My vet has prescribed estrone injections, 10cc once per week for 4 weeks to try and manage slipping/loose stifles. She’s also now on regumate because she came into a very hard heat cycle right after her first shot of estrone. I’m wondering though if the regumate will negate the desired effects of the estrone? Does anyone have any experience with the combo for stifles?
Never heard of regumate for stifles or anything else besides hormone regulation. Will be watching this to see if others might.
The regumate is not for the stifles - it’s for managing her heat cycle. I’m just wondering if it will counteract the effects of the estrone.
I was always told estrone should not be given to a mare, so interested to hear from others.
I’ve read conflicting things about giving mares estrone.
I think estrone (since it stimulates estrus) would be more likely to counteract the effects of regumate than vice versa. But I am no expert.
A friend of mine did this this spring with her mare. She felt disappointed in the results from the estrone, but I don’t know if that was because of the combination of the two or just because estrone wasn’t that effective for this particular stifle issue.
Just one vet’s opinion, but when I discussed estrone with my vet as a possible treatment for my gelding’s sticky stifles, he said he had never had much success with it as a treatment for any stifle issues - in geldings or mares.
Personally, the exercise regime when you use estrone is paramount… and in a lot of barns I find boarders/clients administer the estrone but then don’t stick to the rehab program… if you don’t change the management so to speak, the problem won’t resolve.
I’ve had really good luck with estrone, but you have to combine it with a very regimented rehabilitation program and you have to commit to it. Just administering the estrone and then continuing business as usual as you did before the vet check is a big waste of time and money – whether or not it’s the fault of the client or the vet for not properly educating the client, I can’t say.
I prefer to do 10-12 weeks on estrone. The first few weeks should be hacking out and poles really, not much ring work, very little circles. Assuming the horse is fit at the time of eval:
Week four & five & six should be conditioning - I do interval training 2-3 x week and the rest is major pole work. Every single ride my horse sees walk pole warm up and cool down. Seven & eight & ninth week should be a continuation of W1-6 with pole work incorporated into dressage. I do serpentines but very little circles. Lots of transitions.
The transitions, hills and pole work is what strengthens the stifle; not the estrone.
Both of my vets from two different practices will administer estrone to a mare. I believe it is you don’t want to administer estrone to a breeding mare.
My vet kept saying the same thing, particularly in reference to older horses. He said it tended to work better in young horses. My gelding’s leg never “locked” (he has delayed release of the patella) and after watching it continue to worsen over the course of a couple of months last summer, I finally asked if I could just try it since it’s cheap and easy.
There was a 95% improvement overnight. I believe the injections saved his life because he’s got a torn meniscus in the LF and the RH started to get sticky due to reduced exercise. The “sticking” in the RH was making the LF even more sore, but I couldn’t force exercise due to the injury/arthritis. So he gets 4 cc once per week IM and it keeps that leg functioning normally. My vet was very surprised. So I’d say it’s worth a shot, especially if combined with exercise in a younger horse that CAN be exercised.
Interesting,@newhorsemommy! My 15yo gelding with a frequently sticky RH and occasionally sticky LH is currently being treated by Dr Green, but if I try to bring him back a few months down the road, maybe I will revisit with my vet.
