Hock arthritis- fusing?

[Michen]

Has anyone had a horse whose hocks have needed medicating less as time has gone on? Boggle is nearly a year post his last jab and his new american vet says he's 100% sound. He was checked by the export papers vet and my own before he left the UK in October.

I'm wondering if the dryness and lack of humidity could be making a difference, I often hear people say the wet cold is bad for arthritis. Could it be that even though he's in a much colder environment it's actually better for him because there's so little humidity? Or is it feasible his hocks are fusing?

He last had his right hock injected in Jan 2022 and Tildren summer 2021. He's 100% sound pre and post flexion. Yet his management now is less good for arthritis as he's in a dry lot turnout so not as much movement.

 

[Red-1]

Yes, my first pony had a fused hock. He took a year to come sound but then was for many years. No treatment. His action looked fine too.

 

[Michen]

Yes, my first pony had a fused hock. He took a year to come sound but then was for many years. No treatment. His action looked fine too.

Interesting, did you x ray to see it had fused? He last had them x rayed in June 2020...

 

[scats]

Millie’s right hock is in the process of fusing at the moment, so she’s on Bute and aspirin to give her a little relief until it’s fused. She’s about 1/10 lame on the lunge on a circle on one rein but actually flexion tests fine. She had arthramid in the summer.
The vet thinks that she will come sound once the hock has fused. If it’s still not fused by next year, we might help it along.

 

[Red-1]

No, it was in the 1980's and he had an X ray to show bone spavin then, at the time, the gold standard was pin fire and blister, which he also had, to encourage it to fuse. I was 14 at the time and this was the proper treatment from a top vet hospital.

It didn't initially work, so he was turned away but then came sound after a year and was brought back to work. Was sound for years, including jumping, it was the vet who said it will have fused. It was not really the thing to X ray a horse who was sound, in his early 20s.

He died of melanomas throughout his body when he was over 35, sound all the way though. The melanomas made him breathless, so I made the decision for him while he still looked well.

 

[Nicnac]

Dryness and low humidity makes a huge difference. My grandmother was crippled with arthritis and when she visited us for 6 weeks in the US, she had never felt so well after 4 weeks.

Same for respiratory ailments.

 

[Michen]

Millie’s right hock is in the process of fusing at the moment, so she’s on Bute and aspirin to give her a little relief until it’s fused. She’s about 1/10 lame on the lunge on a circle on one rein but actually flexion tests fine. She had arthramid in the summer.
The vet thinks that she will come sound once the hock has fused. If it’s still not fused by next year, we might help it along.

How do you know it's fusing? I had heard it was painful but there hasn't been any lameness from him, he's had so many regular checks I'd have caught it. Unless the steroids have masked any pain from the process.

 

[Michen]

Dryness and low humidity makes a huge difference. My grandmother was crippled with arthritis and when she visited us for 6 weeks in the US, she had never felt so well after 4 weeks.

Same for respiratory ailments.

Interesting! That's the other thing- Bog ALWAYS get's a winter cough. It's just an initial few coughs at the start of exercise. He's in a heated barn and I had heard that can cause all sorts of respiratory issues.

He's not coughed once since being here.

 

[scats]

How do you know it's fusing? I had heard it was painful but there hasn't been any lameness from him, he's had so many regular checks I'd have caught it. Unless the steroids have masked any pain from the process.

Vet said it was a mixture of how it’s looking on latest x-ray compared to earlier ones and comparison with the the left hind, and the fact that it didn’t react as well to the arthramid as the left did, which came completely sound.

 

[ycbm]

It was well known before we routinely did x rays Michen. The old advice (80's) was to keep them working, with bute if necessary, until they fused and could be taken off the bute. It often worked. I had an 11 year old on bute. He died at 14 but as far as I know he was off the bute by then (and also in Colorado!)
.

