Cushings

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skewbaldpony

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Looking at taking on a pony with (well managed) Cushings. Just wondering what the long term prognosis is - whether you have found it to be rapidly degenerative or relatively stable?
Pony is medicated, clipped, grazing managed etc. And by all accounts 'worth the effort'.
Any thoughts?
 
It depends on what you are taking it on for, as a companion or ridden? I personally would not take on someone elses problem, but that's just me, in my experience it depends on the horse i've known horses well managed be stable for years but also ones which have gone down hill fast, including having seizures, bouts of severe laminitis and nutrient deficiencies. Another question is who would foot the vet costs you or the owner. i would think it would be better to find a more healthy horse, there are so many people out there looking for someone to take on their horses/ ponies. Having worked at a charity i have seen alot of cushins ponies and vet costs can be high!
 
thanks for that.
schoolmaster for child, as it happens, with a lot of valuable experience.
the vet fees would of course be an issue which would have to be negotiated.
 
I have a pony with Cushings (the grey) - he was diagnosed over 2 years ago after an acute bout of laminitis. He is on pergolide, clipped all year round and is on a very strict grazing management. He is never turned out when it is frosty and is never out 24/7 and is always turned out on fairly poor grazing. He is on a sugar and starch free diet, supplemented by a balancer. He has rotation of his pedal bones and has special shoes and cannot be ridden. I am lucky as I have my horses at home, so can keep an eye on him at all times and spot any changes very quickly, I have also had him a long time. Personally, I would never take on another one with Cushings - especially not one that I wanted to ride or be ridden. The biggest risk to a horse with Cushings is laminitis and the least thing can cause it, including stress. If I were you, I would walk away.
 
One of work's driving ponies has cushings. He started getting lami at 13 and the attacks got worse until he was 14 when he was diagnosed with cushings. I've known him since he was 11 and he'd always been a bit weak and hard to keep weight on. Now he's on pergolide he's had two mild attacks of lami in three years and now he's generally a much healthier pony than he's been since I met him. He drives about an hour a day, often on tarmac and he seems to stand up to the work, although he rarely does marathons anymore. The pony would have to be really good to make laminitis management and the expense of the medicine worth the bother. Ours is and he's still doing a good job, but if I could swap him for one without the cushings and susiquent lami, I would.
 
I have seen it go both waya

We had an old boy recently pts aged nearly 40.
We bought him in his 20's he went on to have a long happy and active life despite always having cushings, it was always well managed but really tied me to the yard.

The other was my old mare who only had it for 6 months before she was at the point where she needed PTS.
 
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