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 Regular
Posts: 52
| I have a mare that I started having hock issues with about 3 years ago. She has a hard time picking up the correct lead in the back. Her style of turning around the barrels is always to sit down and drag her butt around the turns and when her hocks would get stored she would start hopping around the turns. She is very prone to getting ulcers and I believe it is just from the pain of her hocks because she is not a high strung or nervous horse at all. For a while hock injections took care of the issue for about 5 months but about a year later the hock injections started working only about 2 months. At this time I went and got x-rays which showed that her hocks were fusing. We continued injections untold about 8 months ago when they started only working for about 2 weeks. In December we did hock injections and we also did Tildren which did absolutely nothing. I have had her on MSM and anti-inflammatories, I have tried legend, I hose her hocks down after every ride, I ice her hocks, I keep poultice on her hocks and no matter what I do I just can’t keep her sound. I have tried to keep blaming her up and running her and I have also tried giving her nine months off at one point and six months off at another point The time off did not help her at all. What would be your next step?? Should I have surgery done to use her hocks?? If so, who is a good vet to take her to for that??
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
  
Location: Texas | Where are you located? Fusing her may be the way to go, however, if you drill her hocks you're looking at probably another 12 months off.. so if you're okay with the wait you may as well get it done. She looks like she's done a lot of it already. Honestly the only thing medically that will really help are hock injections.. with the amount of inflammation in that area most oral supplements will be like using a water gun to fight a house fire.. same with adequan and legend. It seems to me, if injections aren't really doing it for her anymore surgery would be my next option. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | Try equibone. My gelding has been fusing a while and injections weren’t even lasting 6 months. I got him on equibone and he felt like a new horse. |
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Defense Attorney for The Horse
Location: Claremore, OK | Some horses never totally fuse on their own. If the joints are down to bone on bone and don’t have any cartilage the mare will always be pain.
There are mixed reviews on fusing with alcohol or lasers.
You might try Osphos instead of Tildren. |
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Regular
Posts: 52
| casualdust07 - 2018-02-14 3:47 PM
Where are you located? Fusing her may be the way to go, however, if you drill her hocks you're looking at probably another 12 months off.. so if you're okay with the wait you may as well get it done. She looks like she's done a lot of it already. Honestly the only thing medically that will really help are hock injections.. with the amount of inflammation in that area most oral supplements will be like using a water gun to fight a house fire.. same with adequan and legend. It seems to me, if injections aren't really doing it for her anymore surgery would be my next option.
I am located in Lockhart, Tx |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | Another "option" is Previcox or Equioxx. Of course, it's not going to change anything with the fusing, but it can at least make the horse more comfortable. (if you don't want to try a surgery route) Injections don't always relieve the pain 100% and sometimes surgery isn't 100% either.
With that said, I'll be trying Osphos for my guy this year. His right hock is already fused but now the left is starting, so I am hopeful it may help that one fuse too.
Edited by r_beau 2018-02-16 9:44 AM
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 Straight Shooter
Posts: 5725
Location: SW North Dakota | Liana D - 2018-02-14 6:15 PM Some horses never totally fuse on their own. If the joints are down to bone on bone and don’t have any cartilage the mare will always be pain. There are mixed reviews on fusing with alcohol or lasers. You might try Osphos instead of Tildren.
We had a gelding that wouldn't fuse on his own. We fought with trying to inject, medicate, supplement for FIVE years! I had read the mixed reviews on "forced" fusing, and we decided to inject with alcohol when he was 12. His lower hock joint radiographs looked like shark's teeth- they had "fused" in points, with gaps between. He was SO painful. We did the alcohol (cost about $700, most of which was radiographs to ensure the lower joints wouldn't communicate with uppers). The vet was concerned that it may not work, as it might not get into those calcified "pockets." She also warned us that he might be even more painful for a few days/weeks after the injections. While he may be an anomoly, our horse was markedly better in a few days, and we were back to using him on the ranch a few months later. About a year after the injections, we tried him in the arena again (he'd been "retired" from barrels for 4 years at that point). Low and behold, he went back to working better than ever! We are now 4 years out and have our horse back. 100%. I know all stories don't turn out this way, but my only regret is that we didn't do this for him sooner! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 387
| Thank you for this post!
Im dealing with a very similar issue, my 4yr colt has a lot of bony changes in her lower joints, she has arthritis in her lower joints which is causing it to collapse, she also has a small amount of arthritis creeping into the promximal intertarsal joint.
we have injected her and its helped a lot, but we are going to inject her with a dye to make sure it doesn't communicate with the upper joints and then fuse her with alcohol, then if that doesn't work, we will drill her. |
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Veteran
Posts: 242
| I did the laser. It did make it fuse but also it starting fusing the upper hock which ruined my horse. I know people who have had good luck with it, we didn't. I wish I had done IRAP first. |
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Expert
Posts: 1409
Location: Oklahoma | Have you by chance ultra sounded? My horse did what you are talking about and they also told me he was fusing and injections got to where they didn't last but a few weeks and when we ultra sounded when we found suspensory tear. Osphos does make a huge difference with bone! at least for me! Good luck! |
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