Ringbone and possible DDFT....

[HKJ]

Hi all,

Long story, shortened...

One of my horses has been diognosed with Ringbone in both front feet, he is 9 years old and has done little work for his age. My vets said the ringbone looks as if he has hunted hard for 10 years.
He has had the full works - nerve blocks, xrays, bone scan and ultra scans done, and now we are waiting for a date for an MRI.

We believe he has done a DDFT in his off side front. He is lame even on full dose of Danilon. He has been on boxrest for 3 weeks, which will not help the ringbone...

Has anyone else had a horse who made a full recovery (as in full working life) from ringbone AND a DDFT injury?

I think I know the answer of what will need to be done, no matter how much I dont want to do it.
He is not an 'easy' horse to do and loves working more than anything, I would just like some opinions and stories of your experiances.

I googled Ringbone, and DDFT, and none of them give me any hope

 

[Cello_song]

I can give you some hope about the ringbone part...

My boy was diagnosed with this last may, along with bilateral spavins too :-(.

He had steroid injections in all 4 legs but remained pottery in front until early August.

In August he seemed to miraculously come sound in front and he was gently hacked out 3-4 times per week until November. Beginning of November he had his shoes off, all winter off living out in the field then has been brought back in to work from the end of February. He's now being ridden 4-5 times a week (still no shoes!), a mixture of fun hacking out and gentle schooling - I think I'm going to be able to do some unaffiliated dressage on him! Yey! He looks a bit stiff behind (with the spavins) for the first 5 mins in the school so I spend a good 10 mins or more warming up in walk until he loosens off. And I am very careful with what I do in the school, no teeny circles!

He is also a horse that loves his work and I ended up riding him this spring sooner than I planned because he was always galloping over to me every time I went in to the field, desperate to do something I think!

We're having such a nice time together, I was totally gutted that my 12 year old horse couldn't be the event horse I wanted but now I think it's important to enjoy our time together and make the most of it. My understanding is that Ringbone is degenerative so I'm wary of keeping his workload relatively light.

I don't really know anything about DDFT but I do hope you find a solution for your horse. With the ringbone I can see a difference if my horse is ever stabled so I see your dilemma with the box rest...

Good luck and I hope I've been able to give you some hope with the ringbone side of things!

xxx

 

[HKJ]

Thank you Cello_song

Im glad you have found a way to keep your horse comfortable and able to continue you lives together

I feel that I would have done the same as you, the injection route, if it were that simple. I think its going to be at least another 2 weeks before we can get to even do an MRI (also waiting on insurance/work/transport ect before we can go ahead).

Another question for you... is your horse quite up right in his pasterns? And are you feeding a pain killer?

My poor chap is still lame, I gave him a bath this afternoon, as the radiation from having the bone scan we had done made his coat go really greasy - even some of his mane fell out

My farrier told me, as have a few other people, if a horse is lame, then it is pain - the Danilon is not working, hence he is in pain. I cant tell just how much pain

I could just turn him away in a field for a year - easier said than done, as I have no grazing for a 24/7 turn out, who will check him (I work away a lot), and he wont stay 'calm and quiet' for long - anywhere (he HAS to whizz about as if the devil himself is chasing him!)

Thank you so much for replying

x

 

[Ginger Bear]

I have a horse who had severe high and low ringbone in a hind leg. He has made a full recovery but had the arthrodesis operation. If you want any info let me know x

 

[charleysummer]

my pony who had a ddft is making a good recovery, know nothing about ringbone or even what it is so can't really comment.

 

[Cello_song]

Hi again,

I don't think he is particularly upright in the pasterns, the vet suggested that he thinks it's more likely to be caused by whatever work he did before I got him than conformation.

He was on danillon all last summer when he was pottery. I kept him on 1 per day when he came sound, but then I couldn't get to the yard with all the bad snow in Nov we had for 2 weeks! And when I did get up he was just as sound without it so while he was turned away he had no pain relief. I've been riding him for a good 3 months now with no pain relief, but I decided last week to put him back on 1 danillon a day. He is a bit stiff behind for the 1st 10 mins and the ground is so hard at the moment. I think it's important that he is as comfortable as possible so I'd rather give him a low dose and him be a bit less stiff. He's just moved fields and is now next door to a flirty mare - apparently he's been galloping about bucking and looking fab, so I just hope all those antics don't make him lame!!

I hope you manage to get a solution for your boy - Keep us posted and let us know what happens with the vet visit. xx

 

[HKJ]

Hi,

My boy is on 1/2 a Danilon a day. Ive got him on the Global Herbs 'Boxrest', which does seem to be working.

Though since yesterday, he has not been as happy and I think he will develop windsucking He has started to bite the door, and pull mean faces at other horses and people who walk by his stable.

Today he was jumping around the stable (no idea why) but to be honest, I knew that box resting him was never going to be easy. The other week, he took to leaping in the air and bucking, everytime a horse jumped a fence out in the school! He ended up lifting the rubber matts up!

I am putting the magnetic rug on for an hour everyday, groom, give him grass ect - since Jesse broke his leg last year, I am now an expert on boxrest! -

Trouble is, we are only on week 4.... still nothing from insurance, so we are no closer to deciding what to do about the MRI ect...

Thank you CELLO, I think there is nothing wrong with what you are doing I wish I will be as lucky, and get my boy back too.....

Will keep you posted as to what happens in the coming weeks.....

x

 

[HKJ]

Hi all,

Here is a quick update on where we are at...

We have had our insurance through, and dont have enough money to pay for the MRI scan.

After doing the suspected DDFT over 2 1/2 months ago, he is still very lame. Both my vet and I feel he has done some serious damage in there.

Tomorrow we are doing another set of xrays to see how the ringbone has changed since he has been on boxrest.

His joints are all swollen (knees, fetlocks ect) he is on Danilon and calmer, and apart from being very, very lame he looks fabulous

I think most people will see where this is going......

Update again soon.....

 

[teasle]

How did things turn out for you