Update on Hock treatment,

[eahotson]

Horse has had hock injections and rehab.Vet came out today to review.Overall she said there was a lot of improvement but one leg in particular is still a bit stiff.The farrier said still a bit stiff but improved.Vet said he could carry on doing light schooling and hacking and I have discussed with instructor what we feel we can and can't do in schooling now.Vet said with hock injections/bute later on I may have between one and two years of riding him left before I have to have him put down!!!! At this point I nearly passed out and said that unless he was in a lot of pain or suffering I didn't plan on that but to fund his retirement.
Anyway still undecided what to do.I have the new horse box which came late thanks to covid but I am not sure he should be traveling in it much now
Somewhat worryingly though she told me my horse was the soundest she had seen all day!!Plenty to think about.

 

[LaurenBay]

Is injections the only option vet has given you? There are so many other treatments available that the vet should be discussing with you before mentioning PTS.

 

[eahotson]

Is injections the only option vet has given you? There are so many other treatments available that the vet should be discussing with you before mentioning PTS.

No she mentioned Bute.I think she thought that when he becomes unrideable I amy want another one and would not be willing to fund his retirement but I will fund that.

 

[Sealine]

Oh no, that sounds a bit harsh. My horse was diagnosed with hock spavins about 4 years ago and I stopped schooling him but have continued hacking, gentle hunting and a bit of jumping on good ground. He did have injections which didn't make a huge difference. He has an annual vet check up and we discuss his workload etc and do flexion tests. He has got slowly worse to the point he now has half a sachet of Danilon a day at the moment to keep him comfortable. He's 19 now and I'm still riding him 5 times a week and doing hunt rides etc when the ground is ok. He can be very stiff straight out the stable but once warmed up he can still outwalk most horses. When the vet advises retirement or if I feel he isn't enjoying work he will be retired. I'm not a vet and I can only comment with my own experience but to deteriorate from being able to ride to PTS in two years sounds harsh.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Really harsh! My old horse was given to me after my boss and her vet decided he needed to be pts due to hock arthritis. He had them injected and I did light work for about 8 years. Including the odd bit of jumping. Towards the end of his ridden life he was sustained on a bute a day. He then had a good few years retired. It wasn’t his hocks that had him in the end either.
He had a lovely 12 years after the pts call was made so in your position I’d really sit back and not panic too much at this stage.

 

[eahotson]

Oh no, that sounds a bit harsh. My horse was diagnosed with hock spavins about 4 years ago and I stopped schooling him but have continued hacking, gentle hunting and a bit of jumping on good ground. He did have injections which didn't make a huge difference. He has an annual vet check up and we discuss his workload etc and do flexion tests. He has got slowly worse to the point he now has half a sachet of Danilon a day at the moment to keep him comfortable. He's 19 now and I'm still riding him 5 times a week and doing hunt rides etc when the ground is ok. He can be very stiff straight out the stable but once warmed up he can still outwalk most horses. When the vet advises retirement or if I feel he isn't enjoying work he will be retired. I'm not a vet and I can only comment with my own experience but to deteriorate from being able to ride to PTS in two years sounds harsh.

Well of course it is only a guess.He isn't being put to sleep but I think her experiences of people lead her to think many people would rather than pay for treatment/retirement. Someone on our yard did just that.

 

[oldie48]

My old boy had hock injections and a quieter life but he still went out and did a decent Novice test but he didn't jump, then he was just hacked, then he became a bit trippy so I retired him. In the winter if he looked a bit stiff or uncomfortable, he had a sachet of bute. I lost him at 28 to colic. He had a good quality of life until the very end and tbh he was sounder than me. I'm quite shocked by your vet's assessment

 

[ycbm]

That's a bit weird by your vet. Some horses hocks fuse and they come pretty much sound. Some go on happily on bute for a decade. Some have other stuff done which works. Mine went on for 6 years with a bit of bute from time to time before he died of colic. He was even exported to the US with it by his owner.
.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My pony had hock spavin in one hock at about 6. Very lame on it for best part of a year till it fused then back into full work and stayed sound till I lost him to something else entirely at 23. He did not take life quietly either, very whizzy pony.

 

[Michen]

Mine has spavin and historically had better success with tildren alongside the steroids. Very much worth a try IMO as neither in isolation bought him 100% sound at the time.

 

[eahotson]

He had treatment,hock injections and Tildren in 2015 so he had a good run for his money.I just want to do right by him,he has been such a good boy.We will take it bit by bit.

Mine has spavin and historically had better success with tildren alongside the steroids. Very much worth a try IMO as neither in isolation bought him 100% sound at the time.

He had Tildren in 2015.The vet said another dose would not be helpful.It did give him six years though.

 

[Jamie Kent]

Your vet seems kind of harsh, you should ask trying equioxx as studies have shown to have less side effects. I'm curious as to why he thought a 6 year old injection of tildren was useless to renew ?
You do know that you can renew it each year to make sure the products efficacy is still there.
Where does the stiffness comes from ? I'm so curious

 

[eahotson]

The stiffness comes from the hocks.