What's wrong with your horse?

Kezzabell2

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My rising 6 yr old has early on set arthritis! Hock spavin in his hind left, both hocks were fused with alcohol last July, seems to be good on that now. then a bone spur in the coffin joint of his front right, with pedal osteitis, has to self trim and remedial shoeing made him more lame.
thought he had kissing spin, as heat in his back, but x-rays have just confirmed he's okay in that department, so thats good.

My 31 yr old mare has cushings, and arthritis in her front leg knee, but otherwise she's is fit as anything, knee only became arthritic once she was retired at 28.

My shetland is good, but nervous, so is just used as a companion
 

Nudibranch

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The TB currently has nothing wrong with him. The 4 yo drum x TB was diagnosed possible CJD of the hocks as a 3yo, although nothing conclusive was found on scans so it was on the basis of blocks...he had one set of injections and has been sound since. However its now me who is unsound (well, pregnant) so neither has been ridden for 6 months. Typical!
 

applecart14

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My rising 6 yr old has early on set arthritis! Hock spavin in his hind left, both hocks were fused with alcohol last July, seems to be good on that now.

This has been really effective for my boy. Look out for one of the side effects however. Unbelievably some 3.5 - 4 years following fusion, and only in some 5-8% of horses that have had the procedure carried out, the top hock joint can become inflamed. This is due to concussive forces and the fact that the lower hock bones are now fused so cannot alleviate this concussive force in the way they would had they not been fused. It is only a short lived problem and a short course of bute at high dose and lateral extensions on the hinds has rectified the problem completely.

If I could turn the clock back I would still have the procedure done. My siggy below shows him jumping 1.05m a few weeks after the procedure at the end of the programme agreed by the vet.
 

milliepops

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I suspect if most horses were given a thorough work up/scans/x-rays a vet would find 'something' amiss. It's a case of management and expectatons. Can they do what we ask of them comfortably without pain?

^^ this

Just like every one of us would have something wrong if examined thoroughly. You just need to be aware of limitations.

Millie has 2 mangled front legs but her joints look surprisingly good for a horse of her age & history :)
Kira... well Kira's brain is a bit wonky but the rest seems fine :lol:
 

smja

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Sarcoids. A habitually weaker right hind due to operations to remove them, and funny about his ears thanks to them too.
 

Slightlyconfused

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My horse has allergies to everything including his own sweat! Under control (to a point)with a homeopathic vet as conventional vets had run out of options, I manage him and we still compete to a high level.

Ooohhh how did you find that out?
Our elephant gets odd skin infections/irritations on his neck and over in his mane and has cobatin, not spelt right, to help but I have noticed that I need to keep his mane hogged and him in standard neck rugs and make sure he doesn't get too hot and he is not as hyper sensitive.
 

Crugeran Celt

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My home bred mare had health issues from the age if 7, she had only been lightly hacked and wasn't backed until she was rising 5 so not put under pressure but she had severe lameness issues non the less. In hind sight I think it was bad breeding but I was ignorant about breeding but I still have her at the age of rising 23 and she is a happy, now healthy horse if useless at what she was bred for but she will ge loved and looked after until the end.
 

Serianas

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Its an unconventional rig lol Two attempts at lopping them off has still left active tissue... he is now on a supplement to stop him bonking everything from mare to gelding to wheelbarrow...
 

JoannaC

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Good thread, well my mare first tried to kill herself out in the field a couple of months after I bought her as an unbroken 4 year old which meant a very slow backing and bringing on due to back injury! We'd just got to the point at 8 when everything was coming together and had such hopes and plans for her when she again tried to kill herself by jumping out of the field, to be fair she was being savagely attached by a nasty welsh gelding and clearly thought jumping was the better option rather than be kicked to death! A couple of years off work and then in and out of light work since, currently seems ok but not pushing it to much! Gelding jumped off the lorry from the top of the ramp when I picked him up and injured a tendon. First six months of ownership on box rest. Had a good few years and now managed to injure another tendon hoolying round the field but he's 21 now so he can retire! And I was thinking of getting another one but actually definitely not!
 

Shavings

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Where do i begin?

oh yes i know!

he is a TB!

on a real note i found on on Tuesday he has a large rip in hindquarter muscle close to ligaments and vets have said "could be make or brake"

but he is a lovely chap with a heart of gold and through it all he has been in good spirits.
 

