Diagnosed with a spavin today :-(

Horseback Rider

Horseback Rider

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My TB Ex racer has been moving a bit uneven so gave him a few days of then rode and could tell straight away he wasn't right on his off hind.

He got shod yesterday and the farrier said he seemed a bit stiff. So the vet came today and walking/ trotting up he said he seemed OK . So then he tried to flexion him on the off hind which it took him a while to do as horse was not happy which usually he fine with being poked, prodded etc.

So he did eventually flexion him and he trotted away lame. Then on further inspection you can see a spavin forming on the inside of his off hind.

He gave him an injection of Bute and he is going to be on 2 day for 2 days then one a day and just light hacking to see how he goes. He said it may just calm down on it's own with time or we may have to look at X - rays and depending on that injections and mentioned Tildren etc. He is prone to colic so having him on Bute for the next few weeks is worrying in itself.

I just feel so gutted I have had him 3 years and have been to hell and back with colic, cellulitis and his accident prone ways and trying to re school him . The last 2 summers we have started going to shows and actually getting rosettes and I have actually started to enjoy it !

Just wondered what other peoples experiences of this are as I haven't had a horse with one before ??
 
Its not the end of the world. My boy was diagnosed with arthritis in his left hock at 15 and hes had nothing but joint sups since and is still in work at going on 22 :D

Usually once they have treated it with management (i retired my boy from jumping last year) they can go on and on.

Let the vet treat him then after that get him on a good joint sup and you will be fine :)
 
Horseback Rider said:
Thanks XB think I am just thinking worst case scenario !! What joint supplements do you use ?
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I have used

NAF superflex - brilliant best of the lot but when i lost my job no longer affordable :o

Maxavita maxi-flex - again great stuff and half the price of the above :) no stockist round here for it now though :(

Equimins - using that at the minute and finding hes fine on it and im going to be addind tumeric to it as well as apparently thats good so I can let you know how I get on :)

Yeah i thought worst case scenario as well when he got diagnosed but vet gave me a slap told me to man up and manage him :o He was doing 2ft3 XC clinics and jumping up to 2ft6 at home before I retired him from jumping a year ago at going on 21 :) He did get the occasional flare up as he got older (18/19+) but a few days on double sups or a few danilon and he was fine :)
 
Mine has recently been diagnosed with a spavin, he was jumping be100 at the beginning of the year and schooling 1m25, didn't feel right after an virus over the summer so had him checked, found it, he has had tildren and a long term steroid in it and coming back really well, first jump lesson on Friday. It seems that it had been grumbling away for while and had just got stiff when he was out of work. Vet sees no reason that he shouldn't be fine so aiming 1* if next season starts well.
 
Spavins definately not the end of the world.

I would put off hock injections to begin with - something to look at later on I would say.

There is some evidence to show that feeling a little oil with bute can help the stomach tolerate it better. More linked to ulcers than colic but might be worth looking in to?
 
Horseback Rider said:
I just feel so gutted I have had him 3 years and have been to hell and back with colic, cellulitis and his accident prone ways and trying to re school him . The last 2 summers we have started going to shows and actually getting rosettes and I have actually started to enjoy it !

Just wondered what other peoples experiences of this are as I haven't had a horse with one before ??
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I was very much like you when my horse was diagnosed with spavin and thought it was the end of the world I was so upset and dissapointed. My boy, Bailey is rising sixteen and jumping, dressaging and doing one two and three day events all whilst suffering from moderate bone spavin. I had the joint injections to start with and then tried Tildren as it was a relatively new thing and my vet had trialled it in its earlier days. He had three lots of tildren and adequan. But then after seeing the difference in my friends horse I opted for fusion by ethanol.

Your horse has to go to an equine clinic for this and they inject contrast dye into the joint and then xray it, this is totally painless and the horse can go home straight away. My horse arrived at something like 11.30am and was home by 12.55, the longest part was waiting for him to be okay to travel as he'd had a bit of sedative! Depending on which way the dye travels through the hock joint depends on whether your horse can have the alcohol injection (ethanol) or not in its joint. If it travels upwards your horse is not a candidate as the injection of alcohol will mean it won't be able to move its leg again, and will have to be pts, therefore the vet wouldn't go ahead with the procedure. There are more horses that are suitable for this treatment than not so the chances of it not being suitable for your horse are very slim in which case you would be left with dissapointment and the cost of the xrays.

