Need Vibes Please :(

[sasquatch]

B is meant to be coming back into work slowly, this is week 2 so trotting in small amounts should be okay. I rode him today and in trot he was as lame as he was before injections - absolutely no improvement at all.

I am absolutely heartbroken. His summer coat is coming through and he looks so stunning and mentally is raring to go and it's like he hasn't had a day off. I did see my farrier who has suggested new balance shoes and as it'll be 6 weeks since he was last done next week I'll see if they help (he usually will go about 8 weeks) but so far it looks like the injections haven't worked. I'm going to phone the vet as the bill arrived today. I don't know if it's my fault and I haven't managed bringing him back into work properly or if I've just been unlucky in that they haven't worked or if there's something else in the leg going on too that wasn't picked up.

I just don't get it, how can he go from being completely fine one day to the next day appearing lame which is then diagnosed as arthritis in his coffin joint? I had people who came and tried him and were interested and he felt and looked 100%, then the next day he is definitely lame on a circle in trot. It just seems so unfair

I don't even know what I'm going to do next, I'm meant to be going to uni in September and I'm resitting exams as I've had a rough time with illness. I also feel awful knowing he may not come sound and it's only been the last 6 months or so I've really been able to enjoy him again because I have been unwell for the past 2 years and had sharers who got to jump him and do all the fun stuff for most of last summer too. I can't sell or even loan a lame horse, and I don't feel like it'd be right to have him pts as he's at least field sound without needing bute, but I can't afford to take him with me to uni if I get into the one I'm hoping to get into, and it wouldn't be fair on me to leave him on retirement livery with mum at home (if there's even space at my yard to be able to do it).

I'm going to speak to my boss tomorrow and see if she has any ideas as I know she has probably dealt with horses in similar situations, but need a lot of good vibes right now. I am absolutely heartbroken, I was hoping the injections would work and he would at least be okay for doing even a little bit of what he was before but it doesn't look that way atm

 

[doodle]

My horse was diagnosed with a bone spavin. Then arthritis in his fetlock 6 years later. Both times he was sound one day, lame the next. The Injections worked brilliantly in his hock but didn't work at all in the fetlock (we tried 4 of them). He was put on one danilon a day and "retired" to hacking 3 times a week. Worked for us but he was 17. I lost him to an unrelated problem.

 

[Sukistokes2]

My horse has arthritis of the front feet. The injections only did so much for him, only had them done once. I put him on danilon and changed my mangerment of him and rode him happily from 8 -15. He then got a bit stiff , he had eight months off and now I'm back riding him, he is now 19 and semi retired. He is also on turmeric. It's about mangerment, knowing that the horse is lame and dealing with uneven days . Thinking about how you approach riding, slow warm ups, no fast work om hard ground. Levels of pain killers. It's a whole holistic approach. It takes time to sort it all out and find the best way to manage a chronic condition. There is no magic wand to make him better. My sisters horse had early onset arthritis, he got it at 7, he is still going strong. He was an eventer. He now happy hacks. There are people out there that only want to hack about the lanes and if the horse is steady, calm and sane, they will work around the chronic condition. No he may never be jumping courses again but some people do not want to jump.

 

[sasquatch]

My horse has arthritis of the front feet. The injections only did so much for him, only had them done once. I put him on danilon and changed my mangerment of him and rode him happily from 8 -15. He then got a bit stiff , he had eight months off and now I'm back riding him, he is now 19 and semi retired. He is also on turmeric. It's about mangerment, knowing that the horse is lame and dealing with uneven days . Thinking about how you approach riding, slow warm ups, no fast work om hard ground. Levels of pain killers. It's a whole holistic approach. It takes time to sort it all out and find the best way to manage a chronic condition. There is no magic wand to make him better. My sisters horse had early onset arthritis, he got it at 7, he is still going strong. He was an eventer. He now happy hacks. There are people out there that only want to hack about the lanes and if the horse is steady, calm and sane, they will work around the chronic condition. No he may never be jumping courses again but some people do not want to jump.

He isn't a hacker at all as he's very spooky and excitable. He also won't do low level dressage as he's part trotter and has a trotter canter, and quite frankly, the horse market in Ireland is that bad he is essentially worthless, as horrible as it sounds. Whilst he's not a hot or bad horse to deal with, he can have quite big spooks and even though he was only jumping round 80cm courses, he's quite brave and is relatively easy for a relatively competent rider as something fun as he's very responsive to your leg and can go a bit faster if you ask him too. He's really an eternal young horse, as he acts much younger than he is and not many people believe me when I say he's 16.

He hasn't responded to treatment at all, so next thing is shoes and speaking to the vet but if I can't get him sold or even rehomed before uni I will either have to defer or he will have to be pts (which is the last thing I want to do, because he isn't anywhere near ready nor is he telling me he is ready to go)

I don't want to start him on bute or danilon for life yet, management I can only do so much with as I'm limited to what the livery yard I'm on will allow me to do - I am meant to be leaving in September, so I don't have anywhere near the amount of time I want to give him.

 

[southerncomfort]

I would think again re: bute/danilon.

My old girl has arthritic hocks. She will be injected but will have a cushings test first. In the meantime, on stiffer days she has some bute in her breakfast. It means I can walk her out which is the very best thing for stiff joints.

Your horse sounds like a good candidate for buting to ride and I have absolutely no problem at all with the ethics of that. Far better to keep them in very light work and keep those joints moving.

Perhaps have another chat with your vet and see what he/she advises but you need to get a pain management routine in place before you leave for uni so that you aren't worrying about him and can concentrate on your studies.

Edited for clarification: By riding, I mean light walking and if your horse doesn't cope with that even with pain medication then you need a serious re-think.

 

[scats]

I fully retired an 8 year old about 10 years ago. He had ringbone as a result of a bad ligament injury and although completely sound in walk without any pain relief, he was marginally lame in trot. Vet advised he would be plenty suitable as a hack. However, he had a brain and needed a job and I couldn't trust him hacking as he had a tendency to violently broncho when spooked, ditch me and gallop off, a chance I couldn't take out hacking, especially as then we were in a yard with a major road between us and the bridlepath.

He remained completely sound in walk so he stayed with me as a field ornament until I lost him last June to complications around cancer of the sheath.