Hock spavins - success stories? Need some motivation!

[Yogi Bear]

Hi all,
I have a pony who has hock spavins in both his legs. The X-rays show very minor bone changes. In the last 12 months he has had 2 lots of Tildren and has also had steroid injections into his hocks.
I'm a year on and still having intermittent issues.
Do people have any success stories? I know it's winter and cold and miserable, but I'm finding it increasingly frustrating and would love to hear some good news of people who have received a similar diagnosis and also any top tips for management and advice.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Stroppy Mare]

My mare has severe changes in both hocks and has just been injected with Tildren (about 3 weeks ago now), I'm watching this with interest although I posted a similar thread previously.

 

[Moodymare88]

Hi There,

sorry to hear about your pony.

My mare had a few issues last year and this year, one of them was arthritis in her hocks and hind fetlocks. She had all 4 joints injected with steroids November 2013, her right hind re-medicated in June this year and she is still ridden 5-6 times a week. She was also diagnosed with SI diease in September and after having that medicated, tweaked her right fore check ligament so has been in and out of rehab again.

Concentrating on her hocks, they are much better. She is on maxavita maxaflex after trying suppleaze gold, TEN challenged joints and a few others and i have noticed a huge difference! A friend also lent me her ice vibe hock boots, which are well worth the money! She has them on (without the ice packs) for 20 mins everytime before i ride and she isn't stiff, moves forward and has taken to jogging everywhere on hacks!

She also has the magentic hock boots from premier equine which help. I am hoping to increase her work again after xmas and go back to doing some low level dressage and fun ride with her again next year. She does feel it when she has been in and it is cold and damp, but a good warm up is key. We always do 20 minutes in walk before doing anything else.

I hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Yogi Bear]

Thanks for your reply and especially for mentioning the magnetic hock boots!! I have been looking at these for a while and debating whether they will do anything or not, but will probably give them a try now.
Hope you keep seeing improvements

 

[Moodymare88]

I would say that they did help, but the biggest improvement were the ice vibe hock boots. If you can invest in a pair, i would really recommend them

I will be investing in a set when i get my bonus next year, but i am lucky that somebody has been very kind to lend me theirs.

I hope you find something that helps. The thing is to stay positive and try to keep them in work as much as possible

 

[noblesteed]

Just had the vet out to mine this week after a year of suffering with spavin in both hocks. Connie x andalusian, 15.1 hh 15 yo. Diagnosed Jan this year with moderately bad spavin - bone spurs etc. Horse had 2 lots of steroid injections with the option of tildren if they didnt work - thankfully they did the job. Remedial farriery with lateral extensions. Ridden 3-4 times a week hacking only on roads and stony tracks and beach. Lots of hill work due to the place we live! Plenty of trotting and cantering when he could manage it. He lived out all summer and has full day turnout in winter.
Feedwise he had rosehips and turmeric. Vet said joint supps were a waste of money. Plus D&H Safe and Sound as feed.
Last week vet did full lameness work-up to see if he needed any further treatment and concluded no further treatment is necessary. Aside from slight stiffness in his right hock the vet thinks fusion has taken place in the sound joint and almost there in the stiff one. He's sound, forward-going and no longer stiff even in the cold weather after being stabled all night. Really really happy!!! This morning farrier put 'normal' shoes on hinds. Fingers crossed that he will continue to do well. I am going to keep him hacking for the next 6 months then start to introduce some jumping and schooling in the summer to see how he gets on. But overall chuffed to bits with him!

