Molly's mum
Member
Hello everyone
Im Mollys Mum and I hoping you will be able to help me help her to a more comfortable life. Ive only had horses for 2 years, we sort of rescued the two we have though to do so cost over £3K I know many of you will think this was madness but we loved these two girls, they weren't quite neglected - but almost, so we worked hard to persuade the dealer to sell them to us. I should also say I have little knowledge of terminology of horses so if you think I've used an odd term then please thing of a dog and youll understand what Im referring to.
Molly was dx last Oct with a tendon sheath tear in her rear right ankle. Shes 14 and we knew shed been trained as a ride and drive what we didn't know was that shed had also been jumped and then retired after this injury. That would have been when she was aged about 4. After that shed been sold to the dealer and he had used her as a brood mare until we got her though she hadn't had a foal for the last 4 years prior to us buying her. After the dx we worked with our vet on the best course of treatment and Molly was put on box rest which for us here meant into a small grassed area with a barn and her companion of the field a 30yr old gelding. They were in this area over the winter for about three months.
We live next to a farm and my horses are in the field on the other side of our green lane owned by the farmer who decided he wanted them to go back into the main field and moved her whilst I was at work  She went from a confined space to a field of about 5 acres. The next day the local hunt came and used the lane as a base to drop horses and dogs and to hunt along. They are supposed to give us notice (we live on a country estate) but they didnt and that day dogs were running amongst heavily pregnant cows, and our horses were distressed and charging along the field hedge from one end of the field to the other.  You can imagine how I felt after months of trying to get Molly right and keeping her quiet! Things weren't going well with her injury and we had the op booked for the end of April but after the hunt visit things started to go very wrong. I noticed she was limping much more than she had been. We had a visit from a Bowen practitioner who told me she thought there was a bigger problem with Mollys left hind leg. The vet came back and examined Molly and then Molly went to the hospital for X-rays. The outcome was a dx of severe arthritis in the lowest joint of the left hock and evidence of the start of arthritis in her right hock.  I was told not to worry too much as there was a good combination treatment that would get things under control so Molly was booked in for that treatment a couple of weeks later.
She was given a steroid injection into the hock joint, Tildren and was started on Cartrophen a jab once a week for 4 weeks and thereafter monthly. She had the 5th cartrophen last Tuesday. Im sad to say I dont think there is any improvement at all, in fact if anything I think shes worse certainly without Bute in her. Prior to the start of treatment the lameness was only obvious to an experienced horse person. Now without Bute its a clearly obvious limp and when first getting up she limps badly for a good ¼ - ½ hour. Once shes got going properly I can now see the limp but most people wouldnt. Molly sometimes struggles to get up if shes down on her left side and has to roll over to get up on the other side. I tried not to give the Bute last night and gave NoBute instead sadly this morning she was limping (I can watch them from my bathroom window) but by the time I got to her with some Bute she had lay down. She had the bute. I wasn't here when she got up but have seen her walking since and she seems ok.
I will give her another sachet of Bute this evening when I give her glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM. We started using it a week ago so she still has another week of a loading dose of that. I will list her treatment again below to make it simple to read.
These horses are at grass all year round, they are not rugged or stabled during the winter because Molly has cob in her and has always been out and so has Ruby who is full cob. So I would really like to get this under control for Molly as soon as possible to give us a head start on the autumn weather. I am also going to get some hock boots to protect the joints as much as possible. But would welcome any advice e or thoughts from you experienced people.
I am 63 years old next month and had hoped that I might learn to ride on Molly but thats not going to happen now so she will simply be a pet (not my favourite term but youll understand what I mean) and Ruby who was born in the field and is now 5 will be trained for riding though I suspect a little too ambitious for me to consider. I also have dogs and am heavily involved in a support group for autoimmune affected dogs I have had three dogs with AI conditions over the years so have a lot of experience in managing AI dogs using off piste ideas that often defy convention as well as understanding that there is a place for alternative medicine alongside traditional treatments.
Thanks for reading if you've got this far and thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their ideas and thoughts to help Molly.
