Hi!
I broke my Kentucky Mountain gelding a couple years ago to drive (he is now 14), recently he was not traveling right under harness and so had his leg (knee) x-rayed and found that at some time he had suffered some sort of trauma in the knee and now was getting Arthritic. My vet said that when I use him (which is often) to give him Bute first but it will be progressive and may need cortisone shots down the road. My question is; even with the pain meds, I am worried that to continue to drive him will be too stressful (or hurt him more). Would really appreciate any opinions on this. Thanks!
Does he ride? I guess that horse getting some kind of exercise is better for arthritis than no exercise. And having planned exercises, go thru various gaits, things that use him to keep him stretching, going correctly, will be more helpful than self-exercise where he just goes along sloppy.
You say injury is a front leg. I would say that if he is going correctly, his front leg is more for support, not pushing off with it or pulling with his front end. So not so much stress on it in work. This would be both ridden or driven, though he will have the rider weight added if used that way. Driven to a light cart, there should be almost no work on a front leg, so no more severe work than he gets moving himself around. Gaits to use, speeds to go, probably should be talked over with your Vet, or take his pictures to a lamenss specialist for a consult on work.
This is where the term “Servicably Sound” is brought out. Horse may have an injury, ongoing leg issues, but he is serviceably sound for this job, not in pain or damaging himself doing it. Lots of horses with arthritis, out working EVERY DAY, but they have been evaluated, are being cared for, so they can do their work without pain.
Is the Vet a horse Vet, lameness kind of guy? Bute can be helpful, but so can some other meds. They all have some side effects in some horses, so you want to check up on that and know how to deal with it. Tons of information on the other Forums, like Horse Care. Here is a thread on Previcox, a dog medicine that is getting good results for arthritic horses. Dose for horse oddly enough, is only 1/4 of what a dog gets!
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?414989-Feeding-Previcox&highlight=previcox
And as you mentioned, there are injections, other measures, to keep horse comfortable and useable. And they will work quite well for a long time in most cases, so you can enjoy him.
[QUOTE=goodhors;7179529]
Does he ride? I guess that horse getting some kind of exercise is better for arthritis than no exercise. And having planned exercises, go thru various gaits, things that use him to keep him stretching, going correctly, will be more helpful than self-exercise where he just goes along sloppy.
You say injury is a front leg. I would say that if he is going correctly, his front leg is more for support, not pushing off with it or pulling with his front end. So not so much stress on it in work. This would be both ridden or driven, though he will have the rider weight added if used that way. Driven to a light cart, there should be almost no work on a front leg, so no more severe work than he gets moving himself around. Gaits to use, speeds to go, probably should be talked over with your Vet, or take his pictures to a lamenss specialist for a consult on work.
This is where the term “Servicably Sound” is brought out. Horse may have an injury, ongoing leg issues, but he is serviceably sound for this job, not in pain or damaging himself doing it. Lots of horses with arthritis, out working EVERY DAY, but they have been evaluated, are being cared for, so they can do their work without pain.
Is the Vet a horse Vet, lameness kind of guy? Bute can be helpful, but so can some other meds. They all have some side effects in some horses, so you want to check up on that and know how to deal with it. Tons of information on the other Forums, like Horse Care. Here is a thread on Previcox, a dog medicine that is getting good results for arthritic horses. Dose for horse oddly enough, is only 1/4 of what a dog gets!
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?414989-Feeding-Previcox&highlight=previcox
And as you mentioned, there are injections, other measures, to keep horse comfortable and useable. And they will work quite well for a long time in most cases, so you can enjoy him.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your wonderful input! You made some very valid points and I feel better about him being serviceable! He is a wonderful gelding and I don’t want to be the cause of any further pain for him.
