kissing spine, coffin joint arthritis and hock

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zarar85

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Hi after some advice have a 4 year old who has just been diagnosed with kissing spine in 3 places under his saddle, arthritis in both coffin joints and possibly in 1 of his hocks, im thinking the best thing would be to put him to sleep rather than under go a life on medication but can anyone shine some light to help with my disicion!
 
I have a horse with more or less identical problems, he is 18 now, only recently diagnosed but he is currently sound.

Initially joints (hocks, feet and back) were medicated, and he was shod with wedges, but the soundness didn't last very long and he went lame again after about 3 months. In his case the coffin joint was the major issue, as hocks had fused and the KS was fairly minor.

I have since taken his shoes off altogether to give his hoof angles an opportunity to correct themselves, I was always concerned about the long term impact of wedge shoes.. So far he is doing very well, he has been unshod for about 7 weeks now and he is just starting light work again, after a few weeks of inhand work and loose schooling. So far we have just been hacking and he seems to be doing very well.

In my case it is more about managing the problem, but I understand that our horses are totally different - yours is a youngster, whereas mine is an older horse who has had a useful working life and so it isn't a big issue for me to lessen his workload and take it easy. If I were you I would speak to your vet and see what the realistic prognosis is. It may also be worth considering the barefoot approach - it is of course no miracle cure and involves a lot of work on your part - but it might be helpful. It isn't a conventional approach and my vet thinks I'm mental for even taking the shoes off at all, but I had to give it a go.

In your shoes I would try treating the problems, and if no real improvement, I would then consider PTS. But I would have to give him a chance first.
 
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X rays only tell you part of the story....... many horses have KS and have totally normal lives (albeit may require some management).

The REAL question is - is your horse actually in pain? What have your vets suggested?
 
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