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  Discussion on OCD and performance Horse
Author Message
New Member:
mbfarm

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 - 12:10 pm:

Hi, my 6yr old holsteiner gelding was just diagnosed with OCD in his stifle. He has never been lame until a couple of weeks ago, it probably started due to higher jumping and showing. This is a very talented horse that could have a bright future. Is surgery still possible for a horse his age? What are the success rate with surgery to return to normal performance? What about stem cell therapy? What are other treatment possible? Can horses still perform at high levels with OCD if managed properly?
Member:
caymie

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 - 1:15 pm:

Hi MB,
My horse (a Holsteiner gelding as well), had surgery in both his hocks and stifles for OCD at age almost five. We were lucky that we caught it in time before there was too much damage to the joint. He has not had any further problems related to the OCD. Good luck!
Mary
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2007 - 8:59 am:

Welcome MB, and sorry to meet you over such a serious problem. The answers to your questions depend on the nature of the lesion itself and whether there is any signs of arthritis in the joint yet. Do you have more information about the location in the stifle and the size and shape of the lesion? What does the veterinarian who made the diagnosis say about the prognosis?
DrO
New Member:
mbfarm

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2007 - 10:19 am:

Dr. O, thanks for responding to my post. The x-rays were sent to a lameness specialist at NJ equine to look at them to see if surgery was necessary, and they came to the conclusion that there is no need to do surgery. So I am kind of confused on what’s going on? The horse has OCD but has never been lame before and has been showing consistently since he was 5 so could it be something else that’s causing the lameness? Since we only did x-rays but didn’t block anything yet I am thinking about taking the horse to New Bolton and get a full lameness exam done on him? What do you think? My concern is that the horse will be on rest no showing or jumping the rest of the season, but then come next year when he starts jumping again will he be lame again then?? I don’t think injecting already at 6 years old would be the good solution because then what do you do when then horse is 13? I will be seeing my vet tomorrow so will ask him exactly the location, size and shape of the lesion.
Member:
caymie

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 18, 2007 - 10:58 am:

Hi MB,
I am somewhat confused as to how someone could just look at a radiograph and determine that surgery is not needed, especially without any blocking. My horse's OCD did not start to present a problem until he was almost five, and even then, it did not present itself as an overt lameness, but more of a behavioral/not going well under saddle issue. I think that if we had waited much longer, he would have been lame. And he did respond to flexions. I distinctly remember the surgeon telling me that either we do the surgery, or I could forget about doing anything with him. I would definitely recommend a thorough lameness exam including the blocking. Good luck.
Mary
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jul 19, 2007 - 8:14 am:

Well these are all good questions without answers at this time but it is possible the location or characteristics of a lesion are such that they present a low probability of trouble. See the article for more on this.
DrO
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