 |
[RC] [RC] Injecting hocks for mystery front end lameness!!!!! What?HELP!!!!!! - - DreamWeaverMaybe I am stupid, but why would someone inject the hocks if they are not arthritic or a source of lameness?? I think that the horse needs more time off, and acupuncture/chiropractic/massage before being put back to work. I have a horse that pretty much had the same symptoms your friends horse had. Off on the left front, mystery lameness. The horses back was sore, suddenly, and this was after something like 5000 miles of competition so it was certainly not normal for him. Hind end, well he passed flexion tests at that time, and anybody with a brain could see that he was off on the left front, not the rear end. Luckily I went to a really great vet that knows what he is doing, and he correctly diagnosed the problem the first time! The problem was in the hocks. Right hind hock, to be exact. We took x-rays. The left front lameness came from the horse compensating, that is also why his back was sore. So he was injected. It took a few months before Weaver did test positive on a flexion test. Every six months to a year he would have his hocks injected again, advice I was given by others that had gone thru this is to _not_ wait until the horse was sore before doing it the next time. Also, vets orders were to ride, ride, ride the horse. So even tho I pretty much stopped competing in endurance on him during these periods, he was still ridden often. Most people who have a horse with hocks fusing won't get thru it if they just let the horse sit, or turn it out to pasture. It was a frustrating time, and I am just thankful that I went to the right vet, right away, and didn't waste time and money and even more frustration on trying acupuncture, chiropractic or massage, none of which would have worked. Earlier this year my horse had a 0 out of 5 on both hind hocks on his flexion test, and I believe it's been a year now since his last injection. He's done, let's see.....5 rides this season so far, and is looking really terrific right now. :) Until you get an x-ray done you won't really know, but there is nothing you can do to fix the front end lameness until you fix what is wrong on the back end, if that is what it is -- and a flexion test is not guaranteed to tell you. Some people might have thought my vet was wasting my money doing the xrays on the hocks, when the horse had passed the flexion test and was showing up off on the left front. Maybe your friends vet has a lot of experience working with sport horses and knows what he/she is doing in this case. Or not, but I thought I'd just throw this out there in case anybody else happens to start experiencing some of these things with their horse. Karen in NV =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|