B.F.G
Active Member
I'm sure my horse has arthritis in his one hock and so does vet, physio and farrier but for different reasons and experiences and at the same time they think he hasn't.
he was backed at 3.5yrs, left in a field for 6yrs as the (inexperienced) owner thought he had wobblers (been tested/examined since with me and no signs), brought back into work 5.5yrs ago and i've had him for 5yrs so kind of know all of his work history etc. he has always had an awkward gait with this hind leg and old scar tissue has been found running down the back of his leg so assumption is that it happened when he was a foal.
strengthening work over poles and hill work has been done with him and he has done amazing.
in the last couple of months he has had a bigger issue with the hind leg and rests it more than he used to, almost takes him a minute to get his leg working as it should, just kind of less lift until its woken up if that makes sense.
he has dragged his toe a fair bit, does have a few lame strides but not always. when he's been shod the last 3 times (done every 5 or 6 weeks as needed) he has been reluctant to put the leg down after it's been pulled forward and placed on the stand for clenches to be done, he's ok with it going backwards. no muscle difference in back or hind end, in fact has a good amount of butt muscle. no heat, swelling, bumps.
only thing that has changed is moving yards, the field is now on a slight slope and the path down to the field has an extremely steep slope which he has found tricky especially as he has to go slow so i can walk with him!
he has been doing great up until the other night when he had a big slip on the road, back leg slipped under (not anything new but the skid was long), he had yesterday off and today he just didn't feel right and was back toe dragging.
he doesn't seem to get worse being in, if anything i'd say he gets better from being in. vet said it could be suspensory, hock or something else and even said we can inject hocks and if that doesnt help then maybe go down the route of de nerving (if it's not bone obviously). just to add his work is mainly hacking although he had done xc, a hunter trial (all low level), local shows and unaffiliated dressage.
any experiences would be appreciated.
he was backed at 3.5yrs, left in a field for 6yrs as the (inexperienced) owner thought he had wobblers (been tested/examined since with me and no signs), brought back into work 5.5yrs ago and i've had him for 5yrs so kind of know all of his work history etc. he has always had an awkward gait with this hind leg and old scar tissue has been found running down the back of his leg so assumption is that it happened when he was a foal.
strengthening work over poles and hill work has been done with him and he has done amazing.
in the last couple of months he has had a bigger issue with the hind leg and rests it more than he used to, almost takes him a minute to get his leg working as it should, just kind of less lift until its woken up if that makes sense.
he has dragged his toe a fair bit, does have a few lame strides but not always. when he's been shod the last 3 times (done every 5 or 6 weeks as needed) he has been reluctant to put the leg down after it's been pulled forward and placed on the stand for clenches to be done, he's ok with it going backwards. no muscle difference in back or hind end, in fact has a good amount of butt muscle. no heat, swelling, bumps.
only thing that has changed is moving yards, the field is now on a slight slope and the path down to the field has an extremely steep slope which he has found tricky especially as he has to go slow so i can walk with him!
he has been doing great up until the other night when he had a big slip on the road, back leg slipped under (not anything new but the skid was long), he had yesterday off and today he just didn't feel right and was back toe dragging.
he doesn't seem to get worse being in, if anything i'd say he gets better from being in. vet said it could be suspensory, hock or something else and even said we can inject hocks and if that doesnt help then maybe go down the route of de nerving (if it's not bone obviously). just to add his work is mainly hacking although he had done xc, a hunter trial (all low level), local shows and unaffiliated dressage.
any experiences would be appreciated.
