arthritis

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maggiehorse

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hi
i have a 13yr old Tb x ID mare that we,ve owned for the last 6 years , shes been diagnosed with severe arthritic changes in both her knees and vet has suggested immediate retirement from competition and light hacking in walk only from now on ( shes completly sound but very stiff in both knees)
my husband is naturally devastated , but will follow vets advise to the letter , so , our beloved mare is tootling round field quite happilily waiting to go visit a rather beautifull stallion around the end of may
so i have a couple of questions ,
is anyone else in a similar situation with thier horse?
did they continue riding gently as vet advises to help muscle tone, or did they retire completly?
do you find any particular joint suppliment of benefit?
is there anything else we can do to help our mare long term?
, he suggested that as her joint changes are so marked so early that she may degenerate very quickly and not be pain free in a few years even if she is on large does of bute ( which she isnt at the moment , shes sound without pain relief)
we will do anything and keep her as a pasture pet or brood mare for the next ten years , shes a lovely mare and we are gutted
tracy
 
I've just been told to retire my 17yr old because of arthritis. At least he is 17, but I'm still gutted. We think he may have some ligament damage too which won't be good news - were waiting to see whether joint injections clear up the lameness at the moment, and Newmarket Joint Supplement might be worth trying for your mare too.

I actually don't know what to do with him TBH. He's at livery, and I can't afford to keep him there if he's retired and not doing anything. I don't like the idea of loaning because of all the horror stories you hear. Local retirement livery is £200 a month - he could live for another 10 or 15 years, and I can't afford that. He's not the easiest of chaps either - very forward going and strong, so I'm not sure he'll make a happy hack.

Any ideas?
 
So sorry to hear abour your horses. My 6 year old got diagonised with arthiritis in November, He went lame and was in the Large Animal Hospital here in Scotland, Xrays showed up significant bone changes to his fetlocks and coffin joints. I was gutted. The outlook was bleak. He has inject of Cortisone (pls excuse spelling) but was still lame. Not helped by the fact he was ment to be on box rest but jumped out the stable and wouldnt stay in 24/7 so we kept him on his usual routine, out daily in and night, In Jan we got him IRAP treatment, Not cheap but he got 3 injections of that 2 weeks apart and he went sound. Hes shod with egg bars and hes still sound and back in work.. Dont get me wrong he wont be jumping again but we can hack and we are planning a dresage outing for end of April which is just fab after getting told in November that it didnt look good and he prob wouldnt come sound. We take each day at a time, hes my life and if he goes lame again we will just rest him and see what happens. He has a home for life whatever happens.. I also have him on New Market Joint Supplement.. I wish you all well with your horses and hope everything works out okay..
 
Before breeding from your mare, I would talk it through with your vet in case the arthritis has come about from a conformation issue in the knees/legs. The pregnancy would put extra weight on the horse's joints. There are some experts on the breeding forum on HHO who could advise you on the pros and cons.

On the arthritis issue, I have had noticeable results with Pernamax Equine (green lipped mussel extract) and Cortaflex. To be precise, I actually use Corta-Flx, the American version, which is cheaper bought from eBay and contains HA. I was advised that these supplements are safe in pregnancy.

These supplements would be a good place to start. If you end up needing anything stronger you would need a vet's advice, especially if the mare was put into foal.
 
My horse was diagnosed last year with arthritis of the coffin joint, he was also only 13, he had the 3 HA injections & he's also on a very good supplement (Mobifor, vet strength Super Flex) http://www.vetscriptions.co.uk/mm5/merchant.mvc? He has remained sound pretty much most of the time, I have found that I couldn't retire him, he's too much of a live wire, The trouble with him is when he has a prat in the field, it is the hard, rutted ground & the twisting & turning that cause the problems, I try to keep him in enough work to stop him being an idiot round the field, but not to much, there is a very fine line! We still hack out in walk & canter on soft going, we don't trot unless to get out the way of a car, He's not on Bute yet but im guessing that wont be to far off, I have decided that I will have him put down either when he's just not happy any more or when 2 Bute a day is not keeping him comfortable! Hoping that's a way off yet! I thought he would become a liability as he's always been a very forward active horse but he's taken to the role of "Happy Hack" very well, Trouble is that I don't think he realises he has a problem. I could still cry most days, I have had him all his life my friend bred him, he really has been more than I could have ever wished for, & he loved his jumping.
 
