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Post by Spirit of Wales on Jan 10, 2012 19:49:30 GMT 1
I have a horse recently diagnosed with bone spavin. I'm getting mixed advice from vets.
So can anyone give me some advice. Would it be better to have his hind shoes removed and let him be barefoot and hope that the hooves grow to adjust to the problem with his spavins and for the bones to fuse naturally and in the mean time treat with supplements, bute on bad days, devils claw and other natural remedies as a routine treatment and keep him in light hacking mainly walking to keep him working. He's only 4yrs 7months old so as a baby he gets bored so box/field rest is not an option.
Or, do I do has vet has suggested and use remedial shoeing of bars with wedges to lift his hooves and bring his hocks more in line, bute daily and steroid injections (of which i have had one course which has only provided 40% improvement) and walking out. Treatment as already cost £800 so I can't afford to keep paying out for treatment that doesn't work (I hadn't got round to insuring him when the problems started so too late now). I get the impression vet is only interested in making money... and not looking at alternative options.
If anyone knows of anyone who has a healthy hacking horse thats good in traffic either free or cheap, let me know as I can't not ride for too long as I have arthritis and riding is good mobility therapy for me, and my boy is going to need time to heal to a standard where he can be lightly ridden, but I do like to go on long hacks which I can't now do with my youngster. Have a wonderful home to offer to the right horse.
Any advice/help appreciated.
Thanks
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Post by jen1 on Jan 10, 2012 20:14:31 GMT 1
my personal choice is not to shoe, and id seek advice with Sarah braithwaite,
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Post by jill on Jan 10, 2012 20:20:09 GMT 1
My friend has a cob who was diagnosed last year - he is now hacking happily and has regained his spark thanks to daily turmeric. I personally wouldn't go down the route of remedial shoeing, let his feet work as they were intended to.
But I guess it all depends on how lame he is?
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Post by Spirit of Wales on Jan 10, 2012 20:24:31 GMT 1
Thanks Jill & Jen1, thats what my instinct is telling me to do. I will give barefoot a go. Turmeric, can you buy this in a large tub for horses then? Never even considered this but certainly worth a try.
Who is Sarah braithwaite, and how can I get in contact with her?
Thanks Again for your help/advice.
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Post by jill on Jan 10, 2012 21:04:39 GMT 1
Turmeric is the spice used in making curries. You can buy it in supermarkets in miniscule quantities at huge prices, or get it off t'internet (Amazon I think has some good deals) or from your friendly Asian supermarket/wholesaler (ask your local Indian takeway). Has anti inflammatory properties and is farly cheap if you buy it in the right place. My friend uses 4 x 15 ml scoops a day, 14.2 Welsh D, just hope they aren't picky. Sabria quite likes the taste, I did give her some but I think not really enough, am waiting for a delivery to start her on it again.
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Post by Catrin on Jan 10, 2012 21:18:01 GMT 1
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Azrael
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 2,733
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Post by Azrael on Jan 10, 2012 22:30:27 GMT 1
I would go for the first option, or possibly first option but with shoes but no wedges unless there's an issue with the foot balance that's making things worse, although barefoot would be my first choice.
Mia has a spavin and is barefoot. She drags her back toes and unbalances the foot on the leg with the spavin but has decent growth rate and hard feet so she can get away with it. It can work but it depends on the individual horse. My vet is ok with her being barefoot.
I went for the regular light work and wait for it to fuse option, originally meant to be with daily bute but that was abandoned when bute annoyed madam's stomach and caused some spectacular broncing. She has devil's claw daily and danilon occasionally such as when they've been in a lot in winter. Injecting into the joint wasn't an option with her delightful attitude to vets with needles but my vet thought the old fashioned version of regular work to fuse it was the best option anyway.
You might be able to do more work than you expect once you get used to how much devil's claw or bute is needed. Regular work helps it fuse as well, I'm meant to try to ride at least 4 times a week but that doesn't always happen in winter. Mia enjoys work and does some quite long hacks, up to about 2 hours occasionally, and does trot and canter, not just light walk work. She can't jump and we're not meant to do small circles and have to warm up carefully but otherwise she does most things and enjoys it.
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Post by donnalex on Jan 11, 2012 9:42:59 GMT 1
You might be surprised if the trim is barefoot and therefore no long toe that wedges are not needed?
