right...what next?

Kadastorm

Kadastorm

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Background: in june, pony diagnosed with bilateral hind PSD and bilateral navicular. Box rested for 8weeks, had shock wave therapy, now turned out in small paddock, been riding in walk only slowly building up (except once he trotted off while feeling fresh and he felt great and sound as a pound). Had first proper trot today and he is pretty lame in front.

Now i dont know where to go from here. He is sound behind but not in front. Do i remove shoes and pads and turn away for a few months? He has pads as he has flat soles and the pedal bone is sitting parallel to the sole instead of at the angle. Farriers plan is to correct flat soles and then go from there...

Really now though, im at my wits end. he is only 6 and such a character but im struggling financially and dont know how much more i can do for him.

we are moving yards on saturday where i will have all year turn out and a stable. its cheaper than where i am now which will help immensly.

So people, tell me what you think? What would you do?
 
I'd be asking the vet for the prognosis. Is there any chance of the horse returning to work, or is the best you can hope for that he will be a companion. Best to know the full picture, and to have an idea of the percentage of horses who return to whatever level of work after the conditions your boy has.

I'd also be asking what it was that made them say navicular, so that you can weigh up what actual changes there are with a prognosis.

I had a mare who had bilateral hindlimb PSD. She was only 5, and it was likely that it was a degenerative condition in her. No traumatic cause. Very light workload. The outlook was bleak. She was uncomfortable, having previously loved to move in the field, and there was no point in operating because the condition was likely to worsen even more. I chose to have her pts rather than have her suffer more. I don't know the extent of your boy's damage, but I'd definitely be asking for as much detail as possible to weigh up the future.

Hindlimb PSD is much more difficult to make progress with than forelimb PSD. That's about all I know.

I really would ask the vet for as much detail as possible - if there was a referral vet, speak to them direct so you get as full a picture as possible.

Hope you find a good way forward.

Sarah
 
Agree with the other posts about finding out more from your vet but with the winter round the corner, take the shoes off and turnout and let nature take its course during these cold months.
 
Thank you for your replies.

The last time we visited the equine hospital, I was told the prognosis was good, his hind suspensories were healing really well and *touch wood* he doesn't seem to have any problem at the moment. He was sound on trotting up, lunging on the soft and sound behind lunging on hard ground but not in front. Every day I check for heat and swelling, when ridden he has been fine and even on the first trot he was sound behind, so im not too concerned about the PSD at the moment.

My main worry is the navicular, diagnosed through XRay when he was diagnosed with PSD, I have followed advice given to me and taken my time but now it seems like I need to try something else. We are moving to a new yard with better turnout which should encourage him to move around more. At our current yard, there is no grass and he stands in the corner waiting for his food/munching his hay.

I think im going to give the vet a call and speak to my farrier and remove the shoes and see how it goes. He is content, he loves his food and out on our walking hacks apart from initial napping, he seems to love it.
 
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