Hock issue (also in Vet)

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CharlesMax

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Hello!!

QUITE A LONG (AND DULL!) ONE I'M AFRAID:

I bought an 17h2 ID just over 2 years ago. He was 8yo when I bought him and very green, having only hunted in Ireland beforehand. I bought him as an all-rounder do do SOME hunting with and knew I would have my work cut out for me with the 'independent' work, especially flatwork.

He clearly had not done any flatwork before and even found 20m circles a struggle. At the time, I did not know anything about schooling green horses and was not guided well by the yard he was at. On reflection, I shoud have, lunged, etc but I just pressed on with the flatwork, unde supervison and regular lessons.

We noticed an improvement and I really started enjoying him with Riding Club activities and some hunting. THEN:

In Sept/Oct 2011, he popped a large splint which bothered a suspensory, causing sliught lameness. It was decided to turn him away for the winter.

By Feb this year, the splint reduced significanly over that period and the lameness went so we resumed work, very slowly, on soft surfaces only. Again, this was under supervision and lessons with experienced people. Again, I started noticving an improvement and intoroduced light hacking and canter work.

In May this year, after a lesson, working on his canter, we noticed he was lame on one rein after the work. I rested him for a few days but the lameness was still there. I called the vet over twice - he lunged, trotted up and did flexion tests and could find nothing wrong so I started doubting myselkf, thinking I was being overcaucious.

By June, after a month, he was still, slightly lame on that rein so I insisted the vet check him under saddle. It was clear to him that there was an issue. He was sent for bone scans, etc. All they could find was some heat in the hocks. They said that this is commoin with such large horses, especially if they have spent years working incorrectly.

They treated him by medicating the Hocks and suggested going back to basics - lots of lunging and schooling - getting him to work properly from behind. I approached a good instructor who helped me with the pessoa lunging. After 2 weeks we could notice a difference and his schooling improved dramatically, with more flexibility and willingness to work - a EURIKA moment! By October, I could take him Cubbing and he rode an excellent dressage test recently too.

We were getting on so well until very recently:

On Saturday, I had a lesson wheer we were working on the canter, creating more impulsion for some jumps (very low ones!!). We did some walk-canter transitions - he worked hard but certainly not overworked! After such a positive session, we noticed the same lameness on the one rein!

I rested him for 2 days and got the vet over yesterday. His concern is that its too soon to re-medicate the hocks so he has suggested a week of res/turnout/walker and then reasses after. He is only 1/10th lame again BUT ONLY WHEN RIDDEN.

What frustrates me is that this would not even get noticed if he was just hacking/hunting but I am really enjoying the schooling and want to work towards doing some low-level eventing next summer.

Have any of you faced a similar issue? Would you just work through the lameness and get on with it?


I am sure you can judge that I am new at this - I get advice from trainers, etc but I have found some excellent advice on these forums as well! I just want to know if there is anything I can do further to avoid the lameness.

Thanks for reading (if you have not fallen asleep already!!)
 
IF he's having a problem with any sort of lameness then the last place to work him is on a surface - and you should have been told that a year ago.

No, I would not work him through his lameness, I'm afraid.

In your shoes I would be suspecting arthritis or spavins - but either way you need a full lameness workup to review.
 
Did they nerve block the pain to the hock successfully? What did the xrays of the hocks show? any changes at all and if so in which joints?
In the horse, the hock consists of multiple joints:
Tibiotarsal or tarsocrural joint
Proximal intertarsal joint or talocalcanealcentroquartal joint
Distal intertarsal joint or centrodistal joint
Tarsometatarsal joint
Talocalcaneal joint

Prognosis/treatment different depending on what is found and where. Sometimes you want to encourage fusion, sometimes you need to halt it is much as possible and use pain relief/medication.

I had hock issues with my ex racer (caused by a change in action from a previous PSD with avusion fracture injury which had required shock treatment and 6 months box rest with controlled exercise & a 20% chance of soundness initial prognosis!)
He was medicated which worked for a short while then he had Tildren a few times (which was amazing!) and his work load reduced accordingly (he was mid teens by then) and then he went and did his sesamoid ligament! Recovered from that and is now sound as a pound at nearly 22yrs old, but i found him a home where he is only used for hacking/very light schooling (read being 'bumbled' about on in not much of an outline)
I have absolutely no doubt that if someone got on him, got him up together and worked him 'properly' he would end up lame again!! Sorry if that wasn`t what you wanted to hear.

I found magnets brilliant & Boswellia but you have to try to find out exactly what you are dealing with before you can decide on how to play things.

And lunging a horse with hock problems is not a good idea (apart from for diagnosis). It puts a huge strain on the area :(
 
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Your experience sounds a little bit like mine with my welsh D who is 8.

