Bog Spavin - Experiences please!

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CBFan

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I'm not on here to find out possible causes - I know all those already! (I'm a right one for looking up these things on t'internet!) and I'm pretty sure I know that the cause of my boys one is a mix of trauma and conformation. but I would apreciate some first hand experiences of them.

My 18 month old very kindly presented me with a small one (no lameness) a few weeks ago which went down about 90% with box rest and a bit of arnica and MSM. it startd to come back up again with turnout (although not as big) so I decided as we hadn't allowed it to go down completely, to try him on restricted turnout in the form of a pen in the field the size of his 'stable' which is 20ft x 15ft.. all was going very well and I was going to start 'proper turnout' when the delightful boy that he is, stuck his bad leg (had to be didn't it!) through the electric fence (tape affixed by plastic insulators to wooden posts). Anyway, in doing so he managed to break 3 insulators (so you can imagine the force) with the tape round the front of his hock. Said hock blew up the size of a small rugby ball and he was lame (about 1/10 in walk) I've blasted him with bute, boxrest and plastered him with likeice and the heat and swelling has decreased considerably in the last 3 days. Vet has been consulted throughout..

Anyway... that asside, I'm really just asking if anyone had had a horse with a bog spavin (as I understand that once they have them they rarely go away) and if they have affected the horse at all in it's working life.

thanks
 
I was under the impression that once it settled down they can go on working a normal life, is it you want it to go down? You could try Red Blister, showing people use it alot to get rid of cosmetic blemishes and soft swellings. Has your vet told you DJD could set in, in later years. Has the vet given you some DMSO to rub on it, that normally helps it to subside.
 
You must get it x-rayed to rule out OCD. If it is OCD, you can get the joint cleaned out and it should be ok, but the longer its left the more damage it could cause. If its not OCD, its probably just a sprain to the joint capsule and should be fine. But get it checked out.

My horse has a bog spavin caused by a bone chip - he had the chip surgically removed but the joint is chronically enlarged. It doesn't bother him one bit however, and he is 100% sound. He wouldn't be if he hadn't had the surgery.
 
Thanks for the replies. Halfstep. Was your horse lame with his spavin before surgery?

Having had a filly with OCD in her stifles and nursed her for an entire year I am fully aware that this is a possible cause of My boy's spavin. Myself and my vet are both experienced at dealing with such problems and I trust his judgement 100% having been correct with his diagnosis with my filly throughout her problems. Xrays are the next step if this spavin doesn't want to stay down. My vet assures me that if indeed OCD is the cause of the spavin, my boy would be lame. Until Wednesday when he wrapped the electric fencing round his hock, he WAS NOT LAME... I think we'd all be a bit sore after exerting the sort of pressure on ones joint that he mustve done in his fun and games with the electric fence so we are giving him the benefit of the doubt for a few days.

Thanks again. and I look forward to hearing any more stories similar to Halfstep.
 
My horse was never lame. He smashed his hock in the stable and either dislodged a chip or caused a chip. The only indication we had was the hock swelling. Completely sound, even on a flexion test. However, when they went in with the arthroscope, they found a lot of damage and if it had been left in the joint he would have broken down within months.
 
Is there any update on this please? Today my yearling came in with a huge swelling on one hock. typical bog spavin. I have posted about this in veterinary but had no replies yet.
 
My old horse had terrible hocks, bog spavins and thoughpins. Neither caused her any problems until she was in her 20s. As suggested before red blister can be used and I have seen it work on a friends horse, but it was only a small spavin.
 
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