Hocks, canter leads, and other challenges!

[alishaarrr]

I lease a 22-year-old Hanoverian mare who is, overall, in terrific shape. I have been riding her for five months. She took her time testing me out, but our rides have gotten progressively easier with time. We have been working on a few issues: She’s great for the first 20 minutes or so of a ride, but after we move through W-T-C, she gets very forward and heavy when asked to go back to trot work – leans on my hands, drops her head, and gets behind the vertical. This is worse to the right, and she’s generally stiff going that way. She’s also much more prone to rushing in that direction.

As I have continued to get a handle on how she needs to be ridden, we are working on more suppleness, better use of her hind end, and overall more responsive and respectful behavior. Lots of transitions, circles and serpentines, and trot poles.

For the past month, she’s had a very hard time picking up her left canter lead. I have attempted to make sure my cues are correct, but she’s also picking it up incorrectly on the lunge line. The vet came out and identified arthritis in her left rear hock, and put her on equioxx as a conservative first step. They suggested injecting if the equioxx isn’t effective, or adequan could be another option.

FYI, my trainer has checked saddle fit and it seems to be fine with the right pad. She goes in a figure-8 with a loose ring French link.

Her owner and I have consulted a few different people about where to go from here. One person advised conservative riding, mostly walk-trot in her good direction, mostly straightness and not too much bending or lateral work. Others have suggested emphasizing work on her weak side, to build muscles back up (and there is a considerable difference in the two sides of her hind end) – getting her to pick up that left lead canter after small fences, lunging to the left in a surcingle with draw reins, and lots more circle work on the weak side.

So, here are my questions:

• Would you recommend the injection, or adequan?
• Which of the rebuilding options make most sense? Any tips?
• Jumping up to 2’ or so – yes or no? (she seems great over fences)
• Is the leaning and dropping/overflexing possibly related to the hock issue, or is this just general behavioral plus maybe needing some strengthening in her hind end?
• Any reason not to try her in a Waterford for the leaning?

[StormyDay]

I would see how the equioxx goes first. If she seems happy jumping I wouldn’t stop. If she is stopping or doesn’t seem as excited about it then you know that hurts too.
I would do less invasive to most invasive, so adequan next and then injections.
I would not lunge. Trotting small hills and doing more work making her use her hind end would be better. Keep in contact with your vet to make sure she isn’t in pain. Sending a video every week or so of her under saddle to track progress and monitor lameness could be useful.
There are other therapies used now for arthritis, like PEMF, cryotherapy, etc. You may look into some of those too.

[alishaarrr]

How many days would you do the equioxx before writing it off as ineffective? Today was day five (double dosage the first two days, which were also rest days) and no difference so far …

[StormyDay]

@alishaarrr

How many days would you do the equioxx before writing it off as ineffective? Today was day five (double dosage the first two days, which were also rest days) and no difference so far …

I have very little experience with equioxx so hopefully someone with more knowledge of it comes along.
What do you mean by no difference? I do know that sometimes horses will act as though they still have pain even when they don’t just from muscle memory and trying to protect themselves from pain that isn’t there anymore.

[dani0303]

My 25 year old and 18 year old present much the same way when they’re stiff/sore.

The formula that has worked best for us is Previcox, monthly pentosan injections, and yearly hock injections. It took about 2 weeks on the previcox and a month on Pentosan to notice a real difference. Lots of long and low trot work helps strengthen their back/hind end without asking for them to come too much on their hocks. I wouldn’t bit her up if it’s a pain issue but if she continues once the pain is gone I think a waterford might be a good idea.

[IPEsq]

All of those behaviors could be due to the hock. It sounds like there has been enough inflammation that injections might be needed. I’d give the Previcox at least 2 weeks, though. It takes some time to build up in the body. If you do need to do injections, Previcox and/or Adequan could help her continue to work and prolong the need to repeat injections.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

I am also riding an older mare who was part of a H/J program for many years. Sometimes after we go through the “normal” W/T/C hack day routine, she gets to a point when she feels like she should be done. If I want to continue past that point and work on something else, she can get heavy and blow through the aids - it’s like “after I canter, I’m done, therefore I am going to keep cantering until you too realize we are done”.

It sounds like you are doing a good job working to get on top of the physical issues, and I think it’s likely that the majority the issues you described probably do have an origin in something physical. I just wanted to throw in the above because I think some horses really do expect a certain routine, and if the mare you are riding expects a 20 min hack and then gets asked to keep going, some of what you are experiencing may be attributable to that.

[beau159]

I agree to give the Equioxx two weeks. It is not like bute and needs time to build up in the horse’s system. What dosage is the vet having you give?

I think it’s important to understand your choices here. But first of all, did the vet do X-rays? I think that’s the first step so you can identify exactly what’s going on. I know this is not your horse, but talk with the owner.

Equioxx is a pain reliever. It does NOT stop the root of the disease progression, although it does help a bit to reduce inflammation.

If a horse is sore enough ( which sounds like your is), I would not hesitate to do injections. (But never blindly inject. Get X-rays). At her age, I would probably do a normal steroid cocktail because it is very effective. Other joint injection options are things like PRP, IRAP, or prostride.

Adequan or Pentosan are options too but they are simply joint supplements (injected into the muscle). Personally I have not had horses that were super responsive to it , meaning that we still had to inject the joint anyway and/or use Previcox/ Equioxx.

[alishaarrr]

Thanks, all – very helpful so far.

The vet did not do x-rays, just observed under saddle and on the lunge line, and did a standard physical exam and flexion test. She said the issue was “most likely” the hock, but potentially the stifle, and advised injections into the hock to start, as it would be better to spend money on something that could yield improvement rather than just diagnostic, and if it helped, great, if not, they’d move to injecting the stifle next. Not my horse, so … :shrug:

If any thoughts on the level and type of work that you think we should keep her in while figuring out pain management, much appreciated, as I am getting varied advice.

And yes, @Groom&Taxi the “NO, LADY, YOU ARE CONFUSED, WE ARE DONE” thing is totally a thing – this mare is super smart, experienced, and knows what’s what. Which makes it all the harder to separate the pain issues from what is her being strong-willed and knowing quite well how to get out of work.

[merrygoround]

Interesting that the vet determined that it was the L hind that was making the L lead difficult to attain, It is usually the outside hind that creates the problem in canter strike off.

I would insist on a more detailed work-up before any injections were considered.

The Previcox route should tell you a bit.

[beau159]

^^agree with Merry that usually it is the outside hock or the inside stifle that causes an issue in the canter. Hock they don’t want to push off on that leg, and stifle they don’t want to reach under themselves. So maybe it’s more stifle than hock, in your horse’s case. IME, injections don’t seem to help stifle problems very much but can work really well for hocks.

I know it’s not your horse and not your decision, but I would do more diagnostic testing on the horse before GUESSING at which joint to inject. Injections aren’t cheap and seems wasteful to spend money when the vet isn’t even sure what’s going on.

[painthunter]

My gelding is a lot like this mare. He knows a routine (we W/T/C and if we aren’t jumping, your quarter is up and I’d like to go back to the barn). He has a routine of Equioxx and started annual hock injections last year (he’s 16). You can feel when he needs them — stiff, no drive off the hind end, won’t respond to your leg, etc.

When I was leasing him, his owner required him to get monthly Legend. I felt a difference for a few days. Once I bought him, he was swapped over to Equioxx and it definitely makes a difference for us (doing low level hunters).

Good luck!