C5, C6, C7 severe OA in an 8 year old

[4horses]

Horses don’t dream of competing. They don’t miss out if you don’t ride them. What they do like is attention and praise and socialization/grooming. So you can do trick training and other things to fill that void. Very light hacking can be enough to keep them happy.

If it was my horse I’m not sure I would do advanced diagnostics… if the horse suddenly deteriorates, I could probably get a vet out quickly enough to euthanize. If this is something that is slowly going to progress, I think you will see symptoms and hopefully know when the time comes.

The fact that she isn’t currently neurological is a good thing. Is it possible to have that much bone remodeling without having spinal cord compression? I would want to ask the vet that.

[IPEsq]

Does she have ECVM also? With chronic instability in the low neck and no treatments so far, I could see arthritis progressing that much by this age. But the OCD fragments are certainly not new, and likely were there by 2-3 years old. Possible the rads weren’t great quality. Also had a vet tell me a story where a PPE vet sent them images where they just duplicated/flipped one image from one side to pass it off as the other side instead of sending the true image of the other side which showed significant pathology. I don’t want to believe that vets actually do this, but apparently some do.

My friend just put down a 5 yo diagnosed with Wobblers. She was present for the PPE. There was a question on the neck rads per her home vet, but not definitive. Subsequent imaging showed disc disease and a major bone fragment that was apparently just missed via the angle of the PPE images. Definitely congenital. Went from jumping around 3’ no problem to falling multiple times in the field, severe unblockable front end lameness (appeared like an abscess but no abscess ever found and resolved in a few weeks), tremors, and then a rotational fall under saddle.

In any event, if you want to try to make this horse a riding horse, you may need help from a specialist. Biologics are an option but can be risky in the neck for some and may not have as much pain relief power as steroids. And as I mentioned sometimes they can bore out the bone some where the nerves are being compressed if that is the primary pain issue.

[Hightale]

I lost my Lusitano aged only 10 due to a multitude of orthopaedic issues. The vet hospital said they had never seen so much go wrong in a single horse before.
She overgrew bone everywhere and when she had a bone scan she ‘lit up like a Christmas tree’ in the words of the chief orthopaedic surgeon there.
The overgrowth affected her spinal ligament causing impingement, it was her seemingly random rage filled explosions and twitching and shuddering to the point of collapse that set us off down an 18 month journey that ended in her being pts.
She was affected along her spine from front to back, her hocks & stifles and she developed crippling high articular ringbone in both forelegs in the space of six months - from completely clear scans and x-rays to 8/10 lameness. Along the way we’d tried steroids & surgery, she never came back into work.
I researched her bloodline, on the dam side there were several early pts and every half or full sibling on the sire side I could find had issues - my gelding by the same stallion was also PTS at 16.
My other Luso with totally different bloodlines died aged 10 from a brain haemorrhage.
I love the breed, but I’ll never buy another.
I’m sorry you are facing this and wish you only good luck with your mare

[Birddog1]

It is a good question re. ECVM - no findings on radiographs that I am aware of, in terms of the developmental anomalies that are typical with ECVM (I think?)

The vet that recommended her new C-spine films, does feel that whatever led to this has been present her entire life.

That is disturbing about some PPE practices. At the very least I have learned some good lessons about looking MUCH more critically at findings on a PPE and how to approach them in the future. I try hard not to be too mistrustful and cynical…but you’re certainly not the first person to share this kind of thing.

I have used biologics in her stifles (due to being metabolic) with decent success so far, and it is something I would look into. I do have an appointment in a couple months with a neck and neuro specialist, will be curious to see what they think. Again, I feel fortunate that I can tolerate the $$, but at some point even that becomes ridiculous and the emotional $$ is high…

[Birddog1]

Holy cow. That is horrifying. Very similar, kind of random rage, tension and fear that is very out of proportion to whatever the perceived ‘insult’ is. She can also be the sweetest, most curious, engaged horse I’ve ever had the pleasure of being around. Her intelligence is off the hook and she is a blast to train when she is feeing good - ground and riding. She keeps me on my toes for sure. I want another Lusitano just because I SEE so clearly her potential, but the physical issues of unknown etiology definitely scare me off…

[skydy]

I am another who thinks that riding this horse is a safety risk that you shouldn’t take.
I’m so sorry that this has happened, it’s an awful finding on a horse so young.

[4horses]

My friend has a lovely Lusitano and hasn’t had any problems. I’ve had bad luck with APHA paint horses. I’ve had 2 with PSSM 2/MFM, or some other muscle disorder. Both had episodes of exercise intolerance. One would tie up just being in the pasture.

Some of this is just plain bad luck. I’ve had one horse with degenerative ligaments, I’ve had one with recurrent uveitis, and the one I have now has PSSM 2. Unfortunately, every breed has it’s issues. Some issues just aren’t going to show up on a PPE, no matter how hard you look.