Arthritis

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Epequestrian

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Hi,
I have recently gone and viewed a 15.3 15 year old sports horse for loan that I really like. It has competed up to the old 1* Eventing and 1.10 sj. The current owners have his Hock and Coffin Joints injected 2/3 times a year. Would this put you off?
I’m not sure whether to take on this one or wait for a year or so and save up some money to buy a horse capable of doing this. I’m not experienced enough to bring on a youngster or have the money to buy something at this level at the moment!
Any advice would get greatly appreciated. (Have access to full vets record)
 
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Kamikaze said:
Yes it would put me off. Being injected 2/3 times a year is a lot. Minto had his jock injected once. It worked really well and he never needed another but vet said he wouldn’t repeat more than once a year.
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Ok thank you, they did say that he wouldn’t need it as often if he wasn’t doing as much as he is now, I would be jumping him around 90/100 and probably not even competing that much! So would this possibly mean he might get away with just having 2 a year?
 
Wouldn’t risk it with a coffin joint and even 2 times a year isn’t ideal, and I’m no expert but I’m not sure it really works that way unless you really draw the work back to something very easy
 
MrsMozart said:
I wouldn't.

If you're wanting to compete you'll be putting stress on joints that are already damaged.
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Ok, thank you. he is competing at Newcomers (1.10) at the moment and goes out hunting a lot, so surely if I was training (occasionally competing - maybe like 4 times a year) at around 90/1m it wouldn’t be putting as much stress on the joints as there is at the moment? Sorry for all the questions, I don’t really know anything about arthritis!
 
Epequestrian said:
Ok, thank you. he is competing at Newcomers (1.10) at the moment and goes out hunting a lot, so surely if I was training (occasionally competing - maybe like 4 times a year) at around 90/1m it wouldn’t be putting as much stress on the joints as there is at the moment? Sorry for all the questions, I don’t really know anything about arthritis!
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It wouldn’t but why buy the problem?

My mare has ringbone but she competes without needing to be injected. She’s been injected once and we’ve managed it from there but I’m dealing with the hand I’ve been dealt and she is wrapped up in cotton wool. I wouldn’t knowingly buy the problem if he’s already at the stage of being injected 3 times a year.

There will be others out there that you don’t need to medicate
 
Abi90 said:
It wouldn’t but why buy the problem?

My mare has ringbone but she competes without needing to be injected. She’s been injected once and we’ve managed it from there but I’m dealing with the hand I’ve been dealt and she is wrapped up in cotton wool. I wouldn’t knowingly buy the problem if he’s already at the stage of being injected 3 times a year.

There will be others out there that you don’t need to medicate
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I wouldn’t be buying him, he’s up for full loan! Realistically I don’t have the money to buy a horse that I can compete higher than what I’m doing now, and I’m not experienced enough to buy a youngster to produce up to it! X
 
Epequestrian said:
I wouldn’t be buying him, he’s up for full loan! Realistically I don’t have the money to buy a horse that I can compete higher than what I’m doing now, and I’m not experienced enough to buy a youngster to produce up to it! X
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Will the owners pay for his joint injections? I wouldn’t take him on and pay for them myself
 
Personally I would not, as I would never be comfortable knowing that I was causing more damage to the horse and affecting his quality of life later on by jumping him, and I would constantly be on the look out for signs. Injections only mask the symptoms, they do not solve the problem, so later on when the horse has to be retired he will have a less comfortable life.

That having been said it is the owners who should worry about this, and if you have been clear about what you want to do with him then you could also take the view that he would anyway be doing similar work.

If you do take him on make sure that you have a very clear contract that allows you to send him back if he turns out to not be up to the job, and that you will not be stuck with treating a horse that you can't use for the period of the loan. Also I would say that with all of the current problems there may soon be more horses available for loan from people who are struggling to afford them - I don't know how difficult it is to find what you are looking for, but if it is possible to wait and find a healthy horse probably this will be more fun for you.
 
I wouldn’t be jumping a horse with that level of arthritis at all. I guess if on loan and you are prepared to only get a few months jumping and send home then perhaps but sounds as if he needs an easier life.
 
Minto was retired To hacking 3 times a week when he got mild fetlock arthritis. A couple of months later a friends horse had a similar diagnosis. She carried on jumping and competing and horse was pts within the year. Minto carried on sound until an unrelated accident 4 years later.
 
Kamikaze said:
Minto was retired To hacking 3 times a week when he got mild fetlock arthritis. A couple of months later a friends horse had a similar diagnosis. She carried on jumping and competing and horse was pts within the year. Minto carried on sound until an unrelated accident 4 years later.
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Lucky horse to have you as an owner. This is exactly what I mean about people using injections to mask the symptoms - the horse owned by someone like you can expect to have more good years with gentle exercise, the horse who receives many injections and keeps working will probably have a shorter and more painful life.
 
Presumably they are injecting 2-3x a year because the horse is going lame 2-3x a year. Injections are generally less effective each time, so the chances of this horse being able to jump 1m for the foreseeable future I would think is very unlikely.

And to be honest, I don't think it's ethical to be asking a horse with such compromised joints to continue to jump at that height anyway.
 
Epequestrian said:
Hi,
I have recently gone and viewed a 15.3 15 year old sports horse for loan that I really like. It has competed up to the old 1* Eventing and 1.10 sj. The current owners have his Hock and Coffin Joints injected 2/3 times a year. Would this put you off?
I’m not sure whether to take on this one or wait for a year or so and save up some money to buy a horse capable of doing this. I’m not experienced enough to bring on a youngster or have the money to buy something at this level at the moment!
Any advice would get greatly appreciated. (Have access to full vets record)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do it - I wouldn't be comfortable working a horse at a level he needs medication to sustain.
I presume he has corticosteroid injections to prevent damage/mask the pain/reduce inflammation? If he were mine, I'd retire him.
I like horses more than I like riding - and morally, I feel that continuing to work this horse at a level above its capabilities is not right.
 
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