Vet's treatment for bad back... any similar experiences?

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Christmas Crumpet

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My horse has been on and off work since Feb when he pulled something in his back. He's been in for a lameness work up and had his off hind medicated for arthritis in the TMT joint. I brought him back into work and it was clear that his back was still sore so vet came back out to see him. He had improved but was obviously not mended so we went to the surgery this afternoon for a closer look.

It turns out he's got slight scoliosis (sp.) of the spine and is still pretty sore behind his saddle. He also has a wonky pelvis. Watching someone else ride him I could see that he was constantly pushing them onto his right side (which is why I felt wonky when I was riding him).

The vet wants to a) have the chiropractor out to sort out his pelvis then b) have him shockwaved under sedation and given Cartrophen and then brought back into work. He also wants the horse schooled hard to make him work hard and start using the muscles that he is obviously weak in.

I wondered whether anyone has had this type of treatment done in their horses and how effective it was. And also to explain what Cartophen does.

Sorry this is so long but I'd be very grateful for anyone's input. Also in vets.
 
I think you mean sclerosis...? If so I hate to mention the dreaded words but that is kissing spine...so schooling lots and working on lunge with pessoa will help that definitely. Has he had his back xrayed?

Also if his pelvis is out and had been for some time then it may just be best to leave it, as he will have got used to being like that and you can cause more problems by trying to fix things that aren't necessarliy the cause of his problem.

Has he had a specific block for proximal suspensory ligament? Just wondering as these somtimes present as niggling non-specific lamenesses.
 
Scoliosis is a curved spine, 's' or 'c' shaped. Our vet also does some chiro and acupuncture and has used both successfully on our mare with neck problems. Scoliosis can be caused by abnormal muscle development, so chiro/accupuncture should be helpful in this case. Don't worry about 'kissing spines' that is something completely different.
Sorry I dont know about Cartophen.
 
Interesting about the hind problem with a pelvis abnormality. Having had a horse with suspensory problems who later developed a sacro iliac problem I would also be getting the suspensories scanned. If you do a search on here there has been a lot on hind leg lameness caused by/or leading to (chicken and egg type thing) back problems. Not saying this is your problem exactly but it is worth looking into. As your vet says I was told it was caused by working wrongly due to hind limb problems causing muscular abnormalities.

If you have insurance I would look at getting full scans of legs and back with xrays of the spine if you haven't had them. The insurance will probably exclude both at the end of the year period so get as much done now as possible.

My old TB had cartrophen for cartilage problems I "think" it helps them renew it or it kind of lubricates it . Sorry not much help!!
 
Check the hind suspensories - that's the first thing I'd do if I had one that was slightly hind leg lame with a sore back. Lots of horses have slight scoliosis of the back and it doesn't affect them much - they're born with it.
 
The vet has seen him 4 times since he's presented these symptoms. I have asked them about the suspensories and they said they were fine. Should I be asking them again? To be honest it was one of the first things we discussed.
 
Did they specifically nerve block the suspensories? Also, and this is a wee bit controversial, I would personally no longer use an all-roud general purpose vet for a lameness work-up. I do use them for vaccines, abscesses, stuff like that, but ongoing niggling lameness, I take the horse to Newmarket to one of the specialist equine vets as they are just that bit more experienced and have seen it all.
 
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