You are basically waiting for the bones in the hock to fuse together so that the movement in the hock will be pain free but restricted a little. I would have thought but am not sure that to get the bones to fuse together the bending of the hock needs to be kept to a minimum for a while which is where the wedges come in, raising the heel would achieve this until the fusing has taken place. It is the movement of the little bones over each other that is causing the pain. The horse is probably trying to lift his legs higher from the hip in order to lessen the amount of bend in the hock needed to walk so may need a physio to check his back end is soft and supple as improving the lift and function of his back end will keep him pain free higher up and so speed up the recovery of his hocks. Work needs to be steady and slow on straight lines so walking out with others would be good, schooling would expect to much and keep breaking and snapping the little bony growths that are needed to stick the joint together.
I may be totally wrong in my thoughts but this is how I understand it.
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Post by marsayy on Jan 11, 2012 10:36:48 GMT 1
I have had two horses with spavins and both were bare foot trimmed. One fused quickly and is now jumping in his new home and the other was fine to ride with lighter weight adults but never fused but didn't really bother him. I couldn't afford remedial shoes so went for field rest and barefoot with time I had no issues and no extra cost but time is the real answer, short gentle rides until it fuses. Its not the end of the world that vets seemed to tell you in fact the cob that is jumping the vet told me to PTS!! If you could see him now it really questioned why the vet came to that conclusion.
Best of luck I'm sure all will be well.
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Post by Spirit of Wales on Jan 11, 2012 18:57:05 GMT 1
Thanks to everyone for your advice/help, the replies have made me feel alot better and a bit more confident that the life of my young lad is not over. I will indeed try the turmeric, just order a large quantity from amazon and will see farrier too see if if he thinks the barefoot option is the best option or whether to try the wedges until his bones hopefully fuse then go barefoot.
Great too hear from others with horses with spavin and hear how well they are progressing with time. Will also look into the homeopathic links, although it is impossible for me to get to oxfordshire.
Thanks Again
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Post by Catrin on Jan 12, 2012 0:13:01 GMT 1
…Will also look into the homeopathic links, although it is impossible for me to get to oxfordshire. … Chris Day came to us. |
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Post by K8 on Jan 12, 2012 9:22:36 GMT 1
will see farrier too see if if he thinks the barefoot option is the best option or whether to try the wedges until his bones hopefully fuse then go barefoot. It might be worth getting a opinion from a barefoot trimmer, someone who is used to taking shoes off and rehabbing them from there. I might be wrong but I'd guess that your farrier will want to go shoes and wedges option because thats what he knows and understands. Sorry if I'm assuming wrongly!  |
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Post by donnalex on Jan 12, 2012 9:35:56 GMT 1
One of the problems with barefoot trimmers is the fact that they are like born again Christians! They are so passionate about barefoot that they cant think straight and think all shoes in all cases are just evil and put on the horse to make it suffer and that all farriers should be shot at dawn. Or put another way, if you ask a barefoot trimmer you are unlikely to get an unbiased anser  |
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Post by K8 on Jan 12, 2012 9:46:39 GMT 1
Thats not entirely true. I was suggesting it, to get another opinion. I know a lot of farriers who think that barefoot trimmers are spawn of the devil!  |
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Post by Spirit of Wales on Jan 12, 2012 13:40:09 GMT 1
Thanks for the advice. However, I am really lucky with my farrier, if he thinks a horse will do well barefoot he will say so and encourage it. So I know he will give me a straight/honest answer. Out of 5 horses, 4 are barefoot. Jared is only shod, simply because he always has been so when I took him on and new he was going to do lots of road work, I decided to stay with them. However, if his feet can cope with being barefoot on his hinds, then I will go this route. When I first took him on he was in poor condition and his feet in a bad crumbly mess, so farrier recommended shoes so as not to wear his feet down too much until I had improved there condition which I now have. He has lovely feet so hopefully if the back go well barefoot I may choose to go barefoot on the front also, but my main priority is sorting out his bone spavin.
On a happier note I had my first ride in the sand school today in 7 weeks (he's been on box rest) and although he probably will never be sound in his gait, he enjoyed it, was relaxed and seemed free of any discomfort so will take him a short hack out tomorrow. I really enjoyed getting back on my boy, its been so long, so smiling again today ;D My friend rode him out yesterday and again could tell he wasn't right or smooth to ride, but said he was comfortable, happy and content and thoroughly enjoyed being out and didn't spook at anything or run backwards in protest like the first time she took him out, which we have put down to a build up of energy from the box rest and a loss of confidence as he's only a baby still.
Glad too hear that Chris Day does home visits, so will certainly look into this.
Thanks again everyone for your advice and support.
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