 

[JenHunt]

Our Tom was diagnosed with Spavin in both hocks at 6, as well as sidebone in both front feet. Our farrier took him on knowing this, and worked to get his feet right to help alleviate as much of the pressure as possible at the front and support his hocks at the back. He had 2 or 3 sets of steroid injections into the joints, and was given some bute as and when he needed it to keep him comfortable. We were advised to try to keep him working and moving as long as he wasn't lame (uncomfortable was ok, with bute), but to be very careful not to work him hard on soft/wet ground which would pull at him. We also started him on a joint supplement, and tried to keep him out as much as possible (partly for this, and partly because he's a stresshead box walker)

We had 5 or 6 years of this, and he was quick to let us know if he wasn't comfortable - he'd rather jog than stride out in walk, he's be fussy about trotting on grass, he'd start jumping differently, and even putting a stop in. But with careful management he was still able to compete up to 1m20 on a surface, or 1m10 on grass (as long as it was firm!), and he'd hunt if we were careful to choose the right days for him.

He's now 20, rising 3, and we're using Hack Up Bespoke Joint Supplement (been using it about 3 months) and he's feeling totally amazing at the moment. He's bouncing around the shop all springy and floaty like he was before the diagnosis. He's not stiff after a night in the stable after hunting, and ground wise the only thing that bothers him is bogs which isn't related to his joints at all, just a panicky stress head reaction to getting stuck in one once when he was little.

Spavin isn't the sentence it used to be, time, patience and careful management is all it takes.

 

[Casey76]

My old lad was diagnosed when he was 17. He was never medicated. He had remedial shoes for 1 year during fusion, and was then successfully taken back to barefoot. I managed him with boswellia, MSM and glucosamine.

We never got around to jumping again, but we did everything else.

 

[Skipadeedooda]

My boy was diagnosed age 6 with spavin in both hocks and he got a steroid injection. He's now 21yrs and I'm about to start veteran dressage with him. He doesn't need medicated but is on a joint supplement but I swear by regular work, hack as much as possible and just keep them moving with as much time out in field as possible. Magnetic boots also work well for my boy and in early days he wore lateral extensions but other than that it's business as usual. I've seen younger horses much stiffer than my boy.

Problems really show during phases of fusion when there's some pain and inflammation but once fused you just need to deal with the stiffness and keeping them moving.

 

[Yogi Bear]

Thank you so much for your replies! My boy is 9 and I was worried this was young, but it's seems that's not the case. Has helped to give me a boost!

 

[claracanter]

My boy was diagnosed with bone spavins in both hocks and mild arthritis when he was 5 ( now 8). He needed just one set of of steroid injections and in the early days had lateral extensions on his hind shoes. He is best when kept in regular work, no lunging and competes in dressage, sj and eventing.I keep him on a joint supplement altho not sure how much difference it makes. I put magnetic boots on him at night when it is very cold and always make sure he gets as much turnout as possible all year round. When he was on box rest once for 3 weeks, he really did start to seize up behind but as soon as he was out and about moving again it wore off. Regular work is probably the most important thing once you have dealt with the spavins successfully

 

[culteuchar]

Hi there sorry that your cuddy is having problems, however, my horse had a kind of all round lameness but after many xrays and work ups the vet decided she had slight spavin in her hocks and a little in the front. Due to the spavin being not very far developed we tried Tildren. I have to say i was not overly confident and went on record as saying it was hopeless. However, after about a month i notices a distinct change and after two months the lameness was ever so slight. Its now coming up for 5 months and the difference is incredible she is charging around like a made thing soon as i get into a field its head down and charge. I think with all these drugs you have to give them time to work and not to look for an immediate change. I too got the blacksmith to put longer shoes on at the front and bash them out a bit at the back[sorry lateral extensions] seems to have worked hope it continues.

 

[PonyPower1980]

Hi, I have a 18yr old gelding with spavin in his right hind. 2 years ago we went down the steroid injection route. All appeared fine u til 8 months later he developed a head nod on just the one trot diagonal, this being when the right hind was weight bearing as I sat to the diagonal. Carried on for a few months, then did months rest, bute trial etc. Referred to leahurst, diagonosed as lame in both back legs and right fore.. I was mortified!!! Anyhow game scan resulted in sacroilliac issue, prob from sore hock. So sacroilliac injected, 3 months box rest / walk on hand and in sept hock was injected with alcohol to promote fusion. A few weeks later we started lunge work with a pessoa. Regular physio. He looks fabulous. However the head nod still present, but I am hoping hock hasn't fused yet to be the reason. Been told now to bute him and do loads of roadwork. Also considering bar shoes , farrier thinks will help. I am really quite frustrated as he looks so good for his age, moves beautifully , not stiff but the flipping head nod remains.... Anybody got any ideas, apart from giving it time...?

