need some HHO's wisdom please - horses movement issues...PLEASE HELP!

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Flashbacksj

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Hi all,

Can i pick your brains please.

My 15hh rising 15yrs Cob x Appy has recently had a drop in performance.

After lots of though, having his teeth, back and saddle all checked im still struggling on how to help him get back to his former happy pingy self.

Jumping wise he is normally fairly fluid and very very careful up to 3ft/3ft3.

Yet since April he has been very differnt... he has been sort of climbing fences... as in slowing right down then Pinging skyward to clear the jump. and occasionally stopping which is very unlike him.

As i say i have ruled out tack issues, back trouble and teeth problems...

Today i have been carefully watching his action and he looks like he may be tracking up short in canter and sort of twisting his left nearside hind under him in walk.

So having never had a horse with leg issues before can i please ask for some HHO expertise on where to go from here with him...

so i ask the vet for X-Rays, Flexion texts....

do i add some equiflex/cortaflew suppliment to his diet...

do i get a physio out...

do i get some thermal imaging done...



i would like to rule out arthritus (SP?) so whats the best way to do that?


he does suffer very occasionally (after a loing time in or a very cold night) a locking stiffle... has since he was 4 but never lame on it and is unoticable after 5 or six strides... could it be that getting worse do you think... would that affect his action!?

see im at a loss as to where to take the investigations... so any adivce is much appreciated!


also some have suggested he may just be bored.. but he has done very little jumping in the last twelve months as he had most of the summer off due to an unrelated issues... so im 99% sure this isnt a horse that is fed up of jumping... ive owned him 11yrs and this is i know the feeling he gives when he is saying "im bored" and this is feels alot more like a "im stuggling here mum" feeling when im jumping...

thanks for your help... sorry its long!
 
I wonder if at 15, and after having had a year off, is there a possibility that he may be saying that 'jumping is not for me anymore/at the moment'?
I know that horses can have active lives until their late 20's but I'm just considering if he's saying that he wants to back off that aspect of his work for the time being?
 
Definitely vet, preferably one that does a lot of performance horses, to analyse movement and assess generally. Flexions are a good next step, although they're hardly definitive. Is the horse insured? Odds are the vet will recommend x-rays (I was horrified to find out what they cost here :eek: ), possibly blocking etc. so you need to have some idea of how much/little you want to do off the bat. I am not advocating ignoring an issue or not doing all you can, just saying there are different paths you can follow based as much as anything on "pay now or pay later".

The stifle would be a particular bell ringer for me. It's possible the locking might be related to some sort of DJD that's led to arthritis. Hocks are also a worry and MANY horses show some degradation of the joint if they've had any working life whatsoever.

I wouldn't supplement the horse until you've had the vet. Not to be brutal, but you want the horse at his worst, as it were, if he's going to be assessed.

It's possible you're seeing it more now exactly because the horse has such a significant time off. His fitness and suppleness will have decreased and he's even if he had some discomfort before, it would have come on slowly. A increased workload will stress any weaknesses more obviously than a continuation at the same level. Also, degenerative disorders continue to progress even if the horse is not under stress, so he may in fact have worsened during the year, you just wouldn't have noticed.

The good thing is there is so much we can do with smart treatment and management now, if you've caught something early you should be able to help him and, at the very least, you will know his limits.
 
Your description is spot on for spavin in the hock, with the degeneration in jumping performance, climbing the fence and refusing when he didn't used to. The placing of the hind leg inwards under his body is particularly symptomatic.

Try some hock flexions yourself. If he does not fail them then it's probably something else. If he does fail them it's probably spavin, common things being common. If you are not insured then the cheapest and often very effective way to deal with them is to work through for a year or so, using bute if you have to, when they often fuse. Once fused, they can be very little trouble if you are lucky.

There are plenty of horses with spavins leading long and happy working lives, I hope yours is one of them.
 
cptrayes said:
Your description is spot on for spavin in the hock, with the degeneration in jumping performance, climbing the fence and refusing when he didn't used to. The placing of the hind leg inwards under his body is particularly symptomatic.
Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly. you might want to have blood tests done as well if he feels abit lacluster.(sp) i would get vet out for lameness work up. im int my 3rd week of vet visits now for lameness so it can be quite ongoing but worth it if it gives you an answer.
 
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