Hock and coffin joint injections

[sophiemp]

Looking for people’s experiences with having their horses hocks and coffin joints injected due to arthritic changes.
Pony is only age 12, hoping to return to work when recovered and rehabbed.

 

[Widgeon]

Can't speak to coffin joints but hock arthritis is (unfortunately) really common. What level of work are you hoping to go back to?

I bought my horse at 11 YO, he was a successful PC SJ and all rounder. When we (quite quickly) discovered the hock arthritis I decided not to bother jumping him as I figured there was no point pursuing something that would put pressure on already arthritic joints. So we "just" hack loads, and he has them injected about every 11 months. He is properly sound - scrambles up and down all sorts of dodgy ground out on the moors! - and I could jump him, but I suspect it would shorten his working life. Anyway he's 16 now and still hacking around very happily with no apparent worsening of the arthritis situation. I have absolutely no regrets re buying him.

However if you are wanting to work on a surface or do lots of jumping / be really competitive for a long time, I'm not sure I'd be quite so optimistic. Others may be though! Will be interesting to see what other people say.

 

[sophiemp]

Can't speak to coffin joints but hock arthritis is (unfortunately) really common. What level of work are you hoping to go back to?

I bought my horse at 11 YO, he was a successful PC SJ and all rounder. When we (quite quickly) discovered the hock arthritis I decided not to bother jumping him as I figured there was no point pursuing something that would put pressure on already arthritic joints. So we "just" hack loads, and he has them injected about every 11 months. He is properly sound - scrambles up and down all sorts of dodgy ground out on the moors! - and I could jump him, but I suspect it would shorten his working life. Anyway he's 16 now and still hacking around very happily with no apparent worsening of the arthritis situation. I have absolutely no regrets re buying him.

However if you are wanting to work on a surface or do lots of jumping / be really competitive for a long time, I'm not sure I'd be quite so optimistic. Others may be though! Will be interesting to see what other people say.

Hi Thankyou for your response.
Similar to you, his overall happiness and health comes before any level of competing/work load etc but if I can at least go back to some schooling/low level dressage/occasional jump and mainly hacking with him that would be amazing!

 

[Widgeon]

some schooling/low level dressage/occasional jump and mainly hacking with him that would be amazing!

I wouldn't stress about that, you'll have a good chance of doing all that successfully. The other question is, what are you injecting with? There are various options - mine has plain old steroids because for various reasons other options wouldn't work in his hock joints, but arthramid seems to work very well, and might last longer than steroids. Mine had cartrophen a couple of times too, which was expensive but probably did help. What's the vet said - what do his x-rays look like?

(Although FWIW, even if the x-rays are hideous, don't despair - my horse is sound but if you looked solely at his x-rays, you'd cry.)

 

[Zoeypxo]

I have injected both over the years, i prefer arthramid over steroid personally. It lasts 18-24 months so the cost is justifiable for me, also no laminitis risk.

In my experience my horse was very easy to manage when it was just hocks that needing medicating, i could still do everything including jumping.
Coffin joints have been quite tricky. I havent schooled since it started approx 3 years ago, definitely wont jump again. No longer comfortable being shod so has been barefoot for 3 years now, but needs boots for long hacks. She is very happy with her reduced workload (more time to prat about in the field with her friends!) and is just a happy hacker now at 18.

 

[sbloom]

Just keep in mind that arthritis isn't an injury as such and injections should ideally be for finding a pain free window where you can change the compensatory movement pattern that caused the excess wear and tear. It's not quite as simple as that, but this is often absent from the explanations, prognosis and treatment/rehab plans from vets and bodyworkers.

 

[sophiemp]

I wouldn't stress about that, you'll have a good chance of doing all that successfully. The other question is, what are you injecting with? There are various options - mine has plain old steroids because for various reasons other options wouldn't work in his hock joints, but arthramid seems to work very well, and might last longer than steroids. Mine had cartrophen a couple of times too, which was expensive but probably did help. What's the vet said - what do his x-rays look like?

(Although FWIW, even if the x-rays are hideous, don't despair - my horse is sound but if you looked solely at his x-rays, you'd cry.)

Hi Thankyou for putting my mind at ease!
His x-rays actually came back fairly clean which we were surprised at. Only minor changes. Vet did suggest at MRI but not really feasible right now.
What did your rehab look like?
He’s had hocks injected with steroids today and then will have coffins done in 2 weeks time

 

[sophiemp]

I have injected both over the years, i prefer arthramid over steroid personally. It lasts 18-24 months so the cost is justifiable for me, also no laminitis risk.

In my experience my horse was very easy to manage when it was just hocks that needing medicating, i could still do everything including jumping.
Coffin joints have been quite tricky. I havent schooled since it started approx 3 years ago, definitely wont jump again. No longer comfortable being shod so has been barefoot for 3 years now, but needs boots for long hacks. She is very happy with her reduced workload (more time to prat about in the field with her friends!) and is just a happy hacker now at 18.

Thankyou for replying - definitely a more positive experience again compared to others.
Did you try schooling at all before just doing to reduce workload? Did she jusy come back up lame?

 

[Widgeon]

What did your rehab look like?

We only had an issue with hocks, not coffins as well, so tbh we didn't really do anything particular by way of rehab - he had a few days off after the injections and then we picked up hacking again, and were back to normal lengths and speeds of ride within six months. The main problem was that I had to get his fitness back - obviously it had dropped off while he was sore.

The only related thing I did do was get his SI injected and be extra careful with regular physio for the next year - obviously the pain had caused a knock-on problem with the SI. We only had to do that one though, now I know about the arthritis I keep an eye out for it and get the hocks injected again as soon as he starts feeling a little bit off.

 

[Traks]

We’ve had our 14yr old pony injected with Arthramid in her hocks as she has arthritis. She’s doing PC everything, SJ, XC and dressage. It’s been about 8 months since the injections and she’s been doing really well! We don’t jump more than once or twice a week and stick to around 80cm a max (she could go more than this but I feel it’s enough for her). Will see how she goes over winter but so far it’s only been positive! We try not to do too much with her jumping wise but it’s a balance as my daughter wants to be competitive…! We are hoping she’ll go a good year before she needs a top up and will obviously reduce her work if she is struggling x