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  Discussion on Bone spavins in young horses
Author Message
Member:
Clarky

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004 - 6:23 am:

My 7 year old Welsh Cob, Comet, was diagnosed with aggressive arthritis in both hocks earlier this year. The vet said this was due to wear and tear rather than conformation; Comet had been broken to harness when he was barely three and was drawing wedding carriages that were way too heavy for him at an early age. I was mortified to get this news, wondering what kind of old age my best friend would have to look forward to. I am doing the best I can with him; light schooling and hacks, supplements and occasional anti-inflammatory, steroid medication. I would be very interested to hear from anyone else who has or had a young horse with this problem. How did your horse fare? What worked well and what didn't? Many thanks!
Member:
Swancott

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004 - 3:08 pm:

Hi, Tina. I have a 15 year old Appaloosa gelding that I bred and was orphaned at birth. He had a pretty rough start and was diagnosed with hock arthritis at 5 years old. I had him injected with steroids and eventually Legend about every two years, and with good management and exercise he became a talented show horse. He excelled in lower level dressage and jumping and is also push-button trained in western pleasure. He did really well until he was 12. Unfortunately, the steroidal, anti-infammatory we used, DepomeDrOl, caused him to have a laminitis attack at that time, and it took us awhile to figure out why he had suddenly gone lame in front. We actually injected him twice in six months thinking he was sore behind and that it was causing him to be lame in front, which is what usually happens to horses with bone spavin (along with a sore back). He ended up rotating four degrees and I have not been able to show him since. However, he is still lightly ridable and compelely happy and pasture sound (with the help of light pads on his front feet) which is what counts. In his case, he only fused in one hock, leaving the other still sore, so I have him on low doses of bute to keep him comfortable.

I'm not trying to put you off about the injections, because had he not had them, he may have had a multitude of front end problems anyway and much sooner than age 12. That is the bad part about arthritis in the hocks. Left untreated the horse can develop suspensory problems and/or laminitis from concussion because of their tendency to throw all their weight on their front end. So, even though the injections can impose a risk of laminitis in some horses, many are able to become serviceably sound and go off the injections once their hocks fuse and the pain stops. So, in my case, it was worth the risk even though my horse did not fuse enough to be pain free. We still had a lot of fun that would not have been possible without the injections. And, he may have gone lame much earlier as well.

So don't worry about your horses old age. With good veterinary management, lots of turnout and sensible exercise he should have a good life and retirement like my guy is having! Have good holidays, Vanessa Swancott
Member:
Clarky

Posted on Thursday, Dec 23, 2004 - 5:11 am:

Hi Vanessa

Thank you very much for your reply, which was hugely encouraging. I did not know about the risk of laminitis so I am grateful you flagged that with me and I shall ask my vet about it.

Comet has been injected with a drug called Hyonate and the vet thinks he is doing "above average" on it, to the extent he does not think Bute is necessary at this stage. Have you heard of this drug at all? My vet has also suggested that Comet participate in some trials for Tildren which has been used to treat navicular disease but has not been licensed in the UK yet for the treatment of bone spavins. Apparently it can help the bones fuse more quickly.

I would be interested to know how much exercise you gave your Appaloosa, as it's hard to assess how far to push a horse with spavins. At the moment I am schooling Comet about half an hour a day from Monday - Friday and hacking him for about an hour and a half on Saturday and Sunday. I do find if I hack him for longer or if he canters for some distance, he is stiffer than usual for a couple of days afterwards. The schooling work comprises just walk and trot at the moment with some gentle bending and flexing to get him supple. I also do some stretching exercises on the ground as recommended by the physio which involves quite a few carrots. Comet rather enjoys these.

I have no great aspirations to compete Comet, although I would love to try dressage to music. My main aim is that he have a long and happy life and your e-mail has assured me that is entirely possible. So thanks again and happy holidays to you too!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Dec 23, 2004 - 10:51 am:

There have been experimental attempts to create laminitis with corticosteroids including DepomeDrOl. It did not occur even when huge doses are given. Though there has long been a feeling there was a relationship many now feel this is not a complication of steroid use, or at least a very rare one.

