Managing bone spavin

[Happyhorses123]

My 12year old boy was diagnosed with bone spavin a few months ago, 3/10 lame at trot, there wasn't much changes on the xray so it is thought to be cartilage damage, he responded very well to the joint block. we did lots of inhand walknig, hock steroid inj (that didnt seem to make any difference), however with a very controlled exercise programme - more weeks of walknig, then 4 weeks of trotting, he was feeling great (only the first trot you could feel a few short strides). so we started canter work last week, and now he is lame again, feels backward in the trot and you can feel the short strides behind. he is on a joint supplement, with 12 hour turnout, and magnetic hock boots. What now? hope it is a little blip in the rehab and go back to trotting and no cantering? put him on bute to ride through it? is he really gonig to need ridden every day forever now? he had to have a few days off due to personal circumstances and it was after this he has gone lame again? before this i was very disciplined with the hour riding every day. please help he is not a horse that will retire, he needs a job, and lives to be jumping and eating, his two passions!

 

[Mohawk]

There are many ways to manage spavin. As you said regular work is one of the best ways to keep him comfortable, but you may be able to have him on a low dose of bute, particularly if there are days or weeks when he can't work. I often find that if a horse has stiff hocks and is required to rest for an unrelated condition then the hocks will initially be stiff when they return to work, but will often loosen up after 3 or 4 weeks of riding (trotting level) again. They can have bute during this period of time. From a medical point of view there are also additional treatments that can help - bisphosphonates such as Osphos or Tildren may be beneficial although these typically help more in horses with bone pain rather than cartilage damage. Sometimes repeating the joint medication may be helpful, and it is also worth finding out which hock joints he had injected. Spavin pain typically comes from both the TMT (Tarsometatarsal) joint and the DIT (distal intertarsal joint) but frequently only the TMT joints are medicated. If you have had a poor response from TMT joint medication then it is worth trying DIT joint medication as well. If joint medication using steroids doesn't work for a prolonged period then you can also use different types of medication such as Arthramid, or you could try IRAP or Pro Stride (this is not widely used in the UK yet though so might not be possible). It is obviously also possible that he may have another cause of lameness coming from elsewhere in the leg so if you are making no progress it is worth considering getting the joint reblocked to check that that is still the painful area. Don't give up hope yet!

 

[Happyhorses123]

Thanks for that good advice. He did have only his TMT injected. I will think about the arthramid, I had previously looked into it but was a little anxious as it is such a new drug.

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks for that good advice. He did have only his TMT injected. I will think about the arthramid, I had previously looked into it but was a little anxious as it is such a new drug.

Managing spavin is more a management issue, good footing on surfaces, less trotting on roads, remedial shoeing every five weeks, good joint supplement, magnetic therapy, plenty of turnout and regular ridden exercise, 20 mins every day is better than two hours at the weekend for example.

 

[Happyhorses123]

Managing spavin is more a management issue, good footing on surfaces, less trotting on roads, remedial shoeing every five weeks, good joint supplement, magnetic therapy, plenty of turnout and regular ridden exercise, 20 mins every day is better than two hours at the weekend for example.

Yes I am doing all of this, very careful of surfaces he goes on, only trotting on grass or in the arena when it's frozen outside, he is on 11 hours turnout, with joint supplement, magnetic boots before ridden etc

 

[Birker2020]

Yes I am doing all of this, very careful of surfaces he goes on, only trotting on grass or in the arena when it's frozen outside, he is on 11 hours turnout, with joint supplement, magnetic boots before ridden etc

Sounds like you are on top of things. Good luck.

 

[Pc2003]

Have you considered barefoot? My horse has spavins and is a million times better without shoes. I wouldn’t have considered it previously but we were in last ditch saloon and it’s the best thing I ever did for hon

 

[Happyhorses123]

We've recently changed his shoes to roll the toe more and have more lateral extension so will hold tight with these for a while. Also have changed his joint supplement and so far (touch wood ) he has felt great the last week or so

 

[Fluffyponies]

Spavin pain typically comes from both the TMT (Tarsometatarsal) joint and the DIT (distal intertarsal joint) but frequently only the TMT joints are medicated. If you have had a poor response from TMT joint medication then it is worth trying DIT joint medication as well.

