Bog spavin in a young potential dressage horse....??

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av12

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Hi Everyone,

I have just bought a lovely 4 year old with plans for him to be my dressage horse. He has very good conformation and has the potential to do well.

He has not long been at his new home, and of course has been running around lots in the field. A few days ago i noticed a bog spavin in one hock.
I am hoping it is from a twist in the field due to him being excitable, but I am also preparing myself that it could be related to an underlying problem. Worst case scenario.
He is not lame, and has been checked by the vet who confirmed this and he has been put on bute for the inflammation.

My big concern is that this could affect him when he is brought into work now he has had this.

Does any one have any experience of bog spavin in dressage horses and if it could potentially affect his future?
I am so worried about it!!

Thanks in advance :)
 
My loan boy has a spavin in one of his hinds, and has poor conformation (hinds look like he on his tip toes) yet made it to advanced medium affiliated with owner, and has had limited issues in his lifetime.

I suppose it depends on the horse, you can get horses with almost perfect conformation that go lame very easily, and ones like loan boy with shocking conformation who seem to stay sound and do well.
 
Wow, that is very reassuring to hear!!
His conformation is good, so i don't expect that to be the cause...unless he has a chipped bone or cartlige in the hock. Im not sure if this is related to conformation or not though?!

As he is only 4, he has not even started to work yet so im just hoping when he does start to work it doesn't cause it to flare up. So i guess time will tell with him!
We don't plan to do any showing so if it is only cosmetic then hopefully it won't cause a problem!! Fingers crossed
 
I was looking at an article last night about this, from H&H 23rd August if you have it, they recommended that if a young horse gets a bog spavin it should be investigated as there may be an underlying problem such as ocd or loose fragments of bone or cartiliage, they also say that evidence suggests the horses that had surgical treatment went on to perform well.

That is a very brief summary of the article but it may be worth getting your horse scanned and x rayed just to be sure of what is really going on so you can them make an informed decision on how to treat before you start serious work.
 
Thanks for the info.

Yes, the vet has suggested to have him x rayed, which i will do.
I am just hoping it is due to all of the running around he did on his first couple of days.

I shall have a look for the article, thank you.
 
Blitz has a bog spavin, we bought him at 3, he is now 10, competing PSG working Int1, it's not caused him any issues. He did have X-rays and a scan as a precaution but they revealed nothing.
 
thats also brilliant to hear :)!!

Does it ever flare up when he is worked or is there always a bit swelling there?
 
Occasionally swells usually when he's been in more, due to snow or poor weather, or if he's been titting about in the field! ;)
 
I am hoping it is just a case of titting around in the field, especially as its so wet just now!!
He's on bute for the inflammation, so time will only tell :)
 
Genie has bog spavin in both hocks, never once been lame. She's now 9 and I've had her since a 4yo. Having said that, she finds it very hard to collect and I wonder if it contributes (my vet is out in 2 weeks for her jabs and I will be asking her).
 
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