DressageCob

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He's permanently grubby. He's supposed to be mainly white.

Nothing too significant (touch wood) but general skin issues. Mud fever (mild) in the winter, sunburn in the summer. He also had a cyst removed from his lip last year and has acquired a new one in it's place, which I'm going to leave. He also has a random lump on his leg above the stifle, which appears to be a split muscle or haematoma. He's had it a couple of months, it isn't hot and it isn't growing, so I don't worry about it :D
 

skint1

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My 16yo Tb has various arthritic joints, sensitive skin, sensitive feet, sensitive guts...he's sensitive :) Retired at age 14, seems happy enough as a lawn ornament and whilst I don't think he's in pain or suffering this winter has been been less easy for him than I would have liked so I need to assess his situation really.

My 16yo mw/hw cob of unspecified but possibly Welsh or Irish origin- slightly arthritic in right hock and I worry about his man-bits, he never hangs loose so to speak and I wonder if he's had an issue there in the past as he gets extremely worried if you get near it whilst grooming etc
 

poiuytrewq

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One has arthritis and slightly dodgy hind tendons. Other than that he's pretty good.
Other has a nasty dust allergy/COPD type thing which is manageable.
Old pony had cushings but no sypmtoms!

Shetland has nothing!!! Here is the perfect horse! If only he were a good bit taller ;)
 

Pigeon

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Lol well he's lame atm :p Though has been remarkably sound until now so I hope it's something minor. Oh, and the ulcers. Which is an expensive affliction :S

The other one also has wobblers.

I do wonder, if sometimes very low level lameness, or NQR-ness just gets ignored :p With the wobblers horse, it took a long time to realise something was actually wrong. The first sign was occasionally stopping at jumps, and how many horses do that!! The neurological specialist said he reckoned he could describe about 20% of riding club type horses as displaying symptoms. And a ridiculous percentage of horses have ulcers. Estimates between 60 and 80% I think.

So I think if you poke around enough, you'll find something wrong with every horse!
 

BBP

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How's this for a list:
Sacroiliac injury
Stifle injury
Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis
Glandular ulcers
Allergy (headshaking)
Raised liver enzymes
Now lame.

He looks a million dollars (well, too fat still). Am I a bad owner for letting all this stuff happen or a good one for knowing about it? I feel like a bloody awful one.🙁
 

Sukistokes2

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I have a 19 year old gelding with arthritis, he is currently semi retired. My little coloured cob has a slipping stifle and as for my new boy ..........well apart from feather mites, I as yet do not know and long may it stay that way!!!!;)
 

nikkimariet

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What's wrong with my horse? Too many colour coordinated outfit options to choose from. Gives him such a headache...
 

BBP

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How about an unlucky one?

I'd like to think it's that, given how careful I am with him. I think his oversensitive hyperactive nature (maybe because of the RER?) hasn't helped me as he doesn't understand 'rest' or 'controlled'. So he gallops and slides and spins and falls like a loony out in the field and is not a nice happy hacker. Makes it hard to manage existing injuries. I'm ready to cry ahead of tomorrow's vets visit. He's the most wonderful horse and doesn't deserve all of this.

I think just beating the allergy would make me happy as its turned him from cheerful to irritated.
 

chocolategirl

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Out of my 5, 1 has facet joint degeneration of the neck bone which has been injected successfully, and she is currently in normal (eventer) work. She also had a few sarcoids about 4 years ago which were successfully treated with liverpool cream and have so far not returned. The next one has just had his back injected due to mild kissing spines. Re X relayed today and treatment has been successful also, phew!! He has now had 2 lots of sarcoids treated in the last 3 and a half years also with great success. I have a 21 and a 23 year old, both sec B, who have mildish sweet itch, one slightly worse than the other, both manageable. The only one with no issues(so far anyway!!), is my 23 yr old sec A! I have never known so many 'broken' and ailing horses in my life, not just mine, but I see and hear about so many, I'm left wondering where all the sound healthy ones are hiding, if there actually are any!
 

Greylegs

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My lad suffers from incurable cuteness ... treated by administering regular hugs and occasional extra strong mints. :) ... :)
 

EQUIDAE

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I have 5 with no medical issues at all ranging in age between 2 and 7. All bought 18 months or younger so less risk of being messed up by others.
 
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