Stiff Hocks

[poiuytrewq]

My horse has apparently always suffered stiff hocks, The last two years ive owned him have been his best in a long time but over the summer he's become a little stiff again.
Its not overly obvious to be honest and front lameness hid it for a time as I was concentrating constantly on how he seemed in front! (this is now fixed)
My farrier who's shod him for years said he's the worst he's known him in a long time also, Its more obvious when he's being shod as he finds it uncomfortable to stand with a back leg up.
My back lady recently said yes he's stiff behind but its nothing really major and she has clients competing worse!
Id rather he was comfier especially as we are approaching winter and the cold wont help.
His old owner said he improves with work which could well be the problem as ive been unable to ride much recently at all.
I bought some Suppleaze gold which he's been on for just over a month (the first part being a double loading dose) My Farrier and myself notice no difference though. How long would something like this take to work?
Can anyone recommend a alternative? Preferably reasonably priced please? He also gets Butefree daily which I don't want to take him off.

 

[whisp&willow]

What is the reason for the stiffness? Age? Conformation?

Our very old pony (she was well seasoned when we bought her!) was always a little stiff behind, but she was always kept very fit, which helped, and was fed glucosamine which seemed to be enough for her. She would audibly "click" a few times when warming up, but with work eased off and as I say, kept fit and lean and field kept 24/7 so always mobile. I think the cause for her was a combination of age and conformation.

There are probably many more supplements out there than I know about- we only used glucosamine, but thats all she needed. She is still on the go although retired (aged 40) and is on a dose of 1 sachet of danilon daily for her arthritis.

I would speak to your vet and see what they advise.

Does he need to be shod? The added concussion of having shoes on may be affecting his joints, also if it is conformation related, he may need to have "odd" shaped feet in order to place his feet in such a way that he finds comfortable- not always the case in shod horses... (just my opionion... and my horses are usually shod when in work. )

 

[poiuytrewq]

Wear and tear pretty much. He's 15 but very high mileage, having hunted constantly from 4-9 then doing pretty intense schooling/dressage.
He gets joints cortisoned as required, ive only done two, in one fetlock but the old owners say he has had his hocks done in the past.
I did try him unshod behind but his feet went purple and broke up a bit, I rightly or wrongly took this to mean he'd be better off shod!
My vet said if I was worried I could give bute but he's had ulcers and colic in the past so im not keen on regular bute or danilon.
Will look at Glucosamine Thanks and well done with your mare

 

[whisp&willow]

I would maybe have a read of some of the barefoot threads, or ask for some advice from the barefoot gurus on here- they have some very interesting information, and although my riding horse is shod for a short time each year I have a lot of time for the barefoot method.

It doens't work for everyone/every horse, but I think it might be worth looking into to see if it may benefit him, even just to be shod in front and bare behind?

maybe look into booting for the hinds to see if this makes any difference.

Tego used to wear the outer branch of her hinds faster than the inner, and now that she is unshod her feet have clearly grown in such a way that aligns her legs better! That is my only reason for thinking this may affect his comfort.

Hope you find a way to keep him comfortable and on the go for many more years.