Time to retire???

Alchemy

Alchemy

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Hello good people- sorry for long ramble glass of wine and Feerrero Rocher if you make it to the end!!

Quick background info before I start he's a 19 year old ISH ex event horse has arthritis in both hocks, previously had traumatic fracture at the top of cannon bone which has a screw in on his LH & he has Cushing's now on a veteran insurance policy :-( so covers diddly squirt!

I've had him 9 years we have done a bit of everything and have been careful with him he evented for 4 years before I got him but since then he's had what I would say a fairly easy life mainly due to lack of transport! But worked at advanced medium dressage at home did the odd local showing show and some cross country.

But this last year I feel he is starting to show signs of his age! His hock is clearly bothering him and now occasionally he's on bute to get him through an "episode" he is slightly unsound on the lunge on the LH vet said just see how we go, tonight when I did some light schooling I just felt he wasn't quite right when going large circles and generally not quite right I just can't quite put my finger on exactly apart from this he is still lively and doesn't look 19 :-)
my heart is telling me to retire him and just hack lightly 2/3 times a week to stop him getting stiff but my head doesn't want to right him off just yet incase I'm wrong and he is fine!!! He's on Suppleaze Gold for his joints. also as per usual after a winter coming in at nights we are at that time of year now his breathing is compromised by months of dust etc by being stabled at night- at his age and knowing him as well as I do he would hate it I can't consider this winter letting him live out

Sorry for ramble what would you do??
 
I would be half tempted to try steroid injections into the hock but with cushings you would need to be very careful what/if any you could do. No harm in asking your vet.
 
I had zero success with MSM-based joint supplements like suppleaze gold with my old mare's arthritis. It seems like different things help different horses, so if he is struggling it might be worth trying something different. Both turmeric and boswelia have had lots of success stories, boswelia did wonders for my old mare and my old dog - my sceptical OH was so impressed with the results he put himself on it too. Turmeric seems to be having a good effect on my daughters little lead rein pony who has a bit of arthritis in his hocks, he is charging about like a youngster and has jumped the strip-grazing fence twice this week having never done that before (he's been on turmeric 3 weeks as a bit of a trial).

My cob has ROA, until this winter living out wasn't an option due to availability in our area but I managed to control it very well by being very strict about soaking his hay and feeding low sugar bagged haylage (e.g. Timothy HorseHage) whenever I wasn't able to soak for at least an hour or if I saw any signs of breathing problems. The haylage is expensive, otherwise I would have used just that. I also saw a lot of improvement in his breathing when I put him on a high copper low iron mineral balancer (in my case the basic ForagePlus one), which I did for his hooves but actually had more impact on his breathing.

You could always try retiring him to light hacking for a few months and see how he goes, it isn't necessarily a permanent decision if he picks up? If he goes out a lot more in summer it may be that both his arthritis and his breathing will improve as we go into spring.
 
laura_nash said:
I had zero success with MSM-based joint supplements like suppleaze gold with my old mare's arthritis. It seems like different things help different horses, so if he is struggling it might be worth trying something different. Both turmeric and boswelia have had lots of success stories, boswelia did wonders for my old mare and my old dog - my sceptical OH was so impressed with the results he put himself on it too. Turmeric seems to be having a good effect on my daughters little lead rein pony who has a bit of arthritis in his hocks, he is charging about like a youngster and has jumped the strip-grazing fence twice this week having never done that before (he's been on turmeric 3 weeks as a bit of a trial).

My cob has ROA, until this winter living out wasn't an option due to availability in our area but I managed to control it very well by being very strict about soaking his hay and feeding low sugar bagged haylage (e.g. Timothy HorseHage) whenever I wasn't able to soak for at least an hour or if I saw any signs of breathing problems. The haylage is expensive, otherwise I would have used just that. I also saw a lot of improvement in his breathing when I put him on a high copper low iron mineral balancer (in my case the basic ForagePlus one), which I did for his hooves but actually had more impact on his breathing.

You could always try retiring him to light hacking for a few months and see how he goes, it isn't necessarily a permanent decision if he picks up? If he goes out a lot more in summer it may be that both his arthritis and his breathing will improve as we go into spring.
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Tumeric.How much do you feed? Thanks.
 
I have a 19 yo wb who was getting a bit creeky!! I put him on superfix freestep and the difference was absolutely amazing!! Can highly recommend it x
 
I had a similar issue with a slightly older horse and had steroid injections. I was assured by my vet that the cushings wasn't an issue and they worked very well and kept him comfortable for another year or so. i did some research on forums and a lot of people seem to think you can't do a steroid injection on a cushings horse because of the risk of causing laminitis. I go to a very well known specialist vet practice and they disagreed completely. Why not talk it through with your vet?
EKW said:
I would be half tempted to try steroid injections into the hock but with cushings you would need to be very careful what/if any you could do. No harm in asking your vet.
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I would consider injections but really I don't like them I would try different supplements but I think it where me I would just do hacking and perhaps a little very low impact in hand pole work .
I would give danilon as needed for his quality of life .
I would keep out as much as you can.
 
