Working life after OCD in hock

PonyIAmNotFood

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As above, youngster has just been diagnosed with this and will be referred to leahurst for surgery. On xraying, vets also found that his early life (found emaciated and unable to stand by rspca when he was about 9mth old) has impacted on his joints and they are not great.

Has anyone any experiences of this and how well the horse does afterwards? I want him for dressage, ideally at a minimum level of advanced medium. Poor pony :(

He will also be on joint supplements from now on, he's already on turmeric and linseed pellets.

Eta, are there any calcium supplements he could have while he's still growing? He's rising 2.
 
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Wagtail

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The rising 3 year old here had OCD of the stifle that was operated on when he was 9 months old. It took him at least 6 months to come sound, but now he's a power house and moves beautifully without a hint of lameness for nearly 2 years. I guess we won't know how he stands up to work until he's broken in this summer, but IMHO I don't expect him to have any trouble at all.
 

PonyIAmNotFood

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Thanks Wagtail, that's very positive. He moves like a dream at the mo, ground covering and elevated paces and though I know he has no concept of his potential, it would be an absolute waste if he can't do anything with the talent!
 

Illusion100

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Mine presented with OCD and was operated on a 8 months old.

No residual swelling (as is common in warmbloods) and athletic career still considered good/excellent. He has however been slightly 'unlevel' behind, for want of a better word, never lame but just with a slightly altered way of moving. It is unnoticeable to most.

He has now been broken and turned away until later this Spring and I don't expect any real issues.

When did the OCD present in this youngster? Usually the earlier the fragment(s) are removed the less the risk of arthritic change, however it is not unheard of for owners to delay surgery until the horse is nearly ready for backing.
 

PonyIAmNotFood

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The swelling presented 3 weeks ago, I rested him for 2 weeks before getting the vet to see if it was a knock that would go down. He's not been lame at all, even through flexion tests. I will be having surgery soon as, before the insurance can say it's been too long and it's pre - existing. Thank you again for another positive experience, unlevel but not lame or especially compromised sounds good to me!
 

Illusion100

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ASAP might be best if there are already joint concerns due to previous neglect. A couple of months should be of little consequence regarding the OCD though.

Again 'unlevel' is the only word I can think of to describe my youngster. It would take a keen eye to spot it but he responds well to being rebalanced and is 'made' to move correctly. There are no physical concerns about his ridden career, he has been preliminary backed and moving no differently than any other youngster who had a significant mishap as a baby.
 

PonyIAmNotFood

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A friend has had experience of it in her young shire, the vets went into both hocks even though it was only presenting in one, just to be sure. Is that normal procedure does anyone know? I'm thinking purely insurance now, they won't cover the condition again!

Eta, they gave the reasoning that they might find something with the arthroscopy (right term?) that they couldn't see on xray. I'm jumping the gun here, he's not even had a consultation with leahurst yet but I want to be prepared on what to ask and expect.
 

Illusion100

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A friend has had experience of it in her young shire, the vets went into both hocks even though it was only presenting in one, just to be sure. Is that normal procedure does anyone know? I'm thinking purely insurance now, they won't cover the condition again!

Eta, they gave the reasoning that they might find something with the arthroscopy (right term?) that they couldn't see on xray. I'm jumping the gun here, he's not even had a consultation with leahurst yet but I want to be prepared on what to ask and expect.

Yes, it's only when they get 'into' the joint (surgery) that they can fully assess.

They should really x-ray both hocks for comparison.
 

Hurricanelady

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One of mine had the surgery as a 2 year old, he has recovered very well and is fully sound. I did however go to the hospital every night (he was unusually in for 2.5 weeks afterwards because he was so upset with being constantly injected to sedate for redressing the surgery sites he couldn't be managed at home) to put his ArcEquine on, then he had it on every night for the rest of a 6 week period before reducing to less frequent maintenance application. It really helped the recovery and post op swelling reduced a lot quicker than the vets normally expected. He has it on now for maintenance once a week and he's doing very well. I would be happy to provide further info by PM.

I also use Linseed as a feed and a joint supplement, but Micronized Linseed from Charnwood Milling. The Linseed Expeller pellets are a much inferior product. The other things we use very successfully on our herd of 4 ranging from babies to arthritic 21 year olds are MSM, rosehips, boswellia, meadowsweet, turmuric with the freshly ground black pepper.

Good luck :)
 

Nudibranch

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Mine is having his xrays on Tuesday. Vet says its more often than not bilateral so I would expect them to look at both while under. Its a growth/development issue remember, rather than an injury, so you would expect to see it on both sides.
 

PonyIAmNotFood

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Thanks everyone, feeling a bit more positive and prepared now. It's a shame on the poor boy, he's been through so much in his short life that he's ended up vet and needle shy, so this is going to be another super stressful period for him :(
 

CBAnglo

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I think it depends on which part of the hock is affected. My horse has OCD in the upper hock due to accelerated growth when he was 3 yrs old. He was fine when just backed but after he was in work at about 6 yrs old he started feeling slightly off on one leg and I could no longer sit to his trot. He also became difficult under saddle. Lots of investigations at Rossdales reveed nothing (the senior vet there said it was a training issue!). Still off 6 months later then diagnosed properly by Sue Dyson. He had IRAP, steroids etc and nothing worked. He was bought for dressage but ended up retired at 7 as a light hack. He is now 14 and whilst he has his good data I would say he is noticeably unlevel and stiff behind and worse in winter.
 

PonyIAmNotFood

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I think it depends on which part of the hock is affected. My horse has OCD in the upper hock due to accelerated growth when he was 3 yrs old. He was fine when just backed but after he was in work at about 6 yrs old he started feeling slightly off on one leg and I could no longer sit to his trot. He also became difficult under saddle. Lots of investigations at Rossdales reveed nothing (the senior vet there said it was a training issue!). Still off 6 months later then diagnosed properly by Sue Dyson. He had IRAP, steroids etc and nothing worked. He was bought for dressage but ended up retired at 7 as a light hack. He is now 14 and whilst he has his good data I would say he is noticeably unlevel and stiff behind and worse in winter.

Thank you for the other side of things, poor you and your boy :( I can't afford to keep two so if the end result was something like this, he would be pts. Your boy is very lucky to have you, who knew something was wrong and kept pushing even when vets were telling you he was naughty!
 

Boxers

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Thank you for the other side of things, poor you and your boy :( I can't afford to keep two so if the end result was something like this, he would be pts. Your boy is very lucky to have you, who knew something was wrong and kept pushing even when vets were telling you he was naughty!

I really hope things work out for your horse.

Unfortunately my young boy had to be PTS. He had OCD in both stifles. We bought him when he was just 3 and he was backed and turned away for 6 mths, then very lightly ridden for a summer, turned away again. When he was just before his 5th birthday he was brought back to being lightly ridden but was extremely uncomfortable in his back end and tried to sit when mounted. Vet diagnosed OCD in both stifles, quite severe, we were quoted £6000 for an operation (i think that was for both not each). Unfortunately we only had £2000 vet cover on the insurance. After a lot of research we concluded that he might only come back to 60% work, and so we decided not to operate and he was PTS. Also, he was very uncomfortable just turned out in the field so we knew we could not just retire him.

It was a very sad time, we had such hopes for him.
 
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