Owners of arthritic horses

Mine has bone spavin in both hocks now and is still jumping happily, though we only compete up to around 90cm.

He was first diagnosed at 9 yers old, and his other hock went this year, at 12. Each time he has been given a course of Adequan injections which worked well. he is on Cosequin and Turmeric, lives out in summer and has at least 12 hours out a day in winter, and we avoid excessive fast roadwork, working on very hard ground, studs, and lunging.

Each diagnosis my vet has advised to keep him in work, building back up via straight line walking to what he was used to - riding club level competitions, lessons, the odd hunt and lots of hacking. I have ben led to believe from my vet that this elvle of work will not do him any harm at all, will not lessen his useful working life, and indeed by keeping him active, lean and fit will be better for him long term.
 
Mine has it quite bad in his hocks and also his front.

I put him on 24/7 turnout, unless it's severe rain/cold then he's in with at least 7 hours turned out.

He has a deep littered bed to keep him off hard surfaces.

Shoes removed.

He's on 2 danilon a day at present but that's only due to recent problems. He also has cosequin daily.

I did try magnetic hock boots but haven't found much difference?! I also got a massage hand mitt just to help keep his muscles relaxed and blood circulating, as it can make his tense in his back.

He's retired, not 100% sound behind but comfortable enough to live a retired life.

I think it's all dependant on how severe it is. I wouldn't dare ride m horse or even walk him in hand too far, but plenty of horses lead happy lives being ridden.
 
My arthiritic boy is retired now on lots of bute, but we kept him happy, (mostly) sound and pain free for several years, eventually by using all the following:

Bute IF needed, e.g. very hard ground, a sore bone fusing phase etc. (when he needed it every day we retired him)

Turnout chaps over Winter - especially as he had his feathers clipped off to scan his pasterns in November

Lots of turnout *every* day without fail - you could really tell the difference if he'd stood in for even a few hours longer than overnight. When he coldn't go out (e.g. snow storm with ice underfoot) I walked him in hand round the school for 15 mins at least once a day.

Not doing too much jumping (only occasional small cross poles in the school for fun as he loved it) or very tight circles etc and lots of time to warm up when riding. Cutting right back to 15 minute hacks at walk when he was having an off period

Synequin (it apparantly has more cortizone in it than other joint suppliments), NoBute, Dodson & Horrell Mobility and flaxseed oil (or cod liver oil if your horse will touch his feed with it in, mine wouldn't) daily

He's stabled on rubber matting + shavings - so a soft footing right up to the stable door

Physio MOT every 6 months to check for any muscle soreness due to compensating and daily 'polocises'

Magnetic boots overnight

Good luck!
 
My lovely old boy Roy has arthritic hocks at the age of 28. After a lot of hair pulling and tears, and loooong discussions with my lovely vet, we made the decision to keep him on a small amount of bute every day, and keep him in work. Up until this winter just gone, he was sound on devil's claw supplements and out hunting regularly, but now he's just not quite there without the bute. He is utterly miserable standing in the field, and he lives for his jumping. So, to keep him happy he gets ridden three times a week ish, and jumped maybe once a month. He will be hunting and cubbing this season, as he absolutely loves it and it makes him so happy.
In most cases I would be against riding on bute, but without work my Roy boy loses weight, starts pacing the fence line constantly and just gets generally miserable. I'm careful with him, and he has supplements and treatment to help him etc. But he's doing very well with what we're doing at the moment.
 
There are a lot of comments on this thread about "buting a horse to ride it". There's a BIG difference between giving a horse loads of bute to mask a lameness and giving it a small amount (one or two sachets) in order to reduce inflammation and make the horse more comfortable so s/he can continue to work.. which in turn makes him even more comfortable.
 
I think it is unfair to insinuate that arthritic horses should NOT be jumped or competed as some horses merely dont cope with this. I know because I have a horse that will never happily retire.

My TB mare has high ringbone of the short pastern, Sidebones and DJD in the RF. She was 14 in January. She was out of work for 4 months whilst trying to find out what was wrong and the vet suggested light work only for the rest of her life due to the severity of the problems once she was diagnosed. This did NOT work. I was covered in cuts and bruises from being thrown around, dragged daily, she would bomb around the field constantly galloping/bronking you name it, on a daily basis!

I spoke to my vet and we decided that the best route for her would be returning to full work. She was, in my eyes, bordering on dangerous after 4 months off so retirement was 100% out of the question. Apart fom the fact she would more than likely do herself more damage bombing around un-supervised each day.

She is now coming back to full work and has come sound since being back in work! I do bute her to work and I will do until she is at full fitness, she has glucosamine daily in her feed.