She first started feeling 'not quite right' in the school when she was just 5 years old. The vet came out numerous times and she never presented as lame. However, one of the other liveries is an equestrian vet (I know – very useful!) and she saw her a couple of times when she wasn’t right. She was always 1/10 lame, if that, but I could definitely feel it. Only in the school though – never out hacking.

We did nerve blocks and x-rays which showed very minor arthritic changes in her lower hock joint and was therefore diagnosed with spavins. I discussed options with the vet and it was decided we’d try steroid injections into the joint. These have variable success from horse to horse but although she came sound with them, it was only for 3-4 weeks and then she’d feel wonky again! We tried injecting the joint 3 times, with different drugs but none were successful really. After further discussion, we decided the best course of action would be to balance pain killers with a fairly intensive work programme to speed up the fusing process of the joint. We did this last summer and by the end of the year we’d dones lots of different work, hackign for miles, work in the school and even jumping in the school and cross country at the local farm ride. Over the winter, she came off the bute and I kept up a hacking routine with the odd pessoa session on the lunge, but minimal school work. She went out on loan over the summer and came back to me a few weeks ago. Initially she felt sound…a little stiff in the school, but easily ridden through - but last week I could tell she wasn’t right again and so we had another vet visit to reassess and come up with a POA.

We are going to do more nerve blocks to ensure it is still the same issue and then x-ray to see how much it has changed in the past 2 years. Then, it will be a matter of starting the same programme of balancing bute and exercise until she is in a good level of work and remaining sound.

We discussed using ethanol to fuse the joint, but my vet said from his experience, it is a little like the steroid injections, in that what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for another, but it has the added negatives of being extremely painful (ethanol basically kills of the nerve and cartilage cells - speeding up the fusing process) and risky as if it enters the upper part of the joint, it means you will have a completely immobile joint and therefore permanently lame horse.

We also talked about surgical fusing…this is where the horse goes into an equine hospital and the joint is drilled, which again, speeds up the process of fusing. However, because I have claimed for this hock before, I would not be covered by insurance and it would be too expensive. Therefore, it looks like we are going down the tried and tested, conservative method of balancing the bute and workload.

It might be worth discussing some of this with your vet….on the lameness workup did you have nerve blocks done? I would suggest getting these done so you can determine exactly where the issue lies.

Sorry for the essay, but it does sound like your horse has a very similar lameness issue as mine, so I hope some of this is helpful!
 
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Re the lungeing - I have a horse who had hocks injected in early August, veterinary advice was 2 x 30 minutes lungeing ideally in pessoa every day for 6 weeks until re-assessed. This wa done though admittedly didn't manage two sessions every day the horse was worked every day. Reassessed much better. Then progressed for the next 6 weeks to 45 minutes lungeing or ridden schooling every day. Now due next re-assessment so it seems this is the current thinking on work post hock medication. Horse is currently being schooled 45 minutes each day with a lot of lateral work and some lungeing. Poor horse has only had two days off in 12 weeks although has in the last couple of weeks done a couple of hacks leg yielding up and down the (private!) roads where he is kept.

Interestingly on the first re-assessment horse was assessed as still 1/5 lame on one or two legs (don't have paperwork to hand) but to all intent and purposes from a riding point of view feels sound and trotting up is sound. It is only on a detailed veterinary examination the horse registers lame if you know what I mean so from that point of view I fully understand what you say about the horse being able to do hacking etc.

I would discuss with your vet further.
 
Thanks for the advice and experiences so far - already feeling better abouit the fact that I am not alone in this - just so frustrating when its so slight!

When he went into the equine hosp, they started with nerve blocking, then the bone scans. They said itr was not spavins but they could see some heat in the hocks. They injected the hocks with quarterzone which clearly worked up until now - almost 5 months later!

I am convinced the walk-canter work triggered this new bout of lameness.

Dollymix: I enjoyed reading your post and am starting to think that I should just manage the pain to keep him as comfortable as possible., He has a good life - does not get worked too hard - but I am not going to settle with just hacking him.

I have heard from sveral sources, including the surgeon, that lunging is the best way forward so I will lunge more regularly with the pessoa when he comes sound.

If only they could talk and tell us exactly what they are feeling and where!!!
 
It`s also a good idea for horses with hock issues to have regular physio as it is very often a cause of other issues, i.e sore back
 
anothee suggestion could be to have thermal imaging done - this is where they take photographs of the whole body and it picks up heat showing where there is pain on the body. It is fab. Often the pain in the hocks is a result of a horse compensating for pain elsewhere which will show up of the thermal imaging scan. I had a horseshowing a slight lameness - we couldn't quite get to the bottom of it - it turned out that he had compensated for sore front tendons for so long, his hocks were inflamed, his stifle, his back - infact most of his body was sore.

It is well worth the money and facinating reading.:)
 
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