Elno
Well-Known Member
Hi guys,
So a little background story:
In April I took pity on a 14 year broodmare that had been a broodie for at least 10 years (think she had 3-4 foals during those years). Prior to that she was trained for and started a couple harness races (coldblooded trotter), but retired to be a broodmare at 4 because she wasn't particularly good at it.
She was in pretty bad condition when I took her. Not a single muscle on her, skinny, matte fur, bad teeth and poor hooves, and a not so lovely personality (she bites).
I fed her up, got teeth and hooves fixed (or rather, we're working on that, she has diastemas and needs to see the vet 3-4 times a year but it is going forward, and the hooves are looking better with every farrier visit), put her out on pasture for a couple of months and then in September decided to start working her to see if I could at least make her a happy hacker for myself.
She's been broken to ride prior so that wasn't a issue, but I started to notice that she wasn't "quite right". Not obviously lame, but... something.
Took out a vet a couple of weeks ago and she found a little swelling in her left hock and also that she was 3/10 lame on high flexion test on the same leg. No lameness seen otherwise and the other legs with negative flexion tests. Very experienced vet, so she didn't do nerve blocks but went straight to xrays of the hock.
Well, she found a little bone chip and signs of synovitis in the hock joint. No signs of arthritis yet. She said that concidering that that bone chip probably been there a while , eventually since she was a foal, that it was probably better to treat with steroids instead of going for an operation. So, we treated the hock, and I was ordered to rest her a week or two and then start walking with her until the vet comes out again (28th) to check up on her again.
Well, since the injection ponyos personality and attitude made a 180 to the better, so obviously she's had pain and discomfort not only from her teeth, but from her hock poor thing.
Now, I've really grown fond of her during these months, and obviously want to do what's best for her.
I've tried to read up on OCD and bone chips and what I understand is that surgery is the preferred treatment option with pretty good results. But most papers focus on OCDs in younger horses, often before they have started their careers.
How about bone chips in older horses? Has anyone gone through with surgery on older horses with good outcome?
I rang a clinic that offers surgery and not having seen the xrays they said that probably it shouldn't be a problem to a operate an "older" horse and suggested I talk with my vet for her to send them the xrays and her journal, which I have, but have yet heard back from her.
What are your experience with OCD in older horses? Did you operate or handled it with injections? I reckon she without a doubt will develop arthritis in her hock eventually surgery or no surgery, but would obviously want to postpone it as much as possible
So a little background story:
In April I took pity on a 14 year broodmare that had been a broodie for at least 10 years (think she had 3-4 foals during those years). Prior to that she was trained for and started a couple harness races (coldblooded trotter), but retired to be a broodmare at 4 because she wasn't particularly good at it.
She was in pretty bad condition when I took her. Not a single muscle on her, skinny, matte fur, bad teeth and poor hooves, and a not so lovely personality (she bites).
I fed her up, got teeth and hooves fixed (or rather, we're working on that, she has diastemas and needs to see the vet 3-4 times a year but it is going forward, and the hooves are looking better with every farrier visit), put her out on pasture for a couple of months and then in September decided to start working her to see if I could at least make her a happy hacker for myself.
She's been broken to ride prior so that wasn't a issue, but I started to notice that she wasn't "quite right". Not obviously lame, but... something.
Took out a vet a couple of weeks ago and she found a little swelling in her left hock and also that she was 3/10 lame on high flexion test on the same leg. No lameness seen otherwise and the other legs with negative flexion tests. Very experienced vet, so she didn't do nerve blocks but went straight to xrays of the hock.
Well, she found a little bone chip and signs of synovitis in the hock joint. No signs of arthritis yet. She said that concidering that that bone chip probably been there a while , eventually since she was a foal, that it was probably better to treat with steroids instead of going for an operation. So, we treated the hock, and I was ordered to rest her a week or two and then start walking with her until the vet comes out again (28th) to check up on her again.
Well, since the injection ponyos personality and attitude made a 180 to the better, so obviously she's had pain and discomfort not only from her teeth, but from her hock poor thing.
Now, I've really grown fond of her during these months, and obviously want to do what's best for her.
I've tried to read up on OCD and bone chips and what I understand is that surgery is the preferred treatment option with pretty good results. But most papers focus on OCDs in younger horses, often before they have started their careers.
How about bone chips in older horses? Has anyone gone through with surgery on older horses with good outcome?
I rang a clinic that offers surgery and not having seen the xrays they said that probably it shouldn't be a problem to a operate an "older" horse and suggested I talk with my vet for her to send them the xrays and her journal, which I have, but have yet heard back from her.
What are your experience with OCD in older horses? Did you operate or handled it with injections? I reckon she without a doubt will develop arthritis in her hock eventually surgery or no surgery, but would obviously want to postpone it as much as possible