Degree of trot lameness with bony spavin??

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Naiad

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I am in the midst of a struggle with hock arthritis/bony spavin in my 9-year old horse (mentioned in an earlier thread that I started). He has had a full lameness workup with lots of nerve blocks and diagnostics so we feel confident that this is the problem. Steroids are no longer able to manage his lameness (last time they worked one time for 6 months) - his last hock injection did not work. He is not sore in the body at this point - he been seen by chiro/massage person etc. to deal with any minor issues.

The thing is my horse is now VERY lame at trot. He is fine at walk, but his trot is totally unsound even on a straight line (on both concrete and arena). He is short striding by a lot, not wanting to put weight normally on that leg. His trot looks so uncomfortable that I would not even say that he is pasture sound at this point. He is full-out lame at trot. Not falling over, but way more lame than just some stiffness.

Is this degree of lameness common with advanced hock arthritis/bony spavin, or is my horse an outlier to be feeling the pain so acutely?? There are lots of internet threads on forums where people say their horse is lame with bony spavin, but people don't often post details on how lame their horse is - and I am wondering if my horse's situation is extreme or not etc. Once a horse is this bad, do they ever improve again without surgical intervention etc.?
 
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I have had a couple of horses in the yard that were treated for bone spavin, both responded fairly well to medication and returned to work,although the older of the two was retired after two years,the other is still in work.
Both had injections,cartrofen,I think, they were also on danilon when required and a joint supplement to aid their recovery.
I would think that your horse would benefit from some pain relief as I was under the impression that more movement,ideally out 24/7 will help the joints to fuse and become more comfortable.
I would get the vet back as if he is as lame as you say it is not fair on him and you need to be able to go forward with some treatment and find out the options available.
 
Is/has this horse been in work? My horse has bone spavins and has had it for about 5 years. I have found the best way to keep him sound is to keep him working (my vet also advised this).

He had a few months off earlier in the year and was lame but as soon as he was back in work he was fine. The vet also advised to give him abit of bute if needed to keep him working but found this wasn't needed.

However I do think different horses react to bone spavin in different ways.
 
Hi there. My boy's had hock arthritis for the past 4 (ish) years or so and yes there have been times where he has been very lame because of it, but if he was hopping lame at trot then he was usually at least a little stiff looking at walk. We went down the managing with bute route with him (tried tildren infusions, which didn't work and vet at time wasn't keen on joint injections) and so would just increase his bute dose for a few days if he seemed especially stiff. First few times he came in really stiff I gave him his bute and then the rest of the day off but after a situation arose where I absolutely had to ride him (had to take a group of rs clients for a hack due to instructor not turning up and there was no other horse available for me to ride) and he came back from the ride sound as a pound I decided that a gentle hack was probably the best thing for him when feeling a bit stiff as it loosened him up and got him moving again and by keeping him in regular work the number of off days dramatically reduced until he wasn't really having any. Last year he came off the bute and seems to be mostly doing ok (still on joint supplement though and will remain on that for rest of his life), he's on loan at the moment so I probably only see him around once a month or so but from what I have seen he's doing fine. Anyway I guess what I'm trying to say is don't give up hope if the first treatment option you try doesn't work, there are others out there and that yes my boy could look very bad when having one of his off days. If you are at all concerned or if you think this may be something unrelated to the bone spavins then speak to your vet and work together to figure out what the next step should be.
 
Can I ask which supplement you are using.

My cob has had three lots of injec in hock and a Tildren infusion. He has been great for six months but has now come back with intermittent lameness.

He is fine in walk but trot almost looks as though he has a stifle problem it is very rolling, but I am sure it is all to do with the hocks.

I have not gone down the supplement route!
 
My vet has also recommended regular exercise for my horse with spavin. He's had both steroid and alcohol injections, neither brought him sound so he's on a bute a day and ridden gently, he hacks and schools as normal just needs extra time to loosen up and no tight circling etc. Vet has said in time this will help the bones to fuse. Trotted up straight from the field without bute he would probably also be fairly lame.
 
Hi there, my 11 year old cob has this and he has top spec senior and 10/10 top spec he hunts twice a week and is hacked between hunting hope this helps.
 
