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  Discussion on So many problems!!!
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New Member:
dinahm

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 12:19 am:

I am new to this site and am seeking some feedback. I bought my horse 18 months ago after a pretty good pre purchase (i thought!) since then she has had two bouts of hives, ulcers, a bowed tendon (we are on month 7 of rehab) and now after seeing yet another vet I am told she has arthritis in 4 of her neck joints and possible problems with her hocks and she is not flexing sound
I have spent a fortune so far and have ridden barely 4 months of the last 18. I have been lucky enough to have a lease horse to ride in the meantime but I am running out of patience and I feel like the problems never end. Any suggestions?
Member:
dres

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 10:33 am:

oh ouch ... your pre-purchase ? X-rays included ? if so what joints ?

Anyway ... ulcers could have been caused by the move , hives maybe the new bedding new feed ??
How did she bow the tendon , hind or front ??
Does she pull back when tied ???

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
New Member:
dinahm

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 11:46 am:

Hi Ann thanks for posting
front left bow, we don't know how it happened but she was having a pretty frisky free lunge in the week before and that might have done it. No she doesn't pull back. I haven't gotten the full report on which joints yet, my trainer took her for the x rays...Im just overwhelmed with costs and not sure whether to pay the money for injecting or to maintain for awhile on anti-inflammatory...can't remember the name of the one the vet suggested but not bute
Member:
dres

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 1:25 pm:

well for a Bow Tendon , you have controlled exercise till the next ultrasound ... so stalled or in a paddock that she can not get frisky in , then hand walk .. of course depending on the degree of the bow ... am guessing the time to heal the tendon will help in your decisions about the rest .. BTW can't hurt to just put her on ulcergard now for a month while stall rest ... kill two problems at the same time .. .slow and steady wins with horse problems... and my motto .. If it is to heal , time will heal ...
You can look up my tendon problems if you want a long drawn out happy ending story ..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
dres

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 1:27 pm:

https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/4/99611.html

https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/4/256847.html
Member:
mrose

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 3:35 pm:

How old is your mare? And, what are you hoping to use her for? I always insist that whenever my horses are worked on the lunge line their legs are wrapped just for this reason. It doesn't help you now, but it will in the future. And, if anyone else is reading this, it might help them. Ann has a tremendously helpful thread. She really went through the mill with her young mare, and is now riding her dressage and back to her normal routine. I've had similar injuries on a horse and it takes much more time and patience to heal than it does money.

There have been studies which show that almost all horses in training, as well as horses that are moved to new situations and new schedules, let alone new feed, .. almost all of them have ulcers. The ulcers imo aren't a major concern as they are easy to heal. It seems to me there were some good articles on this site on ulcers, and there are on thehorse.com as well as other sites. Smartpak, btw, has a very good product to help prevent ulcers. Also, if your horse is on their probiotics, she can be enrolled in their colic surgery program which pays you $7000 for colic surgery if she ever needs it - there is no enrollment fee; it just shows how sure they are of their product.

I would read all the pertinent articles here on HA regarding arthritis and her other problems, as well as do more research on line. Unless her problems present as severe cases, I wouldn't be too upset about the diagnoses. Most things can be managed with proper feed, exercise and care. In the meantime, while she is confined to her stall, I would take the opportunity to spend time bonding with her. In my experience, when you care for an injured horse it really helps you later on when you are riding.
New Member:
dinahm

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 10:40 pm:

thank you for the feedback and the encouragement.
The vet is recommending injecting four spots in her neck for the arthritis but says no guarantees it would help and would only last 3 or 4 months. financially this is quite a burden. He also said we could try anti-inflammatory and acupuncture...so I think Im going to start there and hope that it alleviates her pain. My last horse had a lot of problems and them colicked and died so Im really scared of losing another one
New Member:
dinahm