The way I look at it is if she was really in that much pain and that uncomfortable she wouldn't bomb around the field like she does! I free school her and she does flying changes, extended trot and canter... If she was uncomfortable she wouldn't do this! :eek:

It definitely just depend's on the horse so go with your gut :D
 
IMO the majority of people who are riding their arthritic horses on bute do so because the exercise helps, not because they are worried about not being able to ride! Myself included! My horse had a range of treatments for hock arthritis and none really got to the bottom of it for very long so he is on a bute a day and hacked in straight lines a couple of times a week, keeps him happy! I'm well aware of the effects bute can have on the horses insides but i would much rather my horse have another 5 comfortable years doing what he enjoys than 10 miserable sore ones sat in the field!!
 
I have just gone the rounds of Arthroscopy / steriod injections, lameness work ups/ xrays etc etc to end up with my mare having arthritis in her offside hind hock & her nearside hind coffin joint. She is only 12 years old.

Under instruction from my vet we are gentle hacking in straight lines on flatish ground, no schooling or trotting on the roads, out as much as possible, magnetic boots when in stable, keeping her weight down, joint supplement & 1 bute a day.

She is forward going, ears pricked foward & doing ok, will see what winter brings.

I have to say intially i had reservations about riding her on bute but the exercise keeps her trim & moving which helps with the arthritis, she is comfortable & chilled.

I know that long term bute is not ideal but my vet has said that the arthritis will get her before the bute does :-(
 
My horse was diagnosed with arthritis in its hocks last yr. He had steroid injections which seemed to ease the pain but after a short period of time off work he showed signs of pain again so had Irap treatment. The Irap has worked wonders. My vet said the key to arthritis is keeping them moving but not over doing. I haven't jumped him yet but he is working happily in all 3 paces.
 
I keep our mare ticking by hacking out and the odd schooling session. She is quite stiff on leading her from the field, and when I first get on, but she soon warms up and is fine after that.

I don't give her any supplements but am currently experimenting with Turmeric powder after hearing some positive reviews on here :)
 
My boy was diagnosed with arthritis in both stifles and in fetlocks this Easter. I was basically given the option of pts or retirement by the vet. Needless to say he now enjoys the life of luxury. He has 1packet of pain killer in his tea every night along with a glucosamine joint supplement and a few herbal remedies. He is not ridden anymore but regularly goes out on in hand walks with the youngster of the yard, he still enjoys a change of scenery and he's giving the youngster confidence out on the road. Also keeps him going as my physio advised this is better for them. He is out 24/7 I'll be just trying to keep him warm through winter to keep him comfortable, growing out his feathers for winter so hopefully that will help keep the joints a bit Warmer. Its not all doom n gloom it's took month for me to see any improvent in my boy but he now seems more comfortable than he has been in a long while x
 
Synequin!!!!! It's done wonders for my boy who used to drag his back feet because of arthritis in his hips... We now have a good two inches of clearance from the ground after 1 month :) am going to move onto Riaflex soon though because Synequin is just too expensive and Riaflex has more of each ingredient in it PLUS MSM (anti inflammatory) and is about a third of the price... Ive done my research!!
Also I wouldn't go retiring arthritic horses... My vet told me to retire my 19yo welsh and stick him on bute for good. Worst advice vet imo! Got him on synequin, got front shoes on him (he'd had none on as he'd had time off after a terribly stiff winter where he couldnt reach the grass it was so bad in his back) and got him going out for hacks. He's doing great, is deffo not in pain as he tries to run off with me (!) and is loving it. He still stiff... Can't quite itch himself properly... But I think once you start resting them they just go downhill. The weight dropped off, the muscle went and he looked AWFUL over winter. He's now a happy boy who is much less creaky and has his muscle time back. I SERIOUSLY recommend any supplement with Chondoitin, glucosamine and MSM in :) x
 
re: janineK1981 above - fair enough about not retiring horse because they're a bit arthritic - but if your ned is already on special padded shoes all round, synequin, every suppliment you can think of, gentle hacks at walk, daily turnout and a bute a day and is STILL lame, when the vet does new xrays and says "put this horse on two bute a day and never ride him again" you tend to follow his advice!
 
I had three lots of steroid injections into mine's hocks in a year, with decreasing success, then ethanol injections to speed up fusion before the insurance ran out. 24/7 turnout and gradually increasing hard work after the injections as recommended by vet, raised heel shoeing etc. Sachet of danillon twice a day.

Improvement was minimal and I ended up retiring her. She was 13 :(.
 
really depends on horse and how advanced the condition is, one of mine is arthritic but not lame she is stiff but if you work her in for 10-15 mins she is fine we do make sure she is warmed up AND cooled down properly-she is ridden every day (some days just a wander) as she is worse with a day off, she jumps cross countries, dressage and show jumps she loves it and is such a busy/cheeky thing at 16yrs-i think if we retired her she would either lose the will to live or be impossible to keep in a field cos if she is bored she likes to play filed hopping:)
personally i dont like to retire anything unless unavoidable:eek:-same as us they are a long time dead:D
 
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