any magic therapies for helping along a weak hind end?

[danosaur]

TLDR skip to bolded text at end

backstory:

My 19 year old eq horse had career ending bilateral hind suspensories. fast forward half a decade, some surgeries, a retirement attempt, and many many rehabs, he’s evenly scarred up behind and is totally serviceably sound for the 2’6. he LOVES to work and loves to show. however he is a very big, very slow, very german boy so in order to keep his hind end connected to the rest of his body, you have to ride properly and exert a fair amount of effort.

sooooo he’s been leased out for the past two years and I just got him back annnnnnd… woof. the hind end is looking rough. no actual injuries, but just incredibly weak and a bit sore. we got his feet done, got hocks and stifles done by our lameness vet, added cosequin to his smartpak (already has been on smartstride), and now have him on summit. we are well on our way to perfection and happiness. I know the biggest thing now is building up that booty.

I’m pretty well set on exercises for strengthening (hills, poles, raised poles, proper transitions, long low warmup, square corners, etc etc), and we always wear back on track polos.

so my OFFICIAL QUESTION IS!! do you guys have any therapeutic mumbo jumbo that you swear by that I could add to all this to make him more comfortable? any sort of magnetic stuff or electric stuff or…I’m not even sure, back on track hock wraps?? plain old ice? what do you guys love?

[DMK]

If he’s an easy keeper and on minimal feed/grass hay, I would consider an amino acid supp like tri amino to give him the correct building blocks to develop muscle.

If he gets plenty of high protein hay (legume/grass mix) and feed in normal quantities that may not be necessary.

[danosaur]

@DMK

If he’s an easy keeper and on minimal feed/grass hay, I would consider an amino acid supp like tri amino to give him the correct building blocks to develop muscle.

If he gets plenty of high protein hay (legume/grass mix) and feed in normal quantities that may not be necessary.

thank you!! I’m not really a supplement knowledgable person so I wouldn’t have thought of that! will do

[Fiona_785]

I had a similar issue with my horse so my vet suggested checking his Vit E level. It was normal but very close to being too low so we gave him a bottle of liquid Elevate to help build up muscle. He’s now on Vit E liqugels from CVS because it’s cheaper. I am having his levels checked again next month.

Anyway, after being away from the barn due to quarantine, I SWEAR he was so much more muscled than before! Like his butt and shoulder and neck were thick! Now I can’t say for 100% that it was the Elevate Vit e because there are other variables (we moved to the barn in Jan, I was quarantined from March to Mid-April and he got ridden 3x/wk by trainers when I was away…) BUT I can say I was very pleasantly surprised to see such a big change in him. He was never thin or under-muscled, but just pretty average.

[atl_hunter]

@danosaur

so my OFFICIAL QUESTION IS!! do you guys have any therapeutic mumbo jumbo that you swear by that I could add to all this to make him more comfortable? any sort of magnetic stuff or electric stuff or…I’m not even sure, back on track hock wraps?? plain old ice? what do you guys love?

Check out the Equiband.

[nutmeg]

I second the Vitamin E and just want to mention that you should be very judicious with your hill work on hind suspensories. It is easy to overtax an old injury without realizing it. Check with your vet of course, but I’d suggest not too steep and only walking up.

[meupatdoes]

Correct dressage.

[ChasseurSauteur]

In addition to the amino acid supplements mentioned above (we used Equitop Myoplast), my vet recommended estrogen injections for my horse who had similar hind weakness. Worked really well. We had resolved his SI/hock soreness but he had been struggling to add muscle. Two-a-day rides during the period he received the shots/started the myoplast (one normal ride, one hillwork intervals) also really did the trick, but he didn’t have any old soft issue injuries to contend with. I have also found interval training on the flat to make a huge difference when bringing him back from various lay-ups. I follow a strict weekly program for 4-6 weeks and am always super happy with how he comes out of it.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=Fiona_785;n10683638]
I had a similar issue with my horse so my vet suggested checking his Vit E level. It was normal but very close to being too low so we gave him a bottle of liquid Elevate to help build up muscle. He’s now on Vit E liqugels from CVS because it’s cheaper. I am having his levels checked again next month.

A/QUOTE]

Try ordering Vitamin E thru Santa Cruz - Ultra Cruz Vit E, is MUCH cheaper than anywhere else, per IU. Just FYI.

[fordtraktor]

Turn him out 24/7. It really helps the old ones who need to stay moving slow and constantly. Movement is the best grease.

If he seems a bit creaky, you might consider putting him on Equioxx. He has to be off it for 12 hours before showing, but it might help him day to day.

[GoodTimes]

I second the recommendation to pull blood and check for vit e and selenium levels.
I also second the recommendation to turn out 24/7.

[Atlas_Shrugged]

Hills, hills hills

[Jackie_Cochran]

I have had some success using the Back on Track therapeutic exercise sheet. In cold weather I use it the whole ride, in warmer weather I use it around 10 minutes or so, and if it is really hot and muggy I just put it on the horse for the walk to the riding ring then I take it off.

It will not build up your horse’s muscles, however it will make the muscles of the croup warm up much quicker and keep the horse comfortable while you are exercising him. If the horse is comfortable he can use the correct muscles to move and stop using the “wrong” muscles to protect himself, which builds up the wrong muscles.

I can only ride 30 minutes a week on a horse. I got really tired of the horse getting comfortable enough to move only after 30 minutes of work, then I was too exhausted to do any “real” work. The BOT exercise sheet really helps with this, the horse’s croup muscles warm up quickly and I can get to the more challenging work before I collapse with exhaustion.

My riding teacher really likes the results. For reference I am using this on aged riding school horses (since with my MS that is all I can ride) but my riding teacher will use it on younger, more athletic horses when they get some problems with their croup muscles.

[merrygoround]

Save your money on supplements unless he has an actual deficiency.

Despite all the majikal claims written up by some excellent copy writers, there is no substitute for slow methodical exercises tailored to your horse’s needs and abilities.,along with quality pasture, hay and grain, again tailored to his needs.

[DMK]

I’m generally in agreement on supplements, but there’s some good recent research on vitamin E deficiency for horses without access to pasture. Hay turns out to be not such a great sourcegsource of E and unfortunately not having access to any/enough grazing is a reality for many horses. And if you do have any easy keeper who is overall on low protein/limited/no grass… Well horses can’t manufacture those 3 limiting amino acids, and as the name implies, they limit all the other essential amino acids. Of course the best answer is grazing and a higher protein hay, but if you have an easy keeper, that’s not so simple.

Which is to say that yes, there’s a whole lot of wasted money in supps, however the suggestions in this thread were generally backed by quality research, especially as it relates to this issue. So maybe not a water off money unless the appropriate physical therapy doesn’t come with the program.

(But for anyone buying Vit E by the penny per iu, you are probably wasting your money. The TYPE of E is absolutely critical according to recent research. There’s a reason why some of the stuff is so cheap. It’s useless to the horse.

https://thehorse.com/172194/how-to-e…ith-vitamin-e/