Osteoarthritis

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sfward

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Hi
My 5 year old TB mare has just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her right hock. Does anyone have any experience of this condition? I understand the basics but would be interested to know of anyone who has first hand experience, what the prognosis is for riding and competing long term, anything I can do to help with care, work, feed etc?
thanks...
 
Mine has a small change on one hock, that we became aware of when she went hopping lame after leaving a leg in a sunken road, crippling lameness was very transient but then she just wasn't quite right- i could only feel when riding but luckily vet could see a slight alteration in movement so had it xrayed n following this both hocks were injected. Since then she has been absolutely sound as a pound for all activities including jumping up to 1.20 in lessons, this was probably 8 months now so not long in scheme of things so just taking it as it comes but you can inject them further times, or work on bute till it fuses. I find she is much better when she is worked hard everyday(luckily!), although I don't have a school so it is all hacking but mostly at trot and canter for over an hour, if she has a day off I really notice a difference as she comes out quite stiff. I feed cortaflex as well, started off on HA liquid stuff but she now just has maintenance powder. Admittedly my mare is 14 so I don't really know long term consequences of being diagnosed at 5, can't imagine how gutting it feels to have one diagnosed at that age. good luck, how she comes right soon.
 
Oh no - Really sorry to hear that!

Not much advice to offer on the hock, but as you may well be aware my TB has advanced arthritis in his neck along with other issues with his back and hocks. After two years of building up his muscle (particularly topline) and feeding cortaflex and NoBute, he is feeling great (touch wood).

I've no specific help to give other than much sympathy and the positive view that managed carefully with regular exercise your horse should surprise you by how much she can do. The fitter Jack is, the more sound and strong he becomes. It apears that the more muscle they have, the less pressure there is on the weakend bones.

What is your plan of action with regards to treatment?
 
I can only comment on my own experience...it is of course best to consult with your vet once you get the full picture as each case is individual to that horse.
My tb mare was diagnosed with arthritis in both hocks a few years ago, she was 16 at the time so not such a youngster (I sympathise that you are having this with a younger horse) she had a course of 2 injections in her hock joints (we could have done 3 in the course of a year but 2 seemed to work great)...cant quite remember the name at the moment but it was the strongest type (not adequan). She had the two courses two weeks apart..limited exercise as much to make sure no infection happened...then built back up to work - no circling only straight as possible to start with then just normal work...she then had remedial shoeing so her hocks were supported by 'lifts' and put on newmarket joint supplement.
Following this treatment she had more bounce in her then she ever had! We carried on doing dressage (not advanced but we were never going to do that!!) and jumping for 3/4 years.
She is now retired, no shoes on back to find her own balance now not working, still on njs and has 1 bute every other day. I can still ride her in the summer if I wanted to for a plod for about an hour...she still bombs around the field when she feels likes it and you would never know she had it!...its the wet weather that effects her the most. She also had a couple of injuries last year which I think took a toll on her, she also had to be on box-rest for quite a long time which isnt that good for arthritis - moving around is much better.
She was raced from 2-5 year old which would take its toll.
I would think a younger horse would have quite a good chance of carrying on for longer...good, thorough treatment and management going forward is needed.
Obviously the treatment/prognosis may be different if it is one hock that is affected...
I know another horse who is 11yrs who has just had the injections and is moving much better and expected to carry on with his work as before - hacking, dressage, lessons.
I wish you both all the best...
 
OrangeEmpire - thanks, the vet has prescribed the steroid injections route, I'm not sure beyond that as I need to talk everything through with him tonight, but from what he was saying it sounds like she will need another 3 days on box rest (not sure why?!) and then she can start going out and doing light work again. He mentioned lungeing, I was expecting straight line work but there you go!
Sparrow - great to hear your mare did so well with treatment. I'm feeling fairly optimistic at the moment, guess we will have to wait and see how she responds to treatment. If the worst comes to the worst I suppose at least she is a mare, and a lovely one at that so I could always put her in foal.
 
The 3 days will be to ensure she doesn't get an infection seeing as they are sticking a needle straight into the joint.

Steroid injections were instrumental to getting Jack moving again - because they numbed the pain for a time (about a year for him) they allowed me to get his muscles working and get him fit so that now, even though I feel the effect of the injections has passed, he is still (touching wood again) sound because he is fit and well in himself.

Jack spent 6 months on the lunge (he was unrideable at first) with longreining as a variation on a theme, then 6 months riden work in walk before finally getting back to all paces (including the occaisional impromptu gallop!). this winter has been his best yet for many years including the years before he was diagnosed. He is more bendy now than ever and a casual onlooker would never guess there was anything wrong.

