clairefeekerry1
Well-Known Member
its been soooooo long since i posted on here.... prob last posted in May i think... some may remember i had the young sports horse gelding who developed some weird un diagnosable weird hopping gait and went through various top vets and every diagnostic tool going with no diagnosis.
Just to recap the basic facts- he developed a weird hopping movement behind in trot only when ridden, was diagnosed with everything from sacroilliac issues to neuro issues. all of which were only suggestions as there was very little diagnostic evidence to back it up. been seen by 3 different top uk vets, all with different opinions and outcomes. i've spent about 8k in total in diagnostics and treatments (5k covered by ins) and gone through every possible medical outcome! i got alot of good advice on here but stopped posting in the end as i was througherly depressed by the whole situation and really at my wits end and just wanted to give up. i just couldn't accept no one could tell me what was wrong.
the last top vet we saw found some small spavins on his hocks and got quite a good response to a nerve block there, other vets didn't but this vet did. the x rays did show some bony changes but they were minor. we tried steriod injections, then trildren with little effect. 2 bute a day made him alot happier but not 100% sound. We also spent alot on getting refferd back pain sorted which agan improved things but not 100%
he then started dragging his back toes quite badly and eventually slipped one day out hackng and went down and i decided from then to give up on the vets, treatments and him to a certain extent. he'd had nearly a year of on off treatment and hospital stays and think we'd both had enough. That was in May this year.
i decided to turn him away for a good while as i found out in June i was pregnant. As time has gone on i'm now 100% percent convinced spavins have been the issue all along, mixed in with refferd back pain. as i watch him in the field he does drag his back toes a bit and sometimes looks stiff but not lame. he's now been turned away for 5 months- and i mean proper turned away! doesn't come in, not rugged, etc etc.
i've come to accept his situation now and to be honest given i'll soon have a baby i'll prob not want to do too much more than hack a few times a week. at least initally.
so, by the time i'll get back on him he'd have had 13 months of being turned away and roughed off in a huge field. He'll be 8 by then.
i would start off riding him on bute, and probably keep him on it long term. how much bute would be acceptable?
and has anyone had a horse with spavins that responded to a long time off? i realise being turned away isn't ideal with a horse with spavins but to be honest we'd both given up and it was a starting to effect our sanity!
xx
Just to recap the basic facts- he developed a weird hopping movement behind in trot only when ridden, was diagnosed with everything from sacroilliac issues to neuro issues. all of which were only suggestions as there was very little diagnostic evidence to back it up. been seen by 3 different top uk vets, all with different opinions and outcomes. i've spent about 8k in total in diagnostics and treatments (5k covered by ins) and gone through every possible medical outcome! i got alot of good advice on here but stopped posting in the end as i was througherly depressed by the whole situation and really at my wits end and just wanted to give up. i just couldn't accept no one could tell me what was wrong.
the last top vet we saw found some small spavins on his hocks and got quite a good response to a nerve block there, other vets didn't but this vet did. the x rays did show some bony changes but they were minor. we tried steriod injections, then trildren with little effect. 2 bute a day made him alot happier but not 100% sound. We also spent alot on getting refferd back pain sorted which agan improved things but not 100%
he then started dragging his back toes quite badly and eventually slipped one day out hackng and went down and i decided from then to give up on the vets, treatments and him to a certain extent. he'd had nearly a year of on off treatment and hospital stays and think we'd both had enough. That was in May this year.
i decided to turn him away for a good while as i found out in June i was pregnant. As time has gone on i'm now 100% percent convinced spavins have been the issue all along, mixed in with refferd back pain. as i watch him in the field he does drag his back toes a bit and sometimes looks stiff but not lame. he's now been turned away for 5 months- and i mean proper turned away! doesn't come in, not rugged, etc etc.
i've come to accept his situation now and to be honest given i'll soon have a baby i'll prob not want to do too much more than hack a few times a week. at least initally.
so, by the time i'll get back on him he'd have had 13 months of being turned away and roughed off in a huge field. He'll be 8 by then.
i would start off riding him on bute, and probably keep him on it long term. how much bute would be acceptable?
and has anyone had a horse with spavins that responded to a long time off? i realise being turned away isn't ideal with a horse with spavins but to be honest we'd both given up and it was a starting to effect our sanity!
xx