Tina the hock is made up of 4 joints and the prognosis is very dependent on which joints are involved: which joints are arthritic in your horse. to help you we have a image and descriptions of the hock joints at References » Equine Illustrations » Leg Anatomy and Conformation » Hock: anatomy and intrarticular injections.
DrO
Member:
Clarky

Posted on Thursday, Dec 23, 2004 - 11:43 am:

Hi Dr O

Thank you for picking this up. I have looked at the equine illustrations and called my vet's partner to clarify (my vet is away at the moment). The tarsometatarsal joint and distal intratarsal joint are affected in both legs and from memory he thinks possibly the proximal intertarsal joint in one the legs is affected too. The last Xrays taken about 4 weeks ago show the arthritis to be very aggressive and pretty well advanced. My vet said X-rays can be a bit deceptive; looking at Comet's in isolation he would have thought he was in quite a bit of discomfort, but having seen him in the flesh he said he seemed happy and comfortable and did not think Bute was necessary at this stage. I don't know why this should be the case, but I am grateful for it nonetheless. I would be interested to hear your views.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Dec 24, 2004 - 9:41 am:

The critical point here is that the TM and DIT joints are minimal motion joints of the hock: in time they can fuse and soundness result. However the PIT jt, while a minimal motion jt communicates with the tibiotarsal joint a high motion joint, the prognosis for this is not as good. For more on this see :
Equine Diseases » Lameness » Joint & Bone Diseases » Arthritis and DJD: An Overview
and
Equine Diseases » Lameness » Joint & Bone Diseases » Arthrodesis and Joint Fusion for Arthritis.
DrO
Member:
Swancott

Posted on Monday, Dec 27, 2004 - 4:01 pm:

Hi, Tina. I basically rode my Appaloosa like a regular horse. I warmed him up at the walk and jog for about ten minutes and/or lunged him in a long oval-shaped pattern to avoid putting too much load on the joints as round circles have a tendency to do. I would watch him to see if he seemed short behind or was dragging his toes. If he started out a bit stiff, the warm-up process would limber him up. We would eventually do 20 meter circles which are required in dressage, but only after he had done all three gaits in straight lines. I never had a problem with soundness as long as I kept up the injections. He would go super lame when he needed another one, including stumbling behind or lifting one of his hind legs off the ground for a step or two. Then I would know it was time. Dr. O is right about the laminitis being rare. This horse has also had a bad alergic reaction to Surpass, the topical NSAID that came out on the market fairly recently. His entire hind end broke out in blisters when we tried to use it on his hocks, so he is not the norm when it comes to drug reactions. When my vet reported it to the Surpass people, they told her they had never heard of a reaction like the one he had. Usually, the side effects are the same as the side effects of bute; however, this horse tolerates regular oral bute very well, so go figure... Vanessa S.
Member:
Clarky

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004 - 6:21 am:

Hi Vanessa and Dr O

Thank you for your responses.

Dr O - I have just spoken to my vet this morning after the Christmas break and he told me that Comet's PIT joints actually looked clear. (I have not had such good news since we thought dad had skin cancer and it turned out to be shingles!) There WAS a suspicion of a spur in the left hock in this joint, but the vet did not think this was anything to worry about at this stage. He confirmed that it was the Distal Intratarsal joint that was most severely affected on both legs. Fusion had advanced by about 25% in both legs since the last x-rays in May.

Thank you also for the pointers on what to read, which I shall follow up on. I shall keep you posted on Comet's progress.

Vanessa - thanks for the feedback. I was interested in particular how you lunged your Appaloosa. Like you, I am reluctant to keep him working in circles so I have been lungeing him in straight lines with the occasional circle thrown in and changing the rein frequently. I also find trotting poles very effective because he really enjoys that exercise and engages his hocks nicely. I am beginning to learn just how much I can do with Comet. If we do a little more than usual on a hack, I find he is significantly stiffer a couple of days later. It's all a fine balancing act isn't it?

Bye for now

Tina
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