Agree re max turnout, that and gentle exercise I think can do wonders. For supple,net, try hack up,bespoke, you'll prob get one with turmeric boswellia and glucosamine and msm in it which could be worth a try. Can't help re steroids and crushing but steroids can really help. Also, you may find he gets better in the summer so it might be worth light work for now, see how he goes, and he might perk right up again as the weather improves.
 
The situation with my old horse is similar. He does regular short periods of light work now even when lame, because he likes to work. He has a joint supplement in the summer because he is uncomfortable on hard ground and looks miserable without it, soaked hay or haylage when in and a breathing supplement whenever necessary. I am finding some people surprised he is semi retired because they think 20 is not old, but not all horses live and work into their late 20s and I think it is unrealistic to expect that, more of a bonus if it does happen.
 
My 20 year old is stiff behind in the winter. I have put him on hack up bespoke so am.hoping it will help. Heard nothing but good things about them so maybe give them a go?

I would just concentrate on hacking. Could be schooling is a little too but at the moment.
 
eahotson said:
Tumeric.How much do you feed? Thanks.
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I'm giving the pony a desert spoonful, but I'm not being all that scientific about it, partly because he actually seemed okay the only evidence of the arthritis was picking out or trimming his back feet. There have been quite a few threads on here about turmeric, if you do a search you should get more info. I'm not bothering with all the oil and black pepper stuff.
 
laura_nash said:
I'm giving the pony a desert spoonful, but I'm not being all that scientific about it, partly because he actually seemed okay the only evidence of the arthritis was picking out or trimming his back feet. There have been quite a few threads on here about turmeric, if you do a search you should get more info. I'm not bothering with all the oil and black pepper stuff.
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Thanks.
 
I have a Cushings/Bone Spavin boy. I have retired him as he has other issues too, but I too would recommend as much turnout as possible. I had little/no success with supplements, but with his 24/7 turnout and a good senior balancer, he's like a different horse.

Good luck with your fellow.
 
I get him turned out as much as possible, and just hack but replace other work with hacking - so do more than 2/3 times a week. I'd keep him fit and do light schooling on hacks. Once the weather gets warmer / drier, I'd try schooling again and see how he is.
 
Iv had amazing results with my 24 year old on green lipped mussels been on aviform suppleeze gold before
 
Thanks everyone :-) for your wise and kind words I can't afford steroid injections and his veteran policy won't cover it :-( 9 years of paying £600 per year and gets you nowt when you actually need to claim!
All I want is for him to be comfortable i owe him everything so am trying to do my best for him but never had a veteran horse before! I'm also really OCD about him and making sure everything is perfect but I feel this is out of my control!!!
 
I feel for you as I've just gone through the same with mine. He's now 18, and an ex racer and eventer so also had a busy life. We had his hocks injected a few times which bought him time but he started to feel uncomfortable schooling and was just not quite right. I retired him at Xmas and he is more relaxed than he has ever been so I'm sure that I did the right thing for him. I hope it goes well with yours too.
 
I would hack - at his age he's done his fair share of schooling and he's clearly not right -If he enjoys hacking I woudl do as much as he feels comfortable doing. He will probably prefer straight lines to circles.
 
Alchemy said:
Hello good people- sorry for long ramble glass of wine and Feerrero Rocher if you make it to the end!!

Quick background info before I start he's a 19 year old ISH ex event horse has arthritis in both hocks, previously had traumatic fracture at the top of cannon bone which has a screw in on his LH & he has Cushing's now on a veteran insurance policy :-( so covers diddly squirt!

I've had him 9 years we have done a bit of everything and have been careful with him he evented for 4 years before I got him but since then he's had what I would say a fairly easy life mainly due to lack of transport! But worked at advanced medium dressage at home did the odd local showing show and some cross country.

But this last year I feel he is starting to show signs of his age! His hock is clearly bothering him and now occasionally he's on bute to get him through an "episode" he is slightly unsound on the lunge on the LH vet said just see how we go, tonight when I did some light schooling I just felt he wasn't quite right when going large circles and generally not quite right I just can't quite put my finger on exactly apart from this he is still lively and doesn't look 19 :-)
my heart is telling me to retire him and just hack lightly 2/3 times a week to stop him getting stiff but my head doesn't want to right him off just yet incase I'm wrong and he is fine!!! He's on Suppleaze Gold for his joints. also as per usual after a winter coming in at nights we are at that time of year now his breathing is compromised by months of dust etc by being stabled at night- at his age and knowing him as well as I do he would hate it I can't consider this winter letting him live out

Sorry for ramble what would you do??
Click to expand...


If he were mine I would keep him in at night
flexijoint for the joints
cider vinager
tumeric
magnetic boots
light hacking slow paces
maybe in hand leading /riding over raised poles to exercise his joints

get vapour stable spray for his breathing as it sprays in atmosphere - and airways plus for his feed to maintain his breathing the rest of the time
maybe treat him to one of these with obios oil /eucolyptus oil >http://www.eramask.com/ or

If possible a trip to the equine hydro or swimming pool and a equine massage for keeping his muscles toned.

Maybe buy a massage pad yourself and treat him a few times a week to a session
 
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