It is common for only the TMT to be medicated due to there being communication (in most, but not all) horses between the TMT and DIT. Several vets will block the TMT only, and based on the response predict whether there is active communication. I.e. if there is a partial but positive response they may then block the DIT and see if it causes complete resolution (e.g. if partial block to TMT and then completely to DIT then likely that horse has no communication). Some drugs - I think arthamid is too thick to pass through the small communication channels so they will inject into both TMT and DIT individually. X-rays can also check if its necessary to medicate both (if only TMT changes, then no need to worry about DIT).

 

[Mohawk]

It is common for only the TMT to be medicated due to there being communication (in most, but not all) horses between the TMT and DIT. Several vets will block the TMT only, and based on the response predict whether there is active communication. I.e. if there is a partial but positive response they may then block the DIT and see if it causes complete resolution (e.g. if partial block to TMT and then completely to DIT then likely that horse has no communication). Some drugs - I think arthamid is too thick to pass through the small communication channels so they will inject into both TMT and DIT individually. X-rays can also check if its necessary to medicate both (if only TMT changes, then no need to worry about DIT).

I am afraid this isn’t entirely correct. There is communication between the TMT and DIT joints in approximately 30% of horses, so most horses do not have communication. I don’t know whether Arthramid would move between the DIT and TMT joints or not, I suspect you are correct in assuming it wouldn’t as the gel is very thick. This would also make it challenging to inject into a TMT or DIT joint in the first place.
Radiographs are useful in assessing joint health but an absence of bony changes doesn’t always indicate an absence of joint pain.

 

[BenvardenRach2]

My gelding has bone spavins in his hocks, hes on equine answers premier flex HA (i did loads of research and this came up trumps with lots of positive recommendations too!) Its £42 for 3 months worth which i think is so reasonable! I've also recently started him on tumeric (too early to see results but I thought why not give it a go) and he has sunflower oil in his feed. He's barefoot, and has 10 hours turn out (max he can have at the mo with our fields needing to b rested over night) he also has hock boots on in the evening to keep his joint warm whilst hes stabled.
I am riding him 4/5 days a week due to work commitments, so that fact that you can ride pretty much daily is great!
He is doing really well we have our off days where he just wont be sound in trot, 'touch wood' we haven't had many of these..

I have come to the realization that it is all down to management and trying to ride as much as possible, he is not going to be the show horse he used to be but as long as he is still enjoying his work I'm happy

Sounds like you're on top of it and doing all you can, don't give up hope!

 

[Birker2020]

My friends horse had joint injections, moved onto Tildren and had two courses of that and finally had his hocks fused (ethanol). He was able to compete for a few years SJ but then an injury that he acquired in another area of his body which was made worse following a traumatic accident meant that there was too much scar tissue on his ligament to continue jumping on surfaces competetively.

She takes him on fun rides in the summer and pops the odd two foot fence log or barrels every now and then and he hacks out quite a lot and has lots of turnout and horsewalker in between.He has lateral extensions on his shoes to correct his way of going and I think she had him on a joint supplement with MSM and HA. She can't do school work but ocassionally for a change of scenery she has a trot and a canter in the school for five minutes and he stays sound. He would most probably still be jumping now had he not had this traumatic injury on his leg totally unrelated to hocks. He's in his early twenties and is a big horse, so is doing well, he blasts up the field when he's turned out and doesn't seem to have an issues with his hocks now.

Spavin is a management injury.My mare's doing well with joint injections at the moment but I'm considering fusion once her hocks become unmanageable on the steroid injections. Don't know much about IRAP I know someone who is having IRAP in her horses hocks and coffin joints. Not sure how it will work but the vet seems very optimistic as its been caught early.