Could being stiff in the back effect the front?

I'd def speak to your vet, it'll give you peace of mind that you're doing the right thing, if nothing else :)

If it helps, my mare also had arthritis in her hocks. She too had the cortisoid injections, which helped a lot. She had a few weeks off, and then my vet advised that keeping her in gentle work was the best thing. She has since returned to full work & jumping, although always being cautious about working her on a hard surface.

Try not to worry too much, I hope your vet can help advise you :)
 
I think it's really important to speak to your vet in this case.

Just to put things into perspective, I had an arthritic horse for 15 years. Most of that time she was on bute, her liver was never affected by it. Magnetic boots and rug really helped. Even a set of Equichaps stable quilted things are helpful, they also dry wet legs off. She would be hopping when she came out of the stable, but sound inside 5 minutes of walking. From that point she got better and looser. I was instructed to ride her GENTLY for at least 20 minutes a day, every day, to keep her moving. Yes she was "handle with care" but she was worth it :)

You could try giving Rhus Tox and/or Bryonia homeopathic remedies, certainly won't do any harm.

Cod Liver oil is cheap and can be very effective, I also had good results from Super Solvitax RA in the earlier days.

Obviously discuss with your vet, but I was instructed NEVER to lunge her as it would put too much pressure on her joints.

FWIW I owned her until the day she died (not arthritis related) at 30 years old, and we went for a gentle canter the day before she died. Her arthritis wasn't the end of her.

Good luck x
 
Personally I don't think this is stiffness.... if she was out all day moving around then this will be very unlikely. You want to keep lunging to a minimum with arthritic horses as small circles cause more discomfort. I would personally if she still apears lame later have her turned out all day everyday and walk her in hand for 15 minutes instead of riding and trotting. If nothing changes in 2 - 3 days I would get the vet out who will also probably advise you to up the danalon for 2 days as it's an anti inflammatary (sp) aswell as a pain killer to help any discomfort.

Also when you warm up your horse I would advise warming up for 15 mins I always get better results from mine if I warm up in walk for 15minutes, it gets him listening to me and anticipating what I am going to do aswell as losening(sp) him up nicely
 
BSJAShowjumper123 said:
7g as packet says of cortaflex and a 'surpp' of cod liver oild and danillion< that brute when shes needs it x
sorry about the question iv never heard of this and im so worried that iv caused this all x
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My vet also told me that there is no point feeding cortaflex when arthritise has set in... It is more of a preventative rather than cure/pain relief so feeding this alongside Danalon is pointless and a waste of money.
 
If a horse is stiff/lame then lunging it isn't going to improve the situation, it's perhaps one of the worst things to do!

As others have said I'd definitely get a physio/vet to have a look at her otherwsie she'll start compensating elsewhere!!

Good luck :)
 
I'm going to go right against the grain here. If you are allowed to free school put her in the school with just a headcollar on, nothing else (unless you think she needs boots) and without winding her right up just get her doing some trotting about at her own speed, watch her carefully and see whether she's stiff, sound, lame at the front and whether it's worse on corners. Just do about five minutes and see if she changes at all. Unless she's obviously lame I'd then catch her up and take her out for a hack but if you have to work in the school then keep your circles and corners as big as possible and work as much in straight lines as you can.

She's almost certainly better off being worked gently than being left unridden. Just give her plenty of time to get her legs going in walk before you trot and let her legs get used to trotting before you canter. If being in regular work helps her stiffness then in a month or so introduce some jumping, don't go mad with it, and work with poles on the ground so she doesn't get wildly overexcited when she sees a jump.

I would just phone your vet who saw her before and say "Can you run through with me what supplements I should be giving her so that she's getting the best benefit and I'm not just throwing money at her for the sake of it and also what level of exercise should she be doing?"
 
BSJAShowjumper123 said:
Ahh i know, but until i can get hold of the vets what do i do? just leave her without bute :/ and i havent even seen her today
so it could be a differnt problem all together :S
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The only thing you can do is make a decision from what you see later. She obviously isn't hopping lame so not in agony. If in doubt I always get the vet even just to ease my mind, I think that's honestly your best bet hun
 
i guess, the problem is i can hack out? as others suggested cause its so dark time i get there :/ and i doubt free lunging will be possiblle cause 5/6 is prime time for indoor school :/ do lunge her on the longest it will go?
thanks x
 
can you not just walk her in hand for 15 mins? Doesn't matter where can't you just walk around the yard if there is no where else? I personally dont think lunging is a good idea especially with a sore arthritic. You never know she may be fine tonight with a bit of luck :p
 
Put her on NAF Superflex, its such brilliant stuff. Also can you not keep her out permanently? Better for an athritic to be out moving around IMO. I'd probably try lungeing /free schooling very gently and see if she comes out of it - I've got 2 old retired ponies who are athritic, if I lunge them they're normally stiff for the first 4 or 5 laps in trot then suddenly they come sound and even start peeing about (one of them suddenly tanked off last week on the lunge, bucking and kicking like a 4yr old whereas at the beginning of the session he looked pretty lame!).
 
