joanne1973
Member
I know this topic has been covered many times on here but I would like some advice on my particular situation.
I have an 11, coming up 12 year old Connemara. Have owned him since he was 5 and if I'm honest he's had an easy life with me, hacking, pleasure rides and the odd days hunting. He has poor confirmation to start with but about 4 years ago he was
diagnosed with mild sidebone and arthritic changes in both front pasterns. We went the remedial shoeing and rest route and he came sound within about 4 weeks. Last summer he became uncomfortable, particularly on uneven ground and when turning. I took him to my usual vet who wasn't overly concerned but x-rayed and suggested using Equipak. This helped a little but didn't solve the problem.
I decided to change vets and get a fresh set of eyes to look at the problems. He had more x-rays then nerve blocks which pinpointed that the problem was in the coffin joint. A steroid injection was given and it was agreed that he would have bar shoes fitted to both front feet.
This happened on the 1st October and after a couple of weeks he came sound, thought great, then mid December I noticed he was feeling just not quite right. By this time I had run out of my usual joint supplement so ordered another thinking this might be the problem …. unfortunately not :-(
So my options are:-
1. MRI Scan to establish exactly what the problem is. I have been quoted around £1600.
2. Inject again.
3. Take him barefoot and turn him away for a period to see if he improves without the shoes.
I have an 11, coming up 12 year old Connemara. Have owned him since he was 5 and if I'm honest he's had an easy life with me, hacking, pleasure rides and the odd days hunting. He has poor confirmation to start with but about 4 years ago he was
diagnosed with mild sidebone and arthritic changes in both front pasterns. We went the remedial shoeing and rest route and he came sound within about 4 weeks. Last summer he became uncomfortable, particularly on uneven ground and when turning. I took him to my usual vet who wasn't overly concerned but x-rayed and suggested using Equipak. This helped a little but didn't solve the problem.
I decided to change vets and get a fresh set of eyes to look at the problems. He had more x-rays then nerve blocks which pinpointed that the problem was in the coffin joint. A steroid injection was given and it was agreed that he would have bar shoes fitted to both front feet.
This happened on the 1st October and after a couple of weeks he came sound, thought great, then mid December I noticed he was feeling just not quite right. By this time I had run out of my usual joint supplement so ordered another thinking this might be the problem …. unfortunately not :-(
So my options are:-
1. MRI Scan to establish exactly what the problem is. I have been quoted around £1600.
2. Inject again.
3. Take him barefoot and turn him away for a period to see if he improves without the shoes.