Competing After Having Joints Medicated (horse)

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Joyous70

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Just wondering if any of you have ever had to have your horses joints medicated, and continued to compete after they have been done.

If so did you make any changes to what you do in terms of competing and does a venue with a surface etc. make much difference to you.

My boy has been diagnosed with coffin joint arthritis, we are hoping to get him right with the help of my farrier and some remedial shoes initially, however, if this doesn't help then we will have to have his joints medicated.

We only compete at low level, but before this happened we had been hoping to compete a ODE this year and some more jumping up to 1M.

I suppose really the bottom line is, is it possible once they have their joints done to carry on almost as normal, or do you have to make changes to what they do.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Yes plenty of horses competing at all levels have their joints medicated. It will take a bit of time to get used to how much/how often he needs it done but no reason why he shouldn't get back competing. You may have to do a little rest at first and then get him going again, some vets recommend this, some don't depending on how much inflammation is there. To be honest if it were my horse I would medicate now and then change shoeing for management. It will allow you quicker recovery time but I have been down that road before with horses.
 
Joyous70 said:
Just wondering if any of you have ever had to have your horses joints medicated, and continued to compete after they have been done.

If so did you make any changes to what you do in terms of competing and does a venue with a surface etc. make much difference to you.

My boy has been diagnosed with coffin joint arthritis, we are hoping to get him right with the help of my farrier and some remedial shoes initially, however, if this doesn't help then we will have to have his joints medicated.

We only compete at low level, but before this happened we had been hoping to compete a ODE this year and some more jumping up to 1M.

I suppose really the bottom line is, is it possible once they have their joints done to carry on almost as normal, or do you have to make changes to what they do.

Thanks in advance :)
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My horse was diagnosed with moderate to severe arthritis of the coffin joint and he has had two lots of injections spaced about four years apart. I'm really careful never to trot on the roads, but a couple of weeks ago did a few short trots up hills on the way back from our local riding club (still don't know why I did this) and he has been a little pottery ever since on a tight circle on concrete, but is sound enough to jump and all paces on a surface. His physio said last night that she thought it was to do with his coffin joints.:(

So think i may have to have them medicated again in the next few months.

I'd just advise to watch the hard ground, and also never trot on the roads.:)
 
applecart14 said:
My horse was diagnosed with moderate to severe arthritis of the coffin joint and he has had two lots of injections spaced about four years apart. I'm really careful never to trot on the roads, but a couple of weeks ago did a few short trots up hills on the way back from our local riding club (still don't know why I did this) and he has been a little pottery ever since on a tight circle on concrete, but is sound enough to jump and all paces on a surface. His physio said last night that she thought it was to do with his coffin joints.:(

So think i may have to have them medicated again in the next few months.

I'd just advise to watch the hard ground, and also never trot on the roads.:)
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:( Sorry to hear he's a bit pottery at the mo!

Wow 4 years apart, that is interesting to know, i was fully expecting it to be an annual thing. When you had his joints medicated, what did he have, my vet wants to do the steriods and i think HA, but i cannot remember what he said.

He also said be careful of hard ground & trotting on roads and tight circles.
 
Yes - I have a mare with ringbone in her left hind and successfully medicated so that she is now fully sound on that leg (last steroid Oct-11) and able to compete.

However we now have another issue - see my recent post so not sure if this will continue!
 
Lots of horses have their joints medicated very early on these days, at the first sign of concern or even prophylactically to give "protection", although that's usually with HA at least initially. This is done precisely so they CAN continue competing so there certainly isn't a contraindication per se. Obviously good management plays a part, too, especially if the joints are being medicated for a reason, including avoiding bad going, sticking to a very stringent shoeing schedule, tailoring work load etc. It's always a bit hit and miss until you find out what works for the horse.

I was always taught "joint support" works best when you can determine the best schedule for the horse. My experience is figuring out exactly how long you can go between and/or recognising the first subtle signs the horse needs doing again, makes for the most successful long term and economical program, combined with management, of course. That doesn't seem to be the most common approach here, outside of high level competition yards/racing but it's worth a conversation with a good performance vet. I realise the limitations are often brought about by insurance though.

A lot depends on WHY the horse is being medicated. If there is an ongoing/degenerative condition, especially if management changes have not slowed the progression, you are obviously going to have to be much more careful, even to the point of limiting work load. As above, my PERSONAL experience is careful observation and taking the horse as an individual are a big part of making it work. I know it's not popular to say but it also depends a bit on what you're willing to risk - I've known horses that would stay sound for years with very little intervention jumping 1m on good surface, but be off in a couple of weeks if they were made to jump higher consistently or on bad going. Lots of schoolmasters are doing that job because they aren't really sound enough to keep progressing or being competitive but jump for years at lower levels. It depends a lot on the individual.
 
My horse is medicated every year at the start of the showing season, in fact he's being done this thursday. He has what my vets calls a cocktail, injected into his shoulder joint. He had major surgery in 2006.

It is usually a steroid and Hylartil, which is a high molecular weight HA.
 
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Joyous70 said:
:( Sorry to hear he's a bit pottery at the mo!