BSJAShowjumper123 said:
Yes we can free lunge and if shes the same ill get incontact in the vets, and give her bute until then
Thanks alot :) x
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My lad has arthritus is his rear hocks and I would not lunge him at all as it puts far too much pressure on them and will make matters worse. When horses have problems like this with the hind they tend to become shorter strides and a little choppy in the front. My lads on Danilon everyday but he is alot older than yours. Did he have a lot of hard work before you had him or did he come with the arthritus? Has the front just appeared or been coming on for a while?:confused::)
 
BSJA - My boy has arthritis in his hocks. When we think my boy is starting to drag back feet we take him to vets and then we do trot up etc and if needed they inject his hocks with some stuff (sorry cant remember name) then he is in for 2 days to stop anything getting in to the injected area. He is going really well at the moment but winter is now here so i will be keeping a close eye on his hocks and back leg movement. Last year i tried something called Bioflow boots which my instructor lent me they are amazing. They helped him stay nice and free and no stiffness. I am going to buy my own pair for him very soon. they aren't overly expensive and you can buy off internet. It may be worth researching the Bioflow boots and see whether they would help your girl. Good Luck. If you would like anymore info feel free to PM me x
 
she didt come with it, i dont know that much about her history but im guessing she must of had a hard history vet said that her cow hocks? could also be linked to starting the arthiritis off, no i noticed it tuesday when i lunged her, i new something was up, cause she couldt do canter poles? she would try to i and walk so took it away noticing trot looking odd every other stride, took her boot off incase maybe a bit of mud poking her ect and the asked a friend and said she looks fine but still to me, it wasnt really obvouis but there was something up with this horse?
so free lunged her to show friend and she wouldt trot, but she said she could see anything still, but my horse not keen on just a pole! there must be something up,
last week i did pole work with her and she got excited and i had little control :o but now not wanting to go over it
and yes i was thinking of them boots then people said you have to but then on slowly cant just put them on all night straight away?
thanks :)
 
BSJAShowjumper123 said:
she didt come with it, i dont know that much about her history but im guessing she must of had a hard history vet said that her cow hocks? could also be linked to starting the arthiritis off, no i noticed it tuesday when i lunged her, i new something was up, cause she couldt do canter poles? she would try to i and walk so took it away noticing trot looking odd every other stride, took her boot off incase maybe a bit of mud poking her ect and the asked a friend and said she looks fine but still to me, it wasnt really obvouis but there was something up with this horse?
so free lunged her to show friend and she wouldt trot, but she said she could see anything still, but my horse not keen on just a pole! there must be something up,
last week i did pole work with her and she got excited and i had little control :o but now not wanting to go over it
and yes i was thinking of them boots then people said you have to but then on slowly cant just put them on all night straight away?
thanks :)
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Thats true, you start off for about 20mins to half and hour then just start adding time on until she can stay all night in them, it seems a pain but it brilliant how it helps your horse. Have you got a friend you could borrow a pair off?
 
not read every post but here's my opinion.
As martlin says, she has been 'off' for one day so don't panic.
My girl has a bit of arthritis, in the spring she went a bit atiff, i was advised to keep her going. It#s like an old person with arthritis, if they sit down and become inactive, they stiffen up more, so keep her moving.
I took her for walks, def no lungeing, circles aren't good. When i got back on her it was all straight lines and pretty sedate stuff. we would go for a hack and i would feel her a bit stiff for the first 15 mins then she was fine and swinging her bum nicely.
I always use her thermatex wraps at night to keep her legs warm and always rug accordingly so she doesn't get cold. Our jumping days are over, just since the spring though, i just want to keep her right as long as possible so not doing anything ot jeopardise it.
She is on top spec feed balancer and top spec cook condition cubes and is looking brilliant.
She is a tb with a lot of miles on the clock (ex racer) in her early 20's
 
Hmm no the only lady that uses them, she needs them for her horse
i guess so, i cant hack tho cause time i get to the yard its dark so only weekend
so ill see how she goes and if she still loooks lame ill have to speak to vets x
 
I once had a pony that was stiff in trot until she had a canter, she just wanted to go and was hopping in trot and kind of cantering. I'm not suggesting your horse is the same, but just give a nice long lunge, then maybe pop on and just have a nice walk out and see how she feels.
 
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