One off treatment of
Steroid injection into the joint
Tildren drip
Ongoing treatments
Cartorphen
Glucosamine/Chondrotin/MSM
Daily Bute sachet
Im Mollys Mum and I hoping you will be able to help me help her to a more comfortable life. Ive only had horses for 2 years, we sort of rescued the two we have though to do so cost over £3K I know many of you will think this was madness but we loved these two girls, they weren't quite neglected - but almost, so we worked hard to persuade the dealer to sell them to us. I should also say I have little knowledge of terminology of horses so if you think I've used an odd term then please thing of a dog and youll understand what Im referring to.
Molly was dx last Oct with a tendon sheath tear in her rear right ankle. Shes 14 and we knew shed been trained as a ride and drive what we didn't know was that shed had also been jumped and then retired after this injury. That would have been when she was aged about 4. After that shed been sold to the dealer and he had used her as a brood mare until we got her though she hadn't had a foal for the last 4 years prior to us buying her. After the dx we worked with our vet on the best course of treatment and Molly was put on box rest which for us here meant into a small grassed area with a barn and her companion of the field a 30yr old gelding. They were in this area over the winter for about three months.
We live next to a farm and my horses are in the field on the other side of our green lane owned by the farmer who decided he wanted them to go back into the main field and moved her whilst I was at work  She went from a confined space to a field of about 5 acres. The next day the local hunt came and used the lane as a base to drop horses and dogs and to hunt along. They are supposed to give us notice (we live on a country estate) but they didnt and that day dogs were running amongst heavily pregnant cows, and our horses were distressed and charging along the field hedge from one end of the field to the other.  You can imagine how I felt after months of trying to get Molly right and keeping her quiet! Things weren't going well with her injury and we had the op booked for the end of April but after the hunt visit things started to go very wrong. I noticed she was limping much more than she had been. We had a visit from a Bowen practitioner who told me she thought there was a bigger problem with Mollys left hind leg. The vet came back and examined Molly and then Molly went to the hospital for X-rays. The outcome was a dx of severe arthritis in the lowest joint of the left hock and evidence of the start of arthritis in her right hock.  I was told not to worry too much as there was a good combination treatment that would get things under control so Molly was booked in for that treatment a couple of weeks later.
She was given a steroid injection into the hock joint, Tildren and was started on Cartrophen a jab once a week for 4 weeks and thereafter monthly. She had the 5th cartrophen last Tuesday. Im sad to say I dont think there is any improvement at all, in fact if anything I think shes worse certainly without Bute in her. Prior to the start of treatment the lameness was only obvious to an experienced horse person. Now without Bute its a clearly obvious limp and when first getting up she limps badly for a good ¼ - ½ hour. Once shes got going properly I can now see the limp but most people wouldnt. Molly sometimes struggles to get up if shes down on her left side and has to roll over to get up on the other side. I tried not to give the Bute last night and gave NoBute instead sadly this morning she was limping (I can watch them from my bathroom window) but by the time I got to her with some Bute she had lay down. She had the bute. I wasn't here when she got up but have seen her walking since and she seems ok.
I will give her another sachet of Bute this evening when I give her glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM. We started using it a week ago so she still has another week of a loading dose of that. I will list her treatment again below to make it simple to read.
These horses are at grass all year round, they are not rugged or stabled during the winter because Molly has cob in her and has always been out and so has Ruby who is full cob. So I would really like to get this under control for Molly as soon as possible to give us a head start on the autumn weather. I am also going to get some hock boots to protect the joints as much as possible. But would welcome any advice e or thoughts from you experienced people.
I am 63 years old next month and had hoped that I might learn to ride on Molly but thats not going to happen now so she will simply be a pet (not my favourite term but youll understand what I mean) and Ruby who was born in the field and is now 5 will be trained for riding though I suspect a little too ambitious for me to consider. I also have dogs and am heavily involved in a support group for autoimmune affected dogs I have had three dogs with AI conditions over the years so have a lot of experience in managing AI dogs using off piste ideas that often defy convention as well as understanding that there is a place for alternative medicine alongside traditional treatments.
Thanks for reading if you've got this far and thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their ideas and thoughts to help Molly.
One off treatment of
Steroid injection into the joint
Tildren drip
Ongoing treatments
Cartorphen
Glucosamine/Chondrotin/MSM
Daily Bute sachet
but first I'd like to give you a hug as I can tell from what you write she means a lot to you and you love her very much. I can tell you only want the best.
