Abnormal bone growth in 4yr old gelding

[Allyconn]

Hi there,

My horse went lame almost a year ago. Long story short and thousands of dollars later we kind of have the diagnosis.

He appears to have an abnormal bone growth in his fetlock that appears on Xray.

We have done HA injections, 4 injection rounds of IRAP, and previcox. ( Stall rest etc……)

Nothing really helped. At this time my vet told me my options are slim and he will not be a rideable horse.

This has been 100% soul crushing as this horse is my soul horse. He is so amazing and has the best mind. He had so much potential and i loved more than life working with him and brining him along.

Currently he is just living life in a pasture by himself. He has horses next to him but his life has also been flipped upside down.

I wanted to see if anyone had any advice or has seen this before?

I can’t bring myself to accept that this is it.

He is my only horse and i will never rehome him, but i want him to enjoy life and be comfortable.

Thank you.

Below is a link to his crappy quality xray photos.
https://www.facebook.com/ally.concannon/media_set?set=a.10208596178605952.1073741827.1354004591&type=3

[Marla_100]

Can’t see x-rays, your account is set to Private.

[Allyconn]

Sorry about that! Just changed the settings.

[Peggy]

I know of a horse that had some sort of strange hock anatomy. Had some front end issues, they got him going for several years, and then the hind end went.

Do you know if there are other bony issues elsewhere in your horse? If there are and they are in someplace mission critical such as the neck, that could have a large impact on his quality of life.

Lots of empathy as I have a now almost 7-y.o. who has had a number of issues. Rehabbed him from one set, including a year of turnout, restarted, and now the same issues are showing up again. In his case I suspect that the stenosis and arthritis in his neck aren’t helping.

[Allyconn]

Thank you for your reply.

He shows no signs of any issues anywhere else, and honestly i was riding him and that’s how i found something was wrong, he just felt off. He gave no resistance to trot or move out. It just randomly happened one day.

I’ve had a chiropractor work on him several times as well and everything appeared okay with his back / neck.

[Marla_100]

What is your vet’s actual diagnosis ? What does he/she think has caused this?
How old was your horse when started under saddle? type of horse? type of riding you do?
Does your vet think it’s caused by conformation? Genetic? Trauma? Growth problem?

Have you gotten a second opinion or had another orthopedic lameness specialist consult? Sometimes two heads are better than one.

Sorry for all the questions but it might help others reading this also.

[Allyconn]

-There really hasn’t been a concrete diagnosis, just that there is an abnormal bone growth as the Xray shows.

-Unsure of the cause, could be genetic. They think there is something going on inside his body and they can’t figure it out.

• He was lightly started by a professional before i bought him when he was 2.5. He is a quarter horse about 15H.

-I have been lightly trail ridding / ring work / ground work with him in a light workload.

• I have actually had 6 different vets look at him. He has been to two different lameness / othro specialists.

• This was also a huge pain in the ass to get to this point. I have spent over 5K JUST getting this " diagnosis" He has been to NC state multiple times.

• At first some thought it was his stifle, then his coffin bone, now this. This Xray is the only evidence that something is wrong.

I’ve contacted his breeder to see if there have ever been any issues like this because my vet said it could be a genetic issue and apparently he is the only foal she had out of the mare, and she sold her. She really doesn’t seem to care at all that this happened to him.

[Marla_100]

Did you have a thorough pre-purchase exam done when you bought him?
Do you have a side and front views of conformation photos of him that you can post?
Do you have photos of his feet and legs to share?

Has he been shod or barefoot?

Has any of the vets suggested that this could be due to his conformation?
does he have short, upright pasterns?

[flyracing]

Did they block the joint to confirm the source of the pain is in the fetlock joint? When treatment completely fails (steroids/HA, IRAP in this case), it’s important to reexamine the diagnosis. Since you say the only evidence is what’s on the X-ray (making me think he either wasn’t blocked or doesn’t respond to blocks, doesn’t have joint effusion or a positive distal limb flexion), and he hasn’t responded to the intra-articular treatments, that is it likely not the source of his pain. Either it’s a completely incidental finding on the X-ray and the still unknown injury is somewhere else or the significant injury is related, but in the surrounding soft tissue. As a side note, I’m specifically not commenting on the radiographs, so don’t take a lack of word as meaning lack of problem.

