Capped Hocks

Luci07

Luci07

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I bought my new horse with capped hocks some 3 weeks ago. So he is a 5 year old (this time)17 hand ISH straight over from Ireland. My own vet vetted him (5 *) and he is very VERY stringent and wasn't concerned. The swelling is pretty minimal and there is no sign of any unsoundness. New boy had to live out for the first week (quarantinem- we had no idea where he had been before the dealers!) and now is stabled during the day and out at night. He is on rubber matting and shavings. He does like to lie down and sleep (heavily) in the day. He had a deep bed which comes up every dayu on top of the rubber too. However, YO and I had thought that the capped hocks would diminish further once we had him back. I made the mistake of googling this and found vastly conflicting advice from "must have it drained, it will be chronic" to " don't touch, its just a blemish/won't affect performance"

YO has now uppped his lordships banks hugely so there is no chance of him banging his hocks again. She poulticed him last night before he went out as well. There is no stiffness or any signs at all but if there is something I can do to reduce these I would prefer to do it.

Experiences? thoughts? I do have complete confidence in my vet as he takes the word "thorough" to a whole new level! but know if I can do something I should..
 
When my irish draught came over from Ireland as a 4 yr old he had slightly capped hocks i wasn't worried as just a blemish- i think a lot of them do actually- the swellings dimished over time, and he has never in his life been lame as a direct result of his hocks- he's 16 now and working med level and has no capped hocks. It did take a long time to go though.

Like you are doing a huge deep bed with a firm base should help too!
 
If the hock is cold then the capped hock has been there for a while and is best left alone, not really much you can do now

If the cap is warm then I would get a vet in as you might be able to do something to remove the blemish and drain out the fluid before it becomes permanent
 
capped hocks is just a blemish, normally caused by a knock. If your not going to show him then don't bother doing anything to them. You can have them drained but sometimes it fills straight back up again. We have used neopreme hock boots before to bring the hocks down. They get hot and sweat the fluid out. You could also try Pile cream on it as its an anti-inflamitry (?) and that can also help pull them down a bit.
 
Many thanks for your responses. The hocks are cold so I will try to anti pile cream (that will be fun buying in Boots!) and leave off the poultice.

I can see why he would have done it, this is a boy who does like to sleep! although he was not popular with the noise level the first day they all came in after an overnight out...
 
Luci07 said:
Many thanks for your responses. The hocks are cold so I will try to anti pile cream (that will be fun buying in Boots!) and leave off the poultice.

I can see why he would have done it, this is a boy who does like to sleep! although he was not popular with the noise level the first day they all came in after an overnight out...
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Good luck in boots later LOL!

Also just had a thought- hope you don't mind!- in the past when my boy had a soft splint i used some cold compression boots that you soak, which worked well, or you can get hock "sweat" boots made of neoprene to sweat the swelling down. The back on track boots would prob do the same thing too- i have a pair of their wraps and they are fab!

And my boys loved their lie ins when they were young too- they are much older now and they still do!
 
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Right, legged it out at lunchtime and bought the boots. Horse now in them (not happy as I made him get out of bed!) and also bought the anti piles cream in Boots. Not withstanding the fact that I was on a mission trying to do it in an hour, the shop assistant did the classic thing of being REALLY loud when I asked where it was. When I said it was for my horse she said.."how are you going to apply it?"

Doh, hasty explanation it was for hocks not other parts..
 
Luci07 said:
Right, legged it out at lunchtime and bought the boots. Horse now in them (not happy as I made him get out of bed!) and also bought the anti piles cream in Boots. Not withstanding the fact that I was on a mission trying to do it in an hour, the shop assistant did the classic thing of being REALLY loud when I asked where it was. When I said it was for my horse she said.."how are you going to apply it?"

Doh, hasty explanation it was for hocks not other parts..
Click to expand...

Oops!! Sounds like you did have a very embarrassing trip to boots! :) - could have been tricky to explain! hope all your efforts pay off soon though and your boy reaps the rewards of his new boots and piles cream! what more could a horse want!- good luck!
 
Hi my horse capped his hock a few years ago , I put stay sound clay on it and it worked..xx good luck
 
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