Hi, I have a 13 year old gelding with knee arthritis (only one knee). He has had a conformational defect on that leg since before I bought him (aged three).

He was diagnosed in late 2005 and had periods of fairly severe lameness on and off, interspersed with good spells when he could be ridden.

He has been on Danilon (similar to Bute) ever since and has been fully retired since the beginning of 2007.

His leg is now increasingly bowed outwards and he has three bony lumps on and around the knee. We can't shoe him any more because he won't tolerate the stress of the nails going into the foot and bending the knee, but things I have found which help him are the Danilon, NAF Superflex and Super Solvitax R&A formula.

He is a very expensive pet but he's worth it
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Good luck with your horse. At least she isn't lame yet. If you are going to continue riding her though it may be worth investing in some knee boots in case she goes down.
 
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beloved mare is tootling round field quite happilily waiting to go visit a rather beautifull stallion around the end of may

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Wise, considering onset of arthritis at just 13????
 
yes amy may i totally agree about not usually sending a mare with such bad arthritic changes to stud but on vets advise ( no conformational defects to predispose her condition, and the fact some idiot broke her before she was two and hunted her hard at 3 ) he is certain it is her early hard training that ruined her knees and it shouldnt make any difference to her being able to throw a sound foal , believe me after seeing my mare go from an actice eventer loving her job and being very succesful at it to being a broodmare has been very hard , but she not lame although the bony spurs prevent her from flexing her front legs as well as she could , she can hack out at walk and trot on soft ground and he assures me that at least for the next year or so she can carry a foal with no trouble , after that we will see , the foal is staying with us regardless and hopefully will be able to show at least some of his mums ability
 
Update on my situation - not wanting to hijack post - but I've just spoken to the Veteran Horse Society who were lovely and reassured me that they would be able to find a home for my boy quite easily. They weren't put off by the fact that he's a bit of a handful, or by expensive joint supplements and 4 weekly farrier visits. I don't lose control - he stays mine, but there are apparently lots of people out there who become carers for old horses, even those that can't be ridden. The VHS checks up on them at least 6 monthly, and all homes are thoroughly vetted.

I feel like a cloud has disappeared, and I can see a future that doesn't involve having him pts or ending up on a meat wagon. Now I can concentrate on getting him right so he can be re-homed.......!
 
I use Pernamax to help keep my boy sound. He was originally mis-diagnosed with arthritis of the coffin joints, however after MRI turned out to be collateral ligament damage. Regardless I've put him on Penamax as his joints showed minimal changes and it seems to be working. He is now sound and back in light work.
 
did everyone notice i refered to foalie as he?... hubby wants a nice chestnut filly i would love a nice brown or black colt , ...so if i keep referring to him as a he.............
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I tried that one maggie, was gagging for a colt kept wishing but she had a filly in the end! My psychic even told me she was going to have a filly haha! I wouldn't change her for the world tho she is such a sweetie & colts can so difficult to handle. Good luck with it all. x
 
Sorry to hear about your mare. I have a heavy mare (the black girl in my sig). She was diagnosed with arthritis of the coffin joint last year as an 8 year old. My vet's prognosis was guarded. She had two injections into the joint and 7 months rest and remedial shoeing. I also put her on a joint supplement immediately and used magnetic fetlock wraps at night. I use Feedmark's ExtraFlex HA and I believe this has made a real difference (our elderly dog has been on the canine equivalent for some time and he now acts like a young dog again). My mare has been back to hacking out since October and has remained sound.
Before breeding from your mare I would be absolutely certain that the arthritis is not the result of a conformation fault. (sorry just read your reply above about your mare's early training being the cause of the arthritis - in my mare's case, I would not consider breeding from her just in case)
 
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