DJD prognosis?

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blood_magik

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My horse is 6 years old and I've had him for 4 months.

I had a full vetting and x-rays done last week to insure him and the insurance company has come back saying that he has signs of DJD in both front coffin joints and his right hock (and would have both front feet excluded, along with the back hock). They've also mentioned something to do with poor structure of the navicular.
I've contacted my vet but, as luck would have it, he's off this week. :(

From what I've read online, the prognosis is not good - confined to flatwork if treated early.
Has anyone got a younger horse with DJD that still jumps on a regular basis?
 
Oh no :(

I would speak to your vet and discuss the options but if the outlook isnt good this young you might have to make a sad decision if you want to compete jumping :(

What a blooming shame for such a lovely young horse {hugs} BM you must be gutted :(
 
My 22 year old has DJD in both hocks and a hind fetlock. She went out to a sponsored ride last year and jumped like a stag (over 3'9 solid fences and she's 14hh) with the vet's blessing. We only don't really jump now because I keep her at a farm and we don't have jumps, but she pops the odd thing out hacking and she did a clear round at a working hunter in the summer. She really likes jumping so we still do it from time to time where we find jumps.
Talk to your vet before panicking too much. It doesn't have to mean the end of the world at all.
 
Also I would PM Lucy Priory on here about the navicular thing. She might have some useful information about barefoot approaches to treatment for you. Good luck :)
 
my problem is that he was bought to jump and I already have a 21yo who is confined to flat work.

if B does have djd, he won't be covered for treatment as he is not insured.
obviously we won't be doing anything until we talk to our vet.

I'm absolutely gutted - he's my horse of a lifetime.

my dad is of the opinion that he should be returned to the dealer if he's not fit for purpose.
I can see where he's coming from but I don't want to see B go. :(
 
No advice but I didn't want to read and leave. I'm sorry B_M, and am keeping fingers well and truly crossed that it's not as bad as you are thinking.

You have the advantage of a great vet who will give you it straight but consider all the options; I would wait until he's back from holiday and you can talk to him properly.

R x
 
I had a similar diagnosis for my 9 year old 6 weeks ago. He had both hocks injected with steroids and a Tildren drip. I didn't see any improvement, so have taken his shoes off and turned him out for 6 months. Sorry not to be more positive :(
 
Why are you only xraying and vetting after purchase? You could have saved yourself a lot of heartache! And I don't think that you can return him to purchaser as you bought without vet and horse was fit for purpose, as his problems aren't obviously bothering him currently.
 
Why did insurance want another vetting BM? Just curious as I wasnt asked for one, was it the amount you insured him for? Not being nosey just curious as this really is a shame for you :(
 
Our WB has djd in the coffin joint,mainly in the near foot which he twisted as a yearling and had dished ever since.He has been a good showjumper,but last year at the age of 12 he was intermittantly lame and x rays showed the problem.He has responded well to steroid and hyloronic acid and adequan.In one year he has had three courses of injections,and two of adequan,one being repeated last month.This is combined with foot balancing and natural balance shoes which have helped,and he has to have his feet cut back every four weeks.I have a lovely holistic vet who does chiropracty and acupuncture which have been really effective.Currently he is sound and comfortable,but i cannot predict what the future holds.He may end up as a happy hacker,or he may have some jumping left in him.He is a lovely boy and i hate to think about him being in permenant pain,but we are not in that place yet.I do hope your horse is ok and the only thing i can say is that you do not say your horse is lame,therefore do not worry unduly at the moment.I would be unhappy if i paid a lot of money for a horse which turns out to be uninsurable,with a doubtful future though.If your horse is sound now just enjoy him and see what happens.
 
he is sound at the moment - he passed a five stage vetting last week, funnily enough.
the djd was picked up on x-rays.

unfortunately we're not in a position where we can write off the money we spent.
 
