spavins, spavins, spavins! advice needed please?

J

jalisco

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Hi,
After months of up and down to vets for xrays of back, hock, bone scans etc, vets are sure now after nerve block that his back pain is secondary to his hock spavins.
Hocks have been injected with methylprednisolone.
His hocks have nearly fused but vets say may be another year until fully fussed. possibly has been going on since 08- before i bought him and has now chronic back pain whick is not helped by mesotherapy or physio.

My question is vets say to put on bute for one month and lunge and get back on and ride but realistically is it realy fair to ride if they still havnt fused?
Can he jump at all if hes ok on steroid injections?
At the mo hes lame in field (not on bute) but sound on concrete when trotted up. Dont know if this is due to hard ground and being on a hillside as well.

Has anyone else had spavins that have fused and horse was fine after and went back competing- i want this horse to jump 120m plus.

I would rather put him in field (now i know whats definately wrong with him) and keep xraying until fused to be fair to us both because he is very difficult while like this- rearing and bolting

I just want anyone experiences please!
many thanks!
 
my mare come sound after steriod injection last year then 9 months later went lame again. She is only 7 and currently competing at newcomers pops 1.30m for fun at home! This time we have injected the joint again with the steriod and also given her a dose of Tildren and my god she is a different horse. She has gone from backing off and me really having to ride her to a fence, to pulling my arms out and doing little leaps as she is enjoying it so much. My vet has told me to act as if nothing is wrong with her. We have never given her bute and her hock hasnt fused yet, the steriod injection and Tildren combined has been great and she is having another check up next week just before my insurance runs out!
 
my gosh that sound just the result i need really! maybe i need to just crack on and ust seehow he goes, he was a lot more relaxed on the lunge after the injections and happier to work in an outline on the long reins. vets said that if n 6 weeks still not enough will inject again.

Anyone else?
 
my boy is 7. i've had a year of undiagnosed random lameness. eventually he was diagnosed with some very very minor changes in one of his hocks. dont think they were actually classed as spavins as so minor, he also had chronic back pain. change of saddle plus injections to his hock and back have done the trick plus a lunging program on the pessoa and he is now on his way back to full work. sorry, not sure if helpful as mine not actually dianosed as spavins just very minor changes!!
 
yes claire thanks anything helps! thanks with the pessoa tip- i did have him in it last year but hes wasnt happy for obvious reasons- so now his hocks are injected he may be better-thanks x
 
jalisco said:
yes claire thanks anything helps! thanks with the pessoa tip- i did have him in it last year but hes wasnt happy for obvious reasons- so now his hocks are injected he may be better-thanks x
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i was given 3 weeks worth of bute at 2 a day so i could start him off on the pessoa comfortably. if nothing else it gave me the confidence to ease him into work knowing he shouldnt be feeling any pain. the first couple of times he went awfully in the pessoa but as he was on quite a high level dose of bute i had the confidence to gently push him through it and now every time i lunge he just looks better and better. to be honest if the bute is on offer i'd take it if i were you, at least you'll be comfortable in the fact your bringing back into work with pain relief, give him/her the chance to get working in a way he/she hasnt done recently.x
 
My guy is 16yo now he was diagnosed with spavin a few years ago. He got steroids in both hocks. Not very helpful as can't remember properly but think he was off for a couple weeks then had to start walking around fields or hacking (where ever had long straight lines) and building to full work in 6-8 weeks. He might have been on bute for short while. Went on Cosequin and has been on it since, not even had more steroid injections. He is competing at elem dressage and county level showing (not quite the same as 1.30!). Would never know has spavin and if had more enthusiasm would go further. Hope it gets sorted soon.
 
my mare only had a week off after the jab and was sound, we walked for a week, trotted for a week and then vet checked her over, she was still sound so straight back in to normal work. Last year she was still very slightly not 100% but only a very straied eye could tell, my vet said he has seen lamer horses in the dressage ring! Then after the hock injection and Tildren this time she is even better, her stride has lengthened so much that she is now making up a bit too much ground in related distances! Stay positive, as i was devistated last year when my mare was diagnosed, its only in one hock but its very advanced and she has had it for a long time withough showing signes. I have her on two scoops of Aviform Suppleze Gold a day and thats it as far as supplements etc go :)
 
My horse has mild spavin of both hocks- one is worse than the other- he had it diagnosed in 2008 when he felt tight in his back when he was working only very slightly lame, got vet out and he said looks like spavin, did nerve blocks and xrays straight away- turned out he was right!

Both hocks, ( TMT joint and distal intertarsal) were medicated with a long acting cortisone-depomedrone- and he came sound straight away- he had 2 easy weeks of work whilst the medication was taking effect and after 2 weeks his power came back and i was able to carry on as normal. He gets his hocks medicated approx 1 yr to every 6 months depending on when they feel like they need re medicating, when they need re doing he just loses a bit of power and activity behind. I do loads of hacking and hill work and schooling and gymnastic suppling exercises to keep him strong and physio has been useful too, he also gets cortaflex joint supp which has really helped him and i make sure he has plenty of lenght and width on his shoes to support him too.

People are surprised when they hear he has mild arthritis as he is so sound!, the spavin has never caused him any problems and he is worked like a normal horse, to keep his muscles built up, my trainer has told me to carry on working him at home and we will bring him out in the summer at med level dressage as my trainer says he finds the harder things easier lol!!!

I was advised though that although arthritis can't be cured it can be managed, and also that some horses joints do fuse, but many do not- think it depends on exactly which joints are involved. There is so much that can be done now though for treating it and i reckon loads of competition horses must have it as its wear and tear.

Good luck with your horse, hope you can get back out competing soon!
 
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thanks for all your really helpful stories everyone, really appreciate them.
I put him back on bute yesterday morning and he was pretty sound in field this evening so if hes ok tomorrow morning im going to restart long lungeing and try an push him through it like vets suggested.

Hes on cortaflex ha - a half scoop once daily. Its expensive 50£ for a 2 month supply and i really dont know if it makes a difference really. Does anyone find them good for spavins? or find other products better? or does everyone with spavins put them on a joint supplement just because it makes you feel better??!! just wondering on that point!!

hes been remedially shoed also so hopefully that will help.

everyone seems to have really positive stories about spavins so hopefully it wil work out!

At least like you said claire being on the bute will give me the confidence to gently work him through it.

thanks all x
 
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