spavins AND arthiritis! suggestions!

D

diablo

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 September 2010
Messages
55
Location
lancashire
Visit site
My 8yo Dutch Warmblood went off his jumping (which he hasnt done a great deal of!) a while ago. Took him to the vets, lame on 3 legs!
Spavin in off hind, fairly new so i believe that was what caused the change in attitude.
And then diagnosed with low grade arthritis in both coffin joints in front :(

Vets have injected all affected joints and told me to carry on working him.

i suppose my question is where do i go from here?
Is he best off just hacking/ hunting long term rather than SJ/ Dressage?
 
diablo said:
My 8yo Dutch Warmblood went off his jumping (which he hasnt done a great deal of!) a while ago. Took him to the vets, lame on 3 legs!
Spavin in off hind, fairly new so i believe that was what caused the change in attitude.
And then diagnosed with low grade arthritis in both coffin joints in front :(

Vets have injected all affected joints and told me to carry on working him.

i suppose my question is where do i go from here?
Is he best off just hacking/ hunting long term rather than SJ/ Dressage?
Click to expand...

My 17.1hh WB gelding who is 14 competes SJ (to about 1.05m), unaff dressage to elem level, ODE's, fun rides, etc and was diagnosed with mild bone spavin in 2007. He had three lots of tildren, joint injections, adequan and is fine. You need to see how your horse gets on with the joint injections. He may be an ideal candidate for Tildren which is brilliant for spavin caught in its early stages, but you would have to ask your vets opinion on this and if he is insured then it might be worth giving him tildren particularly if his spavin is in its early stages. IMHO the coffin joint arthritis is a bit more worrying but again this may respond well to tildren. I'd ask your farrier about lateral extensions as these will support the heels and I'd consider putting him on a good joint supplement - something containing MSM if you can as MSM is considered extreemely beneficial with mild arthritis.

A top tip is to get your horse assessed by a decent veterinary physio therapist. My horse had BS worse in his off hind and he was overcompensating greatly in his near fore (opposite diagonal). He has eventually had problems with a suspensory problem which may be attributed to the overloading of the opposite diagonal limb. All horses, like humans, will over compensate in an effort to avoid pain to the poorly limb. This will create more problems than it will solve and often your horse will be sore in other areas to compensate. This is why I believe horses showing Kissing Spine often have hind limb problems, the avoidance they show in working through correctly can cause tension in their spine which results in their back becoming hunched and eventually the spinal processes will start touching each other at the tip which is why horses with KS are often asked as part of a rehab programme to work long and low to lengthen and gently stretch the spine thus widening the gap in between the vetebrae.


So basically ask your vet for possible Tildren treatment, discuss with your farrier the options for remedial farriery to help your horses condition, look at supplementing his diet with something to help his joints and get a physio to attend to any over compensatory problems he may be experiencing. Good lcuk
 
Last edited by a moderator:
applecart14 said:
My 17.1hh WB gelding who is 14 competes SJ (to about 1.05m), unaff dressage to elem level, ODE's, fun rides, etc and was diagnosed with mild bone spavin in 2007. He had three lots of tildren, joint injections, adequan and is fine. You need to see how your horse gets on with the joint injections. He may be an ideal candidate for Tildren which is brilliant for spavin caught in its early stages, but you would have to ask your vets opinion on this and if he is insured then it might be worth giving him tildren particularly if his spavin is in its early stages. IMHO the coffin joint arthritis is a bit more worrying but again this may respond well to tildren. I'd ask your farrier about lateral extensions as these will support the heels and I'd consider putting him on a good joint supplement - something containing MSM if you can as MSM is considered extreemely beneficial with mild arthritis.

A top tip is to get your horse assessed by a decent veterinary physio therapist. My horse had BS worse in his off hind and he was overcompensating greatly in his near fore (opposite diagonal). He has eventually had problems with a suspensory problem which may be attributed to the overloading of the opposite diagonal limb. All horses, like humans, will over compensate in an effort to avoid pain to the poorly limb. This will create more problems than it will solve and often your horse will be sore in other areas to compensate. This is why I believe horses showing Kissing Spine often have hind limb problems, the avoidance they show in working through correctly can cause tension in their spine which results in their back becoming hunched and eventually the spinal processes will start touching each other at the tip which is why horses with KS are often asked as part of a rehab programme to work long and low to lengthen and gently stretch the spine thus widening the gap in between the vetebrae.


So basically ask your vet for possible Tildren treatment, discuss with your farrier the options for remedial farriery to help your horses condition, look at supplementing his diet with something to help his joints and get a physio to attend to any over compensatory problems he may be experiencing. Good lcuk
Click to expand...


Thank you so much for such a detailed post. My vet suggested tildren earlier on so have rung them and asked for them to ring me back to see what they suggest. I suppose it really comes down to what I want achieve, if i'm going to aim high in the sj world he may not be the horse to do it on :(
but if i'm happy doing a bit of everything and the horse isn't in pain, i'm fairly sure he'll plod on for many years (stubborn bugger!)
 
Hi my lad has been disgnosied with mild arthritis in hock and front fore.. He had cortisone injections and tildren about 4 weeks ago and is due his second lot of tildren next week.. I have put him in Cortaflex supplement And have been riding him out now for approx 3 weeks at walk and have just had the go ahead to incorporate trot in short bursts. The vet came out last week and where as he was 3/10 lame in hind and fore he could only pick up that he was apron 1/10 lame in hind now however I had my first session of physio on Friday and she saw him before he went for his bone scan and she thought he looked worse .. The problem I am combatting at min is his hind muscles, they are all knotted and lumpy from compensating and the prognosis on those coming right is not good.. He had ultrasound and massage on Friday and will be having weekly sessions for weeks but the physio has said to me if it doesn't work there will be nothing else she can do.. My vet called mr today as he works closely with her and they have both agreed we are doing everything we can but if there is no improvement in 4 weeks then it will be retirement as my stance on bute and masking the problem however him being 13 and being a field ornament after being such a great horse just isn't sitting well with me right now... I'm trying to stay positive but am struggling x
 
diablo said:
Thank you so much for such a detailed post. My vet suggested tildren earlier on so have rung them and asked for them to ring me back to see what they suggest.
Click to expand...

No worries.

Here is a fact sheet about Tildren which explains it in more detail
http://www.georgevetgroup.co.uk/pdf's/equine_factsheets/TILDRENFACTSHEET.pdf

P.S I get a bit carried away when typing emails and replies to posts as I am a touch typist and type fast and therefore have typed about 500 words before I am even aware of it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top