Pidge diagnosis - Hock Spavin - good or bad news?

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Pidge

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Ok so just got off the phone to vet, they didn't nerve block in the end as he was so much better and sound until they really pushed him and did flexion tests etc. So they xrayed and scanned fetlock area and hock area and vet says he has Hock Spavin. Causing him probs at the moment whilst it is forming (?) but once settled down shouldn't cause him any problems.
They have recommended something to give him that will help with this, newmarket something. Can't remember the name of the stuff in it that will help this. He thinks it is related to the fact he suffers with mild stringhalt in that leg, I have him on NAF D-Tox and he is so much better on that.
So he can go out on restricted turnout, light hacking and schooling on a surface until it settles down and he is back to fitness
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so my boy is back
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going to collect him at 5pm can't wait
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So has anyone got any experience of Hock Spavin? And also any tips on how much and what exercise to get him back to speed? Do I increase his feed slowly back to normal? Sorry not had any experience of this before, but am so happy my boy is ok
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he means the world to me
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thanks, vet doesn't seem to think it is anything to worry about so am slowly starting to destress............
 
Have been following all your other posts and have kept my fingers crossed for you. Its really good news and i'm glad for you that its nothing too serious. I have no experience with this personally but I do know of horses that have had it and its caused no problems at all.
 
I'm so pleased for you for a quick diagnosis! There are a few articles about bone spavins in the H&H articles bit (always good reading in there). If I were you I would ask the vet where you should start from regarding exercise, and as for feeding build it up very slowly after work has increased as you would do for a normal fittening regime.
And now he's allowed turnout, even less stress!
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thanks Halfpass, I know this should really be in vets but get more people in here! Ooh that's good then if you know horses that are ok with this
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Just want my boy back to normal, don't think we realise how much we appreciate and love them until they are out of action and away, or am I just soppy?
 
I know it's brilliant news isn't it
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Will be quizzing vet and getting all the advice I can when I pick him up later on. Will do anything to make his life easier. Oh thank god he can go out, although on restricted area and bring him in early as well, but hey at least its not box rest 24/7
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Any update on Maiden?
 
that's it, ooh errr how expensive? think my new laptop is definately on hold now..............
 
No Maiden progress yet, believe me I will be announcing when we do as I will be over the moon that someone finally pulled their finger out!!! She was slightly worse yesterday than she has been lately, but fingers crossed and she'll get sounder again (she's certainly not as bad as she was!)
It's so nice to turn them out again, just make sure you keep an eye on him the first few times just in case!
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I still have my fingers crossed for her. Can you get large packs of cotton wool so I can wrap him up in it before turning him out
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So pleased you have some answers Sue!

Bone spavins are generally ok once they have formed and the bone has fused, its the process of this happening that is the hard part.

A few years ago I nearly bought a horse with a bone spavin, it had fused but his owners said although sound any hard work, he was a XC,SJ horse, would take its toll on him, so he was being sold cheaply as a hack, light allrounder.
 
Supplements combining chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine can be helpful (Newmarket joint supplement is just one of the thousands on the market - a lot of vets recomment senequen (sp?)). As can omega 3 oils (cod-liver or linseed).

How old is Pidge? Spavin is osteoarthritis of the hock joints - has your vet said which ones are involved - its usually the distal intertarsal and the tarso-metatarsal. You want the joints to fuse with bone (leaving no joint to have arthritis). When both fuse he will become sound (however they do tend to have an altered gait - a little more choppy in trot and tend to find crossing behind harder as they have lost some flexion in their hocks).
It's when they don't fuse that it causes trouble. Aran had surgical arthrodesis to make his left hock fuse. The right one had fused naturally. Unfortunately its only 70% successful and Aran's didn't quite complete fusing. He is no LOU.
As it is arthritis and you want to fuse the joints (i.e: destroy them) then they are usually happy for you to carry on riding as you were (let the horse dictate how much).

Good luck with him
 
Glad to hear it's nothing too serious and he can get back to work!! The vet recommended Newmarket Joint Supplement for my lad, I nearly died when I saw how expensive it was but a tub does last 4/5 months so it's not too bad if you break it down, probably actually less then some of the other brands. Anyway my lad seems to be doing well on it, he's hasn't been as stiff and loosens up alot quicker when I'm riding (it used to take 20-30 mins walking to loosen him up before I could start schooling, now it only takes 10 mins). I havn't really got any experience with spavins but by the sounds of it the vet gave a good prognosis so all the best to Pidge and hope he feels better soon!!!
 
What a coincidence. This is also the diagnosis that Patches received a few months ago Sue. Patches changes on x-ray are slight and with her they are also in the leg she has a mild stringhalt action with. How spooky!

Patches had both of her hocks injected with steroids (they like to treat hocks as a pair, not just the one that had the changes in it) to help stabilise the joint and limit damage. She also had Adequan injections and Hyonate injections once a week for a month. Those injections have now moved to once every six weeks.

She's on a veterinary strength joint supplement too and is to be kept in full work. The more work the better, to keep the joint supple.

I can jump, school, hack and do pleasure rides. The vet said she's be ok to do lower level endurance as well.

Would recommend an osteopath to you though as spavin can also cause stiffness and pain in the back as they compensate for the discomfort in their action.

Must admit, I'm still surprised that the vet didn't nerve block. Often what is found on x-rays isn't necessarily what has caused the lameness and could be something long standing that the horse has never had a day's problem with. Always thought they liked the nerve blocks to confirm 100% which area is causing the horse the pain.
 