Supplement I'm using at the moment is Synequin, blooming expensive stuff but after trying a few this seems to be the one that works best for him.
 
OK - spavin is not a death sentence - but you do need to make changes. Observations from a now 98% sound spavined horse owner (the horse is 98% sound, the owner is crocked)

  • No circles, lots of long hacks and you'll be quite surprised how effectively you can work a horse in walk!
  • Dump the shoes - let the hoof grow the way it wants to and also reduce the concussion - get a trimmer with experience of this. He needs that hind hoof asymmetry to support what is above the leg.
  • Don't put your faith in these supplements - makes sure the basic diet is forrage based, has al the minerals he needs (go to ForragePlus for info) and make sure you do remove all grains for a while as these can inflame arthritic tendencies in some horses. I find linseed invaluable - in the right quantities - two tea mugs a day
  • Think about keeping out 24x7 but keep warm - movement is always better than stabled for these guys.
  • I've never known a horse cured by these injections - only temp relief. So consider carefully before you accept the risk of introducing anything into the joint
.
 
Hi there - have you considered consulting a physio? A physio will be able to recommend work patterns to help your horse and ways to manage his spavins.
They should also help your horse to move more comfortably and deal with any problems that arise as he tries to compensate for his lameness. Visit the IRVAP or ACPAT websites for qualified physios in your area! Good luck - you should be able to find a way to make his condition much more manageable.
 
Brucea some very good advice there about dealing with bone spavin. I have a horse that has it too, who is now 20. He is now a happy hack and has not done any schooling for almost 2 years. I avoid any circle work with him. Hacks are mainly at walk with a little trot but he has enjoyed a few canters/gallops this year. He actually wanted to do the latter and didn't need to be pushed. I have used bute only when absolutely necessary as I don't want to giving painkillers when he doesn't seem to be in pain and end up in a situation when I may have to be giving him extra as it is having no effect. I too give linseed when he has a feed. His feeds are mostly in the winter though and this year it will be just hifi molasses free with supplements added. The best joint supplement I have had is Arthiraid which I have found has been better for him, it is relatively cheap too. I did have some joint fx from the vet once that was good but expensive. I did want to try and have him out 24/7 as this would have helped his joints by living out but I had that option taken away from me a while ago, and have yet to find anywhere that fits in with me that will do that for him. Last winter he was the soundest I have ever had him though. He has not been officially diagnosed with it but has the classic symptoms and when checked by a vet more than twelve months ago arthritic changes were felt in both of his hock joints.
I have also removed his shoes and found this has helped too. He would be better in more regular work than he has but time constraints and me being able to take him out virtually every day to ride is impossible at the moment.
He does seem happier though in himself nowadays though but occasionally he will show a degree of lameness in trot when out hacking.
My vet did recommend that little and often was better than none at all or having long rides interspaced with no work. That is all well and good though if you are able to commit to that. I have also used a horsewalker in the past and although you could say that was going around in circles it is not quite the same as circle work in a school or lunging in my opinion and he didn't seem lame on the walker.
I never tried Tildren though as I am not in a financial position to be able to afford it and for the age and size that he is I didn't feel it was worth spending out like that for a horse that was essentially a happy hacker, especially if the spavin could be managed in other ways.
 
Mine was 4/10 on one leg and 2/10 on the other on a straight line in trot and 2/10 lame in walk on the worse leg when first diagnosed and he's currently sound (wouldn't pass a flexion test obviously) and doing dressage, hacking, schooling and a little jumping. So there is hope :)

He had his joints medicated with cortizone, a course of adequan, surgical shoeing, gentle re-introduction to work, cortaflex and also danilon when required. We avoid lunging, very small circles, very hard or very boggy ground and he has as much turnout as possible.
 
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Achinghips said:
When you say very lame , how many tenths we talking? What was vet evaluation?
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In Canada, we seem to grade on a scale of 1 to 5. My horse was a 3 out of 5. Basically, sound at walk, lame on a straight line trot (and I'd say reasonably lame on that leg - not falling over lame, but notable discomfort and obvious short striding - maybe one or two hoofprints shorter on the bad hind leg compared to the good hind leg - but it is obvious).
 
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