Wow 4 years apart, that is interesting to know, i was fully expecting it to be an annual thing. When you had his joints medicated, what did he have, my vet wants to do the steriods and i think HA, but i cannot remember what he said.

He also said be careful of hard ground & trotting on roads and tight circles.
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I can't remember to be honest, expect it was steroid and HA the first time and just steroid the second time. Some horses can go along time, others can't. With his spavin he had three lots of tildren, HA, steroid and adequan. And then went three years without needing any other treatment. :eek: Dare say if I'd scrutinised him under a microscope I would have found that he needed it sooner, or may have seen a very slight change of pace but dressage judges, and three day event vets didn't find a problem with him and he was enjoying his work so I guess he was fine. :) I think sometimes you can over analyse things to the extreme, I am forever pulling Bails tail to the side to see if he is swaying at all with his hind quarters as my previous horse had Wobblers, despite the vet and physio reassuring me about a million times that he is fine!! :D

So long as my friend is keen to compete and be ridden and I stop doing stupid idiotic things like trot on the roads I shall delay having the coffin joint injections. After all the only time he is pottery is on a acutely tight circle for vet/physio in hand on concrete or when he's been stood outside his stable for an hour on concrete and then does an arc to go into his stable and then that's when I notice it. Due to have the vet out soon for last check on suspensory ligament injury before my claim runs out.
 
I'm reading this thread with interest. After a very easy two years with 1 or 2 short hacks and the rest out in the field, due to my mum's back injury, our horse had a field injury recently and we had a full lameness workup. It highlighted arthritis in both coffin joints, both stifles and both hocks. He has had stifles and coffin joints injected so far, and is having his hocks injected in a few weeks time. They also had him on some sort of infusion at the vets (I am currently living away from home so don't have the full details)

Although still on 1 bute a day, my mum is struggling to handle this new spritely creature who is dragging her everywhere and showing off to his neighbours in the paddock. He has had a complete character change. The vet believes there is a chance that he might come back in a few weeks better than ever before. Here's hoping. Good luck OP with yours x
 
Frank had the same diagnosis (well DJD as not seen on xray) in January, was injected with steroid and HA, was much sounder but perhaps not 100% after and brought back into work slowly, by week 7 having done a little more work on vets instruction he was as lame/lamer than when we started. He had another injection then (about 7 weeks ago) and I think he is still pretty much sound although has only been in walk work since I elected to take shoes off at that point so am waiting for him to grow some more new foot before upping the work at all.

He had been remedially shod since November and feet looked a lot better externally but it wasn't helping the lameness.
 
My Intermediate event horse has had his hocks injected twice now (a year apart). We believe he has slight arthritic changes in them. He also has an old tendon injury (minor) and an inflamed sesamoid joint! He is as sound as you like, and if you saw him trotting you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with him at all.

That said, I am VERY careful about how often I run him / where I run him, and he is very pampered, as I do everything I can to keep him on the road.... He's on Vetroflex, Tendoneaze, has magnetic leg wraps on every night, has Horseware Icevibe boots for when he does fastwork etc.... ETA: and we have a very good farrier who shoes him "just so"!

I am careful with him, as I know his history, but with careful management he is absolutely fine, so there is no reason why a horse with medicated joints can't continue to compete!
 
lynds81 said:
My Intermediate event horse has had his hocks injected twice now (a year apart). We believe he has slight arthritic changes in them. He also has an old tendon injury (minor) and an inflamed sesamoid joint! He is as sound as you like, and if you saw him trotting you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with him at all.

That said, I am VERY careful about how often I run him / where I run him, and he is very pampered, as I do everything I can to keep him on the road.... He's on Vetroflex, Tendoneaze, has magnetic leg wraps on every night, has Horseware Icevibe boots for when he does fastwork etc.... ETA: and we have a very good farrier who shoes him "just so"!

I am careful with him, as I know his history, but with careful management he is absolutely fine, so there is no reason why a horse with medicated joints can't continue to compete!
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Just to repeat myself ;) I think the above and similar comments are an essential part of these conversations. Injecting the joints is not a magic potion to turn back the clock or protect the horse from harm, it addresses inflammation and discomfort from injury or an ongoing process. The horse is not "good as new", it's "managed". A big part of keeping the wheels on the wagon is doing all the other boring, horsemanship stuff. In some cases a reduction in the level of activity is also indicated but even that's not a given - the damage will still be there and most horses benefit from being fit and worked appropriately.

Not saying you wouldn't/won't OP - quite the opposite! I think people should be hopeful that with the right treatment and care it's very possible to keep horses much sounder than we could in the past.
 
Thank you to all of you that have replied - I have been away and only just had chance to get back to the computer.

From what i have read, it seems more common than i was aware, and also with good results, and i am feeling a lot more optimistic than i was after the lameness workup, i really thought that our days of riding out were over, so its nice to know that there are people out there with horses who with good management, can continue to have healthy and happy lives, and still compete at some level. Im never going to be competing on a massive scale or every week, so its nice to know that we should be able to continue almost as normal.
 
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