Arthritis of the hock - injection experiences please

[sonjafoers]

I have had bad news re both my horses and need some advice please. I'm posting individually as they are different issues.

My 13 year old cob x has been diagnosed with mild arthritis in one hock, she showed 3/10ths lame after flexion but is still very happy to work. She is a leisure horse who hacks in summer, hunts in winter and does some low level xc.

My vet has advised cortisone injections alongside cartrophen once a week for 4 weeks. He said these would need repeating as a worse case scenario every 3 months and at best yearly.

Can anyone who has had these tell me of their experiences please. Did it work for your horse and was it a noticeable difference, how long did it last etc.

I'm all a bit emotional at the moment so not sure what to ask but any advice is much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Madam Min]

Our boy had steriods injected due to arthritis, they lasted a year and then he had tildren a year later, this lasted 2 years.

Hope things work out for you xx

 

[jumbyjack]

My mare has mild to moderate arthritis in both hocks, she has had cartrophen and has yearly steroid injections and has stayed sound for ages. However she does not trot on the roads or jump but she is a lot older at 17 and had a hard showjumping career befor I bought her.

It does appear that your horse is only mildly affected as yet and as long as her condition is managed she should do ok.

 

[Pidgeon]

Had two lots of cortisteroids in I think a 5 year period and hasn't stopped us doing BE90, SJ, WH etc etc I would have first lot and see how goes, get a good glucousamine supplement too

 

[Sare]

I'd go with your vets advice and make sure you then crack on with the exercise. It really is surprisingly common these days and shouldn't hold you back. The injections seem highly effective and exercise is good for hock arthritis. Lots of horses are treated this way and have full active lives.

Hope this helps you to feel more positive. I'm sure she'll be feeling like her old self in no time!

Nb... No idea why there's an angry face on my post!

 

[minesadouble]

Sorry to hijack the post a bit but can I ask how soon after the injections you are meant to see an improvement?

 

[Holly Hocks]

Sorry to hijack the post a bit but can I ask how soon after the injections you are meant to see an improvement?

My vet told me it could take a couple of weeks to see any improvement. My horse had steroid injections into the hock but I didn't see any difference at that time. But she also has arthritis in one fetlock, hind limb PSLD and navicular. So altogether she has had hyaluronic acid into the fetlock along with a steroid injection, steroid into the hocks, shockwave therapy on the ligament, and Tildren, along with physio treatments and going barefoot. She is currently sound, but no idea which treatments worked and which didn't!

 

[Achinghips]

My Tb mare was 3/10 lame in both hinds.

3 lots of steroid injections in a year, with decreasing success each time (common for this).

Eventually I had ethanol injections to encorage quicker fusion. 6 months later I retired her (she had received a botched backing and was so unbalanced that her compensatory strategies to alleviate the arthritic pain would have done further damage at anything more than a trot). She was 13. Living the life of riley now with 24/7 turnout and the occasional hack so nature can take it's own course.

 

[wattamus]

Mine had/ has arthritis in her hocks, i opted out of the injections as they are an ongoing, expensive thing, and dont always work on all horses. Turns out that they don't have an effect on mine as we tried with another issue and it didnt work.
Mine was instead prescribed a month of bute and work, started off as 2 a day then decreased to one a day. And all the time she was worked. It took a while but eventually she became more comfortable and she ended up schooling/ jumping/ haking as she was before, but it just took a while for her to de- stiffen (around 20 mins of walk). I also ysed magnet hock boots as these increase blood flow to the area and help speed up the fusing process. Basically this route was more permanent and cheaper. And my girl was in full work (1 hr a day of hard work) up until last year when she went lame with something else!

 

[skint1]

My daughter's TB gelding (12yo) had injections earlier this year due to mild arthritis in his right hock, I think he had a cortisone/steroid type injection, tbh I can't recall. The vet was very confident that he would be able to do everything he had always done and probably wouldn't need a follow up for a couple of years. Daughter noticed a difference in his flat work and jumping almost immediately (obviously she didn't start straight in after the injections, she followed a slow, consistent programme of work to build him up)

Now he's on loan to someone who mainly hacks him, he seems happy enough and the loaner is very mindful of his well being (she is a gem!) so she would notice if he was off in his ridden work. Recently when I see him on some mornings I do notice a tiny bit of stiffness at times, the other morning I went to take his rug off and he was laying down and had a bit of a struggle to get up (ie he didn't jump up like a nimble youngster, but he wasn't struggling badly) but once he'd got up and had a stretch he was happy as Larry again. I've attributed it to this interminable rain which does nothing any good.

