light work, but we can see a difference when she doesn't do anything.

We use a magnet on her leg, we have tried this on another one of our mares with the start of arthritis but it had no effect, with Mistletoe, it makes a big difference. We also tried all sorts of oil and other suppliements but didn't have any long term joy (more like depressing the bank account with some of them!)

We also regulary detox her and use homeopathic remedies supplied by Ainsworths Homeopathic pharmacy in London.

She gets Cider Vinegar in her food, but when she is at a low, we use devils claw suppliment. This assists with pain relief. (sometimes its called No Bute).

Rain or wet weather seems to make a difference and we try and make sure that she is rugged well (although not to hot) and kept dry, so if she has been out in the mud, we wash her off and make an effort to dry her too. We have the extra thick stable mats, which prevents the draw of the concrete on their feet and definately helps those old bones when she lies down. She stays in when really wet and is now always in at night. She has to have a good walk daily even if the weather is bad and if she hasn't been out the clicking and crunching of joints is sickening.

We now haven't used bute on her for 6 years and our TBx mare who's only 17 follows a very similar routine, (but without the magnets). Our Vet is always impressed when he comes to see her, partially as she doesn't look her age and although she's stiff in one hind, how much life she has in her.

It sounds like you have got most of it in hand, but give each thing that you try time to work. Arthritis is one of those horrible things that gets worse over time.
 
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