Diagnosing possible hock/leg problem - not sure what to do??

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Lorian

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Hi

I posted in the lounge last week as my horse stopped jumping lately which is out of character. Im pretty sure he has a bone spavin or something wrong in his hock/leg and now need your advise.

My horse is 18 years old and he always rests one leg more than the other but now when standing in the yard he only rests the same one and when I ask him to stand up square on all four he wont. When he lifts a front leg to beg for food he would rather stand on 2 legs on the same side (not even the diagonal ones) rather than put full weight on his back foot, he still rests his toe. Hes not lame and I can trot and canter him out on hacks and he still jogs when I ride him and is happy. He does however sort of skip with his hind legs on a tight circle in trot in our very deep school but on a nice school surface he is fine.

The vet is coming out on friday morning to look at him so im not sure what they are going to say yet but what would everyone else do? Has anyone else had similar problems? Would you ask for an xray/nerve blocks?
 
If vet thinks its spavins he will do flexation test.My horse is just 7 and we had surgery for spavins in Jan but there are other options /medication open to you.If you want info on surgery after you have seen vet feel free to pm me.If he thinks its spavins he will nerve block but probably after you have discussed options.Good luck
The skipping was a sign that my horse had spavins .He is still doing it at the moment but he was very lame prior to surgery.
 
Im the same as you at the moment. I have the vet out friday as well.
My boy is 10 and when he is walking/trotting in a straight line he is dropping his hip, and he is coming through short on the turn. Have also lost all lateral work as well. I haven't jumped him since november as we are not the best at that. Most hind leg lameness is spavin, but untill he is x-rayed and blocked I cant decide what I am going to do. I am living in hope it is a joint that will fuse either on its own or with surgery.
I am so upset about this as he is such a fantastic horse and this time last year was doing some wonderfull work. He has no option though, he will get better.
Hope your vet doesn't find anythig too nasty, good luck x
 
Hi toots did you see vet today .I had vet out not for spavins which is improving(had surgery in Jan) but for nail that embedded itself in hoof last night .Looks like all our vets were busy today.
 
Hi, Yeh I was right he has spavin, but got a gold star from vet for picking it up quickly before he was properly lame. Full work up to follow, and then we go from there. Have decided on what treatment we are going for depending on what we find, but have said that if an op is needed in his opinion then he is to get it. But vet thinks he isnt going to need that, so fingers crossed he is right. I am not going to painic over it, I have got Oscar through so much in the last three years I am not going to get down now.
Shall let you know what blocks and pictures show up, x
 
Yeah my instinct was right, Bone Spavin in his hock but it has only just started to form so we have caught it early. Now I need some peoples advise tho.

Lorian isnt lame until you do flection tests and only then it is only 4/10ths lame on the 2nd trot up. The only thing that is wrong with lorian is that he doesnt want to jump. The vet has given me 6 weeks worth of Bute and told me to do just gentle exercise on soft ground and see how it goes. Then after that we can either do xray/scans or leave it until a later time when he is acutally lame. He said I may need to keep him on bute long term now but I dont want to put Lorian on Bute just so that I can jump him as he isnt lame to ride?
Im also worried about insurance. My horse is 18 but is covered until he is 21 years old of illness. Does anyone know whether if I dont want to get the scans/xrays done now and say his problem gets worse in 2 years time whether I can then claim on my insurance? I just dont want the insurance company to say that the problem started in 2008 so I should have claimed then. I just see it pointless claiming now for a very minor problem when it is obv going to get worse so it would be better to wait and claim later?

Any advise appreciated on spavins/insurance/treatment.
 
My horse was 6 just turned 7 ,the reason I went for surgery was because the vet advised the injections might work for a year then after a year if he needed them again he wouldnt be covered .The surgery is more invasive but my horse is young and he was very lame .He had one month box rest one month restricted turnout then walking for a month then trot for one month etc.he is fine hacking out but is still finding it hard in the school because he has to really engage his hock with the soft ground ,this should improve in time.There is a option with tildren that some people have used but it can cause colic.I can only say that I am pleased I decided on surgery he is improving all the time and will lead a normal life after 6 to12 months from surgery which was in Jan .If you saw him in the paddock you wouldnt know that he had anything wrong he is comfortable and still able to run around.Personally I would look at your options now like you said if you wait you wont be covered on insurance.My friend has just had her horse done this week he had both legs and he is doing well.What area do you live we are in norfolk and our vet specialises in this op.
The advice from my vet was never jump a horse with spavins as his leg could collapse at any time with the pain and endanger your life.After the fusion they can go back to all activities.
 
Im in Bedfordshire so think my horse would be referred to Newmarket for anything like that. I just dont know what to do, do you know how long it normally takes for the bone spavin to fuse or does it just depend on your horse? Also how do you know when the joint has fused? What does it do when the joint fuses? I thought that a spavin was like a boney lump? Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate your help
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I think you might be referring to bog spavin.It varies with fusion some horses take short time others years.With surgery they more or less guarrantee less than a year.I have the vet out on 28th for post op check will find out more info for you then .I think you need xray to confirm fusion.With surgery they take the cartlidge away and then the bone rubs together healing similiar to a break.With some of the drugs they try to hold of the fusion and slow the process down maintaining the cartledge.If you want to speak to me pm me and Ill give you my tel no.Im in in the evenings.Your in the best place for help which is good.
 
My mare was diagnosed with spavin over 19 months ago. Initially I was advised that she should have a cortisone injection and have long term daily bute. I was to work her lightly initially then a few months later my vet advised I bring her back into full work, which all went well. Then approximately 12 months on I began to notice signs that not all was well. She was not lame but holding herself, becoming tense through her body and rubbing the skin on her hock. She went back to the vets for more xrays which showed that the bones had not yet fused but the gap between the bones had started to close. She had another cortisone injection to help and bute for a few weeks. Touch wood we have been back in full work again for some time. We do everything together, dressage, SJ and XC although only small fences that don’t require her coming back too much on her hocks. My vet told me to work her as normal which seems to work for us. She loves her jumping and would be bored without it. Some days she can come out of her stable a little stiff and needs more time to warm up and at rest she still always rests that same leg but she is absolutely sound.

I still have everything crossed that we have come through the worst of it. It has made me more determined to have fun with my horse and we are now doing far more things together than we ever did
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This sounds like the same situation that I am in at the moment. Your horse sounds similar to mine, he is definately not the type to just be happy doing dressage, he loves jumping and he is always jogging and running around the field bucking (which im sure is prob what has caused his spavin. lol)
Did you have xrays when it was first diagnosed when you had the cortisone injection. Did you claim on your insurance straight away and could you claim for the second lot of injections as it was over a year later? Did you take your horse off of bute after the first injection and is your horse still on long term bute now?
Sorry for all the questions.
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I did have xrays when it was first diagnosed and my vet advised me to claim on my insurance. My vet also advised me that even if she was sound in approx 12 months I should have her re-assessed (just before the year was up) so that the costs would be covered by my insurance. This meant that I had two sets of xrays and the cost of both sets of injections covered.
To be honest my insurance company have been really good, they paid for everything within the first 12 months. Vets visits, injections, xrays, bute etc I simply forwarded all my bills to them and they paid for everything.
My mare had to have a bute every day for the first year, this is what she needed to be able to work her. I was told that work was the best thing to get the bones to fuse. She had her second injection and I was told to give her bute again for a few weeks and see how we get on. Hope this helps
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