For the long view, I think our horse will probably not be a horse capable of a heavy workload when he's 20, I believe it is possible he may also have worm damage (separate issue). I think he worked hard in his youth, racing, giving lessons, who knows what else, but I believe that we'll hopefully be able to keep him sound and happy with injections and supplements

 

[pixiebee]

My 6 yr old tb has just been diagnosed with the beginning of arthritis in her hock, so im reading these replies with interest. Im looking for advice on what work I should or shouldnt be doing. id like to be able to do general riding club but my question is, if she is stiff to start with, does it hurt her? I dont want to ride her if it hurts her, if that makes sense!

 

[JulzS]

My 6 year old has also just been diagnosed with very slight changes in his hocks and had steroid injections last tuesday so I am also watching this with interest!

 

[mil1212]

My 16 year old also had his hocks injected last tuesday for arthritis. Rode him last night for the first time with lots of pole work and he already feels much better. Hoping to resume life of general rc activities.

 

[Hollyberry]

My connemara was diagnosed with arthritis in his hocks about 3 years ago.. We tried Tildren to start with but didn't do anything. He then had steroid injections in his hocks for the next two years. I don't know whether they really did any good as he was not terribly lame to start with, dragged his toes and a bit stiff, worse on one hock than other. I stopped the injections and just keep him on Danilon when I ride him. We only hack once or twice a week and he is happy with that, will walk trot and canter happily - some days better than others. I am hoping that he will gradually come sound as he is 10 now. I think from what the vet was saying that the steroid injections can be really effective if the horse is moderate to severe lame but otherwise Danilon seems to best way to keep the horse sound. Hope you have a good result but it really is not as bad as it sounds, an awful lot of horses go back to jumping and more after successful treatment.

 

[sonjafoers]

Thank you for your replies everybody, it's interesting to hear positive views as everything else I have researched including searches to other posts on here have been much more negative.

It's such a dilemma but for the moment I've decided to use supplements, magnetic hock boots & exercise and try to delay the injections for a while.

 

[chestnut cob]

Mine has bilateral hock spavins. He had them medicated once then 10 months later, then again nearly 2 years later. They make a big difference to him, along with Adequan and a good joint supplement.

 

[Superhot]

My horse was diagnosed 5 years ago, and rather than injections, I gave Cosequin. The vet said my horse had to be retired and would probably only last 1 more year. I kept the Cosequin going for about 6 months, and since then, she has been on Feedmark Equiflex with HA. Occasionally, I give her Bute for about 3 days before the farrier visits, but basically, she's still enjoying a lovely peaceful retirement and is now 22 years old...

 

[sonjafoers]

My farrier says he doesn't notice anything at all when shoeing which is one of the reasons I've decided to leave the injections for the time being. I can always revisit that when she gets a bit worse.

Superhot that's interesting about the Feedmark product, I really rate their supplements and I have used the one with Rosehips in the past so I'll take another look.

 

[vicky1221]

I have had my geldings hocks injected 3 times, the first time he felt like he was 5 again. Last year didn't work so well as he could only be given a small dose as he was overweight so they didn't work as well.

I started using vetroflex supplement mid last year and it made a massive difference. When he came in for his winter break i started with the vetroflex again and took him to the vet 6 weeks later to get injected, he examined him and said that he seemed quite sound.

so I would recommend hock injections and vetroflex.

 

[TequilaMist]

My vet told me it could take a couple of weeks to see any improvement. My horse had steroid injections into the hock but I didn't see any difference at that time. But she also has arthritis in one fetlock, hind limb PSLD and navicular. So altogether she has had hyaluronic acid into the fetlock along with a steroid injection, steroid into the hocks, shockwave therapy on the ligament, and Tildren, along with physio treatments and going barefoot. She is currently sound, but no idea which treatments worked and which didn't!

My mare has bilateral bone spavin.
She had cartophen inj weekly for 4 weeks then onto monthly.Also had the steriod inj x 2.First time into one part of each hock.Then 5/6 months later redid this time 2 inj into each hock.
Was told bny vet it could take upto 57 days.He did laugh at that bit but said thats what was said didnt know why not 56 or 58!
Mare did take about 2 months would say to feel better on it.

 

[L&M]

I am afraid to report I had a negative experience of hock injections.

My sec D had both hocks injected for spavin and came down with a joint infection. He was in hospital for 9 days and thought we were going to lose him.....

The vet did warn me that infections were a risk, although minimal, so guess my lad was just unlucky.

Fortunately he survived the experience, but for obvious reasons would not inject again.