 

[Skipadeedooda]

My boy has had back issues secondary to the spavin and its a tricky one. Everything required to help back recover isn't beneficial for the spavin and vice versa so it's a bit of a balancing act. Box rest will do nothing to help either other than prolong the problem and lunging is not good for hocks but I understand you want to stretch out and get your horse working through their back, maybe throw in some long reining as an alternative to all the lunging. Road work and hacking will really help hocks fuse and strengthen back if you are working long and low.

I started also getting a head nod and if I took up a long and low contact...no head nod on loose rein and I find it's only apparent when I'm warming up. But now im really getting him working from behind between hand and leg the head nod has gone. I have started using a full neck magnetic rug and get some massage for him occasionally as it turns out he was locking a front shoulder so would take the warm up to loosen off.

You need to build him up slowly but be aware of putting too much pressure on him as back end might look fine but if he's compensating for the hocks he could keep having back issues so until he's strengthened up keep him moving long and low don't be tempted to collect him too much and be aware of hocks flaring up. Best thing is hack, hack and hack to get those hocks fusing and it'll take pressure off back.
It's a fine line between being sensitive and enduring they do work correctly.

 

[applecart14]

My boy was diagnosed as a 9 year old with spavin and had intra articular injections into the joint and then three lots of tildren within the years claim. He coped very well but eventually it failed to work and to make matters worse he developed a slight supsensory injury on his near fore which mean that he was continually overloading from his off hind onto his n/f as his off hind was his worst spavin hock. The overload wasn't helping the injury to heal and was just making the situation worse.

The vet game my horse PRP into his near fore suspensory but as the overloading continued I suggested fusion with ethanol as my best friend at the time had done this with her horse with good results at the time. At first my vet dismissed it but the next time he came out to see him and watching him on the lunge he could see the overloading and he said he thought it would be a good idea to carry out the procedure. So he had both hocks fused (ethanol which is pure alcohol is injected into the joint space under the guidance ofcontrast dye and xray) and instantly the horse feels no pain in his hocks . The next day when I picked out his back foot he nearly took my eye out he could lift his foot that high! unbelievable. Since then he went from strength to strength.

No one really knows how long fusion lasts for as nerves can and do regrow but the sucess rate is quite high for this procedure. My horse had his hocks treated about 2 years ago and is still jumping upto about 3ft 3 and doing unaff dressage and fun rides without a problem.

Here is a link to an article by Horse & Rider explaining the procedure in more detail : http://www.horseandrideruk.com/article.php?id=2414
Here is a link to a paper written in the British Veterinary Journal July 2012 in respect of the procedure:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00512.x/full

The procedure for both hocks and xrays came to £300. From us arriving at the clinic, to loading to come home the whole thing took about 1 3/4 hrs and it was this long to wait for him to come round from the sstanding sedative before travelling home. The horse could be turned out the next day and within three weeks was back jumping again. But this is meant to be a last resort thing and isn't suitable for every horse. If the treatment fails to work there is no more space in the hock joint to add steroid, etc. Also not all horses can have the treatment as the contrast dye can sometimes show the horses joint is not suitable for ethanol to be injected as the dye shows up as travelling in the wrong direction which would mean the wrong part of the hocks would be fused and the horse would not be a suitable candidate for the procedure to be carried out.

I am so pleased I had the procedure carried out. My horse continues to move well and tracks up nicely with the hock carried underneath him. He still clips the surface when trotted on concrete/tarmac when trotted in hand but this is due to muscles are under developed and not because he is in any pain from the hocks themselves.