[Allyconn]

I uploaded a couple photos of him: https://www.facebook.com/ally.concannon/media_set?set=a.10208596627577176&type=3

He has never been shod, always barefoot trimmed every 6 weeks or as needed. Every farrier / vet has said he has excellent feet.

So far nobody has said it is a conformation issue.

[Allyconn]

Ah yes i did not mention.

They did do joint blocks. He blocked out 70% to his fetlock.

[sassy45]

Well what a handsome boy,i see nothing glaringly wrong with conformation to cause his issues. Is he lame or just off?? maybe saddle fit is part of problem…

Hope you figure out what’s going on ,so he can be sound.

[Allyconn]

Thank you. His mind is as beautiful as he is! Truly a gem. That’s why this is so rough.

He is lame at a trot. Gimps on his left hind. He has been professionally saddle fitted. I’ve thought of it all lol.

[sassy45]

[QUOTE=Allyconn;8532015]
Thank you. His mind is as beautiful as he is! Truly a gem. That’s why this is so rough.

He is lame at a trot. Gimps on his left hind. He has been professionally saddle fitted. I’ve thought of it all lol.[/QUOTE]

Have you had blocks done higher up to see if he blocks sound?? Get good pictures of his hind feet sole shots and lateral views, make sure hoofs are clean and he’s on a flat surface.

If fetlock only blocked to be 70% i’d be blocking below fetlock,if nothing then go up higher till he blocks sound. I know more money spent, but he’s to nice looking to just give up on…

What a shame he’s to young to have problems that really sucks.

[IPEsq]

Is the growth removable?

[Allyconn]

Thank you so much. I’m going to get better pictures of his legs/ feet tomorrow.

They have not gone up past his fetlock but they have blocked down.

100% Agreed. I have spent so much so far it breaks my heart to give up. It has been really heavy to deal with. I stopped ridding. I haven’t ridden in over 10 months. I started to look at other horses to purchase and it sucks. I just want him. He runs circles around anything i could ever find. He’s a once in a lifetime horse. I’ve had tons of people tell me this that have met him also.

[Allyconn]

I’ve asked my vet about surgery to remove it and he said since we don’t know the cause it can very likely grow back. I took a break since his last vet visit after getting this news. I’m ready to start seeking more treatments. I’ve spent thousands and have been to numerous vets already but i just can’t give up on him.

[sassy45]

[QUOTE=Allyconn;8532032]
Thank you so much. I’m going to get better pictures of his legs/ feet tomorrow.

They have not gone up past his fetlock but they have blocked down.

100% Agreed. I have spent so much so far it breaks my heart to give up. It has been really heavy to deal with. I stopped ridding. I haven’t ridden in over 10 months. I started to look at other horses to purchase and it sucks. I just want him. He runs circles around anything i could ever find. He’s a once in a lifetime horse. I’ve had tons of people tell me this that have met him also. :([/QUOTE]

Did he block any sounder below fetlocks or not? if you can maybe get a video of him trotting to and from camera and on a circle. Maybe someone here can help pinpoint where lameness is coming from…worth a try any way.

If nothing else will give you more ideas where to start with blocks. I feel your pain my own horse has all kinds of issues,from soundness to metabolic issues. Difference is know why my boys lame/ sore.

[Marla_100]

In looking at the whole body photos, it appears on RH you may have a negative palmar angle of the hoof. Can’t see the LH in photo. So we really need those good photos of hind hooves.

So the x-ray you posted are of LH? Is this where lameness is observed?

If negative palmar angles are in both hinds this could be cause for excess
bony growth in lower joints as this is the body’s way of protecting those joints when the hooves are being trimmed in an out of balanced manner. When this happens slowly over time, and does not get corrected sometimes the cartilage between the bones becomes ossified and can cause lameness.

It takes a knowledgeable and experienced trimmer to correct this and not make it worse.

If this is the case I would think, since your horse is young, that you could have some improvement in lameness by corrective trimming. sometimes after corrective trimming some of the excess bone deposits can dissolve.

If you do have negative palmar angles and not one of the 6 vets or farriers
recognized this, then you need better eyes and a new farrier to correct this.

I may be totally wrong here, but I’m suspicious about the laying down of new bone in that feltock joint and my hunch is look at the feet.

[Ruth0552]

I don’t suppose it’s possible to biopsy that? I mean, if it’s cancerous, then yes, let the horse live out its days. But if it was caused by a trauma or something and can be removed, I’d think that would be a better option. Honestly, probably cheaper than paying for him to sit in a field for the next 20 years.