If all is well with the direction of travel of the contrast dye then the alcohol (as near to 100% proof as possible) is injected into the joint causing the nerves to die immediately in that area thus resulting in immediate halting of the pain. The joint itself will fuse within 18 months or maybe take as long as two years, but as the horse is rendered immediately pain free the results are quite amazing.

There's not been a huge amount of study done on this as its a relatively new treatment and no one knows exactly what the long term prognosis is but it seems to be a very effective treatment. I now know of three horses local to me who have had this treatment and each horse is doing much better than it did before. Its around £300 for both hocks, but given that Tildren is £700 or more its much more economical and longer lasting, in fact the vet I spoke to said it lasts forever, but as its a new procedure and not much research done on it, no one really knows if this is the case or not. The actual injection is about £1.48p - its the xrays and technique that bumps up the price!

As I say my horse is doing really well at the moment. He's jumping up to around 1.05m and doing novice/elem unaff dressage. In the summer he will do fun rides and maybe an unaff 3 day event if the ground is not too hard.

I would really suggest the fusion with ethanol. Here is some more info on it:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00512.x/full
 
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Thanks all for your replies. Vet wants to see how he is in a few weeks after taking the bute and take it from there. He did mention Tildren and as i'm in Jersey he would administer at the yard as we don't have a horsepital over here. Obviously I am also thinking of the cost so hopefully as he has never had a problem like this before I will be bale to claim it on my insurance ?

If I can't he will still get what ever he needs but it makes things easier if you don't have to worry about the money side of it so much.

I have been looking at supplements and in the old days people always used to use Cortaflex but I feel a bit behind the times so not sure which joint supplement to use ? Will probably have to get it mail order if anyone has any suggestions??
 
Horseback Rider said:
Thanks all for your replies. Vet wants to see how he is in a few weeks after taking the bute and take it from there. He did mention Tildren and as i'm in Jersey he would administer at the yard as we don't have a horsepital over here. Obviously I am also thinking of the cost so hopefully as he has never had a problem like this before I will be bale to claim it on my insurance ?

If I can't he will still get what ever he needs but it makes things easier if you don't have to worry about the money side of it so much.

I have been looking at supplements and in the old days people always used to use Cortaflex but I feel a bit behind the times so not sure which joint supplement to use ? Will probably have to get it mail order if anyone has any suggestions??
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Yes you will be able to claim it on your insurance. Shame you haven't got a horspital there, as fusion would probably be the better bet: given what I know about Tildren and ethanol fusion, I'd have gone for ethanol every time!
 
Xmas Beastie said:
I have used

NAF superflex - brilliant best of the lot but when i lost my job no longer affordable :o

Maxavita maxi-flex - again great stuff and half the price of the above :) no stockist round here for it now though :(

Equimins - using that at the minute and finding hes fine on it and im going to be addind tumeric to it as well as apparently thats good so I can let you know how I get on :)

Yeah i thought worst case scenario as well when he got diagnosed but vet gave me a slap told me to man up and manage him :o He was doing 2ft3 XC clinics and jumping up to 2ft6 at home before I retired him from jumping a year ago at going on 21 :) He did get the occasional flare up as he got older (18/19+) but a few days on double sups or a few danilon and he was fine :)
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Hi,

My TB ex racer has bone spavin. He had the steroid injections at the beginning of the year.Last time he was shod my farrier told me the wear on his shoes is now that of a 'normal' horse. To begin with he was shod with lateral extensions but no more. He is also on cortaflex and he is moving so much better than this time last year.
 
Hi, my boy was diagnosed with spavin in both hocks at the age of 8 he's now 19 and never gone better. Best thing is to keep them moving and in consistent work. Once they have fused its all about how you manage it. Initially I had steroid injections and once they had fused I manage it with work and NAF super flex. Used to use Equimins MSM only as it was pure but a lot of them are diluted so swapped to super flex. Also use magnetic boots if I think he's a bit stiff.

Honestly it's not as bad as you think, hasn't stopped us doing anything and he now moves better than a lot of younger horses. The initial fusion stage is the worst when you'll get inflammation and lameness then it's all up-hill. :)
 
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