Winter exercise for mare with spavin?

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nicnag

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My mare was diagnosed with mild changes in her near side hock earlier this year and since then we have been working away gently on good ground, hacking, straight lines type stuff. However with the clocks changing next week getting out on tracks and fields is going to be difficult, I have access to a floodlit school which is 60x40 so not tiny but as I've been told not to do tight circles etc until things have settled I was wondering what other people have done to keep their spavin sufferers going over the winter?
Any suggestions??
 
Is she sound? what does your vet suggest?
Pidge was diagnosed with hock spavin in May this year and had injections and is on newmarket supplement.
couple of weeks of rest, then month of walk and trot, then month of walk trot and canter then introduce jumping. He can now do lateral movements which he couldn't do before
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That sounds tricky, will she stay sane if you are only hacking at weekends and doing quiet arena work in the week in the floodlit school?

How about so many transitions that you end up walking around the corners most of the time? Do you think she can cope with trotting a 20m circle or just half circles? Then you can make transitions to walk around the corners... actually Richard Davidson recommended that anyhow, for getting deep into the corners, and engaging the hind limbs for pushing well out of the corners, so perhaps in the future that will be agood thing for her mentally?
 
Pidge, she had prednisolone injections into the joint on the 1st August. She had 4 days off box rest then started walking building up to half an hour by the end of the first week, we've since built up to an hours gentle hacking as we had a couple of set backs over first week of September when I was away with work then we think she jarred the hock as she became quite short in the stride again so vet and physio are watching her and if no improvement in a week or so she'll be heading back to Dick vet, she has shown improvement in all strides but canter, phyio found her tight in her hamstring at last session on monday. She is on Equine America Glucosamine and MSM just finishing the first months loading dose.

Aleedee - not sure 20m are recommended as yet, I have been 'schooling' in our large flat fields but the smallest circles I've done are closer to 40m! I've done lots of transitions and flexing work . She isn't particularly sane and gets bored VERY easily! Which is awkward as I'm trying really hard to assess whether bucking is due to boredom/freshness or pain!
 
so no bute to take the edge of the pain whilst the spavin is settling then?
Fingers crossed she is ok and doesn't have to go back to the Dick vet. I know probably not the best advice but if she is sound can you base the work on how she is feeling? My vet obviously gave me guidelines on what to do when bringing Pidge back into work but also told me to take account of how Pidge was feeling and to be guided by that as well. She will surely let you know if what you are asking her to do is causing her discomfort. Would she be better working on a surface rather than the field?
 
No bute - I have queried this a few times and been told just to keep going but adjust things as necessary which I've done. If anything I'm probably too soft on her at times and just keep everything very simple. With the surface issue as the school I have access too is quite a deep surface I felt the grass was the better option as long as the weather held. Physio is back out again on Monday so we'll see if she notices any improvement. It's heartbreaking!
 
I know I was heartbroken when I found out what Pidge had, but had lots of advice and support from people on here
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Have you tried her in the school to see how she copes with the deep surface? I have to be careful what I do on hard ground but tbh I always was anyway. Chin up!
 
Well after thinking about it this morning I'm going to take her down to the school next week when my instructor is going to be there and ask her just to watch her and see what she thinks about the way she is moving and any of the nonsense that happens. It was her who spotted she was short on that leg in the beginning. I'm also waiting on a phone back from my vet on whether we send her back to Dick vet or not - horses!
Thanks for the help!
 
no probs, glad to help
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funnily enough it was my instructor who spotted the problem was higher up before the vet did!
I think that sounds like a good idea and if she struggles with the deep surface then I think you'd both be able to spot that. good luck, keep us posted on progress please?
 
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