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 11:01 pm:

wow I just read the entire 2 year thread about Ann's filly. amazing and inspiring! Georgy my mare is in her 7th month of rehab for bowed tendon and that is healing well. we are up to fifteen minutes of trotting and will be cantering (with any luck) in a month. After reading what Ann has gone through I feel like maybe I can hang in awhile longer.
Member:
dres

Posted on Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - 11:29 pm:

rehab is not for the weak ... Danni was completely stall bound at 7 months .. so you are well on your way .. but again , her's was a severed DDFT not just a bow .. :-( ...
Like Sara said above .. Danni and i are bonded at the hip ... the rehab brought she and i closer then any horse i have ever had ...
She is completely sound .. now and again when she is tired , you "might" be able to see a irregular step from the hind .. but to the average eye , no one can tell ..

i wish you all the luck with your horse .. she has a good owner ...

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them spots ..
Member:
mrose

Posted on Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - 12:55 pm:

I try to start with the least invasive, less complicated procedures then work my way up. Unless, of course, there is proven reason not to do so. Sometimes a hard call. You haven't said, or I have missed, how old the mare is. I dislike injections into a joint capsule unless really necessary; every time you do, you are inviting risk of infection, even if it is a minor risk. Do you have her on joint supplements? There is good information on the site regarding glucosimine, msm etc. After doing some reading, I found that the majority of supplements on the market didn't have the proportions right, so for my older horses I had to mix and match to get percentages correct for their weight. Also, another thought, sometimes chiropractor or magnetic treatments help. Just more stuff to research and think about. I would think too that you doing physical therapy in the the form of gently stretches and bends would help. With humans, if you have arthritis, which I do, movement of the joints is very important and helpful.

btw, about the same time as Ann's troubles with Dani, one of my horses, Libby, and I were fighting our own epic battle. Libby severed both her deep and superficial flexor tendons. Enter Libby in the search bar to read her story.
New Member:
dinahm

Posted on Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - 2:04 pm:

Hi Sara, I will check out your thread
in answer to your question Georgy is 14
I am going to start on the previcox (sp?) and have her hocks injected. then maybe try the acupuncture for her neck. Have already done the chiropractor numerous times. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will make her more comfortable while we continue rehab
Member:
paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2014 - 2:15 am:

Jeesh...that's a lot of problems. I just want to say that my mare bowed a tendon at 20 yrs. old. She already developed navicular at about 7 yrs. in 1987. She was on bute daily since then. She rehabbbed for nearly a year after the bow and then was rideable. During the bow, she eventually developed a bow in her other front leg.
She recovered from both. A few years later, we pulled a shoe for an x-ray ( to follow her navicular)- the vet had an accident at the same time and could not come out...our mare went without a shoe ( and heavy duty degree pad ) for a week- on one foot...and developed another bow. We switched her to Previcox at this time ( because it was supposed to be easier on the stomach that the bute ). She recovered from this bow and did well. Again, rideable. We had her front feet injected for a number of years...which seemed to help quite a bit ( for the navicular ). This mare also had Cushings which was treated. We lost her last summer during 100+ degree heat due to kidney failure.

I also have a QH mare ( appendix )that had a severe bout with ulcers shortly after arriving here in 2005. After the ulcer bout ( including a week at the clinic ), whenever we have to use NSAIDS, we use preventative ulcerguard. We've had no more episodes with ulcers. But we are religious about using the ulcerguard when she needs treated or is facing an ugly stressful situation or treatment with stomach threatening medications.
Member:
dinahm

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2014 - 11:04 am:

thanks Lee
Well I had her hocks injected and started her on previcox about two weeks ago
she is up to 20 minutes of trotting and going pretty well, her neck is less stiff, though still not what I would call supple. Things are slowly improving though and I can almost see a light at the end of the rehab tunnel
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Mar 23, 2014 - 9:45 am:

Hello dianahm,
How was the diagnosis of arthritis of 4 joints in the neck made?
DrO
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