Has anyone tried alcohol fusion of the pastern joint for there horse? What were your experiences and results?
If you do a search on alcohol fusion using my name, you will get a thread about this. I had it done as a last ditch effort to keep a retired horse pasture sound, probably about 8 years ago now. He’s still with us. Not rideable, but fat and happy. Keeping up on the trimming schedule rigorously with someone who knows what they are doing is key to the success of this procedure in my view.
I am in process of this right now. I will tell you that it’s not for the weak or weary. It is a year long process, with very “iffy” results. I have a very large half-draft that developed ringbone in his left front pastern. He is relatively young, at 14 years of age when this started. The ringbone was exacerbated and accelerated by a very unexpected and incorrectly placed high set of shoe nails. when he recovered from this shoeing injury(8 months to grow a new hoof), the ringbone had advanced to the point where he didn’t have much cartilage left, and as horses do, he tore the rest of it away having fun in turn out. This was a high performance show horse, that I was doing medal finals on. He had been on borrowed time, yes, but he was sound enough for the amateur ring A rated shows. I knew I had to retire him from jumping, and showing, and he was not a candidate for the surgery. He weighs way too much for the plates and screws, and my vet thought he would shear them off. He also is prone to skin infections, and the possibility of secondary infection post surgical casting was very high.
We decided to do the alcohol fusion, and yes, immediately upon the injections, he seemed to feel much better. That was short lived, as the nerves do regenerate, and he proceeded to become so lame he could not put weight on it. He was stuck in his stall 24 hours a day, and even though he got to a point that he could use the foot to steady himself, he was only able to shuffle around. Consequently, his hips and back became very stiff as well. This went on for several months. He has been on bute twice daily since last August 8, 2017. He is a smart horse, and he would lay down for long periods of time during the day to give his other feet (especially the right front) a break. He was definitely at risk of coffin rotation due to the weight bearing issues. He was depressed, and developed hip sores from laying down all the time. There were times that I almost lost it, and despair would creep in. Especially with the looks I got from other people at our barn. The alternative for my big man was to head over the rainbow, and I was not willing to accept that alternative. So i did stall care, and groomed, and tried to find ways to cheer him up.
I am happy to say, that now 9 months later, he is happy, his old self, and recovered to the point that he is able to walk almost normally, albeit with a limp. He no longer lays down, and is able to put his complete weight on that foot. I do believe that he will return to be some kind of flat horse. I also believe he will be relatively sound within the year. The vets have assured me that this is possible. He is back to pounding his damn foot for a cookie, and knocking me over for attention. He gets jealous when he sees me with my 5 year old colt, and will push against the stall door to tell me he wants out, right now! He will definitely be retiring with my other retired horse on my daughters dairy, but i feel as if I will be able to ride him in the orchards when i visit, and let him be a normal horse for the rest of his life. No more work for him. He gets to play with the MOOs and my future grandchildren.
I would not expect a horse that has been through this process to be completely sound. This is a way to save an animals life. It is brutal if you think about it, but it’s better than the alternative in my opinion. Having gone through it, I would do the surgery if your horse is a candidate. Mine was not, and we chose this route. He is my best friend, and we are getting through it together.
