Spavin experiences?

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rforsyth1984

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Just had the vet out for hind limb lameness, and the poor ned has to go to horse-pital for nerve blocks and scans. A spavin has been suggested (though obviously not confirmed).

Can anyone share any experiences? What sort of cost am I looking at (hopefully insurance will cover?)? How long could he be out of work for? What are the chances of him ever being back in normal work if it is a spavin? (By normal work I mean local dressage/SJ once or twice a month, ridden for an hour 4/5 times a week jumping, schooling and hacking)

What rotten luck for me and my poor boy - he's not even 16 yet, but had 6 months box rest 2 winters ago with severe lameness, I've just had to buy a new saddle after mine got stolen and I've just bought a tow car and passed my towing test
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First of all, don't jump the gun! Keep positive. You never know what it may be.

Unfortunately, my own experience of bone spavin isn't postive at all. My now 17 year old gelding was diagnosed about 2 years ago, and has bone spavin in both his hind hocks. One was fusing already, the other was expected to start fusing. He had cortisone injections, and was tried on various joint supplements. He was fine for the first year i'd say - we just took each day as it came. If he felt stiff one day, we's just walk, if he felt good then we'd jump etc. This eventually dwindled to just mainly hacking, which he seemed fine with. However, over the last few months he became very quiet when ridden. He hated being asked to go in the school at all, found it difficult to lengthen in the walk and would fall behind out hacking. He just wasn't enjoying being ridden. This, for me, was enough to jusitify retiring him. He now lives in a great retirement home where he'll live out all year and get to keep moving, which should be beneficial to him.

Horses for courses though. Some horses seem to be fine with bone spavin once the joints have fused, and thrive off the injections or different supplements. I'd say keep them out as much as possible - leaving them stood in a box only aggrevates stiffness. My vet encouraged lots of walking out which is for the same reason.

By the way, my boy's spavin was diagnosed by x rays, nerve blocks and bone scans (also done on a front foot due to suspected navicular which was never confirmed) and all, apart from the excess of course, was paid for by insurance. I'm with NFU, and they were very good. I also got to claim Synequin (100 quid a pop supplement!) through insurance for the first year.

Good luck, let us know how your boy gets on. xxx
 
Thanks for your reply. I'll obviously do whatever needs to be done, and if he ends up needing to be retired he will have a home for life as my pet. Fingers crossed for a good outcome!
 
Also, it is coming into winter (I know, sorry!) and anything with iffy joints will be stiff. It's not all doom and gloom and it's rarely the worst case scenario, but each case is different so try to stay positive. Mine went really duff before he got better!
 
My horse was diagnosed this year. It has cost £1k on insurance with injections and finding out the problem. It has taken a while but he has come sound and is now very bouncy and naughty. I have stuck him on a suppliment that has same ingrediants as Cosequin and the vet said if he goes lame again just to get him injected again. Prognosis is fine really and he will probably have a very useful life.
 
First of all dont worry, spavin is simply arthritis of the hock joints which most horses (like us humans) will suffer from as we get older. Depending on which of the 4 joints are showing changes, there are many treatments available for you to consider from Adequan injections into the joints to having the hock drilled to encourage fusion.

As we get older it can take us a while to get going in the mornings, we suffer from aches and tweaks here and there. This is the same for your boy, it will just take him a little longer to warm up thats all. IME the vets will advise you to hack out to encourage fusion, but no schooling or jumping. If you decide to have his hocks medicated, this can give up to 85% mobility (if it works) and can last from 3 months to a couple of years. To have the hocks drilled, this would mean a GA for each leg followed by box rest, field rest, then back to work however, this can take up to 9 months for the op to work (we are currently in month 6 and still lame).

In hindsight, I would not have gone down the operation route and would just have continued gentle hacking but you make a decision based on your knowledge and advice given at that time.

I do hope you get to the bottom of it and also hope that your awful luck changes. Spavin isnt the end of the world
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Thanks fingers crossed everything goes well for you
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I take each day as it comes and as you can see he adores his jumping so rightly or wrongly I'm letting him enjoy himself while he can.
 
Happy, my 8 year old TB has got spavin. He came with a few issues straight from racing but we managed to get him going pretty well and he hunted fantastically. In fact, just before he went lame we had had 2 amazing days where he absolutely flew and jumped things I couldn't have imagined he'd be able to - very trappy and difficult.

However, I thought his back was wrong so then got vet etc out and started long investigative process. He's got spavin in both hocks and also tears to his supraspinous ligament in his back. His back was never going to recover until his hocks were better. Medicated with ordinary steroid - didn't work. Then had HA injected and stem cell to his back and has been turned away for 9 months. No idea whether he'll come sound. I couldn't believe he had spavin at the age of 8 and thought it wasn't going to be a problem. However, I'm well aware of the fact that he might not stand up to hunting so may well have to sell him or loan him out as a hack. Very sad. However, don't give up hope - he's got back issues too and so its going to take a long time to resolve everything. Your horse may well be fine with joints medicated, joint supplement etc and taking life slightly easier.
 
DONT PANIC!!!!

It could be just mild bone spavin which is what my horse has. So far its cost the insurance claim about £3K. He has had two lots of lameness work ups including scans, x-rays and nerve blocks, intra articular injections into the hock, a course of adequan and two lots of tildren. He's due to go back in at the end of the month for another Tildren. I've probably included that in the £3K. He has done about 7 pleasure rides this year since being diagnosed in Nov 08, three one day events, numerous novice and elem unaff dressage shows, hacking, cantering over XC courses and riding club grounds and general schooling and he has always been sound although I do notice he is initially lame when I go from walk to trot for the first time in the school. This wears off after approx 60 seconds or less, and is probably more likely to be due to stiffness than actual pain. I am going showjumping tommorow at a place where he has always found the indoor arena surface a bit unyielding and hard before diagnosis and I am going to see how he fares there and whether he does his usual throwing me off!
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Last night my friend who is a veterinary physio student looked at him and said he was a little sore in his gluteal muscles and tight, and when I suggested that it could be due to his spavin as its worse on his o/s hind she agreed with the fact that he's probably not putting his hock under him on that side which is understandable.
 
Bronson was diagnosed with bone spavin in March. After a few weeks of walking in hand he was ridden. My daughter took it steady with him and in August he did a 2ft 6 ode and jumped double clear. However in the last few weeks he has had laminitis caused we think by the hard ground so now we are just taking it one day at a time just hacking out gently. Will now only jump on a surface or good ground
 
My horse is 16 and was diagnosed with spavin aged 10.

If it is in the lower hock joints, once they have fused, you horse will have a useful life. My horse had 3 steroid injections to help the joints fuse and x-rays. The hocks took a 18 months or so to fuse, but once they did, my horse was pain free. His treatment was under £1000.
 
Just had vet to mine last week, had 4 xrays of each hock and left hock injected with hyloric acid and cortizone got bill today: Visit£46.25,advice £28.18, xray hocks £95.08, number of views - 8 £121.72, opinion on xrays £28.18, inta articular injection £49.69, sedate £16.29, depo medrone £16.32 and hi-50 vet £105.32. total = £507.04. mine not lame, just had a lump. vet suggested Tildren at £500 per injection or operation at about £5,000 or have same injections as he had whenever required.
 
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