Opinions Please - Misdiagnosed Bone Spavin

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City-Girl

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I am going to try and start from the beginning!

I have an 11 year old cob cross mare, I have had her for 8 years.

She was nearly 3 when I first got her - up until she was around 9 we competed regularly with pony club, did a lot of cross country and show jumping which I think was too much too young.

For the last 3 years I have only ridden her on the weekends due to work and I never get up there during the week.

For the last 2 years she just hasn't felt right, her back end tucks underneath her and when walking downhill it seems like a real effort for her. I called the vet out when I first noticed it as I thought she felt lame, but I couldn't tell which leg it was coming from, the vet said she wasn't lame and she may just be stiff so I left it there.

I gave her a year off work following the vets visit as she hasn't had any time off since I have had her.

Shortly after I bought her back into work last year she pulled her flexi tendon on her front right so she had a further 2 months off!

Since bringing her back into work (from October last year) it has felt so much worse. She feels like she is moving outwards on her back legs when I ride her, she is reluctant to move forward which is really unlike her. I called the vet out and they said she had bone spavin in both back legs, so I arranged an X-Ray to see if it had fused.

All of her symptoms pointed to bone spavin, she has been in over the winter because it was too muddy for her to go out, and it made her so stiff on her backs. She moves easier after she has been ridden for a while etc. So I have started putting her out again which hasn't made any difference to the feeling I get from her when I ride so far.

The vet came out today and did the X-Rays on both her back legs, there was nothing wrong with either of them, her bones are perfect. I made him do the whole of her back legs because I was so sure that was where the problem was coming from, everything was fine.

I was so sure that it was bone spavin and now I just don't know what to think, I just want to know what she has going on so that I can help her get back to normal.

You wouldn't be able to tell that there is anything wrong with her unless you are watching her be ridden or riding her.

The vet said it may be that she will get arthritis but she doesn't have it yet, and said that she is probably just stiff and told me to ride her through it, but I just find it so hard to ride her when she feels so different...

Does anyone have any advice please? x
 
my horse had an odd gait behind when his pelvis was sore. Maybe ask your vet for permission to get a chiro out to check if he's level there and take it from there.
 
I would recommend getting a physio to assess and treat anything that is found, it is very likely she is generally stiff and requires a little help on a regular basis, you dont mention having the saddle checked, she will have changed shape at times, from being very fit, to doing nothing and now back again if you haven't had it looked at recently it may be the cause of most of her discomfort.

I would probably also consider getting a second opinion from a different vet if nothing shows that the physio can treat, no horse should be that stiff and just get ridden through it in my view, she is not old and may have an underlying problem that needs looking into.
 
Sorry I forgot to say she has the back lady out regularly and the same with the saddle man - he adjustes her saddle every few months and the back lady said her back is in good shape, sometimes her right hip is sore but she just re-adjustes her.

My sister rode her bareback for the first month of her being back in work to see if it had something to do with the saddle pressure but she didn't feel much different.
 
How does the vet know she will get arthritis? She doesn't have it now so why is he saying she is stiff? What is causing the stiffness? I'd be getting another vet from what you have said.
 
ester said:
How does the vet know she will get arthritis? She doesn't have it now so why is he saying she is stiff? What is causing the stiffness? I'd be getting another vet from what you have said.
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I find the vets comments rather odd, I would get another vet who will look into why she is stiff as you have had the back/ saddle checked there must be a reason for how she is and your vet would not instill me with confidence.
 
He said that it starts in the cartilage and then goes to the bone so it could be the start of it and due to her being in and being more stiff than when she is out that it sounds like that. He said we could inject her muscles with something that will loosen everything up but I really don't want that doing unless I know for sure. I have the back lady out this Saturday so I am going to ask her what she suggests and then get another vet. It's hard because she doesn't look lame but I have been riding her for 8 years so I would notice even the slightest of changes... Thank you all for your help
 
Trust yourself on this one ;). Maybe he meant inject hocks with steroid/hyonate? Or Tildren? I think you need to eliminate other possible causes before presuming, especially as she isn't old!
 
if she is sometimes sore in her right hip I would think that's more likely the cause of the issues. Perhaps speak to your back person and ask her if she thinks it warrants further investigation and then get a different vets opinion. Vets do sometimes get things wrong. Im on a big yard and a well known equine vets have misdiagnosed several horses at our yard in the past 6mths including one who had foot xrays and aparantly didn't have any issues who on a second opinon had rotation of her pedal bone.
 
Going against the grain here.... It sounds like the horses workload changed at a point, and since then you have noticed this deterioration. Could it be the lack of work has led to loss of muscle/fittness and what you are feeling is that rather than actual lameness? A good vet should be able to tell you that, and perhaps that is what your vet meant by riding through it? Keeping a horse in and not working it is only going to excerbate the issue imo.

If you still wish to investigate, you should probably get a lameness work up done tbh, and that should help you pinpoint any areas of discomfort. Part of this will involve nerve blocks - sometimes, for example, a horse will block to the hocks but have no radiographic changes. That would be my next port of call, considering all of the time off etc you have tried so far.
 
ester said:
Trust yourself on this one ;). Maybe he meant inject hocks with steroid/hyonate? Or Tildren? I think you need to eliminate other possible causes before presuming, especially as she isn't old!
Click to expand...

Agree with above, especially after reading your post number 7, if that is what the vet said. To be honest, I would get a different vet and ask for nerve blocks so that you can truly isolate to which part of the body the lameness is coming from and then work from there.
 
I was thinking maybe something to do with her back was causing it but the physio I have is so good I would have thought she would have picked up on something major... She had a problem with her ovaries a few years ago but we had them scanned for growths and there was nothing on there, she had an injection to kick start a season and that seemed to sort it out, she also milks which can make her teats really swollen in the summer which doesn't help with her feeling uncomfortable in her back end!

I would really like to get her up to New Market to find out what the problem is once and for all but unfortunately i need a recommendation from a vet and a good reason to go up there :( I am also worried about insurance - my mum and dad deal with this still (lucky me!) but I don't want to start getting her tested and claiming all over her body for us to not to find anything and for her to be uninsured basically everywhere as she is only 11!

I am going to ask the back lady what she suggests on Saturday as she is really good with spotting her lameness... She sees it even when the vets don't! Maybe she will also have some suggestions as to where it may be coming from.

I am also thinking of getting the thermal imaging done on her to see if we can pick anything up from that.

Can anyone recommend any vets in Essex that I could get a second opinion from please?
 
Friend has suggested Eric of house and jackson or Mark of Blaircourt but that the latter likely easier/quicker to get out.
 
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