Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
Very sorry for both you and Muffin xx
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 ?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.
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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 ?
You must be having the shittiest of days today - hope all goes as well as it can tomorrow.