BDyasmine
Active Member
My 9 year old dressage mare has been diagnosed with osteophyte formations in both stifle joints (right sig worse than left). She was also found to have mild spur formation on proximal cannon bone, and the vet also reported ever so slight bone changes in the hocks, though said this was not (yet) significant. She was given steroid injections in both stifles and box rest. After the box rest period, when i got on her she did feel a lot better and appears sound, and we have a review with the vet this week, but I have heard mixed things about the long term prognosis.
I was just wondering if anyone has had any experiences (good or bad) of this sort of problem.
I am a competitive rider and enjoy schooling and jumping, and do not have the inclination to be a happy hacker, nor would that suit her temperament.. She was previously schooling at advanced medium and jumping round 1m tracks. I am at university and work very hard to keep her and my old pony on DIY livery. My issue at the moment is really whether she will ever be what she was - its hard to know what to do. Ideally I would breed from her myself as she is very well bred (rubinstein), but sadly that is not feasible at this time. I'd love to have her back how she was - she is the perfect horse for me and I would not have changed her for the world. But having no experience with this before, I don't know if it is worth spending all this money and time to get her right when a few years down the line the hocks may develop or the stifles may become worse, and she will be too old to sell to a breeder. Her vet said it is difficult at the moment to predict a long term prognosis. Any thoughts and experiences much appreciated.
I was just wondering if anyone has had any experiences (good or bad) of this sort of problem.
I am a competitive rider and enjoy schooling and jumping, and do not have the inclination to be a happy hacker, nor would that suit her temperament.. She was previously schooling at advanced medium and jumping round 1m tracks. I am at university and work very hard to keep her and my old pony on DIY livery. My issue at the moment is really whether she will ever be what she was - its hard to know what to do. Ideally I would breed from her myself as she is very well bred (rubinstein), but sadly that is not feasible at this time. I'd love to have her back how she was - she is the perfect horse for me and I would not have changed her for the world. But having no experience with this before, I don't know if it is worth spending all this money and time to get her right when a few years down the line the hocks may develop or the stifles may become worse, and she will be too old to sell to a breeder. Her vet said it is difficult at the moment to predict a long term prognosis. Any thoughts and experiences much appreciated.