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SonkyDonkey

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Hi, I am sorry if this turns out a little long, I will try and keep it concise, but I am now out of ideas of how to help my boy and what is best for him in the future.

As a bit of background, he is a 7 year old, 17.2 warmblood who I have owned for 3 years. He has a laid back attitude and on a good day can be a lovely horse but at other times he does not want to be touched, rugged etc. He has never been naughty to ride but he has always been extremely backwards/lazy and his canter is very week despite consistent work and all the usual checks at regular intervals. I had hopes of doing higher level dressage with him but so far we haven't got anywhere. I got a vet involved for a full work up last year when he started dragging his hind toes slighty in trot. He has always been hard to get weight and muscle on and has always had a slightly tucked up look.

So far he has had:
- scope to check ulcers (clear)
- supplemented hind gut as a precaution
- tested for muscle myopathies such as PSSM (clear)
- a bone scan (showing remodelling to the top of the spinal processes but xrays show no kissing spines)
- his back has been scanned (showing damage to the supraspinous and interspinous ligaments - treated with shockwave therapy, then he was turned away and is now undergoing a physio supported rehab programme). However he was still dragging his toes and was weak behind following this so investigations continued.
- prescribed Gabapentin for nerve pain in his back (this made a huge difference and for the first time didnt look tucked up and put on weight and has started to out on muscle but still not right behind).
- He then had hind suspensories scanned and blocked which made him much worse (unable to trot) so suspected he was compensating for a severe pain elsewhere. The sacroiliac was then blocked with no improvement then hocks blocked which did get an improvement after a few laps of trot (despite neither areas showing up in his bone scan). So he has had steroids to the hock. He now has a week off before I can ride following the steroids injections to see if there is enough of an improvement or not.
- a physio is still working with us through a rehabilitation plan trying to strengthen him and get him working correctly.

The current plan with the vet is if the steroid injections in the hocks work then we want X-Rays of the hocks to check his long term prognosis. If the steroids do not make enough of a difference then he needs to go back to look at the sacroiliac and hind suspensories again to see if blocking all three areas was actually the reason why he showed an improvement.

So basically I don't know what to do for the best for my boy. I had high hopes for him as a dressage horse but we have never managed to get him to a stage where I can get him out. I have had two vets look at him and agree that he is in pain but we cannot properly identify the cause, its more been a case of trial and error. With so much going on in such a young horse I don't know what is the best for him and how much treatment to put him through. I also have the financial issue that the insurance is very nearly up and we are still not really any closer to getting him out of pain. I am debating retirement as an option for him but he is so young and when he is having a good day he really is lovely in all aspects. Has anyone got any ideas or advice for us?
 
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Did your vet do a neurological exam of your horse? In that the lameness may be neurological rather than pain related?
 
Yes a neurological exam was performed and he was all fine so not a neurological pain either.

X-rays of his hocks were not taken before steroid injections, there were many reasons for this and if they work in the next few weeks X-rays will then be taken.
 
I think if were me I would get all necessary tests done as soon as possible before your insurance runs out. Then if possible turn him away for a few months ans see what hes like then.
 
I think these are very personal as it depends on your vet, your insurance, your set up for rehab and your finances. And how you feel about retirement/pts if those don’t go right. But imo I’d push for whatever checks and treatment you can do in the first year of your insurance, if things don’t improve then I’d consider turning away for a bit. But I’m afraid with younger horses who have a list of issues, I don’t think the prognosis is good. My mare is in light work now after being turned away (following multiple issues and lots of treatment and rehab) and I don’t expect her ever to do more sadly.
 
It's extremely odd to not x-ray a joint that has been identified on a joint block before injecting it so while you are looking for solutions I'd do a proper work up first - I can't think of one of the many reasons for not x-raying that you mention..

If your current vet can't solve it think about going t a very experienced practice for a second opinion.d
 
SusieT said:
It's extremely odd to not x-ray a joint that has been identified on a joint block
Click to expand...

No it's not. Vets do hocks without x rays all the time, because it's almost always a problem in the same place and almost always the same problem.
 
I'd have him PTS. I'd be heartbroken about it, but I would still do it. Thats a long list of issues and investigations and the money is running out and he is in pain. I have nerve pain. It is horrific. There are times I genuinely think I cant take another minute of it. I took gabatpentin for a long time. It helped but it never stopped the pain completely and theres a whole host of horrid side effects.
 
I could have written your post myself bar the dressage! Same height, same age, very similar issues. In my case I have just retired him and he will almost certainly be pts before winter kicks in. Some days he can be a complete pig, which is utterly not him, and I'm sure it's when he's sore. Bute doesn't help so I can't even offer him a lengthy retirement. Having (yet another) discussion with the vet in a couple of weeks though I already know we are thinking along the same lines. Vet has known him as long as I have - since foaling - so I value his opinion. It's rubbish isn't it....I'm not sure I have anything positive to offer other than you're not alone.
 
I’m so sorry Nudibranch that you are going through a similar experience, it’s heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, deep down I agree with many of you that retirement or PTS may be the kindest option for him but of course I am always hoping for some mirical to occur which makes him happy and pain free. I love this horse and had always planned to keep him for the whole of his life but never thought I’d be considering loosing him so early. We are out of ideas of things to test with him. The hardest thing is is that, despite the pain he is in, he has never tried to get me off or done anything nasty. At his very worst he would pull lots of faces to touch, groom and tack up (never actually bitten) and refused to move.

I guess I just need to have a serious talk on his prognosis and future with the vet when we know the full outcome of the hock injections.
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I feel for you. It's a truly horrible situation to be in. I retired my gelding at 8 years old after nearly two years of vet work ups/rehab etc. Thankfully for him he is totally field sound even though we've never quite got to the bottom of his issues - we know he has issues with his front feet, but not quite sure what, and when he is uncomfortable he puts the rest of himself out. It's incredibly frustrating to see him canter round the field, but I know with repetitive work the issues return. If he was in pain constantly with no clear solution, then he wouldn't still be here now. You clearly want to do the best for your chap, so sadly a long hard talk with the vet is probably the way to go. Big hugs. xx
 
Long shot but cheap enough to try.

I've heard of a horse that tested clear for PSSM 1 and 2 but has shown ongoing and significant improvement having been managed as a PSSM horse.

For the price of a bottle of vitamin e oil and a kilo or two of Alcar, there's not much to lose assuming his current diet is low enough in sugar and starch.
 
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