There are various treatment options, you need to discuss them with your vet. If he has just passed a 5 stage vetting then it can't be that bad so hopefully it can be treated sucessfully. My previous horse had it and had various treatments but he didn't respond but he did have other issues which didn't help.

Speak to you vet first, hopefully it will all work out.
 
As he passed the vetting when purchased you have no grounds to return, it is too late now but you should have checked whether you needed x-rays to insure before you bought him, they could have been done then, or to have insured for a lower value so that x-rays were not required.
I am surprised you left it for 4 months most horses seem to go out and damage themselves straight after you buy them and the original vetting would have been acceptable at that time, by waiting you have left yourself with a horse that is uninsurable for his full value, although he is now not worth what you paid, probably not going to do its job in the long term and if you want to sell disclosure will have to be made.

No advice to offer other than mistakes were made and unfortunately you will be out of pocket, if the horse is everything you want insure for a lower value, with exclusions and enjoy doing what you can with him while he is up to it, treat when required using money saved by lower premiums and hope he is better than the x-rays show, it may be slow to progress and he could still give you years of fun.
 
No advice really but try not to worry too much. Insurers will exclude anything they possibly can and so chances are if the horse is sound and passed the vetting otherwise, the changes on X-rays will be insignificant at the moment. It may even be a positive that you know at this early stage as you can support him and hopefully keep him healthy for longer than you may have if you didn't know. To reinforce my statement about insurers over reacting, they excluded all four feet of one of mine because they weren't trimmed.

Also, a horse I retired last year who jumped successfully at BE novice had DJD. He experienced a loss of form and was sent for investigation, although wasn't lame. X-rays showed he had advanced spavin and ringbone, both of which would probably have been with him for years. It was even suggested that the spavin occurred as a juvenile and he had managed his whole career with it. He was medicated and enjoyed jumping at home for fun well after the diagnosis.

Don't fret just yet x
 
Oh dear poor you :(. The insurance company no doubt will pick up on very slight things to avoid having to pay out, there's probably lots of completely sound horses like yours that no one every X-rays. Hope you can speak to the vet soon. What a worry :(
 
OP - I'm so sorry for you.

Is your horse sound at present? Are you jumping him atm? If so, apart form the insurance side, I wouldnt worry. I read somewhere that alot of horses (esp ex-racers and dressage horses started young) have DJD of some kind. Some are fine and you would never know, others struggle. Its just down to the individual. Its the same with people - some have arthritus and are crippled, others have it far worse and are just fine.

FWIW, my ISH developed DJD/Spavins in both hocks at 8. He is now 14 and had about 12 months out. Once settled, they were just fine and he is jumping me out the saddle on a regular basis :D. If you are keeping him, get him on a good supportive supplement and keeps him working. He might have the odd off-day but don't we all.

Good luck and ((hugs))
 
Sorry to hear this. Unfortunately I doubt you have much of a case against the vendor as the horse was sound and passed a vetting at the time of purchase. The vendor may be totally unaware of any problems as it sounds as though the horse is not affected by them at present. Obviously what the future holds is anyones guess and you could probably x ray a lot of sound horses and find issues like this that would otherwise only come to light several years down the line.

Sadly your experience highlights why a lot of people x ray horses when they are buying horses with a high price tag. From the insurance companies point of view the higher the sum insured the greater the payout for LOU etc so they obviously want to minimise their risk by asking for x rays.

From your previous posts I think I know who your vets are and they will be able to give you a likely prognosis and some guidance on your best course of action from here - good luck.
 
I know we've made a mistake but at the end of the day, we need to decide what's best for B.

Tim has been in touch and we'll speak to him at the beginning of next week once he's been over the x-rays again.
Hopefully it's good news.
 
Sorry to hear your news, but don't despair, my vet recommended Newmarket Joint Supplement as I ddin't want to go down the injection route. He was on it for years, went barefoot and he was sound till the day he left me with a non related illness.
 
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