Medicating hocks for ‘maintenance’

[Ceifer]

Is this a fairly standard thing these days? Lots of horses advertised with hocks medicated for maintenance. Would this put people off buying?

I’ve been to a couple of dressage yards in Europe where they do it as standard with fairly young (In my opinion) horses.

I may be out of touch with this but I would have thought that hock injections would decrease a horses value as there’s no guarantee that continuous medication will prolong soundness or delay any degeneration in the joints.
But looking at adverts it really doesn’t seem to affect prices.

 

[sbloom]

Looking at our social licence with horses this ought to end, no matter the effect on value, and even if this wasn't the case https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/17/health/steroid-injections-study-trnd/index.html. It would devalue a horse hugely for me for the reason shown in the link. We should not be working our horses in a way that routinely causes these sorts of issues.

 

[Bernster]

I think it’s reasonably common particularly for older competition horses. It would devalue a horse for me as it means they have an underlying soundness issue. As to the ethics of it, that’s another matter, and folks will have a different view.

 

[Leandy]

Yes it seems fairly standard these days (and stifles). Some countries and yards more than others. Would it put me off buying - yes absolutely, unless possibly I were considering a true advanced level schoolmaster which was discounted accordingly. I would avoid this if at all possible. I don't like the look of the risks - infection of a joint can be catastrophic in its own right and that is always a risk. Medication with steroids will (as far as I know) cause degeneration in its own right even if it keeps the horse in work for a period longer than would otherwise be the case. I don't really see how it cannot affect price. Even if a buyer is happy to do it, it isn't cheap to do and that repeating cost would need to be taken into account.

 

[stangs]

Ethically, I’m uncomfortable with hock injections - especially with young horses, as to me it insinuates that you’ve pushed a horse too hard, too young, and are using the injections to keep pushing it. It also comes across as a bandaid solution; the injections don’t improve the health of the joint, they just mean the horse can be kept in work longer.

Regardless, injections ought to decrease a horse’s value, if for no other reason than the fact the new owner will have to keep paying for the them.