Please give your horse the benefit of the doubt - Muffin update

BlackRider

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 September 2011
Messages
3,872
Visit site
I'm so sorry to hear this - letting them go is the hardest thing in the world.

Will be thinking of you both tomorrow xx
 

Ceriann

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 June 2012
Messages
2,491
Visit site
So very sorry - these horses do break our hearts. I’ve struggled a lot with my hip in the last month - I’ve never thought it was heat related. I hope things are peaceful for him and you tomorrow.
 

rosiesowner

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 April 2015
Messages
1,547
Location
Yorkshire
Visit site
So sorry to read that ycbm, I'm only repeating what others have said but Muffin is so lucky to have you. Good luck for tomorrow, I hope it all goes smoothly. Will be thinking about you.
 

chocolategirl

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 June 2012
Messages
1,292
Visit site
A lot of you know that I have had a 9 year old TB who was bred and trained to hurdle for about a year and a half. I've had a gut feel for a while that the minor issues he had with schooling had an underlying cause. Vet said he was fine. Physio said he was fine. Trainer said he was fine. Multiple experienced horse owners said he was fine and 'just a thoroughbred'. My gut said he wasn't fine.

So I took him for neck and back x rays this morning. The resullt is no big surprise to me, and I would have been more shocked if there was nothing. They are disappointingly bad, though. He has x rays showing severe arthritic changes at the facets of C4/5, 5/6 and 6/7 at the base of the neck and associated kissing spine behind the wither.

This is the second horse I've had where multiple people have told me that the issues were behavioural. I dread to think how many other long suffering and good natured creatures there are who are not being given the benefit of the doubt :(

My plan is to nurse him along on Devil's Claw/boswellia/MSM doing what arena work he can do easily, and hacking, which he seems to have no problem with, until he isn't coping. The vet confirmed my thoughts that injections won't last, if they even help, and we will simply end up repeating them at increasingly frequent intervals. No other treatment seems appropriate given the amount of damage found. He can't tolerate Bute, it gives him ulcers. He can't be retired, he needs work to keep his back and chest muscles strong. The vet told me this but I saw the result of laying him off when I bought him, it was appalling back atrophy, and probably when the kissing spines happened.

When he doesn't seem happy any more, I will do the right thing by him.

Quite sad right now, but glad I know what his issues are.

.
So sorry about this. One of mine has facet joint degeneration of the neck, c6&7 if I remember correctly. She was stumbling quite a bit, but that was it. I had all the usual checks done, finishing up with full work up at vets. She’s had her neck medicated 3 times now over a 4 year period, and is doing really well. She’s 16, and had evented up to 100. I just hack her since she retired from comps last September. I agree with you too, it’s almost always pain or discomfort that causes a horse to display ‘bad’ behaviour, but all too often, it’s not investigated properly ?
 

ITPersonnage

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 March 2009
Messages
493
Visit site
So sorry you're having to go through this, I know what you mean about it killing you every day, I could have kept mine going for a few more weeks but its so hard seeing them every morning knowing what's coming. Take care of yourself, you need some time to grieve just like the rest of us, take it easy. You know you're doing the right thing by him, and he won't know anything about it.
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,533
Visit site
So sorry about this. One of mine has facet joint degeneration of the neck, c6&7 if I remember correctly. She was stumbling quite a bit, but that was it. I had all the usual checks done, finishing up with full work up at vets. She’s had her neck medicated 3 times now over a 4 year period, and is doing really well. She’s 16, and had evented up to 100. I just hack her since she retired from comps last September. I agree with you too, it’s almost always pain or discomfort that causes a horse to display ‘bad’ behaviour, but all too often, it’s not investigated properly ?

That's exactly the diagnosis I was expecting. That or the TB congenital C6/7 deformity. But to find he has serious arthritis in the two vertebrae above it as well was a total shock. And then kissing spines as a compensation too. What a lovely stoic boy he must be for a TB. I'm glad you can keep yours happy.
 

HobleytheTB

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 November 2018
Messages
232
Visit site
I'll also be thinking of you both tomorrow. This really highlights the importance of following your gut when you suspect something isn't right. Look after yourself tomorrow, it's never an easy decision even when you know it's totally the right thing to do x
 

BBP

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 July 2008
Messages
6,161
Visit site
I can’t add much to the words that have already been said, but I’m another who will be thinking of you tomorrow.
 

Tala08

Active Member
Joined
19 April 2019
Messages
40
Visit site
Can't believe how quickly you've gone from keeping him comfortable to having to make the call.
I'm so sorry, will be thinking of you tomorrow.
 
Top