 

[stangs]

It was well known before we routinely did x rays Michen. The old advice (80's) was to keep them working, with bute if necessary, until they fused and could be taken off the bute. It often worked. I had an 11 year old on bute. He died at 14 but as far as I know he was off the bute by then (and also in Colorado!)
.

How did you tell when they fused without the x-rays?

 

[ycbm]

How did you tell when they fused without the x-rays?

They came sound.

ETA i think there were enough post mortems for vets to know that they often fused, so if the horse came sound they just took it that they had fused and everyone was happy with that.
.

 

[teapot]

Friend's horse with gammy hocks (one at least has fused I think) has always better in dry cold weather than the usual crap dank winter murk, especially so if the weather's settled for weeks at a time too.

 

[scats]

It was well known before we routinely did x rays Michen. The old advice (80's) was to keep them working, with bute if necessary, until they fused and could be taken off the bute. It often worked. I had an 11 year old on bute. He died at 14 but as far as I know he was off the bute by then (and also in Colorado!)
.

That’s exactly what Mark Andrew’s told me to do. Keep her hacking while on the Bute and aspirin and let her body do what it needs to do and she’ll come sound once it fuses and can come off the drugs.

 

[tristar]

i have a bit of arthritis in my knee, warmth is very good for it, wear a knee cover under trousers especially when damp


also certain foods really get it started, i know a farmer who can be crippled with it after eating strawberries, so i gave strawberry jam and have felt a difference

its worth looking into diet

 

[Abacus]

My old boy (24) hasn’t had injections since… um… at least 10 years. I haven’t x-rayed. He is sound although his hocks don’t bend like a youngster. He has had cartrophen injections probably every 2 years for the last 6 to help him as he’s a bit stiff all over.

 

[tatty_v]

Yes, my 23 year old Connie X. Used to have hocks medicated annually but i don’t think I’ve done it for 18 months at least as he’s like a new man (this means a lot of jumping out over 5ft fences!) vet suspects they are fusing as they couldn’t get as much medication in last time, which is apparently a sign of fusion.

 

[spotty_pony]

My boy was diagnosed at 13 - he is now almost 24. He is medicated every two years, and isn’t in any medication except a joint supplement (Yumove)

 

[Alwaysmoretoknow]

In the (bad) old days my understanding was the treatment for bone spavin/hock arthritis was to bute them up and continue normal/hard work to 'encourage' the destruction of the remaining soft tissue/cartilage/periostrium to allow the the two bones most associated with the condition to fuse. It was explained that the two bones mainly associated with the condition only had very minimal movement anyway and their fusion had very little effect on the athletic ability of the horse going forward as well as removing the related pain. Has anyone else heard/encountered this and is it myth or fact?

 

[Abacus]

In the (bad) old days my understanding was the treatment for bone spavin/hock arthritis was to bute them up and continue normal/hard work to 'encourage' the destruction of the remaining soft tissue/cartilage/periostrium to allow the the two bones most associated with the condition to fuse. It was explained that the two bones mainly associated with the condition only had very minimal movement anyway and their fusion had very little effect on the athletic ability of the horse going forward as well as removing the related pain. Has anyone else heard/encountered this and is it myth or fact?

This is roughly my understanding. These days steroid injections are thought to speed up the process as well as provide targeted pain relief so this method is, I think, more commonly advised than bute. I’ve had two horses treated this way and both have come ‘sound’ even long term although I didn’t X-ray to check fusion.

 

[Cowpony]

My mare is in the process of this happening. She's a bit lame on the left hind, but the vet said the arthritis is actually worse in the right hock. She thinks the right one has fused, which is why it's not causing so much pain. We've been injecting the hocks for a couple of years. Last time we used the gel but it hasn't worked so well - probably because the arthritis was worse than they thought. So we're going back to steroids, and the vet said that helps with the pain too. In the meantime she's on bute and the vet has advised keeping her moving, so we're mainly walking with short bursts of trot. She's still capable of galloping uphill in the field with her buddies when she feels like it though!