lame on all four feet and info on bone spavin please!! (long)

[china]

hey guys, not been the best day in the world, iv had an ongoing problem with prince started begining of the year with irregular striding, vet put it down to muscular problems in his back and hind and and give it 6weeks, did that and had physio and saddle, well everything was fine untill 2 weeks ago when on a hack he was very unhappy and didnt want to move forward kept up with lunge work and he kept doing this when i got on, so had saddler out, saddle bit tight but nothing bad to make him react like that, so vet out today, list of things going on with him! flexion test showed him lame on both back legs and he walks with a twist in his foot (hard to explain) which relieves discomfort on the inside of the hocks so possible bone spavin. then i lunged on a hard patch in the arena and he was lame on both fronts on both reins! he walks with all his weight down the inside of his feet (his feet are shocking!) luckily my farrier was there aswell to shoe him when the vet had gone, my farrier and vet work closely together, they decided to put bar shoes on to stop this and see if he comes sound, his back discomfort is hopefully a secondry problem as his striding is so shot! its all a process of elmination at the mo, if he doesnt come sound through his back then hes having injections and then xrays if needed! im just glad were getting somewhere now! my question.. what is bone spavin, hows it caused and hows it treated!
if you read all that bananas and custard for you!!!

 

[abbieandfiona]

Bone spavins are caused by osteoarthritis of the lower hock joints most horses have them in both hocks. Osteoarthritis involves the destruction and remodelling of the cartilage and bone surrounding the joint and this process can cause pain and lameness.

The horse or pony might show obvious pain and lameness in one or both
legs or a subtle bi-lateral lameness, demonstrating a lack of power or
unwillingness to engage its hind quarters. Some horses might be worse on
one particular rein and jumping horses might suddenly start to refuse for no
apparent reason. In addition some horses may develop a ‘back problem’.
The initial diagnosis is made based on the horse’s history and a veterinary
examination at walk and trot. Exacerbation tests are often used, such as
working the horse on a circle on hard ground or a flexion test.
Usually the vet will then perform a lameness work-up to confirm the site of
lameness. This may include nerve blocks, X-Rays and joint blocks.
Occasionally additional diagnostic aids may be used such as ultrasonographic
scanning or bone scanning.

My girl had a x-rays which showed her bone spavins at 7 years old and we tried Cartrophen injections x4 this worked well for the first 6 months. After that she went lame again so vets re-did x-rays and found that the spavins had fused together. So she went for a bone scan and this showed 2 hot spots on the right hock. So we then tried wedge shoes which helped and direct hock injections which we had 2 lots of however they didnt last very long. Then tried extreme latural extensions which helped a lot and had Tildren which has worked really well shes 9 next week and is starting to come sound after 2 years of treatment for spavins.

Another option is surgery however vets i have spoken to say they do this as a last option because it could work or you could end up with a horse worse than before.


The reasons behind spavins are mainly due to being overworked, overweight etc.

Hope that helps a bit.