Honey has bone spavin in her right hock and was diagnosed in 2002 along with navicular at the same time. The vets injected her hock with steroids.
As I am at uni mum rides her when I am away so she gets exercised about 4 times a week. When I am home she gets ridden once a day and compete her in SJ and dressage, we have just registered her BD.
She was on joint supplements, firstly cortaflex which had a negative effect, then she went on blue chip dynamic which helped but she got fat so we took her off. She then went without supplements, last year we gave her cider vinegar but she got too temperamental with it so she now has no supplements.
Exercise wise, she is crooked in canter and is stiffer in canter but does some lovely flatwork gaining marks between 60-70% and we SJ her as well, going to Trailblazer finals last year.
oops sorry this has ended up being really long. It must be such a relief to now know whats wrong.
 
Friend's old PC pony has spavins in his hocks. He is now 21 and still jumps round 2'6'' courses and wins everything in sight. He can be a little sticky at bigger spreads especially if the ground is a bit deep. He tends to stand with his hocks out behind him a little at halt but as he was well schooled he still does a lovely test. He is on bluechip and gets devil's claw everyday. he can be a little stiff of a morning but loosens with a good long trot and really would be much worse if he was dumped with nothing to do. I believe many eventers carry on succesfully too after steroid treatment.
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Pidge, you must be so relieved to get a diagnosis & to be getting your boy back today.

OH's horse Marco also has bone spavin in his left hock (he's 9). Went lame quite suddenly last year and took 5-6 months for the vets to diagnose the problem
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- had x rays, gamma scans, allsorts (couldn't nerve block as even after being sedated Marco said NO WAY to them even clipping his leg let alone having needles). When diagnosed he was put on bute & ridden to help aggravate & fuse the joint. Came off the bute after a few months & was fine. Did a lot of work in walk to begin with but quite soon introducing trot & canter - vet & instructor think canter work is v.good for him.

It is amazing though, he is working better than ever, lovely flatwork & is back jumping again, even doing his first XC jumps recently! So certainly for some horses a spavin isn't the end of the world.

The funny thing is that Pidge reminds me very much of Marco, who is another big chestnut with a white blaze.
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Aww glad to hear it isnt anything too terminal! I have never had any dealings with hock spavin, but Im glad to hear you've had some answers none the less!
 
thanks honey, does this mean no more competitions then? what about riding him on hard ground? seriously fed up
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Aran, so basically this is like cortaflex then? Pidge has just turned 10, vets have given him a Depo-Medrone inection into the distal inter-tarsal joint. How will I know if its fused ok? will he have to go back for more xrays and scans?
 
Calzy how much newmarket stuff do you give per day? Vet has told me to give him 1 1/2 scoops per day. don't care how expensive it is if he needs it he'll get it, he means the world to me.
 
Patches, I must admit I did think of you when vet told me what Pidge had got. Pidge's is his off hind, which one is it with Patches? Funny but when instructor looked at him yesterday she also said he had uneven wear on his shoe on that leg.
Do you think its worth asking my vets about those injections that Patches had? Do you have to watch the ground you ride on with Patches? Just have a normal back person to Pidge every 6 months is an osteopath different?
 
don't apologise for the long post, I need to learn what I can about Bone Spavin very quickly! So along with Patches you can still do quite a bit with your horse then?
 
another success story, so things are not as bad as they could be then? God my head hurts now!
 
god that took a long time for them to diagnose that, mine's been very quick to diagnose then.
don't you just love big chestnuts with white faces
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I have Rachel Cox from Weaver House Clinic. She's excellent. With an Osteo you get someone who can deal with both muscular and skeletal issues. Two for one you might say.

Off hind with Patches too. Try not to panic. I know I did, until the x-rays revealed some slight ringbone in front feet. I figured that would end her riding days before the spavin would, even though it's non-articular!
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The reason I asked about the omission of nerve blocks is because alot of more upright, heavier set horses with larger hocks would show some arthritic changes in their hocks at Pidge's age. My vet wasn't at all concerned with Patches as he said it was normal for her type of her at her age (she's 9). He just decided it was worth treating them now to help delay the inevitable progression. She had the full works, exactly the same treatment as he would give to a 4* eventer for example! I always knew she was special
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Interesting about the wear on the shoe. Is he wearing the outside edge of the shoe alot more than the inside edge? Patches did this markedly so before her hocks were treated. Something to do with one side of the joint being more painful so they alter the way they move to alleviate discomfort. Since she's had the steroids into her hocks, she now wears her back feet evenly. No coincidences there in my opinion. She has always had lateral extensions on her hind feet to help with this too. However, a horse who is cow hocked can wear the outside edge of the shoe down, and not necessarily have any arthritis present in it's hocks. What's his conformation like?

I haven't been told to avoid anything specific. Infact, I was told she needed her workload increasing, not decreasing. The last thing a horse with spavin needs is to be left in a stable for days on end or out of work. (So the vet said.) All of the pictures in my signature have been taken post hock treatment. I am doing more with her now than I was before. I wouldn't jump anyway on hard ground...but that has nothing to do with any medical condition. That's just me. She is upright infront and isn't a light framed horse. She is naturally going to subjected to more concussion as a result.

I know spavin is arthritis, but I guarantee you that you could take any 10 year old that's been in work and x-ray any joint and see signs of wear and tear. It's natural. Doesn't mean he's going to be crippled in a couple of years at all.

If he was mine, yes I'd be asking about having his hocks treated (might as well claim on insurance now you know what it is) and would also be enquiring about Adequan injections.
 
can't stop crying, can't believe having lost Higgs 2 years today that this can happen now to Pidge
 
Aww...I know how you feel as I was devastated initially.

Try not to panic though. Spavin really isn't the end of the world and you will soon realise that you can do all the things you did before. Patches has no pain relief, she doesn't need it.

You wait till you meet her. She has a strange hind end action, always has had, but that's about it. Doesn't stop her doing anything. If she had terrible arthritis she'd struggle to get up and down rolling.
 
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