Early signs of arthritis in hocks...recommendations please

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So the vet has confirmed some signs of what I was already noticing with some stiffness and change in his way of going. He's 15.1hh, 15yr Irish cob who has had a reasonably active life hunting and showing.
On vet advice he's on danilone for a fortnight with a constant workload to see the degree of improvement and then make some more decisions.
But what, longer term, has been the best option for your horses in terms of amount of work, supplements and prescribed drugs please ?
 
I would strongly recommend you try a course of cartofen injections in the first instance .
Steroids jabs into the joints work very well in most but if cartofen gives you a good result it's less intrusive to the joint and you don't have the infection risk .
There's also Arthrimed to consider and Drugs like Tildren there's a lot of options .
Keeping the horse slim will obviously help and keeping him on the move so lots of turnout , living out if possible if stabled at night you ideally use a big stable .
I have never had an arthritic horse who liked being cold so you do kind of find a balance that works in winter .
 
I'm early on this journey. My boy was diagnosed a couple of months ago with arthritis in his hock. I have found he is doing well on as much hacking as possible (4-5 days a week is all I can do), he has turmeric, linseed oil and MSM in his feed, he gets Bute before any particularly strenuous rides or for recovery if he's done a lot, but I try to limit it as a regular thing. I have a set of premier Equine infra red boots, a Rambo ionic rug, and a massage pad - he has all on for around 30mins before riding. I've also given him a track system to keep him moving. I do carrot stretches as often as possible and try to do bending and stretching on hacks too.

The above sounds like a lot - But it's working so far. He's been easy to do all his life, so I am happy to pamper him nowadays. He is feeling well on this routine.

Good luck! I would love to hear how others have coped too so I'll be following this post with interest.
 
I have two with hock arthritis - one 17 and one 11. Both have steroids into the joint and then we've recently started giving Osphos on top on the recommendation of our vet.

They both get a joint supplement and we try to keep them moving/in consistent work so they're out in the school or walker (large diameter, walk only) if no turnout. They get a day or two off rather than weeks/months and they're out as much as possible.

They also go under the solarium before/after work and the older boy wears an exercise sheet in the colder weather.
 
mine got diagnosed with hock arthritis and got the injections. he is on a joint supplement. Touch wood, he is in full work and out happily eventing. I make sure he has as much turnout as possible, warm him up slowly and I also don't put mileage on him that he doesn't need. He is in full work, but I do a lot of slow stretchy work and wary of surfaces and ground. As he is an established jumper we only jump at shows unless there is a particular issue we need to work on.
 
I have a 16 year old warmblood who has advanced ringbone and sidebone in both front legs. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have a touch of arthritis in his hocks either. He's the best he's been these last few months, he's on half a sachet of bute per day and a whacking dose of boswellia. He gets copra daily in his feed. Lives out.
 
I partly wish I had given frank a steroid injection sooner than I did.

Supplement wise I think boswellia really helps as an anti inflammatory. I don't believe the science of any of the the glucosamine/chondrotin supplements.
 
Snuffles said:
Do horses have to go into the vets for the hock injections or can they be done at your yard ?
Click to expand...

My lot are done at my yard, in an empty, scrubbed out stable. They stay in for a few days afterwards, and then it's business as usual.
I am happy to medicate joints as soon as they start to deteriorate. You can't fix arthritis, and I don't believe you can prevent it progressing once it's started, so I'm all for feeding anti-inflammatory supplements, medicating the joints, and tiding them over periods of soreness with a bit of bute. Most of my lot have dodgy joints, so they all live out 24/7
 
A course of Cartrophen injections initially to mop up general age related creakiness, followed by joint medication as appropriate. Cartrophen is injected by IM route so I can do those jabs myself.

I take mine to the vets for joint medication, as they have ultra clean treatment rooms in which to do the procedure. My stables at home are wooden, and I don't think that I could get one as clean as the ones at the vets even if I Henry'd and hosed them out.

I've just started my neds on Boswellia as well.
 
One of mine was diagnosed with arthritic changes in his hocks earlier this year. I started him on boswellia and he is now completely sound and schooling advanced medium and starting tempis. I'm not sure if it was the arthritic changes that made him lame or the fact that he seemed sore on his stifle (maybe took a knock int he field ?). I also don't know whether the boswellia has made the difference but I am keeping him on it!
 
My 15 year old 16.1hh cob cross was diagnosed with hock spavins in August. They were already partially fused. He was 1/10 and 2/10 lame in his hinds and was put on Danilon for a month and I was advised to continue hacking in walk/trot/canter but no jumping or circles. Two weeks after he finished the Danilon the vet said he was as sound as any other 15 year old and gave him an Osphos injection. I got the go ahead to slowly reintroduce jumping and see how we go and he wants to see him again in three months. I've put him on Cortaflex super fenn and I use Premier Equine magnetic hock boots for half an hour before I ride. Livery yard only allows day time turn out. He can have another Osphos injection at the three month check if necessary. He feels good at the moment. I've been autumn hunting (no jumping) and I give him a Danilon afterwards. I might try a couple of jumps and see how he feels but I don't think we will be hunting this season as often or for as long as we have in the past. I'll listen to him to see how he feels.
 
How much Boswellia do you feed and where do you get it from? I tried it a couple of months ago and it made no difference- I'm thinking I should try again having read all your positive experiences.
 
I got my Boswellia recently from Feedmark. They've got one of their 50% extra offers on it plus an extra £10 off over (I think) £50 worth of goods. I got 3kg for £59.99p, and I feed 10ml twice a day. The dustbin mare took to it straight away, and the drama diva mare was a bit suspicious at first, but is already up to 5ml twice a day after starting her off with just a pinch of it :).

https://www.feedmark.com/muscles/bo...supply-50_extra_free_now_1_5kg_99_days_supply
 
I'm currently using boswellia by Rahiqq, it is boswellia carterri though, not seratta which most other brands are, and on which most research has been done. I give a heaped dessertspoon per day.
I've also used the concentrated product sold by Equicure. Comes with it's own tiny measure.
 
Thank you so much to everyone who replied , I haven't been able to read and take all responses in yet, but there is a lot of useful information for us.
 
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