Make a careful excersise plan for your mare and be flexible to her good days and bad days and I'm confident you'll see an improvement. The more topline she has to support herself the better she will feel. I found with Jack too that there was plenty of work on his muscles we could do in walk without overtaxing his recovering body so don't feel pressured into doing faster work before she is ready. I found Jack told me (by bouncing up and down!) when he was ready for more!
At least a bone spavin is relatively common so you should be able to get lots of advice on management!
Fingers crossed she does well
Xx
 
Wishing the best for your horse and you...

As OrangeEmpire said the 3 days will be to keep infection at bay...and I think for the injection to not have too much upset.
Early on after treatment whilst long-reining, my mare bu&&ered off with lunge lines trailing, like a bullet...I stood there just saying 'your legs, your legs' - as everyone said that was there...'well her legs seem fine, great canter'!!!
I went through everything with my vet and was very cautious with her...she obviously felt fantastic afterwards and showed it!!!
 
Also the box rest is because when they inject into the joint the synovial fluid is not as good at protecting the joint (cant remember if its because it is thinned down or if the steroid is microscopically gritty) and therefore to hoon around in the field is likely to result in more damage to the joint.

This was how my vet explained merlins box rest when he had his hocks done. He is now sound and back in normal work..... well he will be when i get around to scraping the mud off of him!!!
 
Snap
had the vet out on friday last week for left hock.I have a 6yr old tb.He has given me same diagnosis.We are going for xrays on wednesday and he is now on newmarket supplement from this evening.I imagine I will have injections done on wednesday and have danilon ready.I have posted a message on hock fusion and supplements for arthritis which might interest you.You can look at everyones positive replies.My horse is in his paddock during the day and stabled at night.Possibly have to go the same route as you with box rest if he has the injection. Im just walking him out so he doesnt stiffen up to much he is lame in trot or canter and very lame on lunge .It might be a good idea to keep in touch re progress if we are going through same it will be interesting to see if vets opinions are the same .
Does your horse have bone spurs growing around the hock.I want to ask vet if they are the first signs of fusion.Good luck
 
Yes good idea. Always good to share experiences and advice! It is interesting how vets' advice differs. I was unhappy with the advice to keep her in her box constantly other than the lunging and a vet friend of mine who I phoned said that they normally advise people to turn horses out for a few hours each day (provided they are quiet and don't gallop around like idiots!) for the first couple of weeks, after a few days' boxrest immediately following the injection. I went back to my vet and asked if I could follow this route at least for the first week, instead of lunging as I'm going away skiing for a week tomorrow, and he has agreed, so fingers crossed she will behave herself and not do any more damage!!!
 
Have a good holiday.If you pm me when you get back we can exchange update on progress and how to move on after treatment.
 
This is really useful for me, could I join in with the updates etc?
I've just taken a 7 y/o irish sports horse gelding on loan. He was put up for loan because he can no longer compete to a high level due to osteoarthritis in 1 of his pasterns. I have had him 2 weeks and am looking forward to bringing him back into work, starting next week (he's just been freezemarked on the saddle area). He hasn't been ridden much (like 3 times only) in the last 5 months and so this will be a gradual process as he is quite unfit.
Whes he was diagnosed last spring/summer he has the steroid injections but they didn't seem to work, he also had a torn ligament so was put on box rest, his owner doesn't really like to put them on boxt rest so she turned him out in a small paddock, without shoes and this is how he stayed and he gradually recovered. When I tried him the weekend before christmas he hadn't been ridden for 4 months and he was v good, a bit stiff to start off but soon loosened and settled, considering he hadn't been ridden for so long he was excellent.
I have been giving him a supplement from the vet called Mobifor, he has 25mls a day and it contains MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin supplement and natural anti oxidants. I have some painkillers to give him if I think he needs is but so far, touch wood, he has stayed sound and is looking very well. I was thinking of putting him on cod liver oil or cider vinegar as well, but don't want to overdo it and I'm worried about mixing supplements, can anyone advise me on this?
Also I'm going to hack him out as the school isn't great and he can't work in a circle for too long, will start off in walk for 4 weeks regularly then build it up. He can be sharp but is safe, I'm confident that he can hack out and maybe do a bit more in time. He comes in at night, will live out in the summer and I have rubber matting (standard thickness) and Easibed in his stable. I also had him shod to prepare him for work, does anyone else have any advice for me?
 
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