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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
  
Location: Texas | First off his hocks are sore. Just had them injected in June, horse ran phenominal all of July(consistent 1D) by august was off again. The vet will be out tomorrow.
We have never xrayed his hocks so that will be in order. Basically just need to figure out WHAT is causing the soreness. He is only 8. Someone also brought up his back looks sore.
Really I'm just looking for ideas to discuss with the vet. Something is wrong and it's more than just injections. He is not lame at all until you watch him run. I have little to no experiance with horses that have problems, other than having cuts, abcesses, etc. only very,very minor lameness problems so just wanting some options or encouragement thrown out there. Thank you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BaXOVF3jwE&list=UUchtC15QY_aVNim2YA-0Jyw |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| To me it looks like hocks as he doesn't keep his lead around second barrel in the hind end.
Also injections are not a one time fixes all deal, if the horse is running a lot 3 months is pretty good for injections to last.
Honestly if my horses are sore I start with flexion tests, blocks, and X-rays/ultrasound depending on the vets interpretation of the block.
The horse is in the prime age for hocks to be arthritic, I don't inject, I have the hocks fused surgically so I never have to worry about them again. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
 
Location: Sunny So Cal | Have you thought about having his stifles looked at? Maybe the lower back could be irritating him? |
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Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | The injections lasted 1 month, exactly 4 runs.
I didn't know 8 was a prime age for him to be having such problems, but will talk to the vet about fusing the hocks. Can you explain the process for that, I have seen you post about it before so I figure you could give me details at what I should look at cost wise, time off, is it guaranteed to work? etc.
Also had his stifles injected for the first time in june aswell. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Brent Hauge would be the best, someone said it cost them around 2500, my vet developed the procedure he charges 5000 and has just retired in Alberta.
The recovery time for my last was 2 weeks turnout, them I could start legging him up and I believe it was a month before he could go back to the pattern.
My first horse done 12 yrs ago, protocol was 4 days off went back into competition, the horse was night and day different he honestly went from the bottom of 1d to the top.
The success rate, my vet says very dependent on what has been injected into the joint prior. My vet actually was refusing to fuse horses who had depo injected in the hocks, as the metabolite is left in the joint that interferes with the healing process.
My success rate I had 3 done, all 3 healed well, no complications, no hock problems.
You need to ask the vet doing the surgery, find out what your horse had injected in previously.
Ask the success rate, infection rate, and recovery time.
Also I have injected front joints my vet always injected with HA, trimisclinone, and an antibiotic. If it was the horses first injection into that joint, my vet always reinjected in a month. HA is a potent antiinflammatory agent sometimes the horse needs more then one injection to reduce the inflammation.
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 Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | Everyone always blames hocks for soreness, and then injection after injection horse Is still having problems. My advice would be to find a lameness expert vet in your area and him accessed from head to toe before anyone goes injecting things, which only masks the pain for a while anyway. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Look into a vet with a Lameness Locator. I really don't think I want to take my horse to another vet without one! |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | RnRJack - 2014-09-29 5:15 PM
Everyone always blames hocks for soreness, and then injection after injection horse Is still having problems. My advice would be to find a lameness expert vet in your area and him accessed from head to toe before anyone goes injecting things, which only masks the pain for a while anyway.
I couldn't agree more. Everyone thought that it was time for me to start injecting hocks on my gelding, but x rays never really suggested it. We did an exam with a lameness locator and found the lameness to be in one leg. Vet offered to dig deeper or I could inject and see how that worked out. I opted to dig deeper and wound up finding a suspensory injury that would have been overlooked and worsened had we just injected hocks and keep on running. The hocks blocked and x rayed great.
I read somewhere that suspensory injuries are very common in sport horses, but often overlooked. |
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 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | Mine was doing the same thing and it ended up the tree in my saddle was snapped. I didn't figure it out until she was severely back sore, though. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | If it is his back, a good chiropractor can make a big difference if he has not been adjusted lately. |
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Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | RocketPilot - 2014-09-29 8:11 PM
If it is his back, a good chiropractor can make a big difference if he has not been adjusted lately.
I agree 100%, if you find and use a good chiropractor regularly you may see that your horses stay sound and have less problems much longer. I also believe in using a good high powered laser for joints, hocks, inflammation, etc followed by massage.
I've had to do less vet visits and injections since I started getting chiropractor work done. |
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Let's play guess the lameness!!